Chapter 114
Chapter 114
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: House of Ghosts - 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
⚙ ARCHIVIST'S DUTY ⚙ 1. Streaming breaks are only allowed after death. If you don't start a broadcast at least once a day, you will be forcibly returned to the Omnia Archive. 1-1. Once you start a broadcast, you must continue for at least 30 minutes. 1-2. Achieve 2000 or more followers within this month. [Duty Completed]
2. Create a new [Item] document at least once a month. 3. Create a new [Anomalous Phenomenon] document at least once a month. [Duty Completed]
4. Strictly prohibited from revealing [True Name] when contacting other [Fervent Devotees]. 5. Failure to fulfill the above duties will result in immediate revocation and disposal of Archivist qualifications. - The Archivist's Duty is updated in real-time. - ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Archivist's duties were already marked as completed.
Even if the wiki pages were plastered with censorship deletions, it seemed the 'Anomalous Phenomenon document' still counted as created.
About 30 minutes had passed since Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee entered the House of Ghosts.
Time had slipped to 3:30 a.m.
No sign of dawn yet, and I waited for them while facing the chilly pre-dawn sea breeze.
Phone didn't work, radio didn't work.
Even braving the nausea to tap on the squishy flesh, no response came from inside.
No way at all to know the situation from outside—it was truly frustrating.
Yoo Euisul was the publicly acknowledged strongest Awakener.
And Ahn Soohee was an Awakener entering her tenth year this year.
Grand Magus Ahn Soohee was a first-generation Awakener, active back when Anomalous Phenomena first appeared in the world ten years ago.
Yoo Euisul didn't seem to like Ahn Soohee much, so their pairing wasn't something you could call good even as a joke.
But still, with two first-gen veteran Awakeners combining forces, surely they could resolve the anomaly somehow.
With that in mind, I waited another hour.
Still, no notable news from inside.
During my conversation with the 'Distorted Constellation's Fervent Devotee,' Yoo Euisul had waited for me about five hours in the anomaly zone.
Yet here I was, fidgeting after a mere hour.
Gradually...
I started to worry.
Of course, Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee were veterans among veterans, not green rookies like me...
But no matter how I turned it over in my mind, the wiki content nagged at me.
I checked the wiki again and let out a heavy sigh.
All the content being censored and deleted wasn't something you could call a good sign.
No.
>
It was the worst possible sign.
Content being censored meant I lacked the permissions to view it.
Which was proof enough that it was a seriously dangerous—or high-dimensional—anomaly.
I'd made up my mind.
I had to go in too.
Thinking it over, my body was tough as nails—what was there to fear?
Whether the anomaly crushed me with sticky tentacles or whatever, I wouldn't die anyway.
Running around inside searching for solutions would resolve it way faster than sitting here twiddling my thumbs.
But this anomaly wasn't really a haunted house, was it?
I hate horror.
I used to deny being the scared type.
But after horror games drilled manners into me, I fully realized it.
I hate horror.
Hate those cheap jump scares that startle you for no reason.
...Should've gone in with them from the start.
I sighed, steeled my resolve.
Then slowly approached the anomaly's entrance.
That was when it happened.
A minor... no, major problem cropped up.
Thud!
"Nyaak!"
Thud!
"Meowk!"
Thud!
"Kuek!"
Out of nowhere, while heading for the entrance, I got slammed with a triple blasphemy penalty.
"Cough, cough... kek. Uwwek!"
The Yeosu anomaly zone was on the beachfront.
Naturally, where I stood was a sand-covered beach.
Faceplanting into the sand meant I had no choice but to share a deep kiss with the fine grains.
My mouth was full of sand.
After coughing a few times, I protested aloud to Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim.
"Wh-what's with the sudden this!"
Unfair.
I hadn't even uttered the 'm' of blasphemy just now.
This was historic mistreatment.
A misunderstanding?
Anyway, back on track...
Thud!
"..."
This time, I couldn't even scream.
My head had slammed so hard that my whole skull sank into the soft sand like something out of a cartoon.
It didn't hurt.
But the sensation was indescribably gross.
"Puha! Uwweeeek... Why, why are you doing this!"
Had the god I devoted myself to finally lost her mind?
Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim was petty, sure, but not so conscienceless as to hand down blasphemy penalties without reason.
Again.
Pulled my head from the sand, stepped toward the entrance...
...and stopped.
I was convinced: heading for the entrance meant faceplanting again without fail.
It wasn't a blasphemy penalty.
Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim was, right now...
Imposing compulsion on me to keep me from entering the anomaly's maw.
Why?
Why though.
She'd never directly forced my actions like this before—not once.
If a god tells me not to approach the anomaly, what could I do?
In the end, I sat down in the head-shaped crater in the sand and pondered why Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim was compelling me.
But no matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't find a reason.
Thinking back to basics.
It seemed like she was just blocking me because it was 'dangerous' inside.
But why dangerous?
I had an invincible body, after all.
And as a Fervent Devotee graced by Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim, I could withstand most mental attacks from anomalies.
What could possibly be dangerous?
I pondered what situations might endanger me—and what Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim might dislike.
And quickly reached a conclusion.
4. Strictly prohibited from revealing [True Name] when contacting other [Fervent Devotees].
"..."
From my conversation with that past transmission body, I'd learned that Anomalous Phenomena, items, and Fervent Devotees were connected somehow.
This anomaly probably involved a Fervent Devotee too.
Maybe...
If I went in, I'd contact another Fervent Devotee, run into danger.
And inevitably end up revealing my True Name.
"Right?"
...
No answer came.
That's how she was.
She showed rather than told.
"Got it. Even if I meet a Fervent Devotee inside, I'll keep my mouth shut. That do it?"
...
"Heading in now?"
...
No response.
Cautiously...
I carefully stepped toward the entrance.
But again...
Thud!
"Uwek."
Same result.
"Puha! Ptoo, ptoo! Aigoo, what am I supposed to do then! Just sit here like this?"
Censored to hell and back.
Forcing me like this.
Obviously a insanely dangerous anomaly.
Not asking me to abandon those two inside, right?
"Can't do that."
An hour and a half had passed since Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee entered.
Waiting around doing nothing might really lead to danger.
I didn't bother brushing off the sand caked all over me and stepped forward again.
The first time in my Fervent Devotee life.
I rebelled against Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim.
Boom!
This time, it wasn't just my head growing heavy—my entire body felt like a thousand jin weight.
Not even crawling was allowed.
Couldn't twitch a finger.
That was divine compulsion.
The only intact parts were my brain and mouth.
I gritted my teeth and began persuading Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim.
"Won't say the True Name ever... please, just..."
But the compulsion held firm.
My body started sinking into the sand.
If this kept up, I'd be fully buried and unable to breathe.
I let out a final desperate yell.
"Uuugh... F-for starters, without Euisul unnie... how am I supposed to handle anomalies alone from now on!"
That...
Was the right answer.
The compulsion lifted, and the crushing weight vanished cleanly.
Had Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim acknowledged that Yoo Euisul was necessary for me?
Or did she give in to my brute-force whining?
I didn't know.
But I'd definitely gotten permission.
"...Thank you. I really won't say it."
Whether it'd go as I planned was another story.
But I'd try my best, anyway.
Finally, I could approach the anomaly's entrance.
A massive tongue slithered out like an earthworm.
Lick.
It enveloped me.
"Guaaaaaak!"
The loathsome tongue's suction cups plastered themselves all over my body.
How had Yoo Euisul and Ahn Soohee endured this nasty sensation?
Soon the tongue...
"Jiyaaaaaaaak!"
Dragged me into the House of Ghosts.