Chapter 110

Listening to the ear-splitting siren sound, I took a moment to assess the current situation.

And I realized that I had made a very wrong judgment.

As I was being dragged away by the Chief of Security, I urgently sent a message to Kwak Hanmuk.

… I sent the message ‘only’ to Kwak Hanmuk.

Given the chaos, Kwak Hanmuk likely didn’t think to share the situation with Je Hyun-oh either.

It would have been even more difficult for a prison guard to contact Creature Inmate No. 13 separately, and it was even more so since I had urged him via message to come as quickly as possible.

Thus, Je Hyun-oh was left alone in Zone X, knowing nothing more than the fact that the trainee had been dragged away by the Chief of Security under ominous circumstances.

For him, there was no reason to wait patiently.

Naturally, he had escaped, and while he was at it, it seemed he had taken the opportunity to take out other creatures from the prison as well.

Since the main quest was to ‘find true freedom for the creatures,’ it was an action well worth attempting.

It was also the best decision Je Hyun-oh could make given his situation.

However, a complete escape of all the creatures would result in a bad ending.

This was because they would wander aimlessly on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean, unable to find a place to escape, only to be caught by guards and thrown back into prison.

Some of the escaped creatures would even be shot dead and thrown into the sea.

However, the escape that just occurred was clearly different from the game.

‘Because the one who orchestrated the escape is Creature Inmate No. 13.’

It was a role that never existed in the game to begin with.

Since an anomaly had already occurred, he concluded that the situation might unfold in a different direction than a bad ending.

‘A true ending might still be possible.’

Of course, a true ending cannot be established in the current situation.

This was because the ‘true freedom’ the creatures desired was not a prison break.

I absolutely did not want to see Cell-X explode on the rooftop of the Gyeonggi Regional Office.

Just as I was feeling anxious that I had to clear the game with the True Ending no matter what, the system window popped up.

As soon as I saw the quest, I narrowed my gaze slightly.

The number of creatures I had to find was not thirteen, but twelve.

“Is Lieutenant Colonel Je not included?”

I was staring intently at the quest window when this happened.

A crackling noise came from the speakers.

A voice flowed from the speakers, which had terrible sound quality.

“It doesn’t sound like the Chief of Security.”

Seeing him issue the Code Black order, I wondered if it was the old-fashioned warden Kwak Hanmuk had grumbled about.

I was listening intently, hoping for a clue, when I flinched at the broadcast that followed.

Why are they looking for me?

But I didn’t even have the luxury of wondering.

As soon as the broadcast ended, heavy thumping sounds followed one after another.

It was the sound of prison sections being locked down.

Won Taebeom gripped my forearm tightly and said.

“Trainee Han. You need to move.”

If I stayed here any longer, I might end up trapped inside a closed prison and framed for aiding an escape.

I left Zone X with Won Taebeom.

Running side by side, he asked:

“Do you have a plan in mind?”

“We need to find the escaped creatures. At this rate, even achieving the normal ending might be difficult.”

As I answered, I sent a message to Je Hyun-oh.

I spun the messages while simultaneously racking my brain.

Saying it was just finding the creatures was a bit of a stretch; in reality, it meant I had to search every corner of the island.

It was no easy task to find the twelve creatures while avoiding the guards in the pitch-black darkness.

“I think we need to find Lieutenant Colonel Je first.”

Won Taebeom immediately understood what I was saying.

More than anything else, finding Je Hyun-oh was the most urgent task.

I had sent a message, but I didn’t know if he would heed my words.

Even if we found the creatures, if Je Hyun-oh massacred all the prison guards, it would end in a normal ending.

I had to check on his condition first.

After running with all my might alongside Won Taebeom, we were able to get out of the prison not long after.

A cold sea breeze blew as if slapping my cheeks.

My hair was flying wildly, and the searchlights sweeping across the area and the sound of sirens mingled chaotically.

I gasped for breath and looked up at the night sky.

And in the black sky, I discovered a being with a color even darker than that.

He… was standing atop the prison building.

The figure, gazing up at the sky with his metal hands hanging down, was submerged in darkness.

Yet, for some reason, he caught my eye instantly.

I followed Je Hyun-oh’s gaze.

In the night sky, thick with sea fog rising from the ocean, not even the moon was visible, let alone stars.

Yet, Je Hyun-oh stared at the sky persistently.

His gaze, which had refused to leave the night sky, slowly turned toward me.

As if he had known I was here from the very beginning.

Time was of the essence.

Yet, the moment our eyes met, the first thought that crossed my mind was a strange one.

It was the thought that he, after all, was well-suited for open spaces.

Even though this madness began with Je Hyun-oh’s escape, I was actually…

Satisfied that he had escaped from Cell No. 13.

"…!"

I flinched back to my senses.

I had just felt as if my eye color was about to change.

I quickly felt around my eyes with my hand, but fortunately, I didn’t feel any heat.

Just then, the searchlight sweeping the ground turned toward the sky.

Because the sea fog was so thick, the light from the searchlights illuminating the ground was reflecting off the fog.

The reflection of the light was actually obstructing visibility.

Therefore, it seemed the intention was to shoot the searchlights toward the fog layer rather than the ground to diffuse the light.

As the searchlights hit the fog layer, an artificial light was created, and the area around the prison became softly illuminated.

It looked as if bright moonlight was shining, making it even easier to catch the escapees hiding in the darkness.

The searchlights aimed at the sky also located Je Hyun-oh on the rooftop.

Trapped in the light, he did not react at all, even though he knew he had been discovered.

He simply stared at me.

It might be an exaggeration, but it seemed as though he was waiting to see what I would do.

A Lieutenant Colonel waiting for a trainee.

Thinking it was nonsense from beginning to end, I sent him a message.

Honestly, I thought he would do at least that much.

A vague sense of confidence that the escapee Je Hyun-oh didn’t seem to be in too bad a mood also played a part.

I sent a message to Kwak Hanmuk as well, asking him to guide the prison guards toward Lieutenant Colonel Je as much as possible if he could.

Then, turning to Won Taebeom, I said:

“I intend to look for the Creature while Lieutenant Colonel Je distracts the guards. I will start by finding Creature Inmate No. 1…”

I stopped mid-sentence and wore a puzzled expression.

It was because Won Taebeom wasn’t looking at me, but at my back.

Just as I was wondering why he was acting this way with a surprised look in his eyes…

“…Gasp!”

I was snatched up and dragged into the air.

With Won Taebeom’s bewildered expression as the final image, I was instantly lifted away from the ground.

The back of my prison guard uniform stretched taut, as if it were about to tear.

Still, perhaps because they weren’t metal hands but crow gloves, the clothes held on precariously.

The uniform was made of a special material, so it didn’t look like it would tear.

The vines on my forearm, startled by the sudden change, wrapped around me almost completely.

Dominic, his ears flattened by the strong wind, politely voiced his grievances to me.

“Roasted Chestnut. As I said before, the subordinate made of black metal needs education.”

If I could have educated Je Hyun-oh, I would have to become the Director of the TRA, not a trainee.

‘No, I don’t think he would even listen to the President.’

While I was lost in a moment of idle thought, Je Hyun-oh, who had snatched me up, stopped in mid-air only after rising high enough.

I unconsciously looked down.

And I witnessed an incredible sight.

It was the sight of all the prison guards running to catch Je Hyun-oh…

It was a pity that I hadn’t been the only one left out here; it would have been perfect for going to find the Creature.

“Goyo.”

Je Hyun-oh called out to me in a remarkably calm tone.

His voice was so composed that anyone watching would have thought he had called me while I was eating cake at a cafe.

“Yeah…”

When I answered listlessly, he asked a question.

“Are you out of your mind?”

At those words, I immediately realized why Je Hyun-oh had snatched me up.

I was currently wearing the prison guard uniform I had worn during the new recruit training course.

Since a former Medic had suddenly appeared in a prison guard uniform, Je Hyun-oh seemed to have concluded that this was Clean3’s Butler Part 2.

For him, it was necessary to verify my sanity.

I urgently informed Je Hyun-oh of my condition.

“I’m perfectly fine! I’m a Medic, but I ended up like this because of that bastard Chief of Security…!”

Dangling precariously in mid-air, I cursed at the Chief of Security with all my might.

At that, Je Hyun-oh moved one of his metal wings and lightly tapped the vine plant.

The trembling vine plant flinched and squeezed my forearm tightly.

“And this?”

“Ah, this is part of Creature Inmate No. 1.”

I quickly and swiftly summarized the situation to him.

However, it seemed that wasn’t the answer Je Hyun-oh wanted.

He stared at me intently through his sleek goggles and repeatedly tapped the plant with his metal wings.

It appeared he was asking why I bothered carrying this around.

I offered a lame excuse.

“Um… this friend is a coward… so it’s a bit difficult to get rid of him.”

Then, I pleaded as pitifully as possible.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je. I really need to go find the creatures.”

I struggled to get my operation approved, claiming that the True Ending would be impossible if I didn’t find them now.

“If you find them all?”

I could guess the meaning behind that short question.

It must have meant whether I was going to send the creatures back to Zone X.

“For now… since you went to the trouble of helping them escape, it feels a bit unfair to put them back in prison, so I will consider a different approach.”

A rattling sound of metal wings moving was heard.

I watched the guards draw their guns and aim as I listened to Je Hyun-oh’s voice.

“Find them quickly, Goyo.”

He spoke like a very generous Lieutenant Colonel.

“Before I start wanting to kill all the guards.”

And then he flew off somewhere with a whoosh.

“…!”

He tossed me down with a thud.

I fell without even being able to scream.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je!!”

I was screaming inwardly, pouring out my resentment toward Je Hyun-oh, who had completely forgotten our camaraderie.

The place where Je Hyun-oh dropped me was behind the prison wall, a spot where the light barely reached.

Just as I thought I was helplessly crashing into the ground and was trying to wrap the vines on my forearm around them.

Something wriggling in the dim shadows reached out toward me.

I opened my eyes wide.

The moment I realized it was a plant stem, I saw a form hidden in the darkness.

Dark green and brown vines were tangled together, wriggling in a circle.

There were no flowers to be seen on the thick, rough stem, but leaves were sprouting sparsely.

A gigantic creature, appearing to be about 3 meters tall, stretched its stem toward me.

Wrapped tightly around my forearm the tangled vines also stretched their stems toward the creature.

The separate beings touched and intertwined, gradually transforming into one.

My falling body was caught by stems extending from all directions, causing me to lose speed.

As I stood completely entangled in the stems, like a spider caught in a web, a notification popped up.

At the same time, the sound of small firecrackers was heard, and a system window appeared.