“Ah—that hits the spot.”
Haven’t cut loose like that in a while.
I looked up at the mountain of stacked used cars and smiled, satisfied.
“Ugggh....... Y-you....... You’re not Red-Head people, are you? I—I’ve heard the rumors. D-destroyer Kim Sinh—...”
The young fixer muttered as he stared at me.
Ah, now I see who he is. A fixer who uses the handle Uncanny.
He has traits for vehicle operation and repair, decent value-for-money—an NPC worth hiring early on...... but—
It’s just my INT stat letting me dredge that up; he’s not someone memorable in his own right.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you remembered this as getting Red-Head’s help by chance?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Maybe his legs had given out—Uncanny was still sitting on the floor as he bowed his thanks.
“No—don’t think you can end it with thanks—”
I said, then called to Jang Hyundeok.
“Hey, you—get over here and stand right there.”
“Huh? Why me?”
“While we’re at it, we’ll do this all at once. Over here.”
“Eeh—”
Grumbling, he shuffled to a spot near Uncanny.
“Hey—no matter how much people say one big strike can change your life—how do you let a con man on that level play you? You got lucky this time—want to try a headlock from the Black King in the Hell Arena?”
Well, I don’t exactly have the moral high ground; back in the day I yelled “Life-changing bet! All-in!” and borrowed mana from abyssal beings.
Besides, this one isn’t entirely on these idiots.
Anyway, after I lectured the two of them for a while, I spoke to the Child of Darkness squirming in a corner of the lot.
“Kid, let’s spit that uncle out now.”
“No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!” “No!”
The Child of Darkness grumbled with the dozens of mouths all over its body. I stroked the kid’s snow-white tendril and spoke again.
“Hm? Good kid? Ah—open up. Ah— you didn’t bite, right?”
Only then did the Child of Darkness open the giant ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) mouth in the center of its body.
“Ggggh—”
“Mm, perfectly cooked.”
[Invisible Hand]
I triggered telekinesis and tugged Armor out of the kid’s mouth.
“U-he-he-he—k-he-he-he—”
Armor cackled like he’d lost his mind, viscous fluids dripping.
Before putting him in the kid’s mouth I’d checked this con artist’s traits: [Pleasing Voice] and [Demagogue].
It isn’t brainwashing—but if you listen to him long enough you start thinking, “Huh? That... sounds plausible?”
“If you get caught running this scam again, I’m not pulling you back out next time.”
“U-he—u-he-he—got—got it—u-he-he—”
Who knows if he’ll recover from delirium. If he’s lucky he’ll turn over a new leaf.
“Mm, but of all things, the Black King?”
I only learned on-site that the Black King was behind this used-car dealer.
[Cthulhu World] isn’t a crime-syndicate management sim, so sub-subcontractors on this tier never showed up.
Ah, if only it had been Yeom Geumja or Hyeona. Even Red-Head would’ve been better backing than this.
Well, I was going to need to say hello to the Black King soon anyway.
Wasn’t there supposed to be a cozy meal with Red-Head, Hyeona, and the Black King all together?
“Yeah, fine. I was about at the limit of avoiding them.”
If you can’t dodge it, you’re better off tangling proactively and keeping them busy.
I pulled up a few usable “settings” and sketched a simple plan.
“First—let’s wipe anything that could be evidence. You two, it’s dangerous—step outside.”
[Lightning Field]
Bzzzzttt!
Sapphire sparks wrapped the computers, phones, and other electronics inside the office. The digital records were purged—and with a pop, fire bloomed.
Whoosh—
Flames spread through the entire structure in an instant.
“Yikes, zero fire safeguards.”
Not a single common extinguisher in sight. They really lived in a flimsy prefab this vulnerable to fire.
Anyway, resolved. Resolved.
If only the other problems could be solved this simply.
But the world I’m trapped in is a mad cosmic-horror game.
Nothing ends easily.
“Hyundeok, let’s bolt. You—if you value your life, run.”
Preferably run outside Paju.
I told Uncanny that—but he’ll probably choose to sell my info rather than the safe option.
A few hours after Kim Sinhwa left.
Two women arrived leading a small crew.
A prefab shack burned to a black skeleton of ash and frame. Vehicles wrecked in grotesque ways, like they’d been sucked into a surreal disaster.
One of the two women, after looking over the traces Kim Sinhwa had left, spoke:
“Red-Head oppa did this?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
The woman nodded.
She scratched at the leather choker cinched tight around her neck—and then smiled, as if delighted.
“K-he—k-he-he—k-he-he—fun.”
A monstrous laugh leaking between lips painted deep black.
A viciously designed eyepatch covering her left eye.
A big, statuesque, Grecian nose.
Thick two-centimeter piercings seated in both earlobes.
And hair slicked all the way back with wax, a short, complete pompadour.
A massive frame and shoulders like rock are common enough—until you realize that frame is actually around 2.5 meters tall.
Rolling her big right eye shot through with scarlet veins, she said:
“Sis, sis! This isn’t something a middling ability-user could do. I think a mage did it—what do you think, sis?”
The long-haired woman in a white dress—addressed as “sis”—nodded silently.
“Right. A mage. That noisy mage’s been hanging out with Red-Head oppa lately.”
The giant woman who’d nodded called to a man standing by.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Send a message to Red-Head oppa.”
“What should I write?”
‘Oppa, is your medicine man underperforming these days—did you take your meds?’ Send that politely. And pick some convenient place and set it on fire.”
Hearing the order, Daniel hesitated, then asked:
“What about the meeting we were going to hold soon?”
“That...... sis?”
She looked to the long-haired woman again.
The long hair nodded silently once more.
“Right. We’ll do that as planned. I do want to see that girl Hyeona.”
“Ugh—honey, what did you do this time? How do you manage a new incident every other day?”
“You say that, but you look pleased.”
Tudor had definitely been all smiles a moment ago—but the instant my line ended, she put on the face of a slighted grand dame.
“Oh my? Pleased? What would the Black King raising a fuss have to do with me?”
Well, plenty of chances to make money wedged in the middle, greater influence over the underworld—and above all, Tudor is a witch who wants chaos in this world.
“You aren’t thinking of me as an evil witch, are you?”
“Hm? You are a witch, though.”
“Hmm— but not an evil witch. A good, pretty witch who earns money with honest work.”
And preferably called a beauty rather than a witch, she added.
“Right. Got it. Paju’s number-one beauty.”
“Paju’s number one?”
“Sorry—world’s number-one beauty.”
“Good—good. See that you keep serving me properly.”
Only then did Tudor beam with a mischievous, childlike smile.
I shook my head slightly and said:
“Fine, leave the Black King aside—what’s Mun Gyeongha saying?”
Mun Gyeongha: third-generation chaebol running a top-tier hotel under Yeonam Group.
He’s preparing a banquet to be attended by the wealthy with major clout and his clan.
If I could avoid getting involved, I’d be happier steering clear—but I have plenty of reasons to attend this worthless soirée.
And I got an invitation.
Two, in fact.
One from Mun Gyeongha, another from Mun Seunghee.
You might think it doesn’t matter whose name I go under—but for the Muns, who are fighting over succession, it matters a lot.
It’s flexing invisible power by flaunting your network and mobilization.
If I respond to Mun Seunghee’s invite and go—well, it’s embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but Mun Seunghee becomes “the one who invited that Kim Sinhwa everyone’s talking about.”
“But weren’t you helping Mun Seunghee? Why accept Mun Gyeongha’s invitation?”
“I promised.”
I’d agreed to grant Mun Gyeongha’s request in exchange for Genovese pasta, so I’ll attend under the invitation he sent.
A promise sealed by pasta is absolute.
“Aha, so you agreed to grant a wish?”
“Ugh, that ‘wish’ talk again?”
I made a show of denial—but Tudor ignored me and said:
“Cackle— you say it’s not, but something’s being fulfilled, isn’t it? Well? Can you refuse this wish too?”
Saying that, Tudor slid a large box toward me.
“What’s this?”
“Mun Gyeongha’s second wish.”
“Second?”
“Mm. He wants you to wear it.”
Wear it?
Looking at Tudor’s meaningful smile, I couldn’t help a shiver of unease.
“Clothes?”
“Mm.”
“What kind?”
“Stylish?”
“......Stylish?”
“Wow, wizard, you look great!”
“Do I?”
Thankfully, it wasn’t anything too weird.
Just an absurdly expensive designer suit.
“Wow, shoes too. I’m supposed to wear these? Damn.”
Seeing me grumble, Jang Hyundeok looked puzzled.
“Eh? Why ‘damn’?”
“Because.......”
These shoes have no options attached.
They’re just shoes!
Wear these uncomfortable, stiff shoes with nothing but cosmetic value in my foot-slot and walk into that den? Mun Taeik, chairman of Yeonam Group, and Baek Beomjin will be there too?
“Grr— and why is the suit this tight?”
Tudor said she eyeballed my size—but it fits so perfectly it’s creepy.
Just how closely has she been studying my body?
“The fit looks great to me.”
The fit isn’t the point! With no spare slots I can’t stash anything in my jacket!
“Eh. No helping it.”
Tell someone, “Hey, a monster might pop out at that party tonight, so I’m bringing a sword,” and they’ll call you insane.
I’ll just have to cram in as much as I can with shrink magic.
“But aren’t you going in under a false identity?”
“Yeah. That’s the plan. Oh, but what’s the point of ‘who they call me’?”
“Right. You said they invite you to brag they can invite you.”
“Officially I’ll use someone else’s name, but it’s just playing pretend.”
Whatever name I give, people will whisper, “Hey, that’s Kim Sinhwa,” and so on.
Conversely, you could bring in a totally different person and run a scam—but no one’s dumb enough to risk that.
“Anyway, I’m set. Let’s go.”
A super-luxury party the rich idiots with rotting money will love awaits.
And, true to [Cthulhu World], there’s a modest little event prepared that smells like blood.
