Chapter 135

As I gained a new ability, I regained consciousness.

The word ‘regained’ might not be quite right.

After all, I hadn’t fainted or anything.

I vividly remembered every action I had committed as a young god.

“…….”

I looked at the creatures.

The creatures that had melted into their eyeballs, leaving only wretched fragments.

As I took in the traces left at my feet, my body trembled.

Negative thoughts flooded in like a tidal wave.

I retched, but nothing came out.

Trembling violently, I hugged the golden sphere.

And I forcibly stopped thinking.

Right now, even thinking such thoughts was a luxury.

I thought of only one thing.

‘I must do it.’

Although I created a new ability, the creatures are not my subordinates.

I merely bound them with the fiimsy tether of being temporary possessions, but there is still a possibility.

Since I had used Punishment on ■■■, who was not my subordinate, Resurrection should have been possible.

However, this was only theoretically possible; nothing was certain.

Feeling my heart pounding, I used my ability.

‘Resurrection.’

I tried to revive Orca, who had died first, but the first attempt failed.

I squeezed my eyes shut. It was because the trembling in my body had worsened.

Trying to regulate my constantly tangled breathing, I attempted a second, a third, and continued trying.

Cold sweat drenched my entire body. Sweat dripped continuously down my chin. My cheeks were damp.

“Please….”

I used resurrection endlessly, but I could not succeed.

I watched Orca gradually fading away. Only a tiny fragment remained.

My vision kept blurring, so I blinked constantly.

I had to find another way.

I… broke down the barriers within myself.

I heard the phantom sound of something deep inside me shattering.

The heat I had held back in my heart surged intensely through my veins.

However, it was not to the point of being uncontrollable.

As a young god, I spoke.

‘Resurrection.’

A faint light formed.

The light, forming like a sprouting bud, gradually became as vivid as a star.

Just as it shimmered with a brilliant golden hue…

“…!”

In an instant, a flash, and everything around me was enveloped in light.

It lasted only a few seconds, but it covered the entire world in gold and then vanished.

A system window appeared.

As soon as I saw that perfectly square window, my legs gave way.

I couldn’t even bring myself to sit down on the floor. Lying face down on the eyeball, I gasped for breath.

“Haa, haa….”

I couldn’t move a single finger.

It felt less like physical fatigue and more like damage deep inside.

I felt a slight pain, but I deliberately ignored it.

Still, as I stopped thinking about it, the pain seemed to gradually subside.

Gritting my teeth, I reached out my trembling hand.

I managed to catch the golden sphere I had dropped when I collapsed and held it close once again.

The sphere, emitting a soft light, remained as serene as ever.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Actually, I had considered using Resurrection on Captain Kwak as well.

However, since he wasn’t dead, I gave up on the idea out of fear of what might happen.

After staring at the sphere for a while, I shifted my gaze.

A system window had popped up saying Resurrection was in progress, but the percentage wouldn’t go above 1% at all.

Even after staring at it for a long time, the numbers remained unchanged.

I knew it instinctively.

This is ■■■’s territory.

For my power to work, I must subdue ■■■ and seize their territory.

I forced myself to stand up.

I felt like I wouldn’t be able to move at all, but since I forced myself, I managed to move somehow.

I looked around.

Beneath my feet, eyeballs rolling endlessly stretched out, and above my head, the ​​Neo Sea surged.

I could see nothing else.

As if everything—living and non-living—had melted away.

‘Lieutenant Colonel Je and Lieutenant Won… Where is CEO Cha?’

I tried sending a message to Je Hyun-oh, but it felt futile.

I brought the system window located in a corner of my field of vision closer to my eyes.

Designed to resemble game UI, it briefly displayed characters, health, skills, cooldowns, buffs, and debuffs.

Je Hyun-oh, Kwak Hanmuk, CEO Cha, and Won Taebeom appeared on the list with cute character faces.

I quickly checked their current status.

Kwak Hanmuk’s slot was grayed out, seemingly indicating that he was incapacitated.

As for the others, their health bars had dropped by more than half.

CEO Cha was in a particularly precarious position. His health had fallen below 30%.

It was due to Light Alteration.

Light Alteration dealt devastating damage while forcing the opponent to expose their weak point, but such immense destructive power came at a price.

It is a skill that creates light by burning the user’s own life force.

CEO Cha found the truth amidst tens of thousands of false eyes, and the enraged ■■■ turned the world upside down, leading to the current situation.

According to the system window, everyone was still alive. And yet, they were nowhere to be seen.

Moreover, Je Hyun-oh has wings.

One would expect to see him flying around searching for me, but no matter how much I scanned the sea above, the black crow was nowhere to be seen.

I helplessly watched my health, displayed in the system window, continue to drain away.

Feeling frustrated, I staggered and darted around on my eyes.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je… Ugh.”

I tried to shout out his name, but no sound came out properly.

I called out to others in a voice that was almost a whisper.

“Haa, CEO Cha… Where are you? Lieutenant Won….”

However, only a desolate silence followed.

In an instant, a sharp pain surged within me. My feet tripped, and I fell.

“…….”

The fear I had tried not to think about surged in as if it had been waiting for this moment.

What if I can’t find them?

Even if they were to die and I had to use Resurrection… it seems like it would only be possible if they were at least right in front of my eyes.

Before that, could I use Resurrection again?

The thought that it was impossible kept swirling in my head.

No.

I shook my head vigorously. Then I stood up again.

Just as I was trying to drive away negative thoughts and somehow regain my clear reason…

Suddenly, the new prison guard training room flashed through my mind.

‘The Hologram of Creature No. 13.’

The moment the thought crossed my mind, I looked into ■■■.

The fallen being wrapped in a massive lie. It had concealed its essence, but the illusion was erased beneath the light. I take in its exposed weak points and the methods of subjugation. But it is still not enough. I want to know its true nature. I look into it a little deeper. And…

Why is there so little?

“…!”

I flinched and closed my eyes.

Did I look too deeply? It felt as if my eyes were going to burn from the intense heat.

The thoughts I had held until the end of the battle swirled chaotically in my mind.

I barely managed to calm the thoughts that were raging like a runaway train.

I staggered and nearly fell, but managed to regain my balance and stand. I felt intense pain, perhaps from overexerting myself.

Yet, a faint smile was spreading across the corners of my mouth.

At the new prison guard training center, I had dealt with a being created of illusion.

I learned how to subdue it—something that felt real, even the impact felt vivid, yet was ultimately nothing more than a fake.

It is exactly the same now.

That thing is not a physical reality. It is an existence no different from a fantasy.

The moment I looked into it and fully perceived it.

The world collapsed.

The sea of ​​the sky and the eyeballs of the earth all melted away, and darkness descended.

It was a darkness so absolute I couldn’t see an inch ahead.

It was so thick and pitch black that even if I held my hand right in front of my eyes, I couldn’t see anything.

The golden sphere I had held dear in my arms had vanished somewhere.

I was startled, but I soon managed to calm down.

Since the world turned upside down, ■■■ had blinded me and others with illusions, leaving me to be left all alone.

There was no need to even consider why he had abandoned the creatures.

It was because, to God, creatures were insignificant beings incapable of causing any variables.

It was the same now.

The darkness created by ■■■ was a lie.

Even if it were the truth, it didn’t matter.

Because no matter how deep the darkness, I could still emit light on my own.

I called out to it.

“■■■.”

■■■’s method of subjugation was perception.

I called its name and dragged it outside so it could no longer hide.

A neon green light appeared in the space that had been nothing but darkness.

It gradually grew larger, becoming a massive eyeball. It was an eye with a horizontal pupil reaching a height of about 3 meters.

The eye fixed on me spoke to me incessantly.

A voice transmitted directly into my head, rather than to my eardrums, continued to try to burrow into my sanity.

I twisted my lips into a smile at this desperate struggle.

Even though I had subdued ■■■, I was still within their territory.

I had to make this place my own.

I approached the eye and placed my hand on it.

Feeling a texture as hard as iron, I traced the surface slowly.

It appeared smooth at first glance, but I could feel a deep indentation.

It was a wound from the previous battle that had been concealed by an illusion.

I shoved my hand into the crack.

The eyes let out a sound that seemed to melt my brain.

Looking at its pain with an expressionless face, I pushed my forearm in.

After inserting it sufficiently, I recalled the moment I had expelled Neo from within me.

I retraced and repeated the memory of that time exactly as it happened, but instead of channeling my power into my body, I directed it through the eyeball.

The eyeball began to crumple.

Centered on my hand, which had dug deep inside, it was horribly crushed as if squeezed by some colossal force.

The sight of the flesh mashing together in a chaotic, contorted mess was truly grotesque.

The eyeball, collapsing inward, suddenly ceased its contraction.

A blinding golden explosion occurred.

The eyeball let out a final scream and vanished without a trace in the golden explosion.

All that remained was a shimmering fragment of light.

I perceived it.

This place is now my domain.

A system window popped up, and the world changed once again.

It was not darkness, nor a world where the earth and sky are turned upside down, nor a prison shrouded in gloomy sea fog.

My domain was a secluded island with a very clear and sunny sky, dazzling sunlight, and a rippling blue sea.

I stood on the beach and looked up at the sky.

The breeze was cool and the weather was fine; it was perfect weather for swimming.

A golden curtain descended in the air.

I smiled slightly, pleased with the sight that shimmered like the aurora.

It was time for those who had been waiting to return.

In that moment, I even forgot the pain. It was truly not painful at all.

However, the first thing to enter my field of vision, as I had been anticipating a reunion, was…

A gray metal mask.

The Chief of Security, dressed in a black uniform, appeared enveloped in gold.

Following him, countless people in black uniforms spawned one after another behind him.

Staring at the scene with bewildered eyes, I realized.

‘It was an area-of-effect skill!?’

As the resurrection I used applied to the entire space, not only the creatures but also the Chief of Security and the prison guards were all brought back to life.

Even the dregs were revived as their original guards, and their numbers were endless.

No wonder the pain had been excruciating, now I knew why.

The peaceful small island was stained pitch black by the black uniforms.

I stood there with my mouth agape when the Chief of Security approached me with quick steps.

“Roasted Chestnut!”

His face was drenched in ecstasy.

“As expected, you chose us!”

Shouting with deep emotion, he reached out his hand toward me.

“Yes, I believed you would make the right choice. Roasted Chestnut, if it were you, you would surely…!”

However, the Chief of Security could not hold me back. His forearm was tightly wrapped in a vine stem.

Then, a deep and powerful voice was heard.

“Us?”

A massive orca looked down at the Chief of Security.

Other creatures appeared behind him as well.

Looking perfectly healthy and completely unharmed.

No. 1 twitched its vines as if in anger and tugged at the Chief of Security’s forearm.

The Chief of Security looked at the taut vine, then looked back at me.

I could feel his intense gaze even through his metal mask.

It was a gaze waiting for me to say what he wanted to hear.

But I showed no reaction.

I didn’t even feel the need to raise my voice. He was not worth the effort of denial.

Orca spoke to me politely.

"Would you please close your eyes for a moment?"

I closed my eyes as he requested.

Then, all sorts of sounds followed. I waited quietly while the sounds of crushing, tearing, and being swallowed continued.

It grew a bit tiring, so I sat down in the sand to wait.

After waiting for a while, Orca called out to me.

“Roasted Chestnut!”

I gently opened my eyes and looked up at him.

Orca, smeared with neon green liquid and black flesh, looked at me with eyes that glowed vividly.

The other creatures also approached me quietly. Surrounded by twelve creatures, I took in their presence one by one.

Lastly, I looked at Orca.

Two eyes like pebbles, and two sturdy legs.

His black and white skin was smooth without a single scar, and the fin on his back was also straight, without any curvature.

The killer whale, overflowing with vitality, met my gaze.

I found myself smiling involuntarily.

“Orca-ssi.”

I said to him with a wide smile.

“Please teach me how to swim.”

However, Orca could not smile. He looked down at me with a stern face.

The other creatures were the same. Their expressions were grim.

In the dark atmosphere, everyone pressed their bodies close to me.

Orca slowly knelt down in front of me.

Even so, his gaze was still high, so I had to look up at him.

“Roasted Chestnut. You must receive treatment before you go swimming.”

Orca let out a deep sigh and took something out.

“This is serious… For now, please take this. It contains our power. I don’t know if it will be of much help, though.”

What Orca handed me was a small children’s bandage. It looked different from the chick bandage I had put on him.

As soon as I read the item description, I burst out laughing.

I could feel the moment of parting approaching, but at least for now, I could smile.

“Orca-ssi….”

And I tried to thank him, but…

I couldn’t say a word to the broken system window that popped up before me.

Then, the view before my eyes turned a cosmic blue.