’I need a researcher to get the True Ending anyway.’
Since I was already here, I planned to clear it with the True Ending and shut the place down.
Furthermore, looking at the information provided by the system window, it seemed there would be some blow to my prestige if I failed to close this.
[You believe that closing a mere trial like this will not be enough to prevent the tragedy to come.]
’I get it, alright.’
It seemed the system was quite dissatisfied that I had entered a one-star trial.
It wasn’t as if I entered here because I wanted to.
I pushed aside the system window and quickly sent a message to Je Hyun-oh.
- Lt. Col. Je. If you are currently cutting through the building, please stop for a moment.
- Since it’s a one-star trial, it won’t take long to clear.
Since time flows faster in this Trial, the waiting time outside would be short.
After roughly estimating how long it would take, I sent another message.
- Waiting for about 5 minutes outside should be enough.
- I’ll give CEO Cha a proper education here and then come out.
I sent the message with a bit of exaggeration, but my heart was anxious.
Because he was wearing an item that changed himself into a human form, Je Hyun-oh’s reaction was slightly slower than usual, and because of that, he had lost track of me.
My subordinate must be anxious.
He will definitely come looking for me.
Well, he probably wouldn’t be anxious per se.
And since this was a two-person limit trial, he wouldn’t be able to enter, but he was certainly searching for me.
I resolved to close the place at maximum speed before Je Hyun-oh sliced the entire fortress to pieces.
Quickly formulating a strategy in my head, I looked at the buttons CEO Cha had destroyed.
To ensure the researcher appeared, the two participants had to fail to cooperate for 30 questions; one had to keep answering correctly while the other answered incorrectly.
Naturally, they couldn’t both be correct at the same time, nor could they both be wrong.
However, CEO Cha had obliterated all of his assigned buttons.
Since he couldn’t press any buttons from now on, the system would automatically mark his answers as incorrect.
I just had to get the answers right.
Of course, there was a way to restore the buttons.
A panel to reset the cage environment was hidden in the corner of the lab.
This was based on the setting that test subjects in the lab often destroyed the facility due to stress.
CEO Cha likely knew this when he destroyed the buttons.
I’ll just leave him to restore them on his own.
I looked at CEO Cha through the glass window.
After committing such an insane act, he was calmly sliding the Great Sun Tathagata back into its scabbard.
If it weren’t for the glass, I felt like going over there and hitting him.
In the past, we had clashed several times because of his arbitrary behavior...
While I was irritated, my mind was complicated.
"Do you still think this is a game?"
"I’m just saying I don’t want to regret trembling in fear over the death of a mere NPC."
Back in The Cell X, when CEO Cha had directly countered my desire for the True Ending.
I think... I was shocked.
Subconsciously, I had assumed that CEO Cha would trust me completely and follow my lead.
It was the moment I clearly realized that the real-world CEO Cha was a different entity, not the character from the game I had liked.
Even though it was only natural.
I recognized and accepted that I had become a meaningless presence to CEO Cha.
But after that, CEO Cha became even stranger, drifting further and further away from the ’CEO Cha’ I knew.
Eventually, he even committed acts that caused immense harm to himself.
He had become a completely strange being.
The glass window separating CEO Cha and me was so clean it was transparent.
It would have been better if the other person weren’t so clearly visible.
I glared at CEO Cha and spoke.
"The reason I came to visit you in the hospital was to have a conversation. Not for you to act selfishly like this."
"As if we could have a conversation in front of Je Hyun-oh. While holding a box of cup noodles."
"Lt. Col. Je knows everything anyway.."
"So only I don’t?"
As CEO Cha cut me off with a sharp retort, the floor lit up and a video began to play.
It was a format where one watched a video on a floor made of monitor panels and answered questions.
The vastness of space unfolded, and stars gathered to form letters.
I checked the question formed on the floor.
[The current subject will select the correct answer of free choice, completely independent of the causality of the universe.]
Without hesitation, I chose ’False’, the X button.
Immediately, fireworks exploded on the floor screen, and an explanation appeared.
[Correct! All human choices, hesitations, and even fears are nothing more than puppets beneath the threads woven at the beginning of time!]
Electricity surged through CEO Cha, who failed to get the answer right.
His fingertips trembled slightly.
If the answer is wrong, electricity flows from the necklaces worn by the test subjects.
It was a penalty similar to giving electric shocks to lab rats.
At first, it was at the level of a stinging static shock, but the more answers they got wrong, the stronger the electric stimulation became.
If they got even one answer right in the middle, the stimulation would drop back to level 0.
But CEO Cha had destroyed the buttons.
As a penalty, a strong current flowed from the very beginning.
Furthermore, he was destined to get the next 30 questions wrong in a row.
Once ten questions piled up, the pain would be considerable.
He must have been prepared for that when he committed such an act.
"Explain what a Young God is."
The space video on the floor scattered to bring up the next question.
I answered while still looking at the floor.
"It is exactly what it sounds like. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, CEO."
The second question appeared.
In the video on the floor, pupils of various colors swarmed in large and small forms.
It was a sight that reminded me of The Cell X.
[The more truth one learns, the more sound and complete human intelligence becomes.]
I pressed the X button again.
[Correct! Humans are utterly fragile. The moment they understand the truth, their brains melt.]
CEO Cha was now standing right in front of the glass, watching me get the answers right.
"Do you still remember what happened then?"
I turned to look at him.
A white Cognitive Decline Mask was staring back at me.
"I do."
The problem was that I remembered too vividly. I remembered every single scene, everything I had done.
"It is true that I did those things, but it wasn’t because I wanted to. I intend to be careful so that such things don’t happen again."
It sounded like a pathetic excuse, but I meant it.
The next question appeared. While I was answering, I felt a gaze fixed on me.
After leaving The Cell X, CEO Cha must have looked into the phenomena he experienced in his own way.
Both ■■■, whom he called the boss of The Cell X, and the abilities I had exercised.
They must have been entirely different from the trial entities CEO Cha had encountered until now.
I intended to answer as sincerely as possible, regardless of what he asked.
Anyway, I had to enter trials with CEO Cha because of the dispatch contract.
Also, CEO Cha would be an important existence for future events.
There was no point in hiding more.
However, CEO Cha didn’t leave me alone and sneered.
"I guess playing God suits your aptitude. You haven’t even tried to find a way to become human again."
I answered while focusing on the questions.
"I can’t go back, nor do I want to."
This was the truth.
If I suddenly became human again, who would deal with the meteors pouring down on Earth?
CEO Chas’ silence grew long.
He watched me press the O and X buttons before speaking.
"Je Hyun-oh is your subordinate, isn’t he?"
"Yes."
I had sent him a quest to assist the subordinate of the Young God.
Since I had even registered CEO Cha as a temporary possession and used his abilities, he must know what being a subordinate meant.
CEO Cha was silent for a long time again. Then, he slowly spoke.
"What happens if he dies?"
I whipped my head around immediately to look at CEO Cha.
That will not happen.
Never.
Meeting my eyes, CEO Cha let out a hollow laugh.
It was a laugh as if he had confirmed something.
I felt my pupils turn gold.
CEO Cha looked me straight in the eyes and mocked.
"Why are you going to die following him?"
I clenched my teeth at his persistent prodding.
I strode forward. I stood pressed against the glass and glared at him.
"Why on earth are you acting like this?"
This wasn’t something an efficiency-driven person like him would do.
Moreover, this was happening in front of my subordinate.
My subordinate would be waiting.
Worry for Je Hyun-oh mixed with all sorts of thoughts.
Destroying the Era Bureau as he pleased, dragging a person into a trial in front of Je Hyun-oh.
And yet, trying to save me even at the cost of his own vitality.
And now...he was grating on my nerves while enduring pain that was completely unnecessary.
I could not understand the being in front of me at all.
"What is the reason you are behaving this way toward me? I mean, why are you doing something so inefficient?"
The moment I asked the question, the time to submit the answer expired.
A strong current flowed through CEO Cha, who was marked wrong.
It must have been quite strong this time, as he even staggered slightly.
He gripped the hilt of the Great Sun Tathagata with his hand. A voice mixed with ridicule reached me.
"The one being inefficient is you, taking care of those subordinate brats. Even risking your own life."
I tried to handle this rationally, but I simply couldn’t.
The moment I saw CEO Cha enduring the pain, everything I had been suppressing finally exploded.
I slammed my hand against the glass window.
"I asked why you keep acting like this!"
With a thud, the glass shook. Despite hitting it with all my might, I felt no pain.
Absurdly, CEO Cha looked relieved at the sight of me shouting.
He stepped closer to the glass, just as I had.
With the Great Sun Tathagata, he could have easily shattered the glass.
But CEO Cha didn’t.
"Then what about you?"
Standing beyond the glass, with his face hidden beneath the Cognitive Decline Mask.
He asked, his eyes fixed only on my face.
"Why do you act as if you know me?"
In the end, we were back at square one.
Neither CEO Cha nor I answered each other’s questions.
"Han Goyo, this is as far as my leniency goes."
He looked down at me. He spoke only his own demands unilaterally.
"Don’t change any further. Stop here."
Foolish.
For a human to try and define a god.
But I didn’t tell him the truth.
Instead, I gave him a demand in return.
"Don’t ever do this again. I’m being lenient with you too."
Taming a willful human might be interesting.
I ignored the mindset of a social misfit.
Silence followed between us, separated by the glass.
In the stillness, I gradually regained my reason.
It was enough time to realize once again that clearing the trial was more urgent than anything else.
Just as I had calmed my anger, the screen on the floor began to change.
Because of CEO Cha, I had left the new question unanswered.
I hadn’t chosen an answer yet, but it suddenly skipped to the next question.
I barely suppressed my emotions and stepped away from the glass.
Then I checked the screen.
A rainbow-colored spectrum video with a metallic luster appeared.
A question appeared over the constantly changing, colorful holographic colors.
[The all-encompassing nature of the planet ’Earth’ is a being different from us.]
This... was content related to the outside of the trials.
I didn’t know why a question about Samra suddenly appeared, but if I got it wrong, I would have to get 30 consecutive answers right from the beginning again.
Since I had to clear it in the shortest time possible, that would be problematic.
After careful consideration, I pressed the O button.
Samra was originally an NPC, but had escaped the trials by turning a part of himself into an item.
I didn’t know what the NPCs meant when they referred to themselves as ’us’ at every ending, but regardless, I chose O because I didn’t think Samra was an NPC.
[Correct! Samra Man-sang chose for himself.]
Fortunately, I got it right, but the explanation was ambiguous.
The holographic image scattered.
Just as I was narrowing my eyes, wondering if the next question would also be abnormal.
A voice came from the speaker.
"What? Why are the test subjects’ data values like this? Pause for a moment."
The front wall opened with a zzzing sound.
A researcher with shaggy hair appeared, holding a small device.
It was a machine to control the electricity flowing from the test subjects’ necklaces.
The researcher approached irritably, holding a means to subdue the subjects in one hand and a tablet in the other.
He turned toward me at the point where the glass divided the sections.
’The researcher is appearing already?’
I had only gotten about 10 questions right. Even the lines the researcher spoke were slightly different.
Then, my eyes met the researcher’s.
The researcher, who had been approaching without hesitation, stopped in his tracks.
His mouth and eyes slowly widened.
’What’s wrong with him?’
While I was wondering about the peculiar reaction, the name tag on the researcher’s gown caught my eye.
It was blocked out.
But... I felt like I could see through that much.
I peered into the researcher.
As I lightly examined him, a groan was heard.
"Ugh... unnu..."
Sounds filled with fear hissed through his lips, and then.
"Aaaaaagh!!"
The researcher suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and screamed.
CEO Cha immediately broke the glass and crossed over to my side.
At the same time, the block covering my eyes vanished.
[Delusional Researcher]
It was a familiar name.
Amidst the scattering glass shards, I immediately recalled Deadzone’s old diary.
Journal of the Delusional Researcher
When I was clearing Deadzone, I hadn’t thought much of it.
I had simply regarded it as a nonsense-filled diary that mentioned a cure.
But now I know.
[The throbbing pulse of the dimension!]
[How wondrous is that void of disorder!]
[Formless chaos!]
[Everything is but a small amusement for Him!]
The contents written in the Delusional Researcher’s journal were praises for an Outer God.
After entering Call of the Void, I had speculated that the Delusional Researcher must have revered Dominic as a god.
Since Dominic was such a formidable Outer God, I thought it was possible.
’How is a Deadzone NPC here?’
This made no sense, Deadzone had been closed...
Even if he had escaped before the closure, the logic didn’t hold.
It would mean an NPC had moved to another trial.
I stared at the researcher, who was now shaking his head violently up and down, screaming and bursting into manic laughter.
"Aaaagh! Ke, kehk? Aha, ahahaha! Why! Here! A, a, aaaagh!"
He was rolling his eyes back, spitting out incomprehensible words.
I felt I should dig for information from the researcher, but looking at him, it seemed unlikely he would return to normal.
I had looked too deeply.
Humans are fragile, so one must be careful.
But since he’s already broken, wouldn’t it be okay to look deeper?
I might be able to find out what I’m curious about.
The tempting thought wouldn’t easily leave me.
I glanced at CEO Cha.
He was watching the researcher while holding the Great Sun Tathagata, but his vigilance was also directed toward the Young God.
Even knowing that I was showing a strange side in front of CEO Cha...
Unconsciously, the corners of my lips curled up.
No matter what I do, he’ll like me.
’But if I look deeper, can I still get the True Ending?’
It was while I was staring blankly at the researcher in a slightly dazed mood.
Suddenly, I got a strange feeling.
I felt my subordinate.
Knowing it was impossible, I still looked toward the ceiling, and...
I saw black metal smoothly slicing through space.
A metallic hand reached out from the darkness, and soon a black figure slowly revealed itself.
Spreading its wings, it appeared silently and moved silently.
A single line was drawn across the researcher’s neck.
"No? Why? Same? Same? Same? Eheh, kehehe, stop, please, heeheeheehik! Impossible!"
The head of the researcher, who had been screaming incoherently, thudded onto the floor.
The rolling head continued to scream, unaware of its own death.
"Impossible! Impossible! Impossible..."
The shouting stopped shortly after.
Leaving behind a fountain of spurting blood, the man in black stepped onto the floor where blood was pooling.
The one covered in pitch black from head to toe looked at me.
"Goyo."
My face was reflected in the powered-off goggles. A rough, low warning descended.
"I hate waiting."
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