Chapter 105
One of the quests I hate most in The Cell-X had begun.
However, it wasn’t as if I could cancel a quest that had already started.
First, I checked on the pudding slime.
As I reached out my hand, the squishy body hopped onto my palm.
I quickly lowered my hand to inspect it.
I saw Dominic, who had turned into a neon green slime.
The sight of him completely drenched in fluorescent liquid almost made me bust out laugh-ing, but I held it in.
It was because Dominic didn’t look very happy.
Wearing a worried expression, I gently wiped the pudding slime with my hand.
"Are you alright? I’m sorry, this is my fault."
While pretending to clean him, I indulged in a bit of personal curiosity.
I kneaded his squishy body and briefly took off the prison guard hat I had been curious about.
I wondered what material the hat was made of, it wasn’t squishy like a slime, but felt like a normal hat.
After restoring Dominic to a sparkling pudding slime as much as possible, I put the hat back.
Dominic, who had remained still while I fiddled with him, finished by shaking his ears to get rid of the last remaining liquid.
Then, he looked up at me and spoke.
"Watching over Roasted Chestnut is a more difficult task than I thought."
It seemed he couldn’t understand why a being as divine as a god was being tormented by things that, by his standards, were utterly insignificant.
"I’m sorry, Mr. Dominic. I’ll get stronger quickly."
Upon hearing my answer, Dominic let out a chuckle for some reason.
I didn’t know what was so funny, but after that, Dominic silently leaped up and perched on my shoulder.
Actually, now wasn’t the time to be chatting with Dominic.
Time was of the essence in this place.
I took off my doctor’s coat and wrung it out like laundry.
With the sound of neon green liquid dripping as background music, I finished reading the quest window.
◆ Sub Quest: Becoming a True Prison Guard.
[The Security Chief, who is always looking for new guards, feels a simultaneous sense of special fondness and suspicion toward you.]
[To welcome you as a colleague, the Security Chief wishes to wash away his distinct distrust.]
[You must prove your innocence to the Security Chief by diligently completing the new guard training course.]
[However, it is unknown whether this is truly the right path.]
[Becoming a new prison guard...1%]
’Sigh...’
Another sigh escaped me after reading the quest window.
The place the Security Chief had pushed me into was the New Guard Training Center.
It was a place people were sent when the Chief’s fondness was high enough to want to recruit them as a colleague, but the suspicion level was equally high.
Every time a training module was completed here, the progress toward becoming a new guard would increase.
However, there was one trap.
Regardless of training completion, the guard progress would inevitably reach 100% after a certain amount of time had passed.
This was because of the neon green liquid one fell into upon first entering the training center.
The neon green liquid, a key component that constitutes the guards, was infectious.
The more one drank, the higher the starting percentage; the less one drank, the lower the starting percentage.
’Once you touch it, you’re infected regardless, but..’
Still, thanks to being as careful as possible, I started at the minimum percentage of 1.
I shook off as much of the remaining neon green liquid from my body as I could.
[You believe that you should not enter the new guard training course.]
I was well aware of that.
But if I didn’t take this course, there was no way to get out.
’If you don’t have a solution, shut up. You’re cluttering my mind.’
The system window didn’t appear again.
Anyway, it only obstructed my vision without being able to do anything for me.
And besides, I had no intention of actually becoming a guard.
I walked along the dark passage. After walking for a while along what seemed to be a corridor.
Flash suddenly, the view before me brightened.
Before I knew it, I had entered a small, square room.
With a whirring sound, a large monitor descended.
[Welcome to the ????the New Guard Training Course!]
The screen shifted, and text filled the display.
This training is a process to cultivate the strong physical strength, unwavering sense of duty, and strict judgment required of a new prison guard.
Establishing order within the cell blocks and reforming the minds of inmates is by no means an easy task.
However, it is an equally valuable and noble mission.
The training here will help you cast aside your weakness and become the strongest shield and weapon of the prison.
We hope that by completing this training, you will be reborn as an excellent new prison guard.
After the long-winded introduction, a short phrase appeared along with an input field.
[Please enter the trainee’s name.]
I let out a small laugh. The monitor was actually a touch pad.
It was a high-tech method that didn’t fit in at all with the other objects in the prison.
I felt strange every time objects from mismatched time periods appeared during the trials.
I entered the name of the trial.
[Trainee: Lamb]
Before touching ’Enter’, I stared at my name for a moment.
It was said that the name in the trial represented the characteristics of the suitable candidate or held some symbolic meaning.
My first name was Roasted Chestnut.
Since that was the nickname I originally used in the game, I hadn’t thought much of it.
’I only thought about wanting to change it to something cool.’
And after it changed to Lamb, I didn’t have the leisure to worry about my name.
Knowing that trial names occasionally changed, I had simply accepted it and moved on.
Why Lamb?
Along with the question, a slight sense of irritation surfaced.
If it was going to change, they could have given me a cool name, but instead, they gave me the name of an animal.
Just as I was hoping they would sell name-change tickets, there was a clatter.
It was the sound of a steel cabinet in the right corner opening.
[Trainees, please change into the appropriate attire.]
I headed toward the cabinet. Inside were a large towel and a set of prison guard uniforms.
Since I looked like a drowned rat in neon green water, the new clothes were welcome.
After drying myself with the towel, I put on the guard set from head to toe.
Once I put on the hat and the baton, I looked as if I could start working at the prison immediately.
However, there was no metal mask.
An explanation about it had already appeared on the monitor.
[Metal masks are distributed after all training courses are completed.]
I didn’t particularly want to wear a metal mask.
Because I already had a magnificent decorative item: the guard slime.
If this were a game, it would have been at least a Legendary item.
’Cute items like this are always the hardest to get.’
I re-equipped the slime on my shoulder, which I had set aside to change clothes.
Dominic praised me.
"The uniform suits you well, Roasted Chestnut."
"Thank you. You too, Mr. Dominic. Your hat is very cool."
After slipping in a compliment about the hat, I returned to the monitor.
A song that sounded like a peaceful guidance chime played from the monitor.
Then, a new screen appeared.
[Hello, Trainee Lamb.]
[We will now begin the formal training.]
[The first lesson is "Basic Knowledge.’]
An image of a surging sea appeared on the screen.
Showing a prison on a remote island situated in the middle of it, text appeared.
The criminals imprisoned in this facility are divided into humans and creatures.
As they have all committed heinous crimes, the only means to reform their minds is...
’Power.’
Since communication with creature inmates is impossible, except for Number 6, you must use ’power’ more aggressively to subdue them.
An illustration appeared on the screen showing guards hitting a creature inmate with batons.
Along with the exaggerated, whimsical, and almost cute illustration, another clattering sound was heard.
[Please move to the next room to learn the method of subduing creatures.]
A crack appeared in the wall, and a door opened.
The guard progress also increased.
[Becoming a new prison guard.....5%]
Moving into the next room, I grit my teeth.
A new monitor was visible.
Strike the creature model forcefully 10 times or more with the baton.
Below that lay a circular tangle of vine plants.
The plant, with its thick stems, was about the size of a large teddy bear.
Even if I hit it, it wouldn’t make any sound, but I knew.
That was a part of Creature Inmate Number 1.
The sense of pain was still connected, so if it was beaten, the pain was felt exactly as it was.
And yet, it had been brought here for training practice.
Text appeared on the monitor once again.
[Violence is the only means to reform the minds of heinous creatures.]
A hollow laugh escaped my lips involuntarily.
In the game, players start without any information about the creatures.
Like the human inmates of the prison, players view the creatures as heinous criminals and sometimes choose cruel options for them.
As one plays through multiple runs and sees endings in various roles, new information is gradually revealed, and the truth comes to light in the Medical Officer’s bad ending, the Creature Massacre ending.
"Teacher Roasted Chestnut. In truth, no one here has committed a crime."
"They no longer have the strength to claim innocence to others. Nor do they expect others to listen. However, we wanted to tell Teacher Roasted Chestnut about our grievances."
"Because we do not wish to be remembered as evil beings by Teacher Roasted Chestnut."
After hearing the last words of Creature Number 6 and seeing the bad ending, information begins to unlock bit by bit from then on.
There are no creatures here who committed heinous crimes.
The prison on the remote island, which one thought housed only the most malignant criminals, was actually a confinement facility for extracting biological fuel from creatures.
They used human criminals to block outside scrutiny and exploited the creatures.
A total of twelve creatures were imprisoned in this prison.
Except for Creature Number 6, free communication with humans was impossible.
They imprisoned creatures who couldn’t even properly protest, robbed them of their freedom, and crushed them with violence.
And the Security Chief was a piece of trash who knew all this truth.
I breathed calmly.
I took out the baton, approached the vine plant, and placed my right hand on it.
As soon as I touched it, a slight tremor was transmitted from the plant. It was a shiver of knowing the pain that was about to come.
I raised the baton...
And I struck my own hand.
"..Ugh!"
Even though I was prepared, it hurt quite a bit. I swallowed a groan and struck the baton down again.
There was a slight loophole in the ’10 creature strikes requirement’.
Specifically, if you were in contact with the creature, striking your own body was judged as a creature strike.
It hurt a bit, but it was a way to pass the training without losing the creatures’ favor.
’I just have to endure it ten times.’
To be judged as a strike, a certain level of force had to be applied.
I swung the baton vigorously.
It was around the sixth strike.
Rustle, rustle...
The vine plant suddenly began to move.
Just as I was startled, wondering if I had accidentally missed and hit something else with the baton.
A soft stem carefully wrapped around my right hand.
I could no longer strike down my hand with the baton.