It was hard to tell how long he'd been out, but Mizuno's awareness slowly surfaced from the darkness, dragging him back from the depths.
When he finally managed to lift his heavy eyelids, he found himself staring blankly at an unfamiliar ceiling—and the flat lamp embedded in it.
"Where… am I?" he muttered, dazed.
Wasn't he just in the warehouse, blowing himself up along with Misfortune? How'd he end up here?
Where even is this place? Still in the same country?
The ceiling didn't match the minimalist dorms, a fancy hotel room, or the rundown Back-Mountain Warehouse. It was made of perfectly arranged silver plastic panels—special materials covering every inch of the room.
Honestly, it looked less like somewhere people lived and more like a top-secret lab for dangerous experiments.
And there he was, lying on a bed in this lab, wrapped in a pure white blanket that looked uncomfortably like a shroud, with no idea how long he'd been asleep.
"Urgh…" Mizuno tried to sit up, but pain and exhaustion hit him at once, draining what little strength he had left.
Right now, he really did feel like a corpse—conscious but unable to move, trapped inside a dead body.
"No way, right?!" An absurd thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Hey, hey, hey—don't tell me I've transmigrated into some pink, moldy octopus that can't even die properly?! And in the timeline after getting stomped by the overpowered protagonist?!
"Gua! Yamerooo!" Mizuno wailed, horrified at the idea of ending up dissected by some mad examiner with a saw.
As he spiraled into panic, a voice called out lazily from nearby.
"Oh~ You're awake?" said a familiar, languid tone. A face appeared in his blurry vision—one he knew all too well.
She was wearing her usual white lab coat, her crimson eyes shaped like pleated leaves. She watched Mizuno struggling on the bed with a mix of curiosity and amusement.
The overhead light cast her face in half-shadow, and with that faint smile of hers, the whole scene took on an unsettling air.
"Agnes Tachyon?" Mizuno blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean, 'what am I doing here'?" Tachyon arched a brow, smirking. "This is my lab. Of course I'm here."
"Your lab?!" Mizuno froze.
So he hadn't transmigrated into a pink octopus—or woken up in a dissection room after all.
But when it hit him where he actually was, his relief quickly turned to dread.
After all, being in Agnes Tachyon's lab wasn't much safer than a dissection room!
"Wait, no way…!" His eyes widened in alarm.
Had she already seen him completely naked?!
Actually, knowing her, it'd be stranger if she hadn't.
Given Tachyon's boundless curiosity, stripping him for experiments while he was unconscious would be totally in character.
Now that he thought about it, something was gripping his hands—some kind of device covering his palms, radiating warmth…
That only deepened his suspicion that she'd experimented on him—and maybe even Uma Pyoi'd him a few times for "research purposes!"
Was this his fate now? A lifetime as Tachyon's lab rat, injected daily with mystery serums?
"Uuu…" Mizuno groaned, eyes shutting in despair.
His body was still wrecked from the explosion with Misfortune; he couldn't even move a finger. Now he lay there limp and weak, like one of those trainers who'd been squeezed dry by their Uma Musume for three straight days, whimpering helplessly as the last of his tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.
"Hehe~" Tachyon chuckled, clearly entertained by his pitiful state.
She sat down at his bedside, leaned over him, and said softly, "Relax, I didn't take your clothes off."
A slender finger pressed against his forehead through her long sleeve, the fabric brushing his skin. The familiar texture told him his hoodie was still there—he wasn't naked after all.
"Eh?" Mizuno blinked. His clothes were intact?
She hadn't touched him while he was out? Since when did Tachyon have self-control?
"Hmhm~" Tachyon pulled back her finger, covering a smirk with her sleeve as she explained,
"Of course, I'm curious about what makes you such an abnormal specimen that Uma Musume can't resist."
"But I'm not stupid. Knowing that ten completely different Uma Musume have already fallen under your Uma Mint effect, there's no way I'd recklessly strip you for research."
"I'm insatiably curious, sure—but rationality is still my guiding principle. I don't run experiments with zero chance of success."
"So, until I create an antidote that neutralizes your Uma Mint effect, I'll be keeping my hands to myself."
She gave his shoulder a light pat, signaling him to relax.
"…" Mizuno stared at her for a beat, then muttered, "I don't believe you."
"Huh?" Tachyon's smile froze. "Why not?"
Didn't she just prove she hadn't stripped him?
"If you didn't experiment on me, then why'd you handcuff me?!" he shot back.
Sure, his clothes were still on, but she could've easily taken them off and redressed him afterward!
And the tight feeling around his hands was proof enough—why else would she restrain a patient who couldn't even move?
"Handcuffs?" Tachyon tilted her head, puzzled.
"My hands are cuffed right now!"
"…" She blinked, then looked toward the center of the bed—and smiled even wider.
"Oh~ You mean those?"
She hopped off the bed, propped him up carefully, and turned him just enough to see what was holding his hands.
"It's just two cute little kouhai~" Tachyon pointed out cheerfully.
"Zzz…" Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka were fast asleep on either side of him, their faces resting right on his hands.
The warmth he'd felt came from their cheeks and necks.
"Haa?!" Mizuno was speechless.
He never imagined his "handcuffs" were actually Uma Musume.
"Ever since those three little Uma Musume brought you here yesterday, these two haven't left your side," Tachyon said, amused. "They've been worried sick about you~"
"Haa…?" Mizuno stared blankly at Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka.
So they were the ones who carried him here? But why were they sleeping while holding his hands?
And using them as pillows? That couldn't be comfortable, right?
"Wait—" he blurted suddenly, remembering something more important.
"Oh right! Tachyon-san, you said three Uma Musume brought me here. Where's Broshi?! Where's Broshi?!"
His own condition didn't matter compared to Gold Ship's. He couldn't rest easy until he knew she was okay.
"Broshi?" Tachyon tilted her head. "You mean Gold Ship?"
"Yeah!"
"I wouldn't know," she said with a shrug.
"The last time I saw her was yesterday, when they dropped you off. After that, she grabbed a shovel and left Tracen Academy for some reason."
Her eyes gleamed mischievously.
"Maybe… she went to dig you a basement."