Chapter 116

After waking up, I sat blankly on the bed for a while.

Even though I had a mountain of work to do, I just sat there doing nothing.

I had a very restless night’s sleep. It was because I had a dream for the first time in a long while.

I wished I could have forgotten what the dream was about, but I remembered everything vividly.

However, my memory of the dawn I had briefly woken up from because of the dream was unclear.

Only a vague memory remained that having Dominic with me was a comfort.

In the past, I often saw memories of the past in my dreams.

But since I started playing the creator’s game, I haven’t had any dreams.

I was so busy playing games that I had forgotten the past for a while.

It was useless to think about it again now.

It was too late to regret it, and I had already regretted it enough…

I struggled to shake off the emotions weighing down my body.

Only after spending some time did my heart feel a little lighter.

I took a slow, deep breath and calmly retold last night.

It was a situation where dregs were banging on the door like crazy.

However, the moment I answered the incoming call, all traces vanished.

When I checked the hallway after the call ended, there was no one there.

At first, I thought it might just be a glitch, but it didn’t seem like that was the case.

Having heard that meaningful greeting and even had a dream, I suspected that Black Block-ssi had intervened in this entire situation.

However, if I confirmed that Black Block-ssi had intervened, a few questions arose.

1. How did he intervene in the trial?

Black Block-ssi had previously mentioned that he had repeatedly attempted to communicate with me but failed, and only succeeded in establishing a connection in Sla2Plate.

He barely managed to make a single phone call, yet this time he instantly cleared the debris from the hallway and even affected my dream.

‘Are communication and intervention different things?’

It was a difficult part to understand.

Anyway, assuming he did intervene, there was a question that followed.

2. Why did he help me, and why did he make me see the past as a dream?

Even the act of clearing away the dregs could be interpreted as him helping me as a fan.

Judging by Dominic’s way of thinking, one could say that Black Block-ssi simply disposed of it because he disliked the noise during the phone call.

But… making me dream of the past was truly incomprehensible.

I don’t know if Black Block-ssi really intended it, but of all things, why that memory?

“…?”

I blinked for a moment.

It felt as if I had experienced a momentary blackout.

However, as if it were just an illusion, my body felt perfectly fine.

I wondered if it was just because I was tired.

I continued my thoughts and formulated various hypotheses.

However, since there was absolutely nothing noteworthy, I eventually gave up on speculating.

I concluded that I needed to be wary of Black Block-ssi and moved on to the third and final point.

3. Why didn’t Dominic prevent the intervention of another god?

This was the part I found most puzzling.

It felt even stranger because, both during our previous communication and because of the method of getting blood on him, I assumed Dominic would dislike Black Block-ssi.

Still, this was a problem where I had a chance of finding an answer.

I just had to ask.

‘I don’t know if he’ll give me the answer I want, though.’

I took a moment to be cautious before calling Dominic.

It was to avoid making the mistake of calling him Mr. Pudding Slime.

“Dominic-ssi.”

Dominic, who had been waiting quietly on my thigh, looked up at me.

He always waits like this without interrupting me whenever I was lost in thought.

Thinking of him as a truly dignified gentleman slime, I asked him.

“When I took the call yesterday, it looked like Black Block-ssi chased away the beings outside the door, is that correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Um… is it okay for me to contact Black Block-ssi?”

“There is still a price to pay him that hasn’t been paid yet.”

Slap.

Dominic jumped up and stuck to my cheek.

He chuckled softly and said.

“Roasted Chestnut. You don’t need to ask me about such trivial things one by one.”

It was a generous remark, but for some reason, it felt like he was telling me not to ask any more questions.

After hesitating, I asked just one more question.

“Regarding the trial of running the restaurant… I don’t remember having a meal with you at the end… Could you tell me what I ate back then?”

“Children’s nutritional supplements.”

“…….”

Did I eat lemon-flavored candy like Je Hyun-oh?

It was absurd.

However, Dominic wasn’t a slime that made things up, so it seemed like he had roughly fed me some food that might be helpful.

‘Did that not suit me?’

Having only received more confusing answers, I gave up on asking any further questions.

After offering Dominic a hollow thank you, I got out of bed.

As I prepared to head to the infirmary, I checked the status windows of Kwak Hanmuk and Je Hyun-oh.

Kwak Hanmuk’s status window was the same as yesterday.

It was annoying when I checked yesterday morning, and it was annoying this morning as well.

At this point, it was clear that one of the prison guards was making Kwak Hanmuk annoyed.

‘Or it could be CEO Cha.’

He was a very strong candidate.

I closed Kwak Hanmuk’s status window and opened Je Hyun-oh’s.

He was someone whose whereabouts had been unknown since yesterday.

I scrutinized the status window thoroughly, hoping to find even the slightest clue as to where on earth he was and what he was doing.

Aside from the addition of children’s nutritional supplements to his acquired items, there was nothing unusual.

It was when I reached the bottom of the status window, having scanned it all the way through.

In the section indicating his current status, I saw words I could not believe.

Frustrated…?

I looked at it again and again, but the text did not change.

I tried to think calmly.

What could possibly frustrate Je Hyun-oh?

But no matter how much I thought about it, it was not easy to guess.

To begin with, I had never seen him show enough interest in anything to be frustrated.

At most, maybe trials or the Adaptees?

Naturally, he was absolutely not the type to feel emotions like frustration over such things.

Suddenly worried, I sent the message again, the same one I had been sending since yesterday.

It was inconvenient that messages are one-way communication in times like this.

Just because it was a two-way connection, I don’t think Je Hyun-oh would have replied well, though.

‘I need to finish my medical duty quickly and find Lieutenant Colonel Je first.’

I sent a message to Kwak Hanmuk asking him to let me know if he found Je Hyun-oh.

Once I found Je Hyun-oh, I planned to contact Samra to hear about the situation outside as well.

‘I wonder if he’s worried.’

Thinking of Samra, I checked the Tuesday assignments on the weekly schedule.

The words ‘make sure’ were attached to the Zone X rounds.

It meant that if I couldn’t make the rounds today, it would be a bad ending.

It was exactly what I had expected, as this is what happens when the same mission is failed twice in a row. I figured I should go to the infirmary to finish organizing the computer system and disinfecting and inspecting the equipment first, and then handle the medical examinations of human inmates and the Zone X rounds in order.

I went to work at the infirmary with prison guard Slime.

Then, to organize the computer system, I first located the computer monitor stuck in the large cabinet in the infirmary.

“…Wow.”

I let out a short exclamation of awe.

I had only ever seen thick CRT monitors with a protruding back in archive footage; this was the first time I was seeing one in real life.

When I lifted the heavy monitor and placed it on the desk, it took up more than half the space.

‘The monitor in the new guard training room was a touchscreen.’

Surely, the infirmary isn’t the only place like this.

However, the computer did fit in with the overall atmosphere of the prison, so I dismissed my suspicion.

I connected the monitor to the main unit and turned on the power.

The slightly convex screen had large pixels when viewed up close.

The ‘computer cleanup’ task didn’t actually involve organizing data; I just had to play a mini-game.

It was a simple structure where I had to hit the blue letters falling from the sky and dodge the red ones.

It was a bit fast, but not particularly difficult.

I diligently played the mini-game to complete the computer cleanup mission, and I quickly finished the equipment disinfection and hygiene inspection missions as well.

After taking out and eating cereal from my inventory, it was time for the human inmates’ in-person consultations.

Fortunately, the guard who came today didn’t cause me much trouble, so the consultations went smoothly.

Now, the only thing left was the Zone X rounds.

Normally, there are no rounds on Tuesdays.

However, as I completed the tasks on the weekly schedule, the words ‘conduct rounds’ appeared.

Today, I had to act on the assumption that Article 4 of the operational manual was false.

It seemed I just needed to make sure I walked ‘in front’ of the guard.

Normally, two guards accompany the rounds, but today there was only one, perhaps because they were trying to clean up the mess from yesterday.

I headed to Zone X under the guard’s supervision.

The iron gate of Zone X, which Je Hyun-oh had vandalized last night, had been hastily repaired by adding a metal plate.

As if to check if it was working properly, the guard held up his pass, and the gate opened normally.

“…….”

Just before stepping inside, I held my breath for a moment.

I told Orca to go back to the prison.

Even though it’s for the sake of the true ending, locking him up in a cramped space again was by no means a pleasant experience.

Clutching my medical bag, I walked ahead of the guard.

Then I checked Cell No. 1 first.

Solitary Cell No. 1 was empty. It seemed the vines had moved safely according to my plan.

I heard the guard grumbling from behind.

“I wonder where on earth No. 1 went… It was so satisfying to beat that bastard.”

Ignoring the guard’s words, I was heading toward Cell No. 2 when…

“Hey, Medic!”

“…Yes?”

The guard raised his fist at me and yelled at me.

“I’m going to collect Neo as soon as the rounds are over today, so hurry up and move if you don’t want to get beaten up.”

I answered, pulling up the corners of my mouth faintly.

“Understood.”

It was time to kill the guard.