Chapter 155

Even though his eyes looked like they were smiling, his cold gaze gave away his true feelings.

I held my breath and looked up at Je Hyeon-oh.

Je Hyeon-oh simply stared at me without so much as a blink.

It felt as if he would keep staring like that until I said something.

"Um... Lieutenant Colonel Je. Please, just calm down for a moment...."

Je Hyeon-oh’s smile deepened.

The fact that he looked particularly unstable made me even more worried and scared.

’Should I cast a protection over him?’

I was genuinely breaking into a cold sweat.

The lingering buzz of alcohol in my system seemed to vanish instantly.

I had intended to have a proper conversation with Sa Gong-yeon.

I was curious about how long he had been watching me, and I wanted to ask for information regarding Geumcheon.

However, the option of killing Sa Gong-yeon had never been on the table.

I never thought a low-level god like me could handle a subordinate of the Black Block.

My entire plan was simply to coax the Black Block and use Sa Gong-yeon.

I can’t believe Lieutenant Colonel Je read the Day News.

My mind went blank in a situation I hadn’t considered at all.

Moreover, he knew too much.

I couldn’t even guess the extent of his knowledge, making it difficult to hide anything.

As the silence stretched on, Je Hyeon-oh placed his metallic hand neatly on the rooftop door.

Screeeech...

The sound of him slowly scratching downward echoed eerily right beside me.

For a brief moment, I wanted to cast a restriction and run away.

But even if I ran with all my might, he would catch up to me in a couple of wingbeats.

Giving up on everything, I answered.

"You can’t kill him..."

"Why?"

I felt as if the metallic hand would scratch me this time if I said something he didn’t like.

I spoke, trying my best to downplay the truth.

"I gave him permission."

It was the best answer I could come up with on the spot, but it didn’t elicit a positive reaction.

The metallic hand scratched the rooftop door again.

Groaning at the silent demand for an explanation, I continued.

"It’s... it was necessary for the operation of Earth..."

I glanced briefly at the metallic hand right next to my face before adding,

"I made a deal to provide photos in exchange for some compensation."

When I explained that the contract was already finalized, Je Hyeon-oh tilted his head slightly to the side.

I apologized rigorously in my head.

’I’m sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Je. I need to earn those star fragments.’

Then, a low call reached me.

"Goyo."

"Yes...."

"Should I do the same?"

"What?"

Surprised, my voice naturally pitched upward.

Leaving me behind, he strode across the rooftop.

The moment I saw him preparing to unfurl his metallic wings, I knew.

He was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

I hurriedly chased after him, grabbed hold of Je Hyeon-oh, and shouted,

"Actually, I didn’t do it because I wanted to!!"

Je Hyeon-oh stopped in his tracks.

And...immediately, the truth poured out of my mouth.

"I mean, the situation really left me with no choice. There was this god who had been watching me for a long time..."

In the end, I spilled everything about the Black Block. After a long explanation, I added words to make myself look as pitiful as possible.

"I’m still very weak. I lack ability... Since there was nothing I could do, I thought it would be good to at least earn some money used in space."

Je Hyeon-oh didn’t answer. He kept his back to me for a moment before finally turning around.

The moment our eyes met, my heart grew heavy.

It was because I realized I had made my own subordinate feel anxious.

Unconsciously, the words escaped my lips.

"I’m sorry..."

And I cast a golden veil over him.

Je Hyeon-oh said nothing. He simply closed and opened his eyes slowly.

Usually, when I cast protection, he would look at the veil, but this time, he looked at me.

Looking into his eyes, I wondered.

What exactly is Je Hyeon-oh?

Was everything he knew obtained from <Zero>?

But Je Hyeon-oh knew too many truths and possessed abilities that I didn’t even know about.

Everything was ambiguous, but one thing was certain.

Je Hyeon-oh was my subordinate, and I had to take responsibility for him.

I carefully made a promise to him.

"I’ll get stronger quickly so that things like this won’t happen again."

The veil of protection scattered. Even amidst the golden fragments, Je Hyeon-oh continued to look at me.

I felt a strange sense of satisfaction knowing that he was no longer looking at the sky.

As we continued to gaze at each other, a screen appeared in the air.

- Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyeon-oh. It is time to return.

I had wondered why the Era Administration Office was unusually quiet; it was thanks to Samra’s cooperation.

Je Hyeon-oh equipped his goggles again.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief at having escaped the crisis, a rough whisper reached me.

"The cake?"

Startled, I looked at Je Hyeon-oh.

I had sent a message saying I would buy him a cake upon his return.

But I hadn’t expected him to come back so quickly, so I was empty handed.

I also hadn’t expected him to remember my message and ask about it.

"I don’t have it right now. Should I go buy some? If you wait just a moment-"

I was about to rush to a nearby bakery, but he reached out and blocked my path.

Bumping into his firm forearm, I looked up at Je Hyeon-oh.

’...Ah’

I belatedly remembered him saying before that he hated waiting.

I hesitated before speaking.

"I’ll have it ready in advance next time."

^^

Je Hyeon-oh, displaying an emoticon on his goggles, took a step back.

Then, he turned toward the railing and spread his wings.

I imagined him flying through the city’s night view.

However, instead of flying freely, Je Hyeon-oh disappeared as if plummeting down the building.

I ran to the railing and scanned the area, but saw nothing.

I was left alone on the rooftop.

After staying on the rooftop for a while to organize my thoughts, I returned home to find Kwak Han-mook awake.

***

He told me he had just dropped off Mo Hae-in.

"Where have you been?"

Not knowing if I should mention Je Hyeon-oh’s unauthorized departure, I simply replied that I had gone out for some fresh air.

Kwak Han-mook didn’t ask further and only praised me for cleaning the house so thoroughly.

I drank a hangover cure alongside him and went to bed early.

When I woke up in the morning, my body felt fine.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed I had a high tolerance for alcohol.

Seeing me perfectly fine without a hangover, Kwak Han-mook added a new "nut" series to his puns.

"It wasn’t a chestnut (al-bam), it was an alcohol bomb (alcohol-bam)..."

He shook his head and pulled out a dessert for his hangover recovery.

I thought he was more impressive for eating dessert first thing in the morning, but I didn’t say it out loud.

Since the recruit training was officially starting today, I had to report to the Era Administration Office.

I checked my phone while putting on my uniform.

I thought it would have ended last night, but another message had arrived.

Thinking that his personality was truly terrible, I replied and headed to work with Kwak Han-mook, who had finished preparing.

As we walked side-by-side toward the office, people glanced at us.

It seemed to be because the uniforms stood out.

Everyone knew there was a military institution in this area; they just didn’t know exactly what it did.

Since the existence of the Trials couldn’t be revealed, I heard the office was posing as a new military organization to the public.

’The Era Administration uniform is pretty cool, though...’

It wasn’t because I liked archive games; objectively, it was a cool uniform.

Kwak Han-mook, walking beside me, muttered in a sorrowful voice.

"I’m gonna have to pull some f***ing overtime starting today..."

He meant that because he spent yesterday partying, work had piled up accordingly.

He had been saying he was busy lately, and I wondered when he’d ever get a break.

After arriving at the office, Kwak Han-mook patted my shoulder and said,

"Get your training done well. If anyone bullies you, tell on them."

"Yes. I’ll be back."

Not missing the opportunity, I performed the formal salute I had learned in a crash course yesterday.

The moment he saw my salute, Kwak Han-mook burst out laughing like a popping bag of chips.

I blinked, wondering if it was still clumsy, but he chuckled and returned the salute.

Then, he patted my back, saying I could be a Captain instead of a recruit now.

’That’s a compliment, right?’

I felt my whole body shaking under Kwak Han-mook’s large hand.

After the brief commotion, I parted ways with Kwak Han-mook and headed to the recruit training area.

The pudding slime on my head asked, sounding genuinely curious,

"Chestnut, how does a human educate a god?"

To him, this must have seemed like an eccentricity. I explained it from an aliens perspective.

"I’m pretending to be human to collect necessary information. It’s needed for planetary operation. As Mr. Dominic knows, I haven’t been born for long, so there’s a lot I don’t know."

I gave a long explanation, suggesting that to rule humans, one must first understand them.

The pudding slime still seemed unable to comprehend, but it didn’t add any more comments.

[You are constantly reminded that you must close 7 Trials within 2 months.]

In the midst of that, the system window popped up abruptly.

It was something I had been thinking about constantly, and I was pondering a way to enter the Trials while completing the recruit training.

’But lately, it hasn’t told me to register?’

Since it had appeared, I asked what I was curious about, but again, there was no answer.

It only appeared and disappeared when it needed something. I was used to it by now, so I didn’t say much.

I had a hunch as to why.

I had consumed ■■■ with Infernnum.

With the two mixing, the digestion speed had definitely increased, and currently, just handling that was overwhelming.

Also, once digestion was complete, my divine power would increase significantly, so it seemed to judge that there was no immediate need to register.

I thought that if a young god was already struggling now, it might be truly difficult after digestion was finished.

Until then, I absolutely had to find a solution

I arrived at the training site while pondering what the "anchor" might be, and...

"..."

The moment I opened the door, I was met with a barrage of stares.

In the space decorated like a classroom, about a dozen recruits were sitting in rigid postures.

I had arrived ten minutes early, but everyone was already there.

The gazes directed at me were a mix of various emotions, from curiosity to disapproval.

Those looking at me favorably... seemed to be few.

Yesterday, Mo Hae-in had briefly told me about the rumors regarding me within the office.

The superiors, who knew well what the Trials were, regarded me as a monster.

Given that I had caused a lot of strange incidents, it was understandable.

However, the subordinates, lacking knowledge and experience, were dissatisfied with a recruit receiving special treatment.

The general consensus among them was that my ability to close Trials was thanks to the Special Task Team.

Their logic was that such results were possible because a team consisting of Je Hyeon-oh, the Captains, and Samra had been assembled, how could it be purely thanks to a recruit?

The fact that I entered as a recruit while contracting with the office seemed to add credibility to their theory.

If I had entered as a Captain, they would have torn me apart for that instead, so I didn’t think much of it.

’I would have stood out regardless of what I did.’

What mattered to me was the Special Task Team.

My goal was to be a moderately "odd stone" that wouldn’t become too great a hindrance to the team’s reputation.

I was about to sit in the empty seat at the very back when Won Tae-bum entered the classroom holding a tablet.

Our eyes met immediately.

’Is it now?’

When I gave a formal salute, he looked at me silently and responded with a nod.

I hadn’t been able to apologize to Won Tae-bum since the closure of The Cell X.

Samra offered to erase Won Tae-bum’s memories if I wanted, but I felt that wasn’t right and declined.

Since then, I had been looking for an opportunity to talk to him, but it wasn’t easy.

A recruit couldn’t just randomly seek out a Lieutenant, who was a far superior officer, and ask to talk.

Nor would it be appropriate to ask the Captains to arrange a meeting.

I had been worrying about it, and as it happened, Won Tae-bum was put in charge of the recruit training.

It seemed perfect to look for an opportunity to speak to him after this training session.

’I’m going to kneel before him and offer him my sincerest apologies!’

With that thought in mind, I looked at Won Tae-bum with eyes that I hoped looked gentle.

For some reason, Won Tae-bum couldn’t maintain eye contact with me for long.

He cast his gaze slightly downward.

Then, checking his watch, he began the lesson as soon as it hit the hour.

"Today, we will proceed with practical training."

Won Tae-bum opened a metal case placed on the podium.

Inside was a Trial meteorite. It was a low-grade meteorite intended for recruit training.

A tense atmosphere flowed among the recruits at the sight of the multi-colored meteorite.

While I was thinking it looked cute, like a child’s toy, Won Tae-bum announced the name of the Trial.

"The Trial we will enter is <Hop Drop Pop>, a two-star grade."

’<Hop Drop Pop>...’

I felt a sense of welcome because it was a game I had enjoyed.

HopDropPop was a large-scale multiplayer game with a casual atmosphere.

Players started simultaneously and played various mini-games, a survival style where they passed obstacles or engaged in light competitions.

It was fun because players could cooperate or hinder each other, and it had one major advantage.

’There’s no death penalty.’

In HopDropPop, if a player falls below the stage, a heart is consumed.

After consuming all six given hearts, they switch to spectator mode.

If even one person among those who entered completes the course, the spectators are also cleared, and everyone can exit the Trial.

It was among the safest of all Trials.

Even if all recruits became spectators, as long as the instructor completed it, clearance was guaranteed, making it a very suitable Trial for education.

However, there was another decisive reason why I liked HopDropPop.

It was the fact that you could customize your character in various ways.

I loved being able to choose different options to decorate my character when starting the game.

I wondered if customization would apply to the pudding slime.

"Evaluation scores will be assigned based on the order of completion,"

Won Tae-bum added in a stiff tone after finishing the explanation.

"Recruits are to cooperate with one another to complete the course."

Cooperation...

Judging by the atmosphere, there didn’t seem to be many people willing to cooperate with me.

Well, it didn’t matter.

Even if every recruit here rushed to hinder me, I was confident I could reach the goal.

However, since this was for office training, I had to be careful not to clear it with a True Ending and close it.

’Let’s just aim for the top 5.’

I decided on a moderate rank in my mind.

After explaining the final precautions, Won Tae-bum announced the entry into the Trial.

"Then, we shall enter."

As he placed his hand on the meteorite, the world was dyed in fluorescent colors.

[Han Goyo (Lamb) has entered <Hop Drop Pop>!]

However, upon entering HopDropPop, I didn’t even get to read the main quest.

The moment I entered, someone pushed me, sending me plummeting below the stage.

I fell rapidly against the cute background.

[You have fallen!]

As my vision turned grey, one heart was consumed.

And then I...

"...Hah."

I respawned, feeling slightly pissed off.