Hezekiah read the words before him, completely dumbfounded by the new anomaly. But after everything that had happened so far in such a short time, and having to evaluate a new potential threat—he forced himself to accept this new reality, no matter how foreign it was to him.

  "What is this paper before me? And who the hell exactly are you?" Hezekiah demanded, pointing at the floating black sheet.

  The bearded man tried to follow where he was pointing, even closing his eyes to see if he could detect anything. But ultimately, he sensed nothing amiss.

  Hezekiah rose to his feet, hands balled into fists. But the man had yet to move a muscle—only taking another bite from his roasted meat.

  "Can't they just shut up for a few minutes? They should be grateful that I'm trying to show them a new world," the bearded man grumbled.

  "Answer me already!" Hezekiah charged at the man, swinging a kick toward his head.

  It was swift and precise, but it was ultimately caught by the man's palm. Surprised by his reaction speed, Hezekiah attempted to withdraw his foot, but the bearded man's grip was like a gorilla's.

  "So, you too want to be part of my experiments?" the man questioned. His pupils, which were previously ordinary, now looked horizontal.

  Ignoring the man's words, Hezekiah leapt with his other foot and arched it toward his opponent. Unfortunately, that foot was caught as well, and collapsed against the solid rock floor—grunting.

  "An ordinary human has no chance against someone like me." The bearded man, with both of Hezekiah’s legs in hand, swung him and threw him against the wall, forcing the air to escape from his lungs.

  What is this? How many meters did he throw me? Is this guy actually...

  Hezekiah wanted to confirm it, but after seeing the man's pupils—like a lamb's—it was no longer necessary. This thing isn't human.

  "That was a splendid kick you gave earlier. After I turn you into an Abna, you may actually be a challenge," the bearded man said, approaching him.

  As Hezekiah's vision began to focus, he realized the black notebook paper was no longer in sight.

  The bearded man's arm morphed into a tentacle. It coiled around Hezekiah’s leg with a sticky and tight grip.

  "Shit! Shit! Let go, you freak!" Hezekiah gritted his teeth while repeatedly kicking at the tentacle. The man only stared at him, unbothered, while dragging him deeper into the cave.

  "Why? If I do that, then my revolution will be delayed. Be not dismayed, human—you will serve as a catalyst for all humans."

  The calls for help grew louder as they descended deeper, and eventually, they reached the bottom.

  Torches were planted along the walls, and there were three other people chained up in mini cages. Hezekiah saw pools of blood on the floor, along with syringes filled with vibrant colors on metal racks

  Metal beds were contaminated with dried blood, and pieces of flesh that eerily looked human were strewn within the cracks of the ground

  “Damnit, he was caught!!” a man fisted his cubicle cage

  “Of course he was! I told you it was pointless!” a woman snapped.

  Hezekiah had long stopped kicking the tentacle due to exhaustion and observed the captives. Their clothing was torn and looked old. Dust clouded their faces, and the cuts on their skin were easily visible.

  A sight he had witnessed countless times. He never thought much of it back when he was instructed to kidnap clients who owed debts and the like. But seeing that he would now be numbered among them, he wasn't sure what to make of it.

  "From now on, Human #5, you will call me Mr. Hyonda." He didn’t wait for a response and tossed him into a small cage like everyone else, accidentally causing his teeth to bite his tongue.

  Hezekiah winced. Droplets of blood already replaced the older stains on the cage.

  “Just what are you exactly!?” Hezekiah demanded. “An alien? Monster?”

  The tentacle shot forth and pierced his leg. A groan quickly left his mouth.

  “Address me as Mr. Hyonda, human. And I’ll assure your stay will be quite comfortable. Since I already promised to introduce humans to the world beyond, it would be counterintuitive to hide it. I’m half human and half Kraken,” Hyonda explained.

  Hezekiah wanted to say more but thought it best to stay silent. He peeked at the others, who were shaking their heads and gesturing for him to hush.

  Hyonda laughed. “You were full of questions before, and now you no longer want to speak?” His attention was drawn to the test tubes. “Well, maybe a live demonstration will paint the picture of my goal for you,” he briskly said as he made his way to the test tube rack.

  “Mr. Hyonda, use me! I’ll be your next subject!” a man in his sixties, who had yet to speak, urgently called to him.

  Hezekiah scanned the man from head to toe; his left eye was entirely missing, and stitches were laced across his neck.

  “Ah, yes. You're eager, and rightfully so. What human would be so foolish as to pass up a chance to become an Abna, and gain supernatural abilities?”

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  That’s what this is about? People getting superpowers. Am I an Abna?

  He thought back to the black notebook paper he saw earlier. He remembered it saying something about being chosen and some rules. Even now, he noticed the name of the cave was based on the being who captured him.

  The familiar heating sensation in his chest grew again, and once again, the same piece of paper reappeared.

  Due to its sudden appearance, Hezekiah bumped his head against the cage, catching everyone’s attention.

  He clasped his head, and his eyes immediately darted to Hyonda, fearing his reaction toward the floating notebook paper. But contrary to his fears, he didn’t react at all.

  “Are you okay, Human #5?” Hyonda dryly said, his gaze unamused by the interruption.

  “Yes, Mr. Hyonda. I’m sorry.”

  Nobody can see it? Now that I think about it, he didn’t react to it the last time either. That’s the only explanation.

  “Anyway,” Hyonda redirected his attention to the old man, “you must be patient, Human #3. Let’s not be hasty. I strongly doubt you want to end up like Human #1, and you’re third in line anyway.” He patted the cage.

  The young man, who appeared to be in his twenties, spoke up, his hands squeezing the cold, rusty bars.

  “Mr. Hyonda, please. He desperately wants to go before me. Let him take my place.” Tears streamed down his cheek. His wrists were shaking uncontrollably, but his voice remained clear.

  “No can do, #2. First come, first served. And my heart would be so broken if you missed the chance to be the first human to attain Abna status by artificial means.”

  “Mr. Hyonda,” the woman swallowed slowly. “You st-still need the Raqu Flower, don’t you?” Her voice had a hint of shakiness to it, but she tried to remain calm.

  As they were discussing, Hezekiah was reading the contents of the page over and over again. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was reading, but he kinda grasped what was going on.

  He was chosen by The Rule of Suffering. And presumably, he needed to formulate rules for the cave he was in. But he wasn’t entirely sure if that was the case.

  “My companion Hyuuz—the ‘deer’ that brought you humans here—has recently found some. He’ll be on his way any minute now.”

  The woman’s eyes darkened. Without saying another word, she buried her head in her knees.

  Hyonda smiled and began making his way up the cave. “You three play nice. I expect a thank you when you become the first created Abnas.” With that said, his footsteps grew further and further away.

  Hezekiah breathed a sigh of relief. For the time being, he could now figure this out without Hyonda being suspicious.

  His theory was that he had to write a rule, but he didn’t have anything to write with.

  Even if I do write a rule, so what? Isn’t this just a piece of notebook paper that flies around? So what if I write “Let us go”, why would it listen?

  Doubts crept into his mind. But considering he was more than likely going to die anyway, he’d give it a shot. Based on the conversation, he concluded Human #1 died during the experiment. The chance of supernatural powers may be worth the risk, but it was doubtful this creature even knew what he was doing.

  No way this stupid power didn’t give me anything to write with. I'm not supposed to write with my blood, am I?

  Shaking his head, he at least tried to touch the paper. As he extended his hand, a flash of darkness coalesced around his fingers, resembling a flame. It caught the attention of everyone nearby. The temperature spiked only for a brief moment, but it was enough to singe and partially disintegrate the cage.

  To the others, it could be described as being dumped into a hot tub for only a second. Everyone was bewildered by the sudden spike in temperature—and now focused on what Hezekiah held.

  Within his grasp was a jet-black pen with red carvings. Intricate and complicated patterns shadowed the entire surface of the pen.

  “Did you guys see that?” the oldest man whispered. He rubbed his eyes, but the pen was still there.

  “You’re an Ab-Abna!?” the woman shouted.

  “Quiet, Suzie,” the man replied, quickly glancing toward the upward slope. “He might be our only way out. You can kill that thing, right?”

  Hezekiah was at a loss for words when he met the young man’s hard stare. He saw both the man and woman looking at him with anticipation.

  “Did you guys forget how he got dragged down here by that thing?” the older man said, reminding them. “If he could kill him, he wouldn’t be here right now.”

  His words doused them back into reality. Their expressions once again returned to grimness.

  Well, that would be true—if I actually tried using my ability on him. But as far as Hyonda knows, I’m just an ordinary person. No need to get their hopes up. After all, I’m expecting this to all fail anyway.

  Hezekiah knew the clock was ticking. The paper may be invisible, but the pen clearly wasn’t. He held the pen to the paper:

  —Rules of Hyonda's Cave

  1. Don’t kill us

  When he wrote the words, they immediately disappeared. His brows furrowed.

  “Are you serious?” he whispered. He guessed he expected too much, but he couldn’t give up. If not for his own life, at the very least he had to find his sister.

  1. No killing allowed

  He expected the words to vanish again, but surprisingly, they didn’t. He narrowed his eyes to contemplate the reason. All he did was reword the same rule. However, his stomach dropped when he saw the Satisfaction Percentage drop and a note attached:

  Satisfaction: -50%

  —Rules won’t manifest until Satisfaction is 100%

  At least give me a guide on what I can or can’t write. This is ridiculous.

  “Hyuuz!! You’re a good boy, aren’t you? I knew you could find those flowers!” Hyonda’s excitement reached the lower cave

  No one could hide their distress—especially Human #2, who was next on the list. The old man, on the other hand, couldn’t look more ecstatic. Hezekiah was aware he had about a minute left. He had to make it work.

  He wrote dozens of rules at a hasty pace; many were erased. Some made it through. Some tanked the percentage, while others raised it. He even wrote random rules that neither benefited nor harmed him—which, surprisingly, stayed.

  Oftentimes, he received a note saying a certain word or name was not included in the Rules Dictionary, and then the rule was erased.

  The handwriting was expectedly illegible, but the notebook shifted the red ink, making the words readable. A pattern Hezekiah noticed was that anytime he wrote something that benefited them, it was either erased or caused the Satisfaction % to drop. As for why, he wasn’t sure, but to make the rules manifest, he reluctantly avoided those types.

  This ability better be powerful to make me go through all this bullshit.

  1. No killing allowed

  2. Remove the torches from the walls

  3. You cannot commit violence

  4. If you see someone trapped, you must let them go

  5. Each step you take, you must remain still for ten minutes

  Miraculously, the percentage reached 100%. Although most of the rules benefited them, Hezekiah couldn’t help but feel something was off.

  -Rules are active every day for 24 hours

  -Rules will activate within the next five minutes after your confirmation

  -A copy will automatically be printed into your hands

  -Circle Confirm or Deny