The cold liquid with a pungent smell of alchemical potion seemed to still remain deep in the bone marrow. Every breath was like swallowing the foulest mucus at the bottom of the Zuan ditch.
Joe's eyes snapped open.
The pale light of the alchemical lamp was like a red-hot needle, piercing into his pupils fiercely. There was a blurry, flickering white spot in my vision. The severe headache was like someone taking a dull, rusty wrench and repeatedly hitting his temple. Chaotic fragments of memory collided and roared in the consciousness - Dr. Singed's face twisted and fanatically in the potion steam, the teeth-grinding sound of metal shackles rubbing against wrist bones, the tearing and burning pain when the unknown potion was injected into the blood vessels... and finally the suffocatingly thick smell of burnt protein that filled the entire space.
"Test subject 008, dose of Glimmer III injected has been corrected, vital signs are weak... wait! The readings are abnormal!!" A dry, emotionless voice sounded beside him, like the friction of rusty gears.
Joe rolled his eyes with difficulty, the stinging pain almost making him cry.
Several researchers in white coats covered with unknown stains and chemical burns gathered around the cold metal table, holding recording boards and instrument probes flashing with faint green light, staring at him as if they had seen a ghost. The air was filled with a pungent mixture of chemicals, disinfectants and thick blood, which was nauseating.
There's no cushy cushioning gel, no soft blue light to boot. There was only a painfully cold metal table beneath his body, and several cold sensor probes stuck to his exposed skin, like leeches clinging to his skin. The four walls were made of rough metal, covered with rust and suspicious dark brown stains. Above the head were thick pipes crisscrossing each other, emitting a low hum and the gurgling sound of viscous liquid flowing.
This is not a game room! This... is Zaun's alchemy laboratory? ! Didn't he just take the order to create a new character in the League of Legends client?
"Quickly notify Director Victor! The test subject has regained consciousness!" A researcher screamed, and the sound caused a harsh echo in the small space.
"Guards! Guards! Control him!" another voice said with obvious, undisguised panic.
Joe had never heard of such words with a strong Zaun accent and chaotic grammar, but his brain strangely understood the meaning - "experimental subject", "glimmer", "guard"... Every word was like a cold steel needle, piercing into his confused thoughts.
Outside the door came the sound of heavy boots stepping on the metal floor, approaching rapidly like the drumbeat of death.
Can't lie here! The instinct to survive overwhelmed the severe pain and dizziness. Joe struggled violently, enduring the pain of muscle tearing, and pulled out all the probe cables that were in the way. He rolled off the cold metal platform and staggered towards the heavy iron door covered with rivets and suspicious scratches!
"Bang!"
The door was knocked open. Outside was a dim corridor with walls made of rough rocks and spliced, rusty metal plates. Dirty condensation water dripped down the pipe walls, making a monotonous and creepy "tick-tick" sound in the dead silence. At both ends of the corridor, a dozen guards wearing dark green, oil-stained standard leather armor and holding metal batons wrapped with low-quality wires, like hyenas smelling blood, with cruelty flashing in their eyes, surrounded them fiercely.
Joe's eyes were instantly fixed on the distorted, blurry, barely recognizable mark of a crossed gear and wrench on the left shoulder of their leather armor - the logo of Zaun's Black Alley Enforcement Team, "Iron Fist" Barota!
"People from Barota?!" A chill rushed from the tailbone to the top of the head, freezing the blood in an instant.
A guard let out a low roar, and a metal baton stained with unknown dark red stains came at his arm with an evil wind! Joe subconsciously raised his hand to block.
"Sizzle!"
The sharp sound of electric current and the excruciating pain that penetrated deep into the bone marrow exploded at the same time! A violent electric current instantly ran through the whole body, and half of the body felt as if it was pierced by countless steel needles. It was instantly paralyzed, and the bones seemed to be shattered bit by bit! This pain... far exceeds the 40% simulation limit of the game cabin! It is real, heart-wrenching pain!
"Fuck!" Joe was in so much pain that his eyes went dark, he saw stars and was terrified. The gaming cabin's neuroprotective mechanism failed? Those damn low-quality repairmen in Zaun who made promises just for paying three hundred Hextech Silver Wheels!
A dozen guards as strong as bears rushed up and roughly pressed him to the cold, slippery, and oily ground. The strong smell of sweat, engine oil, and blood filled his nostrils. Joe felt like he was thrown into a rusty meat grinder. He could only struggle in vain. Finally, his arms were tied behind his back and he was dragged roughly like a bag of alchemical waste waiting to be processed into an iron cage confinement room deep in the corridor that exuded a strong smell of mold, rust and a faint stench of decay.
The heavy iron door slammed shut behind him and locked. Absolute darkness swallowed up everything, leaving only his heavy breathing like a bellows and the crazy beating of his heart.
The severe pain stimulated the nerves, but also made the confused thoughts like glass hit by a sledgehammer, forced to condense, crack, and condense again! A huge amount of information fragments were like a filthy torrent that broke through a dam, washing away the last glimmer of hope - memories that did not belong to him, about endless hunger, the coldness of the narrow cage, the chill of the needle piercing his blood vessels, the burning and strange feeling brought by various alchemical potions... and Dr. Singed's face, which looked particularly gloomy and like a vulture under the alchemical light.
"I... traveled through time? Traveled to Runeterra? Zaun?!" Joe curled up in a cold corner, his face twisted in pain, with only unbelievable absurdity and icy despair left on it.
He, Joe, a hardcore League of Legends power leveler and a frequent visitor to the top player lists, has now become the guinea pig numbered 008 in a black laboratory in Zaun, who may be sliced and studied at any time?
Without any warning, at the edge of my vision, a line of translucent text emitting a faint blue light quietly emerged like a ghost:
[Special energy injection detected (Glimmer III type), life form mutated...] [Endurance Potential +1] [Gained expertise - [Low-level glimmer resistance]: Slightly reduces the negative effects and pain perception brought by glimmer series potions. ] [Gained expertise - [Low-level Mental Toughness]: Willpower judgment +3. ]