Precautions of a Snakepit - Chapter 73
“Well, I’m more conservative than I look. If we date, we have to get married.”
Won snorted at his absurd logic.
“By that logic, you must have gotten divorced around twenty times, right?”
“No, I haven’t.”
For a moment, Won suspected that Top Dog’s answer meant that he disposed of them by dumping them somewhere in the ocean. Then, it would be a funeral instead of a divorce, but then she realized he wouldn’t go that far and backed off.
‘Then what? Is it just a lie?’
Abandoning searching for the truth, she just decided to go on with her rebuttal.
“Why would I go out with you?”
“Because I like you, and you like me?”
“I haven’t said I like you yet.”
“Then you’re not going out with me?” He asked, sounding amused.
Of course, she couldn’t deny it. He knows that, and that’s why he’s smirking. For them to be able to hang out and casually exchange information, they have to look like they are dating in the eyes of others.
Realizing that it was a game she couldn’t beat him in, Won decided to leave. The only way to avoid losing was to leave.
Without saying goodbye, Won grabbed a change of clothes and went to the shower. After washing up and eating breakfast, she was walking back to her room when a nurse approached her.
‘What’s going on?’
Nervously, Won stood up and the nurse stated her purpose.
“Dr. Madison wants to see you. Please go to the exam room.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t believe she had to deal with that assh*le first thing in the morning. Maybe it was a warning that the day wouldn’t go well.
Won nodded, consciously trying not to show her displeasure.
“I’ll just brush my teeth and be on my way.”
Part of her wanted to brush her teeth until Dr. Madison’s shift was over, but Won resisted the urge and went to his office.
‘Let’s hope for the best.’
The exam room is not a place she can go wherever she wants. It’s a place that can only be accessed when Dr. Madison calls or when the CCTVs are off. It’s not quite a hidden stage in a game, but it’s about S-level difficulty. There’s no harm in increasing the information she has about it, though.
‘I don’t know if there’s more information to be gained.’
She found the location of the safe. She hoped that she could find the combination for it.
Standing in front of the door to his office, Won reluctantly knocked.
“Come in.”
He sounded eerily calm. Apparently, Dr. Madison knew how to compose himself.
Won grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and stepped inside. Dr. Madison, who was looking at some papers, pushed up his glasses.
“Ah, Ms. Lee Won. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“What can I do for you?”
“First, have a seat.”
She hoped it would be over before she sat down, but his demeanor suggested otherwise. Won sat down across from him.
“Let’s get something to drink while we talk. Coffee? Tea? Juice? I’ve got all sorts of things, so if there’s anything you want, let me know.”
“No thank you.”
“Oh, well then.”
Dr. Madison gave her a regretful look. It was an obvious choice for Won.
How could she trust what he would give her?
“You look so hostile. Is it because of what happened last time?” He asked, smirking.
Won was silent. She wasn’t stupid.
The tickling torture in the stabilization room might have cemented it, but it hadn’t been the only time he earned her dislike. He had a bad first impression, and never a good one; he had a knack for doing just the right things she hated.
His eyes narrowed as he stared at the silent Won. As if that weren’t enough, they narrowed even more and became more like serpentine.
“Did you just hate it? I don’t think so.”
Rising from his chair, he walked halfway around the desk to sit on the side closest to her. Then, he took her hand in his, his thumb gently brushing the back of her hand, and spoke with a muffled voice.
“Your body certainly liked it, but your mind… your pride pretends you didn’t, but didn’t you really enjoy it?”
“Don’t touch me like this without my permission.”
Won swatted her hand away. His words weren’t worth listening to. He’s the kind of assh*le who would stick a gag in her mouth and then say she was drooling from pl*asure.
Won would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it and her body didn’t react to it, but it was more unpleasant than pleasurable. Compared to the outrage of being deprived of her freedom and dignity, the little pl*asure she got from drugs and tickling was insignificant.
“Well, I guess your pride prevents you from admitting it.”
Looking down at her hands, Dr. Madison arrogantly asserted as if he were making some professional diagnosis. He is a doctor, after all.
‘They should have given you a personality test before giving you a license to practice medicine…’
“So, if we eliminate your ego, you’ll only be left with pl*asure?”
The words that followed snapped Won out of her reverie. She looked up at the man in front of her, feeling like he threw cold water on her. Dr. Madison showed her a cheeky smile.
“I’m glad to hear so, Ms. Lee.”
He patted his chest in reassurance.
“That’s my specialty. I don’t need to work too hard to help you.”
Won felt a chill down her spine. It was a declaration of war. He was going to break her until she couldn’t stand up for herself, and he was going to be thorough.
This is no ordinary hospital. It’s a psychotropic, drug-filled asylum that’s working with a cult that specializes in hypnosis and brainwashing.
It wasn’t hard for Won to picture herself as a drugged and brainwashed wreck. Old Man Gu, Ms. Yang, and the other patients in the ward were endless examples.
‘I have to escape before that happens.’
Her instincts screamed for her to forget the mission and get out. One failed mission won’t ruin her life.
If she has to risk having her limbs cut off, then so be it. She wouldn’t mind a prosthetic leg or hand, but not her nervous system. Once her brain is damaged, there is no replacement.
‘This guy is really out of his mind.’
Normally, if someone says no, it’s to be accepted. But this guy is trying to modify it to get the outcome he wants. It’s like taking apart a bunch of legos and putting it back together again because you don’t like it.
His mindset is completely out of the realm of normality.
A basic lack of respect for others.
He looks fine on the outside but is completely warped inside.
He is part of the unreformable people. They are born human and have a human appearance, but are not human. It is an alien creature that lives its entire life masquerading as a human being and imitating humans. No amount of education can change the fact that they are parasites, just as no amount of pretending to be beneficial can change the fact they are parasitic.
Education is a means to make humans better humans. It’s not a magic trick that turns pseudo-humans into humans.
Won looked at his piercing eyes behind his glasses. There was only one creature she could think of when she looked at him.
‘A snake.’
It wasn’t the first time in her life she’d seen a ‘snake-eye physiognomy.’
Sensitive, cunning, suspicious, assertive, and willing to go to any lengths to fulfill their greed.
It’s a big word for it, but it’s so common that it deserves its own classification. Stand on the street and you’ll see dozens of them in a day, but this man’s eyes were different.
They say the eyes are the windows to the heart. If that’s true, this man looked like a snake in a human body.
‘He would have been fine as a snake, but did he end up as a human…’
“I’ve got an important job ahead of me, and I need to pay attention to that right now, so it’s difficult. But once that’s done, we can begin our ‘treatment.’”
Dr. Madison stood up from his desk and paced around the room as he spoke. The lightness in his step and his tone suggested he was enjoying himself.
A premonition that the ‘important job’ might be related to Target shot through Won. A ‘ritual,’ to be precise, that would take place the next time the CCTVs were off.
Human sacrifice was originally based on the belief that the more valuable the offering, the more pleased the gods would be. It’s a very human idea that the gods will recognize their sincerity and grant greater favors if they are offered well-maintained livestock rather than common livestock, rare animals rather than common animals, or their kind rather than rare animals. As such, human sacrifice is a “very important” ritual across cultures and religions.
If the “important job” Dr. Madison is referring to is the “ritual” of sacrificing Target, then his safety is assured until the next night cameras are off. After that night, she won’t be here, so she won’t need to fear Dr. Madison’s subsequent “treatment.”
‘In the unlikely event that I fail to escape that day…’
Then she won’t have to fear his treatment in the sense that she won’t leave this hospital alive.
‘It’s all or nothing.’
Either she walks out of the hospital with Target, or he’s a sacrifice and she’s a play toy.
“Only a few more days. It’s soon.”
Dr. Madison added in an excited voice.
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