“Ah, wow. The staging is really impressive!”
I had already experienced most of the gimmicks and incidents that could occur in the [Cthulhu World].
Moreover, an Intelligence stat of 30 lets me recall those experiences in minute detail.
That experience and memory are my greatest weapons in this perilous world.
“Uhuhu, uhuhuhuhu. Please, please spare me! Huhuhuhu—uhuhuhuhk—save me!”
A plea rings out that could be either laughter or sobbing.
However, my weapon has a weakness.
I cannot easily recall memories tied to my phobias. My unconscious mind avoids them.
I thought this quest would be easy, but in ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) so many ways it was enough to drive me mad.
“Hold on a little longer!”
This is a construction site where the building work stopped midway.
Though there’s ample space, every direction is covered in webs, making even sightlines difficult.
A person bursts out from among the webs.
“Waaaaa! Save me! Please! Waaaaa!”
He screams in desperation as he flies through the webs.
Truly—truly—truly a horrific sight.
People bound by webs writhe in unnatural motions.
It’s like—
Puppets.
Yes, that word fits. They look like puppets manipulated by strings.
‘My head hurts.’
My misjudgment was thinking this phobia would be easier than my hemophobia last time.
[Madness – Doll Phobia]
“Yeah, I know that, damn it!”
There aren’t any literal dolls here that children like.
But these people entangled in webs are triggering my phobia with their grotesque forms as they rush me.
“Save me! Save me! Save me!”
Just watching is horrifying—what must it feel like to be dangling there, moving like that?
“Uhuhuhuhu—uhuhuhuhk—”
Most are already in delirium.
In a way, I envy them.
The terrible thing is that their forms don’t trigger my phobia outright.
They merely remind me of it.
“Ugh! This is so annoying.”
Because there are hostages, I can’t just blast everything away.
[Magma Spray]
Pfooaaargh!
Scorching sparks spray everywhere. Despite the name, it’s not actual lava—just blazing fire particles.
Fshrrrr—
“There! And over there too!”
An Intelligence of 30 gives me not only memory but also surreal focus and mana control.
Millions of scattered fire particles? I control each one perfectly.
Thud—thump!
The sound of people freed from webs falling to the ground.
“Raganga!”
“Kyiiiii!”
Fwudududrrreak—
Raganga dives in to rescue the fallen.
Obstacles to Raganga’s path—
[Burning Spear]
[Spell Boost: Multi-Cast]
Shiiii—Kraang! Thud!
I clear them away with magic.
“Good. Well done!”
“Kirrrrllllkkk!”
A wailing comes from deep inside the building.
Phase Two begins once the hostages are safe.
A massive spider emerges from the darkness.
Its body is spiderlike, but its head resembles a human’s.
“No, saying it resembles a human is too tame.”
It’s far too grotesque to call humanlike. It rolls its eight eyes and slowly approaches.
Generally speaking, that spider’s form is far more dreadful than the hostages.
This spider possesses a surreal power that alone shatters the human mind.
But its form and intimidation mean nothing.
[System: Exclusive Trait ‘Abyssal Madness’ activates. Intimidation effects nullified.]
Crackle—
“Raganga, stay back. There’s no problem now.”
“Kyiiiii!”
With no more hostages or mind-eroding effects, I’m free.
“Kirrrrllllkkk!”
“You fiend, you’ll pay for disturbing me.”
[Blazing Karma]
Fshrrrrrrrrrrk!!
Infernos blaze everywhere with the might of the Sign-Patricide Sword and [Living Flame]—ultrahot conflagrations.
By the time the flames consuming the entire building fade, nothing that could threaten me remains.
[Quest Complete!
Reward: 2,500,000 XP + ₩200,000,000]
[You have defeated the ‘Man-Faced Spider.’ Your understanding of Divine Servitors increases.]
[Achievement Unlocked! You have slain one of the ‘Blind Webspinner’s’ daughters.
You earned the ‘General Achievement: Web Destroyer.’
As an achievement reward, you receive the ‘Man-Faced Spider’s Egg Sac’ and bonus XP.]
[You may change your residence to ‘Construction Site Building.’ To do so, kill the owner.]
“I don’t need that.”
Why does everything involve killing someone?
“Is that the end of the rewards?”
From the charred corpse of the Man-Faced Spider, an egg sac wrapped in white silk bounces out.
“Ah, a spider pet.”
If well cared for, it makes a serviceable summoned creature. Of course, there’s a 70% chance the trap event triggers and it devours my innards in my sleep—but...
Unlike other versions of Kim Sinhwa, I can control this one.
“Hmm, but can I add more to my brood?”
No harm in taking it. I cast a small ward to encase the egg sac, then shove it into my backpack.
[You defeated a Servitor of the ‘Blind Webspinner’ and seized its egg sac. She will be furious when she discovers you harmed one of her daughters.]
As if waiting, a message window blares again.
[Many other Abyssal entities now show interest in you. You cannot return to your former life. In particular, the ‘Predator of the Mountains,’ whose plans you disrupted, feels great affection for you.]
“Ugh, why affection of all things?”
The [Predator of the Mountains] venerated by the Gourmet Expedition Corps is one of the greatest sadists among the Abyssal beings.
He has a hobby of keeping favorite humans as pets.
‘He toys with them until bored, drinking their blood, then discards them when done.’
Since I got tangled with the Expedition Corps, I expected the ‘Predator of the Mountains’ to meddle at least once or twice more.
Finally, the message window prints its usual prophecy about the chaotic future and then vanishes.
“But why mention that now?”
At least the line about the ‘Predator of the Mountains’ should have come up back at Paju’s Samneung.
Is some change occurring among the Abyssal entities that I don’t know?
I recall Tudor’s dossier in my backpack.
‘I really should meet the Banquet Offering senior.’
Night already falls. I should finish tidying up and return.
I call Tudor to report my quest completion.
“I told you I have something tomorrow. I’m going to the hospital, the hospital.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Me? I did? Three times?”
Iseonbin is an NPC I rescued during the Ghoul Incident at Yeonam Construction.
She’s probably still in the closed ward of Paju Central Hospital.
But—three times?
“I said that recently too?”
“No, no. I just got the dates mixed up.”
So it must have been during that ichthyophobia phase.
Back then, that phobia caused intermittent amnesia, not delirium.
Until I escaped Insu Village, I didn’t realize my memories were being wiped.
Some memories returned after the phobia ended, but only partially.
Hence gaps still remain scattered across my past.
“Oh, sorry. What did you say?”
“.......”
I do.
Troubleshooters fight supernatural beings for money—and their minds gradually corrode under the madness those beings induce.
“All right, all right. I’m fine.”
I give a cursory lie and hang up.
‘Am I really fine?’
I recall again the message: “Get some sleep.”
“.......”
I think I should face this properly instead of avoiding it.
Then, at that moment—
“Oh?”
My mana is suddenly drained.
This is not normal.
I turn toward the direction of the Hungry Mansion. Though it’s too far to see, I feel something ominous.
“Is there an intruder?”
My mana drains again.
“What the—?”
Clearly an unresolved problem has arisen at the mansion.
[Gate Creation]
Fortunately, I have a spell to teleport directly to my residence.
Stepping through the portal, I head to the mansion.
A brief darkness and light confusion.
Now, the Hungry Mansion is before my eyes.
“Well, well?”
The mansion is in chaotic ruin.
Shattered windows everywhere. Scattered remains of Spirit Golems all around.
And—
“Ahahahahahaha!!”
A chilling laughter.
On the roof.
A strange woman thrashes about with impossibly long black hair, and a man stands between her and me.
“Aunt! Stop this now and come out of that body!”
Heo Sanghyun’s voice. So he’s on the roof.
But the woman called Aunt shrieks in madness.
“Kyaaaaak! Shut up! This is my home! You’re the one who should leave!”
Kraaang!
An immense explosion on the roof.
Aunt—that is, Heo Jihyeon—has cast magic.
Heo Sanghyun is flung away by the blast.
“Ugh! Raganga! Catch Sanghyun!”
“Kyiiiii!”
Fwudududrrreak—
Raganga instantly grows huge and catches the flying Heo Sanghyun atop the roof.
Clinging to Raganga’s leg, Heo Sanghyun shouts toward me.
“Mr. Sinhwa! It’s my aunt!”
Yes, I know. But there’s something strange flying around her.
Wait—what did I just say to Sanghyun?
“She’s a dollmaster—my aunt possessed Hyundeok-ssi’s body!”
Ah, damn.
Sanghyun, please don’t use that term.
My head throbs as I tremble.
Heo Hyundeok’s form is gone. Only Heo Jihyeon remains, wearing a tattered dress, hair wild.
Her spirit envelops Hyundeok’s body, recreating her prime appearance.
And three shadows float around her.
“You took out what was in the basement without permission...”
No wonder Sanghyun couldn’t win.
A masked humanoid in a similar build to mine.
The three homunculi I created hover around her body.
