I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

Since Je Hyuno had entered as a Creature inmate, I assumed Won Taebeom would also be inside The Cell Block X.

However, I never imagined he would be assigned the role of Prison Chaplain.

After all, the chances of getting that role were not very high.

I opened my mouth in surprise, though at the same time I thought the Roman collar suited him surprisingly well.

The moment I grabbed his hand, he pulled me up in one swift motion, as though he were pulling a radish out of the ground, and set me on my feet.

“Thank you very much.”

I hurriedly thanked him, but Won Taebeom didn’t even look at me.

Instead, he helped Kwak Hanmuk climb up.

Hanmuk came out with ease and dusted off his clothes.

“Ahh, solid ground.”

As I brushed the dirt off my own clothes as well, copying him, a question crossed my mind.

‘But where is Pasung’s CEO Cha?’

There was no way he had entered after Je Hyuno.

They had undoubtedly entered The Cell Block X together.

As I mentally went over the remaining available roles, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze on me.

Following the direction of Won Taebeom’s eyes, I realized how I looked.

I was still wearing the full prison guard uniform I had received at the new prison guard training center.

“Ah, Lieutenant Won. My actual role is Prison Physician.”

I explained my role, but he continued looking at me the same way.

It took me a moment to realize why.

I had completely forgotten about the vine plant still wrapped around my forearm.

As I discreetly removed the flashlight that had been secured between its vines, I improvised an excuse.

“I need it to obtain the True Ending…”

I noticed that Kwak Hanmuk was holding back his laughter, but I pretended not to notice.

Fortunately, Won Taebeom didn’t question me any further.

Calmly, he asked,

“What should we do now? I’ve already completed all the tasks corresponding to the Prison Chaplain role.”

In other words, since he had already finished his own missions, from that point onward he would devote himself entirely to helping me clear the Trial.

Somewhat awkwardly, I replied,

“I still haven’t finished today’s tasks.”

Even though I had gone through the new prison guard training center, it was still only a Sub Quest.

If I failed to complete the daily tasks corresponding to the Prison Physician role, I would have to face the consequences of failure.

‘The prison guards are definitely going to give me a good beating.’

I intended to avoid that at all costs, but the mission I still had left was rather troublesome.

☐ Conduct the medical rounds in Sector X.

Prison Physicians were not authorized to enter Sector X freely, so they couldn’t come and go on their own.

As soon as he finished listening to me, Kwak Hanmuk asked Won Taebeom,

“Lieutenant Won. Do you have authorization to enter Sector X?”

“Yes. As the Prison Chaplain, I have unrestricted access.”

“Perfect. They just called all the guards to a general assembly. It looks like the Warden summoned them out of nowhere…”

Hanmuk started complaining, saying that the damn Warden was an unbearable old man, that they were already swamped with work, and that he couldn’t understand why the hell he had to summon everyone.

If it had been the Chief of Security, it would at least have made sense.

But for the Warden himself to gather all the guards was something very unusual.

After all, the Warden barely had any presence in The Cell Block X.

Perhaps that was another consequence of the anomalies that were occurring.

“In any case, security will be completely clear. Lieutenant Won, take Lamb to Sector X. And you, Lamb, take this.”

Kwak Hanmuk took an item out of his inventory and handed it to me.

A keycard capable of freely opening every cell door.

With it, I would be able to conduct the medical rounds of the Creature patients without any restrictions.

Having just received the very item I needed most, I looked at it with eyes full of excitement.

“Captain Kwak, how did you get this?”

Although it was an item belonging to the prison guards, obtaining it at the beginning of the game was extremely difficult.

It was an item that was normally acquired around the middle of the game.

And he had already gotten it.

Seeing the admiration in my eyes, Hanmuk answered as if it were nothing.

“I just borrowed it for a moment.”

So he stole it.

As I marveled at such incredible thieving skills, Kwak Hanmuk let out a quiet chuckle.

Then he draped an arm over my shoulder.

“Lieutenant Won. I have to go now, so I’m leaving Lamb in your care. Give my regards to Lieutenant Colonel Je. And if he says the food in his cell is terrible, sneak him some food from outside.”

Won Taebeom responded with a military salute.

“Yes, Captain.”

Seeing how respectfully Won Taebeom behaved made me realize once again that I was nothing more than a rather insolent Training Recruit.

After all, a Captain was someone of immensely higher rank.

For a moment, I wondered whether I should salute him as well, but Kwak Hanmuk threw an arm around my shoulders and practically dragged me away.

“Hey, Chestnut. Walk me to the chapel entrance.”

He practically forced me all the way outside the chapel.

As soon as we were alone in the hallway, Kwak Hanmuk called out to me.

“Goyo.”

“Yes.”

“I know you can’t control it. But try not to let your eye color change in front of Lieutenant Won.”

“Yes…”

“You really can’t stop it?”

“I can’t stop it… but I’ll be careful.”

“Lieutenant Won will help you with anything if you tell him it’s necessary to achieve the True Ending. But remember, he reports absolutely everything to the Director. So be careful about that too.”

Apparently, Won Taebeom’s arrival wasn’t solely because of Mo Haein’s hospitalization.

Until now, the Special Operations Team had hidden many things about me.

Director Jang Seokyun had most likely already realized that and might have sent Won Taebeom to gather additional information.

After saying goodbye to Kwak Hanmuk, I returned to the chapel.

Won Taebeom turned his gaze toward me.

“……”

For a few moments, we simply looked at each other in silence.

It was obvious he couldn’t understand why I had that vine plant wrapped around my arm.

It looked as though, if he could, he would tear it off me immediately.

That look—as if he were staring at a madman—felt far too familiar, and I couldn’t help thinking of a certain captain.

‘Captain Mom… I need to go visit her.’

If she was still hospitalized by the time we cleared The Cell Block X, I wanted to go see her.

Pushing those thoughts about Mo Haein aside, I spoke first.

“Lieutenant Won. Thank you very much for last time.”

Thanks to the fact that he had risked his life fighting Pasung’s directors, I had avoided signing that hamster contract and was able to negotiate directly with Director Jang Seokyun.

Even though it was late, I bowed deeply to thank him.

Only then did it occur to me that perhaps I should have saluted him instead.

Not only was there an enormous difference in rank between a Captain and a Training Recruit.

There was also one between a Lieutenant and a Training Recruit.

‘Although they probably don’t salute each other all the time. When exactly are you supposed to do it?’

Once I officially joined, I would have to learn even the proper way to salute.

Won Taebeom, who had continued watching me silently, answered a few seconds later.

“It’s nothing. For now, our priority should be clearing this Trial, Training Recruit Han.”

In other words, he didn’t want us wasting time on unnecessary formalities.

Before heading to Sector X, there was something I needed to confirm.

Since we were already in the chapel, I took the opportunity to ask him.

“Lieutenant Won. Have you noticed anything unusual?”

I had already played the Prison Chaplain role in The Cell Block X, so I knew exactly what its duties were.

What I really wanted to know was whether, besides the appearance of Creature Inmate Number 13, any other anomalies had occurred.

As expected, the moment he heard the question, he went straight to the point I cared about.

“Although it adopts the structure of Catholicism, the deity worshipped here is a different one.”

Won Taebeom directed his gaze toward a specific place.

I followed his eyes.

There was no cross in the chapel, as one would expect in a church.

Instead, hanging on the wall was a strange wooden carving.

A gigantic eye occupied the center, surrounded by tentacles reminiscent of an octopus.

I studied it carefully.

I also noticed that the Pudding Slime on my head stirred slightly as it looked at the carving.

‘In the game, there was just an ordinary cross…’

Every cell in The Cell Block X had an old black-and-white television.

And the only channel it broadcast was a religious one.

Even when I played the game, I had always found the content of those programs strange.

Thinking about it now, those grotesque broadcasts suited that eye surrounded by tentacles far better than a cross.

Since I didn’t know much about religion, I made a guess.

“Could it be some kind of demonic cult?”

“No.”

The answer was so decisive that it surprised me.

Knowing Won Taebeom’s personality, if there had been even the slightest uncertainty, he never would have answered so confidently.

Without realizing it, I turned to look at him.

Noticing my gaze, he calmly replied,

“I used to be an exorcist priest.”

Then he looked back at the wooden carving and continued speaking without taking his eyes off it.

“After I was infected with the BT virus, I enlisted in the Trial Response Agency. It’s no secret. Almost everyone knows.”

His attitude suggested that it wasn’t important in the slightest.

A chill ran through me.

I hadn’t known about Won Taebeom’s past, but I knew perfectly well which kind of Trial corresponded to the virus that had infected him.

The BT-DFH virus belonged to a Trial set in Hell.

An exorcist priest had been infected by a Trial filled with demons.

Of all people, him.

Yet, unlike me, Won Taebeom remained completely expressionless.

He spoke about his own past with the same detachment anyone might use when talking about someone else’s.

“I conclude that a deity different from the one we know exists in this world. Other than that, I haven’t found any additional anomalies. Let’s head to Sector X.”

I watched Won Taebeom’s back as he began walking.

Dressed in his cassock, his broad back radiated unwavering resolve.

I swallowed the bitterness I felt and followed him toward Sector X.

“Mr. Gunbam.”

As I walked, somewhat dejected, Dominic called to me from atop my head.

“If you find more objects like that wooden carving, please let me know. It’s not urgent.”

At that polite request, I gave a subtle nod so Won Taebeom wouldn’t notice.

If we searched the places where crosses had appeared in the game, we would probably find more of those tentacles.

Even so, I couldn’t understand why Dominic was so interested in something like that.

It did look like the symbol of a god.

But in the end, it was only a fictional deity created for the world of the Trial.

It wasn’t a real entity like those of Infernum.

That was precisely why I found it so strange that Dominic paid it so much attention.

‘Could it be that he believes it actually exists?’

Since he didn’t retain his memories, perhaps he simply wanted to confirm it for himself.

As I pondered that, we reached the vicinity of Sector X.

The vine plant clinging to my arm seemed to recognize the surroundings and began twisting violently.

I gently stroked its vines to calm it.

Then we turned the corner and arrived before the enormous steel door leading into Sector X.

…?

“……”

For a moment, I thought I was seeing an illusion.

Won Taebeom, who was walking a couple of steps ahead of me, also came to an abrupt halt.

I didn’t even need to see his face to sense his bewilderment.

The gigantic steel door to Sector X had been split open by a massive diagonal slash.

It looked as though someone had cut straight through it with a razor-sharp metal blade before forcing the two halves apart.

Won Taebeom and I thought exactly the same thing at the same time.

Without saying a single word, we broke into a run toward the interior of Sector X.

The moment we crossed the entrance.

We were left completely speechless.

Every single special cell had been cleanly cut apart.

The steel bars lay shattered across the floor, and not a single Creature remained inside the cells.

At that very moment, a shrill siren began to blare.

It was the alarm announcing an inmate escape.

Almost like a groan, I uttered the culprit’s name.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno…”

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno had freed every single Creature inmate.