“Let’s stop now. Surrender.”
Why must I endure this?
Just ignore it, you’ll hold out for a bit, it’s impossible to repeat that mad ritual indefinitely.
Each time it possesses someone, it consumes vast amounts of mana.
No, damn it, but how can I ignore it! It’s already noticed what I react to. Surely I won’t be able to withstand it next time!
But why the hell are there so many people here!
I’m going insane.
Before coming to this hospital, I prepared defenses and counters against its attacks.
But I never expected it would resort to this lunatic bullying.
‘No, that much I can handle.’
The real problem isn’t that.
Warddrdrdrk—
A head turning in the wrong direction.
Both arms jerking in grotesque motion.
Legs swaying, staggering.
The corpse in midair—the puppet—spoke.
“How about this one? Someone close to you?”
The security guard who moved with me earlier.
“......I don’t know them.”
“Is that so? I thought I smelled your scent, Kim Sinhwa. Too bad. Let’s try something else nearby—grrrurrr!”
Bang!
[System: By the effect of ‘Fear Injection’, a forced Sanity check is triggered. Checking... Success! You have endured the horrific trauma.]
“Ha ha—heh heh. Ha! Heh heh heh—”
A strange sound escaped my mouth.
“Ah, damn it, my body...... Now you’re finished. I’m in control of this body. Shut up! Sinhwa, break free! Escape! You’re so noisy, my feet won’t move! Yes, just a bit more! A bit more! I will leave this body! Do something about these mad bastards!”
Though I have one mouth, absurd words spilled out simultaneously.
What the hell is this?!
My prepared counter cannot be used.
Not only that—my legs won’t move. My head won’t turn.
“Damn it, everyone shut up and—sleep!”
What [Predator of the Mountain]’s avatar [The One Who Waits Silently] forced upon me is wreaking fatal havoc on my bodily control.
Possessing personalities that want my body to move toward the river of blood, and personalities wanting to escape supporting their rampage.
Meanwhile, [The One Who Waits Silently] is gradually discerning my reactions.
Creak—creak—crack—
“Doctor! Look! Please look at my body! This being has changed my body!”
What sorcery did it use?
Or perhaps some unreal entity in this hospital had such an ability.
In any case, now a corpse with skin hardened like armor approached.
Completely different from the puppet it mimicked before. Every joint replaced by a ball joint.
“Alright, you bastard! Let’s see you try!”
[Blade Mist]
Shhhhh—
It shattered before the grotesque corpse could reach me.
Fuck! Fuck! Directionless curses leaked from my throat. From somewhere down the long corridor, I heard [The One Who Waits Silently]’s voice again.
“Brutal, merciless, heartless is this act! How can you commit such savagery?”
Crack—crack—crack—crack—
Scraping sounds beyond the wall.
Beyond that wall must be—
“Don’t toy with me! Do you think you’ll escape like this?”
[Crown of the Earth]
Quaddrdrk! Kwaaang! Kwagyagyagyak!
Stone pillars erupted everywhere, piercing through the wall beyond.
The building might collapse, but that’s not the point—
Shhaaak!
From the breached wall shot forth a leechlike tentacle.
‘Is that a blood leech?!’
No, that’s not—this is—
A horrific humanoid shape devoured by a blood leech.
Leeches, snails, worms, maggots, insects—insects, insects, insects—covering its body; tentacles sprouting like a crown.
Blood streaming down like tears.
That is—
[‘Blood Demon King’ has appeared before your eyes.]
[‘Blood Demon King’’s unique /null ‘Crimson Vein’ /null activation? ... Error!!]
But one being cannot exist in the same place twice.
The [Blood Demon King]’s state was even more degraded than the monotonous [The One Who Waits Silently].
[‘Crimson Vein’ activation failed.]
Unable even to trigger its unique trait. But who knows what it might attempt.
“Stop this nonsense and begone!”
[Chain Lightning]
Krarrrr—Kwaaaang!
Ujuhjeok—ujuhjeok—
Struck by my lightning, the [Blood Demon King] collapsed helplessly. Not because of my lightning.
It descended with no medium, no sacrifice, no ritual—even into the domain of its own avatar. Unable to bear its own presence, it withdrew.
Yet even so, it spoke with stubborn fervor:
“ང་ཁྱེད་ཀྱི་བདེ་བ་འདི་དང་ལས་བརྩོན་ནས་འདུག གིས་བདག་གིས་རེད།”
That was Tibetan. The nuance may vary, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) but its meaning is...
‘I will always be with you here. I will never leave your side.’
Yes—something like that. Why does [Predator of the Mountain], this mad bastard, obsess over me to this extent?
[System: Trait ‘Heightened Vigilance’ activates.]
[Fireball]
Frarrrrk! Kwaaang!
Sensing movement behind me, I reflexively cast—but that wasn’t what it sought.
“That—”
The fireball sent [The One Who Waits Silently] flying backward. In its hand, a jet-black mantle fluttered.
“—give it back, you bastard!”
Even as its body burned, [The One Who Waits Silently] spoke joyfully.
“[King of Ten Thousand Fathoms], this winged cloak forged by the avatar of [Ancient Dreamlord] has excessively boosted your Willpower.”
[Nightveil Winged Cloak] carries an option raising Willpower.
Without it, my Willpower would drop. Several benefits from having over 20 points would vanish.
“I wonder if you can ignore that too.”
Crack—crack—crackcrack—crackcrack—
Unpleasant noises echo from beyond the wall.
Scratching at the wall. Not a single being—many.
“Kim Sinhwa. You cannot know how much power the Great Ones expended just to deal with a trivial creature like you. It is rare for an abyssal being to show such care. Be proud.”
“Even if it’s someone else, right you! You I’ll truly! By any means possible, destroy you utterly!”
Wheeeeeeee—
It tried to move, drawing mana, but could not move properly.
Because the other personalities in my body—no, in my mind—were flaring up.
The impending terror, the horrific scene, burned vividly in my mind.
“Aaaah! Fuck! Shut up!”
Gongisu told me not to use Tabula Rasa—but even at risk of idiocy—I’ll excise these monsters from my head!
“Yes—yes. A splendid dream. But soon you will become one with us. Think of an appropriate title. Lose your self and savor the glory of becoming a Herald conveying [Predator of the Mountain]’s will.”
Crack—warddrk—wagajak—kwaaang! Kuuung!
The wall collapsed, and those crouching beyond revealed themselves.
Plastic bodies. Ball joints at their every limb. Jaws split into rectangles instead of lips.
I could no longer deny it.
My mind recognized them as dolls.
[Dolls swarming from all sides stimulate the madness within your mind.]
Move! Run! W-what is happening? Out of the way! I’m leaving now! Help me! Stop it! Out of the way! Don’t interfere!
“You bastards, get out of my head this instant!”
I screamed to the end, but it merely distorted the corpse’s face it inhabited and smiled.
[‘Madness – Doll Phobia’ manifests.]
“Ch— ch–chchk— ch—”
A grotesque sound seeped from the cracked slit beneath its warped face.
Its laughter.
[Attempting Willpower check to resist hallucination.]
“How amusing. So amusing. Amusing, अस्तु एतत् खिलौषः विस्मयकारकः! You truly cannot read minds, cannot read memories, cannot foresee the future. Are you the prophesied White Attendant who came for me? Or the Banquet prepared by the White Attendant for me?”
[Willpower check.......]
“Not... amusing at all. You fucking bastard.”
[Failure.]
“Ch— ch— ch–chchk—”
Its laughter continued.
[Hallucination occurs.]
I’m tired.
I want to stop this.
Why am I doing this? Shouldn’t it end?
I just want to sleep.
I’m sleepy.
I want to sleep.
“The language I use so that a trivial creature such as you can understand.”
Clinging to its collapsing body, [The One Who Waits Silently], who was once Kim Sinhwa, spoke to the figure of Kim Sinhwa.
“Long before this language was formed, before beasts like you trod this land and lifted those pitiful heads.”
The one who was once Kim Sinhwa slowly raised both hands.
“Before this land you stand on took its present shape. There was a prophecy.”
[The One Who Waits Silently] continued, but the one who was once Kim Sinhwa ignored him and gazed at his own fingers.
“After a long and endless time, the [White Attendant] would come to me, the prophecy said.”
The one who was once Kim Sinhwa slowly curled his fingers into a fist.
“To carry me away beyond the distant galaxy, to come from the distant galaxy prepared for me, to come for me, the [White Attendant] I have awaited.”
He slowly unclenched his fingers, then clenched them again, repeating.
“I have cleared the unnecessary from your mind, so speak your name as promised. Are you the [White Attendant] I have waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited through infinite time?”
In [The One Who Waits Silently]’s voice there was no longer leisure—only a direct, unmistakable desperation even a human could feel.
But the one who was once Kim Sinhwa turned away from that cosmic longing, scanning his surroundings.
His gaze fixed upon the buffalo skull mask lying on the floor.
“Answer me. There is no time. My existence as an avatar is fading. I will soon perish.”
The one who was once Kim Sinhwa slowly flipped over the buffalo-bone mask, [Reckless Destruction].
[System: Cannot activate trait—cooldown not yet expired.]
Clad in the massive mask, he touched the blood dripping from it with fascinated curiosity.
“Blood, blood, blood is warm, far warmer than I imagined. I wanted to touch it with my own hands. Th-thank you. It’s because of you that I was able to emerge.”
