I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

I lowered my gaze to the metal hand resting against my chest and then looked back at Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.

“Are you saying the Butlers lied to me?”

Instead of answering, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno walked into the room.

I closed the window behind him.

He calmly walked around the guest room.

His movements were so relaxed that it looked as though he had simply come to pay me a visit.

He gave no indication whatsoever that he intended to answer my question.

While Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno inspected the room, I tried to understand what he had just said.

But it wasn’t easy.

Up until now, every time I entered a Trial, I had always assumed it was the real world and that it could be different from the game I had played.

However, this time was different.

They were the very same NPCs from the game I had played.

I had spoken with them over and over again after completing CCC countless times.

Neither the Cat Butler nor the Rabbit Butler was the type to lie.

Nor did they have any reason to do so.

Why would they lie to me just to keep me in the mansion?

No matter how much they liked me, that was an entirely separate matter.

‘They’ve always known how to separate personal feelings from work.’

I decided to keep those thoughts to myself.

If I could get through one week safely and leave CCC, everything would become clear on its own.

I didn’t want to argue with Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno only for him to end up treating me like an idiot.

Just as Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno finished looking around the room.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Heavy footsteps echoed from the other side of the door.

After those sounds, as though a giant were walking down the hallway, someone’s bloodcurdling scream rang out.

“Aaaah!! Help me! No! It hurts! Aaaagh…!”

The scream was abruptly cut short.

In its place came the sound of crunching, as though someone were chewing flesh.

The Creatures had begun to move.

The Creatures were beings created by the mansion to consume its sacrifices more efficiently.

The more cleaners they devoured during the night, the more brilliantly the mansion shone the following day.

Sometimes too many Creatures appeared, and then the Butlers either dealt with them personally or assigned that task to the players through a quest.

That was precisely the purpose of defeating the boss monster.

Apparently, the cleaners assigned to the third floor of the East Wing were being swept away by the Creatures like dry leaves.

It sounded as though they were trying to fight back, but it wouldn’t be easy.

At night, the cleaners’ vision was reduced, making everything much darker.

On top of that, they seemed to have no idea how to deal with the Creatures.

Simply attacking them was useless.

Unless you used the proper method for each Creature, they regenerated health far faster than they took damage.

Of course, none of that mattered if you possessed enough offensive power to crush them outright.

‘Like Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.’

As I stared at the door, I turned my gaze toward him.

He was slowly clicking his metal hand.

He seemed to be suppressing the urge to dash outside and tear every Creature apart.

After staring at the closed door for a moment, he slowly shifted his gaze back to me.

“What should we do, Goyo?”

His voice, mixed with the faint sound of metal, posed the question.

“Do you want me to get you out of here?”

“…And how exactly would you get me out?”

“Kill all the Butlers.”

“……”

“And if necessary, the Creatures too.”

It certainly was a very Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno way of “rescuing” me.

Using his method, we’d probably manage to clear the Trial somehow.

But it would never be the True Ending.

To begin with, rescuing me had absolutely nothing to do with the world of CCC.

And yet.

I still wanted to achieve the True Ending.

No.

I had to achieve it.

If we failed CCC, it would become physically impossible to close the remaining two Trials within the time we had left.

After all, the Special Mission Team was only assigned Trials rated four stars or higher.

A phantom pain ran through arms and legs that had never actually been amputated.

Unconsciously, I rubbed my wrist before speaking.

“I think it’s still possible to achieve the True Ending.”

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno narrowed his eyes.

“I’ve learned some things from talking to the Butlers. I’m not completely certain yet, but…”

“You want me to wait?”

“Yes. Give me three days.”

Calmly, I tried to persuade him to set aside the rescue quest and focus all our efforts on achieving the True Ending.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno looked at me as though saying, Go on.

So I continued explaining.

“Could you deliver a message to the Captains for me? Now that I’ve become a Butler, it’ll be very difficult for me to contact either you or them.”

During the day, the other Butlers would most likely remain by my side.

Besides, I had work to do.

And at night, I’d have to stay quietly in my room to avoid arousing suspicion.

After bringing him up to date on my situation, I explained what I needed him to do.

“Kill the cleaners. Or rather… let the Creatures kill them.”

The moment I said it, it sounded far too cruel.

So I hurried to explain.

“Ah all the cleaners brought here are dangerous criminals. In the story of CCC, the protagonist is the only one who ends up here after being deceived without knowing anything…”

But while trying to justify myself, I realized something.

Neither Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno nor the Captains, who weren’t here right now…

would have any problem killing NPCs, whether they were guilty or innocent.

To them, an NPC was still just an NPC.

“…In any case. So please do it without worrying. In the end, the only cleaners who should remain alive are you and the Captains.”

“Until when?”

“Until the night after tomorrow, if possible.”

If the cleaners died too quickly, that would also raise suspicion, so I planned to spread their deaths over the course of three days.

Meanwhile, I would gather as much information about the Master as possible.

This was already a game whose endings had all been completed.

My goal was to create a DLC for CCC with my own hands.

In other words.

An expansion.

And if it truly was possible to create that DLC.

I was convinced that the Master, who never returned to the mansion, would be the key to the new ending.

“Which area were you assigned to, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno?”

“The East Wing garden.”

Apparently, he had been assigned to maintain the ornamental trees.

Pruning trees was something he could easily do with his metal hand.

Footman Zeta had truly assigned him an area that suited him perfectly.

‘As expected of a Footman chosen by the Butlers.’

“He definitely knows how to do his job.”

In any case, the East Wing garden would make it much easier for us to stay in contact.

“I’ll send you a Message every night. Please come whenever you receive it.”

The plan was to communicate with the Captains through Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno and pass along any instructions if something came up.

It seemed like the simplest method.

After outlining the overall situation, I told him where the Captains had been assigned and asked him, if possible, to check on Mo Haein first.

“Is that all?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

No matter how safe we might be inside the room, staying there for too long was still dangerous.

Just as I was about to send Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno on his way, I remembered something that had been bothering me ever since we entered CCC.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno. Would you mind if I touched the metallic part of your body just once?”

As though he found the request amusing, his eyes curved slightly.

Then he extended his hand without the slightest resistance.

Careful not to touch the blade, I very gently held the tip of his metal hand.

It felt cold and completely solid.

I tried applying a little pressure with my fingers, but it didn’t give even a millimeter.

It felt completely different from the Rabbit Butler’s metallic ears, which bent easily when touched.

I let go of his hand and said honestly,

“The Butlers’ heads seem to be made of the same metal as you.”

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno’s eyes curved even more.

“It’s not the same.”

So it only looked similar?

I wanted to ask more, but Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno put his glasses back on.

ㅇ <

Then he gave me a wink and abruptly opened the room’s door.

Standing in the hallway was a porcelain doll shaped like a little girl wearing an elegant dress.

The adorable doll turned its head one hundred and eighty degrees to look at Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.

The moment it identified its target, it began walking backward toward him.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Every time its tiny feet touched the floor, the entire hallway rumbled as though a giant were running through it.

And just as the porcelain doll rushed toward him at full speed, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno charged at it even faster.

He shot forward like an arrow and cheerfully swung his metal hand.

Only once.

Crash!

With a single strike, the doll was shattered into pieces.

Crunch.

Crunch.

As he stepped over the porcelain fragments, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno made a couple of motions through the air, as though regretting that it had ended so quickly.

‘Maybe I should’ve told him not to kill too many Creatures.’

But Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno also needed to indulge in his hobby a little if he wanted to keep his sanity in a place like this.

So I didn’t try to stop him.

Even if I had, he wouldn’t have listened anyway.

He would probably enjoy himself for a while before going to find the Captains.

I closed the door and returned to the room.

Suddenly, all the exhaustion I had been ignoring hit me at once.

I flopped face-first onto the bed and slowly blinked as my eyes were already beginning to close.

‘I’ll just close my eyes for a moment, then I’ll get up.’

I still had to check the item Samra had given me.

But I fell asleep instantly.

***

When I opened my eyes, it was already morning.

I jumped out of bed and straightened my rumpled clothes.

After hurriedly getting ready, I opened the door and found the Rabbit Butler waiting for me.

He looked as though he had been about to knock, one hand already raised.

“Gunbam. Good morning.”

Without lowering the hand he had raised, he gave me a gentle wave.

“Good morning.”

I replied with a smile.

The Rabbit Butler intended to take me to the dining room.

“Come eat.”

“Ah, there’s no need. I think I ate too much last night.”

I wasn’t hungry at all.

In fact, I felt like I could even skip lunch.

“Then do you want to go to work?”

“Yes!”

I answered enthusiastically.

The Rabbit Butler led me toward the main building.

Although the Creatures must have devoured quite a few cleaners during the night, the mansion hardly seemed to have changed.

It should have been gleaming brilliantly.

That was rather strange.

When we reached the central hall of the main building, all twelve Footmen were gathered there.

Standing before them was the Cat Butler.

The twelve Footmen stood in two rows of six, and every single one of them looked exactly alike, as though they had been copied and pasted.

‘The Footmen are shorter than the Butlers.’

The Footmen stood at around seven feet seven inches tall.

The Butlers were about eight feet two inches tall.

And judging by the proportions of the mansion, I estimated that the Master had to be around ten feet tall.

‘Could it be that the higher your rank, the taller you become?’

I wondered whether I would grow taller as well if I ever became an official Butler.

At my current height, working in the mansion was rather inconvenient.

The Cat Butler, who had been pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back while inspecting the Footmen, spotted me and hurried over.

“Gunbam!”

He handed me a newspaper.

Surprised to see such an old-fashioned medium, I glanced at it out of habit.

‘Day News?’

The first thing that caught my eye was the newspaper’s name, which felt strangely familiar.

Below it was a large headline accompanied by an article.

“Huh…?”

But almost all of it was covered by black blocks.

While I was still confused, the Rabbit Butler pointed at a small article in one corner of the newspaper.

That one I could actually read.

<Cleaning Company Ship Shot Down by an Unknown Attack!>

The spacecraft belonging to the cleaning service company “Clean! Clean! Clean!” was shot down while traveling along its regular flight route.

The ship was struck by a high-energy missile that could not be detected. Immediately after the impact, it exploded and was reduced to fragments. All employees aboard the vessel were killed.

At this time, the party responsible for the attack remains unknown.

“Clean! Clean! Clean!” has currently suspended all new cleaning reservations and has also canceled the dispatch of ships to retrieve the cleaners currently deployed.

It was an article reporting that the spaceship that was supposed to come and pick us up had been struck by a missile and blown to pieces.