I'm a young god, won't you raise me?

Chapter 48: Chapter 48

The towering man looked utterly out of place against the cozy surroundings.

He was like something that had been jarringly dropped into this world, the only one of his kind.

There was no doubt about who he was.

The Master.

"..."

I swallowed without meaning to.

Where had things gone wrong?

Why was this being — the Master — pretending to be Dr. Dominic?

My tongue felt frozen with tension.

No, not felt. It was literally frozen.

A system window appeared before me.

You have encountered Dr. Do?mi?nic???

- Greet him warmly.

- Scream and run away, only to get hit by a car and die!

- Fall to your knees and beg for mercy, then hang yourself from a willow tree!

- Bash your head against the floor pleading for your life until you bleed out!

- Swear to become His Excellency’s loyal servant!

The options were completely busted...

At this rate, there was really only one viable choice.

While I was staring at the options, Dominic saw off a patient named Mary.

As her car drove away, Dominic turned back to me.

I picked the first one.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Little Lamb. I work as a journalist in London, and I came to Morneveil today."

My voice came out bright and cheerful, betraying none of the tension coiled inside me.

I was tearfully grateful for Call-Obo’s gameplay system — outputting pre-written dialogue through the choices.

"Little Lamb?"

Dominic repeated my name, studying me closely.

He bent down, casting a shadow over me.

With the tension easing just slightly, I could finally get a proper look at his face.

He... isn’t human.

He was clearly wearing human skin, but calling him the same species felt wrong. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

It wasn’t just because he was three meters tall.

It was a beauty too grotesque for any human to bear.

Perfect platinum hair, and blue eyes that seemed to hold the entire cosmos.

Those eyes were like a star cluster in the night sky.

Layers of rich blue rippled within them, shifting into strange violet hues depending on the angle, sometimes brushed with a cold, icy white.\n

Across his irises, tiny golden fragments like shattered stars were scattered irregularly, glittering in an unreal way.

But despite such brilliant radiance, the longer I met those eyes...

The more I realized they had no end.

The deepest abyss.

Like a void.

Boundless.

AH!HOWCOULDITBEDEGRADINGTOKNEELBEFOREHISEXCELLENCYANDBOWMYHEAD!ITISTHEONLYCOURTESYAPATIFULWRETCHLIKEMECANOFFER!THEGLORYOFALIFETIME!

"...!"

I gasped sharply.

Before I could even process the horrible thought that had flashed through my mind, Dominic spoke.

"If you’ll pardon me, but that name doesn’t suit you."

He hummed lightly, a soft sound, then asked.

"How about the name Goyo?"

And smiled as he added.

"Han Goyo. A name like that."

...At this point, I genuinely wanted to run away.

The problem was, there was nowhere to go.

To leave Call-Obo, I needed Dr. Dominic’s role.

Besides, even if I took the Cult Leader route, I’d end up crossing paths with the doctor.

Either way, I was stuck dealing with this ’Master’ pretending to be Dominic.

"How about... Roasted Chestnut? My friends call me Roasted Chestnut."

I desperately offered another name.

Dominic’s brow furrowed slightly, clearly not pleased, but he accepted my suggestion with composure.

"If that’s what you wish to be called, by all means."

He adjusted the sleeves of his suit neatly, offering a gentlemanly smile.

"So, Roasted Chestnut. What brings you to the clinic?"

"Well... you see..."

"First, let’s go inside. We can talk slowly."

He seemed to have recognized me as a patient.

Either way, the conversation would be long, so I had to go inside the clinic.

I steeled myself and stepped through the door.

Dominic’s clinic had an open ceiling on the first floor, making it unusually tall.

Thanks to that, the fake Dominic could move around freely without hitting his head.

The office was finished in mahogany wood, paired with a corner fireplace that gave it a warm atmosphere.

Dominic sat me down in a leather wingback chair.

"Please, have a seat. Would you like some warm tea?"

"No, thank you. I already had some."

Your butlers served me black tea, and it didn’t end well.

...I wanted to say that, but I held back.

Dominic sat across from me.

Only then did I realize the clinic had a bizarre structure.

Only the furniture Dominic used was oversized to fit his frame — everything else was standard human size.

The long reclining chair for patients looked almost comically small next to him.

As Dominic prepared to listen to his patient, I struggled with how to begin.

Why aren’t you going home? Go back already.

I know you’re an alien.

Your butlers are waiting for you.

Several lines came to mind, but none of them were usable.

I didn’t know why he was staying in Call-Obo, so if I acted like I knew too much, I might upset him.

After much deliberation, I chose a safe opening.

"I came from outside."

"Another city?"

"No. Outside this world."

"I see."

Dominic looked at me with deeply sympathetic eyes.

Now that I’d said it out loud, I just sounded like a crazy person.

And since his specialty happened to be psychiatry, my statement carried even less credibility.

I tried a different angle.

"Have you always been here, Dr. Dominic?"

"Yes. I was born in Morneveil, and aside from my university years, I’ve stayed here ever since."

He seemed deeply committed to his role as Dominic.

Realizing this wasn’t working, I finally just said it outright.

"You’re not Dominic, are you."

A flicker of agitation crossed Dominic’s eyes.

I looked away briefly — I couldn’t bear to watch his emotional shift.

If I stared into those eyes too long, I’d get sucked in again.

I fixed my gaze on his chest, and a low voice flowed out.

"You’re the first person to say that to me." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

I lifted my gaze slightly — Dominic had suddenly stood up.

He walked over to me.

I was frozen to the sofa.

Dominic bent his knees to bring his eyes roughly level with mine.

Those star-studded blue eyes looked down at me.

His smooth voice dropped, heavy.

"The truth is, I have no memories."

It took me a moment to process what he’d said.

"...No memories?"

"Yes. One day I opened my eyes and I was here. Everyone called me Dominic, treated me like Dominic. So I just... went along with it."

This is insane.

I barely stopped myself from cursing out loud.

The situation was literally insane.

He’d lost his memory...

"Roasted Chestnut. Am I human?"

Dominic asked a question that could drive a person even more insane.

I scrambled desperately for a way to handle this.

"Why... would you think that..."

"Look at this."

Dominic held out his gloved hand in front of me.

He placed one finger on his palm.

Then slowly dragged it down.

The leather glove split along his fingertip, and the skin beneath parted with it.

But there was no blood — as there should have been — and no pained groan.

Dominic’s expression didn’t change as he showed me his split palm.

Inside it...

DON’T LOOK! NO! CLOSE YOUR EYES! NO! DON’T LOOK! CLOSE YOUR EYES! HELP ME! PLEASE! NO! AAAAAAAARGH!

"Ghh—"

I clamped my hand over my mouth.

A searing pain twisted through my gut, and my eyes burned.

Blood dripped from my nose.

Dominic quickly pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it under my nose.

The clean linen cloth stained red.

"I’m sorry, Roasted Chestnut. That was my mistake."

Dominic looked at me, flustered, checking on me.

It took a while for the nosebleed to stop.

Pale-faced, I looked at Dominic.

The palm he’d split had already healed cleanly.

The skin, the leather glove — all pristine, as if they’d never been cut.

His expression somewhat subdued, he spoke.

"What am I... I don’t think I’m human."

"No!"

I pressed the handkerchief to my nose and shouted, my voice muffled.

"You ARE human!"

There was only one thought in my head right now.

I have to lie through my teeth.

This being must never leave the Trial.

I had to keep him locked inside Call-Obo, or at the very least — the absolute minimum — keep him in this amnesiac state so he wouldn’t realize what he truly was.

This ’Master’ was weak now because he didn’t know himself.

But what if he did?

If, like the butlers who hadn’t disappeared even when Clean3 was shut down, he wouldn’t disappear even if Call-Obo closed?

What if he crossed over into other Trials?

I was certain.

Any Trial he entered would become hell.

TRA called the Trials that fell to Earth ’calamities’ and fought against them, but compared to the being in front of me, those were nothing.

This was pure calamity.

"Really. Dr. Dominic is definitely human. A little special, maybe, but human."

I spewed lies with all my might.

The Master stared at me as I desperately lied.

He asked.

"Are you human too, Roasted Chestnut?"

"I am. But I’m different from the people of Morneveil."

"Is that so..."

I wasn’t an NPC, so that wasn’t a lie.

Dominic seemed to think for a moment, then concluded.

"If Roasted Chestnut is human, then I suppose I am too."

"..."

I was alive.

Having somehow succeeded in my con, I forced a smile at him.

Dominic crinkled his nose playfully and smiled back.

"But I suppose I’m not really Dominic, as you said. I don’t particularly like the name."

His words slowed.

"If I were to choose another name, something like Domnius would..."

The moment the name Domnius left his lips, those blue eyes began to glow with brilliant radiance.

I shouted frantically.

"No! Dominic! I think the name Dominic suits you perfectly. It sounds good, and it fits you well."

"Hmm. If you insist, Roasted Chestnut. I’ll stay Dominic."

Dominic still seemed reluctant, but he accepted his name.

Having settled that, his face relaxed as he spoke.

"Thanks to you, some of the questions I’ve been carrying have been answered. I’m grateful."

Having narrowly escaped death in a matter of seconds, I answered with a much heavier expression.

"Not at all..."

No sooner had I gotten past one crisis than the next obstacle greeted me.

"I’d like to help you too, if there’s anything I can do."

Along with Dominic’s kind gratitude, a system window appeared.

Would you like to recruit ’Dr. Dominic’ as a companion?

What to do about Dominic.

To clear Call-Obo, I needed Dr. Dominic.

He was the only one who could undo the brainwashing on the cultists.

But if possible, I wanted to keep him quietly locked up in the clinic...

"Oh, Roasted Chestnut. I recently received an invitation to join a certain religion. It’s quite interesting — if you’d like, you could come with me..."

"Dr. Dominic!"

"Yes?"

"PLEASE BE MY COMPANION!!"