Chapter 138

His mind went blank.

Since it was Samra’s statement, there was no need to doubt its truthfulness. After all, Samra never lied.

Kwak Hanmuk immediately kicked himself off the bed.

As expected, not much time had passed since clearing the trial, as he was wearing a uniform rather than a patient gown.

Since there were no major complications, it seemed they had moved him to a hospital room for now, and all personnel had swarmed around Han Goyo.

He quickly put on the combat boots placed under the bed and ran outside.

He knew that the Research Department had taken over the Gyeonggi Regional Office basement.

He had no time to wait for the elevator, so he headed straight for the emergency stairs.

The emergency staircase at the Gyeonggi Regional Office was designed with a hollow center, with the stairs encircling it in a square shape.

The center was open all the way from the basement to the top.

Whoosh, the prayer beads on his wrist wrapped around the stair railing.

Kwak Hanmuk leaped straight into the open center.

The prayer beads extended in a web-like tangle, slowing his descent.

The instant he reached the basement, he flung open the door as if to break it down and stepped inside.

The basement was in chaos.

Researchers were running around frantically, shouting back and forth, and some were engaged in heated arguments.

It was even more chaotic as personnel from not only the Research Department but also other departments had swarmed in.

Kwak Hanmuk grabbed the shoulder of the nearest researcher.

“Where is Trainee Han Goyo?”

The researcher, who had turned around with an annoyed expression, flinched when his eyes met Kwak Hanmuk’s and immediately guided him.

Kwak Hanmuk, who had anxiously followed him, finally came to meet Han Goyo.

Han Goyo was contained in a preservation solution.

It appeared that he had been placed in the solution immediately after being pronounced dead to prevent bodily damage.

The sight of his eyes closed, as if asleep inside a large glass column, was familiar.

It was because Mo Haein also occasionally was unconcious like this due to the Trial Meteorite implanted in her body.

However… he never expected to see Han Goyo in this state.

Han Goyo, preserved in the solution, was unusually pale, and perhaps because of that, he looked younger than usual.

He looked to see if the small slime that was always with him was there, but it was nowhere to be seen.

He simply looked up at the figure who appeared to be in a deep sleep, then checked the vital signs monitor located right next to the glass pillar.

The waveforms were all drawing flat straight lines.

The death verdict was clear.

But then, a thought suddenly surged out of nowhere.

‘He’s alive.’

Even though it was a thought without any basis, Kwak Hanmuk was convinced.

That Han Goyo was alive.

“Hanmuk.”

He heard a voice calling out in a whisper. Mo Haein had approached his side.

She, too, seemed to have rushed over in a hurry.

Shock at the unbelievable news was etched on her face, yet her gaze remained unwavering and steadfast.

The moment their eyes met, both Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein realized.

That they shared the same thought.

Han Goyo was not dead.

They shared a conviction that defied all explanation.

“Haein. Are you okay?”

That short question held many meanings.

Perhaps due to the time they had spent together, Mo Haein immediately understood Kwak Hanmuk’s intention.

She quietly nodded.

With a slight sense of relief, Kwak Hanmuk shifted his gaze.

Only then did his surroundings come into view.

The first person to catch his eye was Je Hyun-oh.

He was standing right in front of the glass pillar.

Standing still with his metal hands hanging down, he looked as if he were the guardian of the one trapped inside the glass pillar.

Without even needing to examine the goggles that were completely blacked out, he could easily guess what condition Je Hyun-oh was in. He had his metal wings fully exposed.

Je Hyun-oh was someone who kept his metal wings retracted and hidden unless necessary.

He rarely exposed his wings outside, unless it was for a trial.

Je Hyun-oh clacked his metal hands, appearing ready for battle at any moment.

In front of him stood Ham Jiwol of the Research and Analysis Headquarters and the directors of Paseong, facing off against each other.

Unlike Mok Saehwa and Seo Moonchan, who were impeccably dressed in suits, Ham Jiwol was covered in blood.

It appeared she had been attacked by Je Hyun-oh while attempting to approach the glass pillar.

However, despite the slashes all over her body from the blades, her eyes gleamed with madness.

A short distance away from them, he could see Director Jang Seokyun, Lieutenant Won Taebeom, and Samra.

Director Jang’s complexion was, to put it mildly, terrible. Beside him, Lieutenant Won Taebeom looked even more wretched than Jang Seokyun.

His face, usually devoid of emotion, was etched with unmistakable despair.

It was as if his entire world had been shattered.

Samra was also… not in a normal state.

His eyes flashed repeatedly, as if he were ceaselessly calculating something.

Ham Jiwol spoke in a very clear voice.

"Goyo-ssi’s body is the property of the TRA."

She continued her argument with precise pronunciation.

"This is data absolutely necessary for the Republic of Korea, and for the entire world, to defend against the Trials. Lieutenant Colonel Je and the directors, please step aside."

"Haha, Director Ham. I apologize. What power do we have? We’re just salaried employees. But CEO Cha gave us strict instrucions beforehand. You know our CEO’s personality, don’t you?"

Seo Moonchan gave a sly smile.

He spoke evasively, like a slippery snake, asking her to consider their position as well.

“We will take Goyo-nim’s body with us to Paseong.”

“No! It is only right that it should belong to the state; it cannot be handed over to a mere private coporation.”

As soon as Seo Moonchan finished speaking, Ham Jiwol retorted.

Mok Saehwa looked at Ham Jiwol, who refused to back down despite bleeding profusely, as if she found her very cute.

However, she remained ready to draw her weapon at any moment.

Mok Saehwa, too, had no intention of backing down.

Seo Moonchan immediately turned to look at Jang Seokyun.

“Director Jang. The trainee contract has ended. The TRA has no right to claim ownership of Han Goyo. In contrast, Paseong has drawn up a dispatch contract, so wouldn’t Paseong have a slight priority in this case?”

Seo Moonchan took the contract out of his inventory and waved it in the air.

‘What the hell is that?’

Kwak Hanmuk barely managed to hold back the curse that threatened to burst out of his mouth.

What kind of mischief had Han Goyo been up to for something like that to end up in Paseong’s hands?

If he had been standing next to him, he would have easily given him ten smacks on the head with his prayer beads.

“Director Seo. I understand what you want, but it is impossible. The contract doesn’t specify posthumous ownership, does it?”

As Jang Seokyun answered slowly, Mok Saehwa let out a deep sigh.

Having deliberately acted rudely to draw attention to herself, she spoke.

“Director, listen. Right now, only CEO Cha is in a coma, isn’t he?”

A coma?

Kwak Hanmuk immediately checked Je Hyun-oh and Won Taebeom again.

They, too, must have come face-to-face with the god, yet they were perfectly fine, just like him.

Unlike Han Goyo, who had even been pronounced dead.

He concluded that Han Goyo must have done something to create this situation.

Otherwise, he felt that he and the others wouldn’t have been so unscathed.

Unconsciously, his gaze drifted toward Han Goyo inside the glass pillar.

He was suddenly reminded of the time before the meteor fell, when he spoke without even being able to make eye contact.

“Could you… keep being on the same team as me?”

Fuck.

Kwak Hanmuk cursed at himself while barely managing to continue his thoughts.

Then why was only CEO Cha in a coma?

It was certain that there had been some kind of accident during the clear.

That wasn’t the only puzzling aspect.

Even though CEO Cha was in a coma, the directors showed absolutely no fear or worry.

Only a firm belief that CEO Cha would surely regain consciousness and recover.

He was well aware that they were fanatics of CEO Cha, but this bordered on actual worship.

“We entered the TRA’s trial, the CEO ended up like this, and you’re ignoring the terms of the dispatch contract. You aren’t suggesting that Paseong should shoulder all the losses and simply sacrifice itself for the nation, are you?”

Following Mok Saehwa’s remark, Seo Moonchan drove the nail in the coffin.

“Surely you could at least hand over Goyo-nim’s body so we can recoup some of our losses?”

Sparks flew from Ham Jiwol’s eyes. She shouted in a voice that had grown louder.

“What can Paseong do with a corpse! You lack research facilities comparable to the TRA; at best, you only have medical facilities. To claim ownership without reason!”

Ham Jiwol clenched her fists tightly and spoke rapidly.

“The TRA will analyze Goyo-ssi down to the nanometer, using everything from a single strand of hair to a single fingernail as data for the future without exception. Goyo-ssi’s value for the future of humanity…!”

“Director Ham. It makes no difference to us what the TRA does. Our only priority is following the orders our CEO gave beforehand.”

Seo Moonchan had eyes no different from Ham Jiwol’s. Mok Saehwa continued, smiling brightly.

“The TRA only intends to dismember Goyo’s corpse piece by piece, doesn’t it? Goyo wouldn’t have wanted this anyway. Isn’t that right?”

However, it was not Ham Jiwol who answered the directors.

“…The TRA…”

Samra, speaking in a tone slightly slower than usual, spoke with eyes flashing repeatedly.

“…might be able to revive Han Goyo-ssi. We are currently calculating a method to connect his brain to an artificial life support system and transplant it into an android body. I will ensure that Director Ham Jiwol does not use Han Goyo-ssi’s corpse.”

“Samra!”

“Director Ham Jiwol. We need Han Goyo-ssi for the sake of humanity.”

Just as the situation was descending into total chaos with Samra’s sudden intervention…

Screech!

The sound of metal scraping echoed through the space.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the source of the sound.

Je Hyun-oh, who had scratched the vital sign monitor with his metal hand, spoke in a whisper.

"He’s not dead."

At that moment, Kwak Hanmuk immediately reached out with his prayer beads.

With a rattling sound, the beads wrapped around the glass pillar.

After shielding Han Goyo from view, he stood beside Je Hyun-oh.

"You may not believe it, but…"

He then looked at those who could not understand what was happening.

Part of him wanted to tear everything down—Ham Jiwol, Paseong, and the rest.

However, given how preposterous his current claim was, he spoke as calmly as possible.

"As Lieutenant Colonel Je said, Trainee Han Goyo is still alive."

It wasn’t just Kwak Hanmuk. Mo Haein also rushed over and stood before the glass pillar.

Standing as if shielding the pillar with her small frame, she drew out the Black Moon Blade.

Clutching the blade so tightly that her knuckles turned white, she asserted the same claim:

“He is alive. Please believe us.”

A long silence fell.

The directors let out hollow laughs, as if dumbfounded.

Seo Moonchan spoke after exchanging glances with Mok Saehwa.

“I would like you to tell me the basis for your judgment. Or at least show me Goyo-nim opening his eyes.”

It was then.

Something appeared before the eyes of Je Hyun-oh, Kwak Hanmuk, and Mo Haein.

It was something only they could see, invisible to everyone else.

A light suddenly flickered on within the pitch-black goggles.

Everyone was left speechless by the sudden appearance of the emoticon.

Je Hyun-oh extended his metal hand forward.

Just before the directors swiftly drew their weapons, a short remark broke the silence.

“Three days.”

Je Hyun-oh spoke languidly, his outstretched metal hand rattling.

“If he doesn’t wake up after three days, then Paseong can take him.”

It was a statement filled with conviction, as if he had received some kind of revelation.

I will never take children’s nutritional supplements again.

One such experience was enough in my life.

I did my best, but I couldn’t hold out until the end.

In the end, I lost consciousness and fainted.

When I came to, I was dropped all alone into a pitch-black space.

Before I could even look around to see where I was, the backlog of system windows swarmed up, filling my vision.

I checked the system windows one by one.

Seeing the ending text made me feel a little melancholic.

‘In the end, I didn’t learn how to swim.’

I was disappointed that I couldn’t go to the sea with Orca.

I wouldn’t have been able to swim anyway due to my physical condition, but if Dominic had summoned me just a little later, I might have at least been able to dip my feet in the water…

Still, it was okay when I thought that Orca would now swim freely in the vast ocean.

And all the creatures looked healthy, too.

I stared at the ending for a while before moving on to the next window.

Black Block-ssi was still keeping a close eye on things, and surprisingly, recognition had risen by 9%.

I was stunned by the fact that I had reached double digits so quickly.

It seemed that the fact that I had faced a god, even if it was only a tiny fraction, had given me a huge bonus.

Since I had lost consciousness, the item selection was completed automatically.

I was satisfied that the selected item was the Orca Band.

However, I was dissatisfied that I could only choose one item after all that hard work.

Then, I blinked at the system window that followed.

‘Surely this doesn’t mean I can only leave this black space after 72 hours have passed, does it?’

I hoped not, but it seemed likely.

I was staring at the system window displaying the 72 hours, wondering what kind of sudden shock this was.

A new window popped up.

It was a sequence of letters that I couldn’t understand even as I looked at them.

“Interstellar Communication? Galactic Trading Post…?”

I read it out loud, then glanced around.

Neither the soft pudding slime nor the 3-meter man were in sight.

I was the only one in the black space.

“…….”

Perhaps it was actually a good thing.

I wasn’t ready to face Dominic just yet.

The thought of what he had done to my body, and the pain I had endured, was too fresh in my mind.

The fact that Dominic wasn’t right in front of me didn’t make me anxious.

I could still feel his gaze watching me.

Once I left this place, he would return to my side.

‘I need to get out of here quickly.’

It felt stifling to be trapped alone while everyone else was outside.

However, even after rummaging through the black space, there was nothing I could do.

I decided to check out the newly added features first.

I was curious, as it had appeared thanks to the recognition I had built up without even knowing what it was.

‘Galactic Trading Post.’

As I said the feature I wanted to myself, a system window appeared immediately.

A system window appeared that looked exactly like an in-game shop page.

I examined the Galactic Trading Post with curiosity.

The Galactic Trading Post was divided into purchase and sell pages.

When I clicked the purchase page, a list subdivided into attack, defense, and enhancement items appeared.

However, one item caught my eye immediately

‘Decorations!’

I clicked on it right away, and my eyes widened in amazement.

I was able to buy items that could change the planet’s environment.

‘This is basically just decorating the Earth.’