Chapter 798
Chapter 798 – The Duke’s Flesh, The Queen’s Fragment
「User: Han Gain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 9,325
Current Location: Level 1, Lobby
Sage’s Advice: 3」
— Han Gain
About three minutes after the five people fell asleep to meet the Benefactor, Seungyeop and Ari woke up.
It wasn’t their first time experiencing participants waking up just a few minutes after meeting the Benefactor.
When Room 301 ended, Yusong had the same phenomenon.
The two had not received any blessing enhancements.
“Just like Brother Gain said, the Benefactor was being disciplined.”
“Disciplined? What state was he in?”
“He was trapped in a computer and turned into an icon. I thought maybe I should throw him into the trash bin, just out of necessity?”
“…”
The transformation of the Benefactor into an icon due to discipline and throwing that icon into the trash—what kind of causal relationship existed for the phrase ‘out of necessity’ to come into play?
It sounded absurd, but it was probably better not to question it.
Aside from that, it seemed like a relay of the Benefactor’s thoughts about the progress of Room 302 and a taste of level 4 enhancement.
“Do you think you understood what level 4 abilities are?”
“Not at all. It just felt like constellations were randomly falling on the ground?”
Unlike Seungyeop, who rambled on with various stories, Ari seemed lost in deep thought.
“What about you? You must have had something to say.”
“… It was about wishes. Give me a moment to think alone.”
With those words, Ari disappeared somewhere.
The remaining six people shrugged at each other and began to spend their time in their own ways.
Resting, researching, and exploring Level 3, each started as they pleased.
What should I do?
*
On Level 2, feeling the fresh air in the snowfield, I fell into such thoughts.
— Flap!
With the sound of something flying in, my right shoulder felt heavy.
“Pero?”
— Peeek!
The pure white fluffy parrot looked quite pretty, but aside from that, I was puzzled.
It was extremely rare for him to come perch on my shoulder.
From experience, Pero only came to me when there was no one around and it was truly unavoidable—
— Grrrr!
The sound of a hideous beast howling.
“What was that sound?”
Immediately after, along with an indescribable foul smell, I began to hear something approaching.
Just as I furrowed my brow, thinking I recognized that smell—
— Kraak!
A monster resembling a black sphere—Humpty Dumpty—came rolling rudely towards me!
“… This is ridiculous.”
The next events were simple.
The Divine Sun blazed, and a pure white ray of heat pierced through the sphere.
Humpty Dumpty learned just how great the beings of all creation are today.
That was fine, but what happened next was truly absurd.
— Peeek! Peeek!
Pero started flying around the sprawled Humpty Dumpty, fluttering white feathers.
No matter how I looked at it, it was close to a ‘roar of victory.’
“…”
Only then did I understand the situation.
This ridiculous parrot had used me as a ‘live trap.’
…
Sungy’s reaction to this was straightforward.
“Since yesterday, Pero and Humpty Dumpty have been having a hierarchy battle.”
“What kind of behavior is that? It’s not like they’re dogs.”
“Call it a battle between a rolling stone and a stuck stone? It’s animal instinct, I guess.”
“…”
“There’s a significant power difference, but there’s also a significant intelligence difference, so strangely, it balances out.”
I was bemused yet slightly amused.
“To use a participant as a living trap against a monster trying to eat participants. There is absolutely no concept of loyalty.”
“Expecting that from Humpty is a tall order. Still, he has the judgment to avoid beings stronger than himself.”
“That level of judgment is something even a frog can make.”
On the first day, when we had dinner in Room 105, Brother Sang-hyun had mentioned some bad stories about Humpty Dumpty a few times.
“Don’t you think we need to do something about obedience training?”
“… Do you think there’s anything I haven’t tried with it for 25 years?”
That’s true.
“It has an excessively strong appetite. Even though I give it plenty of meat, it’s still not satisfied.”
“It’s not satisfied with meat?”
“The greed to consume intelligent beings is too strong.”
“Why?”
“… According to the Doctor Teacher’s guesses, it seems that it’s instinctively wanting to develop intelligence.”
“…”
“To develop the brain and soul, it probably needs pieces of intelligent beings’ brains and souls? It’s just a guess, though.”
Hearing this, I drew a conclusion.
Thinking like the Management Bureau, without a doubt, Humpty Dumpty deserves to be eradicated.
It’s a blatant man-eating monster that only obeys Yusong.
Yet, Yusong can use her various powers combined with that monster.
It’s a man-eating monster, but also a very useful one.
Just as I understood this, a thought crept in.
“I was thinking in the Sanctuary, but I thought you wouldn’t be able to enhance this time, Yusong. Right?”
“… Yes.”
“How did you know?”
Yusong replied with a light sigh.
“It was a day I was struggling to control the rampaging Humpty. Was it during the 18th year?”
“…”
“I had a run-in with the remnants of the Salvation Faction. We won the fight, but…”
“We won?”
“… While I fainted from a gunshot, Humpty ate at least a hundred people.”
“…”
“While the eating was a serious problem, the bigger issue came afterward. From Humpty’s eyes, which had grown more than twice their usual size…”
“From its eyes?”
Yusong momentarily looked speechless, and just from her expression, I could tell how horrific the memory was.
“… I felt intelligence.”
“…”
“Where is this? Who am I? Such voices echoed.”
“That was dangerous.”
“Indeed. As soon as I woke up, I tried to control it, but it wouldn’t even listen to me at that stage.”
The power of affinity isn’t some kind of forced brainwashing.
It’s a power that makes the Chaos Being feel fond of Yusong.
If it’s an intelligent being, then it’s entirely possible to suppress that instinctive affinity.
“When I thought I would genuinely be eaten by Humpty, I gritted my teeth, and then something strange happened.”
“Strange?”
“… I used the power of the blessing several times stronger than usual?”
“Is it like overclocking on a computer? The concept of gaining temporary enhancement at a cost?”
“Perhaps. For a moment, I felt that the power of affinity had multiplied by several times. When I snapped back to reality, Humpty came over to me with gentle eyes.”
I understood that part easily, but the next was a bit shocking.
“During that moment, I actually performed surgery on the spot.”
“… Surgery?”
Suddenly surgery? What the—
“I shot it in the head with a gun. I thought I should destroy anything resembling a brain first.”
“Shooting it isn’t exactly surgery—was it sitting still while you shot?”
“Yes. The next day it returned to the less intelligent state it is now.”
After a fierce battle, Yusong temporarily fainted.
During that time, Humpty Dumpty swallowed countless humans and developed its intelligence.
Feeling a crisis, Yusong forcibly subdued Humpty by using her blessing more powerfully than usual.
At that moment, Humpty Dumpty did not resist even when Yusong shot it in the head.
It meant that the power of affinity had become so strong that its fondness for Yusong surpassed the most fundamental desire for survival.
“When it was all over… I vaguely realized. I temporarily strengthened the blessing using contribution.”
“Hmm…”
“I don’t know how much, but it seems the timing for enhancement will be delayed by one round.”
“I understand.”
The relationship between Yusong and Humpty Dumpty, I can now vaguely grasp it.
“I do feel a bit sorry for Humpty. What should we do?”
“I’ll take care of it as well.”
“You? Hmm, brother. Please don’t engage in animal cruelty. Don’t you see Pero using you as a living trap?”
“What’s Humpty Dumpty, a pet? It’s no animal cruelty, and if it is an abduction of an extraterrestrial creature, perhaps.”
“That sounds like you’re admitting to cruelty.”
“Stop using weird expressions. The cruelty you’re doing is the one you’re doing, Yusong.”
“Ugh… I can’t deny it, so it makes me sad.”
“I’m not talking about cruelty; I’m considering to conduct healthy purpose research. If I can understand how an extraterrestrial creature thinks—”
“I guarantee that if Humpty Dumpty has intelligence, it’ll be most shocked by what you just said.”
Using contribution to temporarily strengthen a blessing.
When I think about it, it’s not that different from my case.
If we ask about the blessings of other participants, it operates on the principle of consuming contributions.
From another perspective, it means that consuming contributions allows for questions that wouldn’t normally be possible.
Was that the reason Pero told me not to waste contributions in this context?
Anyway, it seems that additional research on Humpty Dumpty is necessary.
*
Humpty Dumpty’s violence and Yusong’s extreme response to suppress it.
Eunsol’s reaction to this was unexpected.
“Wow, Yusong is amazing. I’m a bit envious.”
“Yeah?”
Envious?
“It is a bit, um, bizarre, but still, it’s the process of digesting what she obtained from Room 301, right?”
“That’s true. Though I think more research is needed, it’s part of the process of making Humpty Dumpty obey.”
“Look at this.”
Eunsol shrugged and pulled out a jet-black stone from her garment.
She stared at it as if she could shoot lasers from her eyes.
“I don’t understand anything. According to Grandpa, I died, and this stone replaced a part of my body.”
“That’s amazing and fascinating.”
“I just delayed death, didn’t I? In the end, I died while losing consciousness.”
“That’s just the trial-and-error process. Since it was the first time using it, I didn’t know how to use it, so it ended uselessly.”
“Right, but I wonder what the correct use is?”
“Well, should we recreate the situation at the time?”
“… Gain, at that time, my body was split horizontally, and I died.”
“One more time?”
“Haha, Gain, you’re really going too far with the jokes!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Is that a joke?”
“Recovering without any aftereffects won’t be easy. Even in Room 105, if I die instantly, it’s of no use.”
“Don’t analyze seriously…”
“There is the Safari, but—”
“No, I’m not planning to cut my body.”
“Haha! Right, it was just a joke.”
It wasn’t a joke, but seeing Eunsol’s expression, it seemed better to treat it as one.
“Hand of Greed, you can use it again, right?”
“Yes.”
“I think it would be better to ask for advice on how to use it.”
“I did come up with a rather unique idea…”
“A unique idea?”
“… Should I try descending to use it?”
At that moment, I realized something.
The unknown treasure left behind by the King of Is—the fragment of the Great Being was already shaking Eunsol’s spirit!
“Hey, Eunsol.”
“Yes?”
“Summon the pipe right now.”
