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"Damn it, these are all top-notch goods we picked out with such effort. At Nightingale Hall, they'd fetch at least this much!"
"Yeah... that's about right!"
Lynn was jolted awake by a burst of noise. He forced himself to open his eyes despite the throbbing pain in his head. The first things he saw were cold iron bars and several ragged "beggars."
"Wasn't I... in a hospital room? Where is this?"
His gaze swept over his surroundings again and again, trying to figure out what was going on.
The iron bars before him weren't a railing. They formed a cold cage that enclosed him on all sides.
Inside the cage, several boys and girls huddled together. They were so gaunt and ragged that they looked no different from beggars.
Outside the cage was a lively scene.
In the noisy courtyard, several burly men with their shirts open were drinking and bragging, spewing filth nonstop.
Blood-red ghost hands were tattooed across their bare chests, lending them a vicious air.
More importantly... these people were all Westerners!
They were speaking some unfamiliar language, yet Lynn could understand every word as clearly as if it were an instinct buried deep in his bones.
Wait... he hadn't even left the country. How had he ended up in the hands of foreign kidnappers?
As his foggy mind gradually cleared, Lynn finally realized something was wrong.
His body... had recovered?
He had been suffering from a terminal illness and lying in bed for seven or eight years. His physical functions had long since deteriorated.
Now, though he felt somewhat weak all over, his body still worked just fine. Lynn felt a sense of "freedom" he hadn't experienced in years.
He looked down at his hands. They were all skin and bones, but didn't look like the hands of someone on the verge of death.
But... these clearly weren't his hands!
Those hands had been with him for over twenty years, through countless days and nights, and had helped him ease his loneliness more times than he could count.
They'd been useless for the last few years, but they still hadn't been this thin and small.
Had he transmigrated? Or taken over someone else's body?
With no answers for now, Lynn decided to put the mystery of his identity aside and deal with the crisis at hand first.
Wait... had Mother Earth just dumped him here?
Where were the benefits for transmigrators?
Where was his cheat?
His cheat?
"System bro?"
"Deep Blue, add points!"
"Open the newbie gift pack!"
"Genetic lock, unlock!!!"
Lynn watched the people around him while muttering under his breath, trying to summon something.
But no matter what he tried, the cheat he expected never showed up.
Wait... he had no cheat?
Then why the hell had it dumped him here?!
Did it expect him to use his looks to become the greatest gigolo in another world?
The others in the cage watched Lynn mutter to himself, all looking at him as if he were an idiot.
Welp... another one's gone crazy.
"Oh, that kid's finally awake. He's the freshest one in this batch."
A man with a mouthful of yellow teeth pointed at Lynn and grinned at his companions.
"Look at that soft, delicate skin. Clean him up and he'll fetch a good price. The madam at Nightingale Hall loves this kind of merchandise."
"Too bad the boss keeps a close eye on things. Otherwise, we could've had some fun tonight."
Yellow Tooth shook his head regretfully, then gave his crotch a rough scratch. He pulled out his hand, grabbed some roast rabbit from the table, and stuffed it into his mouth.
The rabbit meat had a faint musky smell, which gave it a flavor all its own.
Seeing Yellow Tooth eye him greedily, Lynn couldn't help shuddering with revulsion.
If he really fell into that man's hands, he'd rather be castrated.
He was someone else's "merchandise" now, with no freedom at all.
If he didn't think of something fast, he really would be sold off to that so-called "Nightingale Hall" to enjoy himself.
Lynn first moved over to the boys and girls who shared his fate, then asked quietly:
"Hey, where are we? Why are we here?"
The trembling captives glanced at him but didn't answer.
They were in a desperate situation. They had no desire to explain things to anyone.
Only one girl, around fourteen or fifteen, stared at Lynn's handsome face with sympathy.
If that innocent face ended up at Nightingale Hall, he'd be in for a world of pain~
"This is the Bloodhand Gang's hideout. I heard they often kidnap women and children who are alone. They took all of us, and from what they said, they're going to sell us to Nightingale Hall."
As she spoke, the girl's face went pale. She lowered her head, and tears pattered down.
Lynn wasn't in the mood to comfort her. He lowered his head too, pretending not to notice as he considered how to escape.
A gang that trafficked people? Begging probably wouldn't help. If they were the sort to show mercy, they wouldn't be in this business.
Fight back? Forget it. This malnourished body couldn't even shake the cage.
Buy his freedom? He didn't have a cent to his name, and he didn't know anyone in this other world. What could he pay with?
Maybe... he could just join them?
Would they even take him, with his scrawny arms and legs?
Lynn furrowed his brow. Since his physical strength was no good, he'd have to prove his worth some other way.
Lynn swept his gaze around the courtyard again and spotted a skinny man in the corner keeping accounts. He was frowning as he fiddled with a crude abacus made of black iron and beast bones.
The drinking and drunken chatter in the courtyard kept distracting him, making him look especially irritated.
Clearly, there weren't any educated people in this gang. This man was probably the only "intellectual" they had.
Judging by how deeply troubled he looked, the accounts must have been a real headache for him.
This was his chance!
Lynn took a deep breath, mustered all his strength, and crawled over to the cage. He gripped the cold iron bars with both hands and shouted outside:
"Someone come here! I want to see your boss! I can help him earn ten times more than he'd get from selling me!"
His throat was dry, making his voice hoarse. When he shouted at the top of his lungs, he sounded almost hysterical.
Lynn's shouts startled the others in the cage. They hurried to the opposite corner, "isolating" him to avoid getting caught up in whatever happened.
The commotion in the courtyard came to an abrupt halt. Every thug turned to stare at him as if he were an idiot.
Yellow Tooth froze for a moment, then snorted. "Kid, have you gone crazy with fear? You think you can make money?"
"I'm not crazy." Lynn fixed his gaze on him.
"I know how to keep accounts. I can sort out all your messy books! I can even teach you how to make money with money!"
"Make money with money? Kid, you're not joking, are you? What, are you some wizard hiding your true identity?"
Yellow Tooth's words set everyone roaring with laughter. Even the "accountant," who had been drawn in by Lynn's words, couldn't help smiling.
But Lynn keenly caught the key word—wizard!
Could this world really have wizards?
He wondered whether they were the kind who lived in primeval forests, covered in feathers and paint and shrieking nonsense, or genuine wizards with supernatural powers.
It seemed this world was even more mysterious than he'd imagined.
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