The Museum Manager, Max (3)

“Why are you pretending not to hear me again? I’m talking about the museum.”

“This museum. Hand it over.”

“Let’s run this museum together. It’s not like I have some other motive here...”

“I know that. On the way here, I checked and saw that some of them are still under protection. You only get your rewards after clearing the expedition. That’s the rule here, and I know it can’t be broken. What I need isn’t the items. Ah, right. I’m getting ahead of myself. First, tell me where the isolated ones are.”

“And for the record... don’t even think about trying some ridiculous bargain with them. If things go sideways, I’ll smash the whole place to pieces for real. Even I’d hate to see the continent collapse. Please don’t lead me down the wrong path, all right? Hm? I’m a calm, good-natured person.”

When I asked where the isolated survivors were, the expression that appeared in my view was one of rolling eyes.

It was only natural that I had to get a little rough.

He probably thought he could strike a bargain with the humans currently inside the museum.

Not a chance.

Given the Black Swan, rescuing the isolated survivors was certainly important, but it wasn’t more important than this job.

I needed to make it clear there was no room for negotiation. If I twisted the knife a little, I had to make them see me as a genuine psychopath who would blow everything apart if he got irritated.

“Your face looks a little uncomfortable.”

“Oh dear. It looks like I’ve made our Museum Manager Max uncomfortable. Is that right?”

Keeping my eyes wide and wild was only natural. I held on to the look Jung Hayan wore whenever she was angry, and the expression I saw in front of me was one of pure, unfiltered terror, as if they were looking at a complete lunatic.

He’d already looked at me like I was insane before, but this time it was more direct.

“Seems like my request was too much for you. I almost made a grreeeaat mistake. Isn’t that right, Dialugia?”

“Th-that...”

“That’s exactly it! I made Museum Manager Max uncomfortable! I’m in the wrong! This lowly mortal is the one at fault! How dare I make the museum manager who guards the rift angry? What a huge blunder!”

As if I were angry, I started pounding the wall beside me with a club.

Crack. Bang. Small, ugly sounds echoed out.

Honestly, the force was pathetic.

My arms hurt like hell and the wall didn’t even break, but the effect was bigger than I’d imagined.

“Then don’t do any of it! Don’t run the museum! Don’t explore! Don’t seal anything! Don’t do anything!”

Crack!

Bang!

Doing it alone was a little hard. At times like this, it was only natural to think I needed someone to match my rhythm.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I wanted to drag An Gimo or Park Deokgu over, but judging by Dialugia’s expression, I didn’t need outside help.

Her face was no different from Max’s.

The look of someone staring at a truly deranged psychopath.

This is an act, you woman. Don’t misunderstand me...

Dialugia gazed at me with a face that said, So this is the father of my child, and worry and sorrow shaded her features.

She seemed to be wondering whether her own recent odd behavior might actually be my fault.

I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but when I saw the little blond brat, I had no choice but to keep this up.

He had seen Dialugia’s expression and was beginning to realize this wasn’t an act. It was reality.

Honestly, I was getting out of breath.

As I gasped harshly, the trembling pupils of Manager Max and Dialugia came into view, both of them staring at me as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

I’d expected to look a little listless, but to them I apparently looked like a lunatic who couldn’t contain his excitement.

I didn’t mind that at all.

“Huff... huff... huff...”

“Max, have you ever heard this before?”

“When goodwill keeps going... people start thinking it’s a right. Right now I’m showing you a huge amount of goodwill, Manager. A very good offer, really. An ending where everyone’s happy...”

Dialugia chose that exact moment to speak.

“Accept it.”

“Go on. Quickly. That man is serious.”

Watching Max swallow his words with obvious effort was quite amusing.

He seemed to feel an enormous amount of trust in Dialugia’s voice, because he kept looking back and forth between the museum control system and me.

Honestly, I had the feeling my sudden performance wasn’t the decisive factor here. It was Dialugia’s assist that really did the job.

She also wanted the continent to remain intact, so naturally she wanted Max to accept the deal as much as possible.

I didn’t know whether my image of holding the tiny one hostage had come back to him, but the exhausted expression he gave me was absolutely real.

That really was the trashiest time of all...

All I could do was comfort myself that this was still a better state than back then.

“Huff... huff...”

“Please, just accept it already. I know that man’s personality better than anyone. If you accept, nothing will happen. I promise you.”

“It’s not that simple...”

“I may be here against my will, but I too do not wish for the continent’s collapse. Yes. Absolutely not.”

“Uuuuugh...”

Max, pinned in place by Dialugia and shedding fat, teardrop-like tears, looked like the very picture of a victim.

I felt a little bad, but there was no other choice.

“You don’t have much time left to decide, Max. Don’t test my patience.”

In the end, his body trembling, he began to nod.

I did it.

It seemed he did have the authority to appoint another manager.

I had briefly wondered whether he would just insist there was no way, but in the end it looked like he’d concluded there was no hope.

The museum itself was practically shut down at this point.

I’d routed every ounce of mana left in the main circuit into the reserve program, so whether it could still maintain its dungeon form was uncertain.

I do feel a little sorry.

I’d let the wrong person in, and the lovely home had been blown to pieces.

The exhibition halls he had bragged about were wrecked, and most of the things inside them had been shattered pointlessly.

I could picture him clearly, standing there on the first day after I came in, proudly boasting about the collection the museum possessed.

In an instant, the museum he had been so proud of had turned into a garbage dump.

From his point of view, I probably felt like a plague.

Wiping away tears and biting his lip so hard it quivered, he looked like a complete spectacle.

Dialugia, for some reason looking pitying, released the restraints she’d had on him, and after he fumbled with the magic circle for a moment, a system message appeared in front of me.

Nice.

I examined it slowly from one angle to another, but there was nothing problematic about it.

It wasn’t some slave contract, and it wasn’t the sort of arrangement where your life was shared, like with Dialugia.

What I liked most was that I could start lightly.

So this is basically a title.

If it had been an actual class change, I’d have considered refusing it, but if it only created a title, then I welcomed it. I chose accept at once, and another message followed.

Crack Museum Level 5 Manager

Mana +1

Nice!

For a moment, I wanted to shout at the pleasant news that came with it.

I’d expected as much, but it was still a title with a proper bonus.

It only raised my mana by one, but for someone like me, whose mana growth had already been pushed to its limit, even that was a gift.

At the same time, a flood of information began appearing in the status window.

There were details about the responsibilities and privileges of the Crack Museum manager, but I didn’t bother reading them in depth.

In any case, Max would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handling all the obligations.

All I needed were the privileges.

Even so, a torrent of information poured into my head.

It was enough to make my skull throb, since I’d taken in far too much all at once, and no further explanation was needed.

Oh?

What struck me as most surprising was that I could now see the control devices that even my Mind’s Eye had failed to detect before.

I wasn’t sure whether this was a result of becoming a level 5 manager, but I could now inspect far more detailed information through my Mind’s Eye.

Not only the basic descriptions, but the controls and the manual itself were laid out before me.

It was so considerate it felt as though someone had personally asked me to clean up this mess.

Even so... this doesn’t look like an easy job.

Even with a manual, it wasn’t easy.

Looking at the problem from the manager’s perspective and tracing the solution in my mind made me understand even more clearly how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠severe the current situation was.

If I had smashed the control device with that club, there was a real chance the museum would have collapsed.

I can handle this.

Even as I nodded to myself, Max kept catching my eye, bawling and muttering to himself.

“Uuuugh... The museum is finished... it’s over... Guardian-sama... Metel Guardian-sama... I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“Why are you crying again, Manager? Your new coworker has arrived, and you’re not even happy...”

“Uuuaaah... Uuugh...”

“Hey, step aside for a second. And pass on the survivors’ location to the expedition team outside.”

“W-what are you trying to do now!”

“What am I trying to do? What else would I be doing? This is my museum now. Naturally, I should handle this rampaging ancient god.”

“Wait! You can’t just touch that carelessly!”

“You come out here for a second. It’s my first time, so I’m not sure it’ll go well... but I think I’ve got the rough idea of what to do.”

“What do you mean, you know anything!?”

“I’m not sure whether this is the right way to do it. But why do you keep talking so informally? Hm?”

“Wh-what do you know?”

“I don’t even know what I know myself. I know it because I can see it. Why, can’t you see it?”

“I can’t...”

“No wonder you’ve been running the museum into the ground. Tsk.”

“......”

“Why weren’t you running the 4th District auxiliary power when the museum’s in this state? It’s in the manual and everything...”

“Huh?”

“The main program doesn’t look damaged so much as shut down... At least you didn’t dump every last drop of mana into the reserve program. And what’s this? Why is your unused dummy still active? Tear it apart right now. We’ll use that mana too. At a time like this, even that’s precious.”

Now that I was actually working, he was getting in the way a bit.

“Move over to the side. And cut off all mana supply going into the exhibits maintained by the main power. Better to save a few of them... If this had gone on any longer, the seal would’ve fully broken before I even got a chance to smash it apart.”

“Phew... That was really close. Dialugia, the isolated Black Swan expedition member should be in Zone 32 of District 5. They look to be in better shape than I expected, so tell them not to worry and guide them properly. And Mr. Max.”

When I called his name casually, his face stiffened at once.

“Go make some coffee.”

Just as the feeling that I had to sacrifice myself to save the continent was beginning to blossom in my chest, a message appeared.

It was like throwing firewood into a furnace.

There’s no way I can allow the continent my precious descendants will live on to collapse.

It was a textbook turnabout.