I'm a Young God, so Please Raise Me - Chapter 22
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 22
Lee Ga-on’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“A cure?”
She had anticipated a vaccine, but the request to develop a cure seemed to have caught her completely off guard.
And there was another person whose eyes had widened in surprise.
O O
Je Hyeon-o, of all people….
Lee Ga-on flinched at the new emoticon displayed above his goggles and took a step back.
I felt a touch of embarrassment, but I pressed on as if nothing had happened.
“In fact, one of my colleagues is currently undergoing zombification.”
“Ah….”
Lee Ga-on’s eyes filled with sympathy in an instant.
“So that’s why. I did think something seemed off about you, but it must be the infection after all.”
And with that, she turned to look at Je Hyeon-o.
“But your colleague doesn’t seem very aggressive, does he? Is it thanks to the equipment you’re wearing? Or perhaps—”
“It’s not him. It’s a different colleague.”
“Oh, I see.”
Lee Ga-on shifted nervously, stealing glances at Je Hyeon-o.
ㅠ ㅜ
When Je Hyeon-o displayed a crying emoticon on his goggles, she trembled slightly, though her reaction was somewhat better than before.
It seemed we had successfully established some common ground.
Lee Ga-on moved away from Je Hyeon-o and drew closer to me before speaking.
“I want to make a cure, but… I’m not confident. A cure is completely different from a vaccine, and without my brother, I don’t think I can do it alone.”
Lee Ga-on bit her lip. She needed the cure more than anyone else. The fact that she was saying this meant she truly lacked confidence.
It was certainly not something one person could accomplish in such a short time.
‘But there’s no reason she has to struggle through the research alone, is there?’
There were clearly useful tools available. I made a proposal to the now-dejected Lee Ga-on.
“What if you recycled the trash?”
“Trash?”
“Yes.”
I clarified my words for Lee Ga-on’s benefit.
“Human trash, to be precise.”
***
It was simply a matter of descending the Emergency Stairwell from the Rooftop to the 5th Floor.
But it wasn’t easy at all.
Mo Hae-in drew in a deep breath and exhaled. The breath she released was hot and stifling due to the fever that had started again.
The moment her focus slipped, she felt certain she would bite into Gwak Han-muk standing right in front of her, so she had been keeping her nerves razor-sharp since earlier.
Now she understood in her bones why DeZomDeal made immediate execution their principle upon infection.
With the itching sensation in her teeth, Mo Hae-in breathed roughly and repeatedly contorted her face before relaxing it.
“Captain Mo. Are you struggling?”
“Yeah.”
“Want me to put you down?”
“…Before I get executed, I’m definitely taking you with me.”
Upon swearing a mutual zombie death, Gwak Han-muk chuckled. His irritating laughter was so infuriating that for a moment, she even forgot the pain of zombification.
Mo Hae-in, who had been glaring at Gwak Han-muk with eyes that screamed she wanted to bite him just once, suddenly murmured.
“Still, I’m grateful to be on a team with you. For this operation.”
“Han Go-yo is on the team too.”
….
Mo Hae-in gave no response. But in her mind, she was already thinking of Han Go-yo.
Director Jang Seok-yun had made Han Go-yo’s purpose abundantly clear.
Currently, Han Go-yo was neither a soldier of Sidaecheong nor a comrade. He was merely a tool for closing the Trial.
Given how dangerous he was, they would verify his usefulness over the next month, and if he proved unhelpful, he would be disposed of and used for research.
Mo Hae-in had also tried to approach Han Go-yo with that mindset.
But it was harder than she expected.
It had been the same the moment she saw Han Go-yo confined in the Isolation Facility.
Though it was considered one of the better rooms in Sidaecheong’s Isolation Facility, it was still a prison. The structure was such that the door couldn’t be opened from inside.
She was waiting for someone to open it from outside, and the moment Gwak Han-muk opened the iron door, Han Go-yo bowed in greeting—and her words caught in her throat.
Han Go-yo, dressed neatly in uniform and gazing at her with a slight tension, had eyes that were nothing but clear.
There wasn’t a trace of resentment toward those who had put him in such a state.
When she acknowledged his greeting, he even smiled faintly.
There was no way she could treat him as a tool or a monster after seeing that.
‘But in the Trial, there’s no madman quite as mad as him.’
The respectful demeanor he had shown, unlike kids his age, had vanished without a trace.
He didn’t live up to his name and rampaged like a mad dog—a lunatic so audacious that even Mo Hae-in, who had enlisted in Sidaecheong and experienced all manner of human nature, was taken aback.
She never thought she’d encounter someone like Gwak Han-muk again while living.
Whenever she thought of Han Go-yo, all sorts of complicated feelings arose, but one thing was certain.
‘He’s not a bad person. Suspicious and strange, yes, but not bad.’
It was the same now.
Even though he could have easily advocated for her execution when she became a zombie, Han Go-yo didn’t.
Would Han Go-yo be able to achieve the true ending this time as well?
Though she tried not to think about the uncertain future, she couldn’t help but hold onto hope.
She didn’t want to die yet.
No—she couldn’t die yet.
“Han-muk.”
Gwak Han-muk, who had stopped in front of the 5th Floor entrance, turned to look back.
The sight of him with the iron pipe Han Go-yo had picked up from the rooftop slung over his shoulder looked genuinely delinquent.
Mo Hae-in, lingering one step short of the final landing, asked.
“Are you okay?”
Gwak Han-muk, looking down at Mo Hae-in, responded with an expression that asked why she would ask such a thing.
“Hell yeah, I’m fine.”
“No… Ah, never mind.”
I had wanted to hear what he thought about Han Go-yo, but it was pointless.
Clearing DeZomDeal with the true ending was the top priority.
Gwak Han-muk whistled as he opened the emergency door.
Mo Hae-in found herself frowning without realizing it.
My hearing had definitely become more sensitive, likely due to the ongoing zombification process.
Meanwhile, my field of vision was steadily narrowing. It felt like I had less than half my original eyesight.
The sensation of my body transforming in real time was far from pleasant.
It seemed this discomfort was only amplifying my aggression further.
Thinking I’d soon need to stuff cloth in my mouth, I followed Gwak Han-muk into the 5th Floor.
Gwak Han-muk cracked his neck and spoke.
“The researchers seem to be around here.”
Before I could even ask how he knew,
“If there are any survivors!! Come on out!!!”
Gwak Han-muk bellowed so loudly the entire corridor rang with his voice.
Mo Hae-in, a beat too late, covered her ears with her hands and swallowed a curse.
Naturally, no survivors emerged—only the sleeping zombies stirred with guttural groans and rushed forward.
Mo Hae-in suppressed the urge to join the zombies and attack Gwak Han-muk together, instead drawing out the Black Moon Blade.
“….”
A sharp sting suddenly spread across my palm. The Black Moon Blade was beginning to reject its owner.
I could still use it for now. But by tomorrow, I wouldn’t be able to grip the Black Moon Blade at all.
Feeling the Black Moon Blade’s displeasure at me becoming a zombie, Mo Hae-in laughed bitterly.
Fortunately, the dead zombies on the 5th Floor weren’t numerous, so they were cleared quickly.
It was when I finished off the last zombie.
A sealed door suddenly opened in the now-quiet corridor, and two men appeared.
A chiming sound rang out as a system window materialized.
◆Main Quest: Research Facility Exploration.
Search for survivors and find the vaccine developer. (3/4)
They were surviving researchers.
Including the female researcher I had met before, I had now encountered three, leaving one more.
The researchers who had just appeared looked to be in their early fifties and mid-forties respectively.
‘The age doesn’t match the vaccine researcher.’
Thinking I should head down to the 3rd Floor, Mo Hae-in put away the Black Moon Blade.
The researchers trembled as they surveyed the corridor teeming with zombie corpses, but their faces brightened the moment they spotted Gwak Han-muk.
“F-finally!”
Believing a soldier had come to rescue them, they bolted out like startled mice.
Gwak Han-muk extended one hand to stop them.
“Whoa, hold on there. Let’s take this slow.”
He tilted his head back and spoke.
“I’ll need to verify your ID cards first. Hand them over.”
The men fumbled to produce their ID cards.
Tak Ju-chul
Paeng Sang-do
The older one was Tak, and the younger was Paeng.
Before the two researchers, who now beamed as though salvation had arrived, Gwak Han-muk narrowed his eyes with a thoughtful hum.
After scrutinizing the ID cards, he spun sharply toward Mo Hae-in and spoke.
“No vaccine researcher here.”
“Do you really need to check names for that? You said they were in their mid-twenties.”
“Well, they could just look older than they are.”
Mo Hae-in took a moment to breathe at Gwak Han-muk’s airtight logic. She felt her zombification accelerating from sheer frustration.
“The vaccine! Are you asking about the vaccine!”
Paeng Sang-do, reading the room, quickly interjected. He seemed to have caught on that these soldiers weren’t here for rescue.
“This team leader and I have been researching the vaccine together. We can develop it, but we’re simply short on materials….”
He hastily demonstrated his usefulness. Gwak Han-muk nodded thoughtfully and asked.
“What about the other researchers?”
“Just the two of us survived.”
“But there are two more of you, aren’t there?”
Gwak Han-muk struck the wall with an iron pipe, a clear warning.
“Let’s not play games.”
The pipe was so thoroughly stained with blood that its original color was barely visible.
Paeng Sang-do and Tak Ju-chul exchanged glances. Tak Ju-chul cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke up.
“You’re right—there were two more. But those people….”
“You’re cutting it short?”
“…There were two more of us.”
Tak Ju-chul corrected himself, his face flushed.
Mo Hae-in felt a certain satisfaction watching Gwak Han-muk’s crude personality bear down on others, and she waited for what came next.
“But they disagreed with us and abandoned the Research Facility.”
“With our current team, vaccine development is absolutely possible! We can even show you our research materials.”
Paeng Sang-do was making a desperate effort to convince Gwak Han-muk.
Only then did Tak Ju-chul notice Mo Hae-in standing in the back and let out a scream.
“Ahhhhh! A zombie, there’s a zombie!”
At Tak Ju-chul’s scream, Paeng Sang-do fainted as well, collapsing onto his backside in chaos. Mo Hae-in calmly opened her mouth.
“I’m a soldier too.”
But it was futile. Tak Ju-chul pointed accusingly, spittle flying from his mouth.
“Zombification is already in progress! In a day or two, you’ll be a zombie! What we’re researching isn’t a cure—it’s a vaccine!!”
The two of them shrieked and scrambled into the Research Facility like fleeing animals.
The Research Facility door was a sealed entrance that required an ID card to open, and because it was designed to block viruses, it couldn’t be destroyed carelessly.
Gwak Han-muk smacked his lips and reached a clear conclusion.
“Let’s head to the 3rd Floor.”
But the situation didn’t unfold as favorably as hoped.
After entering the 3rd Floor and clearing out the zombies, I searched thoroughly but couldn’t find the last researcher.
“Could they already be dead…?”
When Mo Hae-in voiced her anxiety, Gwak Han-muk, who had been trying the final door, clicked his tongue in frustration.
“Want to return to the 5th Floor? They might be with Han Go-yo and Je Hyeon-o.”
Considerable time had passed, so it seemed best to regroup and resupply first.
When I returned to the 5th Floor with Gwak Han-muk, that’s when it happened.
Mo Hae-in witnessed an astonishing sight.
“Uwaaaagh!”
“Grrrrgh!”
Tak Ju-chul and Paeng Sang-do, drool streaming down their faces, thrashed desperately in Je Hyeon-o’s grip.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————