“Mr. Kim. So what will you do now? Do you have a plan?”
“A plan, huh......”
Now that I think about it, Seocheonseul said the same thing back at the club. I was too out of it then to answer.
“A plan. Of course I have one.”
“Heh, I feel like I’ve only heard that after three days.”
Maybe that’s the goblin’s sense of time again, but I also feel like a long time has passed.
So much has happened in a short span.
We ran from the Foreigner Management Agency, erected a barrier, thought we could rest, then my madness flared up and I even had that strange daydream.
‘It feels like a waste of time....’
But it was all necessary.
Especially the daydream. If I’d charged in without that information, something truly horrifying could have occurred.
“But it’s still lacking. For the plan to be complete, we need a more concrete clue.”
“A clue?”
“It’s better to explain one by one. Captain Chungeum. I know where they are.”
“You do? How?”
“Before the portal closed, I cast a spell on that elephant-headed brute.”
I laid [Hate’s Pursuer] on him—he must be feeling his intestines rotting with pain.
“Impressive, Mr. Kim, to do that in the midst of chaos. Where is it?”
“East of here—hmm, that is. It’s a place called Paju Samneung.”
“Paju Samneung? The royal tombs?”
“Precisely. It’s where two queens and a crown prince couple are buried.”
Cancelled after the great collapse, but it used to be a World Heritage site.
“What would they want to do there?”
“Well, it’s a feng shui spot where mana is stable, a good place for rituals. As fanatics, they probably plan a descent ritual.”
“A descent. You mean [Blood Demon King]?”
“Not certain, but very likely. Summoning the [Predator in the Mountains], that is the [Blood Demon King], requires vast amounts of blood.”
“Blood. So that’s why the Dueoksinis were so desperate to gather blood.”
When you think of it that way, the story connects.
But Seocheonseul still looked unconvinced.
“Do you really think they can perform that ritual in such a hurry?”
A valid point.
“Exactly. That’s why I hesitate.”
“Oh, so this is what you meant by lacking, Mr. Kim?”
“Yes. An Abyssal entity can’t be summoned on a whim.”
The Deep-Sea Folk in Insu Village prepared for decades to summon Dagon.
They built hidden bases and slaughtered hundreds.
Even then they had to wait for a specific date.
‘Of course I wrecked that plan—’
I disrupted their schedule by forcing the ritual early.
Dagon’s avatar did descend, but not in the form they desired.
It wasn’t the proper date and there was no stable vessel to receive the avatar.
I recall how that unstable avatar of Dagon collapsed repeatedly.
Granted, summoning grows easier as one nears the [Ending], but we’re nowhere near that stage.
“I don’t think they’re planning a simple descent ritual. I need to know what I must disrupt, what I must destroy to make a plan.”
Do they have a medium of Jang Hyundeok’s caliber?
Dueoksinis are powerful but creatures of the underpath—they cannot serve as mediums.
‘Actually, Dueoksinis aren’t much help for summoning rituals. And the Gourmet Expeditionary isn’t weak either.’
In the game there was never a ridiculous event where they cooperated to gather blood for such a purpose.
Digging up an unknown quest from the ground makes my head spin.
“Screw it, let’s quit. My head will burst trying shortcuts. Captain Chungeum. It’s better to do it by the book.”
“By the book?”
“Exactly how we did in Waste Alley: gather information, secure clues.”
“Heh, we have to check the newspost for that?”
“No, not that—”
I pointed at Seocheonseul’s net and continued.
“Get Yeom Geumja out of that net. He must know something.”
Without hesitation Seocheonseul said,
“Yeom Geumja, Yeom Geumja, Yeom Geumja.”
A whoosh of wind came from the net and—
“Ahhh!”
Clatter!
Yeom Geumja sprang out of the net and collapsed on the floor.
“Madam, this may be confusing—”
I started to explain, but Yeom Geumja rolled her eyes under disheveled hair then shouted,
“Ahhh! Please spare me! Forgive me! I didn’t know! I didn’t know they were such creatures! I didn’t even help them much! They just asked for food, so I got it for them! Oh, no! Real food, not people! And I told them about Paju’s geography, lent them some cars, that’s it!”
......
Thankfully I could skip lengthy negotiations.
I tried to remove Yeom Geumja.
But I only confirmed that a middle-aged woman who exercises hard is much stronger than a frail mage like me.
“Ah, damn. Let me go!”
Whoooosh!
I raised mana and shoved her away, then said,
“Alright. You didn’t know? Fine. We’ll say you were used without knowing.”
Yeom Geumja brightened at my acquiescence.
“That’s right! I had no idea they were turning my subordinates into those monsters!”
I caught a crucial keyword among her words.
“You said you gave them food earlier? What was it?”
The Gourmet Expeditionary are heretics who eat monsters. They sometimes eat humans as a delicacy. They wouldn’t just ask for ordinary food.
“Oh, no. It really was food. Cattle, pigs. That sort of thing.”
“Cattle and pigs?”
That isn’t the Expeditionary’s preferred fare. As offerings they rank below humans. Why would they ask for that?
I fell into thought, staring out the window.
‘Night already.’
I need to hurry—
Among the dark clouds, a full moon hung in the sky.
‘Wait, a full moon?’
Full moon, cattle, pigs, Dueoksini, Gourmet Expeditionary, the story of transforming humans into Dueoksini, their declaration to change human food culture, Paju Samneung, and again the full moon.
“Ah—ahhh! I finally understand.”
“Oh, Mr. Kim, have you discovered something?”
I finally grasped what this quest was and how it moved.
“No wonder I couldn’t fathom what those boar bastards in the Gourmet Expeditionary were doing!”
Seocheonseul was chasing Dueoksinis, I was chasing the Expeditionary—no wonder nothing made sense!
I should have considered the fusion of two disparate forces.
“It’s because the Dueoksini involvement brought in an Eastern theme! They sacrificed the followers of Chodura General and Gungbira General!”
Again, this is DLC story.
A collaboration of Korean tradition and Cthulhu.
“Madam, you said cattle and pigs. How many did they ask for total?”
“Uh—thirty cattle, forty pigs. And fifty sheep. And they wanted a hundred snakes.”
“That must have cost a fortune. Did you procure them all?”
“Only about half. But they seemed fine with that, so I assumed it was enough.”
“Half. So they planned to fill the rest with human blood?”
I looked at Seocheonseul and said,
“Captain Chungeum, what do you think? Do you know what they intend?”
“Hoo—”
Seocheonseul stared at me blankly, then suddenly looked out the window and said,
“Tonight is the Taeeum (full moon). Could that be related?”
“Exactly. Captain Chungeum, it’s the full moon. Cattle, followers of Chodura General, have the power to sprout and bring trapped underground forces to the surface. Snakes, followers of Indalla General, are creatures of pure yin.”
“Oh, now I see what you mean, Mr. Kim. Sheep follow Alnira General, who leads yang, so they drive out yang and fill with yin. And pigs—Gungbira General oversees winter, so yin reaches its peak.”
Chodura General, Indalla General, Alnira General, and Gungbira General.
They are the names of the Twelve Divine Generals representing the earthly branches in Eastern tradition.
Seocheonseul continued,
“This is goblin sorcery. By adding human blood and the full moon, they aim to complete the structure of Five Yin Severing One Yang.”
“Yes. Those brute fools of the Gourmet Expeditionary wouldn’t know such things. They must have learned from the goblin Dueoksinis.”
“To gather the five yins, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) expel yang, and call forth, in reverse, the power of the Medicine Buddha who heals all under heaven—then the living become ghosts and the dead rise from their graves.”
“In this case the ghosts are likely the Dueoksinis. That elephant head fellow hinted at something similar.”
They wanted to impose the Dueoksini diet on humans.
“That’s—what the......”
That was Yeom Geumja muttering.
She probably wanted to say what nonsense is that.
I briefly explained to her,
“Madam, just understand that the Gourmet Expeditionary intends to perform a horrific ritual.”
“A ritual? Then what happens?”
“They’re moving toward Paju Samneung now. Those buried there will become undead and awaken, and every human nearby will be transformed into Dueoksini.”
“Nearby? How large an area?”
“It depends on the amount of blood they gathered. But probably everything within a bastion.”
“Damn, what do you mean? Then I become a monster too!”
“Hmm—thanks to your merits they were able to come this far.”
“I didn’t know! I thought they just wanted food!”
Yeom Geumja is clever.
Clinging to me as soon as she emerged proved it.
Her pleading was mere performance. In an instant she grasped the situation and understood what she must do.
She knew the animals she provided would be sacrificial offerings.
And she must have known how her geographic intel and transport would factor into the outcome.
‘The Dueoksini sightings focus around the Samdu region and Waste Alley.’
She’d cheered as the Gourmet Expeditionary’s Dueoksinis destroyed rival factions.
I mentioned this and said to Yeom Geumja,
“There’s no time, so cut the act.”
“What exactly do you want from me? Punish me? Didn’t you say justice isn’t your goal?”
She backed away, fists clenched.
I could have used threats or torture to coerce her, but I didn’t want to today.
I don’t know what’s writhing in my mind, but for now it’s better to pretend to be benevolent.
“Let’s proceed as when we first met. If you help with a few things, I’ll compensate you far beyond your losses.”
I glanced at Seocheonseul as I spoke.
“In the name of Chungeum Hall.”
Yeom Geumja’s expression brightened dramatically.
“Ah, yes! Fine! I’ll help with whatever you ask! I’m sick of those monsters! It’s better to side with Chungeum Hall!”
“But Mr. Kim, is there a way to stop this?”
“There is.”
“There is? They must have prepared a massive feng shui array for this.”
“We can handle it.”
It’s a slightly different story, but I’ve done similar in the game.
“Alright. Madam, we have two requests.”
“What are they?”
“First, arrange transportation. We need to access the west side of Paju Samneung, Gongneung Mountain.”
“That’s simple. And the second?”
“I’ll ask something similar to what the Gourmet Expeditionary did.”
Oh, Seocheonseul will hate this. I approached Yeom Geumja and whispered my request softly.
“That... can you get that? By when?”
“One... two hours? Can you manage?”
“Ah. Damn, where would I get that at this hour?”
Hmmm— I gave Seocheonseul a look and said,
“If you manage that, Captain Chungeum will be moved and bring you into Chungeum Hall.”
“Really? If I manage that, you’ll be moved?”
In any case it’s a promise from the captain. Yeom Geumja, rolling her eyes rapidly, spoke with resolute expression.
“Ha—damn. Free my kids. I’ll release them and get it right away.”
“Very well.”
