"Since you're here, you should speak! Why sneak in?"
Jeong Hyeona whispered, eyes wide, irises pure red with no whites.
"I’ll give you a mask. Please accept the mask."
That’s a tempting offer.
If I accept the mask as a gift, can I save Hyeona—? Of all the abyssal beings I’ve met, this one’s the most impressive.
But—I don’t think I should accept it.
Kim Sinhwa, a mere ordinary office worker, has nothing to do with masks, right?
And even aside from that—
"It's okay."
It’s okay.
"There’s no problem."
There’s no problem.
Right. Everything is normal, not far outside the scope of the plan. As if I would come here without anticipating even this kind of situation?
Even if problems arise, I can overcome them.
Mm... probably?
Noticing my unease, Hyeona whispered to me.
"Don’t move."
I couldn’t move anyway, but I didn’t need to.
Because Hyeona looked just like before.
She had a head, a neck, a torso, two arms—and at the ends of those arms, twelve fingers splayed radially, all attached perfectly.
Far more human than a mad wizard who’d lost her face and grafted a monster’s seed into her body.
No, no.
I keep drifting off-script.
I’m ordinary office worker Kim Sinhwa. That’s much better. In this peaceful real world, there’s no need for anything like magic.
And in front of me stands ordinary Jeong Hyeona.
[shrrrrr]
Hyeona wore a dress so splendid it might have been woven from bird-of-paradise plumes and gems.
Gorgeous blue striping that evoked a Chinese windmill butterfly (Papilio maackii).
A skirt that poured like a waterfall and widened naturally.
A dress that spread like a butterfly’s wings—and at some point connected to vast blue petals.
Ah—it wasn’t a dress.
[shrrrrr...]
From the hem, six immense petals unfurled.
At the tip of each of the six petals, huge fangs jutted out in irregular fashion.
[chirr-r-r-r]
On the underside of the petals writhed a nauseating cluster of tendrils.
So many tendrils—like the fine roots of a plant—twisted and braided together, forming a giant body that resembled a serpent’s long trunk.
So: a bird with petal-like scales, and a snake with butterfly-like wings.
"The one beyond the message window called that Wadjet."
The portion actually occupied by Hyeona’s form was less than ten percent of that mass, but Hyeona was still Hyeona—
and I was bound tight by the countless tendrils spilling from her body, unable to move.
The part of that gigantic body that looked most like Hyeona turned toward me and spoke.
"Put on this mask."
A mask?
Where’s the mask?
The hideous creature mimicking Hyeona slowly tore off its own head.
[rrrrip]
Isn’t it a nostalgic sight?
Hyeona held out Hyeona’s head—torn from Hyeona’s body—toward me.
Ah, so this is an illusion? Definitely a symptom of delirium. A hallucination. This isn’t real.
It looks like Hyeona’s head, but it isn’t—it’s just a mask made by tearing off part of the serpent.
If I put on that mask, [Scaled Stratagem] won’t have any need to toy with Hyeona anymore.
Then Chae Taewon’s wish—to save Hyeona—will be fulfilled.
"Yes. Accept this mask, crafted by pouring my power into a beast’s head."
A mask, a serpent, a wish—and you even reenact the way Cheongho died.
Everything I could go mad over is gathered right here.
The head that looked like Hyeona, held in the hand of the enormous Hyeona that resembled flower, butterfly, bird—or snake—whispered to me.
"Come closer and put on the mask."
And besides, it’s Hyeona’s request.
How could I refuse?
I slowly reached my left hand toward the mask—and—
[shrrrrr]
The huge serpent, with nothing of Hyeona’s shape left, opened its vast maw—or its wings—or its petals—and moved to swallow me whole.
No—correction.
At the instant I was about to be swallowed—
"Huh?"
I noticed the dense lattice of magic formulae etched into my left hand.
"What are you doing? Don’t stop. Don’t hesitate. I have come here myself to satisfy your desire. Hurry and accept the mask that bears my power."
Again: I was at the instant of being swallowed by the enormous serpent.
[vreeeeeeeen]
A spell prepared on my left hand triggered without my will.
Kim Sinhwa, a company man living in reality, can’t use anything like magic, and Kim Sinhwa in complete delirium can’t cast properly—
[Automatic Cast: Growth Acceleration]
This is a spell that activates regardless of my condition.
It would have triggered even if I weren’t alive.
Because I didn’t set this spell—Heo Sanghyun did.
Sinhwa’s left hand writhed of its own accord and hijacked his mana. It was configured to do so.
His hand grew explosively, magnifying.
No—“hand” could no longer describe that monster.
[shrrrrrr! krrrrrrrr!]
Noises so grotesque that listening alone could fracture the mind.
"Tekeli-li!!"
And the thing that had been Kim Sinhwa’s left hand let out a horrific scream.
[crunch-rip!]
Scales and parts of the wings tore from Jeong Hyeona’s body.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!"
A scream from Hyeona’s throat, shaped by an otherworldly organ.
With that shock, Kim Sinhwa was flung away.
[thud-thud-thud!]
The [Night Veil cloak], an artifact with a will of its own, flew in and wrapped around him before he could smash into the floor, shielding him.
A bizarre turn of events even an abyssal being hadn’t foreseen.
"Shoggoth? You planted a shoggoth’s seed in your left hand?"
The will of [Scaled Stratagem], inhabiting Hyeona’s body, hastily checked Sinhwa’s state.
"Aaaaagh!"
Kim Sinhwa screamed. He still hadn’t escaped his delirium.
"To target this moment and embed a bomb in your own body that could detonate at any time—madness beyond human."
What were the trigger conditions? The instant his life was ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) in danger?
"You monstrous bastard! Stop— Wait. Where am I?"
Kim Sinhwa still hadn’t broken free.
He wavered between [Wizard Kim Sinhwa] and [Ordinary Office Worker Kim Sinhwa], lost in confusion.
There was no answer for him.
"Guaaaaaaaah!"
Wrapped in shoggoth tendrils and a tide of flesh, Jeong Hyeona could only unleash bestial howls.
And Kim Sinhwa screamed at the sight.
"N-no! I—I—"
He clutched his face with both hands and screamed.
But what his right hand felt was the alien texture of a mask.
And—his left hand was gone.
Staring down at both hands, he screamed again.
"Aaaaagh!"
I—I was a wizard!
Trapped in the [Cthulhu World]!
A mad wizard deranged enough to plant a shoggoth egg in his left hand!
That realization slammed into him.
He’d struggled to claw out of the hallucination born of delirium—but the reality outside the hallucination was more horrific than the delirium itself.
At the desert’s boundary, another trap that Kim Sinhwa had prepared in advance sprang.
The [Fake Kim Sinhwa] that had been luring the Cheongho Faction’s members and the vassals of [Scaled Stratagem] flew into Cheongho’s mansion.
[rumble-rumble!]
"Kyaaaaaaah!!"
A gigantic Hyeona was tangled and rampaging with a shoggoth right beside him, but that wasn’t the [Fake Kim Sinhwa]’s concern.
If I’m attacked, come save me. I’ll upload specific behavioral directives for that time.
[clack-clack-clack-clack]
The [Fake Kim Sinhwa] rotated its head 360 degrees and began searching for Kim Sinhwa.
"W-wait, wait! Don’t come closer!"
Kim Sinhwa was babbling something odd—but the construct was configured to ignore any orders that violated the specified procedures.
"Let go!"
The [Fake Kim Sinhwa] scooped him up quickly and demanded mana to make up for its shortage.
"Let go of me!"
Mana insufficient.
Based on a necromantic golem, it could forcibly siphon its master’s mana if necessary. Following protocol, the [Fake Kim Sinhwa] drew the required mana.
"Hah—huff! What the hell are you doing!?"
[System : The trigger condition for a pre-generated spell has been met. According to preset configuration, the spell activates.]
[Automatic Cast: Protective Ward]
[Automatic Cast: Gate Creation]
The auto-cast ward enveloped Kim Sinhwa, and a gate opened toward a designated location. And the next spell fired at once.
[Automatic Cast: Meteor Summon]
[rrrrr—]
A rain of colossal meteors streaked toward Cheongho’s mansion.
[KWA-BOOM!!]
Far off, Cheongho’s mansion lay utterly wrecked.
"Hyeona...?"
[System : Duration of ‘Delirium: Escape from Reality’ has ended.]
[Your mind has temporarily stabilized because there is no nearby stimulus for your madness. If you again witness your phobia’s object or anything reminiscent of it, the madness will re-manifest.]
Looks like she got away alive.
"So it was escape from reality..."
Not a clinical symptom—just a game setting.
[Delirium: Escape from Reality].
A delirium that makes the object of a phobia appear as someone intimate or precious, or makes you mistake danger for safety.
[Scaled Stratagem] had slipped in through that gap.
[Tip : Increase your allied NPCs through conversation! They’ll not only help you, but also protect or wake characters who’ve fallen into delirium.]
"Thanks for the pro tip, you rotten bastard."
Watching the whole thing with glee, and now—what, “increase allies”? Genius-level talent for getting on my nerves.
I lifted my left arm and looked at where my left hand had vanished.
"Ah. Sanghyun worked hard to set that up, and it’s already wrecked."
An experience so vile my whole body trembled.
A clumsy bit of sweetness—a short daydream that was empty for being sweet.
"I’m gonna puke..."
Am I okay?
Honestly, I don’t feel right. A nasty sensation like I’m still wandering inside the delusion...
[clatter-crash]
That was the [Fake Kim Sinhwa], mission complete, coming apart—junk pouring out of the body that had formed it.
The [Fake Kim Sinhwa] had been built by ramming a mana-stone and a desert-power mask into a necromantic golem body, then draping an illusion to mimic my appearance.
If I’d used the [Homunculus] I built before, I could have made something higher-performance, but because of the risk of mental fracture, I made this as a kind of degraded version.
"I should at least salvage that..."
With my right hand shaking, I reached into the pile of scrap and yanked out a jutting crocodile snout.
[Desert Mask (Modified)], made by fusing two crocodile masks taken from the cultists of [Scaled Stratagem].
In the process of combining, it had turned into a crocodile mask with four eyes—and it spoke to me.
"You really almost died."
"Yeah. That was close."
"If not for me, you’d be dead."
"Right. Thanks."
"Masks are the best, aren’t they?"
"Yep. Masks are the best!"
"Where are we?"
"Masks are the best!"
"Quit with ‘masks are the best’ and tell me where we are."
[Desert Mask (Modified)] looked at me with four eyes and said:
"Masks are the best!"
"Hey, Kim Sinhwa. I’m not your split personality. I’m just your delusion. Calm down. You’re babbling on purpose because without someone to talk to, you’re liable to self-harm—so calm down."
"I’m calm."
"Excellent. Again—this is you talking to yourself. The crocodile mask isn’t speaking. But if you need a name to call me, call me ‘Nile.’ Just know the moment you start using that name, you become truly crazy."
"Thanks, Nile. This is the power of friendship, huh?"
The crocodile mask made a troubled face.
"At this rate you’ll sprout a new personality. Well, that’s fine, too. Are you feeling lonely right now?"
"Nile, I’m okay because you’re here."
"Hmm. Severe case. The delirium should be over, but the aftereffects linger."
"Masks are the best!"
"Looks like, to soften the influence of the mind control that dug in through your snake phobia, you’re expressing a fixation in some weird direction."
"Snakes are terrifying."
"Don’t. Regressing here would be the worst."
"I’m gonna go pet a cat."
"That’s bad."
"If I pet about a hundred cats, I’ll calm down."
"Hey, Kim Sinhwa. You’re walking away and leaving me."
"Ah—sorry, my mask friend."
I hastily pulled the mask over my head, staggered to my feet, and set off toward someplace with lots of cats.
"Let’s go pet cats."
"Kim Sinhwa. That’s escapism. And you just put a mask on top of a mask."
"Thanks to getting my head caved in, I did figure out how to take that thing down—but I lost way more sanity points than I expected. I need to reset."
"True. But I’m telling you—this really is just you talking to yourself. You’ll look genuinely unwell to anyone watching."
"Masks are the best!"
"Do you have Hyundeok’s number?"
"Nope. Don’t remember."
"Are you walking, then?"
"Let’s go pet cats... If I want to pet a hundred before the day’s out, I need to move fast."
"Anyone around? Somebody call this poor guy’s family!"
