Chapter 59
I had made the proposal, but there was no telling if Dominic would accept it.
I might have to repeat the cycle of death and resurrection once again.
Ha...
This time... I don’t think I could endure it.
Just recalling the pain of that moment made my body tremble, like a Pavlovian response.
To think I was considering being with the very being who had given me such an experience.
If Captain Mo found out, he would definitely curse me out.
This time, Captain Kwak might join in.
I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t have the strength.
I just waited for Dominic’s decision, trembling inwardly.
"Roasted Chestnut."
His gaze was peculiar.
It was a look that was difficult to interpret as either positive or negative.
If I had to describe it, "curiosity" was perhaps the closest fit.
"You surprise me."
He gave an ambiguous evaluation.
His cryptic words made me anxious.
’Is he doing it or not?’
If he was going to hand down a death sentence, I hoped he’d do it quickly.
At least then I could prepare myself mentally.
’Is he suggesting a contract?’
But Dominic didn’t reach a conclusion; he simply looked down at me intently.
’No?’
After a long while of reading his mood on my own, Dominic finally gave an answer.
"Very well. I shall contract with you."
I looked up at him with disbelief.
I had thrown out the proposal, judging that there was some possibility, but now that it was actually happening, I felt dazed.
’It actually worked.’
If he had refused, I would have tried to solve it another way, but this was effectively the best possible outcome.
Returning from the brink of death felt as if strength I didn’t have was suddenly surging back into me.
Until a moment ago, I truly couldn’t lift a finger, but now I felt like I could move my tongue as much as I wanted.
"Thank you. Then, um..."
I realized a major problem.
I didn’t know how to make the contract.
In the game, you just performed the ritual, and once the Outer God was summoned, they handled the contract process on their end.
Now that I had to do it myself, I had no idea where to start.
’Should I draw a magic circle or something?’
There are those images we commonly see in the media.
Chanting a spell, or drawing blood.
I was even contemplating whether I should draft a document in the Earth style if all else failed.
"What was the name used in the ritual to summon me?"
Why is he asking that?
Still, I answered quickly and promptly.
"It... should have been ’Roasted chestnut’"
Since it was a ritual from the game, it must have been Roasted Chestnut.
"So that was why."
Upon hearing my answer, Dominic praised the name Roasted Chestnut.
"While it does not perfectly represent your essence, I thought it was not a bad name."
When I first met him in Call of Void, Dominic had called me by my real name, saying the name ’Lamb’ didn’t suit me.
That was when I hurriedly came up with the name Roasted Chestnut.
Dominic hadn’t particularly liked it, but he had called me Roasted Chestnut from then on.
It seemed he had accepted it because it was a somewhat familiar name.
After offering the unexpected compliment, Dominic gave a polite notification.
"Excuse me for a moment, Roasted Chestnut."
My eyes widened.
And then, I slowly looked down.
Uh...
Even as I watched, it didn’t feel real.
Dominic’s hand had entered my body.
However, I felt no pain.
Blood did not pour out.
There was simply no sensation.
The hand that had carved through my chest gripped something.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart beat violently.
A calm voice spoke, as if signing a business contract.
"I remember a bit now. I believe this is my first time contracting ■ ■■■, but because Roasted Chestnut’s rank is still low, I have no choice but to use this traditional method..."
That was as far as I heard.
I immediately blacked out.
"...!"
As soon as consciousness returned, I bolted upright in shock.
I pressed my hand over my heart.
...Fortunately, I felt the thumping sensation.
It seemed my organs hadn’t been stolen.
Aside from that, there was no pain, bleeding, or injury.
In fact, my condition was better than before I fainted. Vitality flowed through my body.
’He could have at least warned me!’
Carving into a person’s body without warning was insane!!
The eerie sensation still seemed to linger, so I rubbed my goosebump-covered arms.
After calming down a bit, I belatedly surveyed my surroundings.
Dominic was nowhere to be seen. The underground cavern was empty.
The space, now devoid of the cultists, was silent.
However, there was still one person remaining.
"Cult Leader..."
It was Edel.
I realized belatedly that I had been on the altar all that time.
It seemed Edel had stayed by my side.
She looked quite flustered that everyone except her had vanished, yet she seemed to be trying her best to remain calm.
Having understood the current situation through her own logic, she asked me cautiously.
"Is this... God saving us?"
"Yes."
I didn’t have the energy to make up a separate excuse, and since it wasn’t entirely wrong, I just answered yes.
Hearing my answer, Edel bit her lip with a complex expression.
This should have been the moment she longed for, yet she showed no sign of joy.
I felt sorry.
I wanted to show her the scene she had ideally envisioned, but I couldn’t.
"Edel... you will be free now."
At my words, Edel’s expression grew even darker.
Flustered, wondering if I had made a slip of the tongue, when Edel suddenly spoke.
"You were strange from the moment we first met."
"What was strange?"
"Everything. Even now, I have strange thoughts."
Edel approached me as I sat on the altar.
"Perhaps... are you my ■■■?"
The most important word was drowned out by a crackling noise.
The same phenomenon had occurred earlier when Dominic spoke about the contract.
It seemed to be a word that the current ’me’ could not hear.
Because I couldn’t hear the question properly, it was difficult to answer.
Edel did not ask me again during my silence. It seemed she hadn’t expected an answer in the first place.
Instead, Edel asked me something else.
"Can we meet again?"
I hesitated for a moment, but soon gave a bright smile.
"Of course."
"I’m glad."
Edel was happy at my lie.
’I’m glad I went for the True Ending.’
If I had left her behind here, she would have continued to haunt my thoughts.
Fortunately, I kept my promise to Edel and gave her the freedom to be unbound by the trial.
"Edel. For saving me earlier..."
I was about to say thank you.
Before I knew it, Edel had vanished.
[‹Call of Void> Cleared!]
- Ending: Apostle of the Void.
I thought I would be given a bit more time to talk.
’Maybe I should have said thank you first.’
No matter how many times I experienced these farewells, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to them.
I felt a bit lonely.
Left alone, I looked at the system windows appearing one after another before me.
[Han Goyo makes his name known in Akasha!]
[■■ is impressed! He watches you with ceaseless interest.]
[Current Recognition: 0.2%]
It seemed Mr. Black Block was still watching me.
And my recognition had jumped by a whopping 0.1% in one go.
Just as I was marveling at the sudden generous increase in a value that usually rose in two-decimal increments, the number changed.
[Current Recognition: 2%]
What..? It’s not like there’s a ten-fold experience event.
[Current Recognition: 29%]
[Current Recognition: 666%]
[Current Recognition: 7777%]
[Current Recognition: 99999%]
I watched blankly as the number soared to an absurd value in an instant.
The moment it hit 99999%, the system window popped.
Then, it displayed normally again.
[Current Recognition: 0.2%]
While I was staring at it wondering what this was, something even more absurd followed.
[Trial <Call of Void> has ended.]
[The trial will be permanently closed in 80 seconds.]
[You are the maximum contributor of ‹Call of Void>.]
[You may take ’9999’ items.]
9999 items.
didn’t even have time to be flustered by the glitch-like number.
The next window appeared immediately.
[Item selection has been completed.]
Wait, excuse me.
I didn’t select anything.
This time, I hadn’t received any items from NPCs, so I had no idea what had been selected.
While I was dumbfounded, the 80 seconds ticked away steadily.
The world collapsed.
While I was dumbfounded, the 80 seconds ticked away steadily.
The world collapsed.
I finally emerged from the trial.
***
I saw the night sky.
The moonlight pouring onto my face was bright.
I stared blankly at the moon before turning my head to the side.
’The screen...’
I felt the saltiness of the sea in the blowing wind.
’Is this Haewoljeong?’
It seemed to be Haewoljeong, which I had used when entering Clean3.
The same Haewoljeong, where the meteorite of Clean3 had vanished, seemed to be under reconstruction, with construction materials lying around.
I let out a long sigh while looking at the sky.
’I survived!’
Since I had my earpiece, I figured I could contact the TRA Management Office.
After resting for a bit.
Dominic was still nowhere to be seen.
’I guess a happy ending where he disappears along with Call of Void is out of the question...’
Thinking of this impossible wish, I sprawled out on my back and looked at the sky.
The stars were clearly visible, perhaps because the air was so clean.
Against the backdrop of the night sky, a system window appeared.
It was what I had been waiting for.
◆ < Han Goyo> Epic Quest: Close 3 trials within one month.
- Currently closed trials (3/3)
[Warning! Failure of the quest will result in the amputation of your limbs! Success results in limb retention.]
It was a notification that I had successfully protected my limbs.
The moment I let out a small chuckle.
[Epic Quest completed! A portion of the Archive’s knowledge is unlocked.]
[You are a Young God of the planet ’Earth’.]
Young God?
Not a Lamb or a System, but a Young God?
I had heard the words ’Outer God’ so much in Call of Void that I wondered if my eyes were misreading it.
But even after staring at it for a long time, ’Young God’ did not change.
Suddenly, Dominic’s words came to mind.
"I believe this is my first time contracting with a ■■■"
Was the part I couldn’t hear perhaps referring to a Young God?
He had also mentioned that my rank was low...
Considering how the system had always pestered me to raise my abilities, it seemed to fit.
But it wasn’t easy to believe.
’Is this a bug?’
I couldn’t believe I was placed in the same category as Dominic.
Considering how the system had always pestered me to raise my abilities, it seemed to fit.
My title is Young God, and he’s a Monarch or something, so there’s probably a universe of difference.
But the fact that we could be grouped together as ’Gods’ felt utterly nonsensical.
"A Young God..."
The moment I spoke it aloud because I couldn’t believe it.
"Do you not like the title of Young God?"
I, who had been sprawled on the ground, jumped up in shock.
"Dr. Dominic?"
I looked around, but the three-meter-tall man was nowhere to be seen.
I hoped it was an auditory hallucination, but the voice spoke again.
"Yes, Roasted Chestnut."
"..Where are you?"
"Ah! I suppose I should come outside."
Something began to squirm and flow out from my chest.