Two days passed, and Paju blew up.
No—so loud you couldn’t confine it to Paju.
Every channel that circulates gossip, scandal, and rumor was in an uproar.
“Whoa, Mage, look at this!”
Jang Hyundeok, eyes shining with excitement, held out his smartphone.
A video titled: “Urban Legend or Truth? Digging into Kim Sinhwa.”
“Digging into Kim Sinhwa!”
“Don’t.”
Even so, Jang Hyundeok insisted on playing it.
“Kim Sinhwa isn’t human! Look at this hole punched through Chilgapsan! How could a human—”
A streamer raving with madness-glazed eyes.
“Turn it off, man!”
The video stopped, but thanks to it I learned there were plenty of others:
“Foreigners Administration is Done For! Full Timeline of the Yang Seoho Controversy.”
“Peak Incompetence! Foreigners Administration Played by the Masked Mage.”
“A Must-Watch: The Cult Leader Kidnapping Case.”
“Shocking True Story! The Mysterious Disaster at Chilgapsan.”
“(On-site footage) Cure Medical Care Emergency Press Conference.”
“An Abyss Will Open in Busan — A Shocking Prophecy Heard from the Sky.”
So this world has ambulance-chasing streamers, too.
“What nonsense.”
“The whole world’s in chaos—what are you going to do now?”
Jang Hyundeok looked at me as he said it. No sign he meant to blame or tease—just honest curiosity.
“First I’ll tidy up around here, then head straight to Busan.”
“Tidy up?”
“Yeah. Three days and it’ll be wrapped.”
When I said that, Jang Hyundeok looked dubious.
“You do have a plan, right? Wouldn’t it have been better to pick a side?”
“A side?”
“Like the Foreigners Administration... Why throw stones in every direction? You’ve turned yourself into the world’s most—uh... damaged person, haven’t you?”
He started to say “the world’s biggest lunatic” and swerved at the last second.
“A fair assessment.”
The ability users of the light, embodied by Yang Seoho.
And the ability users of the dark, gathered by the cultists of Mannse Ilwon Church.
I’d made myself the enemy of both.
“Even if I’d gone to ask for help, both sides would have ignored me.”
“Ah?”
Jang Hyundeok nodded, still not really getting it.
“It might be tiring, but if the ending’s good, it’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) all good.”
“Building infamy is fine, but this time you overdid it.”
Tudor’s voice held a touch of irritation.
“Well, there’s certainly been a lot of back-and-forth.”
“Back-and-forth? The Legend of Kim Sinhwa is practically complete now.”
I’d hoped for something better than bottom-tier online chatter, but what came out of Tudor’s mouth was just as ridiculous.
Kim Sinhwa beat Yang Seoho.
Kim Sinhwa subdued Dok Go Gyeom and kidnapped him.
Kim Sinhwa isn’t human.
Kim Sinhwa is a three-headed, six-armed monster.
Kim Sinhwa is a monster who kidnaps people and licks off their faces.
Kim Sinhwa makes masks from the faces he steals.
Kim Sinhwa is fast enough to catch a lightning bolt and punches holes through mountains.
“It really is the Legend of Kim Sinhwa. At this rate, a Kim Sinhwa cult will pop up.”
“Oh? There are already several. Do you know how many fringe religions are worshipping you nationwide right now?”
“How many?”
I know at least one.
The instant cultists brainwashed by Hwangrim Church. Somehow those folks became a sect that worships me.
“And there are those nonhumans who call you the Gold Frog King, right?”
“Ah.”
Amphibian-based alien sects like Ever-Living Temple and Blood Demon Church have taken to worshipping me.
That happened after Predator in the Mountains lost to me.
“Mm. Well, that aside.”
I turned my head briefly to look at Fanny.
A woman cleaning in the corner of the shop—with a lamp in place of a head. Thankfully she wasn’t wearing what Tudor mentioned last time.
Today Fanny had on a sky-blue apron dress that evoked Alice in Wonderland.
To match her, Orb wore a big hat with bizarre decorations and...
“Why dress them like that when they don’t even work?”
“Oh? Because they can’t work. If I don’t dress them up and cheer myself a little, I might take my frustrations out elsewhere.”
Vasiliisa, the beautiful witch’s shop, is open 24/7, year-round. No one is turned away; anyone can visit anytime.
Even when the Foreigners Administration stormed in last time, customers thinned out, but the doors never shut.
This time was different, and Tudor declared the first closure since Vasiliisa opened.
I bowed my head slightly and apologized.
“Sorry.”
“Hehe... Good. Keep worrying about me like that.”
Isn’t this where most people say “don’t worry about it”?
“I believe you’ll find a new place for Vasiliisa someday. Probably a pricey neighborhood near Unjeong Station.”
“...”
It is my fault, so I don’t have much to say.
“More importantly, how’s Curtain Call?”
“Collie? She’s doing the job, but... being stuck by Mun Seunghee’s side makes her uncomfortable, so she’s pretty unhappy.”
Since the Sokcho incident, I’d attached Curtain Call and Baukalak’s crew to Mun Seunghee. Of the forces I can mobilize, they’re among the few with decent social skills.
“Bau will mediate.”
“That part’s going just like you predicted, but Mun Seunghee has her own discomfort with Collie, so it won’t be easy.”
“Really? Mun Seunghee said that?”
That’s unexpected.
Maybe she read my mood from how I was fiddling with my mask. Tudor widened one eye and grinned a little devilishly.
“Aha. You thought Mun Seunghee would like Collie?”
“Well, given her disposition.”
In the game, Mun Seunghee got along with any NPC you paired her with...
“Ugh, figures.”
“You’re the one who put Curtain Call on that site in the first place.”
Tudor shook her head.
“Back then it was a wide-open site—it wasn’t a one-on-one protection job. With the two of them glued together like this, they’ll have a big fight soon.”
“Ugh. Not a great outlook.”
My reaction must have amused her; Tudor threw her head back and laughed out loud.
“Still, they’re pros. They’ll manage. If you’re that worried, drop by soon.”
“Mm. I will. All right, then I’ll...”
I was about to wrap up and stand when Tudor stepped in to block me.
“But, you.”
“Urk—what?”
Tudor’s tall, long-limbed frame blocked the chair; nowhere to slip out.
Her white face and red hair came a little too close.
“Where are you getting the money to invest in Mun Seunghee like that?”
“Money?”
There’s only one reason Curtain Call is doing work that isn’t to her taste.
Same as with Park Gwangrim, I paid them a sum that’s hard to refuse.
And all of it passes through Tudor. The amount I’ve been scattering lately...
“No matter how I run it, you’ve spent at least ten times what I’ve given you.”
“I picked up and sold off quite a few artifacts while I was running around the chaos...”
I gave a vague answer and tried to slip past her left arm—Tudor shifted her waist to block me.
“Hey, c’mon!”
I wriggled a little more, but ended up practically in Tudor’s arms.
“Hmph. If you liquidated artifacts worth that much, the Elder would’ve been scrambling to raise cash.”
By “the Elder,” Tudor meant Jeong Euntaek, who runs Geumchon Pawn at Paju Central Market.
True—around here, that’s the only place that could handle goods on that level.
Still holding me, Tudor kept going.
“Black market? No. You don’t even have a membership there. Cheongeumdang doesn’t handle cash. The Cheongho crew and the other outfits are paying you fees, sure—but that all routes through me.”
I brushed her hair off my shoulder and neck.
“Ungh. What are you getting at?”
“Who are you partnering with besides me?”
“...Park Gwangrim?”
“Tsk, you!”
Her red eyebrows shot up.
Yes, I am working with Park Gwangrim—but I’m the one paying him, not the other way around.
“No one else. The only place I trade with, as broker and fixer, is Vasiliisa.”
I said that and—
[Blink]
Pop—
“Huh?”
I triggered a short-range teleport and slipped behind Tudor.
“And the money—honestly, I duplicated it with magic.”
“...Really?”
Tudor’s eyes went wide as she stared at me.
“You’re lying. Anyway, I’ll have a lot for you to handle soon, so I’ll be in touch.”
“You! Kim Sinhwa! Hey!”
Leaving Tudor shouting behind me, I pushed open Vasiliisa’s front door and leapt out.
[fluttering cloth]
The sound of hem and coat tails snapping.
[Flight]
[whoosh]
Far below: the city, in sheer vertical drop.
Skyscrapers thrusting up to scrape the sky.
A decrepit old downtown wedged among buildings and apartments that are so modern they verge on futuristic.
The forest of Tanhyeon, already nosing into the urban core.
Abandoned structures where a monster or a criminal could pop out any second.
That is Paju.
A monstrous city grown abnormally to match the strange reality implemented by [Cthulhu World].
“Move to Unjeong Station, my foot.”
I glanced back at Vasiliisa.
“Right now, that’s the strangest thing in Paju.”
At present, Vasiliisa looks far more bizarre than the Hungry House ever did.
A gigantic leg stretched out from beneath the building.
Perched on the roof of a tower, balanced on a single bird-like leg—Vasiliisa.
It used to sit down there, in the back alleys of Geumchon-dong, but now it’s quietly relocated to the top floor of the tallest building by Unjeong Station.
“Being close to Yadang isn’t bad.”
I flew on—to the south of Unjeong Station. That is, Yadang-dong in Paju.
“Your notoriety has grown.”
“So I’ve heard.”
In contrast to Tudor’s brief closure, Park Gwangrim had reopened his detective office after a long hiatus.
It’s more a chore-running center than a detective agency—in full, the “Yadang Detective Find-People Adultery-Investigation Evidence-Investigation Fraud-Investigation Errand Center.”
“Because I made the stakes bigger.”
Thanks to the mess I caused two days ago, all kinds of drifters were buzzing and heading for Busan.
Whatever happens next, fine-grained intel gathering is mandatory.
This time it’s beyond what one or two people can handle, so Park Gwangrim opened his doors to pull in every hand he can muster.
“Since we’re on it—”
He handed me some paperwork as I sat on the sofa.
“Hm?”
“Mind if I steal it?”
Steal what?
“What is that?”
“Your name. Mr. Kim Sinhwa’s name.”
“My name? Isn’t that dangerous? Every sort of group is chasing me right now.”
He grinned at my worry.
“Maybe. But the power we gain outweighs it. Vasiliisa’s been advertising a connection to you all along, hasn’t she?”
“And that’s why she had to close.”
Tudor’s annoyed face came to mind.
“I’m lighter on my feet than that witch. I’ll be fine.”
There you go again, stacking death flags.
Well, he survived last time, too.
In Ansan, Park Gwangrim said a whole string of lines fit for a doomed actor—and still managed to live.
Maybe his real talent is sheer resistance to bad luck.
“Do as you like.”
I said it and opened the papers he’d handed me.
Who he hired from where and sent where; who he plans to hire; who refused but might accept with a little cash; who is where; who needs watching; and so on—complicated notes with the required amounts.
A pretty hefty sum.
Without much hesitation, I told him:
“Tudor will send it tomorrow.”
“How on earth.”
“How on earth?”
Isn’t that the mark of a great client—free with the spending? But Park Gwangrim studied me with a strangely cautious look.
“Where does all this money come from?”
This question again?
I already rehearsed the answer.
“I duplicate it with magic.”
I gauged my remaining balance and thought:
I’ll have to make more before I move in earnest.
