It wasn’t fun in the slightest.
At the very least, it was clear that this was not meant to be a diversion for my benefit.
Until now, I had endured it, believing that the Black Block would not do anything harmful to my kin.
But he had finally crossed the line.
Using the pathetic excuse that my broadcasting had messed up his plans.
My head felt as if it would burst, boiling over with a torrent of thoughts and emotions.
The Young God and I wanted the same thing.
I wanted to erase everything.
I glared at the screen.
Simultaneously, the surface of the screen flickered.
Harsh noise erupted, as if the hologram were about to shut down at any moment.
Just as the static grew louder...
A soft voice drifted through.
I thought it was meant to be soothing, but then-
Thump.
The overheated device exploded, and the hologram screen vanished instantly.
CEO Cha and I, now fully exposed, froze for a moment.
But there was no one there.
The hallway was silent, devoid of any presence.
As if only CEO Cha and I had existed there from the start.
Only the sparks flying from the burst projection device served as a reminder that what had just happened was real.
CEO Cha cautiously removed his hand from me.
Then, he snapped in a low voice.
"Are you insane?"
I couldn’t even answer; I just stood there still.
Seeing my half dazed state, CEO Cha started to say something but stopped himself.
I covered my eyes with my hand. I needed to block out my vision to regain my composure.
Otherwise, it felt as if the Young God would swallow me whole right here and now.
"Stay still. Please."
I was struggling to suppress the Young God, but I wasn’t in a great state myself.
By this point, I could roughly guess the Black Block’s intentions.
He claimed to be my fan, but apparently, his standards weren’t human.
The Black Block wanted to keep provoking me to get a reaction.
I think I now understood why he went through the trouble of bringing my kin, whom he had imprisoned in the tower, back to the masquerade.
It was likely to push me into a psychological corner.
To ensure I wouldn’t be distracted by other potential sponsors.
I had clashed with the Black Block a few times before.
Each time, I had done something that strayed far from his expectations.
The Black Block probably wanted to make sure I couldn’t do that at this masquerade.
Especially since this was a gathering where other gods also congregated.
Now, my goal has expanded from mere reporting to finding my kin, wherever they might be.
Thanks to that, I was in no position to leisurely scout for potential sponsors.
’Does the Black Block really have the confidence to be chosen as my sponsor while pulling this kind of stunt?’
Right now, my only desire was to annihilate him.
Suppressing my emotions as much as possible, I recalled the Black Block’s words.
"It probably won’t be in the form the Lamb remembers!"
I tried to deduce what he had done to my kin.
It likely wasn’t just physical damage.
My kin wouldn’t have felt such negative emotions over something as simple as that.
’They were lonely.’
That was the emotion my kin had felt.
I tried to locate my kin’s position, but as expected, they weren’t detected.
The moment my power was blocked, I intentionally cut off my thoughts. I felt that if I thought about it any further, it would be hard to remain rational.
Reflexively, Dominic came to mind.
He had scolded the Black Block for taking my kin and said things that seemed to soothe me.
But that was all. He didn’t do anything beyond that.
Even knowing I was behind the screen, he had simply spoken in a language I couldn’t understand.
What does Dominic want from me?
I can at least guess the reason behind the Black Block’s actions, but Dominic’s desires remained opaque.
Ever since the Young God and I were merged half-and-half, it had become even harder to guess his inner thoughts.
If he wanted to make me a god that badly, he could have just merged the Young God and me in a 9:1 ratio.
Even though I knew I shouldn’t consider him a complete ally...
Being pushed into this situation made me feel a lingering sense of disappointment.
Perhaps it was because the Pudding Slime had always been kind to me, making the contrast even sharper.
I took a deep breath and exhaled.
Slowly lowering the hand covering my eyes, I looked at CEO Cha in front of me.
CEO Cha watched me silently. Under his confirming gaze, I first offered my thanks.
If it weren’t for him, I surely would have caused some kind of incident.
"Thank you for holding me back earlier."
"As you can see, my state is a bit strange. I’m not exactly normal."
"Obviously"
As expected, he didn’t spare a single empty word.
I made him realize the urgency of the situation.
"I have to go find my kin right now, so..."
"Your kin?"
For some reason, CEO Cha cut me off.
I wondered if I had made a slip of the tongue, but since nothing seemed odd, I continued.
"Yes. So it will be difficult to search for Kang Byeok-rin together. I’ll repay you later..I’m sorry, but it’s urgent, so I’ll be going first...ha..."
Leaving behind the scoffing CEO Cha, I walked away hurriedly.
However, for some reason, I felt a presence following me.
Puzzled, I looked back to see CEO Cha speaking bluntly.
"Where are you going? We’re not done talking."
What more did he want to say? But then, a short, clipped sentence followed.
"Ask for my help."
It was so abrupt I wondered if I had misheard him.
He repeated it, almost like a command.
"Hurry up."
I didn’t know there was such a way to offer help. It was a method I had never heard of in my life.
I had no intention of asking a fragile human to do something difficult anyway.
It would be enough to just utilize his position as a sponsor candidate with a ticket number.
Cecilia is a known face, so CEO Cha might be more useful. Just as I was about to readily accept him, the Young God pushed me aside and spoke.
"Even if you do, I won’t let you be a sponsor or kin."
He actually said that to the person offering help.
I tried my best to restrain the socially bankrupt Young God.
While I was wrestling with the Young God, CEO Cha stared at the Young God and said.
"I’m not interested in you."
"It’s not a lie... I’m sorry.."
I swallowed a sigh and asked.
"I’m still in this state; would it be alright if I go with you?"
"Just handle it."
CEO Cha said to me with his arms crossed.
"If you give ’that thing’ what it wants, it’ll settle down, right?"
Because he referred to the Young God as ’that thing’, chaos erupted inside me again, but I managed to calm it down.
I gratefully accepted CEO Cha’s help.
"Then, I’ll be in your care."
Having gained an unexpected ally, I calmly reorganized the current situation.
"I plan to find my kin while proceeding with the reporting."
But the Black Block wouldn’t have made them easy to find.
’It’ll probably be revealed as I approach the Black Block. Since he wants me to come to him, the probability was high...’
I had a gut feeling that he had designed it so that I would encounter my kin on the way to find him.
I fiddled with my collar, which had a miniature camera attached.
The reporting for Hyper Eden had to uncover the truth.
At first, one creates and sells interest, even if it’s a lie.
But as the stringer climbs higher into the upper echelons of the city, they get closer to the truth, aiming to publish a real scoop in the media.
Succeeding in reporting on the Mad Messiah the biggest mystery of Hyper Eden, and in other words, the Black Block- was by no means a simple feat.
It wasn’t just about selling his photo.
It meant discovering what kind of existence he truly was.
If so, where would the Black Block be currently?
Now seemed like the right time to use the item I had purchased with 10 Star Shards.
While trapped in the black space for 72 hours, I had frequented the Galactic Trading Post just to kill time.
Since the recommended items didn’t satisfy me, I searched until my eyes were sore.
As a result, I learned exactly how much 10 Star Shards were worth at the Galactic Trading Post.
It meant I could only buy trash.
The items recommended by the trading post system were the best, but even those weren’t great.
The most absurd thing on the recommendation list was a sticker to put on a spaceship.
[Cheep-Cheep Child Sticker: If attached to the outer wall of a spaceship, it informs surrounding ships that a child is on board.]
It was the space version of a ’Baby on Board’ sticker.
But didn’t even have a spaceship. Moreover, I doubted other ships would actually navigate more carefully just because of a sticker.
Anyway, after long deliberation, I eventually chose an item from the recommendation list.
I picked it because I thought it was the best of the lot, and it turned out to be the most useful item for me right now.
[Acorn Compass Detector: Allows you to escape from the seeker in a game of hide and seek. The needle spins and then stops in the direction where your friend is.]
It was an item used for playing hide and seek.
’It was on sale, too...’
It was originally a 100 Star Shard item, but I bought it with a 90% ’Children’s Special Discount.’
If you designate a seeker, it tells you the direction of that person. However, since it was simply a toy, it had several restrictions.
First, the detection radius was 15 meters. It could only search an area roughly the size of a basketball court.
Also, it was a single use item. Crucially, the target that could be designated as the seeker was limited to a ’God’!
Because of these picky conditions, it was an awkward item to use.
It must have been 90% off as a clearance sale because it didn’t sell.
As I took out the compass, a system window appeared.
[Please register the seeker!]
’Come to think of it, I don’t know his name yet.’
The invitation said ’Mad Messiah’, but that didn’t seem to be the Black Block’s actual name.
While I was contemplating what to do while thinking of the Black Block, the seeker was registered automatically.
[Seeker: ■■■■■]
It was the familiar arrangement of the Black Block. For now, it seemed the registration had worked as intended.
CEO Cha looked a bit dumbfounded upon seeing the acorn compass I had produced.
"You’re using something like that?"
I explained the utility of the cute compass.
"If the target comes within 15 meters, I can tell the direction. I placed the compass on my palm and carefully watched the needle."
The needle hadn’t moved yet. It would only move once the target entered the radius.
He didn’t seem to be nearby.
I first stopped by the smoking room, my original goal, but there were no notes left by my kin.
’Should I approach the banquet hall? Just as I was worrying a bit because of what happened with the eyeball alien...’
"Follow me."
I looked at CEO Cha while still holding the acorn compass.
"I have a terrace seat assigned to me."
His further explanation left me even more bewildered. To think they gave a terrace seat...something usually reserved for alien VIPs to CEO Cha.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard yet how he got a ticket number...
Regardless, the terrace seat was the best place to overlook the banquet hall at a glance, and it would also be easy to check the second floor area.
I headed toward the terrace seat of the banquet hall with CEO Cha.
While quietly following him, pretending to be the executive secretary of Alien Guest No. 6, snippets of alien conversations drifted over from all directions.
There were languages I didn’t know, but I understood most of them.
As I walked quietly, certain words caught my ear.
"Is it true? There are rumors that that person has returned..."
I almost turned my head instinctively but managed to keep my gaze fixed on CEO Chas back.
Instead, I slowed my pace slightly.
CEO Cha adjusted his speed to match mine without me having to say a word.
Glancing sideways, I saw aliens dressed like gentlemen conversing with serious expressions.
They had humanoid forms, but their flamboyant hair and the feel of their eyes made it obvious to anyone that they were aliens.
"I don’t know either. There are no direct witnesses, only rampant rumors. From my own personal inquiries, it seems to be because of the Butlers."
"The Butlers? I only heard news that they destroyed some cleaning company’s spaceship a while back."
"Now, now, that’s an old story. The Butlers have recently occupied a new territory."
"Impossible. Are we not in danger as well?"
"Not at all. It’s a completely random place. You’ll be surprised when you hear the coordinates. Why on earth...such a place..."
The murmuring aliens suddenly stopped talking.
Since they were looking in my direction, I quickly pretended not to notice, and CEO Cha shielded me.
Fortunately, we were right in front of the stairs leading to the terrace seats, so we quickly escaped the aliens’ sight.
The second-floor terrace seats were accessed via a separate staircase, bypassing the main banquet hall.
A security android scanned CEO Cha’s ticket and guided us to the terrace seat.
As soon as I reached the second floor, I checked the acorn compass, but the needle remained still.
And upon entering the terrace seat, I immediately looked down at the floor below.
My face became somewhat appalled.
While I had been away, screens had been set up throughout the banquet hall.
On the screens, videos featuring the Young God were playing. Some of them even showed videos where the eyes weren’t gold.
From personal broadcast clips to videos of me conquering trials, the variety was immense.
I frowned for a moment and scanned every corner of the banquet hall.
But as expected, it was hard to find the Black Block this way.
I needed to move around and search personally, but there were too many dangerous aliens for that...
Just as I was wondering if there was a way to distract all these aliens at once...
A rather decent idea occurred to me.
"CEO Cha."
And I made a request to the person who could brilliantly realize my idea.
"Could you pretend to be the ’Young God’ for a moment?"

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