After confirming CEO Cha’s badge, I shifted my gaze upward once more.
The Cognitive Decline Mask, whose eye color remained indiscernible, was still staring at me.
This was a masquerade in Akasha where 666 god-like beings had gathered.
CEO Cha looked more out of place here than anyone.
I stared blankly at him, standing there like a sore thumb.
He seemed to scan me up and down for a moment before glancing at the Eyeball Alien.
The Eyeball Alien kept three of its pupils fixed on me, while using the other three to stare back at CEO Cha.
I swallowed hard, struggling to suppress the Young God that kept trying to surge forward.
A chilling tension filled the air.
A human cannot stand against a god.
And yet, CEO Cha was acting as if he could easily handle someone like the Eyeball Alien.
’Crazy...’
Setting aside my shock at the unexpected encounter, I screamed internally, asking if he was out of his mind, while reassessing the situation.
I thought I understood why CEO Cha was acting this way.
He was wearing a number tag.
It meant he was a guest invited by the Black Block.
Though the hide-and-seek event was conducted like a game for the masquerade’s amusement, the Black Block had set a clear rule.
Do not reveal identities.
And the Eyeball Alien was on the verge of violating that rule.
Unless the target was eliminated, the Black Block would inevitably find out about the aliens current actions.
’But he can’t kill a guest of the Black Block. Whether he violated the rule or killed a guest either way, it would be difficult to avoid the Black Blocks wrath.’
The fact that the attendees were hiding their identities behind masks also worked in CEO Cha’s favor.
Because he was suppressing his power, he was able to avoid being influenced by the Eyeball Alien.
Likewise, the Eyeball Alien had no choice but to assume that CEO Cha was also hiding his power.
It seemed as though CEO Cha had rushed in recklessly, but it was an action based on complete calculation.
Thinking this far, it seemed the Black Block’s reason for hosting a masquerade wasn’t simply due to personal taste.
Because they hid themselves behind masks, I, too, was less affected by the other gods.
The Eyeball Alien’s gaze shifted. It was checking CEO Cha’s number.
After staring at the number tag for a while, the Eyeball Alien lowered the hand that had been blocked by the scabbard.
I had been worried because the alien seemed aggressive, but it appeared it could act rationally.
All six of the Eyeball Alien’s eyes turned toward me.
Maintaining a fairly polite demeanor, it said something.
It was an attitude as if the rude act it had been about to commit just moments ago had never happened.
Once again, I couldn’t understand its words.
Seeing my confused expression, the Eyeball Alien spoke slowly again.
"Come... with... me.."
It stammered as if pronouncing a clumsy foreign language, but it spoke in a tongue I could understand.
As it spoke, it held out its palm to me.
The air split open, and a large gem dropped onto its hand.
Actually, I wasn’t sure if calling it a gem was correct.
It was a mineral with a shape I had never seen in my life.
Beneath a dazzlingly sparkling transparent surface, something that looked like a nebula was contained.
The Eyeball Alien held it out to me.
I worried that the Young God might covet the gem, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
The Young God already had the worst possible impression of the Eyeball Alien.
I politely expressed my refusal to the Eyeball Alien.
"I’m fine. Also, I am not the person you are looking for."
I spoke with a courteous attitude, but for some reason, the Eyeball Alien smiled as if dealing with a child pretending to be an adult.
It said something to me.
I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed to mean something like "I won’t get angry" or "I won’t be scary."
Even if it wasn’t clear, that feeling was simply imprinted in my mind.
I felt like if I listened just a bit more, I would understand the meaning.
Just as I was unconsciously trying to concentrate more, I felt a gaze glaring at me from the side.
It was a gaze that felt as if it would pierce through me if I looked away for even a moment longer.
I carefully took a step toward CEO Cha.
Then, I greeted him as politely as I possibly could.
"I’ll take my leave now."
As I did, I gave CEO Cha a nudge with my elbow.
CEO Cha looked at my hand for a moment, then silently kicked the Great Sun Buddha back into place. Then, he followed me.
The Eyeball Alien did not stop me. It simply stared intently with its six eyes.
It seemed unable to stop me recklessly because it had almost violated the rules.
After all, the end goal of the hide-and-seek was to be personally chosen by the Young God.
Nevertheless, I could feel a persistent gaze clinging to my back.
I could easily imagine the six eyes watching me.
As I walked, a security android thrown carelessly in the corner of the hallway caught my eye.
The android, which had an appearance no different from a human, had its internal mechanical parts exposed.
The sight of the android with its limbs brutally torn off made me feel uneasy.
Perhaps it was because it reminded me of Samra.
For a brief moment, I imagined having the Eyeball Alien as a sponsor, and I quietly frowned.
’The contrast with the alien I had spent the most time with was Dominic.’
Dominic occasionally took forceful actions toward me, but there was always a clear reason that it was for my own good.
He didn’t use his rank and power unnecessarily.
Perhaps even that was just Dominic adjusting his behavior for me...
Regardless, I felt that Dominic was far better than the Eyeball Alien.
Even after I turned the corner and the alien figure had completely disappeared, the residue of that gaze remained filthily on me.
Just as I was about to brush down my shoulder with my hand.
CEO Cha grabbed my forearm and pulled me.
I ended up behind a hologram screen with him.
The hologram screen, which took up a large portion of one wall, served as a mural.
As we hid behind the screen where the universe shimmered, it wasn’t long before I felt the presence of aliens passing by in a crowd.
They were all speaking in languages I couldn’t understand, but I could feel that they were searching for the Young God.
Only after the presence of the aliens had faded did CEO Cha speak.
"Let’s move in a bit. Right now, the place is crawling with those things."
I nodded for now at his low, whispering voice.
Then, I stole a glance upward. The CEO Cha before me felt unfamiliar.
The suit, which had some metal-like decorations along the collar, was something aliens would likely wear.
Looking at the suit tailored perfectly to CEO Cha’s body, I wondered where he had managed to get it.
The number on the badge on his chest caught my eye.
Number 6...
It was a coincidental number.
Because <Hill of Karma>, the trial I had faced with CEO Cha in the game, was structured to pass through six stages.
While staring at the number that brought back memories, I spoke.
"Why are you here, CEO Cha?-"
"Why the hell did you crawl into a place like this?-"
Because I spoke at the same time as CEO Cha, a brief silence ensued.
Both of us had thrown out questions, but neither asked again.
"..."
It was the first time we had met since the PTB.
Although we had exchanged a few texts in the meantime, it was all through voice-to-text.
Even then, the content was nothing significant.
As if by mutual agreement, neither of us brought up the PTB.
It was the same during the phone call just before entering the Show-Off.
Just as I was hesitating, not knowing how to act in the strangely awkward atmosphere.
An accident happened.
The Young God didn’t miss the moment I let my guard down and seized control of my body.
’No!’
I screamed internally.
The Young God’s hand, immediately lunging at CEO Cha, reached for the Cognitive Decline Mask.
Finding the gap between the mask and the face, the Young God hooked its fingertips and pulled hard.
Since it was equipped as an item, there was no way it would come off.
While pulling the Cognitive Decline Mask, I hurriedly shouted in a lowered voice.
"CEO Cha! This isn’t me doing this right now... no, I mean, it is me, but!"
I had tried to have a serious conversation, but the Young God had completely ruined it.
I wouldn’t have had any excuse even if I were beaten by the Great Sun Buddha.
But for some reason, CEO Cha didn’t budge.
He left the hand that was tampering with the Cognitive Decline Mask alone.
He stared blankly into my vivid gold eyes, then very slowly grabbed my wrist.
And slowly pulling it away, he spoke.
"Kang Byeok-rin is here."
I, who had been struggling to push away the Young God who kept trying to remove the Cognitive Decline Mask, asked back in surprise.
"Ms. Kang Byeok-rin?"
I had heard vaguely before that Kang Byeok-rin was a suitable candidate.
The reason why Chairman Cheon-gang, Kang Cheon-seo, had spent a fortune collecting trial items was for Kang Byeok-rin.
I was stunned to hear that CEO Cha had entered after obtaining approval from the Era of Justice to rescue the kidnapped Kang Byeok-rin.
’Why is Kang Byeok-rin...’
CEO Cha said the kidnapping was the work of Sa Gong-yeon.
But it couldn’t have been an action taken by Sa Gong-yeon alone; it must have been the will of the Black Block.
I couldn’t fathom what the Black Block wanted.
For now, CEO Cha’s reason for entry was understandable.
But everything else remained a mystery.
Why on earth was he wearing a number tag?
The Stringer was set as being from the slums.
There was no way he could have received an invitation through a normal walkthrough; I was curious what CEO Cha had done.
"CEO Cha, your number tag is-"
"You answer first."
But CEO Cha cut me off.
"Why are you sticking your head into such a dangerous place?"
"My Lieutenant is being held hostage."
CEO Cha remained silent.
He then asked back sharply, as if it were absurd.
"You did all this just to save Je Hyun-oh?"
Even as he spoke, his tone was one of disbelief.
However, CEO Cha paused immediately after speaking.
He added in a slightly softer tone.
"..He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t need that."
He meant that if left alone, Je Hyun-oh would find his own way out, so why bother.
I felt a slight surge of defiance.
I knew better than anyone how strong my bond was.
But the opponent was a god, wasn’t he?
The photo I had seen in the Day News flickered in my mind.
Even though a black line had been drawn across the tower, my bond could not break through.
At that moment, one thought occurred to me.
’Awakening...’
The ability I gained after almost pulling out Kwak Han-mook’s eyes was said to be able to grow one’s subordinates.
If I used Awakening...
Perhaps the metal hand could truly cleave through everything.
However, like during the Resurrection, I was unable to use Awakening.
Do I have to tear everything down, to become even closer to a god, to use Awakening?
Just as it was during the Resurrection.
Taking advantage of the moment I was lost in thought, the Young God surged and pushed me out completely.
CEO Cha, recognizing the change in atmosphere as soon as the Young God took over the body, reacted instantly.
He let go of my wrist, which he had been holding until then, and took a step back.
But there was nowhere to run behind the hologram screen.
I chased him as far as he had retreated. My mouth moved on its own.
"You want to be my sponsor, don’t you?"
The Young God smiled as if facing a fun toy.
He placed his hand on the mask again. This time, CEO Cha couldn’t pull the hand away.
"If you take this off, I’lI make you my sponsor."
A faint agitation was felt in the silence of the one unable to answer.
"Don’t change any further. Stop here."
Those were the words CEO Cha had said in the PTB.
But I had become even closer to a god than I was then.
For a mere human to command a god not to change. Truly arrogant.
As I toyed with the mask, wondering if I should just command this trivial item to teleport away right now.
A low voice was heard.
"Han Goyo."
The eyes beyond the mask looked directly at me. At that steadfast gaze, for some reason, my interest plummeted rapidly.
I wanted to leave this boring guy behind and go to my subordinates.
Just as I was about to step out from behind the hologram screen.
CEO Cha pulled me strongly.
In the moment I looked up in wonder at the tension felt from his hand.
I heard a cheerful voice.
"It is an honor to have you!"
It was the Black Block
But...he wasn’t alone.
An elegant and pleasant voice, like an old instrument, followed.
It was an incomprehensible language, but there was no way I couldn’t know who the owner of the voice was.
Dominic was with the Black Block.

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