Chapter 5: Damned Game

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 5: Damned Game

With a loud noise, the machine door opened.

Fsshhhh.

Thick smoke billowed out.

“This is…?”

“This is something you must go through to survive.”

Khan, startled, asked me, but I gave a brief reply and approached the promotion device without hesitation.

After confirming that Khan was following well, I crossed the threshold and stepped into the promotion device.

Bang.

But for some reason, the door closed as soon as I entered.

'……?'

If you ask whether only one person could use the promotion device, the answer is no.

You could designate multiple characters and proceed with the promotion ceremony in bulk.

So how should I interpret what just happened?

'Is the inside of the promotion device another dimension?'

If that were the case, it would make sense.

Erasing Khan from my mind, I turned my gaze and looked around.

Unlike the ferocious exterior, the interior was clean.

No, more precisely, it was just a pure white space itself.

[The promotion ceremony will now commence.]

A blue gauge appeared below the hologram.

1%...

[The forgotten memories of the employee are resurfacing.]

22%...

[Tip: Occasionally, an employee may die during the promotion process.]

38%...

A few more holograms flashed before my eyes.

When the gauge reached about 60%, pop.

My vision suddenly darkened, and a new scene began to emerge.

The next moment, a boy, whose face was unrecognizable, appeared collapsed on the ground.

His appearance was wretched.

He must not have eaten in a long time, as his pale skin revealed his gaunt bones.

The boy in the scene carefully lifted his head and scanned the surroundings.

After confirming that no one was around, he pulled something out from his chest.

It was a book.

A book that made you feel uneasy just by looking at it.

I couldn't tell exactly what it was or what it did.

Like the boy's face, the book also had severe noise interference.

The unpleasant feeling from the book made me shut my eyes tightly.

After a moment, I opened them again and observed the boy.

'……'

Naturally.

This isn't my story.

I was also an orphan, but I lived in the modern world.

In contrast, the boy emerging now seemed to belong to a fantasy world.

Whose past is this, then?

There wasn’t much time to think deeply.

The boy pulled out a piece of bread from the book.

Food came out of the book.

I could clearly tell.

‘It’s a creature.’

That thing was a creature.

I was momentarily shocked by the scene in front of me.

The boy carefully ate the bread he pulled out of the book.

And at that very moment, the screen disappeared.

[The forgotten memory has been retrieved. Potential has grown by one stage.]

[Shin Seongjin LV. 2/5 (Rank 8)]

[Skill]

- Foundation's Star (LV. 1)

[Stats]

- Strength (8/29)

- Agility (8/29)

- Stamina (7/29)

- Endurance (7/29)

- Mental Strength (EX+/??)

When the promotion was completed, the employee's growth limit increased.

It might not seem like much of a change, but as it accumulated, it would lead to a significant transformation.

Breaking through the growth limit meant that kind of thing.

Fsshhhh.

The firmly closed door opened.

The promotion to rank 8 was smooth.

But…

'Whose memory was that…?'

I recalled the memory of the boy I had just seen.

Then I reviewed the settings of the promotion device.

- Retrieve forgotten memories.

For now, the only interpretation I can come up with is that it makes you recall past actions.

‘So, what did I just see?’

Of course, there wasn’t much time to think.

As I hesitated to step outside, the promotion device, as if having finished its task, expelled me.

Whooosh.

The fierce wind pushed me outside the door.

“You're out.”

Waiting for me outside was Khan, looking much more relieved than before.

‘Has he been waiting here?’

Wondering if Khan's promotion had been delayed due to the door closing, I checked the information window.

[Khan Aderhilt LV. 2/5 (Rank 8)]

[Skills]

- Sixth Sense (LV. 1)

- Low-level Swordsmanship (LV. 1)

[Stats]

- Strength (10/29)

- Agility (7/29)

- Stamina (11/29)

- Endurance (9/29)

- Mental Strength (9/29)

It seemed like my worries were unfounded.

'It looks like the promotion ceremony provides each individual with their own space.'

In that case, did Khan also see the same boy I saw?

Being the type who couldn’t hold back curiosity, I asked Khan directly.

“So, how was it?”

“Yes. I remembered everything.”

Remembered everything.

That wasn’t the answer I was expecting.

At the same time, if Khan had seen the same boy, he couldn’t have given that answer.

Khan had seen a different scene from mine.

No, to be precise, he seemed to have recalled a memory.

“What did you remember?”

“I recalled the contents of the contract I made with the goddess.”

Khan clasped his hands together with an ecstatic expression, interlacing his fingers like a believer offering a prayer to a deity.

“A contract with the goddess?”

“Yes. The goddess said the world is now heading toward destruction.”

“Destruction…”

I vaguely remembered hearing something similar before.

It was definitely part of the game’s opening scene, where the world's fate lay in the player's hands.

“She said to prevent the destruction, one must become a hero and assist the true champion, the Administrator, in reconstructing humanity's order.”

“A hero? Reconstruct humanity's order?”

I also recalled hearing something about restoring humanity from a game’s opening.

But that concept contradicts the idea of impending destruction.

The term "humanity's order" refers to the principles that ensure humanity's long and prosperous future.

‘That doesn’t make sense, does it?’

It almost sounded as if humanity had already perished once.

Was that just my imagination?

Khan stood before me, completely fine, still believing that his world existed.

He must have lived in that world before making the contract with the goddess, and that's where the logical inconsistency arises.

The goddess was speaking as if the world had already perished, even though it hadn't.

As I tilted my head in confusion, Khan seemed to think he’d misunderstood something and quickly added another point.

“To be precise, it seems only those who agreed to the contract with the goddess are involved. Apparently, I agreed to it.”

Then, as if he suddenly realized something was off, Khan tilted his head in confusion too.

“Are you different, Administrator?”

It was a casual question, but the word he used was something Khan should not have known.

I couldn’t help but frown in response.

“Administrator? Are you referring to me?”

The reason I was reacting so aggressively was simple: I had never told Khan my name or shared any personal information with him.

I answered his question with another, but Khan didn’t seem too bothered.

Instead, he looked more startled by my frown and quickly waved his hands in front of him.

“The goddess said that someone like me is unworthy of even being seen by an Administrator.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

If this were a game, they wouldn't even be able to glimpse my face.

“So why did you call me an Administrator?”

“I felt from the beginning that you weren’t an ordinary person.”

Khan said this, folding his fingers one by one as he began explaining the reasons why I seemed extraordinary.

“The way you stayed calm and assessed the situation without panic. Your courage, standing firm even when monsters swarmed. And even beyond that, there was this strange pull. It felt like I was standing before an omnipotent being.”

Calmness and courage.

Those traits were given to me by the Foundation's Star.

In other words, my behavior must have been too unusual.

After recalling what the goddess told him, Khan immediately matched my actions to those memories.

He had all the evidence he needed to deduce that if there was an administrator, it had to be me.

Even without all that, Khan said he felt some kind of pull toward me.

Employees summoned to this place instinctively seem to know who the Administrator is, so it was only a matter of time before my identity was revealed.

In that case, hiding it had no merit.

It would be better to reveal it openly and take control of the situation.

At least, if I wanted to run the company without any unnecessary trouble.

“You’re right. I am the Administrator here.”

“I knew it! You really are the Administrator! Just as I thought!”

[Khan’s loyalty increased by 10.]

I’m not sure why, but Khan was practically glowing with excitement.

“But still, I only got here about 20 minutes before you did. If you’re expecting to gain some information or score points with flattery, forget it.”

“No, no. According to the goddess, someone like me isn’t even worth the Administrator’s gaze. It’s only natural that you’ve been chosen.”

[Khan’s loyalty increased by 15.]

At this point, he might as well be a fanatic.

‘Did he get brainwashed during his promotion test or something?’

It was nice that there’s no unnecessary trouble, but being worshipped like some kind of deity was a bit too much.

I gave up trying to reason with Khan.

I had already gathered all the information I could from him, and it was time to move on.

“Almighty Leune, please watch over us with your eternal light.”

Leaving behind Khan, who had suddenly started chanting prayers, I approached the monument and opened the mailbox to check the log.

[You have unclaimed rewards. Check them out now.]

[You have successfully cleared the tutorial (Ten consecutive employee recruitment tickets, 100 points).]

Ten consecutive employee recruitment tickets.

It’s a standard reward for clearing the tutorial.

‘It’s about time to lay the foundation.’

The creature I obtained was a phenomenon-type.

It’s a creature that can be farmed indefinitely.

Instead of wasting points by upgrading the training grounds, I could manage the phenomenon-type creature and level up the employees—a win-win situation.

Some might worry that the new employees would be sacrificed in the process, but…

It was not a problem.

‘The maximum number of people allowed to participate in the Kobold Raid is five.’

That includes Khan and me, who had already experienced the Kobolds.

Khan, despite it being the first stage, had managed to take down one Kobold on his own.

‘Though his mental state was a mess.’

If he could just keep his composure, he could probably take down three on his own.

‘I can help him with that.’

Furthermore…

[Employee’s mental strength increases by 10%, granting resistance to status ailments.]

[This is a company founded by the absolute ruler, the world’s guardian.]

[Employee efficiency improves based on the company’s achievements. (Current increase: 5%)]

Now that I had reached Rank 8, the Foundation's Star’s abilities had also increased.

This should be more than enough to unlock Khan’s full potential.

Khan possessed two skills, making him a capable employee.

“I… I’m a hero! I can do this!”

Hmm… Maybe I’ll revise that slightly.

He’s a bit off his rocker, but he’s still somewhat useful, so it’s worth a shot.

I activated the Administrator’s authority.

“I will recruit an employee.”

Once again, thousands of envelopes appeared, scattered through the air.

The documents fluttered wildly in all directions.

In no time, a bundle of envelopes landed in my hand.

They were the same old, worn envelopes as when I recruited Khan.

“Open all at once.”

[Ninth-rank employee ‘Yon’ has joined the company. A warm welcome…]

[Ninth-rank employee ‘Sun’ has joined the company...]

[Ninth-rank employee ‘Jin’ has…]

As expected, they were all ninth-rank employees, but that’s okay.

With a farming dungeon and relatively capable employees, there was no issue in getting the company up and running right away.

[Ninth-rank employee ‘V’ has joined the company…]

[Ninth-rank employee ‘Hyeok’ has…]

Whoosh.

“…?”

As the pile of documents neared its end, the last one unexpectedly began to glow.

[Eighth-rank employee ‘Mari’ has joined the company. Please offer her a warm welcome.]

[Eighth-rank employee ‘Mari’ has entered the company.]

[The Foundation's Star has confirmed her skills.]

[Low-rank Archery (Level 4) has been applied to ‘Administrator.’]