I'm a young god, won't you raise me?

Vanish..?

For a moment, I forgot even the pain as I stared at Dominic.

He slowly released his grip on my heart.

My body trembled at the sensation of his hand slipping out.

When the last fingertip finally left, I couldn’t hold it back and retched.

Dominic gripped my forearm to keep me from collapsing.

Since I hadn’t eaten anything, nothing came up.

I wiped my wet lips with the back of my hand.

Sinking a hand into a living person’s body.

It was something that far exceeded the boundaries of my understanding.

It was even more horrific because I had felt the sensation of him digging in so vividly, yet not a single scar remained on my chest.

However, I couldn’t lodge any protest with Dominic.

That was because he looked even angrier than I was, despite being the one who did it.

Dominic seemed genuinely furious that I had been hurt and wounded.

Having seen my own state looking like a piece of broken pottery glued back together I had nothing to say.

Moreover, having heard the word ’vanish’, I was honestly terrified.

After hesitating, I asked him.

"Please tell me in detail what you mean."

"Do you remember the day we first met?"

Of course I did. It was a memory I could never forget.

At that time, Dominic had looked into me.

"Little Lamb?"

"Excuse me, but that name does not suit you."

And then, he had pierced through and mentioned my real name.

I vividly remembered trying my best to pass him off as a human back then.

"Since then, Roasted Chestnut has already been in this state."

"You mean I was already this broken..?"

"That is correct. Not only the outside, but the inside was riddled with wounds. It only grew worse afterward."

He mentioned it simply, but I could immediately realize the cause of it worsening.

It was because, in the ending of Call of the void, he had repeatedly killed and revived me.

However, I had since contracted with Dominic, and Dominic wanted to help me in various ways for my sake as his contractor.

’So that’s why he fed me Infernun.’

He had attempted to treat me with the flames of Infernun.

While my wounds were gradually healing thanks to that, it seemed I had completely ruined things by using Resuscitation.

"Punishment would not have wounded Roasted Chestnut, and it is an ability you would have used usefully in the future. The same goes for Blind Faith or Summoning."

Seeing how Dominic had summoned me here, it certainly seemed convenient.

Punishment was also a cool ability.

Honestly, having at least one attack skill would be helpful for survival.

As for Blind Faith...

I’m sorry, Lieutenant Won.

Once I got out, I felt like I should genuinely prostrate myself and apologize.

Though I’d probably be dragged away in a straitjacket before that.

"To choose Resurrection over such trivial creatures."

Dominic seemed very displeased that I had erased other abilities to create Resuscitation.

But it couldn’t be helped.

At that moment, Resurrection was what I wanted most.

I didn’t know the details, but it seemed that to gain the power of Resurrection, I had no choice but to erase something else.

I wasn’t yet large enough to hold multiple abilities simultaneously.

As I remained silent, unable to find words to say to Dominic, he stood up.

"Things like this will happen again in the future."

Dominic shifted his gaze toward the sky.

The world changed.

"...!"

I was in outer space.

Countless stars embedded in a pitch-black darkness that couldn’t even be compared to a night sky.

As a massive band of the Milky Way traversed the darkness, stars shone in various colors and sizes.

In the distance, nebulae and star clusters emitted mysterious lights.

While gazing at the breathtaking beauty, I discovered a pale blue star.

It was Earth.

Dominic reached out his hand toward me. As I grasped it, a new sight appeared.

My eyes widened.

Meteorites appeared around Earth.

As if summoned from somewhere, dozens, then hundreds of meteorites appeared sequentially and fell toward Earth.

The Meteorites of Trial were falling.

I felt suffocated by the endless rain of falling stars.

"It is the near future. I turned back time slightly for Roasted Chestnut’s understanding.. but the flow will be similar."

There were already many Meteorites of Trial existing on Earth.

Though most were unhatched, humanity was struggling to deal with even the tiny fraction that had.

And yet, this many additional meteorites were falling?

If they hatched immediately upon colliding with the surface, like The Cell X....

Nothing came to mind except the words "End of the World."

"The gods from outside will visit Roasted Chestnuts planet. There will be those even stronger than the god Roasted Chestnut encountered this time."

Dominic questioned me.

"Can you protect it? With a mere ability like Resurrection?"

I couldn’t answer.

I have to protect it.

I have to protect my subordinates, and my territory.

While I was staring blankly at the falling meteorites, the scene before my eyes changed.

Before I knew it, I had returned to the black sea.

"Roasted Chestnut."

Listening to the sound of the rough waves, I looked up at Dominic blankly.

"If you wish to protect your planet without even Punishment, now is the time to choose."

He placed the bead in my hand once again.

"Whether to grow and move forward, or to stop and vanish. I leave the choice to Roasted Chestnut."

That was the end of Dominic’s words.

He fell silent, as if he would no longer intervene in any way.

I looked at the candy-shaped bead resting in my palm.

I had a strong premonition that if I ate this, something would definitely change.

It wasn’t even a premonition, really.

’It would be weirder if nothing happened.!’

I wondered what the system window would say.

Seeing as it was quiet, it seemed its power had dropped again.

Or perhaps it couldn’t interfere because this was Dominic’s territory.

It was a time when I had to choose entirely on my own.

Suddenly, I remembered the system window that appeared when I closed Call of the void and came out.

[You are the Young God of the planet ’Earth’]

At that time, I found the title of "Young God" absurd.

I viewed it as something like a second class advancement and firmly defined myself as human.

Moreover, being in charge of Earth. For someone like me, an unemployed person who struggled to manage a single studio apartment, it sounded incredibly vague.

But now I know.

That I have become a being who has transcended humanity.

Every time I looked back on the memories of speaking and acting as a Young God, it was chillingly unbelievable.

I could vaguely feel that Earth was my territory.

Why me of all people?

I was most curious about why the creator chose me.

The continuous Epic Quests and the system window were also mysteries.

The system window was leading me by dangling a perfect physical body as the final reward for the Epic Quest, while mentioning things like limb amputation and eye extraction if the quest failed.

I didn’t feel that the system window was the same entity as the creator.

Amidst these complex thoughts, I spoke.

"If I eat this... will I change a lot?"

I wanted to live.

I wanted to eat the bead even if it was just to avoid ’vanishing’, but there was something weighing on my mind.

I didn’t know what kind of being I would become.

I didn’t want to think or act like a Young God.

If I ate this, I would surely... become a bit closer to a Young God.

My hand trembled slightly. It was because the thoughts I had blocked off suddenly rushed back.

I barely managed to push those thoughts away again.

Dominic didn’t answer immediately.

From the way he silently watched me, I felt for some reason that he was trying to understand me.

It must be frustrating for Dominic.

Since I was choosing the hard path while leaving the obvious easy path behind.

But I didn’t want to become a god with a caste-system mindset like Dominic.

Every time the memory of me recklessly digging into another’s mind, or the sensation of trampling Number 1 underfoot, comes back vividly... I felt so... unpleasant.

If I absolutely had to become a god, I wanted to be a god for the people I love.

After a long while, Dominic finally spoke.

"If you put in the effort, there are parts that will not change."

It was vague, but it seemed like the best answer for now.

What I had to protect wasn’t just my subordinates and my territory.

I was included in that as well.

Looking at the bead again, I gave a short laugh.

’A choice, huh!’

Wasn’t there only one path from the start?

Earth gets destroyed and my life vanishes.

But since there’s a possibility that I won’t become strange, it was a gamble worth taking.

I can do this.

"Mr. Dominic."

"Yes, Roasted Chestnut."

"I want to ask one last thing. Could you answer honestly?"

"Go ahead."

I asked the question I had been hesitating over.

"I want to know why you are being so kind to me."

"Roasted Chestnut is my contractor, and are you not still young?"

"Is that all?"

Dominic smiled without a word.

As if he knew everything I feared and dreaded.

He asked back in a whisper.

"Is that not enough?"

It seemed he didn’t want to tell me yet.

I wondered when I would ever be able to understand him.

I felt that it wouldn’t be easy in the future.

I brought the bead to my mouth.

But lacking the courage to eat it readily, I just held it against my closed lips for a moment.

It looked like candy, but it felt damp to the touch.

I wanted to eat it even less.

I let out a deep sigh inwardly.

"Roasted Chestnut."

A gentle but firm prompt followed.

Under his blue gaze, I opened my lips. And I pushed the bead into my mouth.

The rounded shape touched my tongue, and soon it melted viscously.

In the midst of that, it tasted sweet, which made me smile slightly.

It really hit me that he had made it easy for me to eat.

The candy melted quickly.

As I swallowed the last bit of sweetness, Dominic praised me softly.

"You worked hard."

I replied a bit awkwardly, "Thank you."

His blue eyes sparkled as he reached out to me.

Sensing what he was about to do, I slightly turned my head to avoid his touch.

Dominic coaxed me gently.

"Did I not promise it wouldn’t hurt? I will finish it while you are asleep."

"No, it’s fine. Just do it."

Dominic looked at me as if he were looking at a stubborn child.

But I was sick and tired of things happening that I couldn’t remember.

Dominic brought his hand back.

"Then I shall only cover your eyes."

The moment his fingertips touched the area around my eyes, my vision went black. A low voice warned me.

"It will be quite long and painful."

And then, I experienced a horrific time.

***

Thunder exploded in the black sky.

A blinding flash roared through the night sky, dyeing the world in blue.

Blue veins, tangled like threads, stretched across the sky.

As lightning struck the ground, fragments of deep blue electricity leaped in all directions like flames amidst a dazzling mist.

Within the burning blue heat, Kwak Han-mook was slumped over.

Hot blood flowing from his eyes and ears mixed with the pouring rain, dyeing him entirely red.

In the past, and now as he relived it in a dream.

He always had the same thought.

I want to die.

But even death was not permitted as he wished.

Because he knew what would happen after he died.

There was nothing he could do.

He was simply crushed helplessly by an overwhelming, unknown existence.

Kwak Han-mook smiled bitterly even in his dream.

Though it was always the same nightmare, the emotion that refused to become familiar no matter how many times he experienced it crushed him.

However, it would soon be over.

As always, he waited to wake up from the dream, or for it to repeat from the beginning.

Strangely, however, the dream did not end.

Kwak Han-mook looked up at the sky.

As if someone were calling him.

Even though the only thing being carved into the black sky repeatedly was the deep blue flash, he couldn’t tear his gaze away.

And finally.

He saw a brilliant golden light.

A golden meteor shower with long tails vigorously traversed the space between the black sky and the blue thunderbolts.

The moment he saw the falling meteor shower, he realized.

It was the star that had come for him.

"Gasp!"

Kwak Han-mook snapped his eyes open and sat up.

His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. He covered his face with trembling hands.

It was a dream he always had. The memory of being trapped in a fucking place.

But the memory and the dream had always ended at the same point..

For the first time, the dream continued. As a strange scene began.

It was a memory that did not exist for him.

Recalling the golden light engraved in his mind, he muttered lowly.

"Fuck."

He wanted just one cigarette.

Ignoring the intense urge, he rubbed his face with his hand.

Then he looked around.

It was a hospital room in the Era Office. It seemed he had successfully cleared The Cell X.

’Goyo is...’

The last thing he remembered was being wrapped up by that tentacle bastard.

The moment he saw that thing, he instinctively knew it was the same kind of existence that was inside him.

He had lost consciousness while feeling his brain being crushed, but upon waking, his physical condition was far too fine.

In fact, he felt in the best condition he’d been in recently.

It didn’t feel like much time had passed since the clear.

First, he felt he should check if Han Goyo was alright.

It was just as he pushed back the blanket and stepped down from the hospital bed.

A screen appeared before his eyes.

- Captain Kwak Han-mook.

The holographic-colored man on the screen stared at Kwak Han-mook expressionlessly.

"Samra?"

He was puzzled, knowing Samra wasn’t the type to send a friendly greeting just because he regained consciousness.

- Please come to the Research and Analysis Headquarters immediately.

He stared, wondering what was going on since he had just woken up, and Samra spoke with some urgency.

- Han Goyo has been pronounced dead.

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