Chapter 118

While playing the Archive’s game, there were some NPCs who wished for death.

Most of them wished for peaceful rest, and I could understand them.

However, Orca was different. What he wanted was not rest.

Orca told me that he hated himself for being unable to swim to the very distant seas.

When I first saw the True Ending of Cell-X.

I could not believe that this was a happy ending.

Even though I tried to stop him several times, Orca always left with a light heart.

He left joyfully and happily, as if he had finally found true freedom, as if this were his happy ending.

I searched thoroughly to see if there were any other endings, but such things did not exist.

Since the prison guards reattached a severed arm with Neo, I even tried testing whether it might work on Orca as well.

However, I could not restore his permanently damaged leg.

I could neither restore Orca’s leg nor save him.

In the end, I came to dislike Cell-X.

I was a bit depressed for a while after the ending, and I even went to the creator’s stream to voice my grievances.

Ah… A forgotten memory came back to me.

[It was fun… but it felt a little strange.]

[I don’t think it’s the true ending.]

“Roasted Chestnut-nim, you cleared all the endings again this time.”

[But it wasn’t a happy ending.]

“Why do you think that?”

[Orca…]

[…died.]

[Actually, it wasn’t fun. It was too painful.]

“Roasted Chestnut-nim…”

[Why is this the true ending?]

“Because everyone might want a different kind of happiness.”

[I don’t understand.]

“I can’t make everyone happy in the way you want.”

[But…]

[Still, I don’t think it’s right.]

[Could you please add a happy ending?]

[Please.]

“I can’t do that. But if it’s you, Roasted Chestnut-nim…”

[What?]

“No. Come on, Roasted Chestnut-nim. Don’t you want to play another game now? This game will be fun and enjoyable. Really.”

It couldn’t be a coincidence that this conversation, which had been buried deep in my memory for so long, came to mind only now.

The creator must have tampered with my memories.

Was it because I was the first person to express my dislike for a game?

It was certainly a memory that didn’t fit in with the game world he had been creating for me.

Ruminating on the memory that had surfaced, I swallowed a bitter smile.

As the creator said, I wouldn’t be able to make everyone happy in the way I wanted.

Furthermore, it wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

To arbitrarily judge someone’s happiness was an extremely arrogant form of control.

But for me, it was simply unbearable.

I liked happy endings.

At least here, I didn’t want to fail, nor did I want to run away.

“Roasted Chestnut…?”

I snapped back to reality.

Orca was looking at me with a very strange expression.

I wondered if being distracted for a moment was really that strange, but since it was a crucial moment, I spoke with a remorseful heart.

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something else for a moment…”

When I smiled awkwardly, Orca shifted his gaze.

Confirming that the prison guard was still far away, he cautiously began to speak.

“By any chance….”

“Yes?”

“No. It seems I was hallucinating. Still… please be careful, Roasted Chestnut.”

At Orca’s admonition, I nodded for now, not knowing what it meant.

Then, I finished examining Orca.

Since creatures possess natural healing abilities, they tended to heal well from most injuries unless they were severe.

The scratches on Orca from earlier would surely be completely gone by tonight.

I examined Orca’s legs with particular care.

After checking for muscle spasms and other issues, I recorded “normal” on the chart.

Having finished treating Orca, I approached the prison door.

“Officer.”

I made a suggestion to the guard who approached indifferently and opened the door.

“How about we start extracting Neo from No. 6?”

The guards detested creatures.

However, since Orca was relatively close to a human form, the discomfort was slightly less.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Upon hearing my suggestion, the guard replied as if it didn’t matter and took out the Neo extractor.

Feeling like he was actually listening, I checked the readings.

‘When did I build up this much affection?’

Feeling puzzled, I watched for now as the guard extracted Neo.

He banged on the iron bars and shouted.

“No. 6!”

Orca limped over and silently held out his forearm.

The guard pulled out a semi-cylindrical machine.

The machine, about 15 cm long, had a glass tube attached to it.

As the extraction machine was attached to his forearm, Orca froze.

This was because a blade protruding from the bottom had sliced ​​through his flesh.

A buzzing mechanical sound was heard, and neon green liquid began to rapidly fill the glass tube.

It was to extract the creature’s bio-energy through the blood vessels.

The extraction itself takes only a few minutes.

However, what happened after the extraction was the problem.

The guard pulled out the machine after the extraction was complete.

A large wound remained on Orca’s forearm.

Beneath the split skin, bleeding and torn, lay a layer of white tissue characteristic of orca shapeshifters—thick and elastic.

It was a thick blubber designed to maintain body temperature and absorb shock in the cold sea.

The blade had been thrust deep enough to expose the muscles and bones of an ordinary human.

Orca clutched his wounded forearm.

Usually, wounds were left untreated until they healed naturally.

The prison medic’s role was merely to keep the creature alive, just enough to prevent death.

I suppressed the urge to treat him immediately and gestured to Orca.

The orca’s black eyes gleamed with a luster.

I approached the prison guard.

“Sir.”

He looked at me as he wiped blood from the extraction machine.

I rammed into the guard.

Clang! The moment the guard’s body struck the iron barred door, two sturdy arms stretched out and pulled him in an instant.

“Cough…!”

In the split second the subdued guard struggled.

I swiftly detached the glass tube and opened the lid, and Orca bit into the guard’s neck with its sharp teeth.

Before the guard could shake Orca off, I shoved the glass tube directly into the wound.

The guard opened his mouth at the sudden influx of Neo.

That was the end of it.

The guards were addicted to Neo to maintain their reinforced bodies.

There was no way they could refuse the Neo pouring into their bodies.

The guard, who had looked as though he were about to push Orca away at any moment, immediately became docile.

As the freshly extracted raw Neo flowed through his veins and spread throughout, veins bulged and popped on the guard’s skin.

It wasn’t blue veins, but neon green ones.

A gurgling sound, unable to form words, leaked from the prison guard’s gaping mouth.

He had turned into dregs.

I immediately sent a message to Kwak Hanmuk.

I had already asked him to fix the CCTV in Zone X.

Kwak Hanmuk would surely handle it well on his own.

The prison guard, now reduced to dregs, writhed and gurgled.

At that sight, I was suddenly reminded of the zombies from DeZonDeal.

Just as I was thinking that they felt strangely similar despite being completely different beings,

Orca spoke to me.

“Roasted Chestnut. Excuse me for a moment.”

“Ah, yes.”

I quickly turned around.

A sharp, clacking sound of teeth came from behind me.

Followed by the sound of flesh being torn apart.

The sound of something snapping, torn apart, and chewed continued.

“It is done.”

Orca wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his face looking relieved.

He was a mess, covered in red blood flowing from his forearm and neon green liquid around his mouth.

However, Orca’s eyes were gleaming more than ever.

They were the eyes of an orca revealing a belligerent intent.

In front of the iron bars lay the remnants, with only the heart extracted.

The creatures wanted to retrieve Neo from the prison guard.

Therefore, I planned to turn the guard into remnants to make him easier to subdue, and then have each creature retrieve Neo according to their preferred method.

Orca chose the method of consuming only the heart, the core part where Neo was condensed.

After eating Neo, Orca seemed to have regained his strength.

I asked Orca worriedly.

“Orca-ssi. Was it okay?”

It was unavoidable, but Orca surely wouldn’t have wanted to eat scraps either.

At my question, which expressed concern about whether it might have been unpleasant, Orca laughed out loud.

“Haha, Roasted Chestnut. I thought about it even in my dreams, but you are truly peculiar. You are even more so in reality.”

“What is peculiar?”

I asked out of curiosity, but Orca didn’t answer, only grinning mischievously.

I eventually gave up and grabbed the arm of the dead scrap.

Before going back for rounds, I asked Orca.

“Orca-ssi. Do you happen to know about the pattern where tentacles like octopus legs are wrapped around the pupils?”

“Are you talking about the god of humans?”

At that ambiguous expression, I couldn’t help but ask again.

“Is the god of creatures different?”

“That is true. But it seems our god has been gone for a long time.”

“Ah…”

“Think about it, Roasted Chestnut. If God truly existed, would He have left us in such agony?”

Orca spoke to me as if joking, then pointed to the room across the hall.

“Go to No. 5 immediately! He seems to have already caught a whiff.”

The forearm, which had been deeply cut by the extractor, was already completely healed.

He had recovered the wound by consuming the heart of the Dregs.

It was a relief that I didn’t have to treat it separately.

After saying goodbye to Orca, I dragged the dead Dregs toward Cell No. 5 across the hall.

I took a card from the Dregs’ clothes, opened the cell door, and called out to Creature No. 5.

“Creature No. 5. It is time for your examination. I have a gift too.”

In the empty solitary cell, a particularly deep and black shadow squirmed. I smiled faintly.

“It’s fine if you eat first before the examination.”

And dragging the dregs along, I stepped into the cell.

A dark shadow surged toward me like a wave.

After it had swept past in a rush like a tide.

Not a single piece of clothing remained.

The dark shadow cast over the quality meal it had enjoyed for the first time in a very long while deepening into an even darker darkness.

Hearing the sound signaling a 100% favorability rating, I spoke.

“I will begin the consultation.”

Having safely finished my rounds for Zone X, I hurried to the prayer room.

It was to meet Won Taebeom, who was serving as a cleric.

Yesterday, I was snatched away by Je Hyun-oh without being able to explain anything to him.

Today, I intended to share the current situation and ask if anyone had seen Je Hyun-oh.

After meeting Won Taebeom, I planned to go see Kwak Hanmuk, and if no one knew Je Hyun-oh’s whereabouts, I intended to go look for him alone.

Since the prison warden, CEO Cha, had granted me the authority to move freely around the prison, I had all the necessary conditions to go alone.

As I headed to the prayer room, Dominic, who was on my shoulder, called out to me.

“Roasted Chestnut.”

“Yes, Dominic-ssi.”

“I have a question. To you, what is the difference between creatures and prison guards?”

I immediately realized what Dominic was asking.

He wanted to know the difference between killing prison guards without hesitation, while wanting to save creatures.

For to Dominic, they were all just insignificant.

It was not a difficult question to answer. I answered without hesitation.

“Because I like the creatures.”

“I see. Understood.”

Dominic let out a low laugh and uttered a vague remark.

“If that is the standard of the young god.”

I wanted to ask more about his meaningful words, but I could not.

It was because of the noise that reached me the moment I arrived at the prayer room.

Crash!

There was the sound of something falling from inside.

Startled, I threw open the door to the prayer room.

And then I encountered an unbelievable sight.

Kwak Hanmuk was punching Won Taebeom.