RoR Chapter 2: The Escape

Taking out a vitality potion vial from his lab coat pocket, Zach downed it in one go. 'Fuck, I bled too much.'

He had to leave behind a dead body of subject 010385, so that these people don't come after him again. In order to create that, he had to bleed a lot.

The chemical explosion that happened would have been enough to even melt the bones of the bodies and all of that would have mixed together. He just had to leave a sufficient amount of his own DNA so that they can believe he died.

Zach looked at the identity card that hung around his neck. It belonged to the Chief Researcher. It would give him access to most of the facilities in this place. With this, he had already decided the next steps.

Zach began walking through the corridors at a fast pace. He had already mapped this place in the past years. After a few minutes, he stood in front of the main laboratory.

Zach took a deep breath. From now on, it's all a game of confidence and daring.

He scanned the Chief Researcher's Id card and walked in. Since it was night and an explosion had happened, the place was relatively empty right now, which made things easier for him. There were only three researchers, who were currently talking among them. A strong scent of chemicals permeated the area. Different types of machines and equipment could be seen along the counters.

Zach briskly walked over to the group, who were busy excitedly discussing the explosion.

"Excuse me, this is an emergency! The Chief Researcher sent me to get these potions!" he said, handing them a list.

Zach also showed them the Id card of the Chief Researcher.

The Chief Researcher's title and emergency had a magical effect on the researchers.

"I-I'll get them!" One of the researchers checked the list and ran off to bring them.

"What happened?" Asked the other researcher.

Zach shrugged. "I'm not too sure either, but there's a serious explosion. And..." Zach looked around, as if to make sure that no one was listening. "I think high level researchers were involved," he said in a low voice.

That made the guys intrigued. Zach chatted with them while the other researcher brought the Potions.

Zach checked the potions and nodded in satisfaction. "Thanks. What are your names? I'll mention it to the chief researcher." With that, Zach left the place along with a hearty farewell from the researchers.


[You have consumed the potion: Barbarian elixer
Strength permanently +2]

[You have consumed the potion: Etun’s tears
Vitality permanently +1]

[You have consumed…

[You have consumed…

[You have consumed…

[You have consumed the potion: Elvish Swiftness
Agility temporarily increase by +2]

[You have consumed,,,

….

Zach doped himself up in potions and stalked up some useful ones like the A-17 solution. Technically, anyone with this much amount of potion would suffer from overdose, but Zach’s trait [Inhuman Adaptability] allowed him to increase his tolerance. But still, the gap of levels cannot be overcome so easily. There is a huge difference between combat inexperienced researchers and guards.

The next place Zach was headed was the control room. It is the place that overlooks the whole facility and has controls over opening and closing the cells during Dinner and Lunch time.

As he reached the place, he saw more than 15 guards standing in the corridor. Without a pause, Zach urgently walked over.

“What’s your business, sir?” Asked one of the guards, blocking his path.

“Uh, an explosion happened in the C sector. The Chief Researcher sent me to check the footage,” replied Zack, once again making his voice sound deep and mature.

The guard nodded. “We heard it even here.” He said, letting him pass.

Zach scanned the chief’s card and the door opened with a pleasant beep. As the door closed behind him, Zach saw two guards inside. Both of them were currently playing the footage of the OR, where the explosion had occurred.

"The was sent to investigate what happened in sector C," he said, walking over.

One of the guards nodded. "W-We were just checking that, sir."

Zach sat in the third chair and looked at the footage, which was his own painting of the OR room. Zach had practiced a lot to make it.

"We think it's a malfunction of the Oxygen cylinder. There was no one in the room during the explosion." Explained one of the guards, discreetly trying to remove the beer cans from the control board.

Zach almost laughed. Since nothing major has happened in the past two years, it is obvious that these guards were just passing time while drinking beer. In one of the screens, he could even see the Tutorial broadcast, which was currently on pause.

When the explosion happened and alarms rang, it was only then did they belatedly try to investigate. But what they saw was just normal footage of the OR (Which was actually his painting, masterfully installed in front of the camera.)

It didn't even occur to them to rewind the footage back by an hour. If they did, they would have seen a subject killing researcher. Though, even that wouldn't change much since he was currently in a researcher disguise.

While pretending to look at the footage, Zach dropped a vial of potion from his coat.

"Oh, sorry." He said, taking out a cloth and beginning to wipe it.

"It's alright. Don't bothe..." said one of the guards, but he was unconscious before he could complete the sentence. This was the A-17 solution, used to make high level subjects unconscious.

"What is that?!" Asked the first guard in alarm. Apparently, the bastard had remembered his combat training and stopped his breathing.

With the potion filled cloth in hand, Zach jumped the guard and immediately stuffed the cloth on the guard’s face, preventing him from making a sound.

Baam!

BAAM!

Two punched were thrown. The guard managed to hit Zach in the face, fending him off, but Zach's punch was aimed at the man's lungs, making him involuntarily such in a breath.

“What did you…” the second guard also went down.

‘Damn it, the guy definitely knew how to throw a punch.’ Zach swallowed the blood in his mouth. His jaw was dislocated and his head was ringing. It was a high level guard after all. Thankfully, he had the A-17 solution, made from dungeon and monster samples. Just one inhale, and you'd be out like a light.

And the trouble was worth it. Now he has managed to secure the freaking control room. In front of him were hundreds of screens, showing different camera footage. This place was for monitoring and controlling the whole facility.

[Uncanny Insight]

Zach got to work. The first thing he did was to delete all footage recorded in the past two hours. Then, he began fiddling with the switches that control the doors of the cells of different sections. During lunch and dinner time, this is the place which opens the doors. But that happens in the presence of guards. Right now, since all the subjects are locked, very few guards are stationed at the cells.

Zach checked the time. 3 minutes left. He sighed in relief. With time to kill, he switched on the broadcast.

Beep—

But, at this moment, the door suddenly opened, and the guard peeked in. “What’s taking you so long?”

!!!


Zach looked back in alarm. He couldn’t even answer since he hadn’t had the time to set his dislocated jaw back in place. ‘Busted,’ He thought, his hand going into his lab pocket. The guards stationed outside are much higher level than the monitoring guard he just took out.

Though, to his surprise, instead of immediately rushing at Zach and sounding the alarm like he was expecting, the guard just closed his eyes.

What the Guard saw: Zach and the two guards sitting in the chairs watching the Tutorial with beer cans on the control panel. Also, one of the guards’ heads was in Zach’s lap, giving it an illusion that he was giving Zach a head.

“Enjoy.” said the guard, closing the door.

Zach’s lips twitched. He survived, but at what cost?

Still, it was fortunate the guards he took out were still in their seats, with the back of the chairs facing towards the door, so it didn’t seem that they were unconscious.

Zach looked back at the broadcast.

“Only 2 minutes are left for the start of the tutorial! This year, a few new worlds have been added to the system. We’ll get to see how they fare. Since we are still low in the rankings, there might also be a few participants from Earth. Since these participants aren’t selected by the association, they will not be as talented, or as trained as our superstars. Will they be able to beat the odds and advance through the Tutorial? Let’s all watch the broadcast and route for them!”

With those words, a one minute countdown appeared on the screen. At the same time, a ticket appeared in front of Zach. This was the most expensive commodity on Earth right now. The Ticket… to the Realm of Reckoning.

How did he get the ticket? As mentioned, high levelers of the RoR sometimes get the ticket as a reward. These high levelers either share it with their family, or sell it to the highest bidder. Zach’s brother, the sketch of whom he had drawn on the wall, was one such high leveler.

But the Association screwed him over, and now his whereabouts are unknown. Zach’s main aim of going into the RoR is to find him.

That’s right. He wasn’t going to escape from the Facility. He was going to escape from Earth altogether. In the first place, there is no way he could escape this facility without the ticket yet. In other sectors, this facility also holds high level subjects. So, the security and the outer defense is so high that Zach has no confidence in his escape.

In this world, level and stat determine everything. Since high level subjects are difficult to control, Zach hasn’t been allowed to kill monsters and raise his level.

Technically, he could have used the ticket even from his cell. Then, why did he bother escaping his cell? There are 3 reasons for that.

First, if he disappears from his cell, everyone would know he went to the tutorial. Then, as soon as he passes the tutorial, the association’s levelers would come after him with the purpose of taking him back to be used as a potion material. Now, he is ‘dead’, along with most of the people who have seen him, and those who are still alive will be kicked out after such a major debacle. So, if he disguises himself in the tutorial, he should be able to avoid getting recognised.

Second reason is the potions. This is the place where the most precious and expensive potions on Earth are synthesized. Through those potions, Zach was able to get a permanent stat increase, and also get a temporary stat increase of a few hours, which would help him a lot in the tutorial.

And the third reason? Revenge. The years of captivity were so excruciating that he was forced to madness. It was only after awakening his third trait “Obsessive Control” that he was able to regain sanity. That’s why, he took revenge on most of the people responsible. He couldn’t wait longer.

Revenge, is NOT something to be served when cold. The flames of anger that are burning inside him right now, the intense hatred he is feeling right now, the memories of pain and torment that are fresh right now… how could he quell them for longer? How could he let those researchers live at leisure after what they had put him through?

And if he takes revenge later, would he still get such satisfaction out of it? Or would he think it's meaningless?


“10… 9….8… “ While he was lost in emotions, the countdown had reached single digit.

Zach closed his eyes.

He calmed down his frantic heartbeat. He has been waiting for this moment for a long time. Because you can only go in after reaching maturity. For humans, that is the age of 18. And that’s why he couldn't take revenge earlier.

But now, it is finally over. But at the same time, it is finally starting.

Before leaving, Zach left one parting gift for the Facility. He opened up all the gates of all the prisoners, including those who are High level.

'Here, your chance.' He thought.
He didn’t think they would be able to escape, but still, like him, they also deserve a fighting chance.

Ring— Ring— Ring—

Alarms blared as all the gates were suddenly opened. The eyes of the guards outside the control room popped out of their sockets as they rushed inside. “What did you do?!”

But Zach had already disappeared. All that was left were the clothes of the Researcher along with the potion vials.

….