On an island covered in lush greenery, the sun was slowly setting. At the center of the island stood a lone pillar with a red button on top. A short distance away, on an empty shore, a helicopter landed. From it descended Lord Yin.
Several masked figures stood waiting to welcome him.
As he stepped onto the ground, he began walking toward the pillar.
"So, is everything going smoothly?" Lord Yin asked.
"Yes," one of the masked figures replied.
"Good. Now we shall do what should have been done in the first place."
With that, he continued toward the pillar.
—————
"That's all bullshit!" Emma shouted angrily.
Emma and Vyuk were inside Emma's apartment room. It was similar to Noah's room but larger and slightly more luxurious. Vyuk held Noah's medical files, trying to calm her.
"That's the truth," Vyuk said. "Noah's nociceptors are genuinely damaged."
Emma, still unconvinced, snapped back furiously.
"When we first met, we collided, and he felt pain. How do you explain that?"
Vyuk sighed.
"His nociceptors are gradually weakening. At that time, they were already affected due to a genetic mutation but weren't completely numb. After killing those masked figures and the drug exposure, the deterioration accelerated. Soon, he won't feel pain at all."
Vyuk tried his best to reason with her, but Emma turned away, furious.
"I'm going out," she said sharply.
Vyuk tried to stop her.
"Where are you going? This is your room. Emma, stop!"
—————
Noah was walking down the hospital corridor toward his room after using the washroom. A guard walked beside him. Noah held his food tray and ate quickly, unwilling to let the old nurse with wrinkled hands feed him.
When they reached his room, the guard strapped Noah to his chair and took the tray away. The chair was placed near the window so Noah could look outside and calm down.
His mind was still clouded by drugs. His eyes were bloodshot, and inside him stirred a strange hunger. He believed it was a craving for freedom—but that was only half the truth. He wanted something else, something darker.
As he stared at the moon and the scattered stars, a memory surfaced.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are…"
His mother used to sing it to him when he was a child—when his father was still alive and life felt hopeful. As isolation crept deeper into his mind, Noah softly began to sing.
While staring outside, he noticed a messy-looking man handing drugs to children in a dark alley. The man hid in the shadows, not from people—but from the police. The alley wasn't invisible; people noticed him. They simply chose not to act. He understood their apathy.
Noah remained motionless, detached. Yet deep inside, sorrow festered.
Suddenly, the door opened.
A doctor entered. His face was hidden beneath a hospital cap. He walked closer and sat in front of Noah. Noah remained emotionless—until the doctor pulled out something unexpected.
A wooden mask, carved with two hollow eye holes.
Noah's expression changed instantly. Rage consumed him. He struggled violently against the restraints, going berserk.
"Calm down," the doctor said coldly. "Or I won't tell you about Ron."
Those words instantly subdued Noah.
The doctor continued, "First—do you want this medicine?"
He produced the same black-and-white pill.
Noah's eyes widened with hunger. He craved it. The pill gave him adrenaline… and pleasure.
The masked doctor tossed it into the air. With perfect precision, Noah caught it in his mouth and swallowed it. A maniacal grin spread across his face.
"Ron is alive," the doctor said.
The grin vanished. Shock and fragile hope flooded Noah's face.
Without another word, the doctor placed a knife on Noah's chair and left.
Elsewhere, a masked figure monitoring the CCTV deleted the footage of their interaction.
Moments later, the guard outside heard loud banging from Noah's room. Realizing Noah was restrained, he rushed in and unlocked the door.
The moment it opened—
Noah slashed the knife across the guard's throat.
The guard collapsed to the floor, blood pooling beneath him. Noah stepped outside, his foot landing in the warm blood.
He remembered one of his father's words from their training days:
"Never expect an untamed lion to perform in a circus or obey its master."
With that thought, Noah walked forward.
Ahead, nurses and doctors saw him—and froze in horror.