Chapter 58
A chilling silence descended.
It was a silence so profound that I felt as if I could hear the sound of the candles flickering.
It took a moment to realize that this silence had occurred because everyone in the underground space had stopped breathing at the same time.
I swallowed hard.
The decisive evidence that convinced me I had summoned him was the butlers of Call of the Void.
’Dominic, just like the butlers, was connected to my past playthroughs.’
However, I had not cleared Call of the void.
The god I had summoned remained within the unfinished game, trapped inside Dr. Dominic after losing his memories.
’Perhaps the game broke because I summoned a being like Dominic!’
Regardless, it was certain that I had met the conditions for the True Ending.
The player, as the Cult Leader, had summoned the God of the Void.
The fact that the choice window had glitched and failed to force my actions was proof enough.
But...
The system window announcing the ending had not yet appeared.
Dominic also remained as he was.
He gazed at me in silence.
It was a deep gaze, as if he were digging into my very essence.
A tingling sensation made my body shrink instinctively.
Primal fear dominated me.
’I’m going to die.’
I had an intuition that my existence would be torn to shreds by Dominic.
Strange thoughts kept surfacing in my mind.
But dying before his eyes is an infinite joy! Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy ahhh glory to Him!
These were not thoughts I wanted to have.
The longer our gaze locked, the more I continued to have these thoughts...
Strange...
The moment his gaze shifted, I immediately bowed my waist.
Unable to hold it back, I retched, but only saliva and gastric juices came out.
Several drops of blood splattered onto the floor.
I wiped the area under my nose with the back of my hand and looked up.
Dominic was looking down at me with his arms crossed.
His blue eyes, positioned at a dizzying height, were cold.
"A tasteless joke."
He was giving me a chance. A chance to retract my statement and apologize.
Dominic spoke slowly once more, as if teaching a child.
"It was a joke. Right?"
But I could not cling to the mercy extended to me.
I apologized to him sincerely.
"I am sorry...Dr. Dominic."
I truly felt sorry for him.
I didn’t know how I had brought a being like Dominic into the game, but I felt even more apologetic because I had no intention of cooperating to help him recover his lost memories.
Dominic would not find his memories easily in the future.
Before revealing the truth, I had become certain after hearing Dominic’s words.
"Do you think I would reclaim my existence based on a few words sputtered by things like you?"
No matter what I said, he would not recover all his memories.
Dominic had to find his own existence on his own.
Of course, some parts of his memory might return after hearing my words.
But to clear the game with the True Ending and leave, such a risk had to be taken.
I had made my own calculations before telling Dominic the truth.
Therefore...
I was prepared to pay the price.
When I failed to give the answer he wanted until the very end, Dominic’s face became expressionless.
A system window appeared before me.
[Companion relationship has been terminated by Dr. Dominic!]
He no longer asked or said anything to me.
He simply expressed his emotions through action.
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
"Gah..!"
My vision spun from the instantaneous death and resurrection.
My stomach churned, and I wanted to throw up immediately.
Even though there was nothing to come out since my stomach was empty, an unbearable nausea surged.
But I couldn’t even steady my breathing.
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
"Haa, ugh...."
A groan escaped my lips involuntarily.
This was my first time experiencing death and resurrection in rapid succession, and it was quite agonizing.
Was it not simply a systemic process?
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
A sensation I had never felt in my life crushed my entire body.
I felt that this act must not be repeated any further.
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
Even thinking became difficult.
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
It was painful.
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
...
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
[You have died!]
[You have been resurrected in front of the eyes of Dr. Dominic!]
"Stop it!"
A scream, nearly a shriek, rang out.
It was a desperate cry, clear enough to pierce through my muffled ears.
Dominic stopped the action he had been repeating indifferently.
He cast his gaze toward the source of the sound.
I lay prone on the floor, unable to move.
’Am I... alive..?’
My body convulsed with the relief of survival.
The aftermath of repeating death and resurrection in such a short time was brutal.
It was a sensation that could not be described simply as ’pain’.
My outer skin was perfectly intact.
But I felt as if something deep inside had been damaged.
It might be an exaggerated metaphor, but it felt appropriate to say my soul had been torn.
It was a pain I never wanted to experience again.
If Dominic asked me again if it had been a joke, I might have just answered yes.
I forced my gaze upward.
’That was definitely Edel’s voice....’
Dominic was in a significantly foul mood. There was nothing good about getting caught up in this.
My vision was blurry, and I had to blink several times before I could finally see.
Edel was clinging to Dominic’s legs.
She had stabbed him with an obsidian dagger, but no blood flowed from Dominic.
The dagger looked as if it had simply been absorbed into a part of him.
Edel’s eyes were wide, and she gasped for air.
She seemed unable to control herself, terrified by her own actions.
Yet, Edel did not keep her mouth shut.
Despite breaking into a cold sweat under the blue gaze looking down at her, she spoke.
"Please forgive me, Teacher."
She begged for my life, almost out of her mind.
"If you could just... show mercy to the Cult Leader once..."
It was an unexpected situation.
Wasn’t Edel an apostle who served Dominic?
No matter if I was the Cult Leader, there was no reason for her to shield someone her god was enraged at.
The shallow companion relationship created by the system was likewise not a sufficient reason.
And yet, she attacked Dominic for my sake.
Edel dropped her head.
She had summoned the courage, but she could no longer look at Dominic through her fear.
Trembling so hard her teeth chattered, she suddenly turned her head to the side.
Our eyes met.
I wanted to tell Edel thank you, but my voice wouldn’t come out.
So, I just blinked a few times.
Edel’s face started to crumple.
The edges of her eyes turned as red as her pupils, and tears began to fall.
The look she gave me was a chaotic mix of resentment, worry, and fear.
She looked at me as if I were about to break at any moment.
Watching her cry silently, I didn’t know what to do and could only blink.
’Isn’t this actually not too bad?’
From the moment I said I had one last thing to tell Dominic, I had braced myself for something bad to happen.
Since I had prepared for even more cruel scenarios, this was actually quite mild.
Since no Hearts were consumed, I still had one spare life.
Since I couldn’t explain this to comfort her, I had no choice but to watch Edel cry.
Struggling to hold back her sobs, Edel’s lips parted.
"Roasted Chestnut..."
I looked at Edel blankly.
But she seemed not to know what she had just said.
She just continued to look at me and cry.
Then, a voice with a calm weight called out to me.
"Roasted Chestnut."
I snapped awake as if ice water had been poured over my head.
I spat the blood pooling in my mouth onto the floor.
I tried to push myself up, but there was no strength left in my limbs.
I wondered if this is how it feels to have your limbs severed after failing the Epic Quest.
Perhaps finding my effort to squirm on the filthy floor pitiful, Dominic grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and lifted me up.
He sat me down on the altar.
My body started to slump forward, but Dominic lightly supported me with his hand.
"Are you alright?"
"..."
’Are you alright...?’
It was a question that only invited a hollow laugh, but I didn’t even have the strength to twitch the corners of my mouth.
Limp and exhausted, I gathered my remaining energy and barely managed to move my tongue.
"Mr. Dominic..."
My voice sounded strange, as if it belonged to someone else.
"Has your... anger subsided... a bit..?"
I stopped mid-sentence and grit my teeth.
’The pain made the hair on my neck stand up.’
Dominic looked down at my suffering and replied.
"Enough for my head to cool down."
"So, Roasted Chestnut. What will you do now?"
"I no longer find meaning in holding you accountable for your sins. It has already happened. What I want is to reclaim myself."
"Will you find my memories for me, Roasted Chestnut?"
"If you cannot, you should not have told me the truth in the first place. Because I can make both you and those meaningful to you suffer."
"I suppose it would be fine to leave you here forever. At least you wouldn’t be bored."
"...With me."
I squeezed out every bit of strength I had.
And I stated the final condition for the True Ending.
"Let’s make a contract, Dr. Dominic."
Dominic, who had been leading the conversation leisurely until now, fell silent for the first time.
I felt his gaze observing me.
It was a gaze so vivid, as if it had a physical form, that it made my skin ache.
I tilted back my face, which was damp with sweat and tears.
Looking into Dominic’s eyes, I spoke.
"And let’s go outside together."
After a short silence, Dominic asked back.
"Were you not trying to trap me here?"
He knew.
When did he realize?
Feeling as if everything had been exposed, a small laugh escaped me.
Though I groaned in pain immediately after laughing.
"I was originally, but now... I want to go out with you, Mr. Dominic."
At first, I had certainly done my best to keep Dominic trapped in Call of the void.
But from the moment I realized I was the one who had summoned him, my thoughts changed slightly.
’Because he is a being I summoned.’
It was an unintended accident, but I felt I should take responsibility.
With Dominic’s power, he would eventually find a way out of Call of the void, sooner or later.
Since it was bound to happen eventually, it was better to keep him by my side from now on, watch him, and think of a countermeasure.
To the being who might become the most terrible disaster, I offered the best promise I could make.
"As a companion, I will stay with you until you find your memories, Dr. Dominic."