Vani had never been on the second floor before. Even when his mom brought him to the brothel, he wasn't allowed past the first floor. So naturally, he was curious about what kind of place it was. But in the end, it wasn't anything special… just a long hallway with rooms on both sides.
After everything that had happened downstairs, he assumed people were aware of the situation. He even feared that Gerald might have already escaped. But as he walked through the corridor, he realized something strange… this floor was completely silent. It was as if some kind of magic canceled out all noise. He couldn't hear a single sound from the first floor or from the rooms around him. The only thing that reached his ears was the sound of his own footsteps.
Even more unsettling, some rooms had their doors wide open, revealing exactly what was going on inside. People were having sex, yet no sound came from them, no matter if they talked or even screamed. It was like they were trapped in their own little worlds, unable to hear or be heard.
As he continued walking, he started noticing familiar faces… people he used to play with on the streets, or old people he had helped with chores before. But among them, one person stood out.
A young woman, with short pink hair, pink eyes, and pale skin. She wasn't very tall, maybe around 152 cm. The first time he met her was a few months ago, completely by chance. It had started raining while he was outside, so he took cover and ended up petting a white cat with black spots that had wandered over to him. That's when she appeared, making a big fuss about why he was outside in the rain. As if he had a choice… it wasn't like he planned to get caught in the downpour.
Turns out, the cat was hers. And even though he hadn't actually found it… the cat had found him… she insisted on thanking him. Before he could say anything, she grabbed his hand and dragged him off like he was some lost child.
She took him to her home, which wasn't all that different from the one he and his mom lived in. She lived with her grandmother, and what surprised him the most was that she was the one providing for both of them. Her grandmother was sick, and the girl paid for everything… medicine, food, clothes. Anything they needed.
When she went to change out of her wet clothes, he took the chance to ask her grandmother where she worked. But the old lady didn't know… just that her granddaughter had a job somewhere in the village. Later, when he asked her, she just said she did chores for old people. Hard to believe. He did that sometimes too, but he never had the kind of money she did.
Why didn't she just tell me she worked here?
At one point, he asked to use the bathroom. While he was in there, she brought him new clothes… even though they were clearly meant for girls. And she didn't even bother knocking before barging in. The moment she saw him naked, she turned red and either slapped or punched him… he wasn't sure which. But whatever it was, it left a mark on his face for a whole week.
Why did she react like that? She had obviously seen naked men before.
After that, the atmosphere between them turned awkward. He just waited for the rain to stop so he could leave. She didn't say a word to him, only her grandmother spoke, cracking jokes or asking questions. Even when he saw her a few times after that, she completely ignored him.
He never caught her name, so he just called her Pinky.
Lost in thought, he hadn't realized he had stopped right in front of her door. She saw him.
At first, she looked shocked. Then her face turned bright red.
She didn't look like she needed any help, so he just gave her a little wave and walked past.
A few steps away, he reached the stairs leading to the third floor. Without hesitation, he started climbing.
When he reached the third floor, it looked a lot like the second, just fancier. The walls were nicer, the furniture looked expensive, and everything had this rich, heavy feel to it. There were eleven rooms… five on each side and one big door at the end of the hallway, the only one closed. That had to be Gerald's.
He was heading straight for it when something made him stop. A glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye.
He turned.
Gerald.
He saw the side of his face, and just like that, his whole body tensed. Gerald was sitting there, relaxed, completely unaware of him. In front of him, Eve was on all fours, her body moving back and forth, while Gerald sat behind her, eyes closed, enjoying himself.
These fuckers…
He stepped in without other thoughts.
And the second he did, they both noticed.
Eve was the first to speak, her voice confused.
"Huh? Uhhh? A kid? Did you… invite him here?"
At first, she didn't recognize him. But Gerald did.
"No…"
Eve tilted her head, still on all fours, looking even more confused. But then Gerald continued, his voice uncertain.
"This kid… He's Rena's… son."
Eve blinked, processing his words. Then, as the realization hit her, she grabbed a pillow to cover herself and let out a shocked gasp.
"Ehhhhhh? This kid is Vani?"
She squinted at him.
"He looks so different since the last time I saw him."
But Gerald wasn't listening. He was too busy trying to figure out what was happening. A cold sweat ran down his back.
"Hey, Vani… how did you get here?" he asked, his voice tense.
Vani took a slow breath, barely holding himself together. When he spoke, his voice was icy.
"How do you think I did it?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the air in the room changed. A crushing pressure filled the space. Both Gerald and Eve froze. Their eyes widened. A chill ran down their spines. It wasn't just fear… they could feel it deep in their bones. One wrong move, one wrong word… and they knew they wouldn't leave this room alive.
Gerald's mind raced.
Did Walter fail? No. Did he betray me? Or did the kid escape? Does he know? Is Rena still alive? Nothing made sense.
Trying to calm himself, Gerald opened his mouth to speak.
"You kno—"
But Vani cut him off before he could even finish.
"Be careful of what you say."
With that, he stepped forward.
Gerald instinctively took a step back, but he was too rattled. His mind clouded with fear, and he made a fatal mistake. He spoke without thinking.
"I don't understand what you m…"
The words barely left his mouth before a sharp pain shot through his body.
His vision blurred. He stumbled, lost his balance, and collapsed onto the floor. His gaze darted around in confusion. That's when he saw it… A knife. A blade covered in blood.
His blood.
A cold realization hit him. He looked down.
His leg was gone.
The pain hadn't even fully registered yet, but when it did…
"Aaaaaaaaghhhhhh!!"
A gut-wrenching scream tore from his throat.
Eve was frozen. She had seen everything but hadn't even processed it. She couldn't follow Vani's movements. He was too fast. She didn't dare look at him. Her entire body trembled as she covered her mouth, terrified to even breathe too loudly.
Gerald kept screaming, writhing in agony. But Vani just stared, expressionless.
"Stop!"
But Gerald couldn't hear him. The pain was too much.
Vani sighed. Then, without warning, he grabbed Gerald by the neck and lifted him as if he weighed nothing.
With terrifying force, he slammed Gerald's face into the wall.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
And again.
Blood splattered. Teeth clattered to the floor.
Gerald's screams died out. His body twitched, barely conscious.
Vani let go, throwing him near the door like a piece of trash.
Vani's gaze shifted to Eve. She didn't dare look at him, didn't want to catch his attention. She stood frozen, so still that an outsider might think she wasn't even breathing. But she knew. She could feel it in her bones… he was watching her.
Then, just as suddenly, his eyes returned to Gerald.
Vani stepped forward. Gerald was groaning in pain, but Vani didn't care. He pressed his foot against Gerald's head, silencing him.
Then, in a cold voice, he asked,
"Do you want to live?"
Gerald flinched at the question. But as much as it shocked him, he wouldn't let the chance slip away. His voice trembled as he answered:
"Y... yes…"
"Good."
Vani's tone remained flat, emotionless.
"Then we'll play a little game."
"A game?" Gerald echoed, dread creeping into his voice.
"If you win, I'll let you live. But if I win… I'll kill you. What do you think?"
Gerald didn't like the sound of it, but what choice did he have? He had to play along.
Swallowing his fear, he asked,
"What game?"
Vani didn't hesitate.
"Catch. The goal is the first floor. If you reach it before I catch you, you win. But if I get to you first… you lose. The stairs don't count… you have to be on the first floor."
Gerald's mind raced. He was missing a leg, but this was still a chance. If he could reach the first floor, maybe someone would be there… maybe Walter. Maybe he could turn the tables. What he didn't know was that Walter was already dead.
Vani tilted his head slightly.
"Do you want a head start?"
Gerald hesitated for a second, but then hope flickered in his eyes.
"Yes… I'd like a head start."
A smirk tugged at Vani's lips.
"Alright. Then choose. Your remaining leg or one of your arms."
Gerald's face twisted in confusion.
"What?"
Vani's reply was flat, devoid of emotion.
"It's simple. Pick which limb I'll cut next. Your arm or your leg. If you don't choose, I'll decide for you. You have five seconds."
Gerald's heart pounded. His mind refused to process what was happening. He had already lost one limb… how could he choose another?
But he took too long.
Vani's voice cut through the air.
"Time's up."
Before Gerald could react, Vani crouched down and pressed the blade against his right shoulder.
"W-wait, plea…"
The knife sank in before he could finish. Pain exploded through his body as the blade carved through flesh and bone. Gerald screamed, begged, pleaded for it to stop… but it didn't. The agony was unbearable. A normal person would've passed out, but his desperation to survive kept him conscious.
Vani didn't like his screaming.
Without a word, he grabbed Gerald and threw him out of the room.
"You have a one-minute head start. Start crawling."
Then he shut the door.
Now, it was just him and Eve.
The room was silent. Eve, having witnessed everything that happened to Gerald, knew there was no escape. Running wasn't an option. She had to think of something… anything… that might make him spare her.
Then, the tears came.
She broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for what I did!"
Her voice trembled, barely coherent between her cries.
Vani watched her, unmoved. Her tears meant nothing to him. But after a moment, he finally spoke.
"Why did you betray my mom?"
Eve continued crying, shaking her head desperately.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I didn't have a choice! Gerald threatened me, he said he'd do horrible things to the girls here if I didn't tell him what I knew! I was scared!"
She was gasping for air between sobs, her words spilling out in a frantic rush.
"I don't know why your mom trusted me so much. It's true we were friends… I liked her a lot. She was always kind to me. But I never understood why she told me about her plan to leave. She said she couldn't tell Sophia, because if Sophia found out, she'd do anything to stop her, she said it was too dangerous. So she told me instead, because she thought I'd understand.
"You have to believe me, Vani! I liked your mom… and I liked you, too! Back when you were little, when you used to come here. I played with you, I gave you candies! We had fun together! Please, you have to understand… I had no choice…!"
She kept repeating it over and over.
"I had no choice, I had no choice…"
Her voice cracked with every word.
Vani's face remained blank. Emotionless. He didn't believe a single word she said.
"Is that really true?" His voice was quieter now, almost hesitant. His expression shifted slightly, as if he was trying to process it, as if he was hurt by what he just heard.
Eve, desperate, latched onto that moment.
"Yes! It's true! I swear it! I'm so sorry!"
Vani stepped closer. The room fell into silence once again. The only sound was Eve's quiet, broken sobbing.
For a brief moment, hope flickered in her teary eyes. She thought she had convinced him.
She was wrong.
Vani's left hand moved slowly, deliberately. His palm touched the underside of her jaw, tilting her face upward. He looked straight into her eyes, his expression unreadable.
Then, with a voice as cold as death, he whispered.
"Liar."
The knife moved.
Slow. So slow she could see it happening.
The blade started just above her mouth, gliding upward. Cutting through her cheek, slicing through her eye, tracing a line up her forehead.
Her screams shattered the silence.
She fell backward onto the bed, screaming in pain.
"My eye! It hurts! Why? Why don't you believe me? I didn't do it on purpose. I had no choice! Please, you have to believe me!"
Vani's reply was cold and unwavering.
"Why don't I believe you? It's simple. Because before coming here, Walter told me everything. He told me how my mother trusted you, how she confided in you about her plan, and how you ran straight to Gerald and betrayed her."
Eve froze. Her mind raced, realizing that her attempt to deceive him had been hopeless from the start. But she couldn't give up. Desperation took hold as she screamed,
"Then why do you believe Walter but not me?"
"Why?" Vani echoed.
"Because he told me everything right before he tried to kill me. And in the end… I was the one who killed him."
Silence hung in the air, suffocating and heavy. Then, Vani tossed his knife onto the bed, the blade landing just inches from her hand.
He said, his tone empty.
"You get a chance, just like Gerald did."
Eve's breath hitched as she stared at the knife, her body trembling.
"You… you're serious?" she choked out.
Vani said,
"Take that knife. Stab yourself in the stomach and hold on for three minutes. If you can do that, I'll let you live."
Her breath caught in her throat.
Stab myself?
The thought alone sent waves of panic through her. How could a normal person do something like that? Her hands trembled as she looked at the blade.
"I… I can't," she whispered, her mind spiraling.
I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't do that. Why is this happening to me?
Tears streamed down her face as a mantra of denial played in her head.
I did nothing wrong… I did nothing wrong… I did nothing wrong…
Vani watched as Eve sat there, overwhelmed by her own thoughts. He tilted his head slightly and asked,
"What's wrong? You can't do it?"
Eve, panicked and trembling, shook her head.
"How? Even if I do it, I'll die after three minutes. Even if I somehow survive that long, I'll still die in the end."
Vani remained unfazed, his voice calm and confident.
"Didn't I tell you? Before coming here, I killed Walter. Now, think. If I managed to kill him, how do you think I did it?"
Eve's breath hitched.
Walter was a Novarian. That meant…
"The only answer," Vani continued, his voice cold, "is that I've awakened too. I'm a Novarian now."
Her eyes widened.
"You... You're saying you can heal me?"
Vani nodded.
"That's right. I can heal you."
Eve's thoughts raced.
If he truly killed Walter, then he must have awakened. He wasn't lying.
And yet, her hands refused to move. The fear of pain, of death, paralyzed her.
"Can I really trust you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you really going to heal me after?"
Vani's expression softened. An illusion of sympathy.
"Yes. I will heal you. Honestly, Eve, I feel bad for you. Even though you betrayed my mother, she trusted you. And I can't forget the memories I have of you from when I was a kid... You were kind to me back then. That's why I want to forgive you."
For the first time, hope flickered in Eve's eyes.
But then, his voice dropped, his words turning sharp.
"But you still have to pay for what you did. You need to feel what my mother felt."
Eve's heart pounded.
"What? What do you mean? What did Rena feel?"
Vani's gaze bore into her.
"She was stabbed, just like I'm asking you to do now. She held on for about four minutes before I healed her."
Eve swallowed hard.
"Do you think... Do you think she could forgive me?"
Vani shrugged.
"I don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself."
Tears streamed down her face. Her entire body trembled as she reached for the knife. Her fingers curled around the handle, her breath uneven. And then, gathering every ounce of strength she had left…
She stabbed herself.
Half of the knife was buried in her stomach. Eve screamed in agony, her entire body trembling.
"I did it! I did it!"
she cried, gasping for breath. The pain was unbearable, unlike anything she'd ever felt before. But she forced herself to say it again, desperate for reassurance.
"I did it…"
Vani, calm and unmoved, simply replied,
"Not yet."
Eve's eyes widened.
"What?"
"That's only halfway. You have to push it all the way in."
Her mind froze. The pain was already too much. If she drove the knife in deeper, she couldn't even imagine how unbearable it would be.
"You're already halfway there. What? You can't do it?"
Eve looked up at him, her vision blurred with tears. He was serious. There was no way out. No room for hesitation.
With a choked sob, she gritted her teeth and pushed the knife deeper. Her entire body convulsed as waves of searing pain shot through her. She screamed, her voice raw, her hands trembling as she forced the blade in until the hilt pressed against her skin.
She gasped, head tilted back, tears streaming down her face.
"It's… all the way in…"
Her voice was weak, but she managed to ask,
"Do you think Rena will forgive me?"
Vani stared at her, expression unreadable. Then, with a slight tilt of his head, he said.
"I don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself."
A weak, broken smile formed on Eve's lips.
"Yeah… I can ask her… later…"
Vani stepped closer and sat beside her on the bed. Gently, he placed a hand on her cheek, his thumb wiping away her tears. For the first time, his face softened, his eyes filled with something almost… human. Sadness.
Eve, despite the pain, found comfort in his touch. In his gaze.
Vani looked into her eyes and spoke, his voice quieter than before.
"If you somehow meet my mom… tell her Hi for me. Tell her I'll try to live my life the best I can. And…"
He hesitated, his grip tightening slightly.
"Tell her I'm sorry… that I couldn't protect her."
Eve blinked in confusion.
"What… What does that mean?"
Vani's expression didn't change. He slowly lowered his hand from her face, resting it on the bed, his gaze drifting up toward the ceiling.
He spoke, voice almost wistful.
"Ah… I lied to you. I didn't heal my mom. She was already dead when I got home."
Eve's mind refused to process what she had just heard.
What…?
Confusion clouded her thoughts, her breath quickening. She couldn't understand… she didn't want to understand.
But Vani continued, his tone eerily calm.
"If you had just stopped and thought for a second, you would have realized it. If I really had healing powers like that… don't you think I would've healed myself first before coming here?"
Eve's breath hitched.
Vani motioned toward his body, still bruised and bloodied.
"But as you can see, my wounds are still here. My body is healing, sure, but that's because of the ability I got when I awakened as a Novarian. It's not something I can control… and even then, it's slow."
Realization crashed down on her like a tidal wave. She had been tricked. Played.
Her entire body trembled. Not just from pain but from sheer despair. Her lips quivered before twisting into a furious snarl.
"Y-You fucker!"
she screamed, her voice raw.
"You lied to me! I trusted you! You filthy little bastard. How dare you!?"
She gasped, rage overtaking her fear.
"You're just the son of a prostitute! How dare you do this to me?!"
But Vani felt nothing. No sympathy. No guilt. Not even satisfaction. Just… emptiness.
He slowly stood up, his eyes cold as he looked down at her.
"That's probably how my mom felt,"
he said, his voice quiet yet sharp enough to cut through the air.
"She trusted you… and you betrayed her."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Sucks, doesn't it?"
Eve's breath came out in ragged gasps. She tried to move, tried to crawl, do something, but her body wouldn't respond.
The realization hit her like a final, merciless blow.
She was going to die.
Vani walked toward the door, his steps slow and deliberate.
Behind him, Eve's voice cracked with desperation.
"Hey! Where are you going, you fucker? Don't leave me! Please… don't leave me! Help me, you bastard!"
Her words turned to frantic pleading.
"You're a Novarian, right? You can save me! Please!"
But Vani didn't stop. He didn't even look back. He stepped through the door and shut it behind him, sealing her fate. Her screams faded into the silence of the room, swallowed by the inevitability of death.
Outside, he exhaled, his voice calm, almost bored.
"Now. Let's pick up where we left off, Gerald."