I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

I stared fixedly at the teacup’s saucer.

It slowly rotated so I could examine both sides with ease.

While looking at the symbol engraved on the underside, I opened my status window.

I checked the first line.

— Han Goyo (Lamb) ♥×1

The number of hearts was still the same.

I was certain the system had declared me dead.

And yet, I hadn’t revived at the hotel, nor had I lost a life.

“Mr. Dominic…”

I opened my mouth to confirm the true source of the fear I was feeling.

“Was it you who brought me back to life?”

“Yes. I was the one who brought Mr. Gunbam back to life.”

The blood staining Dominic’s hand slowly disappeared.

Then he calmly put his glove back on.

And, with the utmost courtesy, he asked,

“Was that disrespectful of me?”

“……”

“I’ll be more careful next time. Ah, I already knew that Mr. Gunbam could come back to life. But I found something interesting and wanted to show it to you as soon as possible. Besides, it would have taken you quite a while to return here from the hotel, wouldn’t it?”

His pleasant, deep voice echoed softly in my ears.

As he spoke so calmly, I found myself unable to answer.

The being before me had transcended the rules of the Trial.

Then.

How was I supposed to define something like this?

A being that defied even the system itself.

I felt as though I were falling endlessly into a bottomless abyss.

I moved my dry lips.

“No… Thank you.”

At this point, my guesses were meaningless.

No matter what I concluded, he would always be beyond my predictions.

Because he was a being I had never encountered before.

So I had to focus only on what I knew for certain.

‘Dominic feels sympathy toward me, and I’ll take full advantage of that sympathy to clear Call of the Void as quickly as possible.’

‘Leave Dominic here and get out of this place.’

That was the best thing I could do.

Of course, after clearing the Trial, Dominic might cause some kind of anomaly.

‘But that’ll be a problem for then.’

He wasn’t a being that I, as I am now, could deal with.

And if I failed to clear Call of the Void because I was worrying about other things and ended up trapped here…

That would be the worst possible outcome.

‘Clearing the Trial is the only way to survive.’

I tried to think positively.

And then I found an enormous advantage.

“Mr. Dominic.”

“Yes, Mr. Gunbam.”

“If I die again, can you revive me again? How many times could you do it?”

“As many times as you wish, Mr. Gunbam.”

He could revive me every time I died?

And not at the designated respawn point, but exactly where I had died?

‘That means infinite lives.’

Even if I did something reckless and died, it wouldn’t matter.

After realizing that enormous advantage, living alongside Dominic no longer seemed like such a bad idea.

“I’ll continue relying on you. If I die, please revive me immediately.”

After asking him as politely as possible, I also made sure to praise him to keep his spirits high.

“I’m truly glad you’re my companion, Mr. Dominic. If I had been alone, all of this would have been far too frightening and difficult.”

Dominic is the best.

Dominic is amazing.

I spent quite a while repeating compliments like those.

Then Dominic let out a soft chuckle.

After praising him enough to put him in a good mood, I finally picked up the saucer that was still floating in the air.

On its underside was a symbol resembling the Eye of Horus.

“It’s the emblem used by the Order of the Apostles of the Void in their rituals. Thanks to you, Mr. Dominic, things will be much easier.”

In reality, that symbol did belong to the Order of the Apostles of the Void, but it appeared everywhere as you gathered evidence.

It didn’t serve any important purpose in Call of the Void; it simply reinforced the game’s unsettling atmosphere.

Even so, I continued showering Dominic with praise.

Then my expression hardened.

“It seems the Order tried to poison me, but I don’t know why. I have a feeling this is only the beginning.”

In Call of the Void, surviving an assassination attempt didn’t solve the problem.

Until the hostile relationship disappeared, the assassination attempts would continue, whether by poison or other means.

‘It was probably Edel…’

I didn’t understand why she had suddenly tried to poison me, but considering all the possibilities, she was the only suspect.

Just then, a new system window appeared.

You have been poisoned by a hostile character. Tell Dr. Dominic who you believe is behind the attack.
— Say that he is the culprit.
— Say that Prophet Edel is the culprit.
— Say that the hotel employee is the culprit.
— Say that there is a third party behind everything.
— Say that you want to learn more about the Outer God the Order of the Apostles of the Void is trying to summon.

I had only met a handful of NPCs so far, so the available options were quite limited.

I chose the second.

“I believe Prophet Edel is the one who tried to poison me.”

Prophet Edel has been identified to Dr. Dominic as the one responsible for the poisoning.
— Say that you are afraid of Prophet Edel.
— Propose confronting Prophet Edel directly.
— Say that you want to learn more about the Outer God the Order of the Apostles of the Void is trying to summon.

‘That damned option about the Order of the Apostles of the Void never disappears.’

Although after dying once the wording had become more normal and the content had changed a little, it was still just as irritating.

I thought for a moment as I looked at the options.

Until now, whenever I entered a Trial, I had always tried to get along with the important NPCs.

But this time, since I was following the journalist route, becoming Edel’s enemy seemed inevitable.

The truth was that I actually liked Edel quite a bit, so it was a shame.

In any case, she held enormous influence throughout Mournveil.

If I let her do as she pleased, she would end up making my life difficult in countless ways.

I had no choice but to establish my position from the very beginning.

I selected the second option.

“I intend to confront Edel head-on.”

And as soon as the preset dialogue ended, I added my own words.

“If I just sit back and do nothing, I’ll end up becoming an easy target. I think I should start taking a more aggressive approach as well.”

Dominic asked with interest.

“What do you intend to do?”

I showed him the teacup, which was still half full.

***

Edel walked with light steps, humming a melody.

She stopped in front of the reception room and gently cleared her throat.

Knock, knock.

She knocked delicately on the door.

“I’m coming in.”

She received no reply, but opened the door anyway.

After all, she doubted there was anyone inside in any condition to give her permission to enter.

She eagerly anticipated the scene she would find on the other side.

Suppressing the excitement that made her heart pound, she stepped into the room.

But what she saw was a little different from what she had expected.

“Doctor…?”

Dominic was standing there, holding a corpse in his arms.

His beautiful blue eyes settled on Edel.

And for an instant, Edel thought.

That was impossible.

But.

It seemed to her that the doctor was smiling.

Startled, she quickly ran toward Dominic.

And, pretending to know absolutely nothing, she exclaimed dramatically,

“It can’t be…! Mr. Lamb…!”

While pretending to check the body’s condition, she took the corpse’s wrist to feel for a pulse.

He was completely dead.

She had eliminated an obstacle.

She bit her lip hard to keep the joy from showing on her face.

Just then, as if they had been waiting for that moment, numerous members of the Order rushed into the room.

When they saw the corpse hanging limply in Dr. Dominic’s arms, they all cried out in horror.

“A murder has taken place inside the Order!”

“The doctor may have been a target as well! We should take him somewhere safe immediately!”

“We’ll protect him!”

Edel stepped in front of everyone and pleaded with Dominic.

“Dr. Dominic. Please allow us to escort you. We must first determine what kind of poison killed Mr. Lamb, so if you could hand him over to us…”

The reply was a polite refusal.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Miss Edel.”

Dr. Dominic’s gaze lowered to the body with a strange look of anticipation.

Anticipation…?

Edel blinked several times.

Had she misread that expression?

Questioning herself, she followed his gaze.

The young man’s delicate face looked as though he were peacefully asleep.

Those closed eyes would never open again.

And yet.

When she witnessed what happened before her, Edel stopped breathing.

Color slowly returned to the face that had lost all signs of life.

His chest began to rise again with each breath.

His slightly parted lips inhaled and exhaled air.

Then, little by little, his eyes began to open.

As if he had just awakened from a restful sleep, his drowsy gaze turned toward Edel.

She stood completely frozen.

Those eyes were pure.

Clear.

Lamb looked at her silently for a long time.

Then he gave her a gentle smile.

Finally, he spoke.

“Don’t worry, Miss Edel.”

As if he were willing to forgive everything.

The instant she heard that gentle whisper, a wave of revelation swept through her entire body.

So he knew everything.

He knew that she had tried to poison him.

And he also knew that he would come back to life.

It was a genuine divine miracle.

Edel’s entire body began to tremble.

“He came back to life…”

As if struck by lightning, she cried out,

“Mr. Lamb has received a miracle and returned to life!”

***

Resurrecting in front of everyone was a trick I frequently used when following the cult leader route.

A single resurrection was enough to make any conflict within the Order disappear as though it had never existed, replaced by absolute devotion toward me.

However, there was one indispensable condition.

The members of the Order had to witness the resurrection.

That was why, before I could set the altar as my respawn point, this strategy had been impossible to use.

But now I had Dominic.

And he did exactly what I wanted.

I drank the rest of the tea.

And I died.

Since I was going to die anyway, I took the opportunity to carefully observe the system window as it appeared.

— You have died.

You will resurrect in front of Dr. Dominic.

Unlike the first time, the system didn’t suffer any abnormalities.

Even so, seeing that window appear so naturally, as though it had always functioned that way, was just as unsettling.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The reception room was packed with members of the Order.

Edel stood at the very front.

Her eyes were wide open, and she was trembling in shock.

It was exactly the reaction I had expected.

So I finished the job.

“Don’t worry, Miss Edel.”

I know everything.

But I forgive you.

So you know how you should behave.

I conveyed that message with those few words.

And Edel reacted even better than I had imagined.

Before all the members of the Order, she proclaimed my resurrection.

“Mr. Lamb has received a miracle and returned to life!”

Thank you, Leader.

I thanked her silently.

It was the first time I had used resurrection during the journalist route.

And the effect had been far better than I expected.

I immediately became the VVIP guest of the Order of the Apostles of the Void.

They treated me with the highest honors.

They prepared an enormous banquet, and Edel remained by my side the entire time, personally attending to me.

No matter how much I insisted it wasn’t necessary, she absolutely refused to leave my side.

The way she dressed made me extremely uncomfortable, but I was afraid that rejecting her would turn us into enemies again, so I decided to put up with it for the time being.

“We failed to recognize someone as precious as you, and because of that, you had to endure such suffering. Please forgive us, Mr. Lamb.”

She even started crying as she spoke.

Before she could truly burst into tears, I hurried to comfort her.

“No, it’s alright. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“What immense compassion!”

Edel immediately wiped away her tears and began looking at me with even greater devotion.

And I felt even more uncomfortable.

“How wonderful it would be if you joined the Order. There is countless knowledge of the stars that I wish to share with you. Although perhaps it’s too soon to speak of that. How about touring our facilities today? If you have any questions, ask me whatever you wish.”

Her sing-song voice sounded charming.

But I knew perfectly well what those same hands, now trying to serve me food, were capable of.

Accepting dishes offered by a true expert in human sacrifice was rather unsettling.

As I ate with obvious discomfort, I glanced toward Dominic.

Throughout the banquet, Dominic remained engaged in conversation with the members of the Order.

They constantly urged me to eat more.

With him, however, a single refusal was enough for them to stop offering him anything.

Everyone seemed to feel a certain fear toward Dominic.

As though he were a sanctuary that no one should approach lightly.

Now that he was farther away, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I swallowed the bite Edel had served me and lowered my voice.

“By the way, Miss Edel, how did you end up becoming one of Mr. Dominic’s patients?”

Edel smiled sweetly.

“It’s a secret we normally don’t reveal to outsiders, but you’re special, Mr. Lamb, so I’ll tell you.”

She brought her lips close to my ear.

I felt her breath against my skin, and a shiver ran down my back.

“Everyone in Mournveil was treated by Dr. Dominic.”

“…What?”

I pulled back abruptly to look at her.

Edel’s eyes were completely unfocused.

“Because he called us.”

She looked up at me and whispered,

“To his clinic.”

Then, with an entranced smile, she added,

“All of us are Dr. Dominic’s patients, Mr. Lamb.”