Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Shadow of Insuma Village (1)
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The old man introduced himself as the village head of this place.
We exchanged a few more brief words after that, but inevitably, it led to situations where past Kim Shin-hwa would ask about things he already knew.
The only things I managed to learn?
That the old man was quite wealthy, and that past Kim Shin-hwa had come here on his own to help with the village ritual.
“Young man, everyone in the village is grateful for your help. We can’t afford to ruin the once-a-year ritual again, can we?”
“Ruin it again?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? Last year’s ritual assistant was a total mess. The village ended up in chaos because of it.”
The village head clicked his tongue with a guttural “grrrk, grk” sound.
The ritual assistant—or yusa, as they called it here—was the term for someone who came to help with the village festival.
The skin on his face twitched. It looked like the hide of someone turned inside out was trying to rise up. I ignored the eerie sight as best I could and pressed on.
“What happened?”
“You came here knowing all that, so why ask again?”
Damn. I don’t know.
“I’m just worried I might make a mistake during the important event.”
Not a bad answer, right? The village head fixed his huge eyes on me. Guess I won’t be calling Hyun’s eyes big anymore.
Was it sudden wariness? Or maybe my questions were just annoying him. Either way, he turned his head slightly and headed toward the front entrance.
“Can’t let a hungry guest keep starving, now.”
“No, Village Head.”
“You stay put, young man. I’ll go to the village hall and grab something to eat.”
No point holding him back anymore. It was getting awkward to keep him anyway, so I let him go.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. It’s about time you started helping out anyway. Might take a bit, so hang tight.”
With that, he opened the inner gate and stepped out.
He paused between the inner gate and the entrance, then—suspiciously enough—locked the inner gate.
Click.
“A lock that can’t be opened from inside.”
Not something you’d install in a normal home. It wasn’t to keep intruders out—it was to trap someone inside.
The village head even rattled the inner gate to confirm it was secure before opening the front door and heading outside.
Click. Thud. Beep, beep-beep.
The front entrance lock sounds followed. And it wasn’t just one—there was a digital lock too, making three in total. Even after locking them all, he rattled the door again to double-check.
“Those locks probably can’t be opened from inside either.”
Only after the front door shut did I let out a sigh.
“He’s acting blatantly suspicious.”
His words sounded like what a normal rural old man might say, but from his appearance to his actions, he teetered right on the edge between everyday and unnatural.
I’d called him monstrous, but he was barely still “human,” and his suspicious behavior just barely stayed within the realm of caution.
“For now, the village head is a risk factor.”
To be precise, the entire village was dangerous.
“Damn, thinking about it, this is exactly what the message window declared, isn’t it?”
It had said something like this:
[The knowledge you hold of this world. How long will it serve you? The moment your knowledge fails you—what expression will you make? Beware the chaotic future ahead.]
It couldn’t “foresee” my actions. I’d already confirmed that during the [Mask of the Faceless One] incident. But it could make predictions.
Which meant signs had appeared without me realizing.
“Maybe this isn’t the first time.”
Yeah.
Once I thought about it that way, it didn’t make sense that I hadn’t noticed “it” for so long.
I must have seen things related to my phobias several times.
Each time, I’d suffered localized amnesia, gradually forgetting the associated information.
“The problem is, this time it’s a big deal.”
Along with the memories of that period, I’d lost all info on this quest tied to my phobia.
The obstacles in Insuma Village, the story, the otherworldly races that would appear, and the god they served.
What a mess.
“If I overcome this madness, will I recover the lost memories?”
Either way, I couldn’t just sit here passively.
I needed to secure clues before the village head returned.
“Looks like a classic quest setup.”
If I followed the standard攻略 route, I’d get the flow.
“Search the house, take a tour of the village, and something shows up at night.”
If I didn’t gather enough info today, I’d die once the festival started tomorrow. Wait, no—not die, become a villager?
Like the village head? Grrrk, grrk.
I placed my palm against the inner gate and released mana.
Whirrr...
The concentrated mana passed straight through the inner gate, out the entrance, and into the yard outside. The yard wasn’t very big.
The mana hit the fence next. A barrier formed along it in a circle.
“Still playing friendly with the villagers, huh.”
No point setting up an aggressive barrier right away.
[Alarm]
A simple detection barrier. It would alert me to any living creature or mana approaching the fence.
That should let me spot intruders in advance.
Good enough for precautions. Now, time to search the house.
I didn’t want to wander this big house with my frail Strength 5 and Vitality 7.
I raised mana and spread out my detection across the entire house.
[Detection]
Whirrr...
“See? There’s something after all.”
Location: the kitchen.
The kitchen looked long unused. No signs of cooking or meals. The fridge... Oh. Impressive.
It was stocked with several dead rats.
“Interesting diet.”
Probably placed for horror effect. Rats don’t matter. I bent down and reached under the sink.
Amid the sticky floor mat, dust, and bug corpses...
I found a crumpled sheet of paper. There was a small trash bin right nearby.
“Crumbled it up to toss, but it rolled under the sink?”
Or maybe past Kim Shin-hwa hid it here?
It looked like a memo torn from a notebook...
“But there’s a faint trace of my mana.”
This was a message from past me to present me.
[Things the ritual assistant must do at Insuma Village’s Dragon King Festival.
Wrote it down in case I forget! First: 589, 356, 1632.
If you’re so panicked you forgot your own name, just die.
1399. Ritual assistant = helps with the ritual and acts as officiant. Both are good people like teachers, so help them well.
924. On the night of the ritual, stay overnight in the shrine with the officiant. Something to do there?
755. From the day before the ritual, the assistant must abstain from alcohol and tobacco, keep neat appearance. Anything else?
6. Must keep wearing the mask. Important ritual for an outsider assistant to blend with villagers. The previous assistant who came before me]
“Why follow clichés even here?”
The paper was torn, so the rest was unreadable.
Oh well. But this alone told me a lot.
Past Kim Shin-hwa had anticipated losing his memories afterward.
“‘Just die,’ huh.”
Not past Kim Shin-hwa trash-talking me.
It’s a code. Not hard to crack.
Start with Kim Shin-hwa 1399.
Names of characters I made.
Too lazy to invent new ones each time, so I’d tack numbers onto Kim Shin-hwa.
“My name, Kim Shin-hwa. Remember. Death.”
Characters in [Cthulhu World] had limited resurrection options.
Basically game over. But thanks to Intelligence, I could recall all 1,700+ deaths of my characters.
So, this memo’s phrases were a cipher only someone who remembered my characters’ deaths could solve.
Kim Shin-hwa 1399. And the officiant and village head are like teachers.
How did Kim Shin-hwa 1399 die?
Killed by a cultist NPC named Woo Gwang-no-sa.
So, watch out for the officiant and village head.
“Why use his own death method for the code?”
To be precise, a game character I raised.
Kim Shin-hwa 924.
Betrayed and killed by Park Gwang-rim while finding a lost item for her request. So...
At the shrine—not betrayal, but find a lost item?
“Ah, it’s in the shrine?”
My lost artifact must be there. Good, recoverable.
Kim Shin-hwa 755.
Tried ramming an abyssal being with a yacht and died.
Yacht—no, a boat? Prepare a boat? Is this place an island?
Kim Shin-hwa 6.
When did I even raise this one? Super early character. Wandered cluelessly and went mad, died.
The torn end means I can’t interpret the Kim Shin-hwa 6 part. Probably a madness warning, but undecipherable—kinda scary.
“Lucky, maybe I’ll find the rest somewhere random.”
Either way, reassuring. Past Kim Shin-hwa predicted all this.
So, me losing memories and getting stuck in Insuma Village wasn’t an unfair loss—it was part of a bigger plan to gain more.
“Then I just act as best I can.”
Do what I can right now.
I headed straight to the master bedroom.
The door was locked, but that was no obstacle.
[Unlock]
Click.
Master bedroom secured.
The village head’s room as owner, but like the kitchen, no signs of use.
Still damp, sticky floor mat. It peeled with a “smack” underfoot.
A queen-sized bed in the corner, piled high with blankets.
I reached out and brushed them. Dust on my palm.
“Haven’t slept here in a while.”
I recalled the village head’s eerie appearance. Fridge full of rats—his health food? Mutation type? Long-term villagers change appearance. Blessed by Cthulhu mythos, reborn as altered beings.
“Memo order suggests do this first.”
Past Kim Shin-hwa’s note: 589, 356, 1632.
Kim Shin-hwa 589. Died to trap opening a safe.
Kim Shin-hwa 356. Monster popped out of small box, died.
Kim Shin-hwa 1632. Touched abyssal-blessed treasure, died.
“Means grab the safe’s contents, right?”
I’d spotted the safe’s location with detection earlier.
Even without, hints were placed to find it. House and village built on game logic.
Blankets dumped on bed means,
“Something in the wardrobe.”
Creak...
Inside, a massive safe big enough for a person. Heavy—bottom shelf removed to bear the weight.
Not a wardrobe with safe inside. Safe wrapped in wardrobe-like shell.
“But this...”
Dull metal body.
Classic design: big door, dial, keyhole.
I pushed mana into its surface.
Zzzt-zzzt-crackle!!
“Not a pushover.”
Plain-looking safe repels my mana?
No, mana intrusion fails outright. Lost mana circled the surface, sparking uselessly.
“Where’d he get this?”
Same type as the treasure box holding [Mask of the Faceless One].
Won’t open without the right key.
“Key’s probably with the village head.”
Knock him out, steal it, trick him—dangerous action required.
“Could force it open anyway...”
Lots of sparks. Can I hide the mess?
Plus, no [Mask of Carcosa].
At least softer-looking than the last treasure box?
“Sigh, no choice. First, that window’s the biggest risk?”
I extended my left hand, layering a new barrier on the window. Not just alarm—aggressive one zapping lightning at approachers.
Then a new barrier around the whole room.
To minimize the upcoming noise.
Good.
“Whew.”
Short deep breath, then activate the spell. Item in this-level safe must be amazing.
[Perception]