I'm a Young God, so Please Raise Me - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 18
I had seen in the game that Je Hyeon-o’s vocal cords had mutated, rendering his voice inhuman.
Yet knowing this intellectually and hearing it directly were entirely different—goosebumps erupted across my skin.
I forced my frozen mind to work, struggling to think.
How did he find out?
This was an unforeseen situation.
Je Hyeon-o, waiting for my response, moved his fingers. The sound of metal striking metal rang out.
Hearing the silent threat, I slowly opened my mouth.
“I….”
Tap.
A sharp fingertip touched my chest.
Through the thin fabric, I felt the keen edge of metal. One slight increase in pressure, and my heart would be pierced clean through.
The positioning revealed Je Hyeon-o’s intent perfectly.
His will was unmistakable: speak falsely, and I die.
I abandoned any thought of deception and spoke the truth.
“I sent a message to Colonel Je. Telling him to wait.”
A system window then appeared before Je Hyeon-o.
I hope we can clear the Dead Zone Delivery together with a true ending.
It was the message I had sent.
Je Hyeon-o stared intently at the system window.
I swallowed dryly in silence.
The tension made even my hair stand on end, but fortunately the darkness of night concealed the goosebumps rising on my cheeks.
I had twisted my original first strategy of ‘pretending it’s a quest’ into a new one: ‘persuading him through the system window’.
Quite a useful and capable trainee, wouldn’t you say?
After starting with an intriguing opening, I rapidly typed out my message.
1. A trainee who can communicate freely within the trial through the system window!
2. A trainee who knows the trial’s strategies and item usage methods that even Samra doesn’t know!
3. A trainee who can stop Colonel Je from attacking Captain Gwak and Captain Mo!
If you trust me, I promise Colonel Je a smooth and swift trial closure.
I ended with a touch of coercion.
If things continue as they are, you’ll all fail the clear and become zombies.
I could picture Mo Hae-in and Gwak Han-muk watching me with confusion.
I had said I would try to persuade him, yet I stood silent.
To their eyes, Je Hyeon-o and I must have appeared to be standing motionless, facing each other without a word.
‘But I’m working hard on persuasion, Captains.’
I studied Je Hyeon-o, harboring a small hope that he would relent at this point.
The content was precisely the sort to capture his interest.
He had always focused on clearing trials quickly.
No matter which trial he was deployed to, he never took more than a week to clear it.
Yet Je Hyeon-o showed no response to my desperate appeal of usefulness.
A metal hand still rested upon my chest.
I pulled out the final persuasion I had hoped never to use.
I know about 【Zero】.
The ordeal that turned Je Hyeon-o into an infected being—the story of 【Zero】.
I held my breath and waited for his response.
^ ^
Soon, a smiling emoticon appeared on his goggles.
Uncertain of its meaning, I hesitated, but then came a guttural whisper.
“Quite presumptuous….”
From that brief utterance, as if rising from the abyss, I understood instinctively.
‘We’re finished.’
The first operation was a complete failure.
“Captain Gwak!”
I ran desperately, calling out to Gwak Han-muk.
Yeom-ju pulled me forward, and my body flew into the air; simultaneously, a jeep that had been waiting at a distance accelerated.
My body landed on the spare tire mounted on the rear of the jeep as it roared forward, engine screaming.
Bound by Yeom-ju and sitting atop the spare tire, I looked back toward where Je Hyeon-o was.
In the darkness, he was too far away to see.
Yet I could not feel reassured. He would surely catch up in an instant.
The jeep raced over cracked and potholed asphalt that had never been maintained.
Each time the vehicle bounced over stones, my body shook violently up and down.
“Captain Mo, you need to come out now…!”
“I know, recruit.”
A pale hand thrust out the window and pressed against the vehicle’s frame.
Mo Hae-in had grabbed onto the car and climbed onto the roof.
Since her zombification was progressing, her strength had increased dramatically, allowing her to climb safely onto the roof even as the vehicle raced forward.
Only Gwak Han-muk, using Yeom-ju, kept her feet anchored so she wouldn’t be thrown off by the speed.
After staring into the darkness for a moment, Mo Hae-in drew her Black Crescent Blade.
However, her blade was not aimed at the rear where Je Hyeon-o was pursuing, but at the front of the jeep.
As Mo Hae-in brought the Black Crescent Blade down with a sharp strike on the vehicle, Yeom-ju wrapped not just around my waist but now firmly bound my arms as well.
I had become like a prisoner kidnapped by armed forces.
Bound tightly, I stared ahead—which was behind the jeep but ahead from my perspective.
The loud noise drew zombies, but they could not keep pace with the vehicle’s speed.
The jeep burst through the Yellow Zone and raced into the Red Zone, finally entering the Dead Zone.
Upon entry, Dead zombies rushed at us with frenzied intensity.
Unlike ordinary zombies, the Dead zombies even kept pace with the speeding jeep.
Yet instead of watching the zombies surrounding us on all sides, I looked up at the sky.
A black dot marked the moon. The dot was expanding at tremendous speed.
“Ten seconds ahead!”
Mo Hae-in, announcing Je Hyeon-o’s position, swung her blade to clear the zombies blocking the jeep’s path.
But there were far too many charging at us from both sides and behind.
“Damn, these bastards are fast…!”
The moment Gwak Han-muk’s eyes widened in terror, Je Hyeon-o came into view. So did the black crescent-shaped aura he was generating.
“Captain Gwak!”
At Mo Hae-in’s command, Gwak Han-muk slammed the accelerator to the floor.
The jeep shot forward as dozens of black crescents embedded themselves smoothly into the spot where the vehicle had been.
“Screeeee!”
The zombies that had been about to attack the fresh humans at the jeep’s rear were struck by the crescents and became nothing but dead flesh.
Je Hyeon-o’s crescents, which he’d fired at me, had instead struck the zombies.
Immediately, a metal hand lunged at the jeep.
The moment a sharp tearing sound split the air, Yeom-ju, coiled around me, lifted my body up.
The claws barely missed their target, scraping across the jeep’s rear bumper.
Screeeech!
The sound of metal being scraped echoed on and on.
The jeep bore claw marks as if a beast had raked it, but fortunately the spare tire was spared.
Je Hyeon-o’s failed attack, just like before, shredded the zombies that had been clinging closely to the jeep instead of me.
Dozens of Dead zombies bared their teeth and wailed.
Those that had been charging fiercely with rotted arms stretched to their limits couldn’t even brush a speck of dust from the wheels—let alone touch my flesh.
They were all torn to shreds by Je Hyeon-o’s attacks.
The second operation, “Cleaning up zombies with Je Hyeon-o,” was proceeding successfully.
It was the very plan Mo Hae-in had called me a madman for proposing.
There was indeed some risk involved.
I had to serve as bait for Je Hyeon-o to unleash his attacks, Mo Hae-in had to wield her spear from atop the jeep to deal with zombies ahead, and Gwak Han-muk had to manage both driving and controlling Yeom-ju simultaneously—minor issues like that.
But ultimately, the operation was a success.
As long as Mo Hae-in eliminated the zombies blocking the jeep’s path, Je Hyeon-o cleaned up the rest.
Every time he attacked, watching the Dead zombies vanish was immensely satisfying.
If I had to compare it, it felt like using cheat codes in a game.
Besides, since this was the second chase, I’d become something of a veteran—it felt far easier than when Je Hyeon-o first pursued me.
I dangled from the jeep’s rear, thoroughly enjoying my role as delicious bait.
Then my eyes met Mo Hae-in’s.
“….”
The zombie-fighting Mo Hae-in, still gripping her black crescent blade, stared at me for a moment.
Her expression seemed to have plenty to say, and I belatedly dropped the grin that had been spreading across my face.
Mo Hae-in furrowed her brow sharply, then swung her black crescent blade back at the zombies.
Thanks to Gwak Han-muk’s furious driving, the Research Facility began to come into view.
True to the Dead Zone, the area around the Research Facility was a wasteland.
In the Yellow Zone or Red Zone, you could still see intact buildings here and there, but in this Dead Zone, the only structure remaining was the Research Facility, built from reinforced materials.
The Research Facility stood alone and pristine, like the last hope of a ruined world.
Having arrived at the Research Facility in record time using Je Hyeon-o as my cheat, I surveyed the surroundings.
“Captain Gwak, turn right!”
Gwak Han-muk wrenched the steering wheel in front of the Research Facility. The tires left skid marks across the asphalt.
The vehicle’s frame lurched so violently from the oversteer that it seemed on the verge of flipping, but in that instant, a masterful drift carried us through the corner.
A black metallic hand descended upon me.
Je Hyeon-o must have been waiting all along.
For the moment when the jeep’s speed dropped and Gwak Han-muk, focused on driving, could no longer control Yeom-ju.
But I still had one final card left to play.
‘Restriction.’
I restrict Je Hyeon-o!
It lasted only a few seconds, but the effect of the restriction was unmistakable.
The metallic hand that surely would have shredded me this time froze in mid-air.
The body that could no longer control its wings plummeted, and the black form tumbled across the asphalt.
“Ugh….”
I squeezed my eyes shut. A searing pain shot through my eyeballs, and I swallowed a groan.
Yet somehow, because I had steeled myself, I managed to endure it.
‘I hadn’t wanted to use it.’
If I hadn’t used it just now, I would be dead. Clearly, some pain was preferable to death.
But I sensed I couldn’t use it again.
If I used it even once more here, it felt as though some part of my body would suffer permanent damage.
The jeep slammed on the brakes and came to a halt.
With a jolt, my body shook, and Yeom-ju loosened, setting me down on the ground.
At last, my feet touched solid earth.
“Ugh.”
My legs gave way beneath me. My vision tinged crimson as my heartbeat thundered loudly in my ears.
“Trainee!”
Mo Hae-in leaped from the jeep and quickly steadied me.
Gwak Han-muk scrambled out of the driver’s seat right after, and upon seeing my condition, his face went pale.
I wiped my chin with the back of my hand and offered an awkward excuse.
“I’m fine. I’m just in a critical state. It’s because of my hunger and thirst levels…. Just give me a moment to eat something, and I’ll recover right away.”
“…What?”
Both of them stared at me with bewildered expressions. I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me.
‘We all went hungry together, yet only I’m in critical condition.’
Both of them had pushed themselves far harder than I had, yet neither had reached a critical state.
Their base physical constitution was clearly different from mine.
The trial fills in only the basic stats needed to clear it, but it doesn’t diminish stats that already exceed the baseline.
Mo Hae-in, Gwak Han-muk, and I had started from different positions from the very beginning.
Because of that, I should have managed my hunger and thirst levels far more meticulously….
Instead, I made a fundamental mistake while focusing on Je Hyeon-o.
“What were you doing to let yourself get into that state?”
“I apologize.”
“No, I’m not asking for an apology.”
Mo Hae-in brushed her hair back roughly and spun around to face Gwak Han-muk with a sharp movement.
Before she could even open her mouth, Gwak Han-muk was already frantically pulling a backpack from the rear seat of the jeep.
Then he flipped the backpack upside down and poured its contents—food supplies—directly into my hands in a cascading rush.
I found myself cradling an armful of provisions as I looked at Gwak Han-muk.
“I think just one can and a bottle of water would be enough, really.”
“No, eat. Eat it all.”
He unwrapped a hot bar and shoved it into my mouth.
As I swallowed the hot bar with effort, the pounding in my chest subsided and my narrowed vision gradually restored itself.
While I accepted the bottled water that Mo Hae-in had opened and handed to me, Gwak Han-muk kept letting out exclamations of amazement.
“Wow, seriously insane. That bastard Gwang-bam is driving me crazy.”
Gwang-bam….
The nickname that had started as Gun-bam had somehow evolved into Gwang-bam.
After hastily shoving food and water into my mouth and recovering my stats, I immediately checked on Je Hyeon-o.
Je Hyeon-o, who had been lying motionless on the ground until now, suddenly pushed himself up with a smooth motion.
Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in immediately stepped forward to block my path.
Then Je Hyeon-o made a waving gesture with his hand.
“Colonel, have you regained consciousness now?”
Gwak Han-muk asked with a suspicious expression. An emoticon appeared above his goggles.
I
Was that a wink…?
It did seem to mean that he had regained consciousness.
Je Hyeon-o beckoned with his metal hand, as if calling me over.
When Gwak Han-muk stepped forward, Je Hyeon-o shook his head; when Mo Hae-in stepped forward, he shook his head again.
His head kept shaking back and forth until I stepped forward—only then did it stop.
I was deliberating whether I should move closer when I heard a clicking sound.
It was the sound of Je Hyeon-o removing his goggles.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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