“Although I can smell blood, it’s rather faint, isn’t it?”
“Faint?”
“This is the Waste Alley, after all.”
There’s hardly any safe place in Paju City, but some spots are especially dangerous.
‘For example, Tanhyeon, Chopyeongdo, Jangmyeongsan, Gamaksan... hmm, too many to list.’
In any case, Waste Alley is one of those places. Murders here are no big deal, and corpses vanish without a trace.
The carrion crows patrolling Waste Alley strip organs and meat to sell. Even the bones leftover are bought by certain cults or necromancers.
“These Mr. Kims these days are something else—monstrous, really.”
“Capitalism slaps a price on everything.”
Hearing my words, Seo Cheonseul mutters, “The monster called capitalism truly is terrifying,” under her breath.
“And when I said ‘faint,’ I meant the amount of blood scent.”
“Amount?”
“If a Dueoksini had caused a ruckus, the blood scent would be much stronger.”
I advanced with determined steps. I wasn’t devoid of revulsion or fear, but I couldn’t show weakness to Seo Cheonseul.
Suppressing the wave of nausea, I surveyed the alley—
“Huh, didn’t expect this.”
As predicted, there was no blood.
Not a single drop.
What awaited us was an even more absurd scene.
“Hii, hiiik!”
A voice from deeper in the alley.
[You have captured a strange sight. The first thing you notice is a person slumped in the corner of the alley, moaning. He is in an extremely filthy state. But the odd thing is not him.]
A message window appears.
[Next to him are scattered clothes: six pairs of shoes, three pairs of pants, three shirts, and one hat—exactly enough to dress three people. Already a bizarre sight. Yet you discover something unidentified among the clothes.]
“What is it? Don’t proceed on your own.”
“Hii, hiiik— hiiiiik—”
It’s a dead-end alley.
At the very back, beneath the wall and shadows, trembles a person convulsing in place.
Around him, the clothes are arranged as if the three who once stood here vanished entirely, leaving only their garments.
‘What’s hidden under those clothes?’
I drew my Sign-True-Sight Sword and lifted the clothes.
“Aha.”
I understood. And I grasped what had happened here.
[Among the clothes you discovered a corpse that has been completely drained of blood and moisture.]
“He has no head.”
[That is not all they were deprived of. These desiccated corpses have no heads. Upon confirming this shocking sight, you feel the terror of a grotesque death. Your mind...]
Ignoring the rolling text for a Sanity check, I looked at the sole survivor and witness of this grisly murder scene.
A vagrant-like figure wrapped head-to-toe in a ragged coat and tattered cloths.
He even wore a thick scarf, oddly much too warm for the weather.
“Hmm, he looks familiar.”
“Mr. Kim, may I go in?”
“There’s no blood, so go ahead.”
I heard Seo Cheonseul’s footsteps behind me.
[Sanity check... Success!]
My Sanity stat resisted the shock of this grotesque death.
Only after the message window fully vanished did my Intelligence stat activate, recalling a memory related to this man.
“Oh, the addict who was beaten up back then.”
“P-please save me! Please save me!”
“That was months ago—still can’t quit the drug?”
“Mr. Kim, do you know him?”
“Hmm, not personally. But not a complete stranger either—”
Wait. Those clothes. Their arrangement was oddly familiar.
“Oh—these three. They were the thugs who helped me.”
“Mr. Kim, what are you talking about?”
“They were the ones who helped me when I first arrived here. Looks like they went on an excessively harsh diet in my absence.”
Right—on the very day I fell into the Cthulhu World.
They were the thugs I robbed to pay for my motel. Which gang were they from? Samduhoe or Bongilcheonpai, perhaps.
Like NPCs stuck on a loop, they must have repeated the same routine here until this misfortune befell them.
“So Mr. Kim is the witness, then? Something like that.”
“Hiiik— I-I don’t know anything!”
“The Bagua Plate is spinning. What on earth is going on?”
Seo Cheonseul had misused the Bagua Plate from the start. To use it properly, the target must be single.
Tracking multiple targets in different locations would make it spin uncontrollably.
I’d deliberately withheld that information, but soon—
“Hey, witness Mr. Kim. Did you see the ones who turned those Mr. Kims into jerky?”
“Well, that is....”
“What? Witness Mr. Kim. Speak louder or I can’t hear you.”
The witness murmured softly, crouching. Under his coat, something writhed strangely.
That looked exactly like a typical kkieeek pattern, didn’t it?
“Master Geumgang, better not get too close—”
“Kkieeeek! Die!”
My warning came too late. Exactly as I anticipated.
Shrrrk!
Something long and bright red shot from the man’s mouth toward Seo Cheonseul.
“Ugh!”
Spinning swiftly, she avoided the sneak attack.
The elongated, snakelike thing was a tongue. The witness’s tongue writhed like a tentacle, aiming again at Seo Cheonseul.
“Gotcha, you thing!”
But Seo Cheonseul turned her evasion spin into an attack.
“Come, Geumgang Staff!”
Her golden staff struck the monster’s head.
Kwa–jijik!
The head dropped too easily.
But the reaction expected when cutting a human head didn’t occur.
No blood.
As if someone simply placed the severed head atop a headless corpse. The head merely bounced away.
Before we could marvel further, the headless body, its claws grotesquely overdeveloped, lashed out at Seo Cheonseul.
“Yes, as I intended!”
Kwaang! Peong!
Her staff struck the headless torso.
Kwa–jijik!
The body flew back, crashing into the wall.
The wall dented, spiderweb cracks forming. Yet the Dueoksini corpse rose with a crunchy, gnashing sound.
“You vile Dueoksini, I’ll beat you more!”
“No, Master Geumgang! Don’t!”
Despite my warning, Seo Cheonseul advanced confidently.
Ugh, she really lets her guard down!
“Master Geumgang! Duck!”
“!?”
Whirl!
The Dueoksini’s tongue darted again for Seo Cheonseul’s head.
[Incineration]
Fwa–rrrk!
I slashed with my Sign-True-Sight Sword, igniting a blade of flame that severed the long tongue.
“Aaaah! You bastard!!”
I pointed my sword toward the scream’s source.
Seo Cheonseul’s severed head—still flying.
Its grotesque, pitch-black eyeballs, its enormous ears splayed like fish fins—a bizarre creature composed solely of a head.
“Rrrr—”
The severed tongue on the ground writhed like a serpent.
“Huh, as expected, no blood when cutting with fire.”
I cauterized the wound upon severing to prevent bleeding.
Last time, it was a person, so I restrained myself from a killing blow. This time, no need. No blood means success.
The Dueoksini head flew using its ears as wings, snarling.
“Rrrr— Master Geumgang! I’ll kill you!”
“Ha— you’ve learned a curious spell, you monstrous Dueoksini!”
Seo Cheonseul dashed toward the headless body, ready to continue the assault.
Kwaaaang!
The wall crumbled with a roar.
The body, which had barely stood, was slammed into the wall again. Seo Cheonseul raised her staff for the finishing blow.
“Wait, Master Geumgang, don’t hit it more!”
“Why?”
“There’s something inside its belly!”
“Belly?”
Thwack! Thud!
Ignoring me, Seo Cheonseul pummeled away. Ugh, she’s not listening—fine, do as you please.
Kurrrr—
From the neck’s severed stump, sticky scarlet blood poured out. Aaaagh—
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
Seo Cheonseul leapt back and fled.
“Mr. Kim! Do something about that!”
“I told you not to hit it! You fool!”
“Kkieeeek!”
At the same time, the head and serpent-tongue flew at us! What a mess!
[Gate Creation]
I wove magic to open a small hole in the air.
“Red!”
“Kkieee—!”
Screech!
A snow-white owl emerged from the gate.
Red attacked the Dueoksini head.
At once, I threw what I had prepared from my backpack.
[Invisible Hand]
I’d prepared various items for bloody situations. This was one of them.
A black wave unfurled—not extraordinary, just a highly ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) elastic, fully waterproof black vinyl sheet.
Shlerklk—
The sheet wrapped around the Dueoksini body, and the spilled blood... to hell with it.
[Engulfing Waves]
Kwarrklk—
Water cleansing is the best.
“Amazing! You even prepared for this scenario!”
Though I’d packed it for myself, Seo Cheonseul believed it was for her blood phobia and exclaimed in admiration.
“Glad to hear it.”
But it wasn’t over. From another direction, an ominous voice arose amid growling.
“Master Geumgang.”
“You’ve allied with the dinner offerings.”
“How dare you obstruct our ceremony.”
On walls, rooftops, and at the alley entrance, black-skinned Dueoksini appeared everywhere.
A grotesque sight.
Overdeveloped skulls, massive eyes, wings of ears, emaciated limbs, distended bellies ready to burst.
“All right, Mr. Kim. You’ve led them right where we wanted.”
“I think it’s they who succeeded, not us.”
Anyone could see we were the ones cornered.
“Well, either way. Whatever their plan, we just bash them with the staff and it’ll go as planned.”
“Fine, but... you see their bellies?”
“Quite swollen. They must be storing human blood inside.”
“Then one strike with the staff and they’ll explode?”
“Aha.”
Seo Cheonseul paused mid-smile, silent.
“Mr. Kim, do you suppose this is a trap?”
“Hmm.”
Prrrddrk—
“Bl-bleed a little over here—”
The mummified forms among the clothes rose. Their headless throats issued lone cries.
“Ble-bleed a little—” “Hey—share some blood.”
Beyond the wall Seo Cheonseul smashed, similar creatures crawled up.
“Bahaha!”
Seo Cheonseul laughed as she watched.
“Even those you hit with no blood came back.”
She drew from her sleeve a mask shaped like a goblin’s half-face and donned it.
“I’ll take care of those. You handle the bloated ones, Mr. Kim.”
“Unbelievable.”
If I weren’t phobic of blood, I might’ve laughed through the fight. But not now.
“Rrrr—”
Dueoksini swarmed from all sides—
“Huh, peculiar. Very peculiar.”
The battle ended without difficulty. The Dueoksini, judging themselves at a disadvantage, scattered and fled.
Still, it wasn’t fruitless.
“Is this all we caught?”
Seo Cheonseul scratched her head and surveyed our spoils laid out on the ground.
Scores of mummies smashed by the staff.
A dozen or so charred Dueoksini heads.
Several wrapped bodies still writhing in the vinyl.
A tremendous commotion, yet in Waste Alley, no one dared approach.
“Mr. Kim, how can this be?”
Seo Cheonseul removed her mask.
“These weren’t goblins!”
“But they are Dueoksini.”
At my confirmation, she let out a delayed gasp.
“Right! They were Dueoksini! But they’re former humans, Mr. Kim!”
These were certainly Dueoksini—but not goblins corrupted into Dueoksini.
What we captured and defeated were humans transformed into Dueoksini.
“Huh, infection.”
“Infection? You mean it was contagious?”
“No. Humans bitten by Dueoksini became Dueoksini themselves.”
“Mr. Kim, that sounds ridiculous. Dueoksini have no such ability.”
“Indeed, they wouldn’t—”
‘But in this world, there are those who can artificially grant such power to Dueoksini.’
I’d waited long, but the moment had come.
Letting Seo Cheonseul fumble intentionally.
Now it was time to seize control.
Under my mask, I smiled and said,
“Master Geumgang, shall I share my plan?”
Guests, from here on there will be an extra charge.
