Dagadak- Dagadak- Dagadak- Dagadak-
“Ugh, step back, doctor!”
Tadadang! Dadadada!
Bullets are fired.
A grotesque creature with four joints on each leg, vaguely horse-like, approaches. I don’t know what it is, but its skin is tough enough to deflect bullets.
“Pain! Pain! Pain!”
It even speaks. What on earth...
“Aaaargh! Don’t come closer!”
Dadadadada!
The security officers start screaming at the beast’s approach. Their morale must be near breaking. Paju Central’s real combat force is the suppression team made up of nurses.
These officers’ role is simply to buy time until the suppression team arrives.
‘It’s awkward to admit...’
The game designers needed NPCs to be slaughtered by patients, so they put these weaker guards here instead of the stronger nurses. Otherwise they’d never entrust security to such fragile personnel.
‘Ugh, what a pain.’
From outside their line of sight I reached out and quietly drew mana.
[Devil’s Grasp]
Kwajijijik—
A giant hand erupted from the wall and crushed the aberration in an instant.
“Aaaargh!”
“W-what was that?!”
Though I’d cast the spell, it’s hardly the time for honesty.
“Uh, IPE-34, [Mad Sorcerer]? Could that be nearby?”
“Y-yes, that’s possible.”
“In that case! We need to flee! Move out, move out!”
“Y-yes!”
They think they’re protecting me, but I’m the one protecting them. The safe zone lies not far ahead—time to slip away?
“Wait, everyone! Stop! Duck down!”
Thud thud thud thud—
IPE-273, [Reckless Destruction].
A buffalo skull floats and slams into the wall.
Thunk- Thunk- Thunk- Jjeojeojeok- Jeojik-
Though it looks light, its force is tremendous. Walls it brushes shatter like sugar. No wonder so many patients escaped.
“Th-that patient is beyond our capability.”
“They said it deflects bullets!!”
“Shh, stay quiet. If we don’t provoke it, it’ll pass.”
Thunk- Thunk-thunk- Thunk-
As the leader said, the skull rammed several walls randomly, then drifted off in another direction.
“Good, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) it’s passed. Let’s move. Doctor, are you okay?”
“Ah, y-yes, I’m fine...”
But that—
Format Number: IPE-273
Alias: Reckless Destruction
Classification: Red Grade 3
Special: S-Rank Artifact
A mask crafted from a buffalo skull.
IPE-273 moves independently and poses a risk of attacking random targets.
Wearing IPE-273 on the head releases a black shadow that envelops the wearer. Simultaneously, the wearer enters extreme frenzy and gains a tremendous boost in strength. However, it’s confirmed that the artifact cannot be removed unless the wearer dies, so experiments carry high risk.
Yes, it’s a mask.
Though this surreal entity defies complete analysis by Paju Central’s standards, it’s an S-rank Artifact—and again, a mask.
Tempting.
No, resist. What good would it be? It carries penalties, only grants +5 Strength and +5 Health temporarily—so... a mask.
“Doctor? Doctor?”
“Has the doctor disappeared?”
The officers frantically search. Sorry—I’ve heard everything I need. Let’s each go our way.
They continued talking, but likely nothing important. I ignored them and approached [Reckless Destruction]—the awesome buffalo-skull mask.
“Damn, the doctor vanished. Could he have been taken by an escaped patient?”
“Squad leader, staying here is too dangerous.”
“Indeed. We might die looking for him.”
“Also... I smell rotting corpses somewhere.”
“A corpse smell? Understood. Let’s retreat first.”
“Hello?”
Thunk-Thunk- Thunk-Thunk thud—
Responding to my voice, the skull—no, the body—rotates to face me.
No eyes, no flesh. An inanimate weapon beyond emotion.
[I smell rotting corpses...]
A pop-up appears before my eyes. What nonsense is that? Clear it.
Fzzzt—
I ignored the message and focused again on [Reckless Destruction].
“Hey, you. You’re actually kind of cute.”
Thunk- Thunk- Thunk.
As I stepped closer, [Reckless Destruction] stopped ramming the wall.
“Good, good. Come here. Let’s start with a friend—how about a friend?”
Shiiik!
Perhaps offended by my flattery or simply unable to express emotion, [Reckless Destruction] charged me with tremendous force.
[Protective Field]
Kwaaang!
A strong impact. In my old self the warding might’ve shattered, but I’m not that weak anymore.
[Binding]
[Lightning Cluster]
[Spell Boost: Multi-Cast]
Kwajijijik!! Kwajijijik! Kwaaang!
I bound it and delivered continuous lightning. Only seconds passed before [Reckless Destruction] fell motionless.
“Next is simple.”
I extended mana and forced magic seals onto its body.
Kadedeudeuk—
Countless runes formed across its pale surface, like swarming insects.
[System: Hidden trait ‘Heir of the Corpse Pile’ activates.]
[Heir of the Corpse Pile]: You can subjugate aberrations who have succumbed to you.
/Followers of the Suffocating Harbinger will obey you.
[‘S-Rank Artifact – Reckless Destruction’ resists your trait with willpower.]
[Checking subjugation...]
[I smell rotting corpses...]
[Subjugation success! ‘S-Rank Artifact – Reckless Destruction’ recognizes your ‘Echo of Suffocation’ and submits to your power.]
Fwaaah—
The runes, briefly glowing, dissolved into [Reckless Destruction]’s core. The artifact is now mine.
“Hmm, not bad. But it’s huge.”
A mask made by fashioning a buffalo skull whole. It’d serve better as a carry-on rather than worn.
[Reduce]
I cast a spell to shrink [Reckless Destruction] to palm-size and stowed it in my backpack—
Backpack?
Huh?
“What the—where’s my backpack?”
What the hell!?
My bag!
I quickly dispelled [Form Assimilation] to return to original form, then focused my mind.
I expanded perception and extended mana—my senses dramatically widening.
Long winding corridors. Repeating sterile walls. Chaos from escaped ward patients.
Distant screams, intermittent explosions, officers abandoning pursuit of Lee Haseo, grotesque patients, filthy debris on the floor, cracked walls, flickering lights from excessive mana, wide-open ward doors, Lee Haseo approaching with the suppression team in Sector C, black steam rising here and there, destroyed equipment, growling monsters, screeching monsters, silent shadows walking the hall, eight-armed beasts, the [Hungry Old Man] devouring a corpse, blood-scrawled graffiti “He Who Drinks Fear Descends.”, and on the floor... my backpack.
Ah, there it is. How did it fall there?
“Strange. No matter how distracted I was by the mask, could I have lost my mind that badly?”
...
I was that absent-minded. This ward surely hides other triggers for my madness—patients shaped to provoke my coulrophobia.
Just seeing humans manipulated nearly drove me mad. Wandering into the wrong area could spell disaster.
“Anyway, something strange’s near my backpack—”
I shifted perception toward the wall graffiti again.
“He Who Drinks Fear Descends.”
[He Who Drinks Fear].
Like [Blood-Demon King], [Headless Flame], and [The Silent Watcher], one avatar of [Predator of the Mountains].
The “infiltration” the officers mentioned is confirmed. I hoped for a misunderstanding...
“Damn. Jackpot.”
If this were merely a patient escape event, I’d gather my things and leave.
But now it’s time to move in earnest.
“Even if it’s me, I can’t let them harm Gong Isu.”
Swish—
My glasses and lab coat shrink into my pockets.
Puddudeudeuk—
The nocturnal-veil robe beneath flutters like it’s stretching.
“Ah, so you were annoyed too?”
And from my pocket a finger-sized skateboard pops out.
“My backpack was full, so I pocketed it—lucky.”
Releasing the shrinking spell, the skateboard returns to original size.
[Fox’s Agility]
[Eagle’s Eye]
I added a few enchantments, then fueled the skateboard with mana, streaking down the corridor. Puddudeudeuk— my robe trailing like a long afterimage.
‘Hmm. But this distance is odd.’
My backpack couldn’t possibly have fallen so far. Did someone stealthily steal and drop it there?
Or did my dropped backpack somehow move itself?
“...”
With patients unleashed, this ward rivals a labyrinth. Nothing is surprising here.
Kadedeudeuk- Kadedeudeuk- Churururuk- Churururuk- Wajak- Wajak-
By my backpack, the corpse of an unknown-numbered monster is being gnawed by IPE-unknown, alias [Hungry Old Man]. The most recent arrival—Tudor’s papers didn’t list him.
Having finished his meal, the [Hungry Old Man] sniffs, then moves down the corridor.
He reaches the spot with my backpack.
The [Hungry Old Man] makes a pensive face, then speaks.
“Th-that devil’s bag...”
In a hoarse voice, his bulging eyes roll.
“Why is only the bag here?”
He slowly reaches to open it. I can’t bear it and shout.
“Hey! Don’t open that bag!”
“Kekekekkuk—Yes, this is a sign! A revelation! Our great leader has granted me this relic!”
“Damn it! I said don’t open it!”
Ziiiik—
The zipper slides.
“This is...”
Fwiriririruk—
As soon as the bag opens, a gleaming gem flies into the air.
“A magic crystal?”
The gem arcs geometrically, then...
Kwaaaang!
“Craaaagh!”
It strikes the [Hungry Old Man] and explodes.
“No, that’s a magic-crystal bomb.”
The [Hungry Old Man] is sent ricocheting down the corridor.
I scoop up my backpack and say,
“I told you not to touch it.”
Kadedeudeuk—
A horrifying crunch as the [Hungry Old Man] grinds his teeth.
I address the gaunt old man.
“Ugh, this is real. Unnecessary epilogues. I don’t care what happens to you, don’t want to see you—yet you keep showing up as a villain.”
“We meet again... Ho Sanghyun.”
