"What the hell—what happened out there?"
A cultist of relatively higher rank yelled at the others.
"Ki—Kim Sinhwa showed up again and wrecked the site."
"Damn it! He only shows up at the worst time! What even is that bastard!"
Like a massive typhoon pushing north, Yang Seonho advanced northeast—slow, but steady and inexorable.
This site lay outside that track, but if she came close—Yang Seonho might notice.
That was why they made so many decoy bases—and it backfired. With their forces split, they reacted too late to the raids by the [Smiling One] (whom the cultists believe is Kim Sinhwa).
[krrrrrk— hehehehehe— krkkrk— kruk—]
From the pit came a chilling mix of grinding noises and laughter.
"Ki—Kim Sinhwa, that bastard..."
The survivors had fallen to Kim Sinhwa.
No—whether the survivors lived or died didn’t matter. What mattered was the [Soul Jade Seal] they carried.
That was the only way to win this fight... and now it was about to be taken by Kim Sinhwa.
"No! Impossible!"
While the massed cultists milled about, unsure of their next move, the sticky [laughter]—no, a grotesque tangle of white bone and darkness—oozed up from the pit.
"Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke— he-he-he-he-he— ‘impossible’?"
[shrrrrrrrrk—]
"Ki—Kim Sinhwa!?"
A massive, hideous, amorphous monster, woven from unnatural darkness and the corpses of the sacrificed survivors—appeared wearing a mask fixed in a hollow smile.
"Yes. Yes. Hate Kim Sinhwa."
[shrrrrrrrrrk—]
Whiplike tendrils of darkness lashed out in every direction.
Until now the [Smiling One] had been shackled by the restrictions Kim Sinhwa imposed and couldn’t use its full power, but now things were different.
It had fed enough, and it had swallowed a transcendent artifact left by a denizen of the Abyss.
[bzzzzzzzt!]
The restraints and binding formulae imposed by Kim Sinhwa broke apart with a raucous crackle.
[krak-krak!]
Bodies pulped. Heads, arms, legs, viscera geysered skyward. Blood fell like rain.
"Ke-he-he-he— this— this— is— is— exquisite."
In a single exchange, the mid-tier cultists were nearly wiped out.
"U—uwaaa—"
"The monster—Kim Sinhwa turned into a monster!"
"No, that bastard was always a monster!"
Low-tier cultists flailed, unable to choose either flight or resistance.
The [Smiling One], toying with its now-bloated flesh as it sized up its newfound power, contracted its body.
[slurrrrrp—]
Darkness massed around the mask that could wear no expression but a smile, and reformed into a single human frame:
A huge, yet still human-scale, brawny body. Muscles writhing as if about to burst through the skin. Dozens of scars slashed crosswise.
It was Cheongho, who had once ruled a third of Paju’s underworld.
Wearing that face, the [Smiling One] turned its head.
[eeeeeeeeeeeeee—]
A siren.
[KWAGWAGWAGWAGWA!!]
A storming mass of violence bore down.
"The stain of this world approaches. Even so, I cannot clash with that."
Where to slip out? The [Smiling One] scanned for an exit.
"Hm?"
Hyeolhu came into view—bowing his head at a strange angle, the Seven-Branched Sword laid crosswise.
That fool had lost his proper object of devotion and started leaning on [Feast’s Offering]. What is he even looking at...?
A rare sight entered the [Smiling One]’s vision.
[shrrrrrrrrrk—]
Trees lifted their roots and stepped aside on their own.
Then white ice formed a path with a crackling [krk-krk-krk].
[vrrrrrrrrm—]
A vehicle vaulted over the mountain along the ice road.
Seeing it, Hyeolhu spoke, awash in awe and rapture.
"The trees of the mountain step aside of their own accord, the waters of the valley rise and lay a road—ah—His Excellency the World-Honored One comes!"
I climbed out of the car and spoke to the [Smiling One].
"Well? Since you got some air for the first time in a while—did you eat something tasty too?"
"Ke-ke-ke— ah, yes. Kim Sinhwa. Kim Sinhwa. Kim Sinhwa. All thanks to you."
Wearing Cheongho’s shape, the [Smiling One] expressed excessive ecstasy.
Its body writhed like a badly rendered 3D model glitching. Huh. That excited, huh?
"Hey, you didn’t forget, did you?"
Its true body was still in the [Hungry Manor].
In fact, the flesh making up its current, physical shape was based on an undead golem under my control.
I continued, a light taunt and jeer in my tone.
"You’re just a single page."
"Ke-ke-ke-ke— true. That’s true. But thanks to your overgenerous gift, I’ve gained the power of more than one page already."
Twisting Cheongho’s bulging body in delight, the [Smiling One] chuckled.
I turned my head south for a moment.
[eeeeeeee—]
Sirens in the distance.
Pretty close.
And some high-ranking cultists who’d grasped the situation were also running this way.
"Great for you. Let’s wrap fast. I’ve got work."
"Ke-ke-ke— impatient, are we. Very well, I’ll end it now."
[crack—] Cheongho’s neck twisted hard to the left. From that spot a strange head sprouted up.
"U—ah—u... I—I..."
The new head budding from Cheongho’s shoulders rolled its eyes and let out grotesque moans.
One of the cultists it swallowed earlier?
"Ke-ke-ke— Kim Sinhwa, die for me."
"Shhhk-shak— hwir— cha— kk, t’ah."
[crack—] The cultist’s eyeballs popped out, and from the sockets grew something smooth and jade-like.
The [Soul Jade Seal].
An artifact housing a fragment of the [Source of Taint], avatar of the [Great Source]. With that thing, among the offerings, rite, and medium required for the [Great Source]’s descent, you can skip the rite.
And—
"Kh— cha— Ukhta— b— top— sha— s’ak."
With the [Soul Jade ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Seal], you can trigger a unique ability called [Two Graves].
Instead of paying with the owner’s life, you deliver an unavoidable death to a chosen target—a true instant kill.
The way he’s firing it up so confidently... so he can use it. Good. Confirmation achieved.
[Time Stop]
At the same moment the [Smiling One] tried to trigger the [Soul Jade Seal]’s power, a different spell—pre-set in his body—activated.
[Executor of the Contract]
[bzzzzzzzzzt!]
A massive discharge of sparks erupted from his body.
"Guooaaargh!"
"『Those who break the contract shall have their limbs torn and die.』"
[krak-krak-krak—]
The [Smiling One]’s temporary body shattered to pieces in an instant.
Cheongho’s head rolled on the ground, coughed up tar-black blood, and croaked:
"Wha—khek—khuh—what?! What did you do?"
"You idiot. You think I’d come face someone with an instant-kill trump without any countermeasure?"
"How did you—even... damn it. Are you telling me you knew the power of the [Soul Jade Seal], which has never been revealed to the world?"
Ah...
Right. No one was supposed to know that, originally.
"If you ignore your mom and grind games all night, you can find out."
"Even if you knew that—what did you do? I definitely destroyed all your restraints..."
"What you destroyed were dummy restraints set to break the moment you did that."
The real restraint, set to trigger the moment he attacked me, I hid deep in the core of the undead golem that formed his body.
"Trying to fight me using the body I gave you was your first mistake. If you were going to do it, you should’ve swapped bodies first."
"Ah—most exalted, most supreme, all-wise World-Honored One. Astonishing. Wondrous. This Hyeolhu has witnessed heaven’s foresight: all that you told me comes to pass exactly."
Ugh. Hyeolhu.
Maybe because all the faith that should have gone to the [Predator in the Mountains] got rerouted, the NPCs from the cult side—Hyeolhu included—were all like this.
"Hey, I told you to drop that ‘World-Honored One’ stuff."
"But, World-Honored One—"
Catching some detail from Hyeolhu’s words, the [Smiling One] groaned as if in pain.
"Don’t tell me—you even foresaw me swallowing the [Soul Jade Seal]... No, Kim Sinhwa. Damn it, Kim Sinhwa. You lured me into swallowing the [Soul Jade Seal]."
The [Smiling One]’s head gnashed its teeth and glared at me.
"Lured, my ass. You chose. And you’re the one who broke the contract."
"True. It was my folly to forget that one page alone cannot handle you. I admit my foolishness."
Thankfully, the [Smiling One] yielded defeat without fuss. Yeah—what good would resisting do.
This thing was just a page-fragment split off from the true body.
If it had been the true body, it wouldn’t have fallen for such a shallow trick or temptation.
"What did you go to such trouble to make me do?"
"Well. To help me make friends with Yang Seonho."
I stirred my mana and placed a new binding on the [Smiling One]’s body.
Now the prep was truly done. I had planned to clear this faster, but the [Smiling One] got too worked up and dragged things out.
I headed for Jang Hyundeok’s call-van and said:
"Alright, let’s go make a new friend."
[eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—]
Sounded like it had closed in to within a few kilometers now.
The sirens blared, and a crackling public announcement rode the static.
"— ksshh... kshhzzzt... If you can hear this—kshhzzzt... move immediately in the opposite direction—kshhzzzt... sir. Repeating. Ksshh... move immediately in the opposite direction. Kshhzzzzzt..."
An ill-omened broadcast.
In short: don’t loiter and get yourself killed—run. Everything within earshot was inside Yang Seonho’s engagement range.
[FWOOOOOOOOSH—]
A tremendous gale.
The wind pressure alone made the van buck as if it would flip any second.
"So we really are doing the crazy thing—driving straight toward Yang Seonho when she’s cut loose."
Park Gwangrim spoke low, shaking his head.
In the rearview, his face looked like he feared even a slightly louder sound would let Yang Seonho hear us.
"Mmm. Don’t worry. We’re not going to fight."
"But even approaching—"
[KWAAAAAAANG!]
A truck hurled from the sky slammed into the ground.
It looked like a rush-job the cultists had cobbled together for today—reinforced all over with bolted-on plates—but the truck crumpled completely and tumbled across the dirt with its plating.
In the back seat, Park Gwangrim leaned forward toward the front, sounding woozy. "What on earth..."
Then, in a near whisper, he added:
"I’ve heard a lot of rumors about Yang Seonho, but never that she uses magic. What kind of ability does that?"
"Yang Seonho doesn’t use magic. Just her fists... or whatever’s handy."
Have you ever seen Yang Seonho knead criminals, cultists, or fixers in the city?
If Yang Seonho is ‘beating them down’ with massive, merciless force... then you’re watching her exercise enormous restraint out of consideration for her opponents.
If she starts fighting for real...
[ruuuumble! thoom! KWA-A-AANG!]
Forking lightning. Thunder blanketing the sky.
"Yeah. That’s how it gets."
The sky gasped; the earth shuddered.
Quite literally, heaven-and-earth-shaking.
"Uaaaaaa..."
Jang Hyundeok’s jaw chattered until his teeth clicked.
"You say ‘just her fists,’ but are you not seeing the lightning?"
"Did someone conjure a storm to fight Yang Seonho?"
Park Gwangrim managed the cooler take—but no.
"I can explain, but you’ll call it a lie."
"W-what? There’s some other reason?"
"The shockwaves from Yang Seonho’s strikes shoved the clouds and triggered lightning. Or the static from air friction because she’s moving too fast—between the air and Yang Seonho—"
"D-don’t lie! You’re joking, right?"
Jang Hyundeok’s voice rose in panic.
"How do you never once step outside my expectations?"
"I’d heard the rumors that she’s beyond human, but this is nonsense. There’s no way a person can do this."
"You told me not to anger Yang Seonho—what the hell is that!? Yang Seonho—is she some denizen of the Abyss?"
I flicked away flying corpses and shattered building debris with magic and answered:
"No! Yang Seonho is just human!"
Only—she manifests power so unreal that other humans in this world can’t even comprehend it.
For the record, in the [Cthulhu World], there’s no lore or backstory to explain Yang Seonho’s unbelievable strength.
There’s no reason for Yang Seonho’s power. She was simply born that way.
"From an in-game standpoint."
She probably wasn’t meant to be this strong originally.
Most likely someone entered a value wrong during development... An out-of-game hypothesis is all we’ve got.
"If it wasn’t a mistake to begin with, she couldn’t be outputting bug-tier damage like that."
The most plausible theory...
One of the numbers composing Yang Seonho’s data overflowed, and some of her stats bugged to the engine’s maximum output.
Maybe that’s why—
There are tons of Yang Seonho-related events that softlock or fail to progress.
"That’s why the standard operating procedure is to avoid going near Yang Seonho at all..."
And today, that’s exactly why we came here.
