His eyes flickered.
He was beginning to suspect that Blood Saw had already transformed this young apprentice into a Stitching Monster.
No ordinary human could possibly remain so calm in his presence.
"I don't want yours. I want my own eyeball."
His voice was low and hoarse.
[Ding! Danger decreased to 45%!]
Lynn remained calm. He casually pressed his eyeball back into its socket, quietly sat back down, and slipped a hand inside his clothes.
"That, I actually do have."
Then, under the Pighead Demon's shocked gaze,
Lynn pulled out an enormous eyeball still coated in sticky flesh and blood. The eyeball was still moving.
Clatter-
The Pighead Demon sprang to his feet and said in shock,
"Th-this..."
There was no mistaking it!
He recognized it at a glance. That was the eyeball the old woman had plucked out of him. But how had his eyeball ended up with this human apprentice?!
Lynn placed the eyeball on the counter and said quietly,
"I met that kind old lady this morning. She gave it to me as a toy."
[Pighead Demon's Sanity Value -30!]
The Pighead Demon stared fixedly at the eyeball on the counter. Cold sweat dripped from the bristles on the back of his neck and ran down his spine.
He knew only too well how terrifying that Scavenger was.
Despite his strength, the Scavenger had easily plucked out his eyeball. If she wanted to, she could just as easily pluck off his head.
And that Scavenger... had actually given his eyeball to this frail human?!
He was becoming more and more convinced that this human apprentice was no ordinary person.
No.
He was even beginning to find him terrifying.
Because he couldn't fathom what this human was capable of.
[Ding! Danger decreased to 20%!]
The Pighead Demon stared at Lynn uncertainly. "Something that old woman gave you... you dare just give it back to me?"
Lynn said flatly, "I'm not giving it away. I'm selling it. Two hundred Skeleton Coins per eyeball. Market price."
Was he really not afraid at all?
The Pighead Demon stared at him, searching for a crack in his composure.
Could he actually be close to that Scavenger?
[Ding! Sense of danger decreased to 10%!]
Clatter-
The Pighead Demon pulled a coin pouch from inside his clothes and spilled a pile of Skeleton Coins onto the counter.
He stared at Lynn. "Fine. I'll buy it."
Lynn calmly put the coins away inside the counter, then put his gloves and mask back on. He also took out his monocle and said flatly,
"Deal. Do you want me to do it here, or will you come to the operating table with me?"
"Here," the Pighead Demon said without hesitation.
Not a single resident of Ghost Alley wanted to get onto Blood Saw's operating table.
"All right."
Lynn calmly picked up a boning knife. "Lean against the counter and rest your head on it. If it hurts, you can scream."
The Pighead Demon gave a vicious sneer. "You think I'm afraid of pain?"
Pfft-
Lynn took a mouthful of alcohol and sprayed it over the dripping blade.
The Pighead Demon immediately fell silent.
After lighting a candle and passing the blade back and forth through the flame for several minutes,
Lynn narrowed his eyes and edged toward the pig's head, knife in hand.
A drop of cold sweat splattered onto the counter.
The Pighead Demon trembled. "You need a knife just to put an eyeball in?"
[Pighead Demon's Sanity Value -10]
Lynn said quietly, "I just checked. There are some fairly large stones and blood clots in your eye socket. Clearly, you haven't been taking proper care of your eyes. Consider this step a complimentary extra service. No need to thank me."
"W-wait!"
The Pighead Demon was horrified.
But it was already too late.
Crunch, crunch, crunch-crunch, crunch, crunch-
"Aah-aah-"
The Pighead Demon let out heart-wrenching screams of terror.
[Knife Skills EXP +1] [Knife Skills EXP +1] [Knife Skills EXP +1]
Several minutes later, Lynn cleaned the residue from his eye socket with disinfectant, wondering why he was gaining Knife Skills rather than surgical proficiency this time.
"Done." Lynn calmly wiped the boning knife clean with a rag.
"Don't move. I'll be putting your eyeball in next. If you move around, I might put it in backward."
The Pighead Demon lay slumped there, froth bubbling from his snout as his body twitched. He clearly hadn't heard Lynn.
Lynn froze and blurted out, "Shit..."
[Forgot the anesthetic...]
He seemed to have forgotten it last time, too, when he'd sewn that doll's arm back on...
Whatever.
Lynn shook his head, his expression returning to its usual calm.
Using tweezers, he lifted the [Pigman Boss's Eyeball] out of the solution he had soaked it in, then turned and searched the medicine cabinet behind him.
A few seconds later,
Lynn took a white medicine bottle from the top of the cabinet.
The faint markings on it appeared to include a "5," a "0," and a "2," all clearly handwritten.
"What's that?!" the Pighead Demon asked shakily after coming to.
Holding the eyeball in the tweezers, Lynn shook the bottle in his other hand and said quietly,
"My specially formulated heavy-duty adhesive. It keeps your eyeball from falling out after installation. Combined with my teacher's specially formulated potent recovery potion, it guarantees a ninety-five percent surgical success rate."
Lynn explained with complete seriousness.
The Pighead Demon trembled. "Just get it in as fast as possible! Do you hear me?! I don't want to stay here any longer! Do you hear me?!"
Lynn nodded. "Don't worry. We doctors have very strong professional ethics."
Lynn calmly mixed the viscous solution.
Then he spread it evenly around the eyeball, lined it up, and gently placed it against the socket.
He took out specialized tools and adjusted the eyeball's angle.
He felt around in the toolbox.
Then he took out a hammer.
The Pighead Demon: "(ΩДΩ)!!"
[Pighead Demon's Sanity Value -20!]
"What are you doing?! What are you doing?!" the Pighead Demon shrieked, trembling.
Lynn frowned. "Stop moving. This is the final physical step. If you knock it out of position, I'll have to take it out and put it back in. That'll mean another hefty surgical fee."
Lynn shook his head and held the terrified pig's head down.
Then, with careful taps of the hammer, he concentrated on fitting the eyeball into place bit by bit.
A few minutes later, Lynn froze.
The Pighead Demon immediately shuddered. "What?! What's wrong?!"
Lynn frowned. "It's in backward."
The Pighead Demon: "(ΩДΩ)!!"
"Don't worry." Still composed, Lynn reached out, grabbed the bracket holding the eyeball in place, and yanked upward.
Rrrip-
Amid the Pighead Demon's terrified screams and plummeting Sanity Value, Lynn pulled the backward eyeball out again.
"Just a minor medical mishap." Lynn quietly readjusted its position and said,
"No charge this time. I'll just reposition it."
The Pighead Demon let out shrill screams of terror and struggled frantically.
"I don't want it put in anymore! I don't want you doing it!!"
[Sanity Value -20!] [Sanity Value -20!]
"Hold still!" Lynn's gaze hardened as he shouted,
"This is the very last step! As a doctor, since you've paid me, I have to take responsibility for you! I have to make sure every one of my patients leaves here whole and intact!"
As he spoke, Lynn fiercely raised the hammer in his hand.
"Stop!!" The Pighead Demon thrust out a hand and roared in terror.
Bang-
Sparks flew everywhere.
Before you continue