Chapter: 60
Angsho was a surprisingly kind man to the slaves. I mean, to the point where you’d think, “Is he really this nice?” Such gentle words and laughter are rare in the arena, leaving many slaves either wary or genuinely moved by him.
As time went by, even those who were initially cautious began to warm up to Angsho, willing to offer him everything they had. That’s when Angsho would make his move.
Using vague words, he’d slowly brainwash them. “Aren’t you suspicious of the one you love? Isn’t that person the beginning of all your misfortunes?”
The slaves were people who had already hit rock bottom, convinced they were the unluckiest souls out there.
That’s why Angsho’s temptations flowed like water. He watched the foolish slaves crumble as if he were a god enjoying their downfall.
When a slave returned after tearing apart a loved one and cried out for salvation, Angsho would then hammer in the truth—that everything he’d said was a lie, and they were ultimately a murderer who killed someone dear to them.
After such experiences, every single slave—ten out of ten—would end up taking their own lives. Angsho’s bad reputation didn’t spread easily, thanks to this pattern.
Here’s the infamous Angsho, a vile piece of trash who used to toy with dozens, even hundreds of slaves.
Even for Angsho, a master manipulator of slaves, Lian was a type he’d never encountered before.
“If you’d like, you can take some food with you when you leave.”
“Thank you!”
Lian responded to kindness with kindness, smiling back with genuine warmth. This was an upright demeanor that was nowhere to be found in the slave arena. Angsho quickly realized why Totojen and Bansook were so obsessed with Lian.
“This kind of treasure is really hard to come by.”
Slaves who had fallen into the abyss were often already mentally shattered. Torturing them further would only yield mind-numbing reactions, like living corpses twitching without any entertainment value.
The more intact a slave’s mind was, the more fun it was to break them. That’s why Totojen preferred those who were mentally clear while Bansook enjoyed those who possessed strong mentality—capable of withstanding extended play.
Lian met both of those criteria.
“Oh, this is gonna be such a blast.”
At first glance, Lian seemed easy to manipulate, but after giving it some thought, Angsho started to think Lian might actually be tougher to handle than the other slaves.
“It would be easier if there were some chinks in his mental armor to exploit.”
A somewhat healthy mind would accept his friendly approach, but if it were too healthy, it would filter out all his whispers. He looked easy but was actually tough—Lian was quite the puzzle.
Angsho concluded that about Lian.
But no matter how much Angsho pondered, Lian wasn’t a bit interested in any of his scheming.
“I wonder what Iris will like?”
Lian’s mind was solely filled with thoughts about packing food.
“If there’s any left, I can just eat it myself. Should I just have them wrap up whatever’s left here? Oh, but would it be too tricky to carry?”
First impressions matter a lot. The image etched in your mind doesn’t change easily unless you receive a real shock. That’s why Angsho prepared a feast so extravagant it could put the tables of noble families to shame.
There were even slaves left in awe of the grand display that filled the dining table. But to Lian, it was just a yummy meal.
In the world of gags, rolling up your sleeves a bit and being a little neat is all you need to whip up meals like this in no time.
As they thought about completely different things, the meal progressed until all the plates were empty.
“Wait, what?”
Angsho let out a short gasp as he looked at the table. The mountain of tasty dishes was entirely gone! And what was even scarier was Lian’s appearance.
“Burp! That was delicious.”
Lian was sprawled out in his chair, his belly puffed up bigger than his body, wearing a blissful grin.
“What, what is that? Is he even human? A chimera?”
Faced with this absurd scene, Angsho couldn’t keep his expression in check and stared blankly at Lian’s belly. Lian patted his stomach and exclaimed,
“That was really good!”
“How… how in the world did you eat all that?”
“It was so delicious, I just went for it!”
Lian scratched his head shyly, looking as puffy-cheeked as his ridiculously inflated belly. Angsho shivered at the sight.
“Seriously, how did he gain weight in such a short time?”
Even if he questioned it, there was no answer. Just as Angsho was about to ask, “What’s going on with that belly?!”
“Here, it’s all packed for you.”
“Oh! Thank you!”
Angsho’s maid appeared and handed Lian a seven-tiered lunch box. It was an age-old rule to hand over the requested food right after a meal.
By giving a gift to a newly fattened slave right away, it was an easy way to win them over.
“May I leave now?”
“Oh, uh, yes. Yes, you can go.”
Angsho reflexively responded to Lian’s question. He had a habit of sending slaves away empty-handed after their first meal, and it came out without him noticing.
“Thanks for the meal!”
“Take care!”
Lian began to compress his belly, bigger than the doorway, squished enough to slide through.
Left alone in the empty dining room, Angsho slumped in his chair like a robot with missing screws, letting out a big sigh. After spacing out in his stupor for a while, he finally straightened up.
With a serious expression, Angsho pushed away his earlier nonchalance and started to think of Totojen and Bansook.
“Honestly, I don’t like their tastes, but— their abilities are on point.”
If their abilities had dropped, he wouldn’t have even bothered associating with them.
“If those guys keep failing, there’s definitely a reason.”
Angsho murmured with a serious face.
“I need to gather some information…”
While Angsho was busy scheming to torment Lian, Lian finally arrived at the elevator, lunch box in hand.
*
“Oh…? What do I do now…?”
My voice came out thick and muffled due to the extra weight. I couldn’t fit into the elevator with my belly in the way, so I sighed, inhaled deeply, and exhaled dramatically.
“Whoooooah! Hah, that’s better.”
My body immediately returned to its original state. After rubbing my now-smooth belly a few times, I hopped into the elevator.
“I hope Iris likes this.”
With a tune in my head, I reached my destination. Cradling the lunch box carefully, I headed toward the room where Iris was waiting.
Click.
“Iris! Big brother’s back!”
As I entered the room with a bright smile, Iris came dashing towards me and leaped into my arms. I lifted the lunch box high to protect it. Iris rubbed her soft cheek against my chest.
“Are you hungry?”
“…Grumble.”
Maybe the lunch box’s aroma was too tempting; Iris blushed slightly as she murmured. I let out a hearty laugh and led her to the living room.
I laid out the seven-tiered lunch box on the table and handed Iris a fork.
“Alright, dig in!”
“…Lian, what about you?”
Khrhhk.
I almost clutched my heart at that. Since I returned covered in blood, Iris had consistently called me ‘big brother’.
I felt like proclaiming to the whole neighborhood how much our little Iris had grown!
“I already ate, so you better enjoy it.”
“…”
I felt super stuffed to the point it was hard to breathe. Iris hesitated, as though she had something to ask, then finally murmured, “Okay.”
She poked a piece of marinated meat with her fork and brought it to her mouth.
“…!”
Her eyes went round like a startled rabbit, her lips puckering—a moment forever imprinted in my memory.
‘OMG, that’s adorable!’
Her facial expressions were fierce—like a baby tasting sweet dessert for the first time, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Gah, gulp!”
“Take your time!”
Seeing her, once only eating what I fed her, now clumsily handling a fork by herself tugged at my heartstrings. As Iris focused on her food, I discreetly wiped away the tears welling up in my eyes.
“Big brother…”
“Hmm?”
Iris suddenly halted her frenzied eating and stared at me intensely.
Poke.
Iris’s fork mercilessly jabbed at the tender meat, then she triumphantly offered it towards my mouth.
“It’s delicious. Eat it!”
“No, I’m fine.”
I wildly waved my hands as if I could shoot rainbows with another bite, but Iris showed no signs of backing down and pushed the fork closer instead.
“Ah!”
Unable to produce any rainbows, I snatched the fork away from her. Iris was still clumsy with it, so it was easy to grab. I held the handle and popped the meat right into Iris’s surprised open mouth.
“Mmm?”
She automatically chewed, eyes wide with surprise.
“I’m full just by watching you eat.”
At this, Iris stared at my face intensely before slowly bowing her head.
“Uh… Was that too cheesy?”
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