Chapter 123

While playing the archive games, I made it my primary goal to see every ending.

I collected every single ending, even those I didn’t like, and played meticulously to uncover all the hidden elements of the game.

Cell-X was no exception.

Neither the Warden nor the guards were to my taste at all, but I saw all the endings anyway.

I remembered the things I had done as a guard.

I carried out quests involving cruel acts without any emotion.

There were also many quests that made the Chief of Security happy, causing my affection level to skyrocket.

I was the Chief of Security’s most loyal and trustworthy subordinate and colleague.

So much so that he promised to keep me by his side if he ever became the Warden.

If you were to ask if I was always miserable throughout that entire playthrough…

That was not the case.

There were certainly moments when I felt joy.

Because I still vividly remember the thrill I felt from gameplay that unfolded exactly as I had planned and from quests that were completed flawlessly.

But that was a game.

It was enjoyable precisely because it wasn’t reality.

Even that brief moment of enjoyment vanished completely once I discovered the game’s hidden story.

I caught my breath, which was racing with tension.

Reading the emotions on my face, the Chief of Security repeatedly displayed notifications that my favorability rating was rising.

He was becoming convinced that his dream was not a vain delusion.

I felt I understood why the Chief of Security and the other guards had raised their favorability ratings the moment they saw my face.

Just like the Chief of Security, the other guards had raised theirs because they had dreamt of a ‘Prison Guard Roasted Chestnut.’

It felt like everything was going black, but I couldn’t just meekly admit it.

I opened my mouth to find a way out, no matter what.

"…I didn’t know you were a person with such a rich imagination, Chief of Security."

Ignoring the numerous notification windows obscuring my view, I asked him.

“Do you consider a dream to be reality?”

As soon as the Chief of Security heard me, he smirked. He spoke with an uncharacteristically generous attitude.

“I didn’t believe it at first either. It’s closer to saying I was half-doubting.”

Then he leaned toward me.

“But I heard the voice of God.”

Octopus Tentacle…?

At that moment, various thoughts flashed through my mind.

There had been mentions of Octopus Tentacle since the new prison guard training center.

[Neo is a resource of limitless potential—a foundation provided by God for a new era of humanity.]

As evidenced by the presence of a prayer room, religious education was provided to the prison guards, and the Chief of Security and the officers possessed a fanatical faith in God.

And their god, Octopus Tentacle, was already intervening in the trial.

After all, it had already turned my weekly medical officer schedule upside down.

They were capable of exerting sufficient influence even on the Chief of Security, an NPC serving them.

However, a fundamental question existed before that.

How do NPCs remember Roasted Chestnut?

I tried to extend my thoughts a little further.

There have been three instances so far where a being of trial knew about the ‘Roasted Chestnut’ that I had played in the game.

1. The butlers of Clean3.

In Clean3, the game’s premise was that NPCs remembered the previous gameplay.

At the time, I was shocked by the fact that the butlers remembered Roasted Chestnut, and I could not understand how reality and the game could intersect.

And the master of Clean3, who commanded the mansion and butlers…

It is Dominic, an Outer God, a being no different from a terrible disaster.

2. Edel of CallOVo.

Just before the ending, she called me Roasted Chestnut, not Little Lamb.

However, she did not fully recall Roasted Chestnut.

She merely muttered it unconsciously.

It was Dominic and me who were by her side at that time.

Dominic killed and revived me multiple times; given that he interfered with the system, he likely used the power of a god.

3. The Creatures and Guards of Cell-X.

Here, Octopus Tentacle is worshipped as a god.

Unlike the butlers of Clean3, the Creatures and Guards did not remember every single one of my gameplays.

However, they revived parts of memories from specific gameplays through the form of dreams.

Although there was a difference between the roles of a medic and a guard, it was clear that both were gameplays I had performed in the game.

In Clean3, CallOVo, and Cell-X, the NPCs all remember Roasted Chestnut.

While the forms of memory differed, they shared a definite commonality.

It was God.

Based on this, I was able to deduce one fact.

‘In trials where a god exists, there is a chance that an NPC will remember the gameplay I did.’

Of course, in Clean3, Dominic wasn’t actually present in that space.

However, since the butlers clearly recognized their god and master, it seemed plausible that he “existed.”

Once I thought this far, the fact I had only speculated about until now suddenly loomed large.

If so, the gameplay I performed wasn’t just illusory data…

Couldn’t it be seen as having actually existed at certain moments?

Isn’t that what it means to exist in someone’s memory?

The moment my thoughts reached that point, I felt a sense of dizziness.

A fleeting moment where it felt like my breath was being cut off.

I stopped thinking.

It was because it was a ■■ I still couldn’t handle.

“…….”

I shifted my thoughts in a different direction.

The Chief of Security was continuing to build affection for me by recalling memories through his dreams.

Nevertheless, he must have considered dreams and reality to be separate things.

However, this time, when Octopus Tentacle sent him the ‘Voice of God,’ I realized it completely.

‘Wait a moment.’

I slowly opened my lips.

“Chief of Security… you are not a cleric, so how did you hear the Voice of God? Couldn’t it be a hallucination caused by Neo?”

The Chief of Security stared at me blankly.

It was a look that seemed to know exactly what I was trying to do with a shallow trick.

Even though his eyes were hidden behind a metal mask, that is how it felt.

“They always watch over me from close by.”

As soon as I heard the answer, I was certain.

‘The Chief of Security is a minion of Octopus Tentacle.’

The ‘Voice of God’ he mentioned seemed to be of a similar kind to the messages I send to those I have registered.

Octopus Tentacle has not only changed my mission but is even sending messages to its own minion.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I didn’t even know clearly what kind of being God was yet, and with a crisis suddenly looming right over my throat, it was enough to drive me insane.

I racked my brains quickly.

At least I had one precedent to compare it to.

It was CallOVo, where I had met Dominic.

Back then, I couldn’t execute a proper strategy.

Because of Dominic’s influence, the options in the system window were rearranged on their own, and the key NPCs didn’t act as I expected.

The situation now could be considered similar, but there was one major difference from then.

It was that I wasn’t the only one who had entered.

‘Surely, the others haven’t had their missions changed just like mine?’

I could hear the sound of my plan falling apart in real time.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

"Roasted Chestnut. I know what an excellent prison guard you are."

The Chief of Security pretended to calmly persuade me.

‘This is really driving me crazy.’

It was evident that if words failed to persuade me, he intended to resolve the situation in a different way.

I reminded myself once again that I had not entered this place alone.

And also of what would happen if I failed to clear it with the True Ending.

Feeling the weight of the Pudding Slime resting on my shoulder, I called out to him.

“Chief of Security.”

I lifted the corners of my mouth slightly.

“Actually, I wanted to become a prison guard, too.”

The Chief of Security looked at me silently, as if daring me to say it.

In front of him, I spoke as if lost in sentiment.

“My dream… I don’t remember it clearly, but I felt a vague longing from the moment I first met you, Chief of Security. I also thought it would be nice to work under someone like you.”

“…….”

“I am also interested in the God you believe in, Chief of Security. I, too, wanted to have faith if I ever had the chance. Since God watches over me from close by, isn’t there no reason not to believe?”

Pausing for a moment, I took a deep breath and exhaled.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I continued in a rather gloomy voice.

“However, the reason I left the training center and acted as a medical officer… there is a reason for it.”

“A reason?”

The head of security asked back briefly.

I hesitated for a long time, as if I didn’t know what to do.

“Roasted Chestnut. Speak.”

Only when the head of security reprimanded me did I open my mouth, as if I had no choice.

“Actually, I….”

And squeezing my eyes shut, I confessed.

“I am a spy planted by the newly appointed prison warden….”

At my declaration, neither the head of security nor the guards behind me could hide their momentary surprise.

I cautiously opened my eyes again and feigned glancing at them.

“Since the warden holds a weakness against me, I had no choice but to follow orders.”

The prison warden wanted the prison to be filled with his own faction.

I added that I had been forcibly placed in the position of medical officer, and that I had become afraid after seeing the warden’s immense power and influence firsthand since arriving here.

This was where it got the most important part.

I very cautiously pulled out my provocation.

“The Chief of Security… well, you are the second-in-command.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the air around me turned cold.

Blinking, I quickly corrected myself as if I had made a mistake.

“Ah, I mean in terms of rank. I am well aware that the real power lies with you, Chief of Security.”

Absolutely not.

The Chief of Security was currently losing ground in the power struggle within the prison.

Despite being relegated to second place in both rank and power, I spoke as if that were not the case at all, speaking as if the Chief of Security were the best.

“That is why I am not in a position to become a prison guard right now. But!”

I smiled from within the metal masks staring at me.

“I have an idea.”

And then I told him about the so-called ‘plan for the Chief of Security’s brilliant future.’

It was a method I wouldn’t have used had the Chief of Security and the prison guards’ favorability ratings not been high.

However, at this point, it was worth taking a gamble.

As expected, the Chief of Security and the guards paid close attention to my remarks.

“I understand. It’s not a bad plan, though.”

The problem was that the Chief of Security’s level of suspicion was by no means low.

“Shouldn’t I have a some insurance, though?”

I heard the clatter of glass against a steel table.

A vial containing neon green liquid rolled in front of me and stopped.

I swallowed a curse under my breath.

The guards approached and untied my ropes.

I reached out and grabbed the vial.

Just then, a pudding slime squirmed down onto my hand holding the vial.

He looked up at me and said,

“You may drink it.”

I saw a blue light that sparkled even more brilliantly than Neo.

Feeling a bit dazed, a pleasant voice offered me calm advice.

“Haven’t you already done this once? The second time will be even easier. Maybe it won’t even bother you.”

Dominic’s voice drifted out languidly.

“Because the young god is growing.”

I gulped down the Neo in one go.

I listened to the sound of the Chief of Security’s affection score reaching 100.

Won Taebeom furrowed his brows deeply as he looked at the cleric schedule assigned to him.

He checked the cleric schedule, which changed daily, and carried out the duties that fit it; so far, the tasks assigned had been at least befitting a cleric.

They were tasks such as managing the prayer room, hearing confessions, and officiating weddings.

Since they were not much different from the work he had done at his former workplace, carrying out the duties was easy.

As Han Goyo had requested, he closely monitored the events unfolding regarding the god here, but…

He couldn’t even begin to guess what on earth was happening.

He knew that Han Goyo was causing strange phenomena during the trials, but experiencing it firsthand was almost unbelievable.

While he was looking at the cleric schedule, the door to the prayer room burst open on its own.

The act of opening it without a knock reminded him of Kwak Hanmuk, but a completely unexpected figure appeared instead.

A man in a white mask strode into the prayer room as if it were his own home.

“…CEO Cha.”

As soon as Won Taebeom called out to him, CEO Cha immediately threw out his business.

“I saw that the Prison Warden’s daily schedule has changed to just hanging out in the prayer room.”

It seemed his mission had changed strangely, too.

He had come to verify the matter with him, a cleric, since it was related to the prayer room, but he, too, was struck by the same bolt from the blue.

Won Taebeom answered flatly.

“I know nothing about it.”

“Oh, really?”

A brief silence fell.

Bang!

Won Taebeom stifled a hollow laugh as he blocked the white blade with his gauntlet.

He had put on the gauntlet immediately, thinking it couldn’t be true, but it was just as he expected.

A force strong enough to make his arm tremble was transmitted through the sword.

If he pushed back even a little, the blade would cut him down.

CEO Cha asked in an indifferent tone.

“You still don’t know?”

“…I told you I don’t know.”

It was just as he was glaring at CEO Cha and answering.

Bang! The prayer room door burst open with an even louder sound than before.

Won Taebeom immediately turned his gaze away.

Kwak Hanmuk was there.

He whistled, saying "Oh," then nonchalantly closed the door and walked in.

"CEO Cha, please stop losing your temper."

CEO Cha didn’t even reply, but Kwak Hanmuk stubbornly continued speaking.

"I have come to deliver a message from Trainee Han."

Only then did CEO Cha slowly turn his head to look at Kwak Hanmuk.

He was still pinning Won Taebeom down with Daeil Yeorae.

Kwak Hanmuk grinned and said.

"I hear Trainee Han is in cahoots with the Chief of Security."

Just as Won Taebeom, who had no idea what he was talking about, was flustered…

Kwak Hanmuk dropped a crazy remark.

"They say they are ousting you from your position as Prison Warden, CEO Cha."