Chapter 128
I was well aware that the Trial Response Agency fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense.
I knew that while it operated on a headquarters and team system, its essence was that of the military.
However, my knowledge of the military was limited to what I had seen in media and games.
Even as I addressed them as Lieutenant Colonel or Captain, I hadn’t truly felt the weight of those titles.
Recently, I had become aware that I was acting unlike a typical trainee.
But regardless, I never expected to find myself in a situation like this.
I felt as if my heart had dropped.
Frozen, unable to even blink, I belatedly parted my lips.
"I’m sorry...."
It didn’t seem like the right answer for the current situation.
But it was the only thing I could say.
As I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, a short command dropped from above my head.
"Get down."
I quickly dropped into a push-up position.
As I stared down at the stone floor of the medic’s quarters, cold sweat trickled down my spine.
I couldn’t see the expression on my opponent’s face, but the suffocating atmosphere was palpable, making me even more nervous.
Kwak Han-mook crouched down in front of me and reached out.
The image of Won Tae-beom being punched by him played back naturally in my mind.
I wondered if I was about to get hit, but instead of a blow, my head was suddenly grabbed.
I felt fingers rummaging through my hair.
Kwak Han-mook was checking the wound on my head.
"Lieutenant Won... he really reported everything...."
Actually, it was only natural that he would report it.
After hesitating, I spoke up tentatively.
"Uh, the wound has all healed."
But he didn’t respond.
Only after confirming with his own eyes that the wound was gone did he remove his hand from my head.
"Honestly, you just go around getting your head cracked however you please."
Muttering lowly, Kwak Han-mook looked at me. Our eyes met by chance, and I hurriedly looked down again.
Still crouching in front of me, he asked in a voice devoid of any trace of humor.
"Trainee Han, do you think your superiors are a joke?"
"No, sir."
"Why? Is it just, ’Just follow my orders,’ is that how it is right now?"
"No, sir..."
"Then why do you keep lying? Thinking you can solve everything on your own?"
"I’m sorry."
"Trainee Han, is ’I’m sorry’ and ’No, sir’ all you know how to say?"
I almost said I was sorry again, but stopped.
Should I say, ’I will correct my behavior’.... or something like that?
No matter how much I thought about it, no good answer came to mind.
I felt like tackling a six-star trial alone would be much easier than this.
l ended up having a cowardly thought.
’Should I check the status window?’
I felt like I might get a sense of things if I knew Kwak Han-mook’s current state.
But I only thought about it; I didn’t execute it.
Actually, it wasn’t just the status window.
Even if they weren’t NPCs, the medic role allowed me to check suspicion and favorability levels.
Just as I had checked Dominic’s levels at the very beginning.
The temptation to check Je Hyeon-oh’s or Kwak Han-mook’s levels had been there from the start.
But I knew I shouldn’t.
Checking their current status through the status window from time to time was already gloomy enough.
If I went beyond that, I had enough self-awareness to know I’d be a criminal.
..Or perhaps I already was one.
I struggled to think of a plausible answer, but my mind was a complete blank.
Sweat beaded on my forehead. This time, it wasn’t cold sweat, but sweat from the physical strain.
As I floundered, Kwak Han-mook spoke again.
"Answer properly. Why do you keep lying?"
He seemed determined not to let me off until I gave a proper answer.
My arms trembled as I racked my brain.
Why did I keep lying?
The answer was simple. I didn’t think the dangerous plan I had devised would be approved.
But telling him that wouldn’t work on Kwak Han-mook.
He would only scold me more for making a decision alone without consulting anyone.
Perhaps because the push-up position was so taxing, my brain wasn’t functioning well, but I tried hard to think of a more plausible answer.
A long time ago, when faced with a difficult problem, I think I used to be honest and ask for help.
At first, everyone worried and tried to solve it together.
But as is the case with most problems, they are rarely solved quickly.
New problems just keep piling up.
As the situation repeated, everyone grew weary and exhausted.
’It only made the atmosphere worse.’
In that case, it was much better to lie and solve it alone.
I didn’t want to make the people around me anxious.
I always solved things alone, and as long as the result was fine, others liked it.
The majority condoned my behavior in exchange for peace.
But now...everyone except me was pointing out my behavior.
Kwak Han-mook’s voice dropped again behind my head.
"Acting like this means you don’t trust your superiors, right?"
Chewing over Kwak Han-mook’s words, I finally realized a plausible answer.
Feeling the sweat trickle down my temple, I opened my mouth.
"It’s not that..."
I hesitated, finding it difficult to say, before continuing.
"I just...didn’t want anything to happen to the team...."
If I had to keep clearing trials in the future, I wanted to stay part of the Special Task Team.
That’s why I wanted to do better.
Thinking that, in the end, everyone would be happy with the result.
Kwak Han-mook was silent for a moment after hearing my answer.
Then, he slowly opened his lips and asked.
"And what about you?"
His voice was utterly cold.
At that moment, I wondered what kind of face Kwak Han-mook was making as he asked.
But since I couldn’t lift my head, I answered while staring at the floor.
"I just... thought I would be okay. I thought I could make it work somehow."
This part was true.
I had acted after my own set of calculations.
If it had been deathly dangerous, I would have chosen a different method.
’My arms hurt.’
Straightening my body, which kept trying to collapse, I stole a glance at Kwak Han-mook.
He seemed to be thinking about something. He showed no sign of telling me to get up.
I cautiously shifted my gaze to check Je Hyeon-oh.
And our eyes met head-on.
I could feel his gaze staring intently through the goggles. He must have been watching me the whole time.
As if he were observing me.
It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling.
Because usually, I was the one doing the observing.
I had always wanted to know more about Je Hyeon-oh.
I was curious about the face beneath the gas mask, his past, and everything about him that I didn’t know.
That was why I had always observed him with a heart full of curiosity.
But now, it felt like Je Hyeon-oh was observing me.
As I glanced at Je Hyeon-oh, my arms gave out and I almost collapsed.
I quickly corrected my posture as if nothing had happened, but Kwak Han-mook caught it immediately.
He looked at me with a mix of absurdity and bewilderment.
His gaze seemed to say, ’You’re giving out already?’
Though it was hard, it was still manageable for me, so I felt slightly wronged, but I kept my mouth shut.
"Get up."
Of course, I wasn’t so wronged that I would refuse an order to get up, so I stood up quickly.
Kwak Han-mook looked down at me silently. With my face flushed red from the blood rushing to my head while lying down, I could only shift my eyes.
After staring for a while, Kwak Han-mook turned to Je Hyeon-oh.
"Lieutenant Colonel Je."
Then, Je Hyeon-oh, who had been standing back and merely watching, stepped forward to stand before me.
With Je Hyeon-oh and Kwak Han-mook standing side- by-side in front of me, it felt as if a wall had been erected.
I looked up at them with eyes full of respect and politeness toward my superiors.
Looking down at me, Je Hyeon-oh whispered as if talking to himself.
"Doing this again."
The moment I heard those words, the memory of him throwing me into a tree during the S2P became vividly clear.
As I watched him with nervous eyes, Je Hyeon-oh happened to click his metal hand, making me even more anxious.
Then, he said something unexpected
"You shouldn’t do dangerous things, Goyo."
The words, whispered in a rough voice, sounded like affectionate concern at first glance.
But I knew.
The meaning behind Je Hyeon-oh’s words was clear.
I had promised to enter <Zero> with him.
It meant it would be problematic if I died before that.
Now, to Je Hyeon-oh, I was a target that must be kept alive at all costs.
Only Kwak Han-mook, unaware of these inner workings, looked at Je Hyeon-oh with a ’Huh?’ expression.
It was a gaze filled with a desire to confirm if this was the Je Hyeon-oh he knew.
Je Hyeon-oh reached out his hand. There was a table nearby.
The tip of the metal hand touched the Octopus Leg statue very lightly.
I couldn’t hide my widening eyes.
"Uh, wait, Lieutenant Colonel Je, hold on..!"
As I blurted out the words in a panic, Je Hyeon-oh pressed down.
The wooden statue split silently under the black metal.
I screamed internally as the statue split in half.
My body trembled with the urge to grab Je Hyeon-oh’s metal hand immediately.
Je Hyeon-oh stared straight at me and moved his hand very slowly, and eventually, the vertically split statue fell to both sides with a clatter.
Unable to bear the sight of that carnage, I closed my eyes.
Along with the cold, clicking sound of metal, a gentle question drifted over.
"Why, can’t you watch?"
I forced my eyelids open and witnessed an even more terrible scene.
The metal hand that had split the statue was now tapping the split wood as if playing.
Following the movement of the hand, the wood was sliced into pieces.
’Octopus Leg-nim.... I’m sorry...’
While I apologized for the sacrilegious act in my heart, I heard Kwak Han-mook sigh.
"What are we going to do with him, seriously?"
While Kwak Han-mook sighed repeatedly, Je Hyeon-oh hacked the statue to pieces until its original form was unrecognizable.
Only then did he speak again.
"Captain Kwak."
"Yes, sir."
"From now on, Trainee Han Goyo is prohibited from acting alone. If the same thing happens again, treat it as insubordination and handle it accordingly."
"Yes, sir."
Kwak Han-mook replied instantly to his superior’s order, as if he had been waiting for it.
While I was relieved that the situation had settled, I thought that if this happened one more time, I might have a truly "incredible" experience.
Something massive that wouldn’t end with mere disciplinary drills.
After vowing never to act alone again, I cautiously spoke up.
"Um, by the way..."
Since it was an important matter, I felt I should mention it while everyone was gathered.
"About the Warden--no, CEO Cha."
The moment I mentioned CEO Cha, the atmosphere between Je Hyeon-oh and Kwak Han-mook changed instantly.
Though they had entered together, they clearly perceived CEO Cha as something close to an obstacle.
In reality, the situation was heading that way.
"He had originally promised to support me... but I think he’s changed his mind. We should consider the possibility that he might not move according to the plan."
I recalled the words CEO Cha had told me.
"I don’t need the True Ending."
He possessed enough ability to clear it with a different ending.
Assuming CEO Cha would act arbitrarily, I recalled the general endings the Warden could see.
If it were CEO Cha, he would definitely go for the most efficient and fastest ending...
"Wait a second."
Suddenly, Kwak Han-mook spoke up. He narrowed his eyes and said.
"One of the guards just died."
"...!"
The guard’s ability was ’Colleague Connection.
He could determine how many guards were within the prison.
As the ability evolved, he could tell the degree of a colleague’s injury or their Neo-addiction stage, and even summon colleagues.
With Kwak Han-mook’s current level of ability, the real-time status of the guards was perceived.
But a guard had died.
Just as my brain froze at this sudden event that happened for no apparent reason.
A system window popped up.
◆ MA!!IN! QUE!ST!!: Stop the Crazy Warden!!
[The Warden is attempting to kill all NPCs in < The Cell Block X>.]
[This is a fatal act toward the True Ending.]
[You believe that the Warden’s actions must be stopped.]
[Right now! Quickly! Ur-Ur-gent!! Urgent!!]
CEO Cha was trying to kill every single NPC in The Cell X.