Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Paju's Outsiders
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Park Kwang-rim paused for a moment.
He must be pondering what I meant.
“This is your specialty, right? Scams and info manipulation.”
- My specialty is finding people. And I'm a detective.
But as a side gig, he runs scams, fakes information, mobilizes fixers to beat people up, and even collects debts on behalf of others.
Just like Tudor, another broker, runs the Basilissa café as a front, this Chinese broker operates a business too.
[Opposition Detective People-Finding Expert Adultery Investigation Evidence Investigation Scam Investigation Errand Center].
“It's basically an errand center in the end, huh? So, can you do it?”
- You want me to create multiple wizards named Kim Shin-hwa?
“Make about six scattered across the country. Not wizards, though—fixers. I'll explain their unique abilities and traits separately.”
- So you want the name Kim Shin-hwa to become casually famous everywhere? You've been working on that through Basilissa anyway, right?
The word "casually" rubs me the wrong way a bit, but whatever.
“Something like that.”
- Spreading rumors about the existence of some ability user isn't hard, even for a regular person.
“What I want isn't just rumor level. Make addresses, registrations, and IDs for them actually living in those areas. They need full backstories—childhood friends, growth history, everything.”
- That's tricky.
“How much?”
- I'd have to quote you properly. Plus, if we're doing it like you said, we'd need to buy a house for each, and with extras adding up to about a hundred people total, even without my fee, you're looking at around 6 billion won or more.
“Give me a proper quote.”
- Considering the help last time, I'll waive the fee.
“No, take the fee. Don't betray me later claiming you’re broke.”
- I won't betray you.
We're in a solid alliance now, so he won't betray me unless something major happens.
- Anyway, since you're doing this...
No way this con artist would end it there.
“What?”
- How about making Fomalhaut famous too while we're at it?
“Hmm.”
Park Kwang-rim had dragged his feet last time, weighing options between me and Fomalhaut's descendants, and got chewed out big time for it. Looks like he wants to shake that off completely.
In other words, while spreading rumors, also leak that the fixer Kim Shin-hwa stole from Fomalhaut's descendants.
“Well, that's fine.”
- Great. Now I can finally sleep easy.
We wrapped up the specifics and hung up.
I stayed lying on the bed, continuing my thoughts.
By chasing the case's trail—chasing and chasing—it'll eventually lead to that weird bird wandering Paju, the Shantak.
Where did this Shantak come from?
Who was the fixer that lured it down to Sejong City?
Who was the broker that handled the request?
Soon, the Foreigner Management Office will probably raid Basilissa at least once.
‘Tudor won't talk about me, though.’
Even so, there are plenty of gaps, and hiding everything has its limits.
As long as they don't trace the wizard Kim Shin-hwa living in that starving mansion in Paju, it's fine, right?
Truth be told, the rumors Tudor already spread make the fixer Kim Shin-hwa's tracks seem way too extensive for one person.
That's why I'm creating even more Kim Shin-hwas, spacing them out over time.
‘It's not a perfect countermeasure.’
But I'm doing what I can, one thing at a time.
I'm not without impatience to get stronger faster, but no need to rush. Better a slow, sure method.
“There aren't many ways to power up drastically anyway.”
I could trade with that guy getting his teeth pulled in the basement and get massively stronger right away, like pay-to-win. But... eh?
The cost isn't cash—it's my future.
‘I traded for [Perception] because it's a spell I'll really need, but nothing else yet.’
There are other ways to get them too.
I shouldn't cheap out my remaining time.
Getting stronger, making money, gaining fame, collecting grimoires, fooling the guy beyond the message window—those are just means I've chosen.
My real goal is separate.
‘Survive, no matter what.’
As a castaway trapped in this otherworld called [Cthulhu World], survival is my top priority.
And the ultimate goal?
“What else? Escape.”
Back to where I lived.
A flexible, squishy world—no superpowers, magic, gods, or demons. Power and knowledge to achieve anything? Don't need 'em.
“Phew...”
I raised both hands to grasp the mask covering my face.
In this world, power and knowledge are curses.
Getting stronger, smarter?
That's true terror, madness, and falling into the abyss.
And the ruin I could reach isn't simple death.
Death, I could accept.
I could end up like what I did to others.
‘Like suffering for 254,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 years, for example?’
Horrifying.
What I can do, others can do to me as easily as breathing.
“And I learned one lesson.”
Never trust abyssal beings.
Some help me, but it's just whims. True trust? Impossible.
‘That three-eyed freak from the Yellow Grove Church threw his comrade's head to block me.’
The three-eyes' stylish helmet toss comes back to mind.
Left-handed. There's a saying lefties come from hell itself, but that's not the point right now.
Chaotic as it was, I'm not dumb enough not to know what I need to protect.
My fingertips touch the belt securing the mask.
The [Mask of Carcosa] is fixed to the head with three leather belts, plus magical safeguards to hold, secure, and protect it.
‘All that got smashed in one hit.’
And right before, the [Feast's Offering] trait activated.
Clearly, an abyssal being lent power to that three-eyes freak.
‘The Yellow Grove Church worships the [King in Yellow].’
Simple syllogism: the culprit is the [King in Yellow].
He attacked my mask.
Why?
‘...No idea.’
Boredom? Part of some grand plan beyond me?
Either way, they're my enemies too.
“Tch, too bad I can't do anything about it yet.”
Can't reach him in one go. So I do what I can, step by step.
The next scenario should pop up soon. I put on a show for all those cultists in Sejong City.
A new abyssal being not seen before will intervene in a completely novel way.
It could mean new crisis approaching, or more cards for me to play.
“Alright. Let's check Paju's vibe today and drop by Basilissa.”
Bonus if a quest for a decent artifact pops up—might as well do some work.
“...”
But my waist feels weak.
Just lie here a bit longer.
No, sleep more...?
* * *
Dark hours. Geumchon-dong.
Geumchon-dong is the old downtown at Paju's heart.
It's the neighborhood most like real-world Paju in vibe.
A charming, shabby, rundown mix of the '80s, '90s, 2000s, and modern day.
Of course, packed with game-only weirdness too. Like the giant bronze Buddha at Hakryeong Mountain Forest Park.
The massive Buddha statue looms on the hill, overlooking Geumchon-dong.
I'm skateboarding through Geumchon-dong's alleys.
Rattle-rattle-
Not the best spot for boarding, honestly. Mismatched sidewalk blocks, cracked asphalt left to rot, roadside signs blocking the way.
‘What the hell is Paju City Hall doing?’
Jang Hyun-deok says most owners just wait for redevelopment, ruins or not. City Hall stays silent.
Makes sense—if you leave it, monsters or cultists will smash it eventually. No need to pay for demolition.
“Hey, wizard. Want a gift?”
A gloomy voice from the alley's shadows.
“No thanks.”
These things showing up already? A ragged old man wrapped head to toe in filthy cloth like rags. Looks like a crazy homeless guy at a glance, but...
Glancing over, centipedes and worms pour from the gaps in his triple-layered wrappings.
“Heeek, heuk- hah! Shieeek-!”
Another sound from a different alley. Not from a sane mind or healthy body. No idea who's making it—probably some alien or otherkin.
I kept my speed, weaving through the tangled back alleys.
“This dump's even seedier than usual.”
Every shadow hides bizarre vagrants, and forbidden otherworldly tongues echo. Looks like more than a few.
Come to think of it, Geumchon-dong feels off from the norm.
I whistled, taking in the sights.
“Aliens crawling in now too?”
A six-armed peddler sells indescribable glowing liquid to a five-jointed customer.
A drunk in a dim corner alley vomits bug-mixed bile.
Vagrants barely holding human shape.
And a hulking brute getting pummeled by a petite woman.
“Die, you bastard! Die!”
Oof, that's unrelated to aliens. Curtain Call.
No clue what the brute did, but he's alive and kicking, huh?
I passed through this chaos-and-madness tangle, reaching Geumchon-dong's most mystical back-alley spot.
A clean, bright building sandwiched between grimy, dark ones.
Basilissa.
The witch's café and the most influential broker's base in Geumchon-dong.
“Wow, really packed today.”
Basilissa buzzes with a ton of fixers.
“An, nyong, Kim Shin-hwa?”
A ripped inverted-triangle torso, tight waistline on a killer body, but a huge monitor for a head—weirdo.
Basilissa's barista, Orb, greets me.
“Hey, Orb. Crazy crowd today, huh?”
“Boom times, yeah. Tudor says, loves, Kim Shin-hwa.”
A big heart and L.O.V.E. flash on Orb's monitor.
“Love? No idea what that's about, but you're in a good mood?”
Orb tilts his head—or monitor—seemingly pondering a reply. “Um—” Before he finishes, Tudor's voice rings out.
“Oh, my love! You're here?”
Sudden silence everywhere.
Dozens of fixers turn to stare at me in unison.
Love? Who's that? Tudor loves him? What's with the mask? Oh, I know. Duh, idiot—it's Kim Shin-hwa! Yeah, right. Seen him before. Kim Shin-hwa! The one and only. That little guy's that big a deal? No? The fixer who solved the demon violin case? Oh, the 3,000-to-1 Kim Shin-hwa? Blood brothers with Cheongho. You know, the ghoul feast incident!
Wait, 3,000 what?
“Honey, come here right now!”
“My turn?!”
A waiting fixer protests.
“Oh, sorry—this is super urgent. You get it, right?”
Tudor winks at the protester.
“Y-yeah, s-sure, of c-course.” The fixer mumbles, collapsing in a daze. That good, huh?
The immortal witch with 20 Charm and transcendent beauty approaches me.
“Honey, come on in. Let's talk.”