L*st and Death

1. Assess the Character

“It’s usually important to read the other person’s character, but that guy’s already been figured out. He’s the type with a boring, dull face like he’s never been on a single date in his life, but behind the scenes he’s filthy and obsessed with sex. Hiding behind that mask of normalcy—just imagine the depraved shit he must’ve fantasized about. It’s always the ones who look like that who turn out to be the biggest perverts.”

“You look like you’ve never even fucked in your life. And for an alpha, your body’s pathetic. Your personality doesn’t have a single speck of charm. Talking to a wall would be more interesting.”

The next day, before noon, Ian Fitzner came down to the underground holding cell where Baekgyeong was being kept alone. Like a tax collector calmly demanding money owed to the state, he politely and evenly asked Baekgyeong to choose between showing him masturbation or sex.

“It’s ironic, you know. Living with that boring face while harboring filthy, sleazy thoughts the whole time. You’ve probably just jerked off alone your entire life. Pitiful little cum-pervert.”

Siron had told Baekgyeong to analyze Fitzner’s character—not to blurt it out word for word. But the night before, Baekgyeong had been high on drugs. He’d memorized the advice to some degree but hadn’t grasped the context or how to deliver it skillfully. And even now, halfway through the day, the effects of the drug hadn’t completely worn off, and he was still foggy-headed.

Even as a faint doubt flickered through his mind, Baekgyeong kept talking.

2. Acknowledge the Desire

“I’ve read some Freud, you know, and it’s all about deprivation. That guy’s got a fantasy about you. It’s not just your body he’s attracted to—he’s drawn to your shitty personality too, like someone chasing a bad boy. So use that. Stir him up with provocative, teasing language.”

“He’s got a crush on me, huh? Well, what can I say—it can’t be helped. Good-looking face, big dick, tall as hell. You jealous because you’ve got none of that? Ah, I get it. You jerk off thinking about me every night, don’t you? You worthless fuck, fantasizing about seeing my cock? Ha. Well, I’ll give you this—at least you’ve got taste.”

As Baekgyeong kept talking, he found himself speaking more sincerely than intended, mocking Ian to his heart’s content.

3. Coax and Seduce

“Touch on his desire directly—seduce him. Reassure him by saying you already know the filthy depths he’s hiding, so he can be honest with you. Empathize. Say something like, ‘I knew from the beginning your eyes weren’t looking at me normally. It felt like we shared a secret. So why don’t we test that—see if we were really thinking the same thing.’ That kind of stuff draws him in.”

“You’re dying to see me come, aren’t you? You filthy cum-pervert. You should be beaten to hell with your own goddamn dick.”

4. Negotiate

“And last—the fourth step is negotiation. Pretend to accept what he wants, but set your own terms.”

“Like what?”

“Say you’ll jerk off—but only in a place of your choosing. Tell him you’ll never strip in front of a CCTV. Say you don’t want any other alphas watching the footage. Pretend it’s out of concern for him. Tell him that if he gets turned on watching you, it’ll be recorded, and his colleagues will see. Play it like you're worried about him and subtly steer things outdoors.”

“You never know. There could be another creepy pervert out there like you. Who’s to say he isn’t jerking off to CCTV footage right now? Ugh, just thinking about it gives me the fucking chills. No, I can’t do it. I won’t ever jerk off in front of a camera. And why should I be the only one showing my face? You’ll get recorded too, dumbass. What kind of alpha would let himself get filmed panting over another alpha’s dick? If you don’t want everyone thinking you’re defective, you better listen to me. If you want even a glimpse of my cum, you’d better get me out of here. Now.”

Baekgyeong spewed the words out like filth he needed to expel. Ian listened without a change in expression. But slowly, unmistakably, his face began to flush red. Whether from rage or arousal—it was impossible to tell. The emotion swelling inside him was beyond interpretation.

I thought I was following what Siron told me to do. ...Did I screw this up?

As Baekgyeong replayed his graphic words in his head, Ian’s body underwent a shocking change. His breathing grew heavier, and an unpleasant wave of pheromones began to seep into the air.

“...You’re hard?”

Baekgyeong’s horrified gaze dropped to Ian’s groin, where the bulge was unmistakable. His face twisted in disgust as if he’d seen the most revolting thing in the world. He hid his face in his hands and groaned.

He’d just done what Siron told him to—and this perverted alpha bastard actually got turned on. Even though their escape plan was advancing step by step, Baekgyeong’s insides burned with fury.

Siron’s seduction techniques were brutally effective in practice. The bastard could seduce anyone with just a look—and apparently, he had unnecessary talents on top of that. Baekgyeong couldn’t help but imagine all the lovers Siron must’ve charmed while they were apart. The thought made his gut twist with jealousy. He’d have to start strictly keeping Siron in check so he wouldn’t go around leaking that careless charm.

While Baekgyeong was struggling to calm the boiling in his chest, Ian subtly shifted his body, using his rifle to cover his groin. Then, stiff and awkward, he turned away.

“...Wait, are you leaving?”

Before Baekgyeong could stop him, Ian strode down the hallway and vanished from the basement. Baekgyeong was left in stunned silence, his mind and face bleached blank.

The silence of the prison crushed down on him. Even his own breathing seemed swallowed up by the walls. Time had stopped. The world had gone still. It was over. He’d blown his one chance. Too exhausted to even curse, he clung to the iron door, time slipping by unnoticed—until suddenly, the hallway door swung open again.

“You’d better not be thinking anything stupid.”

Ian returned with quick steps and unlocked the cell door with uncharacteristic urgency. Since Baekgyeong had been imprisoned, no one but Siron had opened that door—and now it stood wide open, just for him.

“Thinking stupid?”

“Yeah. Don’t try anything reckless.”

Ian stood in the hallway, his face still flushed. The bulge in his pants had gone, suggesting he’d taken care of it somewhere on the way.

“I’m unarmed right now—there’s nothing on me you can steal. I can’t disarm the bomb on your neck, either. So don’t even think about threatening me to get off this island.”

Despite the stern warning, Ian’s expression looked strangely flustered. Baekgyeong shivered, a chill running through him. He squeezed his eyes shut, exhaled deeply, and forced down his raging annoyance.

“You’re the one talking nonsense. Just shut up and take me already.”

All alphas in this world would meet an early end—and the day that truth went public, furious youth would rise up and engulf the world in rage. Because the moment alphas realized how short their lives truly were, they would begin to unleash their unchecked aggression and abnormal sexual urges without restraint.

Alphas typically died in their mid-thirties from a condition known as Aporion Syndrome—caused by hyper-expression of the gene-regulating molecule. They would fall into brain death and die. This was an unchanging truth. But few knew it.

In 1995, the Federal Biological Research Institute (BRI) was founded to develop alphas for national security. The “AX-66” project began under that mission. Manu Singh was the lead researcher, and the project’s very first subject was Isaac Bazelli. Until the BRI was shut down after the arson in 1998, the lab produced a total of seven alphas.

They had all been soldiers in a vegetative state after injuries sustained during missions. After genetic transformation into alphas, they were used in experiments and deployed in special operations under government control. But most of them failed to suppress their explosive sex drives. They went rogue during missions and were court-martialed. Afterward, Singh heard no more about them.

Despite their advantages, alphas failed to prove their usefulness due to their violent nature, uncontrollable libido, short lifespan, and inability to reproduce. Like many U.S. government projects, the alpha program was set to be buried before the 21st century began. But someone who still believed in the alpha’s potential salvaged the wreckage—and revived them for entirely different purposes.

Resurrected from death. And to maintain this new human species, sex services were provided. These two businesses were profitable. Families with loved ones on life support clung to hope and used the “clinic.” People hesitated, but still purchased “maintenance services” to manage their alpha relatives’ uncontrollable urges.

What those services entailed, no one wanted to know. Too many lives had been ruined by alphas.

Back then, the organization had no name. The service that transformed Homo sapiens into alphas was simply called the “clinic,” and the service that maintained their lives was “maintenance.” Hidden deep in the dark web, the organization only began formalizing its structure and naming itself in the 2010s.

Occasionally, vague rumors circulated among alphas. But to this day, their early deaths had never been revealed. Not just because Hybris controlled information and silenced people. The main reason the secret had endured was that Hybris wasn’t that old.

Barely ten years old, the organization had selected vegetative patients in their late teens and early twenties for transformation. Occasionally, an alpha would be made from someone over thirty, but most of them died in violent incidents or rape cases. Those who suffered Aporion Syndrome died in carefully staged “accidents.”

But not all future deaths could be disguised. The clock was ticking. The golden window to extend alpha lifespans was closing fast. Only a mass emergence of omegas—or a breakthrough treatment—could prepare the world for what was to come.

Which means we’d better step it up before we all die.

Singh sipped his lukewarm tea and stared at Isaac’s limp body. His lifeless blue eyes were glazed over, like a dead fish, and tears slipped down the bridge of his nose. Were it not for the faint, labored breathing, he could’ve passed for a corpse in rigor mortis.

Carrying his teacup, Singh stepped over Isaac and returned to his desk. He flipped through the blood analysis reports of recent test subjects and sighed. He had hoped for a change in pheromone levels or hormonal fluctuation, but the numbers remained flat.

Did he give me false information?

He stared silently at Isaac’s back. Maybe Isaac had never intended to share the secret to creating omegas. Maybe he planned to keep it hidden, even if it cost him his life—to die with the secret and erase it from the world forever.

But why would Isaac lie to him? Isaac had roamed the world alone, conducting experiments with death at his heels. He’d clearly wanted to survive, even if his efforts failed.

Singh had promised him a chance to imprint with the first omega ever born in the lab. There was no reason for Isaac to be uncooperative.

Unless... the experiment reports themselves were lies.

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