Chapter 19: 2.3

Before the day ends, at sunset, Professor Shen came back with the potion that is meant to harden Jia Hyson's skin. He had honestly forgotten about that but to be fair, he had been sure that he was meant to ingest it at dawn, not dusk. It's not like it mattered much though. The potion only served to further severe his soul's connection with the body, making leaving it easier as well as bring another level of fear to the victim.

Jia Hyson happily swallows it down. Not only could he leave the body quicker, it also has the effect of hardening his muscles and numbing his nerves. It won't be enough to improve his pain tolerance unfortunately, but it would certainly alleviate the backache he has from sitting so long. Immediately though he scrunches up his face at the awful taste. It's bitter, acrid and he's fairly sure he swallowed half a nail.

Ah, to go from eating food made from the protagonist and male lead of a gourmet story to swallowing down a potion that he's fairly sure contains crushed porcupine quills and the ground up teeth of a stud horse, his cute little tongue truly felt very wronged.

Professor Shen chuckles softly at his expression, dotingly stroking his hair as Jia Hyson forces himself not to vomit and continue drinking. "I know it's rather unappetising but I'm so proud of you for drinking so obediently,"

"Un," Jia Hyson was pretty proud of himself as well. It was a truly nasty thing to ingest. He hates himself for not making the potion a magical doughnut or something. With wide eyes he looks adoringly at the professor, "Professor Shen, may I have something sweet?"

"Of course Li Wei," The older man says indulgently, "I already knew you were going to ask that so I came prepared," With a little flourish Professor Shen pulls out a lollipop from inside his robe. Jia Hyson truly doesn't understand why Professor Shen has to keep wearing the robe around him, it was like why all the cultists were wearing full-face masks despite the fact it was clear they all knew each other and Jia Hyson was in no position to play whistleblower.

"Thank you," he demurs gratefully before coyly opening his mouth like a trusting little lamb. He can hear the way Professor Shen's breath quickens in excitement which only gets faster as he gently slides the lollipop against Jia Hyson's pink tongue. After a moment of letting the pervert play a little Jia Hyson decides enough was enough and closes his mouth to properly suck the candy, eyes brightening at the sweet vanilla taste.

Jia Hyson: 'This old bastard may be off his rocker but he has damn good candy.'

Bebe: 'Of course, how else could he lure kids into his white van?'

As he quietly sucked on his lollipop, savouring what may be his very last meal, a group of cultists finally arrive with large amounts of clay and blood in hand.

Now Jia Hyson didn't have claustrophobia. While sports wasn't his forte he liked caving and scuba diving. He's gone into quite a few caves and crawled into more than his fair share of underwater tunnels and shipwrecks while scuba diving in his original lifetime and traveling around as Adrian in his free time. However as he watches helplessly on while everyone quickly covers his body in clay, he can't help but feel his throat constrict at the idea of being shut inside like this. It was no longer claustrophobia if you were actually being buried alive with clay.

How ironic. The mission he had accepted to get rid of his depression temporarily is going to be the source of a whole new batch of unhealthy psychological problems.

"Pl- please stohp.." he begs through slurred words as the potion has begun to kick in, stiffening his body. Even though he knew what was going to happen, even though he had prepared himself as best he could and was aware that he wouldn't actually die, it was like lightening was coursing through his nerves as his heart suffocated in ice cold fear. Now that it's almost time, how could he not feel afraid?

However even Jia Hyson had to admit to himself that these people were beyond hope. If one of them suddenly developed a conscious and tried to argue for his life right at this moment, it would be a sign that merciful gods do exists and had overthrown the terrible author god of this world for the sake of peace, love and justice! He waits for a moment to see if this is the case before going back to crying in despair as nothing but fanatical excitement was found in these cultists' eyes. Not even a little bit of guilt, remorse or unease. Fuck, mob cultists in the horror genre were so perversely tenacious in their beliefs. It was almost admirable if it wasn't, you know, utterly insane.

The clay must be freshly kneaded with blood so the metallic scent was strong enough to make Jia Hyson a little dizzy as disgustingly warm clay moulds against his skin, even squishing between his toes making it feel incredibly vile.

Jia Hyson: 'This is worse than having sex in a slime pit.' _:(´ཀ`」∠):_

Bebe: 'Wtf is a- never mind, Bebe doesn't want to know.'

By the time they began to slather the clay onto his neck, Jia Hyson felt so pushed to the mental limits he's actually done a 180 and somehow felt the clay bodybag he was trapped in was actually quite comfortable.

Jia Hyson: 'You know, I heard people use clay for spa treatments. Helps nourish the skin and all.'

Bebe: '..I heard fire makes good pot roast. Cooks the meat and all.'

Jia Hyson: …

Unsympathetic to Jia Hyson's pitiful cries, the cultists continue to pad more clay onto his body. Despite being unmoved by Jia Hyson's tears, their face-loving obsessions clearly shine through as they leave his face for last. With handfuls of the disgusting substance they pause to take a look at their work, their eyes through their masks glinting in admiration. Jia Hyson stops crying, knowing it was no use, instead he stares hatefully at all of them.

"Li Wei, do you have any last words?" Professor Shen asks softly, it was unnerving how kind he sounded even now. Jia Hyson knows he himself isn't the most empathetic person on earth, but it truly baffled and enraged him how remorseless these people were. "Any last things to say? Don't worry, we will make sure to write them down in order to keep your words engraved in our hearts and for the future generation of the Caged Flower Society."

Ugh, he can't believe he's going to die by the hands of something called the Caged Flower Society.

Jia Hyson pauses at those words before smiling. With his face even the fakest smile would still feel like a spring breeze to the most intuitive of men. "You'll really write down my last words and keep them forever in your hearts?"

Mesmerised, Professor Shen nods as well as the others. Even though Jia Hyson's attempts to invoke pity as well as plays at seduction failed to produce any traitors to the cult, it did succeed in furthering their delusions and their obsession toward the young man.

"Good, good, then I won't hold back then," Jia Hyson nods amiably before he opens his mouth again to scream, "YOU FUCKING DIPSHIT LUNATICS! GO SUCK A COW VAGINA AND CHOKE ON THE SHIT OF A MILLION FLIES! WHY DO YOU EVEN BOTHER TO WEAR MASKS, YOU ALL ARE PROBABLY UGLY ENOUGH THAT I WOULDN'T DARE LOOK DIRECTLY AT YOUR FUGLY FACES IN THE FIRST PLACE! I WOULD SAY YOU ALL ARE OVERCOMPENSATING FOR SOMETHING BUT SINCE YOU ALL ARE THE BIGGEST DICKS I HAVE EVER SEEN CLEARLY THAT IS NOT THE CASE! I HOPE YOU ALL DIE HORRIBLE DEATHS! I WANT YOU TO LOSE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER VALUED AND LOVED AND TO SEE YOU CRAWL IN THE MUD IN UTTER DESPAIR, NO, TO SQUIRM IN THE SHIT YOU BELONG IN LIKE THE DISGUSTING MAGGOTS YOU ARE! I CURSE YOU ALL TO LIVE RUINED LIVES AND SUFFER EVEN IN HELL YOU COCKSUCKIN-"

At this point Jia Hyson had to take a deep breath of air. Even though his lungs were almost out of oxygen, he felt as light as air. It had been hard to keep all his grievances in, and now that he was about to suffer a fate worse than death in a few minutes anyway he can let everything out now. Before he was afraid of being raped or tortured but now, now was the perfect time to tell them how he really feels.

'Host, you….' Bebe's voice trails off for a moment before its voice becomes lively and vicious, 'If you don't make at least one of these assholes cry I'll be disappointed in you!' ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Jia Hyson smiles wider, his face as sweet and delicate as a white rose petal while his delicate looking mouth spills out words of hatred and vitriol like a toxic waterfall. "-I pray that you all die I pray to every fucking god that you all die horribly. That you will suffer and feel every single moment of your death looming closer and that every second will be filled of nothing but pain and regret and loneliness and you will be lonely because everyone hates you, loathes you, you are nothing but disgusting selfish narcissistic chauvinistic pigs who are blind to anybody but yourself and your delusions. To think you actually believe what you're doing is anything close to helping humanity makes me laugh! Even beasts know they're beasts you know? But you lunatics are worse than beasts, you're all monsters!" Jia Hyson laughs as he watches the cultists tremble under their beloved white moonlight's sincere curses.

Finally one of the weaker ones couldn't take it anymore, with a loud cry the cultist shoved his handful of clay into Jia Hyson's face. Not expecting the sudden attack, Jia Hyson choked back his next words which may or may not have related to amputation of various limbs, especially the ones between their legs, and coughed miserably as some of the sludge went into his mouth and eyes. This seemed to finally trigger the rest out of their daze and with shouts of indigence and rage they plastered him with the clay, shouting foul and cruel names toward him like it was Jia Hyson who had commented such a heinous deed of tricking them like this.

His eyes stung, his mouth was filled with dirt and blood and his ears were filled with disgusting words from even more disgusting people. Even if he could've screamed, which he couldn't have, Jia Hyson was sure he wouldn't have even been heard. It was in this pathetic state where he was unceremoniously pushed into the fiery oven.

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 2!]

With the thick clay protecting him, Jia Hyson wasn't immediately set aflame, however helplessly he realises instead of it being a mercy it only increased the severity of his suffering. Jia Hyson could feel the heat surrounding him slowly increase, from warm, to hot, to sweltering before jumping straight to physically unbearable. Jia Hyson tries to twist and turn but with every surface being hot enough to cook his flesh he had no where to escape, every movement mercilessly painful and yet he had no choice but to twist and thrash in a useless bid to escape under the fire's tyranny.

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 3!]

Soon the intense heat made it so just pressing his skin for too long would make it stick there like meat in a frying pan without oil. By this time Jia Hyson was screaming incoherently, his fallen tears sizzling as they leave his eyes. With his already limited movement in the clay cocoon he could no longer move an inch, his flesh already stuck and slowly but surely cooking through. The pain was unimaginable.

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 4!]

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 5!]

[Ding, ding! Unlocked Malevolent Intent level 1! Congratulations! Let your victims shiver in your terrible presence!]

[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has increased to Level 2!]

[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has increased to Level 3!]

His senses from where his body parts were touching the clay had already burnt away and the heat was slowly moving inwards to completely roast his entire body. Jia Hyson could not even cry, he tried to scream but to his terror he couldn't even make a sound anymore, his mouth completely dried out. The most terrifying part of this madness was that no matter how badly he was being burnt he knew he wouldn't die. He had stupidly drawn inspiration from Phalaris's Brazen Bull for this torture, where one would have to endure at least the ten minutes of sheer agony it would take to lose all the fluids from one's body! By the end of it Jia Hyson couldn't even breath as the smoke from the fire and his own cooked flesh filled the insides of the cocoon.

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 6!]

[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has increased to Level 4!]

Even amongst the blinding terror and pain of his last moment's alive he could swear he heard the laughter of his tormentors outside. Jia Hyson hysterically smiled through his torment, his resentment the only thing he could cling onto.

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 7!]

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 8!]

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 9!]

Finally, mercifully, he died.

Similar to his first time getting murdered, it was a feeling of pain before eventually a merciful darkness takes over his senses. Of course the pain of being stabbed and bleeding out was nothing compared to the sheer excruciating agony of being roasted alive but still. It's nice to know death itself felt the same in the end.

When he awakens Jia Hyson could already tell the ritual worked. Even as his vision slowly comes back into focus, like seeing through murky water, he can tell that he was no longer human. He couldn't blink, and there was a distinct feeling of disharmony within his spirit and his new body. He felt disjointed and a sense of wrongness emanating from his very being.

Like a boat anchored in a coral reef during a storm, Jia Hyson's soul wanted to move but couldn't, and even if it could it knew it would greatly damaging the only thing keeping it adrift. When coral breaks it would take years to grow back. Porcelain does not have that luxury.

He shudders, the memory of being encased in clay and burnt alive still far too fresh in his memory and while all he feels now is the coldness of a doll's body, the constrictive feeling seemed to constantly remind him of how he got here in the first place. Jia Hyson really wanted to strangle his past self who laughed so evilly as he wrote how this bullshit human doll ritual always eventually ended in failure because every soul broke down at having to live in something that constantly reminded them of their last torturous moments alive.

Jia Hyson: 'The worst part of this is that I'm tempted to write something much worse to vent my emotions QAQ'

Bebe: '...'