Chapter 85
Clatter!
The chair tumbled backward.
It was only after hitting the floor that I realized I had collapsed.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart hammered violently.
So vividly that I could feel every single beat.
A fire-like heat surged from within, and a pain as if my entire body were being incinerated washed over me.
"Ugh, haah..."
I curled my body into a ball to endure the pain.
Physiological tears streamed down my face.
Gasping for air with my mouth wide open, I clawed frantically at my chest.
I wanted to vomit out the blazing flames, but no matter how much I gagged, only bitter gastric juices flowed.
My whole body was being burned alive.
I felt like I was going to die.
No, I was definitely dying.
"Roasted Chestnut."
Dominic caught me. Crying, I pleaded with him.
"Help me."
"Please help me."
I begged desperately, but Dominic did not help me.
He simply pinned my convulsing body down with one hand, using the other to check my condition.
"You are too young to digest it all at once. I should have fed it to you in smaller portions, even if the effect were slightly-"
I screamed.
"HurtsIhateitIhateitItshotToohotIcan’teatthisSavemelhateitHurtsStopStopPlease stop"
Words of gentle consolation brushed past my ears as I suffered through the horrific agony.
"Still, you are enduring it well, Roasted Chestnut. Once you digest this, then..."
I felt as if my soul were being torn to shreds and burned.
No, it wasn’t a feeling.
I was.
Was...
The moment I regained consciousness, a splitting headache surged through me.
It was a headache so intense that it was impossible to maintain my sanity.
Too many things were tangled in my head, leaving it a complete mess.
"Haah, ugh..."
I groaned, clutching my head with my hands, suffering for a long while.
Only after the pain subsided was I able to look around.
It was the hospital room at the Trial Response Agency.
I recognized it immediately since it was the same room I had been admitted to last time.
I was alone in the room.
Someone had always been there whenever I woke up, so being alone felt slightly unfamiliar.
I tried to calmly organize the chaos in my mind.
It was no easy task.
"Roasted Chestnut, are you alright?"
Belatedly, I felt a squishy sensation.
I pushed away the pudding slime that was pressing against my cheek.
For the first time, I exercised physical force against someone I had been too afraid to even touch until now.
"Roasted Chestnut?"
I placed the slightly bewildered slime on my palm and stared at him.
’Why do I suddenly want to punch him just once?’
My memories after clearing S2P were blurred.
I felt like I had shared a conversation with Dominic.
Everything else was foggy, as if covered in mist, but one thing remained vivid.
"I’ll ask for your help when I truly need it, so could you just help me then?"
It was the moment Dominic had promised to do so in response to my request.
Looking at this memory alone, I should definitely be grateful...
But for some reason, I couldn’t stop feeling irritated at Dominic.
As if he had done something terrible to me.
I had told him I didn’t want to eat it.
A subtle thought also occurred to me: even if I asked Dominic for help, he probably wouldn’t give it.
"Mr. Dominic. Did anything happen after the S2P clear? I can’t remember very well."
Dominic answered my question faithfully.
"I enjoyed a meal at a restaurant with you, Roasted Chestnut."
I was flustered because I truly remembered nothing.
I tried to guess the missing memories.
"Did I cook the Fire Dragon for you, Mr. Dominic?"
When I asked, assuming the most likely scenario, Dominic let out a low chuckle.
He gave me an ambiguous answer.
"It was a pleasant time thanks to you, Roasted Chestnut."
What on earth did Dominic do to me?
I couldn’t tell if the memory loss was due to my physical condition or because of Dominic.
I wanted to ask him in detail, but he looked like he had absolutely no intention of answering.
A violent impulse surged within me.
In the end, I committed an atrocious act.
Squeeeeeeze.
I flattened the pudding slime...!
"Roasted Chestnut..?"
To the voice that called me in a flattened tone, I spoke calmly.
"Mr. Dominic. This is a moment where your help is desperately needed. My heart is so anxious and distressed that if I don’t press something squishy, I might end up seriously hurting someone."
"Is... is that so. A young god is fragile in many ways."
The pudding slime obediently submitted to my touch.
I spent a pleasant amount of time for a while.
The sensation sticking to my palm was so squishy and elastic that I felt my damaged psyche recovering.
As I was kneading the pudding slime, a system window suddenly popped up.
[You think it would be better it you stopped kneading that terrible calamity.]
I looked indifferently at the system window, which had appeared for the first time in a while.
I wondered what it had been doing all this time before showing up now.
’Is the power recharge complete?’
It had mentioned something about a deficiency back then.
[You experienced great danger due to the absence of the system window.]
[You resolve to grow your abilities as a young god, if only to maintain the system window.]
[Furthermore, you judge that it would be better to keep some distance from the terrible calamity.]
[Because it is a being that will bewitch you and draw you into an infinite void.]
It was telling me things I already knew.
I countered internally while pointedly pressing down on the pudding slime.
’If there were a way to keep my distance, I would have done it already.’
Then, the system window popped up again.
[You think you must not rely on it emotionally.]
[Furthermore, you vow to always remain vigilant by recalling its true nature.]
I don’t think I’m particularly... relying on it.
I stopped my hand and looked down at the pudding slime for a moment.
The squishy body, which had been mercilessly kneaded, asked me.
"Are you feeling better now, Roasted Chestnut?"
For an alien pudding slime, he was quite kind.
And polite.
Ding!
Then, with a loud notification sound as if telling me to snap out of it, a system window appeared.
◆ Han Goyo> Epic Quest: Close 7 Trials within two months.
The time had come.
’If it was going to give this to me, it should have done it before the S2P clear...’
It always gave quests one step too late.
Regardless of my mood, the system window spat out text.
I read the Epic Quest with a heart full of dissatisfaction.
[As the young god of the planet ’Earth, you have made a successful debut in Akasha.]
[The beings of Akasha have begun to perceive you.]
[Whether this will be a positive or negative thing for ’Earth’ depends on the young god.]
[Everything is still woefully insufficient to prevent the coming tragedy.]
[You believe that in order to change the sad future, you must close 7 Trials within two months.]
[Currently closed trials (0/7)]
[Warning! Upon quest failure, your eyeballs will be extracted! Upon success, eyeballs are maintained.]
This time, it was a quest where my eyes would be plucked out if I failed.
Just as I was letting out a hollow laugh, wondering whether limb amputation or eyeball extraction was worse...
"Roasted Chestnut."
Dominic called me. He asked slowly.
"Did you contract with another god in the meantime?"
I snapped awake at the voice laced with displeasure.
The deep, sunken voice asked me again.
"Without my permission?"
The thoughts that had been bothering me until a moment ago vanished, and I focused all my attention on Dominic.
I knew he couldn’t see other system windows, only quest windows.
However, he hadn’t shown this reaction when general quest windows appeared during the Trials.
’Is it because Epic Quests are given by the system window, not the Trial?’
I had guessed that the system window was a god-like entity.
But I had no idea Dominic would perceive this as a contract with another god.
"No. It’s not a contract, it’s just... unilateral..."
Dominic remained silent for a moment.
During that short silence, I agonized over countless ways to explain the Epic Quest to him.
Fortunately, Dominic realized the misunderstanding shortly after.
"I see this is a structure that allows communication without a contract. Roasted Chestnut, I was mistaken."
I lived.
I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if my heart had dropped.
Dominic asked me in a calm tone.
"How did you come to receive a request from another god? The offered reward is abysmal."
"I didn’t receive it because I wanted to."
I tattled to Dominic that it was forced, even though I had never contracted.
When I explained the situation I was in, Dominic looked greatly surprised, his ears twitching.
"To think such a thing happened..."
He cursed the wicked god who scammed an ignorant young god, using very polite expressions.
Because Dominic’s voice was such a pleasant bass, the content was insults, but it felt sophisticated.
"If you need help, please tell me. I will find a way to resolve it."
His offer was extremely tempting.
But strangely, I felt a sense of repulsion.
[You sense danger. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as favor without a price.]
The system window was also making a fuss.
’And here you are, giving me a quest that plucks out my eyeballs.’
I didn’t know if there was a price Dominic would want from me...
But for now, it seemed right to refuse.
"Thank you, Mr. Dominic. But since I have to close the Trials anyway, I’ll try to solve it with my own strength."
"Hmm, I understand."
Dominic stepped back obediently. Then, twitching his ears, he spoke.
"I don’t know if this will be a comfort, but there is something I want to tell you, Roasted Chestnut, for all your hard work. It is the story you were curious about."
"...!"
He was going to tell me why Kwak Han-mook could see Dominic.
I looked at Dominic with delight.
"It will be easier to understand if I explain while looking at that man directly. Let us call him here."
"...Ah, that’s difficult right now. I’ll visit him in a little while."
I wasn’t in a position to call anyone.
Nor was I in a situation where I could move freely.
Thinking of Kwak Han-mook naturally brought back the things I had done at the end of S2P.
I had used my abilities recklessly on the captains back then...
How did I catch the fleeing Fire Dragon? I remember everything about talking with the twins after that.
As I struggled to piece together the holes in my memory, I suddenly felt the strangeness of the current situation.
’Why is it so quiet?’
If they knew I had regained consciousness, Samra would have come immediately.
Since there were CCTVs in the hospital room, they must have seen me wake up, yet for some reason, it was completely silent.
I peeked toward the CCTV.
I tried waving one hand for no reason, then lowered my arm listlessly, wondering what I was doing.
Splat.
The pudding slime in my other hand jumped and stuck to my cheek.
Then, like a doctor, he suggested.
"How about resting a bit more, Roasted Chestnut?"
The pudding slime’s jumping power was considerable.
I nodded and lay back down on the hospital bed.
Although I had woken up because of the headache, I felt like my physical condition wasn’t that great yet.
My whole body was stiff, as if I had been beaten up during S2P while I was unconscious.
It was because I hadn’t fully digested the ■■ yet.
The moment my head hit the pillow, fatigue washed over me.
If I sleep a little more and wake up, maybe Samra will be here.
Since he’s a busy android, he’s probably doing something else now, but I felt I could meet her after a nap.
’The Lieutenant Colonel and the Captains must have made it out safely, right?’
With that final thought, I fell asleep instantly.
"..?"
I woke up to the sound of a loud siren.
What is this?
As I waved my hand, something soft and short, like a thread, brushed past.
My vision flashed.
I blinked repeatedly to correct my blurred sight.
And then I realized.
The thing that brushed my hand was Samra’s hologram-colored hair.
I also realized that I was in a situation that felt like a complete fever dream.
"Mr. Han Goyo. Have you regained consciousness? First, please breathe slowly."
I was being carried on Samra’s back.
A state-of-the-art android was running down the hallway with me on his back.
I was too bewildered to speak, and the surroundings were a disaster.
Sirens wailed, and red lights flashed, signaling an emergency.
"Code Red. Code Red. This is a real situation. Code Red. Code Red."
The Code Red broadcast, signaling the most dangerous situation, continued to pound against my eardrums.
I mean, it does seem like the Trial Response Agency, but...
As I stood there dazed and speechless, Samra informed me of the current situation.
"CEO Cha of Pasung has carried out a terrorist attack on the Trial Response Agency."