Chapter 16:

Hangover. A simple enough word to describe a not particularly pleasant state. Alcohol has always been a poison to the human body — and obviously, the consequences of consuming it always fall on the one who consumed it.

But what if the person who drank it didn't even know what was in that wretched liquid? Obviously — they would be furious. And right now Yuri was extremely furious. From the very moment he became "this," he had been unable to consume human food, which meant his only pleasure had been cannibalism — not the most wholesome thing for one's sanity. And how would Yuri feel upon learning that people could even get drunk on him?

Well, he felt disgusted with himself simultaneously — but alongside that, the feeling of euphoria from the clouding of his mind had already lodged itself deep in his memory. Which meant that, despite the accompanying hangover, he wouldn't mind doing it again.

However, he didn't know under what circumstances one could get drunk on human energy — so all he could do was find the answer later. But right now he needed to get out of this hole.

Given that the man had won the argument...

— BLEHHHHH.

The moment Yuri began recalling his intoxicated behaviour, an uncontrollable wave of revulsion crashed over his mind. How could he have been hitting on a man! What's more — he had even allowed male hands to grope his backside...

— Bleh.

Disgusting, revolting, disgustingly revolting! He would never in his life eat fermented people again! This state of clouded judgment, this instinctive desire to devour the man in front of him with his own teeth — it was so DISGUSTING!

Oh God, why was this sort of gay nonsense happening specifically to Yuri. Where in his life had he sinned so gravely that something like this would happen to him?!

That tingling sensation, that sickeningly sweet smell, that beckoning tongue. He would never set foot near that lout again. Every time he met him, something clearly went wrong with his head.

[Oh, I've come to. Meaning that for my sanity to return — I need to experience sufficient stimulation...]

His thoughts became coherent once more — which meant it was time to form a plan.

[...]

However, there was one small problem.

[You stay quiet when I talk. But you chatter when I'm silent. You blurt out information I never asked for — and that lout clearly couldn't hear you. You're the same kind of monster as the one that bit off my HEAD, aren't you?]

...

[OH, LOOK AT THAT — SOMEONE'S TONGUE SUDDENLY DRIED UP! YOU'RE JUST A COWARD REFUSING TO GET DIRECTLY INVOLVED, AREN'T YOU? BUT HERE'S THE THING — I CLEARLY REMEMBER DYING OF HUNGER! SO WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED? HUH? SAY IT!]

...

[Tch. I'll play along with you — you're not my enemy. Just a voice that can't shut up. Besides, you're not entirely useless. So — perhaps you ought to consider cooperating? I don't think you're so bored that you'd just be watching me for no reason. So if you would simply tell me what has allowed me to come back to life twice now — I will with full readiness fulfil any request of yours. Within reason, of course. But surely you want something too?]

...

[Alright, Mister Shyness. I'll stop expressing my opinion so fervently. Ah — or is this more your style?!]

[...]

...

Having concluded his deeply unpleasant monologue with himself, Yuri decided to move on. Although he was obliged to honour the terms established during the game — the terms themselves had not been specified. So Yuri simply fulfilled the most desired wish that the lout had held at that moment in time — namely, he had followed him without causing problems. Since the terms had already been fulfilled, Yuri was no longer bound by the condition — meaning all his subsequent actions were entirely free to align with his own will.

All he had to do was disappear — which he was planning to do, until he ran into one teeeeeny little problem. He seemed unable to tear open space in this room...

[Damn.]

Although Yuri had already gotten up, his captors showed no signs of moving, which made him start seriously wondering whether they intended to starve him out. However, losing one battle didn't mean losing the war. The fact that he couldn't escape from here didn't mean he couldn't pretend that he had. All he had to do was appear somewhere he wasn't.

=

The cockroach races were in full swing. The tension was substantial, and the competition fierce. Right now the cockroach with the red mark on its back was in the lead, but the green one had started catching up, with only a couple of turns left to the finish.

When suddenly the blue cockroach, which had initially been huddled at the starting line, began running, gaining on them!

— NOOOO! RUN, LITTLE RED! YOU CAN DO IT — I BELIEVE IN YOU!

The employee who had wagered all their energy bars was screaming at the top of their lungs in support of their contender. Their bet had to pay off. The bar machine wouldn't be restocked until next week, and until then they wouldn't be able to eat their beloved bars! This race absolutely had to end in victory!

But the green creature was catching up to Little Red far too quickly, while the blue one was starting to gain on both of them. It was an extremely tense race — and the employee was already considering quietly using their ability. With sufficient skill, no one would even notice if they slightly froze the opponents' legs!

So they absolutely should try. Cold — their unique ability. Although, as an ability user, they had only reached the second level — this was more than sufficient to use it about twenty times a day. They mainly used it as a free air conditioner, but with enough motivation could increase the power.

Their fingers trembled with the prevailing tension, and their eyes quietly darted around, checking how alert their opponents were. Everyone was so absorbed in the game that they surely wouldn't notice what was about to happen.

Cold!

— MARK, HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST IT?! HOW DARE YOU CHEAT!

But the pink-haired employee immediately saw through his devious plan — which was enormously stressful. If you were caught cheating, your wager was automatically voided and distributed among the other participants. Mark could not lose his bars!

— Tch. I've never seen you cheat so openly before. And my cockroach is getting closer to the finish — which puts me in a rather good mood today. So how about we play rock-paper-scissors? If I win — I'll do something you won't like. If you win — I'll say nothing about your cheating. Seems like a good deal to me?

Mark had no need to argue — he started playing immediately. His energy bars were on the line!

His hand threw scissors — but the employee standing opposite threw rock.

— Aren't scissors supposed to go first by the rules?

— Oh, are they? I don't think we discussed that. Well, in any case — I'll do something unpleasant~

Mark fell to his knees. He couldn't bear even the thought of losing his beloved energy bars.

— ARGH! Please don't tell them!

— Hm? I wasn't planning to. All you have to do is press the little yellow button.

— Huh? Okay.

=

Mark seemed to have dozed off during the cockroach races — but his body for some reason refused to obey him and mechanically moved toward the control centre. The yellow button opened the door to the anomaly's containment cell — it would be bad if someone were to press it. Oh, it seemed Mark had just accidentally dropped his finger onto it. He'd probably get fired? Who was he kidding — welcome to the purple jumpsuits, Mark!

=

[Hm, easy.]

Thought Yuri, preparing to leave. But when he tried to use his ability — instead of his beloved office, he found only an unsettling wall in the inter-space. And wherever he went — it refused to disappear.

However, when Yuri tried to move a few metres forward — he managed it without any difficulty. That could only mean one thing: he urgently needed to find an exit. And his Skip, it seemed, had become limited in range within this awful building...

[I always come back]