Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: King Man-Geum
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“Beyond the veil…… you?”
“Eek!?”
“!!”
The startled “eek” from behind came from Seo Cheon-seul’s voice. I was surprised too, but it seemed the professor and Seo Cheon-seul were even more shocked.
King Man-Geum spoke again.
『Come closer.』
It was a voice laden with horrific weight and unyielding will.
“King Man-Geum!”
Before I could say anything, the professor stepped forward.
He extended one arm, taking a stance as if blocking the space between me and King Man-Geum.
“Great King, this man is my attendant who followed me here. The rudeness at the entrance to Thousand Gold Hall and the item he now offers are all done on behalf of me, whose body is unwell. If you harbor any anger, please direct it at me.”
King Man-Geum fell silent for a moment.
I sensed Seo Cheon-seul creeping closer from behind.
It wasn’t the time to check behind me, so I couldn’t tell why he was approaching, but one thing was clear: his presence felt completely different from before.
His magic power was tensed like a coiled spring, and his killing intent was razor-sharp.
If anything went wrong, I’d have to respond to Seo Cheon-seul’s movements first.
The silence didn’t last.
『Come closer.』
It was the exact same tone, but the eerie vibration that shook the soul felt even stronger.
It might not be the perfect analogy, but King Man-Geum had raised his voice.
The moment even more power infused it, that voice alone could shatter a human mind completely.
If this weren’t a space under Gwyre’s domain, I might have been fine, but the professor would have passed out from the voice alone.
No point in delaying any longer.
“Professor, let me handle this.”
“No, you…… hm…… alright.”
I tried to move forward, but there was the dais in front of me.
Was I supposed to climb onto the dais? Or circle around it and head to that building?
In the end, I stepped up onto the dais.
“Is this close enough?”
『Come closer.』
I walked forward.
It felt oddly like stepping across a dining table, but King Man-Geum didn’t stop me.
Now, I stepped beyond the dais—built not for humans, but for a great ancient god—and approached the grand hall.
“Is this close enough?”
『State your desire.』
“Ever since the things that should dwell beyond the veil began manifesting in this world……”
『State your desire.』
Before I could even finish, King Man-Geum spoke again.
“…….”
For a moment, I wondered what this was about, but then I realized what had been nagging at me strangely.
Déjà vu.
I recalled that the being from the abyss I’d met before with Jang Hyun-deok, [The King in Yellow], had said something similar.
Thanks to my intelligence stat of 30 boosting my memory, I could recall his exact words without a single mistake.
‘I permit thee to voice thy wishes. Speak what thou desirest. Reveal thy cravings. Unearth the desires thy soul has harbored since before thy birth. Speak them. I shall fulfill thy foulest desire, the one thou hast never uttered to another.’
Yeah, that’s what he’d said.
In truth, if you got to the root of it, King Man-Geum and [The King in Yellow] were all the same kind of beings.
Was it okay to tell such a King Man-Geum my true desire?
『State your desire.』
The voice rang out like an impatient demand. Ugh, what a short-tempered bastard.
“I……”
—
Only then did I realize that what I’d thought was hazy mist moments ago was actually a cluster of tiny stars.
It looked like an extremely shrunken galaxy or nebula.
“This is……”
“If that’s how it appears to your eyes, then that’s what it is.”
“I see.”
Hating koans, I said no more and examined my surroundings.
Beyond the mist—or rather, the tiny stars—stood a wall filled entirely with drawers.
Square drawers like those in a herbalist’s shop for medicines, repeated infinitely. An endless expanse stretching left and right, packed with countless drawers.
“There’s a lot here, huh?”
“I have to store gifts from all over the world.”
From between the stars—or mist—a diminutive old man emerged.
He seemed to be the source of the voice that had been trading riddles in this room.
The old man wore a stylish cap; excluding that, he was no taller than my waist.
In his short arms, he carried a large jade-green bundle that looked disproportionately huge compared to his tiny frame.
“But have I been here the whole time?”
“That’s right. You’ve been here all along.”
“Hm…… My memory feels a bit off somehow. A moment ago, I was definitely in some bizarre goblin den conducting a ridiculous ritual.”
“That’s right. That’s what you were doing.”
“But somehow the middle part got skipped, and now I’m suddenly here chatting with you, sir? This is like……”
“Ah, enough!”
The short old man cut me off irritably out of nowhere.
“Forget that. Let’s open this first. I’m curious what that professor brought.”
“Hm…….”
I watched the old man for a moment.
He set the jade bundle on the floor and plopped down in front of it.
As he untied the knot……
“Kuruk!”
“Whoa!”
Inside the bundle was a large crane.
Freed from the cramped sack, the crane flapped its wings briefly, stretched its neck, let out a sharp cry, and flew up.
Looking up, the ceiling was an ocean.
A real ocean, full of water with occasional waves crashing.
The crane dove into it, swam for a bit, then gradually melted into a jellyfish.
It was a magnificent sea teeming with whales, jellyfish, fish, and more.
‘Ugh, fish?’
All sorts of fish were visible, but not only did [Ichthyophobia] not trigger, no message window appeared at all.
‘What’s going on? It’s not madness—the Cthulhu World system isn’t working?’
“Elder, where exactly is this place?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
I scratched my eyebrow unconsciously in thought, then spoke again.
Hm…… This is tricky.
The scene shift was way too abrupt, and the progression defies logic, doesn’t it?
“Huh? Something feels off. Am I thinking this or saying it? It’s all mixed up.”
Hey, elder. Can you hear my voice? Am I actually speaking right now?
“Kekekeke, what does it feel like to you?”
It feels like my thoughts are turning into words, and my words into thoughts.
“I said it, but I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Ah, I get it. Elder, have I gone mad?
“This kid…… So clever, strutting around like you know everything, and that’s the only way you can explain this?”
I realized there was another word that explained this situation. Another dimension comprising Gwyre. And another domain ruled by the master of Thousand Gold Hall.
I see. Now I understand.
This is a dream.
“That’s closer to the answer.”
[He beckoned me closer, and in the end, King Man-Geum dragged me into his domain. Huh? What’s this? Have I become the message window?]
[System: Great King, my condition seems to be deteriorating further. Wouldn’t it be better to talk while I’m at least somewhat sane?]
“I’m fine. What’s the problem?”
[System: I think I’m about to get motion sick.]
The old man, laughing with a metallic kekekeke, grabbed and pulled me.
The world spun in an instant.
A horrific sensation of plummeting somewhere. Boundaries between space and time, cause and effect, self and world vanished. Everything tangled into a swirling mush.
“Ah, stop already!”
Pachijijijik!!!
I summoned my magic power and imposed forced order on this chaotic mess where reality, illusion, delusion, and nonsense were all jumbled.
The next moment.
I was sitting at a table in the center of a large Western-style mansion.
Was this reflecting my memories?
A fancy table covered with a pristine white tablecloth. Big enough for a splendid banquet with ten people if I wanted……
“This is my house. The dining table on the first floor.”
“Yes.”
“Someone who helps around our house makes amazing jam. Shall I offer some?”
No need to prepare bread or fetch jam.
The moment I said it, the old man was already eating bread slathered with jam.
“Mmm…… You’re right, this is delicious.”
I touched my face for a moment. No mask.
The soft feel of my cheek against my hand after so long felt novel.
“Now…… I’ve come to my senses. This is a dream.”
“Took you long enough. And you’ve already repeated that ‘dream’ nonsense seventeen times.”
He beckoned me closer, and in the end, King Man-Geum dragged me into his domain. Hm…… I think I thought that earlier.
This is a dream. Considering that Thousand Gold Hall itself is half-submerged in dreams, I’m dreaming a dream within a dream.
“Pulled in without any preparation, and I still managed to get my wits about me—pretty impressive, right?”
“Kekekeke…… So confident you’re bordering on insolence.”
Despite his words, King Man-Geum looked pleased.
“May I ask why you dragged me all the way to this deep place?”
“I wanted to talk more comfortably. Besides, a sly one like you would just beat around the bush in a place full of ears like before, wouldn’t you?”
Fair point. Even though Thousand Gold Hall was a corner of Gwyre and not reality, he couldn’t talk “comfortably” there. Listeners’ minds would shatter, souls collapse.
So he beckoned me closer, and in the end, King Man-Geum dragged me into his domain. Ugh, stop. The same thought keeps looping.
“Then, shall I answer your earlier question now?”
“Yes, speak. What is it you desire?”
The answer I was originally supposed to give was set.
Please take this damn junk and give me some awesome artifact.
And whatever Tudor packed, I don’t know what it is, but trade it for something decent.
But that’s not what King Man-Geum’s question meant.
I felt words crawling up my throat.
‘I want to go home.’
But…… is saying that here the right move?
Is there a better answer?
After brief deliberation, I decided what to say.
“No, I won’t say it.”
“You won’t say it?”
“That’s right. What I want is something even you can’t grant, Great King.”
“Something I can’t grant?”
“Yes.”
“You claim to hold a wish that even I, King Man-Geum, cannot fulfill?”
Waves emanating from King Man-Geum’s body warped the surrounding space.
『How dare you……』
The kindly old man’s form began to swell enormously.
『I, King Man-Geum…… the dream that existed before antiquity, the dream the universe dreamed before consciousness arose, I who make even dreams dream, I who dwell deeper than dreams within dreams—do you say I cannot fulfill it? Do you claim the petty wish contained in the tiny brain of a mere Homo sapiens is greater than what the eldest dream dreams?』
Soon, his body engulfed the universe, expanding with the momentum to devour stars.
This was no longer my mansion’s dining room.
Endless void. Blazing flames. The heart of the cosmos.
Cast into that vast emptiness, I lay in the grasp of a great will as immense as the universe itself.
I wanted to push back the pressure crushing my soul and reply, but my mouth wouldn’t open.
It was a brutally overwhelming power.
The gigantic shadow before me now, and the old man’s body from before, were not King Man-Geum’s true form.
From the start, the very name “King Man-Geum” was a distorted title reflecting but a tiny facet of his myriad aspects.
Cold sweat trickled down my neck.
Pajijijik—.
Blue sparks flew from my temples.
No message window appeared, but I instinctively knew what had happened.
The oppressive grip on my body lightened, and I could move by my own will again.
The Abyss Madness trait had activated.
At the same moment, I shouted desperately.
“Ah, I don’t need it!”
Once my mouth opened, the words burst out uncontrollably.
“Fuck, you bastards, all of you! Quit crawling out of nowhere with your bullshit!”
Haha, might as well die.