Chapter 126

As soon as he heard my words, Won Taebeom looked at me with the exact same eyes as Mo Haein.

It meant he was looking at me as if I were a madman.

Perhaps because he belonged to the same Field Team 2, seeing him reminded me of Mo Haein in many ways.

‘Come to think of it, I asked Captain Mo to look into it during the DeZonDeal as well.’

It felt strange to be making a similar request to Won Taebeom.

Worried about Mo Haein’s well-being, I waited for Won Taebeom’s answer.

“No.”

Naturally, I was rejected.

I wasn’t surprised, as this was the turn of events I had expected. I would have been even more surprised if he had accepted it right away.

“It is dangerous. Please suggest an alternative.”

“There isn’t one.”

When I answered firmly, Won Taebeom was silent for a moment.

It seemed he hadn’t expected me to react this way.

However, there really was no better solution than this.

“I know it’s dangerous. But the validity period of brainwashing is only two days, isn’t it? I’ll return to normal.”

I thought it was a relatively safe method since the brainwashing would wear off after just two days.

It’s not like we’re all turning into Octopus Tentacle fanatics; couldn’t I just go for a brief moment and come back?

However, I felt that if I said this, my opinion would likely be rejected.

I lowered my gaze and spoke in a slightly roundabout way.

“This is an abnormal phenomenon caused by me, so I cannot put the others in danger. If only I get brainwashed…”

Won Taebeom interrupted me and asked back.

“You mean that if you sacrifice yourself alone, you can save the majority? Is that what you mean?”

It didn’t seem like quite a sacrifice…

I didn’t have such grand intentions.

My only goal was simply to somehow get out alive together.

But I couldn’t answer lightly.

It was because of the way Won Taebeom was looking at me.

He was looking at me with an incredibly serious gaze.

The weight in his gaze prevented me from easily opening my mouth.

I was contemplating what to say to get Won Taebeom to agree when he spoke first.

“Trainee Han.”

However, he did not continue.

A silence took its place, abruptly cut off, before Won Taebeom reached a weighty conclusion.

“…No. I will follow the operation.”

It was an acceptance that came more easily than I had expected.

I did not know what moved him, but for now, the most important thing was that I had received his approval.

I smiled slightly, raising the corners of my mouth, and replied.

“Thank you for trusting me. I will definitely clear it with the True Ending.”

There was something I had worried about ever since I first decided to undergo brainwashing.

It was whether the brainwashing would work on me.

Just as Neo’s infection had been neutralized, the brainwashing might also wear off.

However, unlike Neo, which was physically in contact with the body, the cleric’s brainwashing was a judgment made by the system. So, I expected it would work on me, too.

“…?”

The brainwashing didn’t work.

Confused, I told Won Taebeom that I didn’t think I had been brainwashed.

Won Taebeom then asked a few questions, and after hearing my answers, confirmed that I had been brainwashed.

‘I don’t think it worked.’

I didn’t feel much awe toward Lord Octopus Tentacle.

However, after Won Taebeom used his brainwashing ability on me, the medic’s weekly schedule returned to normal.

Won Taebeom’s cleric schedule also returned to his original missions, not the ones about brainwashing the medic.

Also, perhaps thanks to the ability used on me, it was marked as having already completed the mission.

The brainwashing failed, but the intended goal was achieved.

I was satisfied because things seemed to be going well.

It is a shame that I can’t perform the four-piece set of worshipping Lord Octopus Tentacle in the prayer room, though…

“I will share the current status of a certain trainee with Captain Kwak as well.”

Excluding Je Hyun-oh, whose location was unknown, the plan was to inform Kwak Hanmuk that I was temporarily in a brainwashed state.

Although nothing had changed from before, sharing the situation was a good idea.

I spoke briefly with Won Taebeom and parted ways.

Then I headed to the Chief of Security’s office.

Strangely, my heart had been pounding for some time now. Even though I tried to stay calm, I felt excited.

I thought about Lord Octopus Tentacle.

Is Lord Octopus Tentacle in the deep sea? What is the reason he stays there?

I wanted to see him in person just once. I imagined his form as I pleased.

I could imagine it as vividly as if I had seen it in a dream.

The tentacles, composed of slimy organic matter, must surely be tissues that regenerate infinitely.

A perfect biological structure, free from crude standards, was mesmerizing just in the imagination.

I felt that those who did not know of his gracious corruption were unfortunate.

‘I want to reform the prisoners.’

How weak are humans and creatures alike?

Sick minds, wounded bodies, and decaying organs were utterly insignificant.

I wanted to break down and reassemble their imperfect bodies and minds so that they could get even a little closer to Him.

I quickly pictured the psychotropic drugs in the infirmary in my mind.

Reforming the mind seemed manageable. I had done it in games before, after all.

It would be an easy task if I combined drug mixing with religious broadcasts.

The problem was body modification.

What if I brought in some deep-sea creatures and attached them to the prisoners?

Since the Chief of Security is His subordinate, I thought he would be able to give me good advice if I consulted him about this…

I stopped abruptly in the hallway.

“…….”

As I realized the nonsensical train of my thoughts, a system window popped up.

The system window was relentlessly tearing me apart.

Dominic, who could see the quest window, politely added a comment.

“It’s not wrong. It is indeed reckless.”

I placed my hand on my forehead.

"I’ve been brainwashed."

It had happened, but I wasn’t completely possessed like I was during the previous Clean3 incident.

At least I could recognize that I had been brainwashed.

To think I have to hold out like this until tomorrow. It seemed I needed to keep my head on high alert to avoid causing trouble.

Taking a deep breath, I instructed system as well.

"If things go wrong again, open the system window."

Hearing the notification sound might help, at least a little.

The system didn’t answer. However, assuming it roughly understood what I was saying, I didn’t repeat it.

I headed back to the Chief of Security’s office.

I had planned to visit the office anyway. For his coup, that is.

And a short while later.

I gathered the Warden, the Chief of Security, and three senior prison guards in the conference room and began my presentation.

The conference room was equipped with the most state-of-the-art facilities in the prison.

The presentation was easy because there was a monitor that had been used in the new prison guard training room.

“The current method of managing creatures is outdated.”

I began with a provocative opening.

“The production volume that can be extracted from creatures using the Neo Extractor is limited, and that amount is steadily declining.”

I displayed a graph of production volume over the past three years on the screen. The graph was sloping downward with a significant drop.

It was inevitable, given that the life force of the imprisoned creatures was dwindling.

“Furthermore, it is not easy to manage creatures that cause trouble at every turn. Those non-believers don’t even watch religious broadcasts properly.”

That was a real problem.

Especially since Lord Octopus Tentacle had shown generous mercy and allowed even non-believers to stay in His territory.

“Therefore, I propose a new method of managing creatures!”

Creature No. 6 appeared on the monitor.

“No. 6 is the only creature capable of communication, making it easy to manage. Also, being humanoid, it is relatively less repulsive. Therefore, I would like to propose that we execute all creatures except for No. 6.”

The plan was to execute the creatures to extract a large amount of Neo, and then feed the corpses to No. 6 to restore its life force.

It was far more efficient to obtain a large quantity of Neo while restoring No. 6’s life force to its maximum, rather than extracting small amounts from twelve creatures.

I displayed data on the screen proving that this method yielded a higher production rate.

“You will naturally have a question at this point. Even if we extract a large amount of Neo through execution for now, what will we do if No. 6’s production drops later?”

I smiled and switched the screen.

“We can use the waste.”

Feeding the waste—which is difficult to dispose of—can restore the creature’s life force.

It was truly an eco-friendly method.

It didn’t matter if, by any chance, the scraps ran out.

Since human prisoners were easy to source from the land, the solution was simply to inject Neo to create new ones.

I also proposed a method for executing the creatures.

“If we hold a public execution ceremony in the exercise yard, the One in the Deep Sea would be pleased, and it would also be a bit of fun for the guards. That is all.”

As soon as I finished my presentation, the conference room buzzed with excitement.

The three high-ranking guards present exchanged glances.

They seemed to find my proposal extremely appealing.

However, the Warden remained silent.

Sitting in the most prominent seat with his arms crossed, he listened to the presentation while watching me intently, as if observing me the entire time.

His gaze, for reasons I could not understand, continued to linger.

I waited quietly, watching the Warden.

The white mask stood out unusually well, standing out alone among the gray and black metal masks.

Just as I was thinking the mask was pure white, a mechanical sound was heard.

“When do you plan to hold the creature execution?”

“How about two days from now?”

The prison warden, who had been staring at me blankly, finally gave his permission.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as I received permission, I looked for the Chief of Security first.

‘Chief of Security!’

I looked at him with proud eyes.

A faint smile hung on the corners of the Chief of Security’s lips.

The suspicion level dropped drastically as well.

It’s a relief that they liked it… or rather, not really.

‘I feel like I’m acting strange again.’

Ding, a notification came through. A very honest system window popped up.

I had almost lost my mind again. I strained my brain to quickly regain my senses and praised the system window.

‘You did well, but try to do it a little faster next time.’

I encouraged the system, hoping it would provide notifications more agilely.

The Chief of Security will stage a coup at the execution ceremony two days from now.

Although I wanted to extend the timeline for stability, it was difficult because the brainwashing was only valid until tomorrow.

Once the brainwashing wears off, I don’t know what kind of mischief Octopus Tentacle will pull off again.

It might not end with just switching missions.

I couldn’t keep holding out by constantly under brainwashing, so I had to settle this quickly.

After finishing my presentation, I headed to the infirmary to perform my duties as a medical officer. My steps felt light thanks to having overcome the first hurdle.

As I walked down the hallway, I stopped involuntarily.

Perhaps because this was a key area within the prison guards’ quarters that housed facilities like a conference room, His symbol was hanging on the wall.

I was staring intently at the octopus tentacles wrapped around his eyes when…

Snap.

Someone grabbed my forearm. However, I could only feel the sensation of being held; I couldn’t see the person.

Tenaciously, I looked around, and the person slowly revealed themselves.

“Warden… no, CEO Cha?”

CEO Cha was looking down at me.

It seemed he had raised his cognitive suppression to 100% and then lowered it again.

“What are you doing?”

To CEO Cha’s question, I gave a very obvious answer.

“I was thinking about His greatness.”

Just as I was about to speak of the majesty of the Octopus Tentacle, a brilliant idea struck me at that moment.

“Warden. Could you possibly get me a deep-sea creature? If you do, I will help you get closer to that person.”

Given the Warden’s abilities, he would surely be able to find a deep-sea creature suitable for modification without much difficulty.

My eyes gleamed as I approached him.

“The scope of the modification will vary depending on which creature you provide, but first of all, I definitely want to replace both of your arms. Having only two arms is far too inefficient, isn’t it? I could implant at least three tentacles on each side…”

Ding. I snapped back to reality at the sound of a notification.

CEO Cha was looking at me with a look of disbelief.

Realizing the content of my remark belatedly, I spoke with a creaking voice.

“…Ah. Well. I am currently brainwashed.”

I briefly explained the situation, stating that although I would be living as a fanatic of Octopus Tentacle for two days, I was still half-sane.

The white mask looked down at me.

I met his eyes, which I could not fully perceive.

“This is troublesome, Han Goyo.”

CEO Cha reminded me of the contract terms in a sharp tone.

“You’re contacted to Paseong for 20 trials, after all.”

“There is no problem with fulfilling the contract.”

I knew him well. He was the kind of person who would trample on me for being useless if I pretended to be weak.

That is why I deliberately retorted even harder.

“We are all going to die if we fail to clear this situation, so isn’t this level of risk acceptable? You promised to support me, CEO Cha… what are you doing!”

I recoiled in horror and grabbed him.

CEO Cha snatched the symbolic sculpture of ‘Octopus Tentacle’ that was hanging on the wall and roughly tossed it onto the floor.

I hurriedly knelt down to sweep up the shattered pieces of wood, but stopped in my tracks with a gasp.

Crunch—CEO Cha stomped on the broken piece.

I slowly raised my head and looked up at CEO Cha.

A deep shadow was cast over the white mask due to the backlight.

“Risk?”

He asked back briefly, then spoke to me coldly.

“Do you still think this is a game?”

I was speechless for a moment. As I was stunned into silence…

A static sound came from the speakers, and an announcement came on.

“Code Blue. Code Blue.”

It was an announcement regarding an emergency medical event.

I listened intently to the broadcast, frozen stiff.

“Zone X. No. 6. Code Blue.”

No. 6… It was Orca.

T/N: There actually seems to be an issue with the notifications right now, as the domain to send them out was just made. Google has to decide to trust it, so in the meantime, I don’t think there will be notifications. And there might be a sudden influx of them….