Chapter 56
The moment I heard the confirmation, a flurry of thoughts raced through my mind.
I swallowed a curse.
Then, with the utmost composure I could muster, I spoke.
"Even if I clear this, I might not be able to get out."
- That is correct. It is not even certain that the space you are in, Mr. Han Goyo, is a Trial.
"It.. seems to be a Trial. There are quests, and it’s a game by the creator that I’ve played before."
- Could you explain the nature of the Trial?
I gave Samra a brief explanation of Call of the void, and upon hearing it, Samra immediately began searching for information in real-time.
- As you know, Mr. Han Goyo, the hatching location is related to the content of the Trial. If you had hatched normally, it likely would have been a Trial under the jurisdiction of the UK. However, at this moment, I cannot find any information regarding this specific Trial anywhere.
After those words, both of us fell silent for a moment.
Even Samra was at a loss.
However, Samra quickly posed a question to resolve the situation.
- How did you use the badge?
"I smeared a bit of blood on it."
- I have tested similar items several times, but this is the first time a successful activation has been reported.
I could detect a hint of surprise in Samra’s voice.
And what followed surprised me.
- I will provide operating support.
He was offering to act as my operator.
It seemed my value to Samra hadn’t run out yet.
The sense of security that came from being connected to the outside world held my sanity together.
It felt as if I had been flailing in deep water and had luckily stumbled upon a life tube.
I pinned the badge back inside my clothes and asked.
"Thank you. Can you hear the surrounding sounds, or only my voice?"
- I can only hear your voice, Mr. Han Goyo.
Even without it being right next to my ear, Samra’s voice was crystal clear.
Perhaps because it was an item, its performance was far superior to ordinary communication equipment.
I quickly searched the mayor’s office, continuing the things I hadn’t finished saying.
"Um.. currently, an anomaly is occurring in Call of the void."
- What kind of anomaly?
"I promised the butler NPC of the mansion that I would find the homeowner, and it seems the owner is in this Trial."
Since we were talking via communication, I couldn’t be sure, but I got the feeling that Samra was greatly flustered.
The response came much later than usual.
- ...I have received reports regarding the forced teleportation caused by the butler NPC.
I pulled out a wire and asked while picking the lock of a drawer.
"The Lieutenant Colonel and Captains are safe, right?"
- They are safe. For now, please focus on your own well-being, Mr. Han Goyo. I would like you to describe the NPC known as the homeowner.
"Yes..."
When I opened the locked drawer, it was full of junk.
However, the drawer was shallower than it appeared from the outside.
I pressed around the bottom to try and remove it while describing Dominic.
3 meters tall. lost his memory and doesn’t know what he is, can interfere with the system, exerts influence over NPCs, can transform objects, and so on.
By the time I explained my plan to clear the area and escape by utilizing his favor, as well as the current situation, I finally managed to detach the bottom of the drawer.
[You have found ’Mayor Mornveil’s Secret Documents’! These documents contain detailed records of the Cult’s crimes.]
"So, for now, I’m moving separately."
Come to think of it, I had been rambling alone for a while. Wondering if the connection had been cut, I quickly called out.
"Samra?"
Only then did Samra’s voice return.
- Mr. Han Goyo.
"Yes?"
- I am well aware that you produce new results because you do not follow general common sense. However, this particular matter is too dangerous.
The voice, pointing this out calmly and without emotion, was even more terrifying.
I immediately bowed my head in apology.
"I’m sorry. But there was no other way out.."
- Is it impossible to dissolve the companion’s relationship?
"It is, but if I dissolve it without talking, they immediately become hostile."
- I will search for similar cases. Please wait a moment.
l used the interval to quickly take photos of the documents.
[Photographed perfectly! Recorded as decisive evidence.]
Despite saying "a moment," Samra returned almost instantly.
- It would be best not to dissolve the companion’s relationship
I thought as much. Nodding inwardly, I placed my hand on the windowsill to leave the mayor’s office.
- The hologram badge has one additional function besides communication.
"What function is that?"
- Escape.
"Escape?"
- It is a function created by utilizing the fact that the Trial is based on a game.
As soon as I heard Samra’s words, I understood.
In games, there is an escape function used when a character is stuck in an abnormal position and cannot move, or when gameplay is blocked due to a glitch.
’Can I get out right now?’
But before my hopes could swell, Samra immediately poured cold water on them.
- Escape can only be used at the moment the Trial triggers a systemic error.
Indeed, it would be nonsensical to use something as powerful as an escape without any restrictions.
Even in the game, escape was a function reserved for errors.
"By systemic error, do you mean cases where the text in the system window becomes distorted or broken?"
- That is correct.
It meant I had to wait until the system window displayed a new error.
- Additionally, for the sake of stability, you must terminate the communication to use this function.
I had to cut the connection to the outside world that I had only just regained.
However, there was no need to mention which one was more important.
"Understood."
After a short reply, I brought up the question I had wanted to ask from the very beginning but hadn’t dared to.
"Three-clean is..."
- It has been closed.
Samra gave me the answer I wanted even before I finished the sentence.
I felt a mixture of relief and a slight sense of loneliness.
Samra’s voice snapped me back to reality.
- Mr. Han Goyo. I trust you will return safely.
I didn’t know if such an expression was appropriate for an android, but it felt as though Sama was worried about me.
Smiling slightly at the thought, I spoke.
"Yes. I’ll see you on the outside, Samra."
No more voices followed.
The communication had ended.
I was left alone once again.
I sat on the windowsill for a moment, lost in thought.
’First, I should aim for the escape while proceeding with the clear.’
The most certain moment would be when Dominic caused a systemic error in the system window.
The system seemed to have already accepted dying and resurrecting in front of Dominic as normal...
As I sketched out a rough plan in my head, I suddenly poked my head out the window.
A bell was ringing.
Dong, da-dong...
It was definitely not a bell announcing the time.
It wasn’t the top of the hour, and the tone of the ringing was ominous.
The loud noise sounded like an urgent intrusion alarm.
"There was nothing in Call of the void about an enemy army invading.’
I waited for the bell to stop, and then, the door of the building opposite flew open.
Starting with that, doors in every building on the street opened.
People with somewhat vacant expressions poured out of the open doors.
And they all headed somewhere in a line.
I leaned further out the window to check the direction the crowd was heading.
It was toward the building of the Apostles of the Void.
Something was going very wrong.
Options appeared.
[A surprising moment has begun.]
- Go outside.
- Go outside and enjoy happiness.
- Go outside and enjoy joy.
- Go outside and praise the God of the Void!
Unfortunately, only the content was strange; the font and shape of the letters were perfectly normal.
Choosing the first option, I stepped out of the mayor’s office through the open door.
The building was empty.
I didn’t encounter a single person on my way down to the first floor.
It seemed everyone in the city hall had followed the bell to the Cult’s building.
I had experienced anomalies caused by NPCs or bosses a few times in Trials.
But this was the first time I had seen a large number of NPCs experience an anomaly simultaneously.
Though puzzled, I blended into the crowd for now.
It was a good opportunity to naturally head toward the Cult.
Everyone heading toward the Cult was smiling.
As if they were going on a pleasant vacation.
I was the only one here who wasn’t smiling.
***
Before long, the Cults building came into view.
Music began to play in my ears.
It was music I had never heard in Call of the Void, but music I knew.
It was the Ode to Joy.
A symphony of men and women singing in chorus echoed loudly.
A festival was unfolding in front of the Cult building.
Two apostles holding large black swords stood on either side of the building entrance, gesturing.
A young man and woman approached with bright smiles.
The black blades swung.
Chink!
Two round heads flew off.
And they rolled across the ground.
Where they stopped rolling, other heads were already piled high.
I saw countless heads.
Every single one had a happy, smiling expression.
While I watched, frozen, the beheadings continued.
There were no screams.
No painful groans, no pleas for mercy.
Only occasional joyful laughter could be heard amidst the chorus of ecstasy.
The overflowing blood seemed almost to reach my feet.
"I shall perform a grand ceremony, Dr. Dominic!"
If I were to perform a ceremony following Dominic’s words, it should be targeted at the cultists...
The moment that thought occurred to me, an unbelievable conclusion surfaced.
’Could it be that every citizen of Mornveil is a cultist?’
Otherwise, there was no way to explain this scene.
But Edel shouldn’t have had such power.
I knew this because I had played the Cult Leader route. The power of the Cult is proportional to the Outer God being summoned.
One starts by contracting with a low-grade Outer God and gradually increases power
by contracting with stronger ones.
If the current leader, Edel, had contracted with an Outer God capable of such overwhelming power, there was no way I wouldn’t know.
’Because those who contract with an Outer God undergo physical changes.’
In the Cult Leader route, Edels body transforms and blends as she contracts with various Outer Gods.
By the late game, she becomes something close to a chimera.
When I played Call of the Void, I promised to break Edel’s contracts by contracting with the highest existence, and thus inherited the position of Cult Leader.
And then, the summoning failed due to a game error.
Where did it all get tangled?
Blood soaked into my shoes. I looked down at the ground.
My face was reflected in the red pool of blood. I had a somewhat foolish expression.
Fragmented thoughts poured through my mind.
I began to fit the puzzle pieces together one by one.
Everything that had been strange from the moment I entered Call of the Void until now...
And soon, I realized.
That from the very beginning, the world of this Call of the Void had clearly told me what it wanted.
The moment I realized, I kicked off the ground and sprinted forward.
It was a realization that came too late.
The apostles shouted joyfully the moment they saw me.
"Little Lamb!"
The white cloth of the apostles’ robes was completely stained red.
The two apostles smiled brightly, swords in hand.
"We have searched for you so anxiously. The Cult Leader is waiting for the Lamb."
As expected, they did not block my path.
I dashed into the Cult building.
The hymn proclaiming that all would become one through the power of God pierced through me endlessly.
I was out of breath, but I did not slow my pace.
I ran in one breath down to the basement of the building where the Cults ceremony was being held.
The basement was brightly lit by hundreds of candles.
Melted wax had hardened haphazardly on the floor, and a giant shadow cast upon the wall followed the flickering of the candlelight.
Upon a white marble altar stood Edel, dressed in more ornate clothing than ever before.
She gazed up ecstatically at the ceiling where not a single ray of sunlight entered.
"Edel!"
Edel, with a thin veil draped over her eyes, turned toward me.
"Little Lamb!"
Even though she shouldn’t have been able to see through the light, she identified me by my voice alone.
Her brightly smiling lips were crimson.
’I’m so glad. I’m so very glad. You’ve come just in time. I was about to begin the ceremony."
Panting, I asked her.
"A ceremony for the God of the Void?"
It was a meaningless question.
Because I already knew the answer that would return.
And she knew that I had realized it.
"Yes, my Lamb!"
Edel moved as if dancing, holding an obsidian dagger.
"Eternal Abyss, Source of Chaos, Absolute Void! The Terror that creates and destroys, the Lord of all!"
She shouted while looking at me.
"It is a ceremony for Dr. Dominic!"