His breath hitched, pain stretching across his entire being. Yet he didn't cry, he didn't let out a whimper of pain.
Outside, a group of people ran by, shouting orders loud enough to strike fear into him, but he bit the inside of his cheek to keep his composure.
He wasn't going to die.
He wasn't going to allow them to capture him again.
His name is Shiro Konno- or rather, that was his name. In this new world, he didn't have a name, only a number tag to indicate his identity.
Number 106.
He wasn't human, atleast, not to them. He was merely a test subject, one born not from care, but through meticulous experiments that border on inhumane.
He winced, clutching his bleeding arm.
This was bad, if he didn't find any help, he would surely die soon. Well, he would die either way anyway if he stayed.
Either by those cultists or by blood loss.
Not hearing any more people, he peeked out, looking left and right to make sure no one was really there anymore.
Finding not a soul in sight, he breathed a sigh of relief before feeling the ground beneath him get removed.
No, it was more accurate to say that he was being held up by one of the cultists.
Turning his head, his eyes were wide, seeing the hooded member sneering down at him, mouth contorted into a sadistic smile that sent shivers down his spine.
"Now where do you think you're going? You lot have caused us great trouble you know? You're the last one."
106 felt his body tense, fear washing over his being.
Ever since reincarnating into another world, all he had ever experienced were the suffering the cultists brought upon him in their pursuit of power.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that he wished death upon them for the inhumane experiments they had conducted on him and several other children.
He could still remember some of the more older children' cries as their bodies were toyed and molded, like some sick game of play-doh. If it weren't for one of them going berserk then he wouldn't have fled with the others.
However, judging by the cultist' choice of words, everone else had been recaptured.
The cultist sneered at him, finding joy in his torment and fear. He brought him near to his face, half of it obscured by the shadow of his robe.
"Heh, I'll personally make sure you go through a painful process for making us play this game of cat and mouse."
There was a certain edge to his tone that sent shivers down the child' spine.
"N-no.....please....."
He pleaded, hoping, if even just for a moment that this cultist wasn't completely heartless. That deep down, his childlike appearance would appeal to the older person.
But a condescending laugh was the answer to his pleas.
"Keke, no matter how much you plead, I won't let you go."
All of whatever hope Shiro had for escape was extinguished at that very moment, thrown away when the words of despair was delivered to him.
But just as all seemed bleak and he was drowning in an ocean of helplessness, a metaphorical life ring was thrown towards him.
[ Infinite Gacha System has fully integrated with the host ]
[ The host is given 5 gold tickets as a beginners pack ]
[ Would the host like to roll them? ]
[ Yes/No ]
As Shiro was being dragged away, his eyes lit up with hope.
For the past half a year, he had tried to see if he was like other transmigrators, if he had a "cheat" of his own. So, day after day, for a whole week, he had tried to activate it.
But to no avail.
He had no system, and his mana circuits were destroyed from the extreme experiments. Even trying to absorb mana was excruciatingly painful.
He had no way to overpower such super humans.
Until now.
"Yes! Roll them all now!"
He screamed in desperation, causing a raised brow from the cultist, but Shiro didn't care. His hope, his salvation had arrived when he most needed it, and he wasn't going to let his embarrassment ruin it.
"What the hell are you spouting now? Have you lost your mind?"
The cultist raised Shiro to his eye level, momentarily shocked as what he saw was not fear and hopelessness, but rather a sneer and a condescending look.
"What the?"
"Die, you fucker."
Before he could react, a sudden jolt in his chest caused him to stop in place, hand clutching his chest.
A searing pain tore at the cultist, the air drawing from his lungs as color rapidly drained from his being, turning paler with each passing second.
He stumbled, collapsing against the wall as he wheezed, trying to take in the air, trying to breathe life into himself. But nothing worked.
What should've been a quick death, was turned into a painfully slow one due to his self inflicted experiments that hyper activated his mana, trying to revive him.
But if his heart were to refuse to beat, then how could he ever be saved? The answer was that he could not.
He was akin to a patient on life support, slowly chipping away as his efforts to survive were rendered futile.
His gaze slowly looked up, looking at the boy who was terrified not a minute ago, now looking at him as if he were worthless trash.
However, he noticed something strange, there was a strange markings extending from the sides of his mouth, fading as he opened his mouth.
"That's what you get for what you've done."
'You damn brat! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!'
Those were his last words as darkness took his vision, expelling his soul from the land of the living.
Shiro breathed a sigh of relief, almost buckling on his knees if it weren't for his hands supporting himself.
[ Cursed Speech (5 stars) ]
[ Ultraspeed Regeneration (3 stars) ]
[ Twin Impact (2 stars) ]
[ Flash Step (3 stars) ]
[ Thought Acceleration (4 stars) ]
These were the rewards he had recieved by rolling all of his gold tickets. Due to the skill of ultraspeed regeneration, his mana circuits repaired themselves, allowing him to use cursed speech which ultimately ended the cultist' life.
But it would appear that his mana capacity were still far too low as such a command drained him of his overall mana reserves.
Using flash step, he swiftly escaped the prison, dashing past cultists without them being the wiser as his speed were imperceptable to the naked eye, only appearing as a phantom if one were to focus.
His form flickered across the entire laboratory until he had eventually reached the exit, the soft glow of the sun momentarily blinding him, before he was hit with the scent of blooming flowers and the fresh summer breeze, as opposed to the stale air of the prison he had known in his entire second life.
His eyes watered, lips quivering as he forced his tears of joy down, this wasn't the end of it.
The cultists would still try to find him, being one of the "successful" subjects of the super soldier experiment. They would want him, value him as a prized asset.
If they were to witness his current set of abilities, it would be a no brainer if in their greed they would do everything to replicate the process. If that were to happen, then his suffering would no doubt rise exponentially.
Taking one last look back at the cavern entrance, he muttered a quick apology to his fellow test subjects.
He could free them, force himself to try and eventually succeed.
But he was selfish. He didn't want to die.
He wanted to live.
Even if it meant leaving those who were nice to him to die, his body wouldn't hesitate to leave everything behind.
That's what he was.
A self preserving fool.
That was how he had lived in his previous life, and that's how he was going to live in this one.
"I'm sorry."
He muttered, turning before fleeing to the forest ahead, hoping to find civilization before he ran out of energy or before cultists found him.
.
.
.
.
.
"Interesting....."
A young girl muttered, amused as she watched the fleeing figure of the boy who had escaped the facility. The child was draped in a black hood, a black cloak, a black overalls, and a black half mask that concealed her face.
She was amused, interested at the boy who had managed to escape such a facility.
Beside her, a slim white haired elf appeared, kneeling as she relayed a report.
"My lord, we have drafted a complete layout of the entire place, including the holding cells where they keep the test subjects and the.....disposing room where they keep the deceased."
There was an audible strain in her words when she uttered the last part, her voice dripping with anger and distaste.
But Shadow didn't bother pointing it out.
"How many test subjects are there?"
"Atleast 100, if not more."
"I see."
The girl—Shadow kept her gaze into the distance, where the boy kept on running and running without looking back. Her mouth then curled into a wider grin as an idea popped into her mind.
"Beta."
She called out, the young elf jerking her head upwards to heed her lord' commands.
To the elf, this mysterious girl was her savior, her beacon, her life. If Shadow were to tell her to take her own life then she wouldn't hesitate in doing so.
Her lord' words were absolute, they were the law.
"I have taken an interest into their lone escapee. Take Delta with you and track him down."
Beta was surprised, taken aback.
Someone had managed to escape such a facility? That hell? Someone managed to escape it?
It was unbelievable.
To her, everyone in that facility was a prisoner, trapped to either die by the cultists' hands or saved by theirs. It was either death or salvation.
She had never heard of anyone managing to escape.
But now someone had managed to run away from such a place?
Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.
"Understood my lord."
But Beta didn't doubt her lord.
Shadow didn't have a reason to lie. After all, why would a being of greatness such as her spout lies and nonsense?
If she herself said it, then it must be the truth.
Departing from her kneeling, she went to retrieve her dog like subordinate who was neck deep into the facility, tearing at the cultists with no remorse, but rather a sadistic pleasure.
Shadow kept her gaze into the distance, pumping mana into her eyes as she looked upon the boy running desperately in fear.
'Well whatever, Delta and Beta would soon catch up to him.'
To be continued.....
(A/N : Yes this takes place in TEIS, and yes Cid is genderbent in this story.
Ignore most of the typos and grammatical error, english is not my first language.
Also, the book cover is yours to imagine cuz I can't make one one ;-;, for some reason it refuses to upload the photo I want it to upload)