Chapter 104
The reason I specifically mentioned the fortress was simple.
Je Hyeon-oh was hostile toward the Trial and its compatible users.
There was no reason for him to be generous to a compatible user who wasn’t even affiliated with the TRA Administration.
I had been given a lot of leeway because I was part of the ’TRA Administration Special Task Force,’ but otherwise, he would have torn me into several pieces long ago.
We had entered the area in haste, following a meteorite that had fallen like a bolt from the blue.
Thinking that Je Hyeon-oh might not have heard about my contract renewal from Samra, I sent him a message.
Upon checking the message, Je Hyeon-oh bowed his head toward me.
The glossy surface of his goggles drew slightly closer to me.
Perhaps because the surroundings were dim, it felt as if black shadows were pouring out of him.
"Goyo."
A sunken voice whispered languidly.
"Did you sign with the TRA Administration?"
It was a rough bass, no different from that of a beast.
I checked the surrounding prison guards.
Despite the creature speaking, they didn’t seem particularly surprised.
Likely because Je Hyeon-oh had been classified as a creature, his voice probably sounded like nothing more than a monster’s roar to the guards.
I replied in detail via message.
[I plan to sign once I leave this Trial. If you cooperate just a little, Lieutenant Colonel, I promise a swift closure of the facility and a speedy contract.]
I sent the message in a rapid-fire burst, almost like rapping. Then, I watched Je Hycon-oh’s reaction.
Indeed... I felt the atmosphere soften slightly.
Relieved, I very cautiously passed by Je Hyeon-oh.
Then, I swung wide open the door to solitary cell number 13, which was already unlocked, and called out to him.
"Creature patient number 13. Please come this way."
A snorting sound was heard.
It was Kwak Han-mook, who couldn’t hold back his laughter while watching.
Dominic also added a comment to my imitation of a doctor.
"Roasted Chestnut’s subordinate seems to be in a somewhat unstable state, so it would be wise to combine counseling with treatment on this occasion."
As a former psychiatrist, Dominic’s advice was something I deeply empathized with.
However, if Je Hyeon-oh’s insanity were the kind that could be cured, the TRA Administration would have mobilized every possible means to fix him long ago.
With a pounding heart, I looked at Je Hyeon-oh.
He looked at me standing by the cell door, and at some point, a flicker of light appeared on his goggles.
^ ^
I had never been so happy to see an emoticon.
While I was moved by the sight of an emoticon after such a long time, Je Hyeon-oh walked toward me.
Then, he obediently entered the cell.
"...!"
A stir spread among the guards at the docile behavior of the creature who had been violent enough to kill a guard.
While they were bewildered, Kwak Han-mook held out his palm to the guards.
He had joined the betting in the meantime.
Since he must have bet on my survival, he looked set to make a huge profit.
Thinking that I should ask him to buy me something delicious later, I took a seat inside the solitary cell with Je Hyeon-oh.
In truth, the real challenge started now.
Since the text on the schedule that appeared upon completing the mission informed me that ’Patient 13 is present today,’ I had to judge the relevant section of the operational manual as truth and execute it.
I had to treat Patient 13 ’kindly’, but there was no telling how Je Hyeon-oh would perceive my actions.
’Still, he put an emoticon on his goggles.’
Trusting the emoticon, I decided to go for it.
Since things had come to this, the best course of action was to handle the ward rounds right now,
"Patient number 13. Would you mind sitting here?"
When I pointed to the chair, Je Hyeon-oh sat down.
Gaining great confidence from his cooperative attitude, I bravely pulled out my stethoscope.
[Please bear with me for a moment. It will be over very quickly.]
Of course, I didn’t forget to send a message in advance.
I stealthily placed the stethoscope against Je Hyeon-oh’s chest.
Тар.
My hand trembled at the slight sensation of the stethoscope touching him.
I was poised to flee instantly if I heard a metallic sound, but Je Hyeon-oh remained quiet.
After pretending to examine him briefly, I hurriedly pulled the stethoscope back and shouted.
"You’re normal! You are very healthy."
Then, I quickly pulled the chart from my inventory.
[Patient Record Chart (for Creatures): A chart to record the patient’s condition. Pay special attention to the records for creatures.]
Since I wasn’t a real doctor, I only had to write a simple ’Normal mark’ on the chart.
After finishing the record, I swallowed hard. Only the final hurdle remained.
That was treating him ’kindly’...
Originally, in the game, this was an action performed toward empty air.
But because Creature 13 and specifically Je Hyeon-oh had entered as a prisoner, the difficulty had increased significantly.
With grim determination, I pulled an item from my inventory.
Then, I placed it softly, very softly, on Je Hyeon-oh’s lap.
Je Hyeon-oh stared down at what had been placed on his lap.
"..."
It was a yellow candy.
Actually, it wasn’t real candy, but a nutritional supplement.
[Children’s Supplement: A candy-shaped supplement with a refreshing lemon flavor. Consumable by both humans and creatures.]
After staring at the supplement, Je Hyeon-oh lifted his gaze to look at me.
squeezed my eyes shut and shouted.
"I-I only give these to good creature patients..!"
My voice echoed loudly throughout Sector X.
I hadn’t spoken that loudly, but because the situation was so quiet, it resonated relatively loudly.
Feeling embarrassed, I slowly opened my eyes again.
Je Hyeon-oh was still staring intently at me.
OO
The lights on his goggles turned on.
...Does he like candy?
He had put two large circles on his goggles, but I couldn’t quite guess what they meant.
Since he said he’d eat a whole cake with Kwak Han-mook, I figured he might like candy too.
Anyway, I survived. It seemed a bit of camaraderie had finally developed.
I quickly ended the examination and stepped out of solitary cell 13.
Clang.
The door closed.
I looked back at Je Hyeon-oh through the bars.
He sat still, as if faithfully performing the role of a prisoner.
Seeing him trapped in such a small, suffocating place, I felt the urge to let him out again, even though I was the one who had locked him in.
As I stared unconsciously, another thought occurred to me.
Why was Je Hyeon-oh in the TRA Administration?
To suggest that Jang Seok-yoon had offered him a contract that was hard to refuse seemed unlikely, given Je Hyeon-oh’s personality; he wouldn’t have accepted just anything.
’I want to ask, but he probably won’t answer..’
I figured I should just focus on closing The Cell X as quickly as possible.
It wouldn’t be easy for Je Hyeon-oh to play the role of a prisoner, and I wanted to get him out of jail quickly as well.
I let out a deep sigh inwardly and looked at the guards.
I could see Kwak Han-mook mouthing something about ’chestnuts.’
Just as I was wondering if he was saying chestnut, and then it happened.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
Sounds signaling numerical changes erupted simultaneously.
The notifications went off so frantically that it was impossible to tell where the sounds were coming from.
System windows also popped up haphazardly and overlapped, making it difficult to discern whose stats were increasing.
This was because numerical changes were occuming not only for the guards but also for the creatures.
Since they had seen how I treated Creature 13, it wasn’t strange for the creatures to have stat changes.
However, the magnitude of the increase was strange. -
- Favor +9
- Favor +30
- Favor +62
- Suspicion +18
- Suspicion +67
- Favor +55
- Suspicion....
Checking the system windows frantically, I flinched.
’Favor +62?’
It was an absurd increase.
The Favor +55 that followed was the same; there were too many double-digit increases.
It made no sense. It was rare for stats to rise by such a large margin.
Moreover, while Suspicion rose easily, Favor was difficult to increase, making the situation feel even more like a glitch.
’Wait... who is Suspicion +67?’
When a value exceeds 50, a significant change occurs in the relationship with that person.
There is a high probability that a quest will trigger, and if it’s an important character, a quest that greatly affects the ending might appear.
Reflexively, I checked the Security Chief’s stats.
[Security Chief]
- Suspicion: 80
- Favor: 58
...Crazy.
When I had checked in the infirmary earlier, Suspicion was 13 and Favor was 3, but the numbers had exploded.
’Suspicion +67 and Favor +55 were the Security Chief?’
It was so absurd that my lips parted slightly.
Even if I conceded the Suspicion part, I couldn’t understand why Favor rose alongside it when I had just treated a creature.
However, there was no time to analyze the numbers.
"Lamb."
Feeling a chill, I looked at the Security Chief.
In The Cell X, having Favor increase for the guards especially when it rose together with Suspicion was absolutely not a good thing.
"Would you care to have a word with me in a quiet place for a moment?"
"..Ah, well. Since I’ve come this far, I should finish the rounds for the remaining creature patients."
The Security Chief spoke with a smile.
"This is not a suggestion."
I’m screwed.
I felt that I was very much screwed.
The Security Chief approached and placed a hand on my shoulder. His large hand pressed down on me with force.
"Let’s go."
"...Yes."
As I was practically dragged away, I hurriedly sent a message to Kwak Han-mook.
And the moment I entered his office with the Security Chief.
Slam!
I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and slammed face-first onto the desk.
"Ugh."
A pained groan escaped me involuntarily.
Still, because I had anticipated being slammed, I managed to turn my head slightly, narrowly saving my face.
If I hadn’t, the force would have definitely caused at least a nosebleed.
To me, pressed flat against the desk, Dominic spoke in a shocked voice.
"I have never seen such a boor. Roasted Chestnut, shouldn’t we punish this man?"
Dominic clearly thought I knew how to fire a light beam.
As a powerless human, I remained quietly pressed against the desk.
"Lamb."
The Security Chief questioned me while pinning me down from behind.
"Are you capable of communicating with Creature 13?"
I had intentionally ignored Je Hyeon-oh’s words and replied via message, but the Security Chief was quick-witted!
For now, I played dumb.
"I don’t know what you mean..., gah!"
The pressure intensified. My chest was compressed, making it hard to breathe.
As oxygen gradually ran low, my vision blurred.
"Roasted Chestnut?"
Dominic’s voice grew distant.
Just as I thought I was about to faint, the Security Chief released his grip.
I took a deep breath.
Looking down at me as I gasped for air, the Security Chief spoke.
"Are you aware? We are always short on guards here."
"With a bit of training, you might make a fine colleague. Lamb."
As expected, it was that quest.
There was a quest that triggered when Suspicion and Favor for the Security Chief rose above a certain level.
It was a quest I hoped I would never experience in reality, but it seemed it had come to this.
I was dragged along, held by the scruff of my neck by the Security Chief.
He headed toward the newcomer office.
There was a large iron door on the floor.
As the Security Chief lifted the door with his other hand, a passage leading underground was revealed.
It looked similar to a ventilation vent, but it was large enough for an adult man to tumble down.
A gloomy darkness swirled in the bottomless hole.
"Lamb. I shall be waiting."
Whispering in my ear, the Security Chief pushed me in.
"Ugh..!"
Shoved in carelessly, I fell into the bottomless passage.
Light vanished in an instant, and darkness enveloped my entire body.
In the midst of it, I felt around my head, worried that the Pudding Slime might have fallen out.
Fortunately. I felt a squishy sensation in my hand and felt relieved.
And the moment a green light flashed in my vision, I took a deep breath.
Splash!
I plunged into a neon green liquid.
A viscous liquid covered my entire body.
I had been prepared for it, but the actual sensation on my skin was intensely unpleasant.
Swallowing a curse, I struggled frantically.
The doctor’s coat wrapped around my body, hindering my movement, but I managed to swim somehow.
Trying my best not to swallow the liquid, I swam desperately and finally reached land.
Climbing onto the ground completely drenched, I took a moment to catch my breath.
"Haa, haa..."
A quest window appeared before my eyes.
◆ Sub Quest: Reborn as a True Prison Guard.