Sand pouring from every side.
The Child of Darkness coiled around my body.
A high-density mana lattice linked to the ley lines.
Abyssal mana scattered everywhere.
And a colossal dragon blanketing the sky.
Vvvvvvvvvmm—
[Perception] grants the power to look straight at this world’s truth.
And if I take in that massive volume of data unfiltered—
Even with an Intellect stat of 30, [Abyssal Madness], and the protection of my other personalities that assist parallel thought—
My brain might burst.
So I raised mana and slashed my vision down to the barest minimum.
Bzzzzzzzt!!
A gamble no different from walking outside in a typhoon with my eyes covered.
But the baby will protect me somehow, right?
“Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!”
The baby’s voice, as if saying that’s too much to ask.
“Just hold on a little!”
I exclude all other inputs and take in only the data inside the silver coffin.
An Abyssal packed a box with what’s needed to grant a girl’s wish.
Inside are—
[Myrrh – 100 g]
[Assorted herbs – whatever came to hand]
[Lungs of a monster with cosmic power – one piece]
[Shoggoth – about 1,000 kg]
[Nightmare of organized crime – for 100 people]
[Mana that pooled under Paju – as much as possible]
Plenty to make a girl’s dream come true.
They’re not planning to boil this to a bubbling French pot-au-feu, I hope.
My sight now traces the matrices carved inside the coffin.
An overwhelming flood of information ramming through the four holes in my mask.
Change. Heating. Condensation. Pressure.
Desert. Thirst. Change. Rage.
Construction. Flesh. Vessel. Birth.
As expected, to forge a body for an Abyssal’s descent—
No, wait.
“This is different. A body for something else?”
“Do not touch it!”
A thunderous bellow crashing down.
“Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!” “Scared!”
The baby clutches me and bolts in a panic.
But while I’m using [Perception], I can’t help the baby. Even if I could—I probably wouldn’t.
I was decoding the lines etched on the coffin; I couldn’t do anything else.
[You realize what the [Scaly Stratagem] prepared and are badly shaken. The [Scaly Stratagem] did not prepare this for its own descent.]
This is not a body for the [Scaly Stratagem]. Something completely different is inside.
Cheongho? Hyunah’s mother?
Neither.
It is—
[This will become the body of the “Black Pharaoh”—one of the Abyssal sovereigns whom the Abyssal known as the “Scaly Stratagem” reveres without end; a king of kings from the Otherworld, a prince of the Abyss, more cruel than any, more wise than any, more exalted than any, more captivating than any.]
“Ah— is that so?”
You don’t feel embarrassed saying that yourself?
The [Black Pharaoh] is one of Nyarlathotep’s avatars. The apex of Egyptian blasphemy within [Cthulhu World].
And while not certain yet—there’s a high chance the thing beyond the message window is one of Nyarlathotep’s avatars.
“Then if I ruin this, you’ll be in a foul mood too, won’t you?”
Thirteen keyboards—or a bizarre piano—my five fingers and one hook move as fast as a concertist’s hands.
Vvvvvvvvvmm—
The matrix shifts like a dance.
“Stop!!”
[System: Unique trait of “????????????????,” “Withering of ,” activates.]
“Baby! Dodge! If that hits us, we both die!”
Desert winds howling like a storm.
Come to think of it, the [Scaly Stratagem] did have the lore note that it acts for the [Black Pharaoh].
“Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!” “Hard!”
The baby bounds like a rubber ball to escape; every change of direction slams shock through my whole body.
“Ghh— not enough fingers!”
The [Mask of Carcosa] rises into the air.
[L-grade accessory “Mask of Carcosa” unique function, “Madman’s Dexterity,” activates.
// Madman’s Dexterity: Attempt to open hidden functions of artifacts or graft new abilities. Also grants +100% success to invention, repair, research, and development.]
Shraaaaa—
To make up for my shortage of fingers, the artifact’s effect blooms—golden tendrils join my work.
[Your intellect conjures many ways to use this flesh. If you wish, you could discard your current broken, fragile body and transfer into a new one.]
No need, no need, no need.
I’ve done all kinds of reckless things to get this far—but this is the one power I cannot afford. Anyone else—maybe. The [Black Pharaoh]?
The right answer with anything Nyarlathotep-adjacent is: do not engage.
[If you wish, this flesh could become a subordinate that aids you. If needed, it could change shape to fulfill Jung Hyunah’s wish. How about Cheongho, with transcendent power, serving you?]
No need, no need, no need.
The “Echo of Suffocation” dwelling in my mana core spins up—a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» shard of the Abyss stolen from Heo Joo.
[System: Hidden trait “Heir to the Corpse Pile” activates. Heteromorphs who submit to you become your vassals.]
Vvvvvvmmm—
[System: Submission check in progress......]
[System: Shoggoth inside the silver coffin agrees to cooperate.]
[System: Submission check successful.]
Good!
[System: Enter password to save the modified configuration. If not entered within 13 seconds, the world will forcibly reboot to the last save to block illicit access.]
“What kind of stupid trick is this!”
A password?
A password? Damn—would it be there?
“Doldola!”
Grrrrrrrk!
The [Mirror of Wisdom] springs from my arms.
[L-grade magic tool “Mirror of Wisdom” unique function, “Abyssal Knowledge,” activates.
// Abyssal Knowledge: Acquire special knowledge. Contents vary by the owner’s access rights.]
“Tell me the password!”
Please! If it isn’t here, I’m truly out of options.
Shraaaaa—
[66+47JWILCDsobDquIgg642UIOydtCDrqrjsl5DshJwg6rmA7Iug7ZmU7JmAIO2VqOq7mCDsnojqs6Ag7Iu27Jy864uI6rmMLiDtjKjsiqTsm4zrk5wg7JWM66Ck7KSE6rKMLgo=]
What the hell does that even—
All wrong?
[System: Password confirmed. Saving components to match the new configuration.]
Huh?
“Whatever. That means I win, right?”
According to the lattice I rewired—the silver coffin composing a god’s flesh—
Right now—
“Eat this!”
Rrrrrrrrrumble!
Becomes a massive silver slug and launches at the [Scaly Stratagem].
Power you can’t block. Speed you can’t dodge.
[How amusing. Handed the latest computer, and you use it to club the enemy’s skull like a caveman.]
A sneer scrolling in the message window.
Say what you want—if it hits, it’s going to hurt.
-----------!!
A roar beyond human hearing, and a surreal cry no human can comprehend.
Mana geysering in all directions.
Rain pouring down.
The purification water of Paju Samneung that the [Scaly Stratagem] gathered turns to a deluge.
I weave that mana into a single spell.
[L-grade weapon “Blade of Flesh” unique function, “Power to Cut the Barrier,” activates.
// Power to Cut the Barrier: Cleaves space.]
[Forced Eviction – ????????????????]
Chzzzzzzzk—
A gigantic hole opens in the desert’s heart.
The [Scaly Stratagem]’s will is sucked into it.
[System: Influence of Abyssal Entity – ???????????????? weakens.]
And from the sky, falling...
Jung Hyunah.
“Damn it—normally when you’ve worked this hard...”
Shlaaak! Shrrrk!
A hideous noise.
The mudflat from sand and rain, and a ten-meter mass slamming into it.
Normally—
Right, normally—
When you fell the enemy, the mess it caused resolves itself, doesn’t it?
The will of the [Scaly Stratagem] has vanished into the Abyss, but the wounds it clawed remain.
Shrrrrrrrp—
Jung Hyunah hauls up that gargantuan body and looks at me.
Eyes like a reptile’s—scarlet and uncanny.
Skin an abnormal white.
A beautiful dress evoking a swallowtail butterfly’s wings.
Huge wings formed along the dress’s trailing hem.
Massive fangs budding at the wingtips.
And a bundled snarl of snake-like tendrils, tangled and twined.
Chrrrrrp—
Hyunah crawls toward me in a serpentine motion, eyes wide and unblinking.
“No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!”
The baby snarls to shield me.
“Easy, baby.”
The tendrils hesitate and let me go.
I brushed the mud from my clothes with my right hand and walked toward Jung Hyunah.
“Young lady.”
Shrrrrrrrrp!
Her tendrils lunged at staggering speed.
I’d predicted this, but I let them coil around me anyway.
“Why did you interfere with my wish being fulfilled?”
A voice with no emotion at all—only dry curiosity.
“Because I was asked.”
“By whom?”
“Director Cha Taewon asked me. And Chairman Jeong Cheongho made the same request before.”
There is a face shaped like a human’s, but it’s just an attachment resembling Hyunah’s features. So she spoke not from the “head,” but from a gill-like organ under the wing.
“Their wishes were granted. But why was mine not?”
“Was your wish truly—the descent of a surreal entity to end the world?”
No expression stirred on the attachment shaped like Hyunah’s face.
But Jung Hyunah’s tendrils writhed in a strange way.
“No.”
“What wish did you voice to it?”
“I asked it to bring back the people who died because of me.”
“Was that truly your wish?”
“My mom died because of me. If I hadn’t touched that weird book on the shelf, she wouldn’t have died. If not for that, Dad wouldn’t have gone strange. My uncle wouldn’t always have looked at me with that face.”
I studied her a moment, then said,
“Forgive me, but I peeped into your memories. If I’m right, even resurrecting someone wasn’t actually your wish. Was it?”
Jung Hyunah didn’t answer.
I gave her a little time to think, then continued.
“You wanted to become strong, didn’t you?”
Chrrrrrp—
Her tendrils twined tighter around her own body.
“I felt that in how you approached me. The [Scaly Stratagem] brushed it off like you had a crush on me—but I had another read.”
If the benchmark is set too high—one trick is to drag it down to something lower than you, or familiar.
So the illusion she built guided me to be not just an ordinary person—but something equal to her, or close.
“Maybe so.”
Her wings closed, hiding the human-like attachment.
“Right. You told me I was wrong to lead the organization. But I want to make it stronger and take revenge on Jeokdu. So I wanted greater power.”
Her form like a flower bud before bloom.
“I didn’t want to see people die, get hurt, or be sacrificed because of me. And yet that wish led me to this. But do you know what’s worse?”
Shrrrr—
Her tendrils set me down.
“Because of me, many were hurt, went mad, and died. And in this state, alongside guilt and fear and disgust—I feel satisfied.”
In a sense, the moment she took this form, Hyunah’s wish was fulfilled.
She gained power to save herself, to control the dubious mage she’d had to beg for help, and to stamp her presence on everyone.
Shrrrrrr—
Jung Hyunah’s wings spread wide.
The human-like attachment showed again—displaying a wicked beauty.
“Mage. Answer me.”
With a face that showed no emotion, Jung Hyunah spoke.
“Did I become a monster? How am I supposed to live now?”
I let out a breath.
Contrary to what people think, the body governs the mind.
With a body no longer built like a human’s, Jung Hyunah cannot see the world as before.
And...
“I’m wrestling with the same thing.”
In a way, the present Jung Hyunah is my mirror.
I can demand of others—without flinching—the same insane measures I’ve inflicted on myself to reach my goals.
I thought a bit longer, then answered slowly.
“Well, that’s something to think through later.”
“Later?”
“Yes. Later. Do you even know the pyramid’s layout? Or how to build a giant crocodile?”
“I don’t.”
“Most of your choices up to now weren’t truly yours, nor from your original nature. It stole your opportunity to choose, and left you only worry and despair.”
Jung Hyunah stared at me with those alien eyes that still could not exchange feelings.
“And to be frank, I don’t really know how you should live, either. I’ll restore whatever can be restored. For now—eat a proper meal with the person over there who’s worrying about you.”
“Over there... worrying?”
I raised my hand and pointed past the desert.
Hyunah looked that way and, for the first time, spoke with a voice tinged by feeling.
“Uncle.”
It was a very, very sorrowful voice.
