Chapter 131

I recalled the quest I received from Dominic in Sla2Plate.

The system window was broken just like this back then, too.

I remembered the details exactly as they were.

[Eeeevent Quequequest: Serve a delicious dish to that person.
Reward:Reward:Reward:Young.Young.YooungRoasted Chestnut’sQuestionAnswered!]

The same text was repeated several times on the broken system window.

I also vividly remembered what Dominic said when he saw it.

“Hmm, the craftsmanship is a bit lacking. I will bring you a better version next time.”

It was certainly a quest window that looked ‘better’ than before, with the text displayed normally.

Feeling a shiver, I groped my shoulder.

I didn’t feel a soft sensation.

Dominic wasn’t there.

When did he disappear?

I hurriedly scanned through my memories.

He certainly was there until Octopus Tentacle used its subordinates to find me.

A faint memory lingered, of me wondering why Dominic was hiding himself from the Octopus Tentacle.

But before I knew it, he had vanished, leaving only the quest window behind.

I forced my head, which was freezing with fear, to move.

He couldn’t have recovered his memories.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have given me a quest like this.

What is it that Dominic wants?

Does he want me to succeed in the quest without his help?

Unable to overcome my anxiety, I bit my lip.

Time was running out.

It was only 30 minutes.

If I couldn’t resolve this within 30 minutes, all my subordinates would turn into dregs.

‘The quest first.’

I set my priorities and called for Je Hyun-oh.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je.”

However, despite knowing the urgency of the situation, I couldn’t bring myself to get straight to the point.

As soon as I saw him, completely drenched in neon green liquid, I couldn’t even mention the mission and spoke of something else.

“I’m sorry. Things didn’t go according to plan…”

Everyone trusted me and followed my instructions, but everything went to hell.

We even ended up in a situation where everyone might be infected by Neo and turn into dregs.

My tongue froze the moment I realized everything was ruined because of me.

Holding onto the plank, I couldn’t bring myself to look Je Hyun-oh straight in the eye; I just stared at the rippling neon green waves.

It felt like I had gone deep into the ocean and didn’t want to come out.

It should have been me, not Kwak Hanmuk, who was injured enough to lose consciousness.

The situation would have been much better if that had happened.

I muttered again.

“I’m sorry…”

I felt Je Hyun-oh’s gaze staring at me.

It felt as though he were about to start blaming and hurling insults at any moment. I might actually get hit this time.

‘Is it a relief if it ends with just getting beaten?’

I needed to somehow persuade Je Hyun-oh to continue the route to prevent him from turning into dregs, but realizing that I didn’t even have a chance to try, a sense of hopeless abyss washed over me.

Just then, there was a click.

Je Hyun-oh, having lifted his goggles to reveal his eyes, called out to me.

“Goyo.”

Unable to meet his gaze, I answered cautiously.

“Yes…”

“Are you the team leader?”

“No.”

Je Hyun-oh asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“…That is…”

“Do you want to commit insubordination again?”

“Absolutely not.”

He slowly opened his metal hand. Showing me his hand, from which neon green liquid was dripping down, he spoke.

“Tell me if you have another plan. If not, I’ll handle it my way.”

‘There is still a chance.’

I felt a great sense of relief, but at the same time, a strange feeling.

The very idea of ​​having a chance felt unfamiliar.

It was because in the past, usually when things went this way… there was no next time.

Anyway, I cannot fail this time.

I must do well.

No, I must succeed no matter what.

I desperately stretched my thoughts out and opened my mouth.

“We must capture the god here. I mean the god that approached Lieutenant Colonel Je.”

Je Hyun-oh immediately frowned.

“However, since everyone is currently excessively exposed to Neo, if we don’t deal with the god within 30 minutes, we will all turn into dregs.”

After midnight, dregs are generated in the underground maze and rise to the surface.

If we eliminated all the pits forming at random locations within the maze, we could block the dregs at the source.

Je Hyun-oh had traversed the underground maze to eliminate every pit, dealing with the dregs, and therefore knew all too well what kind of beings they were.

If everyone turned into dregs, it would effectively be annihilation.

Je Hyun-oh, who seemed to be assessing the situation for a moment, asked briefly back.

“Is it possible with just the two of us?”

Je Hyun-oh is undoubtedly strong.

However, charging in to capture a god with just the two of us was an act of suicide.

“I think it will be impossible.”

“What if we add CEO Cha and Lieutenant Won?”

“It’s doable. If you happen to find the creatures as well…”

“Wait.”

Je Hyun-oh kicked off the neon green liquid and rose up. His figure, with his metal wings spread, vanished from my sight in an instant.

I found another floating object nearby and landed on it.

And I thought over and over until my head ached.

I asked Je Hyun-oh to find the others, but I still haven’t come up with a solution to the current situation.

When I encountered Octopus Tentacle, I was under brainwashing.

However, my mind was shaken much more strongly now than with systemically applied brainwashing.

It seemed to be because the God had exerted its influence directly right in front of me.

Now, the brainwashing has completely worn off.

I felt an intuition that was no different from the certainty that I had escaped the system’s judgment.

Clumsy puppet games no longer work on me.

But if I were to encounter Octopus Tentacle again…

If I were to see the God directly, rather than in the form of a subordinate, there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t experience a similar problem to before.

I wasn’t the only one with a problem.

Kwak Hanmuk had suffered a major blow upon facing the God.

It was an existence that humans should never have seen.

“…….”

I quietly looked at Kwak Hanmuk.

There was no way to treat Kwak Hanmuk with the medic items I possessed.

I had to clear the trial quickly so he could get outside and receive treatment.

If others were to suffer similar damage when encountering a god like Kwak Hanmuk, the battle itself would be impossible from the start.

‘Wait. How is Lieutenant Colonel Je perfectly fine?’

Earlier, he had encountered Octopus Tentacle but took no damage whatsoever.

Has he encountered many gods already?

But even so, it shouldn’t be the kind of thing one can get used to.

As I pondered various possibilities and methods, I suddenly realized something was off about my thinking.

Right now, I was thinking only about how to fight.

I wasn’t considering the possibility of defeat at all.

Amidst a strange, quiet surge of exhilaration, I was certain.

I will win.

My eyes grew hotter and hotter.

I could… right now…

The system window kept popping up with a buzzing sound.

I stared blankly at the urgently appearing notifications and asked a question.

‘How do you catch a god?’

I asked, hoping the system window might give me a clue.

But only vague answers came back.

‘No, I want you to tell me the method. Specifically.’

‘What did I learn here?’

The system window remained silent.

Knowing that prying further would be useless, I ruminated on the words the system window had left behind.

There was only one place here at Cell-X where the word ‘learn’ could apply.

It was the new prison guard training room.

However, all I had learned there was basic knowledge about Neo and how to subdue creatures.

I certainly couldn’t use that on a god.

“…!”

I was lost in thought when suddenly someone grabbed my body and pulled me.

Even though there was nothing visible around me, my body was dragged along on its own.

I immediately realized the cause.

“CEO Cha!”

I immediately recognized what CEO Cha was trying to do and shouted.

“Even if you kill all the NPCs right now, you won’t clear the trial!”

But CEO Cha didn’t stop.

Every second counts, and the thought of the situation getting messed up suddenly made me furious.

I couldn’t hold back any longer and screamed.

“You crazy bastard! I said we won’t get the ending!!”

CEO Cha stopped moving. Then, lowering his cognitive suppression, he revealed himself.

I glared at the white mask and panted heavily.

Then, I belatedly came back to my senses at the intense gaze staring at me.

I was the crazy one…

To think I acted just like I did to CEO Cha in the game.

I was mentally bracing myself to be sliced ​​apart by the Daeil Yeorae, but a short remark came back from CEO Cha.

"Why?"

It was a surprisingly calm question. I thought I was going to be chopped into pieces for being arrogant.

I quickly switched to polite language and explained, acting as if I had never used informal language or swear words before.

"The god of this place—that is, the boss of the Trial—has caused an anomaly, and the Trial system itself has collapsed. Even if you kill all the creatures, there is no possibility of seeing a normal ending."

"……."

"You have to fight the boss by cooperating with the creatures."

CEO Cha suddenly brought up a different topic.

"Did you get infected here?"

"…Huh?"

"Do you mean if I kill the boss, your eyes will return to normal?"

It seemed he had concluded my golden eyes were due to an infection.

If one did not know of the existence of God, this was, in fact, the most logical conclusion.

Since he had made such a perfectly appropriate misunderstanding, I naturally played along.

“Yes. I was infected in Cell-X.”

And I pressed him once again.

“We absolutely need your power to get out. Please cooperate.”

I looked up at him with pleading eyes.

Although CEO Cha was a flawed individual in terms of character, no one could underestimate his abilities.

It was the same now.

In the sea surrounded by Neo, CEO Cha stood alone, perfectly fine.

He had come to find me, not stained in the slightest by the neon green liquid.

I had firmly believed that CEO Cha would be safe, but seeing him actually safe—not even soaked in a single drop of Neo…

I felt a familiar sense of relief.

Recalling old memories, I called out to him again, who remained silent.

Then, CEO Cha slowly opened his mouth to answer.

“You said I was a crazy bastard?”

“…I apologize for that. Anyway, you’re cooperating, right?”

“Following your lead.”

It was a reply laced with a bit of temper, but it seemed he would cooperate regardless.

After all, if he hadn’t liked my proposal, he would have thrown me into the Neo Sea long ago.

“Thank you.”

I offered my thanks as I pleased.

‘How much time is left now?’

Just as I was thinking that I needed to respond immediately if Je Hyun-oh found Won Taebeom and the creatures and returned…

Suddenly, everything went dark.

It was a darkness so profound that even the neon green liquid seemed to lose its light.

I looked up at the sky.

There was…

An eye.

A massive eye looked down upon the underground sea.

I couldn’t tell if it was appropriate to call it an eye.

It was because its form defied conventional notions.

Inside the large eye, countless eyes of varying sizes were packed.

The eyeballs moved differently, scanning the surroundings thoroughly like searchlights sweeping through a prison, searching for something.

It was a sight that evoked instinctive revulsion beyond mere disgust.

Amidst hundreds of pupils scanning in every direction, my gaze met that of a single pupil.

The moment it discovered me.

All eyes converged on me at once.

To the gazes pouring down like a rain of arrows, I…

Slowly smiled…

A surge of heat enveloped me in an instant.

The thought of burning all those eyeballs filled me with boundless delight.

I reached out my hand toward them.

As if dangling a delicious bait right before their eyes.

Come here.

I whispered to them, and whispered again, beckoning them to come closer…

The surroundings were bathed in pure white light.

As the white light cast down like the sun, the darkness lifted, and it became as bright as midday.

I gazed at the man who had created the light.

He shouted something at me, but I couldn’t hear him clearly.

A streak of black darkness flew through the white light and snatched me away.

It was my subordinate.

I burst into joyful laughter and said to my subordinate:

Let’s kill it together.

I wanted to share the fun and excitement.