“A massive wave surges into the dark back alleys of Paju.
How many times has this been now?
Kwarurruk—
“Ah, seriously. I’m sick of seeing water now!”
[Gravity Inversion]
Kwagwagwagwak!!
The waves that had poured through the narrow back alley all shoot straight into the sky.
“You coward!”
The one who summoned the waves in the middle of the city screams.
“Coward? Who’s the coward? You can fly away with them!”
It’s not only water and waves and torrential rain that I’m sick of seeing.
I expand the area of my gravity inversion, ready to send away the other thing I’m sick of seeing.
“U-uaaah!”
The green-skinned Deep-Sea hybrid screams.
His next curse ritual, aimed at attacking me, is disrupted—and I use the opening to add a new effect to the magic circle he was forming.
“So you gathered more water.”
[Adhesive Explosion]
Chwaaaak!
The hydraulic energy he generated explodes, releasing an enormous volume of adhesive fluid.
The last survivor of Insu Village, swept up by the reversed waves, sticks to the outer wall of a four-story building.
Seeing that, Seocheonseul laughs heartily and says,
“Bahahaha—like a fly trapped in glue, huh?”
I ignore Seocheonseul and say to Yongsu,
“Hey, Mr. Yongsu, planning to keep bothering me?”
“I came to kill you! I will avenge my kin by striking you down!”
“You attacked first, didn’t you? I can’t think of it as avenging the humans you killed?”
“Shut your nonsense! Are you saying the life of a lowly human equals the life of a glorious Deep-Sea descendant?”
He’s impossible to reason with. Our worldviews and logic are fundamentally different.
If one day a cow killed dozens of humans to avenge its kind, we’d hardly comfort each other with “well, you did kill it first.”
“They say the Sea God is persistent—he really is.”
Yongsu survived the havoc in Insu Village.
Blessed—or was it gifted—by the Dragon King, he returned far stronger, doggedly pursuing us with gruesome ferocity.
This is the third time Yongsu has attacked Seocheonseul and me. I only intended to tolerate him twice from the start—
“It’s time I stopped merely releasing him, I suppose.”
“Uum, Mr. Kim? What are you thinking?”
“To keep him from chasing us further.”
“You don’t mean—?”
Bloodshed? Of course not.
“I don’t mean that—hold on a moment.”
Let’s see. Someone was caught in the waves Yongsu summoned? Ah, there. I approach that person and speak.
“Hey, I saved you back there. You remember, right?”
“Guh—thank you, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, right? Then lend me your phone for a moment.”
“Here, here.”
Taking the smartphone, I call the number I have in memory.
“Ah, hello? Is this the Immigration Agency? Yes, well—horrific events are happening right now! Yes, that’s right—a strange green-skinned person is using magic to kill people and wreak havoc! A Reptilian, definitely Reptilian. What? You don’t know Reptilians? They’re reptile-type aliens who disguise themselves as humans! Really, I swear! There are people collapsed here too. Ah, thank you. Yes, yes, right. Yes. The address is...”
After ending the call, I hand the phone back to the still-collapsed person and say,
“That should do it. Thanks for lending me your phone. The Immigration Agency will be here to help soon.”
“Ththank you.”
“No problem. By the way, see that green alien over there? Keep an eye on him.”
That should suffice.
“All right, resolved. He can’t pursue us anymore.”
“The Immigration Agency—you mean those many-eyed Mr. Kim’s subordinates from earlier?”
“They panicked at meeting a goblin in broad daylight, but they’ll fight better than before, so don’t worry.”
Seocheonseul frowns, then says,
“But Mr. Kim, you’ve been deceived by that water ghost again.”
“I told you he wouldn’t be here. Just leave it to me and wait at Cheonggeumdang—I'll finish this quickly.”
“Bahahaha—impossible.”
“No, you really are meddlesome! You told me to come this way, and I got caught by that Yongsu fellow again.”
“Hmm, how can I trust Mr. Kim who’s delaying the tiger hunt the king commanded? I am the Watcher. The Watcher.”
“Oh, right. I completely forgot. Your Excellency Watcher.”
“Bahahaha—indeed, serve me well!”
Seocheonseul laughs and produces an octagonal compass.
“Ah, that thing again? I think that [Bagua Compass] is why we keep wandering Paju.”
It’s a device for locating specific mana or targets. For days now we’ve been led all over Paju by that Feng Shui tool.
“Mr. Kim, let’s try going that way this time.”
“No use looking with that. There are too many other races and espers around here.”
How many days has it been now? Three days.
I recall that day three days ago.
“Duoksini?”
“Ah, you don’t know? Most Mr. Kims aren’t familiar with it.”
“I do know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“No, I said I do!”
Tudor, who’d been laughing loudly at our exchange, wipes tears and says,
“Ah, it’s too funny. Just listen to the Commander.”
“Sigh, Duoksini is just a corrupted goblin.”
“Just—how rude, Mr. Kim.”
“Fine, it’s not ‘just.’”
“Tudor, you’re provoking him on purpose, right? I’m really going home.”
“No, no, my mistake. Commander, both of us know what Duoksini is, so don’t worry.”
Seocheonseul ponders, then says,
“The Water Ghost King forced his way out, damaging the ear gate and ear canal.”
“That exposure to the miasma made goblin friends lose their identities and become Duoksini, right?”
Tudor adds to Seocheonseul’s explanation.
Right. I know the event. Duoksini, or Duoksishin.
As the coming of Cthulhu World’s ruin approaches, the power of the ancient gods fades, and their followers fall corrupt, becoming servants of the Abyssal beings.
Had I accepted the Daewang’s offer and pursued the [Guardian of Cheonggeumdang] path, I could’ve endlessly enjoyed yokai-hunting events like this.
But I’m not the [Guardian of Cheonggeumdang], nor do I serve any ancient god. This is a quest I could ignore.
“A certain Mr. Kim provoked the Water Ghost King, so this happened.”
So it’s my fault, is it?
At that point Tudor summarizes the briefing.
“The core of this commission is this: together with the Commander of Cheonggeumdang, capture the Duoksini.”
“If it’s simple, it’s simple. Together with the Commander?”
“Yes, with me.”
“Hm, Commander. But you can’t see them, can you?”
“Right. As a goblin, I must avoid blood.”
Goblins’ weakness is red—specifically blood.
But it’s not like a phobia.
Excessive blood exposure drains a goblin’s power or can corrupt them into Duoksini.
“But when hunting Duoksini, we can’t avoid that, can we? Commander, do you have any countermeasures?”
From the moment they become Duoksini, blood is no ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) longer a weakness. They grow stronger by drinking blood, death, and human fear.
Therefore, hunting Duoksini means pursuing the corpses they leave behind—and confronting blood everywhere.
“Of course I have a countermeasure.”
Intriguing. What measure to overcome blood? Facing the same problem, I listen to Seocheonseul’s answer.
“You humans like seeing blood, right? So I decided to find a Mr. Kim to help. If you and I collaborate, we’ll solve this quickly.”
Sigh.
“Commander, I’ve been thinking...”
“If you refuse—”
Seocheonseul dons the oni-mask he held, approaches me slowly, bending to meet my eye level. In a clearly threatening tone he says,
“The Daewang will consider you unwilling to carry out his other commissions.”
For that reason, Seocheonseul and I now walk the damp, dark, foul-smelling back alleys of Paju.
This is the area west of Gamyangsand, where I first awakened in Cthulhu World.
In reality, Gamyang is not a dong but a myeon, but in the alternate Cthulhu World it’s a sprawling redeveloped new town.
And these grotesque back alleys formed during that process. No formal administrative name, but Paju’s criminals and other races call it Waste Alley.
“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim. This is too inconvenient.”
No matter how kindly he puts it, Seocheonseul is an annoying companion and a constant grumbler.
“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim. Walking on two legs is so tedious. You only move one step’s distance per step, right?”
“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim. If these buildings would move aside, we could go faster. Why must we go around?”
“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim. There are no flying Mr. Kims here. Don’t you ride something to fly around?”
“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim. It’s so damp here. Is Paju always like this? No wonder the Water Ghost King’s minions wander. Can’t we make the sun come out?”
Ah! Enough!
“I told you! Just wait at Cheonggeumdang and I’ll wrap the Duoksini up and bring them back!”
“How can I trust you? You still haven’t done the tiger hunt the Daewang ordered twenty years ago.”
“Twenty years? It’s not even been half a year.”
“Oh, is that so? In any case, we must finish this quickly. If we don’t by tomorrow, the Daewang will be disappointed.”
“By tomorrow?”
“Hmm, or rather, can we have more leeway?”
“How much leeway?”
“Um, about three years?”
At least on that imprecise time sense, Seocheonseul isn’t teasing me.
‘The Daewang’s commission to me still has over 500 days left.’
Goblins count time differently from humans. Trying to match our sense, they end up suggesting anything from one day to three years.
On that count, he’s actually considerate.
‘I want to think that, but I don’t know his true purpose, so it’s frustrating.’
Hunting Duoksini isn’t easy even for Seocheonseul. So why cling to me and cause this chaos?
Perhaps “watching” is just an excuse. There are easier ways to surveil me.
Could he bear some grudge against me?
‘Hmm, he probably does hold a grudge.’
The Daewang tried to install me as Commander of Cheonggeumdang. When I refused, he gave me Seocheonseul’s clothes.
If I were Seocheonseul, I’d use this chaos to follow me, then kill me at the first chance.
“.......”
It feels ominous.
Goblins have a hazy time sense but a keen sense for grudges.
‘Though it works differently from humans.’
Legends say a goblin repays a small kindness with treasure over a lifetime, or ruins a human for a minor mistake. These are the very goblins of those tales.
‘It could be dangerous if I’m not careful.’
“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim.”
“Yes?”
“I smell blood.”
“Indeed.”
A sickening odor mixes into the air. I feel nauseous. The smell of blood.
