“Hey, Destroyer.”
“Yes.”
“What’s with that creepy mask you’re always wearing?”
I, clad in a lavish fur coat, reached up and felt the [Mask of Carcosa] hiding my face. I’m more familiar with this mask than my own features, but Yeom Geumja looked displeased.
“It’s for the same reason you chose this dark, filthy abandoned factory as our meeting place, madam.”
“What are you talking about? You asshole.”
She inhaled cigarette smoke, exhaled, and said,
“Oh, so you want to hide your identity? You must lead some secret life behind that mask. Well, for a mage of your caliber, this shitty work is probably just a leisurely hobby.”
A natural association, I guess.
A mage who’s reached a certain level can amass astronomical fortunes without plunging into dirty crimes or mortal peril.
Especially one who’s mastered artifact-producing magic.
So Yeom Geumja assumed I was some pampered mage enjoying a brief thrill.
“That’s right.”
Regrettably, I have no such idle life.
The peaceful existence hidden beneath this mask was stolen by transcendental forces shaping this world’s fate.
And dealing with dozens of criminals in this dank, shadowy factory is part of my struggle to reclaim that stolen life.
“Well? Might as well show me the goods.”
“Here you go.”
“Let me see.”
“Hyundeok.”
Jang Hyundeok produced the contraption too embarrassing to call a “toy gun” from the van.
“Here.”
“Hand it over.”
“Yes.”
Yeom Geumja’s underlings—dozens of thugs lined up behind her—glared at us with murderous intent, ready to pulverize us the moment we misstep.
“Madam, you should take it over here.”
Despite the danger, Jang Hyundeok seemed calm, as though dealing with thugs in abandoned factories was second nature.
‘Well, they were a troubleshooter handling criminals for a living.’
Yeom Geumja frowned as she inspected the device Jang Hyundeok handed her.
A haphazard junk of gemstones and scrap metal. She relaxed only after confirming the gems were magic stones, but her dissatisfaction remained.
“Christ, it still looks like complete garbage. Hey, Bomb Master, does this shitty thing actually work like you said?”
“Would you prefer I call you Destroyer or Bomb Master?”
“Ha, fuck. How dare you cram expensive magic stones into this trash.”
Ignoring me, Yeom Geumja continued to fiddle with the “toy gun.”
“I admit it looks crude. But it does exactly what I described.”
“Like this?”
She awkwardly aimed it at a vacant spot in the factory.
“Don’t shoot the pillars—you might bring the whole building down.”
“Huh? Fine. Then I’ll shoot that shitty wall. What are the projectiles?”
“Put this in there.”
“Fuck, isn’t this a screw?”
“Anything that sticks to a magnet will work.”
“Hmm—”
Click—zzzt—pew—
BOOOOOOOM!
[Protective Ward]
[Spell Boost: Multi-Cast]
[Spell Boost: Maximize]
“Uaaah!?”
A massive explosion sent clouds of dust everywhere. The factory’s thick wall was blown completely through.
Had I not cast the ward in time, someone could have been hurt.
“This can’t be...”
“Whoa...”
“Really, Bomb Master...”
The hardened thugs of Bongilcheonpa behind Yeom Geumja lost their fierce composure, stunned into murmurs.
Normally Yeom Geumja would have snapped them back to attention, but she was just as shocked.
“What the fuck? How the hell does this shitty thing do that!?”
“It converts magic stone mana into discharge, then uses electromagnetic induction to launch the projectile—imparting penetration, explosion, guidance, discharge attributes—”
“No—stop explaining! Christ—this thing just fucking kills! That’s enough!”
Yeom Geumja erupted in cheers, her eyes gleaming with greed and madness.
“Well, although it looks like this, think of it as a lightweight, recoil-free, guided grenade launcher.”
“That’s it! That’s exactly it! With this I can crush that Aekdu bastard and more.”
Recently Yeom Geumja has grown by eating into Aekdu’s territory. Already under pressure from Cheonghopa led by Jung Hyuna, Aekdu played a new card—one that put Yeom Geumja in a bind.
If these devices can be supplied in volume, Yeom Geumja’s troubles vanish at once.
“How much? What’s your price? How many can you make?”
“I’ll offer them cheap. Quantity won’t be an issue.”
Unlike others driven mad by the blueprint’s curse, I possess [Abyssal Madness], so I can produce the same item repeatedly.
“As many as you need.”
“So what’s the exact price?”
I named a price barely covering material costs—could have given them free, but that would breed suspicion.
“That cheap?”
“Yes. But you know the caveat I mentioned?”
“At that price, I can live with it.”
“Excellent. Then one favor?”
“Fuck, I knew it.”
“If you accept, I’ll throw in plenty of magic-stone bombs and consumable artifacts as a bonus.”
“Fine—just tell me.”
I spread both hands, conjuring a large projection of Paju on the factory floor.
I highlighted several spots on the map.
“Here, here, here, here, and here.”
An office building, an abandoned house of unknown ownership, a half-built structure left to rot, strange pillars in the mountains, this abandoned factory, and a vacant lot.
Roughly known locations.
“What about them? What do you want?”
“Could you destroy those places when you have time?”
“...What? You want me to run errands for you—?”
“No, no. Calm down. Once you know why, you’ll be satisfied.”
I explained my reasons for selecting those sites, and Yeom Geumja agreed.
“Mage! Mage!”
Jang Hyundeok fidgeted excitedly as soon as we climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Yes?”
“I thought that toy gun was just a toy, but it does that!?”
“You saw it with your own eyes. You asked if it was a railgun and still couldn’t fathom the power?”
“Yes! I had no idea!”
“...”
Hyundeok may be clueless, but they’re proudly clueless. Hard to tease someone so confident.
“Wow! How did you make something so amazing?”
“It’s not that amazing.”
Without that device, I could fire ten magical arrows ten times that power in one volley.
“Can I buy one? That seems faster than learning magic.”
“So that’s what you were thinking.”
I don’t want physical firepower from Hyundeok. If I did, I’d have gone to Incheon, bought assault rifles and grenades, and made an [Armored Hyundeok].
“No way—”
“What’s no way? Plus that thing is unstable—failure rate’s too high.”
“Failure?”
“Yes. It sometimes won’t fire or will self-destruct.”
“Self-destruct?”
Failure rate is 30%. A misfire rarely explodes, but a critical failure triggers an explosion.
I’m not deceiving Yeom Geumja—they insisted on buying, so the deal was made.
“Explode. They’ll take it gladly, but do you want one too?”
“Does it blow up hard?”
“If you’re unlucky, it’ll kill bystanders.”
“And if I’m lucky?”
“Only the shooter might die.”
“Ugh.”
Under careful management it won’t explode, but can Yeom Geumja’s thugs handle that?
“Anyway, Hyundeok.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you want to learn magic? From what you said, you don’t strictly need it.”
If you’re content with that device, why study magic?
“Hmm—”
Hyundeok paused in thought, then said,
“For money.”
“Money?”
“Yes. I want to earn a lot. All I can do is drive, so I drive, but I really want a lot of money.”
Security taxi in Paju is the riskiest non-ability job—and the most lucrative.
A single high-stakes escape quest can net hundreds to thousands overnight, but life is on the line.
“If you’re risking your life anyway, better become an ability-wielding troubleshooter, right?”
“So that’s why you wanted magic? To become a troubleshooter? I pay you plenty already.”
“No way I’ll rely on you forever. And I need even more money.”
“Is this about saving to emigrate abroad?”
“Yes.”
“With what you earn, you could settle yourself.”
Hyundeok gave a wry smile, almost self-deprecating.
“No, it’s not just me.”
“Who else?”
“Around forty people.”
“Forty?”
“Even if not abroad, those forty need money to settle safely.”
“So—”
I almost said “orphanage,” but that would be too obvious.
“Your siblings?”
“Yes. The place I was at was in such dire shape. Even with massive donations, those bastards wouldn’t even give the kids clothes. They extorted the children for money too.”
“What extort money from kids? Isn’t that state-run? Or a gang-run place?”
“State-run?”
Hyundeok looked bewildered.
“You’d think there’d be oversight, right?”
“Oh, mage, you don’t know? Did I tell you about my security taxi experience?”
“You said you’ve driven for six years?”
“I’m twenty-two.”
“Twenty-two?”
Which means they’ve risked their life driving since age sixteen.
Security taxi wasn’t even their first job—so they’ve done all sorts of unimaginable things in this perilous [Cthulhu World].
“State oversight? They’ve neglected it since the Great Collapse.”
I understood. This wasn’t a “normal” orphanage—it was one left to rot after the Great Collapse.
Countless died then. In [Cthulhu World], adults die casually even now, so many children are orphaned.
And this world’s government lacks the ability to manage it properly.
“So you’ll earn money to move those kids to another country?”
“Just a dream. After all, you can dream, right?”
