I looked at the System Window in disbelief.
‘You’re going to hit 100 Affection right away like this?’
Normally, raising Affection was extremely difficult.
It was even harder at the beginning because the Creatures were so wary.
The slightest misstep sent Suspicion soaring.
I had brought the vine back in the game as well, but even then, Affection had not immediately reached 100.
As with the changes outside cell No. 13 earlier, the values were fluctuating enormously.
The higher the Affection number, the more advantageous it was in many ways.
That was because communication with the Creatures became easier.
In turn, that made it easier to approach the True Ending, “true freedom.”
However, I could not simply celebrate such an abnormal increase.
I worried whether the strategy I knew would still lead to the True Ending.
I looked at Creature No. 1 wrapped around my body.
Knife scars covered its stems—the traces of cuts made to harvest Neo.
Some were especially large and distinct, left where parts of its body had been severed and reattached.
I searched for the little vine I…