Chapter 3: From the victim’s perspective(3)

Far away, a man in black clothes was walking towards me from the opposite side.

How unusual.

This road wasn’t exactly a shortcut, and it was dark at night. Sometimes, smelly trash was dumped here, so there were hardly any people

passing by other than me.

Well, this neighborhood was a place where people lived, so it wasn’t like I’d never encountered a person on this road before… but seeing

someone in this back alley was not a common occurrence, to say the least.

…But that person’s clothes, they look familiar?

It was only when I belatedly noticed the suspicion that a large hand popped out from behind and covered my mouth. It was another man

wearing the same clothes as the man walking towards me.

‘There wasn’t a single sign of anyone!’

The kidnappers were the two men who had been standing in front of me on the bus. The same logo on their clothes confirmed it. So, they had

been following me since I got off the bus?

I bit the hand covering my mouth and tried to resist, but the difference in strength was too great.

“Ugh-!”

With a body possessing strength inferior to even an elementary school student, resisting two burly adult men was close to impossible.

“Shh. Stay still if you don’t want to get hurt.”

At the man’s unpleasant voice in my ear, I obediently nodded. There was no hope in resisting like this anyway. I was planning to pretend to

listen to them and then escape when the timing was right.

Until this point, I thought I could escape from the two men. Even just getting out of the alley would lead to a street with quite a few people

passing by.

‘If I calmly wait for the right timing, I can definitely escape. Stay calm…’

I tried to calm the trembling in my body by thinking as positively as possible. However, as I said before, things in the world don’t always go

my way.

I realized that the plan had gone completely wrong when the two men pulled out syringes filled with a strange liquid.

“Hey, did you bring the drug properly?”

“Here it is. I already put it in the syringe.”

Ugh!

“Hey, I told you not to move.”

The man covering my mouth choked my trachea, as if telling me to listen. I couldn’t breathe, so my consciousness gradually faded. Even so, I

didn’t stop struggling.

The reason… was the transparent and sparkling liquid inside the syringe. I knew what that liquid was. I remember it being one of the main

topics in the news a few days ago. The identity of that liquid was… a paralyzing poison that Alaunes, a plant-type race among the users, could

create in their bodies.

When ingested or injected, it would paralyze the entire body while leaving consciousness intact, similar to the paralyzing poison used by

spiders that eat their prey alive.

‘They weren’t just ordinary criminals. I miscalculated…’

And this Alaune poison was infamous as a drug used to kidnap users who were resistant to drugs used by ordinary people. In particular,

according to the news, it was mainly used by Chinese human trafficking criminal organizations.

Taking advantage of the security vacuum caused by the emergence of users and social chaos, the ‘kidnapping and human trafficking of users

who have become orphans’ was gradually becoming a serious problem worldwide.

However, I never dreamed that such people would be active in Korea, especially near my residence.

‘I have to escape somehow…’

I had no acquaintances around, and I had cut ties with my family. Even if I was kidnapped here, there would be no one to report it. I had paid

several months’ rent in advance, so I couldn’t expect the landlord to find my disappearance by seeing the empty room. So, if I was dragged

away from here, it would be the end.

I remembered the terrible images of users who had been kidnapped and sold to foreign countries from the news. People with missing limbs,

or people who had gone mad from endless abuse or inhumane human experimentation.

‘I don’t want to become like that…!’

However, holding on to consciousness with sheer willpower was starting to reach its limit. A living being cannot maintain consciousness

without breathing.

My breath was starting to catch more and more.

My thoughts slowed down, my consciousness blurred, and my vision turned upside down.

Along with a stinging sensation in my forearm, my vision went dark.

After successfully committing the crime, the two men met the group who had arranged for the vehicle. The vehicle, carrying the sack

containing the kidnap victim and their companions in the trunk, started and began to run down the road.

“They said it was a paralyzing poison extracted from Alaune race users, right? It’s my first time using it, but it’s definitely more effective than

the others.”

-It felt like it took less than a second to get her high. Is that right?

-It’s definitely worth the money.

-With this, we won’t have to worry about getting caught in the future.

All of the kidnappers’ group, that is, the men in black clothes, agreed with that opinion.

“This is the most effective drug that exists. Thanks to it, the work has become much easier. Whether it’s a werewolf or a beastman, they’ll

pass out in one shot.”

The kidnapper, who was the only one in the group who had used the anesthetic before, boasted proudly. He was the one who suggested using

this drug, and the results were pretty good, so it was understandable.

“Well, I roughly knew about the efficacy from rumors. By the way, what is this girl’s race? She has horns, so is she a demon? We need to know

the race for sure to get the right price.”

At the question of the companion in the driver’s seat, the man looked at the woman lying quietly in the large sack.

She was a beautiful person at first glance. He took out her ID card from her wallet.

Judging by her height, he thought she was a minor, maybe even a middle school student, but she was surprisingly old. To be an adult with

this face. Well, she looked young, so he was planning to lower her age when he sold her. The younger she was, the more money he could get.

He was planning to pocket the remaining difference without sharing it.

‘Looking at her young and pretty appearance, I think I can sell her expensively to foreign tycoons for their entertainment…’

He estimated her value in his mind, then turned his gaze to the horns on her head.

Horns that were too big to be a demon, and white hair instead of the black hair typical of the demon race.

Now that he looked at it like this, he simply thought she was a demon because she had horns, but something was strange. Demons had black

hair unless they specifically dyed it, but this woman had white hair. And the color of her eyes was unnatural, as if she was wearing lenses.

Well, he could find out if she was a demon or not later by stripping her naked and checking if she had a tail, so he didn’t necessarily have to

find out now…

But he couldn’t stand being curious.

While groping her body to check if she had the long tail typical of demons, the man felt something rough.

‘What is this? Scales?’

Opening the sack and checking the area where his hand had touched, he saw faint scales on the inside of her collarbone.

Its identity was the ‘reverse scale,’ a vital spot that every dragon possessed.

‘Could this be the one I’ve only heard about…’

The man had studied the characteristics and types of users’ races in detail for his business. According to his knowledge, there was only one

race that had such a human-like appearance with scales on only a part of their skin.

Dragon race. The rarest of the rare races among users, as rare as mermaids or high elves. Of course, the price skyrocketed due to its rarity. He

would probably receive enough money to live a prosperous life without having to do this job anymore.

He hit the jackpot. It felt like winning the first prize in the lottery. The man’s lips were hooked to his ears.

“What? Why are you suddenly laughing like a madman? Are you crazy?”

The companion, unable to keep up with the man’s sudden change in emotions, grumbled. However, the man’s laughter showed no signs of

stopping. Just as the companion’s patience was reaching its limit, the man, who had barely controlled the corners of his lips from rising,

opened his mouth.

“…Hey. This is a dragon. A draconian. Half-human, half-dragon. You’ve all heard of it, right?”

“Are you f*cking kidding me, really?”

A look of excitement spread across the faces of the other members as well. The selling price of a dragon was unbelievably high, making other

races of users look pitiful in comparison. If they could just arrive safely at the human trafficking market in mainland China, it would be like

winning the lottery.

“Let’s go straight to the port. Originally, we should have done a few more jobs to be in line with the rules, but right now, this one person is

enough to make a profit. Does everyone agree?”

There was no one who disagreed. The car, which had been heading to a temporary residence, turned around and headed for a quiet port in

the harbor.

Everyone probably had the same thought. Dreamlike thoughts about the amount of money they would receive in the future and what they

could do with it.

Lost in such thoughts, they failed to notice the blue light leaking from the sack, which was tightly bound with ropes.