Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Shadows of In-su Village (2)
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A massive surge of mana floods into my eyes.
Countless pieces of information press down on my brain, while scorching heat focuses on my eyeballs, hot enough to melt flesh.
My vision stains red.
The veins in my eyes burst, turning into bloody tears that stream down.
‘Keep using this, and my eyesight’s gonna tank.’
A pointless thought.
The target is the safe right in front of me.
As expected, the safe has a far softer and looser structure than the treasure chest I had to deal with last time.
‘Handle it right, and I might be able to open it without breaking it this time.’
I raise both hands and concentrate my mana.
No [Carcosa’s Mask], but recreating the magical form it produced isn’t hard.
‘Something like this?’
A golden aura blooms at the tips of my ten fingers. The ten strands of aura each take on different shapes at my command.
To anyone else, I’d look like a mad doctor who’d grafted scalpels, scissors, saw blades, and drills onto his own fingertips.
I press my ten fingers into the safe’s thinnest, most fragile spots.
Tsssss!!
The safe’s embedded will forms a repulsive force to push out the intruder’s touch without permission.
- You are not my master. The will of the Abyss blesses me.
Unlike the treasure chest that craved slaughter and blood, this will is calm, steadfast, and utterly bland.
“Cut the crap. I’ve got friends too.”
I awaken the ‘Echo of Asphyxiation’ dwelling in my mana core. A fragment of the Abyss gifted by an abyssal being to its bastard child.
[System: Hidden trait ‘Inheritor of the Corpse Pile’ activates. The异形 existences that have submitted to you become your subordinates.]
Chrrrrrk—
Not exactly a fitting trait for the situation. But I just need the abyssal mana it grants. I adapt the power of the [Inheritor of the Corpse Pile] trait and slam it straight into the safe.
Bzzztzzzt!!
Sparks explode in every direction.
Grrrrumble!!
The whole building shakes like there’s an earthquake. It’s shrouded by barriers, but I doubt it’s completely hidden.
[‘Magical Vault – Abyssal Safe’ resists your trait.]
[Submission judgment in progress…]
[Judgment successful! ‘Magical Vault – Abyssal Safe’ recognizes the ‘Echo of Asphyxiation’ within you and submits to your power.]
Grrrlk—
A grinding of metal echoes from the safe.
‘Feels just like that scraping sound.’
It’s in a similar state to Dolly, the one I tamed before.
Wonder how Dolly’s doing? My last memory of it was curled up like a stone chunk in the corner of the living room.
Ugh, no time to waste.
The pressure on my brain is unbearable. As a horrific sensation hits—like I’m about to vomit up my own brain—I hurriedly release [Perception].
“Urk…”
At the same moment, a glob of blood spurts from under my eyes. Wearing a mask makes messes like this the worst.
I muster mana to draw the blood and clots streaming down my face, then harden them. Leaving bloodstains around could lead to weird problems later. The blood turns into glass beads, which I tuck away in my pocket.
“Phew.”
Second time using [Perception]. Feels awkward both times. Totally different from using it in the game.
Coincidentally, both times were for opening boxes.
‘If I could simplify and diagram the info this spell provides…’
Ah, how do I refine this?
This magic isn’t just for popping open boxes. It’s power for true miracles. A special realm to reach the genuine Abyss…
“Hmm, but.”
All that prerequisite stuff for miracles, special magical realms to reach the true Abyss—it’s really just flavor text I shoehorned into this world’s lore…
‘Isn’t this basically debug or dev mode?’
That thought kills any awe.
“…”
Or maybe it’s a pretty solid angle? If so, I could use this ability to…
But not the time to dig deeper. To keep the inspiration from fading, I mull it over while checking the safe.
First thing that catches my eye inside: gold bars.
‘That’s a haul.’
The room feels twice as bright just from them.
Shhhhhh…
And with it, the sound of waves. No, it’s an auditory hallucination. Not real waves.
Along with the hallucination comes an unpleasant fishy stench.
Not the clean image of a clear sea. It’s the stench of a horrific, sinister ocean that devours sailors and ships, dragging them into endless darkness.
“Cursed gold.”
So this is the water ghost mana I sensed from the village head’s body.
Stuff pulled from the sea? It reeks of horrific curses and grudges.
“You keep this at home, you won’t last long.”
It sucks the life from its owner, stirs envy in others, breeds conflict and hatred.
“Not like they want me to trade this at Thousand Gold Hall for scraps.”
The upper shelf of the safe holds something other than gold bars.
A fist-sized little box… and next to it, that lump—is it a crown?
A Western-style crown, made of gold that gleams unnaturally.
“Ughhh…”
Seized by abject terror, I stagger back.
I want to look away, but my neck feels locked. I can’t ignore the crown.
It’s an object of bewildering beauty.
Golden crown.
No, not pure gold. No mere metal could produce such radiance. It’s forged from some otherworldly alloy that shines brilliantly.
Perfectly symmetrical, but far too large for a human head. Its surface is etched with motifs and images symbolizing the deep abyss.
Waves. Below them, the deep sea, and places deeper still.
A great city slumbering where no human could ever reach.
Endless pillars rising. At their center, the denizens of the deep.
A colossal, enormous monster commanding those denizens.
Hulking beasts, primal motions, malformed residents, grotesque beings that are neither frog nor human. And towering over them, the great high priest.
This isn’t made for humans.
[This crown is blessed by an abyssal being. You have comprehended the grotesque, blasphemous will etched upon its surface. These motifs alone possess the power to claw at and defile the human mind.
Using Mental Fortitude stat to overcome this fear. Mental Fortitude check… success.]
I wipe the cold sweat trickling down my neck and step back.
“Damn, what the hell is this?”
Ah, a gift straight from an abyssal being?
Heavily stylized, but the images depict deep-sea adapted creatures, horrific hybrids of human and other.
And those monsters trigger my phobias with their nightmarish shapes. Hard to look at for long.
With trembling hands, I cast a spell.
[Veil of Darkness]
Shadows bloom from my hand, enshrouding the crown.
“Phew.”
A heavy sigh escapes from deep in my lungs.
No way they wanted me to take this crown.
The message from past Kim Shin-hwa…
Safe, small box, abyssal artifact.
“This must be it?”
The little box next to the crown. It has a keyhole too. But this is just a plain metal box.
[Unlock]
Click.
Good. Let’s keep it simple.
Inside the box: a small piece made of gold, rubies, and emeralds.
“No, not quite a ‘piece.’”
Geometrically curved streamlined body with large and small holes punched all over.
“An ocarina?”
Interesting. Way more holes than the ones I remember.
Looks made for someone with six fingers per hand—twelve total.
Plenty of ways to check its origins and use, even without memories.
[Ocarina of the Deep Sea (S-rank Magic Tool): An instrument from the deepest sea. Only those inheriting the bloodline of its deep-sea dwellers can use it.
This is an accessory for another magic tool. Playing it seems to activate another magic tool.
Melody of the Deep Sea: All water current (水流) magic effects increased by 100%.
Further details require study.]
On paper from the tooltip, it seems legit.
But it’s made of the same material as the cursed gold bars. And it carries an even stronger curse.
A potent malediction brimming with malice to destroy its owner.
“Eh, I’ve been hauling around plenty of cursed junk already.”
No biggie. Though turning into something like the village head? That’d suck. But I could work around it.
I pocket the [Ocarina of the Deep Sea] and cast spells to mask its presence and aura.
Good thing it’s not the crown. Even ignoring the nightmare imagery and madness, how the hell would I hide something that big?
[System: Enhanced Vigilance activates.]
“Hm?”
Ziiing…
At that moment, the alarm spell outside triggers.
Village head? No, not him.
Human-sized, but not just one. Several. Not coming through the front gate—they’re scaling the back fence.
“Ugh, got too complacent.”
I shove the box back into the safe and hurry to the living room.
Didn’t close the safe, but it’s on my side now.
Kiiiik—clunk. Kiririk—
The safe closes quietly on its own and locks.
I use telekinesis to shut the dresser and bedroom door, then suppress my presence and sit on the sofa.
“…”
Slowly, I bow my head. Like I dozed off waiting for dinner.
If I’m right, this isn’t an attack or assassination. Stay quiet, kill my presence, and nothing happens.
Maintaining the pose, I glance at the TV screen.
The pitch-black screen reflects the living room perfectly.
First thing I see: me on the sofa, wearing a bizarre wooden mask.
It covers the upper face—eyes and nose—but leaves mouth and chin exposed.
Bulging eyeballs, shriveled skin like a frog’s. A frog mask.
Behind my feigned-dozing self looms a large window.
And on that window, a draped black shadow.
‘Those the “nice” villagers?’
They look real friendly.
Reflected shadows on the TV surface. Can’t make out details, but their silhouettes are bizarre and ominous.
Hunched postures. Bulky builds. Lumps on their faces… what are those? Tumors? Protrusions? Maybe freakishly bulging eyes.
‘Wearing masks like mine?’
Nah. The village head’s grotesque mug flashes in my mind.
Eldritch shadows. Like something inhuman forcibly draped in human skin.
Silence.
My tension-sharpened senses catch the breathing of those grotesque shadows lined up outside.
“Grk… Grk…”
“Grk, grk…”
“Grk, grk, grrrk.”
The village head made similar noises, but these are worse.
They watch me, throats croaking like frogs. Doing nothing, just observing.
‘Not here to attack, as expected.’
They want a living sacrifice.
And part of the ritual is that sacrifice strolling the village on their own two feet, entering the shrine.
To pull off such a convoluted, irrational rite without hitches, they can’t reveal their true nature lightly.
‘Anyway, past Kim Shin-hwa seems to want me to follow the ritual up to the shrine.’
No clue what’s waiting, but I’ll play along.
After waiting ages, the grk-grk from behind starts fading.
They’re losing interest. The villagers slip back over the fence one by one.
Even after their presences vanish, I wait longer before sighing.
“Phew… Damn. Making me pull all sorts of stunts.”
Probably sensed the mana flare when the safe opened and came to check.
“Right, what now?”
Village head said hole up at home, but no need to obey.
Better head out and scout the village.
“Alright. Time for a village tour.”
Past Kim Shin-hwa said find the boat. Let’s check where it is.