Chapter 140

As Kwak Hanmuk was standing in front of me, my vision was completely blocked, and I couldn’t see anything.

I cautiously took a step to the side, trying to figure out the situation.

Despite Kwak Hanmuk’s rude remarks, Ham Jiwol and the directors of Paseong showed no reaction.

They simply stared at me, looking utterly dazed.

I couldn’t guess at all what was going on.

Judging by the fact that I had been inside a glass pillar, it seemed my condition wasn’t very good.

I usually lost consciousness for a long time whenever I finished a Trial and emerged, but…

‘Wasn’t it 72 hours this time?’

If anything, I actually woke up sooner than usual.

As I racked my brain, I heard an ominous murmuring.

"He’s alive…"

Suddenly, a stream of blood gushed from Ham Jiwol’s nose.

Looking closer, I saw that the capillaries in her eyes had burst, turning the whites blood-red, while dark, bruised circles marred the skin beneath them.

She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days, and blood trickling down her face, she cried out.

“He’s really alive… Goyo-ssi, he’s alive…!”

Huh?

I wanted to ask what she meant, but Ham Jiwol’s demeanor was so intense that I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

The way Ham Jiwol looked at me was more than just fervor.

It might be a bit of an embarrassing thought, but it was as if she had fallen in love.

It was a look that truly could not be described in any other way.

Blushing and gasping for breath, she swayed. Then, she collapsed onto the floor.

She had fainted.

I stared at the back of her head with my mouth agape.

Although I still knew nothing, for now, Ham Jiwol being unconcious wasn’t a bad thing.

“Lieutenant Won Taebeom.”

Samra broke the silence and spoke.

“I request that you remove Director Ham Jiwol.”

It meant he wanted him to drag her outside.

However, Won Taebeom did not react to Samra’s words.

He still had his eyes fixed on me.

It was an intense gaze, with a different meaning than Ham Jiwol’s.

I couldn’t help but be flustered by his gaze.

Since I had manipulated his mind, it would have been appropriate for him to feel disgust or fear of an unknown entity.

But such emotions were not visible in Won Taebeom’s eyes.

I couldn’t fully grasp it, but it seemed closer to confusion.

He really does like me.

…I absolutely do not agree with the young god’s way of thinking.

But it certainly didn’t seem like he disliked me.

‘Lieutenant Won. I will come to kneel and apologize soon.’

While I was diligently sending silent apologies, Samra called out to him again.

“Lieutenant Won Taebeom.”

Only then did Won Taebeom slowly take his eyes off me.

He seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, then without a word, he pulled Ham Jiwol over his shoulder and slung her over his shoulder.

It was then.

Amidst chilly atmosphere, a cell phone ringtone with a cute melody rang out.

The owner of the ringtone, a popular girl group song, was Mok Saehwa.

As soon as she answered the call, her face lit up instantly.

“CEO!”

Along with her, Seo Moonchan’s face also filled with joy.

Mok Saehwa continued speaking clearly.

“Yes. Goyo-nim is alive. Ah, he is right here with me, so I will hand the phone over…”

Slash.

Mok Saehwa’s cell phone was sliced in two.

The metallic feather that had grazed her finger returned to Je Hyun-oh.

“…I tried to, but it looks like it won’t work.”

Mok Saehwa sucked on the tip of her finger, from which a bead of blood was welling up, and stuffed the severed cell phone into her pocket.

The two directors turned to look at me at the same time. Then, suddenly, they started clapping and singing in unison.

“Goyo-nim! Congratulations on your resurrection!”

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Amidst the pouring applause, I almost blurted out "Thank you" without realizing it.

While I was still dazed by the resurrection congratulations—something I had never received in my life—Seo Moonchan abruptly pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from his suit jacket.

He took off his glasses and made a show of wiping his eyes.

‘Not a single tear is falling.’

At this point, I waited, curious about the purpose of this performance.

After pretending to wipe his tears for a moment, Seo Moonchan spoke.

“Goyo-nim. I hear that CEO Cha has just woken up.”

“What?”

“He had been in a coma. He has barely regained consciousness, but he is still not in very good condition.”

It felt like my brain had shut down.

That can’t be right.

I must have revived him, right?

Resurrection brings the dead back to life and heals the wounds of the living.

Since it is an area-of-effect skill that applies to the entire space, I assumed CEO Cha would have emerged fully recovered.

After all, even I, having regained consciousness after 72 hours, am perfectly fine.

‘Could it be because of the Nonbeliever trait?’

I began to suspect that CEO Cha’s Nonbeliever trait might have blocked the healing.

My heart sank.

When the Trial is sealed off, the infected virus disappears, but physical injuries remain.

CEO Cha continued to take damage even after losing more than half of his life force to Light Alteration.

To think he came out in that state without receiving any healing.

“…….”

During the 72 hours I was trapped in the black space, I thought about countless things.

It was because there was little I could do, left all alone.

It was a somewhat painful time, as there were many thoughts clinging to me so persistently that I wanted to stop thinking about them.

Thoughts of CEO Cha were among them.

My heart felt heavy, as if a boulder had been placed upon it.

It was a time when I could not hide the darkening expression of worry.

“Director Seo Moonchan’s remarks were largely exaggerated.”

Samra spoke, his eyes flashing with light.

“It is true that he was unconscious, but CEO Cha’s vital signs have now recovered to perfectly normal levels. He is at a level where there would be no setbacks even if he were to enter a trial immediately.”

It appeared he had hacked into the hospital’s equipment to retrieve the information.

Samra looked at the directors of Paseong and declared.

“I will stop any remarks that would confuse Han Goyo-ssi.”

Regardless, the directors remained steadfast.

“It seems lying is not easy in front of Samra Mansang¹.”

While Seo Moonchan was making a lighthearted remark and shrugging his shoulders, Mok Saehwa called out to me.

“Goyo-nim.”

She clasped her hands together and looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Please come visit our CEO in the hospital.”

At the same time, Kwak Hanmuk couldn’t hold back and stepped forward.

“Wow, how long do I have to wait like this?”

He tilted his head crookedly and raised his voice.

“Isn’t it time for you directors to get lost?”

Mok Saehwa quickly continued speaking.

“Of course, Paseong has suffered a huge loss! And the losses will only get bigger in the future!”

She smiled brightly.

“As long as Goyo-nim comes to visit, it doesn’t matter.”

“The CEO will be waiting for Goyo-nim, too.”

Seo Moonchan quickly threw in a remark as well.

The directors stood in a line, looking at me like pitiful cats.

It seemed like a strategy to appeal to my sympathy, but having experienced Mischievous Predator and Blooming Funeral, I felt no emotion.

However, I gave them the answer they wanted.

“Yes. I will go visit.”

Everyone was surprised by my answer. Even the directors looked shocked.

Kwak Hanmuk looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Chestnut-ie… Is it because you’re still sick? You’re saying strange things because you’re still in a state of mental and physical weakness.”

“Han Goyo-ssi. That is an unnecessary action.”

Samra looked as if he were about to rattle off CEO Cha’s physical data right away, showing exactly how fine he was.

As Je Hyun-oh clattered his metal hand, Mo Haein also quietly admonished me.

“There is no need to do that.”

But… I wanted to go.

I felt that I could only feel at ease if I saw CEO Cha alive and moving with my own eyes.

It would have been better if I had made him my subordinate.

If I had, I could have verified every single detail of him right away.

I felt it once again, but the young god’s way of thinking seemed a bit unique.

I did not agree with this thought, either.

‘And it seemed like CEO Cha doesn’t like gods very much.’

It was wrong to force someone to register against their will.

In any case, given that the young god had a history of causing a scene, I did have to bring up the matter.

I made a polite request to the directors.

“I will visit soon, so I would appreciate it if you could leave for now.”

“Of course. We will leave promptly.”

“Please contact us anytime, Goyo-nim!”

Having gotten what they wanted, the directors bowed respectfully as if nothing had happened.

However, before they could even disappear, my vision flickered with holographic colors.

Samra had formed a virtual space and summoned the entire Special Mission Team.

It was in the exact same form as the Special Mission Team office in the destroyed main building.

I wanted to feel a glimmer of joy at this familiar sight, but I could not.

I… found myself surrounded by the Special Mission Team…

‘This is a bit scary.’

Except for Mo Haein, everyone else was taller than me.

As they all looked down at me, memories of Cell-X naturally came to mind.

It was the memory of lying face down in front of Je Hyun-oh and Kwak Hanmuk.

Click. Je Hyun-oh removed his goggles.

As he revealed his eyes and stared at me silently, I became twice as scared.

If he had just called my name, "Goyo," I could have at least prepared myself, but the fact that he said nothing made it even more frightening.

I was trembling inwardly at that moment.

"Han Goyo-ssi."

Samra called my name first. And what followed was unbelievable.

"You have recovered vital signs 72 hours after being pronounced dead."

I was unable to react for a moment, then slowly asked back.

"…Did I die and come back to life?"

"Yes."

"……."

To think I died and came back to life… It was something that would have terrified me, too.

I began to understand all the reactions of the people earlier, which had been beyond strange and even bordering on bizarre.

I was practically going crazy because I had absolutely no idea that connecting to a physical body meant something like this.

And to think they proceeded with it so publicly.

If I had known this would happen, I would have resurrected while hiding in some corner.

Between this the real-name registration system for subordinates, it seemed that gods simply didn’t care about privacy.

I felt a sense of dread regarding what was about to happen, but Samra brought up something even more daunting to me.

“Previously, I had confirmed the existence of transcendent beings, the Outer Gods, outside of Earth and was searching for information regarding them. Therefore, I judged that there is a sufficient possibility that such transcendent beings exist within Earth as well.”

Samra’s pupils moved like the aperture of a camera.

He looked at me without blinking and asked a question.

“Han Goyo-ssi, you are a god. Is that correct?”

I froze right there.

And I realized that Samra had already obtained the answer from my reaction.

No… Even if I had lied perfectly, it would have been meaningless.

Because Samra was already convinced.

In fact, it was a ridiculous situation to even try to make any more excuses.

Reluctantly, I opened my mouth with a heavy heart.

“Um… just as Samra said… I….”

Feeling my face burning, I spoke in a barely audible mumble.

“…am the god of Earth….”

It was truly not an easy task.

After speaking, I cautiously glanced at the others.

I expected them to look at me like I was a lunatic, but surprisingly, their faces were incredibly serious.

As if…they had exchanged some kind of conversation while I was unconscious for 72 hours.

Of course, Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein looked visibly surprised, but they were remarkably calm considering the shocking sentence they had just heard.

Je Hyun-oh, having known about it all along, didn’t show any particular signs of agitation.

However, the way he had been staring at me for so long was starting to give me goosebumps.

I struggled to shake off the temptation to check his status window to see why he was acting that way.

“Trainee.”

Mo Haein called out to me in a stiff tone.

“Yes…”

Feeling guilty, I cautiously glanced at Mo Haein and asked.

“Should I get into push-up position…?”

At that, Kwak Hanmuk turned his gaze to the side and muttered.

“This is driving me crazy.”

It seemed this wasn’t the right approach.

As I stood there awkwardly, Mo Haein bit her lip tightly and snapped at me.

“Report what happened while clearing Cell-X.”

She glared at me. Her eyes looked as if she were about to grab me by the collar and shake me at any moment.

“What did you do to be dead for 72 hours all by yourself?”

While I hesitated, unsure how to answer, Je Hyun-oh spoke for the first time.

“Goyo pushed himself too hard. Right up until the brink of death.”

Well, that’s true, but…

Still, considering the circumstances, there were parts that were unavoidable…

‘He was the one who happily helped me out when I was a god, too.’

While I mumbled, feeling a tiny bit of injustice, Kwak Hanmuk narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“And I suppose the fact that I’m fine is also Goyo’s doing.”

“That’s correct…”

“What do you mean by ‘turning me into a ball’?”

“To protect you, Captain Kwak…”

“So, you used some kind of divine power, and because you pushed yourself too hard, you were dead for 72 hours, right?”

“Yes. That is correct…”

With my answer, silence fell for a moment.

I felt a slightly strange sensation in the gazes I was receiving.

Even though I was clearly being scolded, I didn’t dislike it.

It seemed like everyone was treating me not as some alien being, but as an ordinary trainee.

Just as I quietly closed and opened my eyes…

“This won’t do.”

Mo Haein suddenly blurted out, strode toward me, and grabbed my wrist.

Then she said to Samra.

“Samra. Let me out.”

Am I being arrested?

I stood stiff and prepared to be handcuffed when Samra said something I couldn’t understand.

“After discussion, we have established the top priority measures to effectively protect Han Goyo-ssi.”

It was a moment when I was struggling to understand what he meant.

Je Hyun-oh finally called out to me.

“Goyo.”

I looked at him with a feeling of resignation.

As our eyes met, his long eyes curved slightly.

A low, grating voice whispered to me.

“I’ll make you play the role of a god properly.”

“Huh…?”

“Right, Sweet Chestnut. If you’ve caused trouble, you have to take responsibility.”

Leaving me flustered, Kwak Hanmuk let out a deep sigh.

Then, wiping away all traces of playfulness, he spoke to me with a serious look in his eyes.

“Let’s team up.”

¹This is almost certainly a play on words, meaning both “It’s not easy to lie in the face of the universe” and “It’s not easy to lie in front of Samra” because his name means the universe/all-knowing.

cute, huh? i think at this point we’ll have to accept i might not be a daily upload sort of person. but you can definitely count on me to get them all out by the end of the week! this week i’m off of work to prepare to go back to school, so i’ll be making some changes to the website :p i’ll be changing the domain to berriezai.cc, it’ll hopefully be set up to redirect you so you can use the old link for a bit. i think i’m gonna give up on the subordinate thing there’s just not a word in english i like. so i give up