Chapter 39

At this very moment, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the battle in the sky between the Candidate for King of Soldiers No. 001 and Candidate No. 002. Although some were curious enough to glance at the little creature on the ground, well…

In any case, this monster-cub leader appeared to be the 'pet' of Candidate No. 001, and it looked so frail that it was difficult to capture the attention of the other candidates.

Some did notice, however, that the cub seemed to be stealthily inching toward the monster pinned down by Candidate No. 002, but this only served to confirm the cub's status as the 'monster leader.' After all, look at how disgusting and terrifying that monster appeared. These candidates, hailing from various sub-universes, were considered well-traveled, yet even they would be repelled by the natural sense of revulsion that emanated from those monsters. Unless one was face-to-face with a monster, no one wanted to get near such a repulsive thing.

Yet, this cub was actually attempting to approach the monster while no one was paying attention! Under such circumstances, there was no other possibility than that the cub was the monsters' leader!

...

While the hybrid Winged-Clan warrior Sylvarando and the Myriad Underworld Demon Lord were attacking each other in the sky, the little cub below had unknowingly and quietly reached the side of the monster.

As the cub crept toward the monster, System 001 watched its movements and once again fell into a silence. This silence was not for any other reason, but because of the protective barrier the Myriad Underworld Demon Lord had placed around the cub—to enhance the level of protection, the Demon Lord had cast a static barrier fixed in place. Theoretically, the cub should have been unable to leave the barrier's protective range. Even if one were to concede that the cub might use his exceptional innate psychic power to break free and walk toward the monster, the barrier itself should have remained behind.

But... just now, when the Demon Lord set the barrier, he had told the cub, "Do not leave this barrier." And so, a truly bizarre scene unfolded before the system's eyes.

The cub indeed did not leave the barrier. But when he reached the edge, he looked up at the barrier, stretched out his small, chubby hand, and gently... pushed the barrier forward.

System 001: [...]

It had originally intended to tell the cub that the barrier was fixed and could not be moved. But in the next second, it watched, stunned, as the barrier shifted forward several meters with the cub's gentle push. System 001 stared at the result, forgetting the words it had meant to speak, and fell into a long, silent stupor.

Fortunately, it was not the only system rendered speechless by this sight. Not far away, System 002 watched its host fighting the leader of the Netherworld Clan of this plane, unsure whether to feel relieved or silent. After all, its host had failed to recognize that the Myriad Underworld Demon Lord was the leader of the Netherworld Clan, mistakenly believing him to be his primary opponent, 'Candidate No. 001.'

As System 002 observed the real Candidate No. 001 on the ground, it fell into the same eerie silence as System 001. If the system's core logic didn't forbid inter-system communication, it would have screamed the question at System 001: "What exactly is up with the cub you're raising?! Why can he drag a fixed protective barrier set by someone else and run off with it?!"

Of course, the cub, sneaking toward the monster while tucked inside the barrier, had no idea that two top-tier systems were currently silent because of his behavior. After a long and diligent effort, the little one finally arrived in front of the 'monster' whose limbs were pinned down.

When he saw the wounds on the monster's limbs oozing greenish slime, the little one’s face scrunched up, his eyes filled with anxiety.

"You're hurt!"
"Does it hurt a lot?"

?

The monster, being watched by the cub, had been letting out low growls while staring at the battle in the sky—the battle between its leader, the Myriad Underworld Demon Lord, and the one who had harmed it. It desperately wanted to join its leader in the fight, but its limbs were pinned, leaving it immobile. Hatred and resentment had been building up in its body, ready to explode—in fact, ever since they had acquired these cursed bodies, they had been immersed in negative emotions, causing even those with gentle temperaments to become violent. They knew this was the effect of the curse, intended to cause their body, mind, and sanity to decay and fall into becoming true monsters, but tragically, they were powerless to resist.

After all, their appearance was so disgusting that even they did not want to look at themselves.

At this moment, although the monster had seen the arrival of the Myriad Underworld Demon Lord and saw a chance to be freed from the curse, the anger and uncontrollable emotions inherent in the curse still held sway over its body. Due to the overwhelming excitement and anticipation, its already volatile state became even harder to control. The monster, pinned by its limbs, thought its sanity was about to snap; its reason was already beginning to blur.

But just then, it heard a clear, pure voice.
The voice asked: *Does it hurt?*

Suddenly, the monster broke free from its rage and looked down at the cub. It was a beautiful, adorable cub with large, clear turquoise eyes, pale golden hair, and a face so cute one couldn't help but want to pinch it. As the monster looked at the cub, its violent emotions seemed to settle. Hearing the cub's concerned question, even a monster couldn't help but shed tears...

"Jie... jiejie..."

The monster tried to make a sound of grievance to show that it really was in pain, but all that came from its throat was a harsh, unpleasant sound like a 'jiejie' cackle. The monster suddenly stopped its noise and movement. It looked sadly at the cub, tears flowing from its eyes—tears that had not been shed since it became a monster.

Though it had become a repulsive monster with a hideous exterior and thick, green, viscous blood that inspired no pity, its tears were as crystalline and brilliant as the most precious gems in the universe.

...

In the main universe's virtual broadcast sphere, the audience had originally been focused on the battle between Candidate No. 002 and the Myriad Underworld Demon Lord. But as the cub inched closer to the pinned monster, everyone's focus shifted toward the cub. In the cub's sub-space, a crowd of 'diode' fans watched the cub soothing the monster, all of them in a state of swooning delight—

[Wuwuwu, my baby is so cute!]

But in the main stage's audience area, where the spirits of the audience were focused on the monster's form and other data, the moment the monster's tears fell, the feed—which had been playing perfectly fine—suddenly cut out.

The audience spirits: [?!!]

What was going on? The latecomers, such as those from the Universal Cub Protection Association, were just enjoying the joy of 'absorbing the cub' when the signal suddenly died. They were just starting to get angry when the green-skinned Maka-Maka on the main stage wiped cold sweat from his brow and said with an apologetic, awkward smile, "Ahem, everyone understands, the signal from the sub-plane to the main universe isn't always smooth..."

The audience spirits: [...]

Do you think we're stupid? There are plenty of other variety shows going to sub-universes besides yours. If the Black Universe Group didn't even have the ability to maintain a stable transmission signal back to the main universe, they would have been swallowed up by their two rivals long ago!

Members of the Universal Cub Protection Association, already intimately familiar with the operations of these groups, knew immediately that something had appeared in the broadcast that shouldn't have. But... what could it be? The monster had only shed tears...

***

Just as everyone was plunged into confusion, the All-Knowing Brain of the Black Universe Group in Saint Hilberg issued a top-level alert for plane No. 25838:

[Internal Top-Secret Notice: A rare SSS-level resource of the main universe—Tears of Innocence (Pure Gem Level)—has appeared in plane No. 25838. Plane No. 25838 is now under SSS-level protection measures; alert is in place!]

At the same time, the top brass of the Black Universe Group were equally shocked. They never imagined that a mere elimination round of a King of Soldiers challenge show would produce such an SSS-level resource.

So... why did this happen? When the senior executives of the Black Universe Group carefully reviewed the clip of the monster weeping, they finally shifted their gaze from the monster to the cub who seemed to have caused the monster to shed the Tears of Innocence.

...Was it because of him?

It seemed that from the moment this show began, every variable that had appeared was related to this cub.