I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

It was Monday morning.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was check the Weekly Schedule again.

The physician’s Monday schedule was as follows.

▸ Monday

☐ Check and organize the medicine inventory.

☐ Conduct in-person consultations for at least 6 human inmates.

☐ Carry out the medical rounds in Block X.

☐ Inspect the infirmary’s CCTV.

At first glance, it looked simple, but even if I worked all day, there still wouldn’t be enough time.

To begin with, simply checking the medicine inventory was already a difficult task.

Hundreds of medications were mixed together without any order.

The first time I played, I spent the entire day sorting them, and even then I couldn’t finish before the day ended.

‘That time I failed the mission on the very first day, and the prison guards dragged me off for a beating.’

Fortunately, the medicine inventory was always the same.

Once you memorized it, everything became much easier.

If it was the same as in the game, I could probably finish it in under thirty minutes.

I decided to head to the infirmary as quickly as possible.

Consultations for the human inmates began at nine in the morning, so I had to get there beforehand.

‘I also need to get something to eat.’

There was a cafeteria, but if I went there right away without thinking, the prison guards would beat me up immediately.

I had to get food little by little without drawing their attention, and that wasn’t exactly easy.

I looked at myself in the mirror and carefully adjusted my white coat.

Normally, prison physicians wore surgical scrubs, but in The Cell Block X, the physician was given a white coat.

In a prison where everything was completely black, I was the only one dressed in white, so I stood out far too much.

‘They say white animals stand out more in the wild, which is why they’re more likely to be attacked.’

As I recalled that bit of information from one of those animal videos and wondered whether there was some connection between the white coat and the physician’s constant harassment, I left my quarters after straightening my coat one last time.

The infirmary, the physician’s main workplace, was located at the far end of the inmate block.

“Mr. Gunbam, will something happen if you fail to follow the daily schedule?”

In response to the prison guard slime’s question, I answered honestly.

“Yes. If I fail any of the missions, the prison guards will harass me.”

“How unfortunate. In that case, will I have to harass you as well?”

If a prison guard slime resorted to violence, how would he do it?

By hitting me with his soft body?

By squashing me with all his strength?

By rubbing himself against me nonstop?

Honestly.

None of those options sounded bad.

As I absurdly imagined a world where every prison guard was a soft little slime, I answered,

“That won’t be necessary, unless you intend to carry out the duties of a prison guard.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

In fact, simply accompanying me to the infirmary was already something completely unrelated to the duties a prison guard was supposed to perform.

When I arrived at the infirmary, I looked around the room.

As befitted a prison meant to hold dangerous criminals, the infirmary also had a gloomy and depressing atmosphere.

Most of the furniture was made of dull stainless steel, giving off a cold and suffocating feeling.

At first glance, anyone would have thought it was an autopsy room rather than an infirmary.

The small window was covered by thick iron bars, making it almost impossible to see outside.

Since the room wasn’t very large, there was only a single examination bed.

The first thing that caught my eye were the thick restraint straps attached to it.

The legs of the bed had been firmly bolted to the floor, so not even several burly men hanging from it could move it a single inch.

I looked up at the ceiling.

In one corner was a surveillance camera.

That camera, which recorded every movement made by both the physician and the inmates, was an indispensable part of the infirmary.

After that time in the game when the CCTV malfunctioned and I ended up getting brutally beaten inside the infirmary, protecting that camera had become my highest priority.

‘I’m going to protect it no matter what.’

With that firm resolve, I climbed onto a chair to inspect it.

The indicator light showing it was operating was still on, and it didn’t appear to have any damage.

After confirming everything was in order, I began organizing the medicine cabinet.

Since everything was exactly the same as in the game, the task was quite easy.

After carefully arranging every last bottle, I checked the Weekly Schedule again.

The completed missions were now marked, and small notes had also been added.

▸ Monday

☑ Check and organize the medicine inventory. Protect the key.

☐ Conduct in-person consultations for at least 6 human inmates.

☐ Carry out the medical rounds in Block X.

☑ Inspect the infirmary’s CCTV. It must remain operational.

Those notes indicated which parts of the Procedures Manual were true.

Everything was going smoothly so far.

After finishing a quick cleaning of the infirmary as well, I found an expired box of cereal hidden in the back of a desk drawer.

It was the emergency stash left behind by the previous physician.

That man must have suffered quite a bit of harassment as well, because he had hidden small amounts of food in different corners of the infirmary.

I ate the crunchy cereal and tried to share some with the Pudding Slime, but, as always, he politely declined.

‘With the food the previous physician left behind, I should be able to last about two days.’

After gathering all the hidden food, I looked at the clock.

8:50 a.m.

Very soon, the prison guards would bring the human inmates in for medical treatment.

The human inmates’ consultations were quite difficult.

I had to distinguish the fake patients from the real ones and examine at least six of them.

But since they were dangerous criminals, every single one of them had a terrible personality.

They all claimed to be patients and demanded that I prescribe them narcotic painkillers and admit them to the infirmary so they could avoid forced labor.

If things didn’t go the way they wanted, they wouldn’t hesitate to make a scene.

Although a prison guard remained present during the consultation, he was absolutely useless.

He merely watched with amusement as the inmates harassed the physician.

‘At least I already know all the answers.’

Since I already knew who the real patients were, what illnesses they had, and how they should be treated, pretending to be a real doctor didn’t seem difficult.

What mattered now was which prison guard would come.

If it was Kwak Hanmuk, everything would be much easier.

But then I wouldn’t be able to find out what the situation inside the prison was really like.

I could only hope I’d get the most indifferent prison guard of them all.

Just before nine o’clock, I used my ability once again after a long time to check Kwak Hanmuk’s status window.

The moment I saw his current status, I couldn’t help wondering what was going on.

Current Status: Irritated.

I wondered what on earth could have happened for him to be marked as Irritated.

Meanwhile, I found it amusing that his inventory was packed with food and sweets.

I also tried checking Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno’s status window, but it still hadn’t appeared.

Apparently, he still hadn’t entered the Trial.

Then it struck nine o’clock.

Bang!

The infirmary door flew open without so much as a knock.

A uniformed prison guard entered with heavy military bootsteps.

The moment I saw the gray metal mask, my eyes widened.

“Chief of Security?”

His rank was far too high for him to come simply to supervise the physician.

The Chief of Security was the true authority within the prison.

Every prison guard obeyed his orders absolutely.

They could ignore the prison warden’s orders, but never those of the Chief of Security.

He was also the person the inmates feared the most.

Because anyone who broke the rules was executed immediately.

There were quite a few inmates whom he had thrown into the sea, later covering up their deaths as illnesses or accidents.

Honestly, they were all dangerous criminals.

I didn’t particularly care if they ended up becoming fish food.

The problem was that the same violence was also directed at me.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the prison guards’ habit of harassing the physician existed because of the Chief of Security.

With his approval—and even under his influence—the guards had gradually begun tormenting the physician.

The situation had reached the point where no doctor wanted to accept a position at that prison.

And that was exactly what the Chief of Security wanted.

For the physician’s position to remain vacant.

However, after the previous physician disappeared, I had been assigned to fill that long-vacant position.

That was why, even in the game, he had been the one most determined to make my life miserable.

Even so, it was unusual for the Chief of Security to act personally.

Normally, he left the dirty work to the guards under his command.

‘What is he doing here?’

Feeling somewhat uneasy, I awkwardly greeted him.

“Good morning…”

“Little Lamb. Begin the consultations.”

Instead of returning my greeting, the Chief of Security immediately gave me an order.

Although he used formal language, his attitude was practically that of someone speaking to a subordinate.

Under his supervision, I began seeing the inmates.

All the human inmates looked fierce.

Their hands and feet were shackled, so they couldn’t physically attack me.

But that didn’t stop them from shouting in my face.

“What could a brat like you possibly know?! Admit me!”

Since the prison guards tolerated harassment against the physician, the inmates had absolutely no reservations about displaying their aggression.

But after everything I had been through, mere shouting, threats, and insults were no longer enough to shake me.

All I had to do was glance at the Pudding Slime resting on my shoulder, and all of it seemed completely insignificant.

Besides, the human inmates’ values didn’t affect the ending.

So I pretended to examine them superficially and gave them whatever diagnosis came to mind.

“You don’t appear to have anything serious. Drink plenty of water and get some rest.”

“You damned quack! You didn’t even take my temperature!”

“Next patient.”

However, whenever the real patients appeared—the ones whose cases I already knew by heart from playing the game—I pretended to examine them with complete seriousness.

“This is serious! You have a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection!”

“…Doctor, I haven’t even sat down yet.”

“Ah, I could tell just by looking at your face. There’s a risk of contagion, so I’d appreciate it if you isolated him immediately.”

“Ahem… If it’s isolation… then yes, I think I’ve got that… What was it called? Methi… what?”

Since they were starting to get suspicious because I was diagnosing them too quickly, I added a bit of acting—I pretended to take their temperature and listened to their chest with the stethoscope before giving my diagnosis.

I continued holding consultations until just before lunch and completed the mission without any problems.

▸ Monday

☑ Check and organize the medicine inventory. Protect the key.

☑ Conduct in-person consultations for at least 6 human inmates. Patient No. 13.

☐ Carry out the medical rounds in Block X.

☑ Inspect the infirmary’s CCTV. It must remain operational.

‘Now all that’s left is the medical rounds in Block X.’

According to the Weekly Schedule, the truthfulness of the manual’s instructions changed.

Since the note Patient No. 13 had appeared, today I had to proceed under the assumption that there really was a thirteenth inmate in Block X.

Just before leaving for the rounds, I was about to read the Previous Physician’s Procedures Manual one more time when I stopped.

The Chief of Security was still inside the infirmary.

‘Why is he still here? Is he planning to beat me?’

I tensed up completely, thinking he might do it himself.

Then a notification sounded.

Suspicion +5

Affinity +2

Once again, Suspicion and Affinity increased at the same time.

I could understand Suspicion going up.

After all, I had examined the patients a little too well.

But I still couldn’t understand why Affinity was increasing as well.

I checked the Chief of Security’s current values.

Chief of Security

— Suspicion: 13

— Affinity: 3

‘Suspicion is still much higher, but…’

Although the values were still within a safe range, not knowing what caused those changes made me uneasy.

At that moment, the Chief of Security’s radio emitted a burst of static.

— Security. Block X. Code Red.

After hearing the transmission, the Chief of Security replied in a firm voice.

“Understood. I’m on my way.”

Then he turned to me and ordered,

“Little Lamb. Come with me.”

“Huh?”

“It seems a newly admitted inmate in Block X is causing trouble. Come with me and assess his condition.”

I looked at the Chief of Security in surprise.

It was the first time that, on the very first day of the weekly schedule, a disturbance event caused by a Creature had been triggered.

And on top of that, a Code Red meant that a violent incident had occurred.

I had heard that same code not long ago in the real world.

Hearing it again now, inside the Trial, gave me a strange feeling.

‘Besides, he says a new Creature has been admitted…’

In the game, a new Creature inmate had never appeared.

I wanted to see this unknown Creature with my own eyes.

So I followed the Chief of Security toward Block X.

Chapter 103

As I followed the Chief of Security, I thought about Creature No. 13.

In the original game, there was no Creature No. 13, and, of course, Cell No. 13 was always empty.

Depending on the Weekly Schedule, which changed every week, the Procedures Manual instructed me to behave either as though someone was inside Cell No. 13 or as though it were completely empty.

‘I hope too many anomalies don’t start appearing.’

The Creatures were the most important part of this Trial, so it wasn’t good for more variables to emerge.

Even so, I was curious about this new Creature.

With my heart torn between concern and curiosity, I kept walking.

Block X, where the thirteen isolation cells were located, was far more oppressive than it had been in the game.

An icy dampness, impossible to perceive in the game, clung to my skin and sent chills running through my body.

Twelve cells faced each other along the long corridor.

The thirteenth one stood completely isolated at the very end of the hallway.

Hidden behind thick steel bars, the cells were terrifyingly cramped.

The only place where any light entered was through a tiny opening no larger than the palm of a hand.

Even there, the bars were packed so closely together that they barely allowed enough light to illuminate the interior.

I could feel several pairs of eyes fixed on me.

They belonged to the Creatures, whose bodies remained half-concealed within the shadows.

Deliberately, I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead.

I couldn’t look at them yet.

The Creatures imprisoned there were in an extremely sensitive state.

If I approached them carelessly, their Suspicion would immediately rise to 100, and they would completely close off their hearts.

I slowly walked past the cells.

When I passed Cell No. 6—

“Mr. Gunbam, do you hear the sound of the sea?”

It was a little difficult.

But I forced myself not to turn my head and kept walking.

Eventually, I reached Cell No. 13, located even farther back than the other twelve.

Several prison guards had already gathered there.

Those towering two-meter-tall figures crowded in front of the cell, blocking almost my entire view.

Through a small gap between them, I could see that the cell door was open.

Apparently, they still hadn’t managed to lock up Creature No. 13 and were confronting him.

Among the guards, I spotted a head of red hair that was slightly shorter than the rest.

Beneath the metal mask covering half his face, Kwak Hanmuk’s lips were tightly pressed together.

It seemed Creature No. 13 had caused quite a serious disturbance.

The admission procedure for Creatures was completely different from that of humans.

Human criminals were transferred to the prison after their trials, underwent a search of their belongings, received a brief orientation, and were then assigned a cell.

Creatures, on the other hand, were locked up immediately upon arriving from the laboratory.

Unlike humans, there was no risk of them hiding objects, and they were much easier to control inside specially designed cells.

Creature No. 13 must have also been transferred directly from the laboratory to Block X.

And during that process, he had probably attacked one of the prison guards.

The fact that they still hadn’t managed to subdue him proved that he was an extraordinarily powerful Creature.

“…!”

Only then did I notice the tragedy lying at the guards’ feet.

One of them had died.

His body had been split cleanly in half.

Instead of red blood, a thick neon-green liquid flowed from the corpse.

The severed cross-section of his body was completely black, as though an enormous mass of dark jelly had been sliced in two.

I held my breath and looked at the dead guard’s name tag.

Then I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a sigh.

What rotten luck.

‘Why did it have to be him?!’

The one who had died was the only guard who had practically never paid any attention to the physician.

If someone had to die, I would have preferred it to be the most troublesome guard.

That very guard was now reporting the situation to the Chief of Security.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Creature this violent. Look what he did to me.”

His entire left forearm was missing.

A steady stream of neon-green liquid poured from the amputated limb.

Honestly.

I thought he was overreacting.

After all, prison guards could recover from injuries like that fairly easily.

Losing an arm was completely repairable.

They only died after sustaining damage beyond a certain threshold.

‘Though it doesn’t seem like there’s much camaraderie among them either.’

One of their comrades had just died.

And yet, none of them showed the slightest reaction.

The only thing that angered them was the commotion the Creature had caused.

Even in the game, I had felt that there was very little interaction among the prison guards.

And apparently, in reality, there wasn’t any sense of camaraderie between them either.

Perhaps it was the price they had paid for abandoning their humanity in exchange for power.

“Chief of Security. We need to execute that bastard.”

Holding his injured arm, the guard took a step back as he spat out those furious words.

He did so to allow the Chief of Security to get a clear look at Creature No. 13.

And since I was standing right behind him,

I naturally ended up seeing Creature No. 13 as well.

…Huh?

“……”

I blinked over and over again.

I stared fixedly at Creature No. 13 before shifting my gaze toward Kwak Hanmuk.

The moment I looked at him again, I realized that the stiffness in his lips wasn’t from tension.

He was holding back laughter.

The instant I realized the truth, I screamed inwardly.

‘Why is Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno showing up as a Creature?!’

This was completely insane.

In The Cell Block X, I had never heard of a Creature inmate role.

There were human inmates, but never a Creature as an assignable character.

Dominic, who had also seen Creature No. 13 with me, tilted his head curiously.

“Has one of Mr. Gunbam’s followers committed some kind of sin?”

Hearing his question, the first thing that came to mind—rather maliciously—was that he probably had committed quite a few.

I quickly shook those thoughts away and tried to calmly accept the situation.

‘Although, now that I think about it, it would have been strange if he’d ended up as a human inmate too.’

It was impossible to picture Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno, dressed head to toe in his raven gear, mingling with ordinary prisoners.

I mentally reviewed the other roles in The Cell Block X, but none of them seemed suitable for him.

The only one that more or less fit was prison guard.

Although even that would have been difficult because he would have had to obey his superiors’ orders.

Looking at it that way, becoming Creature Inmate No. 13 was, all things considered, the most logical option.

Except that—

It was a little absurd.

And pretty funny.

“Why don’t we just kill that bastard already?”

The prison guard who had lost his left arm shouted furiously.

It seemed he wanted to lose his head to Je Hyuno this time as well.

Taking advantage of the fact that neither the Chief of Security nor the other guards were paying attention to me, I discreetly looked at Je Hyuno.

He stood motionless in front of Cell No. 13, like a robot that had been completely powered down.

From his metallic hand, that thick neon-green liquid slowly dripped.

Plop.

Plop.

The drops fell one after another.

What unsettled me the most was that the lights on his protective goggles remained off.

Then I regretted something.

‘I should’ve asked Captain Kwak whether emoticons had been appearing on his goggles this whole time.’

After being trapped by the illusion magic in Slay to Plate, Je Hyuno had kept the lights on his goggles turned off.

And seeing that they were still completely dark, it was hard to believe he was in good condition.

Carefully glancing around, I sent him a Message.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno, are you alright?

The system window displaying my Message appeared in front of him.

Until then, he had remained completely motionless.

He only tilted his head slightly to one side.

Then he barely turned his face to look at me.

I thought for a moment before sending another Message.

If you want to kill everyone so badly that you can’t hold yourself back, click your hand once. If you can still control yourself, click it twice.

I planned to change my approach depending on his state of mind.

Of course, there was a chance Je Hyuno would ignore my Message.

If he didn’t respond, I’d just have to improvise.

However, without taking his eyes off me, he slowly moved his metallic hand.

Clack.

Once.

I waited a few seconds in case it clicked a second time.

But there was no second sound.

I would have preferred to hear two.

Even so, at least I now had an idea of how he was doing.

At that moment, a cold voice rang out beside me.

“Execute Creature No. 13.”

The Chief of Security had just given the execution order.

Every prison guard drew their weapons at the same time.

They were rifles loaded with special ammunition designed to eliminate Creatures.

Just as they were about to pull the trigger—

“Wait!”

I threw myself forward, practically diving across the floor.

I ended up surrounded by gun barrels pointed directly at me as I forced an awkward smile.

There was no chance Je Hyuno would die from a few bullets.

But inside this Trial, he was being recognized as Creature No. 13.

Even though he was already infected with Zero, and many Trial rules didn’t apply to him, that didn’t mean none of them did.

There was a possibility that this special anti-Creature ammunition could seriously injure him.

And I wanted to eliminate every possible risk.

“Little Lamb. What do you think you’re doing?”

The Chief of Security slowly walked toward me.

The cold barrel of his rifle came to rest against my head.

“Would you like us to execute you as well?”

“I…!”

I hurriedly shouted,

“I’m an expert on Creatures!”

I could see several guards struggling not to laugh.

Ignoring them, I continued speaking as quickly as I could.

“That’s exactly why I was assigned to this prison—because of my extensive knowledge of Creatures. There’s no need to execute Creature No. 13! I’ll subdue him myself and lock him inside his cell.”

I put on an ingratiating smile.

“Wouldn’t it be far more valuable to keep him alive?”

The Chief of Security silently stared at me.

Finally, a crooked smile appeared beneath his mask.

Using the barrel of his rifle, he shoved my head to one side.

I staggered back several steps.

He continued looking at me with an expression full of mockery.

“Go ahead.”

Even though his mask concealed his face, it was obvious what he was thinking.

What could a nobody like me possibly do?

He seemed convinced that, at best, I’d end up running away in tears.

Without letting the smile leave my face, I gave a slight bow.

“Thank you very much, Chief of Security.”

At the same time, I sent another Message to Je Hyuno.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno, I need your cooperation.

In response—

Clack.

His hand clicked once again.

It wasn’t exactly the way I’d hoped he’d express his opinion.

It was pretty clear he wasn’t very interested in cooperating.

But I had no other choice.

I sent him another Message.

I only need your cooperation this one time.

Meanwhile, I slowly approached him.

I could feel every prison guard watching the scene with intense interest.

Some of them were even nudging each other and pointing.

It looked like they were taking bets on whether I would live or die.

Of course.

I had no intention of dying.

Really, just this once.

As I continued sending him Messages over and over, I finally reached him.

Now that I was close, he didn’t appear to have any injuries.

And he didn’t smell like blood either.

Je Hyuno lowered his gaze and silently looked at me.

My face was clearly reflected in the glossy surface of his goggles.

Then, deliberately, he moved his metallic hand again.

Clack.

The instant it clicked once more—

I realized exactly what Message I needed to send him.

A new system window appeared in front of Je Hyuno.

I’m not joining Pasung.