SCP Corporation: Contain Bonfire

A middle-aged man with a beer belly that resembled an eight-month pregnancy, accompanied by a somewhat skinny young man, walked into the prison and made a beeline for the door of Colin's cell.

As they approached, Colin could see them clearly: they had slightly pale skin, brown hair, and wore coats that looked like chain mail, with normal cloth underneath, and swords hanging at their waists—they didn't seem like locals.

More precisely, they didn't seem like modern people...

If Colin hadn't known about his time travel, he might have thought he was on the set of a medieval movie.

At this moment, the two men were pointing at Colin and discussing something about him in a language he couldn't understand.

However, gradually, Colin felt as if he was starting to understand what they were saying...

"Warden, can you believe this is how someone with 'Beastification' is supposed to look? There's not a hint of madness in him; I can even feel that he was just observing me, without any malice!" The somewhat skinny young man stared at Colin, hand on the hilt of his sword, his tone full of incredulity.

"Hey," laughed the man with a beer belly, "otherwise, why do you think I told you this is a very rare special case? Among the hundreds of people we've received in our dungeons over the past two months, there has been only this one case..."

"Then, do we still hand him over to the 'Holy Healing Church'?"

"We have to hand him over, and I already submitted the application more than a week ago. It's just that, after more than a week, there still hasn't been any response, hmm..."

The middle-aged man pursed his lips, clearly dissatisfied with the Church's negligence.

The young man glanced at Colin and then redirected his gaze: "But the way he looks, it's as if he's been sent here ten days ago, which means, in at most five days, he could possibly enter the Second Order of 'Beastification' and then... he's likely to have a sudden outbreak of symptoms and die!"

What?

Colin, who had been surreptitiously listening, was stunned—wasn't he perfectly fine? How was he suddenly about to die?

And what exactly was "Beastification"?

"We can't act without a response from the Church...and as for whether he's mad, that's difficult to say. Although his symptoms have been worsening, the feeling he gives me is becoming more and more rational. Look at his eyes; there's not a hint of madness..."

The middle-aged man pointed at Colin and then turned to look at his assistant with an inadvertent chuckle, "Honestly, even if you told me he could speak in a moment, I wouldn't be surprised in the least..."

"Really? What is 'Beastification'?" a somewhat scorched voice came through.

"Well, 'Beastification' is..."

The middle-aged man began to reply instinctively, but his smile quickly stiffened—that voice—it wasn't his subordinate who spoke...

Hiss!

There's something filthy!

The middle-aged man leaped back with agility unfit for his figure, landing two meters away, his face a picture of horror as he looked at Colin.

The young man who seemed to be his subordinate drew his long sword with a "swish," pointing it at Colin, his face full of solemnity and alertness.

In an instant, the dungeon atmosphere solidified.

There was silence for several seconds.

The middle-aged man was the first to break the silence, stepping forward to grab his subordinate, pulling him back a few steps, and then, from a good distance away, asked, "You... you can still speak?"

... What's so surprising about that? Didn't you just say it wouldn't be strange if I spoke... Colin silently retorted and nodded.

He was about to inquire further about their previous conversation...

But the middle-aged man, seemingly the warden of the dungeon, seemed to think of something, and spoke first:

"Do you still remember your own name?"

"I don't remember."

Colin shook his head; it seemed he hadn't inherited the memories of this body, but, instinctively, he had inherited some of the language.

"What a pity, otherwise we might have been able to understand where 'Beastification' comes from. Though it's normal for 'Beastification' to cause memory loss..."

"What is 'Beastification'?" Colin interrupted his lament.

"This..." The Warden looked at Colin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "How about you take a look at your hands first? Especially the hair on your hands..."

He hoped to help the other regain his memory and thus discover the cause related to "Beastification."

If he could solve it himself, that would be a great achievement!

Upon hearing this, Colin looked down doubtfully. He had been eavesdropping with his head bowed just now and hadn't noticed anything amiss...

What the hell?

Colin's eyes went wide as he looked at his arms, only then noticing that his arm hair was a couple of inches long and his fingernails at the tips of his fingers were sharp, resembling the claws of a beast...

Beast Transformation Syndrome!

Colin suddenly understood the meaning behind the term.

At the same time, he felt an undefinable surge of violent temperament within him, like a forcefully suppressed rage.

However, it seemed to be temporarily restrained by something.

"This is what you look like during the first stage of 'Beastification,' usually by the next day or at most a fortnight, you would enter the next stage. You've been here for ten days already, so in a maximum of five days, you would either die abruptly or turn into a Second Order patient..."

"Hmm, it seems the one who was locked up with you has already died; after death, those with 'Beastification' quickly turn into mummies..."

"There's nothing much to say, let's continue with the topic of the Second Order. At that stage, you won't look much like a human anymore. Then, within a week, you'll simply liquefy. Why this happens, I'm not sure..."

The Warden was suddenly interrupted by a scream of agony. In the cell adjacent to Colin, on the opposite side, a crazed howl filled the air:

"Let me out, I'm not crazy, my child... my child hasn't eaten yet, let me go eat, my child, he, I, I haven't eaten yet!"

It was a woman, her body hair wildly overgrown, her expression maniacal as she repeatedly rammed her head against the iron cage, her head bloody and seeming to feel no pain.

Colin's heart trembled, and his scalp tingled.

A full minute passed before it gradually ceased.

"Do you see? This is only what it looks like in the first order, and she's just had an episode yesterday, but you're in the advanced stages already. Normally, you would be much crazier than her."

The Warden pointed at her, shook his head sadly, and sighed, "This disease has been around for over two months, and you are the only exception, it's a pity you've lost your memory. If you remembered what happened before, you might be able to figure something out and solve this trouble sooner..."

What happened before? What other experiences could there have been...

Suddenly, memories began to surface in Colin's mind. He remembered that he seemed to be eating hot pot alone in a restaurant and browsing his phone, then he dipped a huge chunk of tripe into mustard and put it in his mouth...

Choked to death by a mouthful of mustard?

Er, it shouldn't have been so ridiculous to die...

That must have been the last memory he could recall, but not the last before the crossing...

But now, the important thing was...

What about this "Beast Transformation Syndrome" afflicting me?

Colin took a deep breath to steady himself and then looked up and asked, "You just mentioned that Holy Healing Church... Do they have a way to solve my problem?"

"Them? Hey, I haven't seen anyone come out of there..."

The Warden had just started to mock when a subordinate beside him coughed, causing him to suddenly remember something and close his mouth.

The Holy Healing Church was, after all, one of the three major orthodox churches of the Knight Kingdom...

Not to be trifled with.

A chill went through Colin; did this mean that being sent there was tantamount to vanishing?

He wanted to ask the Warden for more information, but suddenly, the sound of bells rang out from outside the prison's iron gate in the corridor.

"Alright, I must be going. Someone will come tomorrow to clean up the corpse in your room, I hope to see you still sane tomorrow."

With that, the Warden left with his subordinate, and before they were out of earshot, Colin could just make out his scolding, "Next time something comes up, don't think about resisting right away, you know! Retreat first. One of my teammates died because of that habit, died a horrific death, not a single piece of his body was left intact, yes, I'm talking about your dad..."

The voice faded, and the dungeon fell silent again, save for some heavy breathing and the occasional sound of teeth grinding.

"Am I going to die just after crossing over?"

Colin sat powerlessly in the cell, looking at his hands, feeling as if the Beast Transformation Syndrome was deepening without his awareness.

The tyrannical nature within him felt like an abscess that could burst at any moment.

It was like a tank filled with ink that a Okamoto 0.01 had been dropped into; it inflated like a balloon being continuously filled with murky ink, ready to explode, threatening to pollute him at any moment.

However...

Not everything was beyond redemption.

Colin had a vague feeling that if he could remember the details of his memories, recall the experiences of his last day, the current situation would change.

With that thought, he forced himself to be calm and then focused his energy after that mouthful of tripe...

Finally, after relentless effort, memories started to emerge—something indeed went wrong with that mouthful of mustard-dipped tripe.

After one bite, it went straight to his head, his whole body tensed up, and then he lost strength and collapsed to the ground.

When he opened his eyes, he had already been taken to the hospital.

Then he discovered, his body was weak, and he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)... to be precise, he had it already, but that mouthful of mustard had triggered his symptoms.

Afterward, during a year of treatment, he, very young, acquired his own wheelchair.

But...

"If I got a terminal illness before crossing over and I've got another one after, doesn't that make the crossing pointless?"

Colin couldn't help but ridicule himself.

Then, he got back to work, burying his head and continuing to remember...

Before long, he finally recalled, after spending all his savings without any progress and when he no longer wanted to hold on, an organization sent him a job offer letter.

The name of this organization was...

"Bonfire Camp Special Item Containment Company."

Colin muttered to himself, awakening to the realization of the term and suddenly feeling something connect with him at that moment.

A message popped into his mind.

[Interference eliminated. Connection with "Special Task Investigator" re-established. Loading details of the special task assignment, please wait...]