Chapter 106

I stared at the vine plant with a look of bewilderment.

I couldn’t fathom why it was acting this way all of a sudden.

It was moving as if to block me from striking it any further.

Nothing like this had ever happened in the game.

Usually, when accepting the rookie prison guard quest, the creatures’ suspicion levels were already high.

I wondered if some anomaly had occurred when the levels spiked erratically earlier.

I was curious about Creature No. 1’s current level.

However, checking its level required a face-to-face encounter; I couldn’t do it by interacting with just a part of its body.

Escaping the training area was the priority.

To continue the strikes, I used my baton to gently push away the vine that had wrapped around my right hand.

But the vine stubbornly kept coiling around me.

Text appeared on the monitor.

If I didn’t complete the required number of strikes quickly, it would be marked as a failure.

After a moment of hesitation, I swung the baton again. I figured it would back off on its own after taking a single hit.

Thwack—a dull sound of impact rang out. The vine stiffened for a moment, then shuddered violently.

I waited for the stem to release my right hand.

But for some reason, it wrapped around me even tighter.

It even climbed up to my wrist, forming a thick, protective layer.

“…….”

It wasn’t as if we were splitting the hits between us—what was this?

I couldn’t understand why it was insisting on taking the blows.

‘And I even have a way to heal my body afterward.’

But with no way to convey my thoughts, I had no choice but to complete the remaining strikes by hitting the vine plant.

As I landed the final tenth hit, the sound of applause rang out from the screen. I finished striking the creature model.

Frowning slightly, I wiped my damp forehead with the back of my hand and let out a sigh.

As the strikes concluded, the figures on the system window rose.

I sheathed my baton and examined the vine plant.

After the final blow, the vine plant hung limp.

I had struck it just hard enough to register a hit, but it must have still been painful.

I stroked the vine plant gently.

At that, the stem—lifeless just moments ago—began to wriggle and climb up my forearm.

I gathered the vine plant into my arms.

It was a bit of a handful, but I managed to cradle it with one arm.

I intended to return the vine plant to Creature No. 1.

Creature No. 1 was capable of detaching and reattaching parts of its body.

If I brought it back, it would reconnect itself to the main body.

Fortunately, it wasn’t particularly heavy.

Seeming to like the feel of my embrace, the vine plant shifted and settled into a position that was more comfortable for itself.

The wall split open, revealing a doorway.

Before moving on, I glanced at Dominic. He had been unusually quiet, which made me uneasy.

“He really ought to have said something by now.”

I had braced myself for a scolding the moment I struck my right hand with the baton.

I knew full well that Dominic didn’t approve of such methods.

I had even imagined what he might say.

Are you risking injury to your hand over such a trivial creature? It’s not easy to understand the nature of Roasted Chestnut, and so on.

Yet, strangely, Dominic remained silent.

This was surprising, given that the situation would normally have elicited a sound of dissatisfaction—like a low “Hmm…”—by now.

I glanced at Dominic.

That was when I realized something was amiss.

Dominic was staring intently at the vine-like plant.

There was no squishing of the body, no twitching of ears, and no scattering of sparkles.

He was simply frozen in place, staring fixedly.

At that moment, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

The Dominic standing there now gave off the same vibe as Samra did when he stopped pretending to be human.

It was like casting aside a flimsy mask to reveal one’s true essence…

A faint shiver ran up my spine as the realization crystallized.

Squish. The slime’s body shifted.

“Let’s move to the next room. The door is about to close.”

At Dominic’s calm words, I quickly checked the door.

Failure to move within a set time after a transfer order was issued counted as insubordination.

One would be confined in the room until their mind was sufficiently “reconditioned,” so it was crucial not to be late.

As I moved to the next room, I kept glancing back at Dominic.

The slime had gone back to its squishy state, so it seemed fine for the moment…

Still harboring a nagging sense of unease, I entered the next room, and sure enough, a monitor descended with a low, mechanical hum.

A glass vial filled with neon-green liquid appeared on the screen.

The vial slowly rotated on the screen. After the container rotated enough to clearly reveal the neon-green liquid inside, words appeared.

Illustrations depicting the uses of Neo appeared on the screen.

From curing diseases and enhancing the human body to even serving as fuel for spaceships.

It vividly demonstrated just how happy humanity had become thanks to this miraculous, magical substance.

Scenes of a child who couldn’t walk rising from a wheelchair to embrace their parents, and of scientists—once in despair—advancing toward a new world using Neo, were truly stirring.

Had I not known the true nature of “Neo,” I might have been moved as well.

Illustrations showing humans and Creatures coexisting peacefully flooded the screen, layering over one another.

Then, suddenly, the image shattered.

The screen now displayed illustrations of Creatures committing crimes.

Horrific scenes of murder, arson, and looting followed one after another.

In these illustrations, the Creatures were depicted as grotesque monsters, while the humans—drawn with cute features—were portrayed as purely innocent victims.

I briefly glanced at the vine-like plant I was holding in my arms. It was a relief that the first prisoner was a plant-type creature.

Since it lacked vision—even if it could sense touch—it didn’t have to witness that utter nonsense.

This time, a pillar rose from the floor.

Resting atop the pillar was a glass vial containing the Neo I had just seen on the screen.

Ugh…

Knowing how Neo was harvested, I felt a strong sense of revulsion.

But there was no way around it.

I had no choice but to drink it.

I popped the aluminum cap off the vial.

My right hand wasn’t in great shape, so my grip slipped a bit, but I managed to open it somehow.

After taking a deep breath, I downed the Neo.

Gulp. I could clearly feel the liquid sliding down my esophagus.

Slightly viscous, it didn’t go down smoothly; instead, it felt thick and syrupy.

I set the empty vial down.

I felt myself calming down a bit.

As if on cue, the sound of loud applause erupted from the screen.

I shifted only my eyes to check the system window.

Drinking the Neo caused the progress rate to jump by 40% instantly.

My hand, which had been mangled by the baton, healed in the blink of an eye.

My right hand was back to normal.

As I started to walk, I glanced at the load resting on one of my arms.

The weight pressing against me felt cumbersome and uncomfortable.

A sudden surge of irritation rose within me, accompanied by an impulse to hurl the bundle onto the floor.

This is exactly why creatures are a nuisance.

“…Ah.”

I blinked rapidly.

I was inwardly appalled by the alien nature of the thought I’d just had.

Now that my “prison guard progression rate” had surpassed 50%, my mindset was undeniably changing for the worse.

Even in the game, I had found the process of transforming into a prison guard bizarre, but experiencing it in reality was far more unpleasant.

“…….”

My head felt feverish, as if my temperature were rising.

I realized I needed to be careful not to let the prison guard mindset consume me.

I would try my best to avoid raising the progression rate any further, but even so, by the time the training course concluded, it would likely reach 98%.

My goal was to meet Kwak Hanmuk before it hit 100%.

‘After all, I sent a message right before the Chief of Security dragged me away.’

Kwak Hanmuk was probably on his way to find me right now.

Clutching the mass of vines to my arm, I took a slow, deep breath and moved into the next room.

Unlike the previous rooms, this one was quite large.

A massive monitor was mounted on one wall, and an arena—the kind you’d see in a fighting ring—was set up in the center.

The ring, encircled by heavy chains instead of ropes, had a bleak, grim atmosphere.

I set the vine plant down on the floor.

The plant, having left my arms, caused its stems to writhe unsteadily.

However, I couldn’t exactly fight while cradling a plant.

“Wait here.”

Even though they couldn’t hear me, I tossed out a quick remark while loosening up and checking my condition.

Neo not only restores the body but also enhances it.

It was primarily due to Neo’s influence that the prison guards were able to contend with the creatures.

I couldn’t yet exert as much power as the guards.

However, even this level of strength was enough to handle mere hologram creatures without difficulty.

‘It’s not like I’m actually getting hurt, anyway.’

Normally, rookie guards face hologram creatures without any prior information, learning frustration and rage in the process.

They master suppression techniques only after suffering crushing defeats; the negative emotions felt earlier make them accept and execute even brutal methods as a matter of course.

I already understood all the creature suppression techniques.

There was no need to drag out the training by fighting them repeatedly.

I intended to subdue every creature on the first attempt and finish the practical training in record time.

However, I felt a rush of heat and a slight dizziness.

Was it because of the Neo I had consumed?

A strange, persistent sense of discomfort was also nagging at me. I wanted to get the training over with as quickly as possible.

I stepped onto the ring.

At that moment, hologram creatures appeared one after another in the arena.

Amidst the roar of the crowd, text flashed onto the screen.

The screen paused briefly before displaying more text.

I scanned the thirteen creatures with an expressionless gaze.

My eyes stopped on the hologram of Creature Inmate No. 13.

My lips, previously set in a straight line, parted to let out a dry, incredulous laugh.

“Hah…” The sense of unpleasantness that had been stirring within me all this time suddenly erupted.

My eyes burned with heat…