Chapter 592: Carnival of Desire [24]

The heavy metal gate groaned open with a long, drawn-out sound, like the pained moan of a wounded creature.

The first thing that hit them was the smell of sweetness. Not the gentle sweetness of candy or honey, but something harsh and overpowering—so cloying that it seemed to claw straight down the throat, making one want to retch. Beneath that sugary stench, however, another smell was seeping through—the reek of rotting flesh, dried blood, the unmistakable odor of something that had once been alive but had now been reduced to mere matter.

Lulu froze at the threshold.

It could sense that the air inside the room was far denser than outside, as though the smell itself had become visible, suspended beneath the sickly yellow lights.

Before them stretched a vast chamber, its ceiling so high that the industrial lamps overhead were nothing more than tiny points of light floating in the darkness. The entire floor was tiled in glossy white, but these were not clean, pristine tiles. They were tiles that had been soaked through with some kind of liquid, leaving behind mottled stains of pale pink and dark brown.

And scattered across the floor, stretching as far as the eye could see, were things that had once been people.

They no longer moved.

They no longer breathed.

Their bodies had fused into the hardened mass of sugar as though they had become a part of it. Their faces still held the expressions they had worn in their final moments—some were smiling, some were crying, while others had their mouths hanging open as if they were still chewing on something.

"Julian…"

Adrian spoke the name of one of the faces as he passed a massive lump of candy.

It was Julian, a member of the Themisia Guild.

He was still wearing his mage's hat, but his entire body had swollen to ten times its original size. His skin had become translucent like jelly, and beneath it, the crimson veins could still be seen, pulsing weakly.

Farther away, another familiar face emerged from the candy.

Lily.

Her distinctive ponytail was still intact, but her face had been almost completely transformed into candy. Only her eyes remained unchanged—wide open and utterly lifeless, staring blankly into the void.

Lulu shrank into itself, its plush paws drawing back into the sleeves of its uniform.

A cold hand came to rest on its head.

Lulu startled and looked up. Adrian was standing beside it. Even behind the panda mask, his sapphire-blue eyes still gleamed brightly through the fogged lenses.

Adrian spoke in his usual calm voice.

"There's nothing to be afraid of."

Lulu stared at him. It noticed that Adrian's hand wasn't trembling in the slightest. His body wasn't tense either.

Lulu hurriedly nodded over and over again.

[SO CUTE!]

[But... those candy masses... are they Artists?]

[Are they Artists whose Joy Index has been completely drained? Julian and Lily from the Themisia Guild too?]

[...]

[I wonder how Nick and Ember are doing...]

[Maybe Adrian will harvest them later.]

Adrian walked past the enormous masses of candy, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.

He noticed that every mass had one or more metal tubes inserted into it from beneath, piercing through the hardened candy and burrowing deep into the human body trapped inside. The tubes pulsed faintly in a steady rhythm, as though they were pumping something in—or drawing something out.

He crouched down to examine one that was operating near his feet.

It was silver and gleaming, but a thick droplet of bright red liquid had gathered at its tip. Slowly, it fell into a concealed reservoir beneath the floor.

They're draining the Joy Index.

Adrian thought.

When a player's score is reduced to zero, all of their energy is converted into liquid—and that becomes the raw material for Happy Water.

He wasn't frightened in the slightest.

Instead, he raised his eyes toward the ceiling.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of metal pipes crisscrossed overhead like a gigantic spiderweb, all converging toward a single point in the distance.

A red light flickered there, pulsing like a beating heart.

"They've built a circulatory system," Adrian murmured, his voice low enough that only Lulu, tucked inside his pocket, could hear.

He stopped.

Something else caught his attention: the candy masses scattered throughout the room were decaying at different rates. Some had almost completely melted away, leaving nothing but thin pools of candy spread across the floor. Others still retained the shape of a human body, but their surfaces were gradually softening, the features of their faces beginning to blur.

"The rate of consumption depends on the amount of Joy Index they had initially," Adrian continued, as though making a note to himself. "The more points they have, the longer they last. But eventually, they'll all melt into…"

He left the sentence unfinished.

[Warning! Warning! Unauthorized worker detected outside assigned shift!]

The Pig Foreman's metallic voice echoed from behind them.

Adrian turned and saw the enormous mascot pig lumbering toward him, its chain whip dragging across the floor and throwing off tiny sparks.

The Pig Foreman stopped several meters away, its bloodshot eyes sweeping over Adrian from head to toe. The other workers remained perfectly still, motionless as statues dressed in gray uniforms.

"You."

The foreman's voice was not a question. It was a statement.

"I don't recognize your face."

Lulu trembled, its plush paws stiffening. It could feel the hot breath of the enormous pig washing over them, carrying the reek of blood and rotten candy.

Adrian remained silent for several seconds. The sapphire eyes behind his panda mask never left the foreman's mangled, decaying face.

Then he smiled.

"I'm a new worker," he said lightly, his voice calm and completely devoid of fear. "Transferred from the day shift to the night shift. I suppose you weren't informed."

The Pig Foreman narrowed its eyes, its torn, rotten snout twitching as it sniffed the air. It stepped closer, towering a full meter over Adrian and casting its shadow across him.

"Night shift?"

It repeated the words, suspicion heavy in its voice.

"I don't recall any shift transfers being made recently."

"Then my paperwork must have gotten lost." Adrian was still smiling, casually slipping a hand into his trouser pocket. "Perhaps you should check with Human Resources. I hear they're terribly incompetent."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Lulu held its breath—even though it didn't actually need to breathe.

The Pig Foreman stared at Adrian.

A flicker of something passed through its bloodshot eyes—perhaps suspicion, perhaps curiosity.

The chain whip in its hand rose slightly.

But then, it lowered again.

"Seems that must be what happened."

Its voice remained hoarse, though some of its irritation had faded.

"Those damn people in Human Resources always screw everything up."

It turned away, swinging the chain whip in a wide arc toward another gate at the far end of the room.

"Forget it. All workers—proceed to the new raw material collection area! A fresh shipment has just been sent down from the Culinary District!"

The foreman marched away, leaving behind a thick, foul stench.

Adrian remained where he was, his sapphire eyes following the Pig Foreman's retreating back.

New raw material collection area.

Fresh shipment.

He followed the line of workers toward the side gate.

"Adrian…" Lulu whispered. "Aren't you afraid they'll find out?"

Adrian glanced down at Lulu's button eyes staring up at him.

"Afraid?" he repeated, sounding mildly surprised. "I'm a little scared. Good thing you're here with me, huh?"

"Huh…"

Lulu could hardly believe what it had just heard.

By then, Adrian had already passed through the side gate, leaving the enormous candy masses—and the things that had once been people—behind.

Who is this guy? Lulu wondered.

He's nothing like any guest I've ever met.

The side gate closed behind them with a long, shrill squeal.

And ahead of them, another corridor opened into the darkness.