I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

Having more than enough funds was precisely what enriched a gamer’s heart.

And not just in games. The same was true in Trials.

The more money you had, the more options you had for clearing them.

Although the Young God had caused an enormous disaster, it had already happened, so all I could think about was making the most of it.

With all that gold moving before my eyes, the Young God was also tremendously excited.

While pushing back the Young God, who was desperately trying to come out, I pointed the camera toward the monsters.

It was only then that I belatedly noticed a gaze on me.

“…….”

Cecilia was staring intently at me while holding the pulse pistol.

She was quite far away because she had been tampering with the AI kiosk’s circuits.

But I had gotten excited and shouted “Captains.”

I had said it loudly enough for Cecilia to hear me.

Cecilia jumped from one shelf to another as though they were stepping stones across a river until she reached my side.

With the light in one hand and the pulse pistol in the other, she asked.

“We’re going to record, right?”

Without saying anything else, she began setting up the lighting.

I decided to focus first on the gold in front of me.

The Captains were already accustomed to this thanks to all the Trials they had gone through with me, so they moved with ease.

Mo Haein used the Black Moon Blade to retrieve the clapperboard rolling across the floor among the monsters, while Kwak Hanmuk had already chosen a monster he liked and was moving the boom microphone closer to it.

“Hyung. Let’s record this one first.”

The “hyung” that came out of Kwak Hanmuk’s mouth as he pointed the boom microphone toward a writhing tentacle sounded extremely natural.

Since he normally called me hyung as a joke from time to time anyway, it didn’t feel too strange to me either.

Just as I was about to start recording the tentacled monster Kwak Hanmuk had chosen.

“…!”

Clank.

The shelf I was standing on shook violently.

I realized that a small problem had arisen.

The monsters the Young God had gathered were extremely interested in me.

But it wasn’t exactly positive interest.

I could feel a ravenous hunger coming from the monsters as they slowly approached.

They wanted to devour me.

Every monster crowding the enormous convenience store directed a sinister energy toward me.

Just before a tentacle fiercely climbed up the shelf and wrapped itself around my ankle.

Boom!

A violent impact erupted.

I looked down in astonishment.

While I floated in midair with the prayer beads wrapped around my waist, the Black Moon Blade had split the shelf beneath me in two.

Beside it, the tentacle struck by the pulse pistol’s beam writhed in pain.

“Wow, fuck. You almost became crushed Chestnut.”

With that rough expression, Kwak Hanmuk checked that I was safe.

Mo Haein, firmly gripping the Black Moon Blade, slightly raised her gaze toward Cecilia.

The two of them had attacked the tentacle at the same time and stared at each other for a few moments.

Cecilia tried to shoot it again with the pulse pistol.

Still holding the camera, I hurriedly shouted.

“You can’t kill them!”

In my haste, I began speaking informally to them without even thinking about it. With the Young God’s mentality, I put the Captains, who ranked far above me, to work.

“I’m going to record while we contain the monsters. Can you control the boom microphone and the light with the prayer beads?”

“Fuck yeah.”

“Good. Noona, keep the monsters from getting close to me. Don’t kill them.”

“Don’t worry and keep recording, Gunbam. I’ll make sure no one can touch a single hair on your head.”

“And H-Haein. After using the clapperboard, help Noona keep the monsters at bay.”

I looked at Mo Haein somewhat anxiously.

Upon seeing my face, Mo Haein let out a small chuckle for some reason and replied.

“Okay.”

Fortunately, she didn’t use ‘that way of addressing me.’

I sighed inwardly in relief and firmly gripped the camera again.

The recording began in earnest.

Kwak Hanmuk used his incredible control over the prayer beads to simultaneously move the boom microphone, the light, and me.

He skillfully made me dodge the monsters lunging at me while positioning me at the best angles to film them.

Feeling as though I were suspended from wires, I captured overhead shots and vividly recorded the monsters’ movements.

Meanwhile, Cecilia and Mo Haein also moved tirelessly, preventing the monsters from interfering with the recording.

However, accidents kept happening.

Bzzzt!

At the exact moment Cecilia fired the ray gun, Mo Haein swung the Black Moon Blade.

“…….”

The two women’s gazes met.

Mo Haein silently stared at her.

Cecilia said calmly.

“It was an accident.”

The beam from the pulse pistol had passed dangerously close to Mo Haein.

After watching Cecilia for a few moments, Mo Haein swung the Black Moon Blade without taking her eyes off her.

“You should be careful too.”

As she pushed away a monster that was trying to wrap around everything like threads, she replied indifferently.

“Because I think I’m about to have an accident too.”

Upon witnessing that scene, the Young God inside me suddenly burst out and shouted.

“My Familiar…!”

When he began acting as though he were about to punish Cecilia that very instant, Kwak Hanmuk quickly pulled me away with the prayer beads.

After bringing me over to his side, he pretended to stop me without much enthusiasm.

“Come on, Hyung. She said it was an accident. Let’s let it slide this time.”

But he was only saying that with words. In reality, he seemed to be subtly egging the Young God on.

After managing to calm him down with great difficulty, I called out to Cecilia.

“Noona….”

“My Little Chestnut. Sorry for scaring you.”

Cecilia replied with a voice and gaze full of affection.

But I knew her jealousy.

It was clear that she would never seriously injure Kwak Hanmuk or Mo Haein, but I could also perfectly imagine a future where she continued subtly bothering them.

And if Cecilia really did end up hurting my Familiars.

I didn’t think I would be able to restrain myself.

In the end, I ended up speaking to her as though I were trying to make her see reason.

“I told you they’re my younger siblings.”

The moment she heard my words, Cecilia’s expression stiffened.

She looked at me and slowly moved her lips.

“…I’ll be careful.”

Then she looked away.

I wanted to comfort her, but we didn’t have time right now.

It seemed we needed to finish the recording as soon as possible first.

I moved the camera without even having a moment to breathe.

Since I knew perfectly well what kind of editing would generate the most money, I recorded only the shots we needed.

And finally, the moment I finished recording the last scene.

“We’re done recording, so now…!”

Before I could even tell everyone to retreat, something happened.

As soon as I announced the end of the recording, Cecilia pulled out another pulse pistol and held one in each hand.

She swiftly changed the settings on both and immediately pulled the triggers.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Energy shots flew in every direction like machine-gun bullets.

When that insane barrage ended.

Not a single monster remained alive inside the convenience store.

Cecilia slowly lowered her weapons and turned toward me with a smile.

“Gunbam.”

She whispered in a voice that was sweet and sinister at the same time.

“How about Noona and you have a little talk alone?”

I had actually been thinking about comforting Cecilia.

However, before I could answer her, Mo Haein called me.

Using ‘that way of addressing me.’

“Oppa.”

I was completely stunned, as though someone had just ripped my soul out, while she continued speaking with complete naturalness.

“Let’s all talk together. I can’t let you go alone.”

She flicked the Black Moon Blade downward to shake off the sticky fluids and, without even blinking, added.

“That unnie is strange.”

***

The video caused an enormous sensation.

We sold it exclusively on the condition that, in addition to publishing photographs in the newspaper, they also broadcast the video on a television channel belonging to the same group, and we earned figures that even I had never achieved in the game.

Newspaper sales and viewership ratings were extraordinary, and we received so many incentives that it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say money had rained down on us.

Even after paying the repair costs for the convenience store, which had been completely destroyed, we still had money left over.

And the Captains and I also experienced a spectacular rise in status.

Work Level A

We had gone straight from Work Level E to Work Level A.

“Gunbam. Good job.”

I looked at Cecilia, who was as happy as though it were her own achievement.

We had entered a separate room to talk after she arrived at the shelter.

Although we had managed to record an incredible video that night at the convenience store, the relationship between Cecilia and the Captains had deteriorated beyond repair.

That day, I had barely managed to stop Cecilia from silently firing her pulse pistols and hurriedly returned to the shelter with the Captains.

Since then, Cecilia and the Captains had ignored each other through a kind of unspoken agreement.

Kwak Hanmuk would sometimes casually greet her or try to talk to her, but Cecilia didn’t show any particular reaction.

I wanted to mediate between them somehow, but it was difficult.

Cecilia’s jealousy was so intense that she couldn’t stand seeing me prioritize my Familiars even a little.

And, for some reason, the Captains would also subtly retaliate whenever Cecilia behaved that way, which made it even more difficult to intervene.

While wondering what the hell I was supposed to do, I sincerely expressed my gratitude to Cecilia.

“Noona, thank you.”

If we had managed to make it not only into the newspaper but also onto television, it was entirely thanks to her doing such a good job as an intermediary.

Cecilia shrugged and replied.

“You did the work. From now on, you’ll have to be even more careful.”

Once word got out that a novice Stringer had obtained that video, we immediately began receiving enormous attention.

Everyone wanted to know who the hell had gotten such an exclusive.

If they discovered that the novice Stringer was the Young God, investigating in the future would become much more difficult.

It seemed I would have to move as carefully as possible to avoid attracting attention.

Although we were hiding in the shelter Cecilia had prepared, I was beginning to get the feeling that someone was tracking us down.

Cecilia said we should change hideouts again soon and handed me a newspaper.

“And read this.”

It was Day News.

I thought there would be an article related to the Young God or the convenience store explosion, but a completely different article occupied the entire front page.

Before I even read the contents, my eyes were drawn to the enormous photograph.

My lips parted on their own.

It was Hypereden’s Tower.

But it didn’t show its usual majestic and flawless appearance.

Numerous completely black lines ran irregularly across the Tower.

They were cut marks that looked extremely familiar to me.

I hurriedly read the article.

[Exclusive] Mysterious Black Lines Appear on the ‘Tower’!

Last night, a strange phenomenon occurred at the Tower.

Dozens of black lines simultaneously appeared across the Tower’s exterior walls.

According to witnesses, the moment the black lines appeared, the signals of the machines located around the Tower were temporarily paralyzed.

The black lines seemed to have cut the entire Tower into pieces as though it were a pile of scraps. They remained visible for several seconds before disappearing as though they had never existed.

The impact throughout the entire city has been enormous.

After all, the place where this strange phenomenon occurred was none other than the ‘Tower.’

The entire city has been plunged into confusion due to the incident that occurred at the absolute sanctuary where Mad Messiah resides.

I skipped over everything about Hypereden’s citizens being shocked and worried about Mad Messiah.

At the end of the article, the person who had provided the information was mentioned.

It had been another Stringer who specialized in investigating mysteries.

I looked at the photograph in the article again.

‘He must feel lonely.’

I couldn’t even imagine how lonely he must feel being completely isolated.

He was probably sad because I was only with my other Familiars.

I wanted to break into the Tower immediately.

Go there, pat him on the head, and praise him for waiting patiently…

‘Ah, seriously, enough already.’

I pushed the Young God’s thoughts out of my mind.

Of course, I was also desperate to rescue Je Hyuno.

But in my current state, I had no way to enter the Tower until Mr. Black Blocks decided to open it.

Perhaps I could open its doors using the Young God’s power, but if I did something like that, I myself might disappear.

Or perhaps my body wouldn’t even hold out long enough to reach that point.

Even so, it didn’t seem like Mr. Black Blocks was treating Je Hyuno badly.

He had to know perfectly well that I would never forgive him if he caused Je Hyuno even the slightest harm.

What worried me most was that Je Hyuno couldn’t fly freely through the sky.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how suffocating it must be for my Familiar to remain trapped inside the Tower….

Filled with worry, I sent a message.

Lieutenant Colonel Je, are you all right? I saw the newspaper article. My Familiar, do you feel very lonely? You mustn’t hurt yourself.

I sent messages to Je Hyuno three times a day, morning, noon, and night, asking how he was doing.

Perhaps the messages didn’t even reach inside the Tower, but I had to at least do that so both the Young God and I could feel a little more at ease.

After sending the message, I continued staring gloomily at the newspaper until Cecilia called me.

“Gunbam.”

“…Yes?”

“You’re a God. Why do you love and care for your Familiars so much?”

She took the newspaper from my hands as she continued.

“Actually, something like that isn’t like a God. Even considering your future, it would be better if you weren’t so attached to your Familiars.”

It wasn’t simply jealousy toward the Captains.

Cecilia was advising me because she was genuinely worried about me.

I thought I understood how she felt.

After all, even now I was acting recklessly because I wanted to rescue one of my Familiars.

However, no matter what I said, I probably wouldn’t be able to make Cecilia understand.

So I simply smiled and replied.

“I don’t know either.”

“…….”

Cecilia watched me with a strangely anguished gaze.

She seemed to want to persuade me somehow, but after simply staring at me for a long time, she let out a long sigh.

“Have you decided what your next investigation will be?”

“Not yet.”

Thanks to the convenience store video, we had skipped several stages of progression.

Since we had gone straight to television, the difficulty of the next Quest would increase considerably.

I was recalling the investigation Quests that usually appeared when choosing the Mystery theme when Cecilia held out an envelope made of luxurious paper.

It was a surprisingly analog object for a cyberpunk world.

“Open it.”

I took the envelope almost reflexively, and when I opened it, I found an invitation.

The moment I read the first line, I immediately raised my head and looked at Cecilia.

She was watching me with a mixture of tension, fear, and a certain amount of anticipation.

“Do you think you can investigate it?”

At that exact moment, the Quest window appeared.

◆Main Quest: Investigate Hypereden’s greatest mystery at the masquerade ball.

Head to the banquet hall in the central district using the map.

Caution! Under no circumstances allow your identity to be discovered! Be careful not to let anyone realize that you come from the slums.

It was an invitation to a charity event organized by Mad Messiah, the owner of Hypereden.