Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: The Hopeful City of Happiness, Sejong
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Late at night.
Somewhere on a straight stretch of road in South Chungcheong Province.
No buildings in sight on this remote road. And with the hour being so late, the only vehicle around is the call van I'm riding in.
In the driver's seat next to me, Jang Hyun-deok—pale as a ghost—is sweating bullets as he floors the accelerator.
Vrooooom!
The roar of the engine and the howling wind are deafening.
But no other sounds besides that.
"Things settled down okay?"
Jang Hyun-deok seems to have a hard time taking my words at face value.
He jerks his head to glare at the sky a few times before finally speaking.
"I-is it over? Did we shake them? For real?"
I was about to say something like, "This time it's really over," when suddenly something blocks my view.
[You...]
A message window. What nonsense is it spouting now?
"Get lost!"
I couldn't hold back my rising blood pressure and unleashed a bolt of lightning.
Zzzzap!
A brilliant blue thunderbolt crackles to life in the cramped van.
"Arghhh!!"
Screeech!!
Jang Hyun-deok, startled by it, screams and lets go of the wheel.
The scenery outside the window spins wildly. Oh crap, the van's flipping! "You idiot! Grab the wheel!" Screeeech!! "Whose fault is this?!" Screeech! The guardrail rushes toward us. "Argh!"
Luckily, the van stabilizes at the last second. Whew, what lunatic casts magic inside a moving vehicle?
"Wizard! What the hell was that?! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Sorry. Suddenly had a mental breakdown there."
[Quest completed!
[Bounty Quest: The Monstrous Birds of Unjeong Station]
Reward: 1,250,000 XP + 120,000,000 won]
Anyway, the quest's done. Not enough for a level-up anymore, though.
"All good now. Mission accomplished."
"Haaa... For real? I nearly died. You said it was just a long drive—why am I chasing monster birds?!"
"I told you from the start: on the way to Sejong, handle one simple task, right?"
We even agreed on the fee including that before we left.
"Wings twelve meters wide, dozens of monster birds—that's 'simple'?!"
"But we handled it cleanly, didn't we? Easy money, nice and refreshing. Best, right?"
"Last time you dragged me to Tanheon for a 'simple' job too. Why do you keep doing this to me? Got a grudge?"
"Huh? For a taxi driver who dragged me into danger from the get-go, you've got some nerve."
"Urk, that evens out with dragging me to Tanheon last time!"
"You're right, sorry about that, Hyun-deok."
"Ah, seriously! Cut that out!"
Huh? Guess that trick's worn out.
"Like I said earlier, everything went exactly according to my plan from start to finish."
"Can't that plan include keeping my baby safe next time?"
"Bun-bun's doing just fine."
Apparently at his limit, Jang Hyun-deok whips around and points at the van's ceiling.
"Look at that! Look!"
Screeech!
"Hey! Eyes on the road! The road!"
There's a hole in the rear ceiling big enough for a person's torso to fit through. That's why the wind's been whooshing in nonstop.
[Sound Distortion]
A barrier to block the noise makes things much more comfortable.
"That was part of the plan too. I'll claim repair costs from Tudor."
I prepaid Tudor for repairs knowing this would happen.
"Please, next time leave Bun-bun out of your plans."
"You say include it, then exclude it—what's with the flip-flopping?"
"Ugh... So where'd those birds go anyway?"
He casually calls those twelve-meter-wingspan behemoths "those birds."
"Hmm, probably still circling nearby. Up there on those clouds, I'd bet."
"You're just gonna leave them like that...? This area's got no decent fixers around."
"The request was just to clear them from Paju, right? A bit further down, you'll hit fixer-heavy zones. They'll handle it."
Truth is, I don't plan to abandon them, but whatever—too annoying to explain.
Might sound reckless, but Jang Hyun-deok just shrugs it off. Makes sense; he's no innocent civilian.
This is Jocheonwon.
A little further, and we'll hit the massive futuristic city of Sejong.
"Anyway, keep driving for a sec. Gotta call Tudor."
I finally get through to Tudor, but her first words match Jang Hyun-deok's exactly.
- Honey? Why'd you drag that thing all the way there?
"Were you watching?"
- Pfft, how? Unlike you, I'm a modern gal—I saw it on the internet. Real-time trends are insane right now.
Internet? Oh, right—this isn't a game.
Feels weird how the people here interact with me outside the game's systems.
I pull my smartphone away and check the trends: keywords like monstrous birds, monster birds, sky monsters, Chungcheong monster birds, Jocheonwon birds, Cheongju emergency, Cheongju monster, great collapse, Cheonan monster, etc., everywhere.
"Everyone's been living comfy, huh? Those things have been spotted over Unjeong for a month—now Chungcheong birds are trending?"
- Stuff in Paju? Nobody cares. Anyway, why drag them to Chungcheong?
"They asked to clear the birds from Unjeong Station, so I did. They wanted it done, but now everyone's complaining?"
Not really complaining, though. The quest marked complete.
- True, out of Paju means it's fine. But you're dumping them there? Chungcheong folks'll love that.
They will. Probably so much they'll slap a bounty on my head.
"I'll take care of them for good eventually."
- No, you're going way too far south? Where? How far you planning? Past there, and...
"Guessing something's off, huh?"
- Internet, remember? Trends shifted. Heh, you dump all your brainpower into mana and spells, so you're blind to everything else. Get some fresh air, exercise now and then.
Getting this from a witch who's lived since pre-19th century... Depressing.
As Tudor said, top trend: "Sejong Monster Birds." Almost to Sejong.
"Anyway, it's handled. Wire the money."
- OK, OK.
"Oh, how much repair deposit's left?"
- Hehehe, smashed the van again? Probably running low. I'll adjust and top it up for our busy wizard.
"Good. Handle the details. I'll crash overnight and head up tomorrow."
Call ends.
I take a deep breath, focus my mind, then spread my mana to check on the monster birds... no, the Shantaks.
[Sky Sight]
I see what's happening up in the sky.
"Kyaaaaack!!"
"Kweeeeeek!!"
Dozens of monsters bigger than small planes swarm above the clouds.
Shantak.
We call 'em monster birds or whatever, but they're no mere birds or beasts.
They pop up often in [Cthulhu World], and its source material, the Cthulhu Mythos.
They've got their own faith, language, even fly through space—cosmic beings not meant for Earth's atmosphere.
Dozens of them.
One-on-one, easy. But that many? Different story.
"Gyaaaaack!!"
"Kweeeek!!"
Not the sharpest, though, so controllable. Right now, they're hyped up chasing the few fireballs I made.
Tiny compared to Shantaks—like humans to baseballs—and too few, but those fireballs perfectly lured them from Paju here.
Too many to dodge forever, though?
"Kyahaack!"
One pissed-off Shantak corners a fireball. Limits of autopilot, huh? Right before it bursts, I pump in mana, giving it specific intent and direction.
Rapid trajectory calcs, force, direction, 3D motion in real-time—needs calculus. Done.
The fireball trails a long tail, tracing a path no aircraft could match. Yeah, move like that. Got it?
"Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!!"
These aren't normal fireballs luring the Shantaks.
All kin of [Living Flames]—the Burning Ones, or Fire Vampires from other worlds.
Not mere creations, they think independently, learn and adapt when taught.
And that ability...
"Achilles."
Crunch!
"Handing control back now. You got this?"
-Achilles has it.
[S-grade magical artifact 'Beacon Staff's' unique function, 'Binding of Fire Kin,' activates.
// Binding of Fire Kin: Grants the owner ability to summon and control kin of 'Living Flames.']
Achilles has the [Beacon Staff] I took from Fomalhaut's spawn fused into him. Links me to the Fire Vampires through him.
Started as a fire-breathing undead golem idea, but exceeded expectations.
Achilles is an undead golem that summons and controls the Burning Ones.
I sync with Achilles, issuing more commands. Wonder how I look to Jang Hyun-deok.
"No, higher up... Lure 'em somewhere out of sight. Good. That cloud there—perfect. Yeah, above it. Nice! Herd 'em tighter. Hold that direction slow... Yeah, around here's good. Now just circle and buy time."
Perfect. At this height, Sejong's fixers'll chill out for a bit.
Vision returns.
No more Shantaks or Burning Ones—just the inside of Jang Hyun-deok's van heading to Sejong.
"So, wizard?"
And the dopey face of that cheap blond-dyed, pierced-up thug—no, Jang Hyun-deok. His head's a bit above mine. Tall guy's lucky. Wait, no—not that. Zoning out after spirit-walking everywhere.
"Yeah?"
"Not heading back tonight?"
"What're you talking about? Told you it's a simple pit stop on the way."
"Right. So... really to Sejong?"
"Yeah."
"If that's 'simple,' what're you planning in Sejong? Burn it to the ground?"
"Well, not entirely wrong."
"Huh?"
"Nah, scrapped that. To Sejong."
"We've technically been in Sejong admin borders for a bit."
"Oh yeah? That's it? Looks slick."
Sejong comes into view.
Like this world's Paju—warped and deadly compared to reality—Sejong in [Cthulhu World] is a grotesque megacity bloated with alien tech and resources.
Towering skyscrapers warping the horizon, flashing lights even at night, massive airships cruising the skies.
The hopeful city of happiness, Sejong.