Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Ghost House - 1
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The Anomalous Phenomenon that appeared in Yeosu was, once again, a gimmick-type one completely immune to all attacks.
Though, the ratio of Anomalous Phenomena immune to attacks does feel a bit too high.
But think about it—if Anomalous Phenomena weren't immune to attacks,
there'd be no need to hunt down Awakeners at all. A single squad's worth of modern firearms could handle them just fine.
This Anomalous Phenomenon reportedly looks like a haunted house.
The kind you find in theme parks, yeah.
Roughly the size of your typical street-level storefront, this Anomalous Phenomenon gave off zero sense of threat from the outside.
No mental breakdowns even when approaching up close, no attacks coming your way.
They even said touching the building revealed nothing out of the ordinary.
The Awakener who happened to be nearby—right around where the Anomalous Phenomenon popped up in Yeosu—was the one famous for her supreme firepower.
She with the moniker of Grand Magus.
Ahn Soohee.
Ahn Soohee poured every ounce of her abilities into it, unleashing a barrage of all sorts of elemental attacks on the haunted house.
But not a single scratch.
That left her with two choices.
First choice.
Walk right into that ominous haunted house on her own two feet.
Second choice.
Request support from me, the one who can access Anomalous Phenomenon intel.
...Anyone with half a brain would pick the second option.
It was one of those moments that really drove home just how broken the racial trait of Fervent Devotee of Reflecting Myriad Stars is.
So, back before I was around, they just blindly bashed their way into the haunted house and brute-forced a resolution, huh.
That's information asymmetry for you.
The side with less info always has to eat the risk.
Anyway, since getting close posed no danger—and even touching the building carried no obvious threats—
it felt like this one might wrap up easier than expected.
Anomalous Phenomenon resolution principle, Article 2: Don't make assumptions before direct contact.
I've heard it from Yoo Euisul so many times it's drilled into my skull.
But if direct contact with the Anomalous Phenomenon shows no threat, you can scout intel with zero risk.
My job's simple: approach the haunted house, check the wiki,
tell Yoo Euisul the solution, then haul ass.
"We're here."
Lost in those stray thoughts, we'd already arrived at the Yeosu Anomalous Phenomenon zone.
Damn, Awakener exclusive hotline really delivers.
Seoul to Yeosu in under an hour.
We grabbed a quick briefing at the Awakener Association outpost set up at the entrance to the zone.
Anomalous Phenomenon.
Exterior resembles an amusement park haunted house, indestructible.
Other details unconfirmed.
Item.
Unconfirmed. Circumstantially believed to spawn inside the haunted house, but uncertain.
That was weird.
No need to drag our feet, so Yoo Euisul and I headed into the Yeosu beachfront where the Anomalous Phenomenon had appeared.
And someone came out to greet us warmly.
"Long time no see, Euisul."
The Grand Magus herself, Ahn Soohee, welcomed us with open arms.
How'd I peg her as that Grand Magus Ahn Soohee right away?
...Her whole getup was straight-up advertising "I'm a mage!"
Makes you wonder where the hell she custom-orders outfits like that.
Yoo Euisul didn't look thrilled to see her.
"Auntie, we'll handle it ourselves, so head home."
"Eek..."
Yoo Euisul's zero-filter tone threw even me off next to her.
No ill intent in her words, but still—"auntie"?
That's rude even for an aunt.
But Ahn Soohee brushed it off like water off a duck's back, totally unfazed.
"Oh come on, I'm not quite auntie age yet. Still got that bright early-thirties glow."
"Thirty-four's auntie territory. Whatever, got it—now beat it home."
"Gonna have to politely decline. I beat you here by a step, Euisul. And this 'big sis' can more than pull her weight."
"..."
Surprisingly, Yoo Euisul didn't fire back at Ahn Soohee's claim of pulling her weight.
Guess she does acknowledge her deep down.
Makes sense.
Yoo Euisul's rude as hell, but she's no talent-hater.
Just brutally selfish and pragmatic, that's all.
With Yoo Euisul staying silent, Ahn Soohee took it as agreement
and shifted her gaze from her to me.
"You must be that famous..."
"Yep. Lee Jia. Nice to meet you."
I gave a sharp ninety-degree bow, and Ahn Soohee looked pretty thrown.
...Why the fluster?
"Heard you two are tight, figured you'd have a similar vibe. My bad—I totally misjudged! Mind if we drop the formalities?"
"Pardon? Oh, sure, feel free... call me Jia..."
"You're adorable! And those... gosh, what cup size? How old? Hobbies? Oh yeah, something about streaming online. And one more thing I'm curious about..."
Ahn Soohee was a chatterbox.
And not just chatty.
Like unloading a machine gun from her mouth.
First time meeting, so I answered each one.
But no sign of the conversation winding down.
Every answer just spawned three more questions.
This woman's a total TMI junkie—gonna drive me insane.
Are all Awakeners this nuts?
Finally deciding she couldn't take it anymore, Yoo Euisul grabbed my hand.
"Ignore the auntie. Let's go."
"Right."
"Hey, wait! I wasn't done talking!"
My ears were about to bleed—thank god.
Yoo Euisul's no-nonsense attitude comes in handy sometimes.
...
...
...
"This the one?"
"Yeah. Creepy-looking, huh?"
Yeah.
Creepy as hell.
Calling this Anomalous Phenomenon's exterior a simple "haunted house" is flat-out wrong.
>
Haunted house my ass.
This is the "House of Twisting, Ascending Chaos where Revolting Intestines Writhe in Horror."
Makes my stomach turn just looking at it.
The building's outer walls were made of reddish flesh chunks.
Between the lumps of flesh, plump, overripe intestines flaunted their presence.
The roof was tiled entirely with unidentifiable innards—human? Animal? Who knows...
"Urk."
Can't stomach any more.
Unlike my grimacing mug, Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee kept straight faces, like this was old hat.
...Awakeners for a reason.
Ahn Soohee pointed at the haunted house with her hand.
"As per the briefing, attacks don't work. No weird signs even up close..."
Without a word, Yoo Euisul strode right up to the Anomalous Phenomenon,
drew Iron Sword No. 3, and slashed at the outer wall a few times.
No dice.
Not a drop of blood leaked from the flesh.
Next, Yoo Euisul started prodding the wall with her bare hand.
"Guuaaagh."
The sight was so gruesome, a scream slipped out of me naturally.
After fiddling with the flesh for a good while,
"Safe enough. Alright, your turn."
She ordered me to give it a go.
Urk.
Eurk.
Guek.
I fake-gagged three times in advance, then crept up super carefully.
Touched the fleshy wall with my fingertip...
"Gyaah! It's squirming, shit!"
"Oh my, Jia had that no-cursing face... ngh, now I get why you're tight with Euisul."
Annoying.
Do I look like I don't swear?
Anyone touching this grotesque flesh without cursing is the real freak.
Watching me throw my tantrum, Yoo Euisul sighed like I was pathetic.
"Spit out the result already. Solution?"
"Uh... hold on. So, like..."
I recited the wiki details to Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee in full.
⚙ OMMNIA WIKI ⚙ [Redacted (Anomalous Phenomenon)] 1. Overview 2. Features 3. Containment Level (Danger) 4. Resolution Method 1. Overview [Redacted] tier Anomalous Phenomenon, the [Redacted] of [Redacted] that... ... ... ... 2. Features [Redacted] 3. Containment Level (Danger) [Redacted] 4. Resolution Method [Redacted] "..."
"Hurry up, sun's gonna rise."
"It's a full redacted entry."
Flabbergasting.
I already knew the Omnia Wiki had access restrictions, and I'd figured someday the redactions would give me a headache...
But I never expected everything to be completely blacked out.
The exact moment the Fervent Devotee racial trait turned utterly useless.
They'd called me in precisely because they hated the idea of stepping into that creepy haunted house.
But now? I'm the biggest dead weight of the three here.
Dunno if it's because I'm just an Archivist, not a Special one, or if you need to go inside to unlock the info.
One thing's clear.
Someone's gotta step into this freakish haunted house.
I explained the situation to Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee.
Yoo Euisul silently checked her gear, then told me,
"You wait here. I'll handle it solo."
"W-wait a sec. Let me commune with Reflecting Myriad Stars in real time and figure out what's going on..."
"We've wasted enough time already. Anomalous Phenomenon resolution principle, Article 3. Recite it."
"...The sooner you resolve an Anomalous Phenomenon, the better."
"Going in."
Yoo Euisul marched straight for the entrance.
Ahn Soohee naturally fell in behind her and called out to me.
"Takes me back. You know, Jia? Back before 10 years ago, Euisul was..."
"Shut your trap and butt out too, auntie."
"Eh, pass."
Before I could even respond, Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee reached the haunted house entrance.
And then.
Slurp.
With that sound, a massive tongue covered in bumpy protrusions wrapped around the two of them,
dragging them inside the haunted house.
Just like that.
The two women vanished from my sight.
"Ehhh..."
This feels bad.