The next day came.
“Is that really what you want to say about a girl who isn’t even an adult yet?”
I have a rough idea.
In the end I let out a short sigh and answered.
“Client, you remember what we agreed to, right?”
“Then could you stop nitpicking it now?”
A low snicker came over the line.
Is this funny to you?
I didn’t answer and hung up.
The details of the job I negotiated with Jeokdu were a mess of annoying restrictions and special clauses, but the information [Cthulhu World] processed into a quest was remarkably straightforward.
[
A strange change has occurred in the Cheongho Faction. Identify the cause of that change and restore the Cheongho Faction to its former state.
Auxiliary Objective 1. Jeokdu’s survival
! Time Limit: Jeokdu will die in (3) days. !
Auxiliary Objective 2. Jeong Hyeona’s survival
! Time Limit: Jeong Hyeona will no longer exist in this world in (3) days. !
Reward: 9,000,000 XP + additional rewards based on performance + Park Gwangrim’s safety
On Failure: The destruction of this world begins. (If an auxiliary objective fails) the Black King becomes the master of the Triumvirate.]
A headache of constraints.
Park Gwangrim and Jeong Hyeona aren’t the issue.
Fail and the world ends. Simple, right?
It’s also worth noting that if either Jeokdu or Jeong Hyeona dies, the Black King becomes master of the Triumvirate.
The moment one of the three becomes master of the Triumvirate, [Schism of the Triumvirate] ends. And then the next event that triggers the world’s destruction begins.
That’s a development I absolutely cannot allow.
“We need to delay the destruction by even a single day.”
I’m not a righteous hero moving to fix this world’s problems or absurdities.
“I’m doing it for my own benefit.”
“Right. Other people don’t matter.” “Annoying. Annoying. Annoying.” “Ah, damn.” “What is this feeling?” “Goosebumps.” “Someone keeps touching my body.” “Don’t touch me.”
[scratching]
“No matter how much I scratch, this unpleasant sensation won’t go away.” “I want out, fast.” “The air of this world is the problem.” “I want to tear my skin open.” “Something is whispering to me.” “No one can help me.” “In the end I can only do it alone.” “Other people aren’t any help.” “Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting.”
When I lifted my hand on impulse, I saw bright red blood beading under my nails.
“Hm? What’s with this blood?”
A sigh.
Did I scratch something while I was on the phone with Jeokdu?
I wiped the blood off and felt around my body, but...
Kim Sinhwa could find no wound anywhere on his body.
That’s because he has the [Rapid Regeneration] effect.
An alert related to it did pop up, but it seems Kim Sinhwa didn’t register it.
Because the wound heals so quickly, neither pain nor injury remains—but the unpleasant sensation like a snake brushing his body keeps sharpening Kim Sinhwa’s nerves.
A good flow.
We’ll be able to enjoy something entertaining soon.
...There was no wound anywhere.
“Then where did this blood come from?”
“Don’t overthink it.” “Yeah. It’s fine.” “Just think about how to get out of here.” “We need to run, fast.”
Right, yeah.
Either way, Gong Isu will be here soon.
Of course, just because he shows up doesn’t mean everything is instantly resolved and—
Hello, everyone! Thanks for everything! I’m leaving this world now! Cthulhu World over! ...that kind of development—I shouldn’t expect it.
But it’ll still be much better than flailing around with no solution at all.
Just hold out a little longer.
If I eliminate, delay, and smooth over the events that trigger the world’s destruction and buy time, I’ll be able to get out of this world somehow.
“Wizard, is there anything I can do to help?”
Jang Hyundeok, fully kitted out, asked as he paced through the living room.
“How exactly is a driving expert with no car going to help me?”
“Umm...”
Jang Hyundeok folded his arms and ducked his head.
Whoops, that came out a bit harsh?
But he quickly struck a peculiar pose and replied.
“I can help in a magical way!”
A sigh.
“What is that pose even supposed to be?”
“A pose of a magic expert who’s transcended a driving expert?”
Another sigh.
“Don’t need it. You’re not fully recovered yet. Stop daydreaming and hole up in the house.”
“Aw, come on~ I feel pretty much fine.”
“It’s always hardest to assess your own condition. Mr. Sanghyun, I’ll probably be back after dinner, so don’t prepare mine.”
“Understood. Please be careful.”
“Really going all out, aren’t they.”
A vast desert formed in a wide radius around the mansion.
Obelisks reared up on every side. Egyptian hieroglyphs densely inked across the mansion’s outer wall.
“Well, considering the theme, it wouldn’t even be strange if pyramids or a sphinx showed up.”
Interior decor aside, I could see the desert sands heaving here and there.
“There’s something big and long under the sand.”
Crocodiles hiding under there? I hope they’re crocodiles.
Creepy, though.
I took a moment to breathe and felt for the mask.
“Whew...”
My mind settles a little.
My mood swings have been odd lately. Am I missing something again? Are my thoughts truly my own?
No idea. Honestly, even if your mind is perfectly fine, you can’t conclusively answer that, can you?
Thinking deeper will just give me a headache.
“Whatever it is, smashing it with an attack will solve it.”
So rather than hesitate and worry, move.
“Appraise, Inscribe, Manifest, Shadow...”
I chanted a shortened mantra and assembled a few formulae.
[bzzzzzz]
A magic circle unfurled loosely at the desert’s edge.
“Let’s secure one extra life first.”
Now, breaching time.
I rose into the sky and cast.
[Mirror Image]
[Mass Illusion]
[Desert Mirage]
A wailing siren.
“It’s Kim Sinhwa!”
“Kim Sinhwa is coming!”
Members of the Cheongho Faction—no, by now people whose wills had been overridden to become cultists of [Scaled Stratagem]—poured into the desert.
They had anticipated a wizard’s intrusion. Instead of khopeshes that are only usable in close quarters, they brought out a massive quantity of firearms.
No one carried anything trivial. Rocket launchers and autocannons manifested in vicious configurations.
Heavy, large-caliber weapons ordinary people would struggle to carry just from the weight.
Among them, I even spotted magic-stone weapons that Kim Sinhwa had sold to Yeom Geumja.
They ran out because it was a state of emergency, but Kim Sinhwa wasn’t visible. Where is he? Where could he be? The opponent is a wizard. Be careful—you never know what he’ll pull.
“There! Up in the sky!”
Who shouted it? Thanks to a cry from somewhere, everyone’s eyes lifted skyward.
Indeed!
It’s Kim Sinhwa! If that isn’t Kim Sinhwa, who else could it be?
A wizard floating with regal posture in the sky.
A sable robe billowing in a surreal way.
And a chilling, four-eyed mask.
“Fire!” “Attack!” “Taste the desert’s fury!”
Rockets and rounds came screaming in from all directions. Mana-stone bombs.
[System : Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ activates.]
The desert formed here isn’t just for show. An abyssal entity that wields the power of the desert began to unfold its authority.
[crackle]
A hair-raisingly horrible noise.
Obelisks planted all across the desert spat violet lightning in unison.
A colossal barrage that blanketed the sky.
And yet, despite that attack, Kim Sinhwa took no damage. Tracing ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a great circle as he banked through the sky, Kim Sinhwa stretched both hands upward and cast.
[bzzzz...]
A pitch-black shadow spread to cover the sky.
A high priest in a crocodile mask saw it and let out a dry chuckle.
“Rain clouds?”
To dare summon rain against those who command the desert’s power—how laughable.
But that was a misread.
[bzzzzzzzz...]
The black mass that looked like rain clouds didn’t spew rain or lightning; it plunged to the ground as it was.
[Swarm Storm]
[Spell Boost: Deadly Venom]
So many insects poured from the sky it could be mistaken for storm cloud.
KWA-BOOM!
Explosions from outside the mansion. And screams.
A rolling rumble that shook the entire mansion.
It’s the same strategy I’ve used often.
While the illusions run wild, I slipped into Cheongho’s mansion.
Instead of dealing with the mooks that spawn and the obstacles placed in order, it’s easiest to go straight for the root of the problem, right?
“Anyway, the infiltration action goes down easy.”
Perception spread in all directions.
Where to check first? Hyeona’s room? Cheongho’s room?
Or—ah, that’s it. A peculiarly strong, loathsome mana.
The place I always visited to see Jeong Hyeona.
The very room where the Cheongho Faction’s executive meetings had been held.
[squeak]
A door opening slowly.
This is always the most tense moment. The worry that what I sensed might not match what’s actually there.
The room with the round table had now turned into a temple where an unholy ritual had been performed.
“Egyptian-style.”
A change at a surreal level.
The physical structure and dimensions of the building had been completely ignored. A cavernous space as large as all the mansion’s other rooms combined.
Fine sand laid across the floor. Torches set here and there. Tall stone pillars.
And in the center of the temple, four artifacts placed.
“Jeokdu said they were four statues, right?”
Those aren’t statues.
Ivory jars carved with the faces of a baboon, a jackal, a falcon—and a human.
“Canopic jars.”
Jars used to hold organs extracted from a body when making a mummy.
They contain, respectively, lungs, stomach, intestines, and liver.
To be precise, the innards of [Scaled Stratagem].
“Ha—”
A short sigh.
If you eat the organs in these jars—you become a slave of the abyss and, in exchange, gain a power beyond the real.
They haven’t eaten them already, have they?
[System : ‘Enhanced Perception’ activates.]
Someone’s approaching from outside the room.
Well, can’t be helped—that’s the flow.
More importantly, I need to check these jars first.
Depending on what happened to what’s inside them, I’ll need a completely different solution.
I hurried to the altar and opened the lid of one jar.
“Ah, damn.”
Inside the jar... was nothing.
[System : Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ activates.]
[squeak]
At the same time, the door eased open—and with a shirr— came a human voice.
“Kim Sinhwa.”
Someone I know.
“I’m truly pleased you came all the way here.”
A voice that slithered like a “snake,” paired with a hissing breath.
I forced my stiff facial muscles to move and answered.
“...It’s been a while, young lady.”
[What appeared before your eyes could not be called a person. Nor was it the “snake-man” you were worrying about. Reptilian? An amusing delusion.]
Damn it.
It’s not like I came in without any plan, but this is the worst among the possibilities I could have anticipated.
[Scales erupted over the whole body. Tresses replaced by scaled tendrils that writhe. A lower body twisted and braided into one. Four arms, grotesquely mutated.]
[What should we call it? A naga from legend? A gorgon? No—perhaps it’s better to call it Wadjet, the winged cobra goddess said to protect the pharaoh and guard the Valley of the Dead.]
A horrifying description spelled out in the message window.
But that was exactly the form Jeong Hyeona had reached after eating the god’s entrails.
