Chapter 60

I almost fainted.

I was impressed with myself for somehow managing to stay conscious.

The thing that kept flowing out endlessly did not look like something that could come from a human body.

No, it was a form that should not have appeared anywhere in the world.

Countless eyes were embedded within that bizarre shape.

Eyes of different colors stared at me.

Feeling disgusted enough to get goosebumps was one thing, but another thought came to me first.

‘Is he going to walk around like that from now on?’

I hated the idea of carrying that thing around inside me, but at the same time, I couldn’t exactly release something like that into the world.

A laugh came from what I assumed was Dominic.

“I apologize. In order to leave Morneveil, I had to take on a form using an item.”

The culprit behind the 9,999 items was Dominic.

After risking my life to clear the True Ending, it was painful to realize that I had lost the chance to receive the items.

‘Was the recognition level because of Dominic too?’

If Dominic, who had turned himself into an item, had briefly been considered something belonging to me, then it made sense why my recognition had skyrocketed to absurd numbers for a moment.

Anyway, that was not the problem right now.

The biggest issue was that I had to travel together with this… thing.

I looked up at the thing that was now growing larger than my own height.

It looked like it would soon become 3 meters tall.

Thinking about it, there would be a problem even if Dominic transformed into a human.

CallOVo was set in a fictional British city at the end of the 19th century, so there were spacious and relaxed areas.

But modern Korean society could not accommodate a 3-meter-tall Dominic.

There would be many places where Dominic would have to squeeze himself down just to enter, and on top of that, he would have to apply mind control across the entire area.

In CallOVo, Dominic had placed all of Morneveil under his influence.

‘Would he have to hypnotize all of humanity on Earth since he could be recorded by video media?’

The more I thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.

I gave up on the human form idea and began negotiations.

“Um… Dominic-ssi. Are you going to change into a human appearance?”

“I was considering doing so.”

“Your current appearance is also impressive, so it’s a little unfortunate. Would you perhaps consider becoming a little smaller?”

As I subtly tried to guide the conversation in another direction, the thing wriggled and asked me:

“How small?”

Even a nightmare in the middle of the night probably would not have been worse than this.

After shuddering for a moment, I picked up a fallen branch from the corner.

Then I crouched down and drew an appropriately sized circle on the dirt ground that had been dug up for construction.

“This size?”

Since he was not using a human form, I thought perhaps a drastic reduction in size would be possible.

Then, unbelievably, it shrank down exactly to the size of the circle I had drawn!

Gaining confidence, I decided to try additional changes.

“Can you change the shape as well?”

“Possible.”

The thing looked up at me and spoke.

“I am unfamiliar with this place, so could you give me your opinion, Roasted Chestnut? I will use it as reference and change myself into a form suitable for this environment.”

“Thank you.”

I accepted his suggestion without hesitation.

“First, remove all the eyes… Make the shape round and soft… Do you happen to like cats or rabbits?”

“I do not have any particular feelings toward them.”

A response that would make the butlers sad if they heard it.

I decided to keep that information to myself and put all my effort into drawing on the ground.

For my own mental health and that of humanity, I drew the cutest and gentlest shape I knew.

The thing watched my drawing with interest.

I thought carefully about a color Dominic might like while also being less frightening to me.

“How about sky blue? Like the sky on a clear day.”

Since his eyes were made of various shades of blue, I thought he might prefer colors in that range.

The thing slowly moved around the drawing I had made, then began emitting light.

I squeezed my eyes shut in anticipation of the transformation, then opened them.

And I welcomed the new Dominic with emotion.

“Dominic-ssi…!”

A tiny size that fit perfectly in one hand.

A sky-blue body that sparkled as if it contained countless stars.

Two adorable ears and a cute expression.

Even a soft texture like pudding.

It was 99,999% cuter and more perfect than my drawing.

Deeply moved, I carefully placed Dominic on both hands and lifted him toward the sky.

At this moment, I was the Cult of the Void Apostles.

“Perfect. Let’s continue traveling like this from now on. You are truly adorable, Dominic-ssi.”

The words came out before my brain could stop them.

I belatedly flinched, but Dominic did not seem offended by my comment about his cuteness.

His ears fluttered twice before he spoke.

“But, Roasted Chestnut.”

“Yes…?”

He wasn’t going to say he was uncomfortable and return to his original form, was he?

I looked nervously at the pudding slime.

“In this place, my appearance will not be visible to other people. Only my contractor, Roasted Chestnut, or beings with a similar or higher level of existence should be able to perceive me.”

He paused briefly, then his body flashed.

It was only a short burst of light, but for some reason, I felt as though he had looked over the entirety of Earth.

“There are not many beings on this planet capable of fully recognizing me. You do not need to worry.”

In other words, he was a slime that only I could see.

That was fine.

Compared to that… thing… from earlier or a 3-meter human form, this slime was much less burdensome and much cuter.

After solving the appearance problem, Dominic belatedly became interested in his surroundings.

When he saw the ruined Haewoljeong, his ears perked up.

“Is that your home, Roasted Chestnut? It is quite unique.”

His tone was polite, but it was clearly a question doubting Earth’s level of civilization.

Before Dominic’s misunderstanding could grow worse, I hurriedly explained.

“No. That place is just under construction. Where I live is far from here. Now, I should contact them for our return…”

I was about to do so.

But it seemed unnecessary.

A loud helicopter sound came from the sky.

A powerful white searchlight, bright enough to turn my vision white, shone directly on me.

I calmly waved toward the helicopter.

The person who sent the TRA’s helicopter was Samra.

As it turned out, the earpiece provided by the TRA had a location tracking function.

So the moment my location was detected, they contacted the Busan Regional Office and immediately sent a helicopter.

From the moment I was captured on the spot and transported to Seoul, I received a rather ambiguous kind of treatment.

Somewhere between a deserter, a trainee soldier, and a monster.

Still, they said we would arrive in Seoul in about an hour and a half, so I did not have any particular complaints.

But Dominic was different.

He crawled around on top of the restraint cuffs placed on me as a suitable person and evaluated them.

“Roasted Chestnut. It seems the method of worshiping gods here is rather unusual.”

Since I could not afford to look like someone talking to empty air, I answered with a small smile instead.

Dominic made a dissatisfied sound.

“Hmm.”

But he climbed back onto my shoulder anyway.

He seemed to dislike the helicopter as well.

“An interesting method of transportation, but it contains several unnecessary elements.”

I became anxious that he might modify the helicopter while we were still in the air.

Fortunately, Dominic only complained briefly and remained politely seated on my shoulder.

It was a ridiculous comparison, but it felt like he was showing the courtesy of someone who understood that he should not casually touch things inside someone else’s home.

For some reason, he seemed to regard the planet called Earth as something like my personal territory.

His misunderstanding was enormous, and I had no idea where to even begin correcting it.

Lost in thought, I returned to the TRA while enjoying the conveniences of modern civilization.

Samra was waiting for me at the helicopter landing pad on the TRA’s rooftop.

The helicopter wind violently whipped his white uniform and hair around.

The wind was strong enough that opening one’s eyes was difficult, but Samra, being an android, did not even frown as he stared directly at me.

Perhaps because it was dark, his holographic-colored eyes seemed to shine even more intensely.

Dominic, who was sitting on top of my head, looked at Samra and suddenly said something strange.

“Fortunately, Roasted Chestnut. Your friend is alive.”

At first, I wondered what he meant.

Then I remembered the lie I had told Dominic in CallOVo.

“I’m sorry. It’s a keepsake from a dead friend…”

It was a lie I had hastily made up when he asked for the hologram badge.

But Dominic had recognized the owner of the badge the moment he saw Samra.

I briefly checked my surroundings.

Everyone was busy and the noise from preparing for landing was loud enough that my whispers probably could not be heard.

“The battery probably ran out, so it shut down and turned back on.”

“Is that so?”

“…Actually, I lied. I’m sorry.”

Since I would continue seeing Samra from now on, I decided to confess rather than continue lying and risk something happening later.

Fortunately, Dominic forgave me generously.

“It is fine, Roasted Chestnut. Since you are young, mistakes can happen.”

He observed Samra with interest and continued speaking.

“A machine of that level is capable of generating its own energy. It has remarkably good performance.”

It seemed Dominic could see even things like that.

It was a good thing I canceled the lie.

Dominic’s body sparkled a little more.

Interest filled his voice.

“That machine may eventually be able to recognize me.”

I was surprised by the phrase “eventually.”

I had assumed Samra would be one of the few beings capable of recognizing Dominic.

With unlimited information as his foundation, Samra’s abilities were close to omniscience and omnipotence.

Even though I was called a young god, Samra seemed far more fitting for the category of “god” than me, considering how little I could actually do.

‘But even then, he is supposedly lower in level than me?’

I wondered what criteria determined one’s level of existence.

I also found myself wanting to give Samra something like a software upgrade.

‘Would I need to bring back an item from a trial with a near-future setting?’

I had been genuinely grateful to Samra during CallOVo, so I wanted to repay him somehow.

As the helicopter approached the rooftop, I called out happily.

“Samra!”

Samra, who had remained expressionless until then, formed a faint smile.

However, something about the atmosphere felt strange.

As soon as I stepped off the helicopter, Samra took me away while I was still wearing the restraints.

I had expected being treated like a criminal would stop once I met Samra, so I was slightly confused.

The other soldiers tried to follow, but Samra refused.

The moment we entered a quiet isolation room, the entire area became covered in holographic light.

After entering the virtual space created by Samra, I glanced sideways at my shoulder.

Dominic had followed into Samra’s space without any issue.

It seemed he would be able to accompany me even when entering other trials.

Samra stood in front of a wall connected with countless monitors, panels, and electronic devices.

Then he spoke.

“There are three days remaining.”

“…!”

The time I had promised the TRA was one month.

However, after being suddenly dragged into CallOVo, my plans had fallen apart.

Although I had closed CallOVo, it was a trial that had not hatched yet and was not one of South Korea’s trials.

“Director Jang Seokyun considers Han Goyo useful. Even if Han Goyo fails to keep his promise, he will not turn him into experimental material for the Research Analysis Division.”

“But from the moment I fail to keep my promise, my position becomes disadvantageous.”

“That is correct.”

Whether I could stand in a position to negotiate from a place of advantage, or whether I would be dragged around by them.

To become the former, I needed to close a trial within three days.

I had arrived at the TRA at around 1 a.m.

Even if I entered a trial immediately, it was not just difficult—it was impossible.

‘I don’t want to be dragged around by Director Jang Seokyun.’

Especially since I had publicly declared in front of everyone at the TRA that I would close three trials within a month.

I wanted to keep my word.

“According to my calculations, there is one trial that can be closed within three days. Entry will be possible this afternoon.”

Since the flow of time differed between trials, it could theoretically be possible if time inside passed faster than outside.

However, once I added conditions like being inside South Korea, belonging to the TRA, having a difficulty suitable for the special mission team, requiring a certain number of people, and being accessible immediately today, there were very few trials remaining.

I had been struggling because nothing came to mind immediately, but Samra had found one.

Feeling the greatness of AI once again, I asked:

“What kind of trial is it?”

“It’s <Slay to Plate>.”

Sla2Plate was a game where players ran a restaurant during the day and entered dungeons to hunt monsters at night.

Players cooked dishes using monsters defeated in the dungeon and sold them in the restaurant.

The goal of the game was to successfully operate the restaurant, obtain the title of the best restaurant, and completely conquer the dungeon.

At first glance, it sounded peaceful.

But once you actually started playing, it was completely different.

The game had a daily required payment amount, and if you failed to meet that amount, you would be eaten by a monster.