Chapter 151

I will change all of my kin

If I pluck out their eyes and make them look only at their master, they will never be able to hide anything from me.

In truth, I had been anxious.

Despite being my kin, I didn’t feel as though I possessed them completely.

Kwak Han-mook had allowed another god into his body, and Mo Hae-in had a Trial Meteor embedded in her abdomen.

Je Hyun-oh’s body had already undergone transformation.

And yet, I didn’t even know the reasons why they had become that way.

The fact that I knew nothing always left me restless and uneasy.

But it’s fine now.

Because I’ve realized the method.

I just need to make them entirely mine, even now.

[You recognize that your current state is abnormal.]

[You think that the judgments made as a Young God may be incorrect.]

I was acting based on my own thoughts and judgments, not through the mindset of a social misfit.

[You and the Young God are one, but you must not consist solely of the Young God.]

[You recognize that you have become blurred with the Young God and strive to reclaim yourself, even if only slightly.]

[Because you know you will regret your current actions.]

What a laughable thing to say.

If anything, I was regretting having left my kin alone until now.

I had to take care of my kin immediately.

I continued to ignore the popping system windows.

I’ll deal with Captain Kwak first, and then I’ll call Captain Mo and Lieutenant Colonel Je via message.

Since Je Hyun-oh had entered a Trial, I’d have him come as soon as he returned, and then Mo Hae-in...

Click.

The sound of the door opening cut my thoughts short.

"What’s up? I thought Chestnut went to sleep, but you’re already bor-"

Kwak Han-mook, who appeared with a playful smile, stopped mid-sentence, his expression hardening.

"I’m not bored; I have something urgent to tell you."

I reported my business quickly, but for some reason, Kwak Han-mook didn’t answer.

He frowned slightly and crossed his arms. Then, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, he looked at me.

Normally, he would have asked what was going on with his "Chestnut", but he just watched me in silence.

Since I was the one in a hurry, I asked him again.

"May I enter the room?"

Kwak Han-mook stared intently for a moment before answering.

"Come in."

He stepped back, and I finally entered the room.

As soon as I entered, I pointed to the bed.

"Please sit here."

I thought it would be best to pluck his eyes in a place that was comfortable and familiar to him.

Kwak Han-mook obediently followed my words and sat on the bed.

He rested both hands on the mattress and looked up at me.

Standing before my kin, who was sitting askew, I seriously examined his pupils.

As expected, I didn’t like the grey eyes. I wanted to pluck them out and embed gold ones.

As I examined him for a while, Kwak Han-mook spoke.

"You’re quiet. What are you trying to do?"

Only then did I realize I hadn’t given any explanation.

I spoke to him in a serious tone.

"I am going to pluck out your eyes now, Captain Kwak."

Kwak Han-mook let out a sound like a leaking tire. He gave a hollow laugh and asked back.

"My eyes?"

"Yes."

"What, are you taking both?"

"Wouldn’t it be aesthetically displeasing to take only one? It won’t interfere with your vision!"

"Why are you plucking them?"

I pondered for a moment on how to explain.

I worried that if I told the truth, I might seem too narrow-minded.

However, since I didn’t have any particular excuse, I just spoke honestly.

"I feel like you’re hiding too many things from me."

"So you’re plucking my eyes because I have too many secrets?"

"Yes. Therefore, from now on, I intend to look after you as your master."

"As your master..."

Muttering my words back to me, Kwak Han-mook arched an eyebrow.

"That sounds like it’ll hurt a lot. I’d have to be able to trust the master’s skill first."

I thought it would be fine if I just looked into him a little.

If I gently kneaded his mind so he wouldn’t feel pain before plucking them, it wouldn’t hurt much.

I diligently comforted my frightened kin.

"I will make it as painless as possible."

"But you know, there’s nothing in it for me to have my eyes plucked."

"What? That can’t be."

Of course, there was a huge advantage.

I smiled slightly and told him.

"You will become entirely mine."

That was something the kin should be happy about.

Because a life spent looking only at their master was the happiness they desired most.

Pleasant imaginations followed.

I imagined dressing up my kin, whom I had made to look only at me, to their heart’s content.

’Come to think of it, how should I change their bodies? Should I buy items?’

I had seen several body-modification items in the kin section of the Galactic Trade Post.

I hadn’t put them in my shopping cart, thinking I’d never need them, but I remembered the names of the items, so I could find them quickly.

Financial issues could be solved with a sponsorship contract.

Even if my account was frozen, I could receive goods instead of currency, so I wasn’t particularly worried.

Dominic would do everything I wanted.

And in the unlikely event that Dominic refused, there was also Mr. Black Block.

Mr. Black Block might make somewhat unreasonable demands in exchange for sponsorship, but...

Still, it was for the sake of my kin.

It was truly a perfect plan.

I smiled and reached out. Just as my fingertips were about to touch Kwak Han-mook’s eye area...

"..!"

I caught the prayer beads he had thrust forward.

Why is he trying to bind me?

As looked at him with a questioning gaze, Kwak Han-mook smirked.

"I guess you don’t like being tied up."

Then, he immediately lunged at me. In the blink of an eye, I was slammed onto the floor.

I engaged in a brief physical struggle on the ground, but I was quickly subdued.

Pinned to the floor, my back was crushed under his knee.

Kwak Han-mook immediately twisted both my arms behind me and grabbed them.

He then tried to bind me with the prayer beads, but as I resisted, the beads wouldn’t easily tie me.

Kwak Han-mook let out a short curse and used force to pull the fluttering beads, tying my arms like a rope.

Lying face down on the floor, I struggled to turn my head back.

"Captain Kwak.."

Then, with drooping eyes, I asked.

"Are you very scared? If you endure just a little longer, I’ll pluck them quickly. It’ll be over soon."

I had even planned to praise him once it was finished.

It was pitiful to see him so terrified of a pain that would only last a moment.

Kwak Han-mook brushed back his messy hair with one hand.

"Wow... Crazy Chestnut is driving me insane."

The lights-out room had only the light coming in from the window.

But now it wasn’t dark; it was bright. It was because of the light flowing from my eyes.

Kwak Han-mook muttered with eyes clouded by complex thoughts.

"To think this is a god.."

His monologue was mixed with bewilderment. It was a reaction as if this were different from what he knew.

A creeping feeling of unpleasantness rose within me.

’Is he perhaps comparing me to the god inside Captain Kwak?’

I hate that.

At that moment, blue sparks flew from the prayer beads.

Kwak Han-mook frowned slightly and pressed his hand over his heart.

I also flinched.

"Captain Kwak. This hurts a little. It’s hard to breathe right now..."

In truth, it didn’t hurt much. It was just a sting, but I said it hoping he might loosen the beads.

However, Kwak Han-mook didn’t fall for it at all.

"Endure the pain. You’re the one trying to pluck someone else’s eyeballs."

"..."

Having nothing to say, I quietly shut my mouth.

Still, I could feel him adjusting the weight of the knee pressing my back so I could breathe more easily.

Kwak Han-mook let out a sigh of lament and called me.

"Hey"

"Yes."

"Even if you pluck my eyes, it won’t go your way."

"Why not?"

"Because I won’t tell you anything, and I’ll keep hiding, concealing, and keeping secrets."

That shouldn’t be possible.

Kwak Han-mook seemed to be under the delusion that he could maintain his ego even after his eyes were plucked.

He was being reconstructed into a being for my sake.

But I didn’t tell him the truth.

I just... felt like I shouldn’t.

"Still, if you really want to pluck my eyes."

Zap, zap.

Blue light flashed repeatedly from the prayer beads.

As the sparks flew, a thin tremor traveled through our touching bodies.

I felt puzzled by the trembling, which seemed to be born of pain.

This was because it wasn’t pain that I had inflicted upon him.

Kwak Han-mook spoke with a voice laced with laughter.

"I should rebel against my master a bit."

Against me...?

The moment I felt a strong sense of repulsion, a golden light burst forth.

The prayer beads binding me finally snapped, and a blue light flashed.

As the gold and blue lights mingled, the pressure on my back weakened for an instant.

I pushed Kwak Han-mook away and escaped from underneath.

He and I ended up facing each other.

The room wasn’t very wide; we were positioned such that we could reach each other just by stretching out our hands.

I glared at Kwak Han-mook with cold eyes.

Light was swirling beneath his sleeveless shirt. A lightning tattoo in a fractal pattern emitted a blue glow.

That wasn’t all. A deep blue light seeped into his grey pupils.

I could see sparks continuously leaping around him.

I wanted to strip away all those blue lights without leaving a single trace.

"Fuck, Lieutenant Colonel Je... they said you were young and weak..."

Kwak Han-mook looked at me, breathing heavily. He smiled with trembling lips and said.

"You’re quite violent, aren’t you, huh?"

Dominic, who had been watching from above my head, casually added his input.

"Roasted Chestnut. There is no need to listen to every word your kin says."

He advised that since kin generally do not know what they truly want, Roasted Chestnut must lead and teach them as their master.

I agreed with his words to some extent.

Since the rebellion was so severe, I felt I had to knead his mind first.

Originally, I intended to only touch him enough so he wouldn’t feel pain during the enucleation.

But if I looked deeper...

He’ll break.

As I tried to examine Kwak Han-mook, I froze as if someone had pressed a stop button.

The delusional researcher came to mind.

The one whose mind I had crushed...

At the same time, my wrist was grabbed.

The moment a tingling sensation seeped in, the wood prayer beads wrapped around me with all their might, and Kwak Han-mook spat blood and unleashed a burst of blue light.

The sound of thunder echoed in the cloudless night sky.

The deep blue light was etched into my eyes.

I realized.

"Captain Kwak!"

What I had been about to do.

The wood prayer beads slid open, and Kwak Han-mook’s body staggered.

I hurriedly supported him and helped him sit on the bed.

Kwak Han-mook began to laugh as he looked at the trembling me. He wiped the blood flowing down his chin with the back of his hand and said.

"Being the manager for Crazy Chestnut is fucking hard..."

For a split second, I had looked into him.

Therefore, I clearly understood what state Kwak Han-mook was in right now.

To subdue me, Kwak Han-mook had partially released the seal that kept the god imprisoned.

In that situation, I had tried to look inside, and I had collided with the god within his body.

If I hadn’t stopped, Kwak Han-mook’s mind would have collapsed just like the delusional researcher’s.

’Why did I do that?’

I had considered the Young God and myself as different entities.

But previously, I had been blurred.

I thought like the Young God while simultaneously judging myself as ’me’.

I hadn’t recognized at all that this was strange.

’Since when has it been like this?’

The moment I realized the dissonance, I retraced my actions since I had eaten the ■■■.

The more I recalled the memories, the more I felt I had been mistaken.

I had decided to protect myself by eating the ■■■, and I had dived in knowing it was a gamble with low odds.

And I thought I had been fighting well in my own way until now.

But that was purely my delusion; I might have already lost.

"Hey."

"..."

I looked at him, bloodied, with trembling eyes.

Kwak Han-mook looked up at me and said.

"It’s okay."

He was not okay at all.

When he asked me to team up, and when he took me out of the isolation ward as my manager.

Kwak Han-mook could never have imagined that something like this would happen.

I almost broke him.

Thinking back, ever since he was registered as my kin, nothing but injuries had followed.

The fact that I was his god provided no advantage to Kwak Han-mook.

Rather, it was nothing but a massive calamity.

"..I’m sorry, Captain Kwak. I... I don’t know how to... undo the registration... Because of me..."

The words that came out when I opened my lips were nothing but pathetic excuses.

I was frozen by an irreversible mistake.

Kwak Han-mook called me again.

"Chestnut."

"Yes..."

"I’m sorry."

I stared blankly, not knowing why he was apologizing.

Kwak Han-mook met my eyes and continued.

"The situation must be very frustrating, and I made it harder by not being able to explain things properly. But as a human, huh? Lets not pluck the eyeballs. Just give me some time..."

He paused for a moment. He hesitated for a long time, as if he needed to judge for himself whether the words he was about to say were right.

And finally, he told me.

"I’ll tell you everything."

Then he reached out and grabbed my forearm.

I felt a slight weight pulling me down.

As a Captain belonging to the same team, he spoke to the recruit.

"It’s just that there’s a lot I don’t know right now, so I can’t speak."

"Well, probably... Captain Mo is similar. If you wait, she’ll tell you everything. Ah, I don’t know about Lieutenant Colonel Je. His mental illness is way too severe."

I just stared silently at Kwak Han-mook, who spoke as if joking.

As I stood there dazed, he lightly shook my arm to get my attention.

"About the registration. I belong to you, right?"

"Yes."

"Since I decided to be the manager, of course I should be registered."

And as a kin, he spoke to his god.

"Don’t think about kicking me out."

I felt a throbbing pain in my heart.

A strange feeling I had never experienced before enveloped me.

I... wanted to answer firmly.

That as a teammate, and as a god, I would not be a calamity to him.

Just then, a system window appeared before my eyes.

[You have acquired ’Awakening’!]

[From now on, you can grow your kin.]