Chapter 108

At Kwak Hanmuk’s words, I reached up to touch my eyes.

Had they turned gold again?

I could certainly feel a radiating heat against my palm.

I was somewhat used to this, having experienced similar symptoms whenever my eye color changed.

However, Kwak Hanmuk’s reaction was unusually intense.

He had already witnessed my eyes changing color several times.

We had even briefly discussed the phenomenon of my eyes turning gold before entering Cell-X.

Yet, right now, he was acting as if he were seeing this situation for the very first time.

When I looked at him in confusion, Kwak Hanmuk glanced around.

He led me toward a monitor that had been smashed by a riot baton.

My face was reflected in the dark screen.

“…Huh?”

I leaned in close.

Reflected in the black panel were eyes glowing with a brilliant golden hue.

Golden eyes with crimson pupils.

Just like Je Hyun-oh, the colors of my iris and pupil had shifted.

Those glittering golden eyes with their stark red pupils looked anything but human.

It was a bizarre sight—bizarre enough to make Kwak Hanmuk’s reaction perfectly understandable.

I tried rubbing my eyes, but nothing changed.

Unable to hide my bewilderment, I muttered:

“I’m not really sure myself…”

I truly had no idea what was happening.

“It is a natural part of your growth process, Roasted Chestnut.”

Dominic whispered these unbelievable words into my ear.

As I stood there blankly, ignoring what he said, Kwak Hanmuk pressed me for an answer.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m not really sure about that, either…”

“Wow, this is driving me crazy.” Kwak Hanmuk vigorously ruffled his own hair.

As I stood there, flustered by the inexplicable changes in my body, a system window popped up.

‘What exactly did I consume?’

I wanted to get rid of those censored squares.

But the system window ignored my reaction and kept churning out messages one after another.

I felt like I somewhat understood what it was trying to say.

After all, my state of mind had been erratic right before Kwak Hanmuk arrived.

Now that my head had cooled, I could see just how irrational I had been.

And Dominic… he had subtly egged me on.

I could also roughly guess why Dominic had incited me.

‘He probably wants me to act like a god, not a human.’

He treated me as a young god and expected my words and actions to befit that title.

That line of thought led to a major suspicion.

No matter how I looked at it, I suspected Dominic had done something to me back in Sla2Plate.

It seemed I had been a bit off ever since then.

“I enjoyed a meal at the restaurant with Roasted Chestnut.”

Dominic’s words came back to me.

There seemed to be a connection between the ‘meal’ he mentioned and the ‘digestion’ the system window kept referring to.

I should interrogate that Pudding Slime soon… I couldn’t quite manage that, so I resolved to coax the truth out of him instead.

I casually dismissed the rectangular system window that popped up—as if it had been waiting for the moment—and spoke.

“Captain Kwak, I think we should head outside first.”

When I explained that staying here too long would result in the door closing and trapping us, Kwak Hanmuk looked me in the eye again.

“…Right. Let’s get out of here. Your eyes have returned to normal, too.”

As he immediately started walking away, I hurriedly called out.

“Oh, please wait a moment. There’s something I need to take with me.”

I quickly ran over and picked up the vine plant that was huddled in the corner.

I had set it down in a suitable spot earlier, but it seemed to have crawled all the way to the corner on its own in the meantime.

The moment my hand touched it, the vine plant hurriedly wrapped itself around me.

Did it think I was going to leave it behind?

It clung tightly to me, as if determined never to let go again.

Creature No. 1 was always the timid, easily startled sort.

It was understandable that it was scared; even though it couldn’t see or hear anything, it must have felt the full impact of the vibrations from the battle.

I gave its stem a few gentle strokes.

As I walked over carrying the vine plant, Kwak Hanmuk looked down at me with his arms crossed.

I offered a lame excuse.

“Um… it’s something needed for the True Ending. I’m serious.”

“I didn’t say anything, did I?”

“So, is it okay if I take it with me?”

“Part of me wants to say no, just because Chestnut wants to take it.”

“…….”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.

Kwak Hanmuk chuckled as he watched me hesitate to answer.

“Let’s go.”

With my superior’s permission, I took the vine plant and followed Kwak Hanmuk.

The door to the next room—where the third stage of training was supposed to take place—was smashed in.

It looked like Kwak Hanmuk had forced his way inside.

Had I followed the standard curriculum, this was the point where the brainwashing to turn me into a full-fledged prison guard would have begun in earnest.

It was a relief that Kwak Hanmuk arrived before I had to undergo that third stage of training.

Things worked out well in many respects because he arrived much earlier than anticipated.

Just before being dragged away by the Chief of Security, I had sent a message to Kwak Hanmuk.

It was a message explaining how to reach the training facility for new prison guards.

By my original calculations, my "prison guard" stat would have reached 98% by the time the training course concluded.

That was why it was crucial for Kwak Hanmuk to arrive at just the right moment.

It was no easy mission, though.

First, he had to retrieve the neutralizing agent kept in a secret safe within the prison guards’ break room.

Prison guards regularly consumed ‘Neo.’

However, they sometimes suffered side effects, and the neutralizing agent was used to treat them.

Naturally, this was a critical item that wouldn’t be disclosed to a rookie like Kwak Hanmuk, but it wasn’t an issue since I knew both the safe’s location and its passcode.

Stealing the neutralizing agent was easy enough if one timed it right—catching the break room when it was empty—but the real problem was the prayer room.

The prison’s prayer room was somewhat bleak, yet it was fully equipped with the appropriate furnishings.

A door leading to an underground passage was concealed beneath the pulpit.

That maze-like underground passage connected directly to the training facility for new prison guards. Since entering the prayer room meant inevitably encountering the cleric, the first hurdle was successfully persuading him to let us use the underground passage.

I had taught Kwak Hanmuk how to persuade the cleric, but the process was tricky and required a significant amount of time.

Even if one succeeded in persuading the cleric, there was still the underground maze to contend with.

Navigating that complex maze took a long time, even if you knew the way.

Yet, Kwak Hanmuk had overcome all those obstacles and reached me at incredible speed.

Thinking, "As expected of Captain Kwak," I assumed the only thing left was to make our way back out through the maze.

"…Wow."

I was genuinely impressed.

A trail of Kwak Hanmuk’s prayer beads—made of lightning-struck wood—stretched all the way through the maze.

All we had to do was follow the beads to reach the exit.

"Pretty awesome, right?"

After giving a round of enthusiastic applause to the boastful Kwak Hanmuk, I followed the beads to navigate the maze.

Had it not been for him, even I would have spent considerable time finding the way; thanks to him, the escape was incredibly easy.

I reached the exit alongside Kwak Hanmuk and looked up at the long ladder.

Climbing this ladder meant we would finally be free.

However, the ladder was immensely long.

The top, where the end should have been, was shrouded in impenetrable darkness.

We would likely have to climb for a long time even after passing through that darkness.

"Captain Kwak really has amazing stamina."

It was simply astounding that he had climbed down this alone, navigated the maze, and found me.

While I marveled anew at Kwak Hanmuk’s stamina, he stepped toward the ladder first. Kwak Hanmuk held the flashlight in his teeth and shook the ladder vigorously with both hands.

Contrary to appearances, the ladder seemed firmly fixed; it didn’t budge.

Kwak Hanmuk handed the flashlight back to me and spoke.

“It should be fine for two people to climb at once. Let’s go.”

After this brief explanation, he gestured with his chin.

“You go first, Hyung-nim.”

It was the kind of remark one would make to show great respect for an elder.

Even though he’s actually the older one.

I didn’t know why he kept playing these kinds of pranks, but dwelling on it would get me nowhere.

I was about to climb the ladder without a word when I hesitated.

The problem was where to secure the flashlight.

I was worried it might fall if I just clipped it to my clothes.

When I asked Kwak Hanmuk, he said he had come down without even turning his flashlight on.

And that was in this kind of darkness.

“I think I need to keep mine on, though…”

If I were alone, it might be different, but if I made a mistake while climbing, Kwak Hanmuk—who was right below me—could get hurt.

I wanted to proceed as safely as possible.

Kwak Hanmuk scanned me, looking for a good spot to secure the flashlight.

His gray eyes traveled upward from below and settled on my forearm.

“Can’t you tuck it in there?”

Actually, I had been thinking the same thing.

I gently stroked the climbing plant to give it a signal, then carefully wedged the flashlight between its stems.

I had been worried it wouldn’t hold, but fortunately, the stems gripped the flashlight tightly.

Kwak Hanmuk looked at the flashlight secured in the plant and remarked on how convenient it was.

“Good thing you brought it along.” At his compliment—as if I’d just picked up a valuable item—I nodded and grabbed hold of the ladder.

“I’m heading up.”

“Right. Let’s go, Chestnut.”

Kwak Hanmuk and I climbed the ladder.

He kept messing with me from below.

“Chestnut. Your butt’s too close.”

“Sorry. I’ll climb faster.”

Yet, whenever I picked up the pace, he’d just stick right close behind me again.

“I guess I’ll have to whip you into shape.”

He kept teasing me from behind, making jokes about how I was like a chestnut shell with no kernel inside.

I gave a vague reply, saying I’d fill that kernel in soon enough.

It was just as I was thinking he seemed to be teasing me more than usual.

“Once you officially enlist, you’ll be going through recruit training.”

Kwak Hanmuk’s words made my hands falter for a moment.

Although my rank was ‘Trainee,’ I had never actually received proper training at the TRA.

I was wondering what kind of training awaited me after official enlistment when Kwak Hanmuk spoke casually.

“I’ll teach you how to shoot later.”

Couldn’t you do it for our team, too?

I wanted to ask Kwak Hanmuk that one more time, but I held back.

It was already a huge favor that the incredibly busy field team leader was making time to teach me how to shoot.

Kwak Hanmuk kept cracking jokes and teasing me as we went.

Engrossed in our conversation, I climbed the ladder diligently without even realizing how exhausting it was, and thanks to that, I quickly reached the door leading to the surface.

Just as I was feeling grateful to Kwak Hanmuk and about to push the door open…

Clunk.

The hatch opened on its own.

And I found myself face-to-face with someone I hadn’t expected at all.

A muscular man in a black clerical robe was looking down at me.

I stared up at him, eyes wide.

“…Lieutenant Won?”

He extended his hand and spoke bluntly.

“Trainee Han. Take my hand.”

Won Taebeom’s role was that of a cleric.