【Volume One】

Prologue

　　Hengyue Calendar, Year 5089.

　　On the Hengyue Continent, humans are still the dominant species, but many lands of civilization from three thousand years ago have already become ruins.

　　On a night three thousand years ago, three black hexagonal altars descended from the sky.

　　In a single night, tragedy struck—50% of all living creatures self-immolated and died, and every building turned to flying ash...

　　Three thousand years later, the former Hengyue is now called the Empress Continent.

　　At the southern tip of the Empress Continent lies an island, once a famous seaport, now reduced to ruins. If you look closely, you can still faintly see traces of civilization that have survived thousands of years.

　　Knee-high weeds cover the ground. A man in black, with an extremely ordinary appearance, suddenly appears like a ghost. He looks up at the sky, a hint of calmness in his eyes.

　　"Finally caught up! This is the last time. I have a 60% chance—if I succeed, I will be free!"

　　Blinding sunlight flashes into the man's eyes. A voice comes from the sky: "0014, you ran very far this time, actually reaching Experiment Island No. 9. This is your sixth escape, and it will also be your last. Because of this escape, your sentence has been increased by 3,000 years. The remaining years of your sentence now exceed one hundred thousand. You will be executed with DDD death penalty."

Chapter One: Number 2213

　　Number 2213 is a test subject on the Empress Continent's prison island. From the day he was born, he has lived inside a cylindrical container filled with liquid, with no memories in his mind—just a blank slate.

　　All he knows is that there are many other test subjects like him all around. Every day, he sees many containers being opened, their occupants led out and never returning.

　　Finally, one day, his container is opened. A group of similarly dressed white-clad beings take him to a room.

　　He doesn't recognize any of the furnishings in the room. He can't understand what others are saying, but from their expressions, they seem very dissatisfied with him.

　　A strange emotion rises in Number 2213's heart. Many years later, when he recalls his past, he realizes this emotion is called anxiety.

　　"Test subject 2213 is unqualified. Muscles, bones, brain, meridians—except for the brain, none meet the standards. No one will buy such a test subject. Cancel his nutrient solution privileges. After inputting the language system, send him to the mineral development department." A cold voice echoes in the room.

　　That day, Number 2213 left the container that had accompanied him all his life, never to return. As he was taken away, a strange feeling welled up inside him. He didn't know what it was, only that the farther he got from the container, the heavier the feeling became.

　　The mineral development department is where the prison island deals with failed specimens. All failures are sent here, and after the language system is input, they are sent to the underground mines.

　　When Number 2213 was sent here, he saw many others like himself. They were all naked and weak, and their gazes toward him were cold and indifferent.

　　From that day on, he became one of them, digging out colorful crystals in the pitch-black mines with simple tools in exchange for the nutrient solution he needed each day.

　　Gradually, he learned what pain was—pain from the whips in the hands of the white-clad beings when he failed to find crystals. He also learned what hunger was.

　　More than once, he thought of his container, of the comfortable liquid inside. He longed to return there.

　　All of this changed during one mining session. He dug up a unique black crystal, and the moment he grasped it, a warm current surged into his body.

　　After seven days and nights of unconsciousness and high fever, he awoke.

　　When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the container. Outside, many white-clad beings looked on with suspicion.

　　He was startled. Suspicion? Why did he use the word "suspicion"? What did it mean? In that instant, his mind trembled, and a vision appeared before his eyes.

　　A man in black looked up at the sky. In midair, an old man in gray, his face as cold as water, said, "William Carter, you can't escape!"

　　The vision vanished. Number 2213 was confused. He could feel that he was somehow different from before. His mind was still blank, but there was something new and indescribable within.

　　For example, now that he had finally returned to the container he had longed for, he felt no joy at all. Instead, he was filled with deep disgust, even an urge to kill all the others outside.

　　He carefully hid these feelings.

　　He had never been able to do this before, but now, it all seemed instinctive, engraved into his soul in a way he could not understand.