Chapter 96
I swallowed hard.
CEO Cha seemed determined to stop me from signing a contract with the TRA Bureau at all costs.
However, I intended to sign with them.
It was a decision unrelated to Jang Seok-yun.
I simply... wanted to repay the kindness I had received, at the very least.
Back in S2P, I had used my abilities recklessly.
While Je Hyeon-oh knew about my transmission ability, Kwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in knew nothing, yet I had brazenly popped up system windows right in front of them.
I had also used items without even pretending to take them out, completely exposing my lies.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if I had been charged with being a national disaster a dozen times over.
And yet, no one reported it to the TRA Bureau.
The reason I could act so confidently toward Jang Seok-yun now was entirely thanks to the Special Task Team’s silence.
Even Mo Hae-in, who must have been suffering because her past trauma was triggered by me, didn’t show a hint of it.
She only held me back when I was about to throw my life away in vain.
When I shouted that the twins had to be brought out and asked for help, she was the first to come and slice open the stomach with the Black Moon Blade.
’Even Captain Kwak... called me part of the team.’
The memory of him asking me, when I was losing my mind because of Infemum, it I wasn’t part of their team and telling me to speak up if there was anything I wanted, was still vivid.
’And if I leave Lieutenant Colonel Je alone and he pulls his wings out again, then what?’
Samra was also making efforts forme in various ways.
Not even looking far back, when CEO Cha attacked the TRA Bureau this time, Samra had immediately carried me on their back and fled.
In the end, the reason I was able to safely close the Trial was because of the kindness and help of the Special Task Team.
To ignore that...
It was a bit difficult for me.
Above all, I would continue to need the TRA Bureau and the Special Task Team in the future.
My own strength alone was not enough to close the Trials.
Tracking the Maker was also impossible in Pasung without Samra.
So, planned to negotiate properly with Jang Seok-yun.
’The problem is persuading CEO Cha.’
I cautiously tried to answer first.
"For now, I’m thinking of do-"
Crash!
CEO Cha stood up so violently that the chair, unable to withstand the force, flipped backward.
Drawing his sword, he spoke in an indifferent, mechanical voice.
"I suppose tearing out the TRA Bureau’s side wasn’t enough."
"CEO Cha, wait a moment."
"It’s because of the Special Task Team, isn’t it?"
...How did he know?
I was momentarily startled by CEO Cha’s uncanny intuition, but he was already striding forward.
"CEO Cha!"
"If the Special Task Team’s heads fly off, you’ll sign with Pasung?"
I scrambled off the hospital bed and chased after him.
"CEO Cha, please just listen to me..!"
But the man had no intention of listening.
Just before he reached the hospital room door.
I grabbed CEO Cha’s sleeve and suddenly yelled.
"I’Il die!!"
CEO Cha finally came to a dead stop. He slowly turned to look at me.
"..What?"
"I-I’ll die if I’m not in the TRA Bureau. Because of th-the Creator..!"
"What do you mean, you’ll die? Explain in detail."
I explained by cleverly mixing truth and lies.
That the Maker was giving me certain quests; if I succeeded, I stayed alive, and if I failed, I died.
Furthermore, I explained that the quest had a condition that I must belong to the TRA Bureau.
As someone who had personally experienced the fact that the Maker was an Outer God and had caused abnormal phenomena in me, CEO Cha had no choice but to believe it.
’It’s not like it’s all lies, anyway.’
"Do you think I’m happy being tied to the TRA Bureau? Of course not! Absolutely! I want to work as a Director under you, CEO Cha, whom I like and respect."
But?
I explained fervently that because of the Maker, I was currently undergoing a quest to ’close Trials while belonging to the TRA Bureau,’ so I had no choice.
As he listened to the explanation, CEO Cha lowered his gaze.
I noticed my hand gripping his sleeve like a lifeline.
Startled, I belatedly let go, and CEO Cha looked at me again.
I stood there with my hands raised as if to show I was unarmed, quietly waiting for CEO Cha to speak.
CEO Cha looked down at me and asked.
"Do you keep receiving quests?"
"Yes.... I don’t know when they’ll end."
"The contents?"
"The quest I have now is to close seven Trials within two months while belonging to the TRA Bureau."
CEO Cha let out a hollow laugh.
Until I appeared, there had only been nine cases of Trials being closed in the entire world.
Closing a Trial was considered almost impossible, so it was understandable that he found the ridiculous number I mentioned absurd.
However, CEO Cha also already knew my track record of closing Trials.
It was something possible for me.
"That Maker bastard.."
The unspoken curses following CEO Cha’s words were palpable.
After a period of silence, he muttered coldly.
"I’m the one who played the game, but he sends Han Goyo to the TRA Bureau instead of Pasung?"
...Anyway, it felt like the lie had worked to some extent.
Having narrowly escaped the crisis with a desperate lie, I added hesitantly.
"But... this is the first time I’m telling this to anyone, so I’m sorry, but if you could keep it a secret."
I was already a conspicuous existence, and I didn’t want to make that even more certain with my own mouth.
Of course, Samra was likely eavesdropping through Ham Ji-wol’s phone.
’But I was going to tell Samra anyway.’
So, I just needed to shut the mouth of the CEO Cha in front of me.
The problem was that it wouldn’t be easy.
"Han Goyo is really demanding."
I could already feel the temper in the mechanical voice.
Knowing his temperament, I felt a little intimidated. Just a tiny bit...
CEO Cha leaned down. He whispered with his face pressed close to mine.
"20 times."
I had been bracing myself as if I were about to be headbutted, so I asked back a bit late.
" Pardon?"
"20 dispatches. Nothing less than that."
The number of Trial entries didn’t matter to me anyway.
Because there was a high possibility that the number of closures required by the Epic Quests would increase in the future.
I pretended to think seriously before answering.
"Fine. I’ll do 20. In exchange, I have a requirement as well."
"What is it?"
"Give me just one ’Pasung CEO Free Pass’."
I quickly added an explanation before he could draw his sword again.
"You know my value well, don’t you, CEO? You also know that doing this much isn’t a loss for you."
Then, CEO Cha gave a surprising answer.
"Make it two."
Leaving me stunned, he immediately pulled a contract item out of his inventory and wrote down the clauses.
Taking the contract, I read through it with wide eyes.
’He really made it two.’
Even as I found it hard to believe, I scrutinized every single clause to see if there was any tiny hidden text before checking the item description.
[Tough Contract: Parchment imbued with the remnants of the Abyss. If the contract written here is violated, something terrible will happen.]
It was indeed a contract for Aptitude holders. When I placed my palm over the contract, a quill appeared.
Grasping the quill, I took one last glance at Dominic.
He was quiet, showing no particular reaction.
’Is this kind of thing okay?’
It seemed fine because it was a standard contract that didn’t leave traces on the body or soul.
As soon as I scribbled my signature, the quill and the contract vanished.
"Let’s see you do well, Han Goyo."
CEO Cha said arrogantly, thrusting both hands into the pockets of his windbreaker.
I replied, putting on a business smile.
"I look forward to working with you, CEO Cha."
Negotiations with CEO Cha were concluded.
After reaching an agreement with CEO Cha, I was finally able to leave the hospital room after a long time.
Ham Ji-wol had authorized my discharge using his authority as Director.
Under the guard of soldiers, I was led to a room similar to the isolation facility I had used before.
It didn’t feel unfamiliar, as it wasn’t much different from my original room.
Samra would be busy until Jang Seok-yun and CEO Cha finished their negotiations.
In the meantime, I planned to take care of various errands.
I changed out of my patient gown and into the TRA Bureau uniform.
After making sure I was as neat as possible, I reached out to the pudding slime waiting for me on the table.
Dominic climbed up my hand and asked.
"How about taking the one with the mask on his face as a subordinate, Roast Chestnut? He seems quite useful."
He seemed to have taken a liking to CEO Cha.
For Dominic to suggest registering a character, I thought CEO Cha really was amazing.
And having experienced his personality in reality today, he seemed more lenient than I thought.
I wasn’t being biased because he was my favorite character; he really was much softer than in the game.
Reminding myself once again that I shouldn’t just trust the game, I answered Dominic.
"I’m trying to avoid registering subordinates as much as possible. I’m still scared of being responsible for someone’s existence."
"I see."
Dominic stopped halfway up my forearm and looked up at me.
"But Roasted Chestnut. You cannot remain small and young forever. Eventually, you too must grow."
Just as I thought it sounded similar to the system window’s rhetoric, a ding sounded.
[You think the horrible calamity might be right.]
[Because growing as a young god is more important than anything else.]
It had jumped all over Dominic before, but now it was eagerly agreeing when he said the night things.
Since I already knew what it was going to say next, I immediately closed the system window.
I checked Dominic, who had settled on my shoulder, and said.
"I’ll try my best, Mr. Dominic."
In effect, it was an answer that I wouldn’t register anyone.
"Hmm, I understand."
Dominic didn’t say anything more and let it go. He tended to listen to my opinions well.
Thinking he was better than the system window, l opened the door.
Since this wasn’t the TRA Bureau building, the door could be opened from the inside.
Click.
The soldiers standing guard in front of the room immediately pointed their guns at me.
I asked them with a smile.
"Excuse me, but could you take me to the Field Team 3 office? I’d like to see Captain Kwak."
"He’s retumed from his mission, hasn’t he?"
"We haven’t been notified in advance. Go back inside."
"I received permission for an interview while speaking with the Commissioner today. You can check. If it’s hard to verify with the Commissioner, you can ask Captain Kwak directly."
Captain Kwak, I believe in you!
There was no way the soldiers could contact Jang Seok-yun, so they would likely check with Kwak Han-muk, who was easier to reach.
I was confident that Kwak Han-muk would play along even if he heard some random talk about an interview.
As I stood there with a brazen face, the soldiers looked at each other.
They seemed to hesitate for a moment, then led me away without making a verification call to Gwak Han-muk.
"Follow us."
It wasn’t that they believed me because I spoke with such certainty, it was more like...
They seemed reluctant to contact Kwak Han-muk.
There was also a feeling that if I hadn’t actually requested an interview, Kwak Han-muk would handle it himself.
Knowing Kwak Han-muk’s genial personality, I found their reaction strange.
The soldiers led me to the temporary office of Field Team 3.
Through the glass door, among the Team 3 soldiers, a head of red hair caught my eye.
Kwak Han-muk, sitting in the innermost seat, was working with an expressionless face.
The sight of him tapping away at a keyboard, perhaps writing a report, felt unfamiliar.
Maybe it was because I was so used to his smiling face.
A team member cautiously approached Kwak Han-muk and asked something.
When Kwak Han-muk gave a short reply while keeping his eyes fixed on the monitor, the team member immediately gave a stiff salute and withdrew.
For some reason, it didn’t feel like he was very close with the members of Team 3.
It might just be my misunderstanding from seeing a brief scene, but the team members seemed to find Kwak Han-muk difficult.
Having imagined that the atmosphere in Kwak Han-muk’s team would be very good, I found this quite unexpected.
Under the soldiers’ watch, I opened the glass door and entered the office.
Immediately, gray eyes met mine and wavered briefly.
"...Goyo?"
Kwak Han-muk stood up from his seat at once. He saw the soldiers behind me and grasped the situation immediately.
"I called Trainee Han regarding his contract, so you don’t need to monitor him further. Head back, head back."
At Kwak Han-muk’s waving hand, the soldiers saluted and disappeared.
Approaching with a grin, Kwak Han-muk started to put an arm around my shoulder but hesitated.
"Ugh."
He gave up on the shoulder-draping because of the shining pudding slime and chuckled.
"Goyo, the rumor that you collapsed vomiting blood has spread everywhere."
"Ah, about that."
"I heard Lieutenant Colonel Je and CEO Cha fought like crazy, tearing down buildings over our Little Chestnut?"
I had nothing to say because it was the truth.
Laughing heartily, Kwak Han-muk pointed a thumb behind him and said.
"Want to go grab coffee? My treat."
He added that there wouldn’t be anyone on the rooftop.
It was a situation where we both had a lot to talk about. Just as I was about to tell Kwak Han-muk that sounded good.
"Roast Chestnut. Now would be a good time to give you the quest reward."
My heart hammered at Dominic’s words.
’Am I finally going to hear the reason why Captain Gwak can see Dominic?’
Having finally reached the end of my curiosity after much hardship, I waited anxiously for the next words.
"Order that servant to take off his clothes, Roast Chestnut."
’...Excuse me?’