I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

I knew perfectly well that none of it was real.

And yet, an unbearable sense of disgust began to consume me.

Perhaps that feeling had started the very moment Je Hyuno was locked inside Cell No. 13.

He, who possessed the fastest and most powerful wings, had ended up confined to a place where he couldn’t even spread them a single foot.

It had already been hard enough for me to endure seeing my subordinate imprisoned in such a cramped, suffocating place.

And now, on top of that, they had created teaching material like this?

Acting as though they knew all of his weaknesses.

As though they knew how to subdue him.

As though they knew absolutely everything about him.

An intense heat gathered in my eyes.

My heart began to pound violently.

Thump.

Thump.

With every heartbeat, it felt as though a mass of fire was coursing through my veins.

It was the heat of the ■■■■ that I had yet to fully assimilate.

The system window displaying my prison guard progress began to malfunction.

Becoming a New Prison Guard… 53%

The window, trembling as though it might shut down at any moment, crackled with static.

Bzzzt.

Then it changed completely.

Returning to a Young God… 10%

I understood instinctively.

If that new progress bar reached 100%, the Neo inside me would disappear.

But that didn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Something so insignificant could never change me.

“……”

I was also aware that something wasn’t right with me.

Was it because of the fever?

I could feel it becoming harder and harder to remain calm as my emotions steadily took control.

I tried to compose myself.

That holographic representation of Je Hyuno disgusted me to my very core.

But it was nothing more than a fake.

All I had to do was destroy it and finish the training as quickly as possible.

I took a deep breath and did everything I could to regain my composure before looking up.

I knew exactly what was supposed to happen.

The holograms in the ring would disappear, and Creature Inmate No. 1 would appear first.

After that, I would fight the holograms of Creature Inmates No. 1 through No. 12 one by one.

Only after defeating all twelve would I be allowed to face No. 13.

But I had no intention of wasting my time.

Inmate No. 1

The words began to appear on the screen.

Then, all at once, they froze.

The display immediately began showing completely corrupted text.

1Number11Number1Inmate1Number1InmateChange?Ch?ange?Doyouwantmetochange?Foranother?Fo?ranother?AnythingtheYoungGoddesires!

The distorted letters trembled for several moments.

Bang!

The screen abruptly went black.

Then it lit up again.

Let us attempt to subdue Inmate No. 13.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The clear metallic ringing of a bell echoed throughout the room.

With that bell signaling the start of the battle, every other hologram disappeared.

Only one remained.

Spotlights illuminated the ring from every direction, leaving not a single shadow behind.

And yet.

That black hologram seemed to devour the very light simply by existing.

Where it stood, there was nothing but absolute darkness.

It was Je Hyuno’s hologram.

“What a disrespectful act toward one of Mr. Gunbam’s subordinates.”

Dominic’s voice sounded beside my ear, sterner than ever before.

“We should file a formal complaint with the owner of this place, Mr. Gunbam.”

As I listened to his words, I continued staring at that crude imitation of Je Hyuno.

That impostor shamelessly created by copying one of my subordinates.

Clank.

Six metallic wings unfolded.

I felt absolutely nothing as I watched them.

Those wings had been made to soar freely through vast skies.

What purpose did they serve imprisoned in a miserable place like this?

At most, they could only swing a few metal blades.

My eyes continued to burn.

And the heat endlessly surging from my heart felt as though it were setting my entire body ablaze as it raced through my veins.

For some reason.

That warmth felt comforting.

It was as though it were lifting me higher.

‘Calm down.’

I forced myself to regain my composure.

I spun the riot baton once in my hand as I thought.

Je Hyuno was strong.

But this hologram had failed to reproduce him properly.

I understood that the very instant I laid eyes on it.

They had convincingly copied his appearance.

But they had only managed to replicate a small fraction of his abilities.

As expected.

They had failed to comprehend Je Hyuno in his entirety.

I was still infected with Neo.

Which meant the physical enhancement hadn’t completely disappeared yet.

It was more than enough to deal with this counterfeit.

The impostor looked up at me.

I felt the gaze of its goggles fixed upon me.

But it stirred absolutely nothing within me.

After observing me for a few moments.

The hologram charged.

Its metallic hand shot forward with overwhelming force.

Baaang!

The riot baton collided head-on with the metallic hand.

Thanks to the physical enhancement, blocking the attack wasn’t particularly difficult.

Even so, the impact sent an intense tingling sensation through the palm of my hand.

The hologram even reproduced the sensation of the blow.

It felt so real that it was hard to believe it was nothing more than an illusion.

However.

I knew perfectly well that this was nothing but a cheap imitation.

The corners of my lips curled upward slightly.

How could I possibly fail to notice?

I knew far too well what my subordinate was truly like.

The metallic hand lunged at me again and again.

Every time it narrowly missed, it carved deep gouges into the floor.

Fighting an imitation incapable of creating even a Black Crescent was no more than amusing myself with a mere beast.

I retreated until I was cornered against the chains surrounding the ring.

The thick iron chains slammed against my back with a loud Clank.

At the same time, I twisted my body slightly to the side.

The metallic hand struck the chains exactly where I had been leaning just a moment earlier.

The violent impact sent sparks flying in every direction.

But that was all.

It merely severed the chains and tore through part of the ring.

I knew a power capable of splitting apart not only the arena, but even the ground beneath its feet.

Compared to that.

This was pathetically mediocre.

The severed chains crashed heavily onto the floor.

I effortlessly avoided the metallic hand.

Then the wings began to creak.

However, the counterfeit didn’t know how to detach its metallic feathers and use them as blades.

As a result, its attack pattern was extremely simple.

Whenever the metallic hand missed, it immediately followed up with a sweeping strike from its wings.

That was all.

For someone who had stood on the brink of death while fighting Je Hyuno.

These attacks were unbearably dull.

A razor-sharp metallic wing slashed horizontally toward my neck.

I leaned my upper body backward to avoid it.

At the same time, I spun the riot baton in my right hand and lightly struck the side of the wing as it swept past me.

The metallic wing lost its trajectory and cut harmlessly through empty air.

The impostor lost its balance.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the system window.

Returning to a Young God… 76%

The percentage was increasing rapidly.

It would be best to finish this before the physical enhancement granted by Neo disappeared completely.

Besides.

This thing no longer deserved any more of my time.

As I dodged another metallic hand trying to pierce straight through me, a thought crossed my mind.

From the very beginning.

I had never known how to defeat Je Hyuno.

But this.

Was a flawed imitation.

It had to have a weakness.

“Mr. Gunbam.”

I felt a soft, spongy touch brush against my cheek.

“You must not regard him as an insignificant creature.”

Dominic whispered gently.

“You are a god, Mr. Gunbam. Do not forget your true nature.”

The moment I heard those words.

I understood exactly what I had to do.

Baaang!

The metallic hand came crashing toward me again.

Holding the riot baton horizontally, I blocked the blow.

Creeeak.

The baton began to bend under the overwhelming pressure.

As I endured the force with which the impostor tried to crush me.

I examined it closely.

Ah.

Now I could see it.

I understood what it was made of.

It wasn’t merely a hologram.

A fragment of its power had been infused into it to give it physical form.

But it was crude.

Laughably crude.

An existence completely removed from the original.

Even the method used to subdue it was absurdly simplistic, utterly unlike my subordinate.

I no longer wanted to waste another second on such garbage.

Just before the baton reached its limit.

I suddenly released the strength in my arms while dropping my body downward.

Unable to react in time, the impostor lurched forward, carried by the force of its own attack.

I seized that moment of imbalance.

I slipped to the side.

And appeared directly behind it.

I raised the baton vertically.

Then brought it down violently against the base of one of its wings.

With a single blow…

The metallic feathers warped out of shape.

The impostor’s wings trembled as though it had felt pain.

I watched it with an utterly cold gaze.

Then the hologram disappeared.

You have successfully subdued Inmate No. 13.

The screen displayed the victory message.

I completely ignored the notification.

There was only one thing I wanted to confirm.

Returning to a Young God… 100%

After defeating the impostor.

The bar had been filled.

You have returned to a Young God!

The system window sent its final notification before disappearing.

I could feel the Neo leaving my body completely.

However.

The heat coursing through me did not disappear.

A dazzling fanfare erupted amid cheers and applause.

Me?Young?Young God?God?Lamb?Trainee Lamb, excellent work.

You have achieved an extraordinary result that no other trainee has ever accomplished.

The second lesson, “Practical Training,” has concluded.

Proceed to the next room to begin the final lesson.

The door leading to the next room opened.

But I didn’t move.

The instant I saw the word “training”.

It felt as though flames erupted from within my heart.

I threw away the riot baton I was still holding.

Crash!

The baton embedded itself in the screen.

The display, crackling with interference, immediately went dark.

“……”

Despite destroying the thing that annoyed me…

I still didn’t feel any better.

It felt as though lava, rather than blood, flowed through my veins.

“You learn very quickly, Mr. Gunbam. It has been a pleasure teaching you.”

I slowly lowered my gaze toward Dominic.

He was walking freely across my body while saying things I couldn’t quite understand.

“Hmm It seems it truly was rather difficult for you. Even so, I believe this was also necessary for you, Mr. Gunbam.”

I blinked slowly.

Dominic smiled.

“You need to become a little more like a god.”

His body began to glow.

He shone like a star.

Then he made a suggestion.

“What do you think about taking care of that insignificant creature over there as well?”

As he spoke, he raised one of his tiny ears, pointing toward the vine plant that remained outside the ring.

“I believe it would help relieve the heat building up inside you.”

I stared fixedly at the plant.

The heat of the ■■■■ still filled my entire body.

I felt an overwhelming urge to reduce everything to ashes.

I knew perfectly well that something was wrong with me.

And yet.

I was incapable of controlling it.

I tried to suppress that impulse.

But.

Why should I restrain myself?

“Goyo!”

A thunderous voice suddenly rang out.

I had still been staring at the plant when I flinched and came back to my senses.

Someone grabbed me roughly by the shoulders and forcibly turned me around.

I blinked several times before clearly making out who it was.

“Captain Kwak?”

Kwak Hanmuk had arrived much sooner than I had asked him to.

A faint smile appeared on my face when I saw him.

But he was staring at me with an utterly rigid expression.

I hurried to reassure him.

“I haven’t become a prison guard.”

“No, damn it!”

Kwak Hanmuk answered in a voice that was barely trembling.

“That’s not the problem right now!”

“…Huh?”

“What the hell is wrong with your eyes?”