The northern boundary of Paju shifts along with the crooked flow of the Imjin River.
When the Imjin bows north, the line juts north by just as much; when it bends south, it sinks south in turn.
I’m thinking of the [Paju Yeonam River Town Apartments], where I once put down a pack of ghouls.
That complex stood in Munsan, a pocket of land scooped inward toward the north, just like this.
In that sense, [Jeokseong Township] is a lot like Munsan.
Terrain that digs deep toward the north.
A place wrapped on three sides by the Great Wall, tracing the deep curve of the Imjin.
But Jeokseong is more dangerous than Munsan.
For starters, it’s the northernmost part of Paju, and the south of Jeokseong is clogged by Papyeong Mountain, Bihak Mountain, and Gamak Mountain, which makes access a pain from the jump.
“Good. Then let’s begin.”
Today’s destination, however, lies even farther north than Jeokseong:
Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province.
Most of Yeoncheon beyond the Imjin is cut off by the Great Wall, so you can’t get to it at all; but unlike the river’s meanders, the Great Wall runs straight, and in a few places that geometry leaves strips of land a person can step on.
One of those spots sits right across from Jeokseong: [Gorangpo Port].
In the world I lived in, [Gorangpo Port] was redeveloped as a tourist site called [Gorangpo History Park]. In [Cthulhu World], where a Great Collapse hit twenty-four years ago and sealed the area, [Gorangpo Port] never got that chance.
[Your followers chant your name.]
“[Golden Frog King]! [Golden Frog King]!!”
“Grrrgrrk! [Golden Frog King]!”
That’s not my name...
Shhhhhh!
A water column rockets toward the sky.
Between whipping waves, bodies flash—skins a vivid red spattered with black freckles, or banded in yellow and black.
“Grrrgrrk! In the name of [the Golden Frog King]!”
Once, they belonged to a sect called [the Temple of the Unfailing]—a mixed race of half-human, half-frog—now sprinting across the churning surface of the Imjin.
SPLASHSPLASH—KRASH!!
Again, for the record: they are running.
Not swimming.
Amphibian folk skimming the water by water-running lightness skill.
They used to be cultists serving [the Upper Lamp], but now they serve [the Golden Frog King]—that is, me—and they’re headed straight for [Gorangpo Port].
“How far is that ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ from a real city, and that’s the design they went with?”
I’ve never actually seen the [Gorangpo History Park] in my world, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t look like this.
Gigantic decommissioned destroyers, flipped and piled like hills.
Hasty lattices of metal bracing welded on to lash those hulls together.
“I could believe this was the lair of a late-century warlord.”
No actual late-century warlord shows up, but things close enough do.
[Gorangpo Port] in [Cthulhu World] is a den of criminals in bed with surreal nonhumans.
“You know where you are, you frog freaks?!”
“We’ll smash you flat!”
They look like stock villains sketched with a marker.
Mohawked thugs shoot out of [Gorangpo Port] in motorboats with mounted machine guns and tear down the Imjin.
“Block them! Those frog bastards!”
“Fire! Cut them down!”
DUDUDUDUDU!! DUDUDU!!
Bullets rake the amphibian folk.
That level’s not a real problem.
“Haaaaap!”
A hulking amphibian with green-gold skin striped in black snaps a palm strike.
KWHOOOOM!
A water spire blows sky-high with a blast.
He’s the strongest demonic adept ever produced by the Temple of the Unfailing and the amphibians’ chief—Gyuseong Mawa.
“Haap!”
And on the beat of Gyuseong Mawa’s opening strike, the warrior-monks lock into a One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation.
Looks good.
Unless the other side fields a proper boss, I won’t have to—
[System: Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ is activating.]
“Right, like they’d ever let me rest.”
KWHOOOM! KWHOOOM!
A roar rolls out as if on cue.
“Grrrgrrk! You half-baked tadpoles!”
A higher-pitched croak than the amphibians’ throat-song.
A thing neither human nor fish rises into view atop an overturned destroyer.
Was the name Sanye?
A bizarre face crusted with clam and conch shells. Large, rolling, bulbous eyes. Gills drooping like fins.
“Grrrgrrk! You’ll regret crawling unbidden into the Dragon King’s forward base!”
Sanye is a deep-sea hybrid from Insu Village.
A relative of Yongsu, and the admiral who rules the human criminals here at [Gorangpo Port].
“Mm. Standing them side by side, the deep-sea types look way more monstrous.”
Unlike the Temple’s monks, whose sleek skin is like poison dart frogs—deep-sea folk have knobbly scales plating their hides... so, closer to fish.
Taxonomically, not amphibians—fish.
[System: Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ is activating. An Abyssal being grants favor to its vassal.]
“Oh?”
So that’s why the idiot stood grinning on a destroyer—he was about to get a gift.
RRRRRRRRMMMBLE!!
The scrapped destroyer stands up—and a mountainous claw bursts free.
I’m reminded of the shark–octopus–crab Yongsu brought last time.
“Is that a hermit crab?”
RRRRRRM!!
It really is a hermit crab.
Only instead of a shell, it’s wearing a Gwanggaeto-class destroyer maybe a hundred and thirty meters long—flipped over its back.
A gigantic—truly gigantic—hermit crab heaves fully into view.
“GROHAHAHAHA!! Behold the Dragon King’s grace! You lowly frogs—I’ll crush you all!”
Fish-folk looking down on frog-folk. Cute.
“Either way, it’s my turn.”
[L-grade Garment ‘Night-Veil Wingcoat’: unique function ‘Heaven-Demon Wings’ activates.
// Heaven-Demon Wings: auto-cast ‘Flight’.]
I shoot into the air and trigger the spells I prepped.
“Fine—most direct attack is fastest.”
[Meteor Summon]
[Wave of Despair]
Colossal meteors tumble out of the sky.
And from below, a titanic water column spears upward to meet them.
KWA-A-A-A-A-A-ANG!!
[Achievement unlocked! You have made ‘Gorangpo Port’ your base. You have obtained ‘Rare Achievement: Trader of the Dark’.
As a reward, you gain the unique trait ‘Smuggling Base (Great Wall) Management’ and additional XP.]
That makes four usable bases for me in total.
The Starving Mansion. The Tanhyeon Air-Raid Shelter. Cheontaedong, held by the Blood Demon Cult.
And now [Gorangpo Port].
Locking down Gorangpo unlocks a special perk you can’t get anywhere else.
[Unique trait ‘Smuggling Base (Great Wall) Management’ is activating.]
[‘Gorangpo Port’s’ clients, valuables, resources, and infrastructure transfer to you.]
I stole a smuggler’s hub, so now I can smuggle too.
That puts me in the underworld, sure—but functionally it’s a “shop-opening” content unlock... I guess?
[Because your relationship with ‘Faction — Insu Village’ is ‘Mortal Enemies,’ Gorangpo’s infrastructure is restricted.]
[Because your relationship with ‘Faction — DMZ’ is ‘Hostile,’ Gorangpo’s infrastructure is restricted.]
[Because your relationship with ‘Faction — Triumvirate (Black King)’ is ‘Hostile,’ Gorangpo’s infrastructure is restricted.]
[Because your relationship with ‘Faction — Triumvirate (Red Blade)’ is ‘Hostile,’ Gorangpo’s infrastructure is restricted.]
Turns out all that goodwill I’ve accumulated in random places hasn’t left me many trading partners.
If I really want to move product, there’s Bongilcheon Sect... Ah, Helistic is on the eligible list too.
[Because your relationship with ‘Faction — Triumvirate (Blue Lake)’ is ‘Hostile,’ Gorangpo’s infrastructure is restricted.]
“Hold on—why are the Blue Lake boys hostile?”
[Because your relationship with ‘Jeong Hyeona, Heir of Blue Lake’ was set to ‘Mortal Enemies,’ your relationship with ‘Faction — Triumvirate (Blue Lake)’ has been adjusted.]
[Tip: Want to repair relations with a faction? Fulfill their demands, or attack the factions they hate.]
“Oh, giving me a Tip now? I’m so honored.”
Ugh. That’s a problem. A real one.
I’ll have to meet Hyeona or Taewon soon and figure something out.
Not that I took this place to run smuggling or retail.
“Mm, Gyuseong Mawa. Give me a hand.”
“Grrk. Help? What?”
At my call, Gyuseong Mawa blinks his bright red round eyes and thunk-thunk strides over.
Unlike most amphibian folk—humanoid apart from the skin—Gyuseong Mawa’s build is truly one-of-a-kind.
Height... call it two and a half meters?
On paper that number is nothing, but having a 2.5-meter person (nonhuman, whatever) standing in front of you—yeah, it’s a sight.
Gyuseong Mawa doesn’t like clothes.
Says they interfere with skin-breathing.
Under that smooth green-gold skin, muscles like hams slapped onto the upper arms and a span-wide yoke of shoulders shift and bunch... Honestly, words don’t do it justice.
That upper body alone is worth three Kim Sinhwas.
And tapered off from that enormous V-torso, his narrow waist wears a pair of tight blue jeans.
That’s the whole outfit.
“There’s something I’m looking for. Call your kin and help me search.”
“Search. Grrk. Kin. Understood.”
“Found it.”
I heft a large glass jar and check what’s inside.
Jewels of eggs roiling in a bubbly gel.
**[Quest complete!
[Mermaid’s Eggs].
Seizing the base was collateral progress; this was the goal. I deliver this to Tudor and we’re done today.
“Judging by the look of them, they’re all unfertilized.”
If I’m lucky—no, phrasing like that isn’t great for sapient species. Anyway, sometimes there are actual mermaids in the batch, but not today, looks like.
“Deep-sea folk?”
Gyuseong Mawa bows his trunk and peers at me with vertically split oval pupils.
Huh. Double eyelids like a frog’s.
“No. Not deep-sea folk eggs—mermaid eggs.”
“Mermaid? Human. Fish?”
“Upper body human. Lower body fish.”
“Human. Fish.”
“Right.”
No idea if he actually got it, but close enough. Unlike the deep-sea folk—monsters, really, for lack of a better word—mermaids are exactly those mermaids.
And one more thing.
I also found an item called [Mermaid’s Tear].
A pearl gleaming with the sea’s magic.
“Good. This is actually the more important one.”
I need it to get out of this world.
“Almost there. From here, you take this place, Gyuseong Mawa.”
“Take? Here?”
“Yeah. You needed a stable wetland, right? Live here with your people.”
That’s the third reason I bothered to smash this place.
Gyuseong Mawa’s crew needed land to settle. This way, everybody wins. I get staff to manage a base; they get a home.
“Grrrk, wetland. Our land.”
He nods and drops to one knee.
“[Golden Frog King]. Our god. Thank you.”
Ugh. What am I supposed to do with a mountain of muscle-frog kneeling like that?
“I’m not a god. Get up, idiot.”
“But doctrine. We need it. Show us the way forward, [Golden Frog King].”
Doctrine?
I’m reminded of that cult that made filial piety and service its creed.
I scratch my head for a moment, then answer.
“Fine. [Environmental Protection]. Protect the environment. Guard nature. If someone pollutes it—smash them all.”
“Environmental protection. Good. We will tend it.”
“Good.”
All that’s left is to hit the pawn shop and buy some gold.
A few days ago, I finished fully deciphering the [Lacrex Grimoire] and confirmed my exit method.
Surprisingly simple, actually.
The exact method Akiyama used.
An item from legend said to open a hole homeward:
[Golden Hairpin].
Which is why I’m gathering materials to make one.
And of course, finishing it won’t be the end of the story.
Damn it.
Because there’s one problem.
