Chapter 157
Chapter 157
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Shadows of Insuma Village (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The old man's house.
The door was locked, but there was no magical seal on it.
It wasn't quite as grand as the village head's place, but it was still a pretty decent standalone home. Ridiculous. How do people build and live in a house like this beyond the Great Barrier Wall? They even have a TV here? Does broadcasting reach this far?
'Being beyond the Great Barrier Wall means no escape routes and no need to worry about the Foreigner Management Bureau. I thought it was an absurd location, but now it makes perfect sense.'
'They sell treasures provided by the Deep Ones through smugglers and procure mountain sacrifices along with supplies for the village... That's the setup.'
'To infiltrate this village... Do I have no choice but to become a sacrifice myself?'
Ah, I see.
This village is a hatchery created to produce new offspring of the Deep Ones.
All the items here are supplied by smugglers from Cheopung Island. Of course, that doesn't fully resolve all the inconsistencies and awkward setups...
'Well, it's the game lore, so what can I say?'
"Hup!"
Thud!
"Ugh..."
Did I set him down too roughly? A pitiful groan escaped from the sleeping old man's lips.
Sorry, sir, but I don't have time to worry about elder care right now.
As soon as his body was free, I locked the door. Ah, but locking it alone isn't enough for peace of mind.
I waved my hands in all directions, unleashing a barrage of security and concealment spells.
[Blur of Identity]
[Sound Distortion]
[Shadow Veil]
[Evil Eye Ward]
[Hound of Tindalos Shell]
[Seal of Light]
Whirrr! Crackle, shhh!
The pursuers aren't just the Deep One hybrids.
'This old man could turn into one of those trackers chasing me at any moment.'
That's why I set up a complex triple-layered barrier over the entire house.
The first layer erases our presence, the second is a physical barrier to keep Deep One hybrids from crawling in.
And the most crucial third blocks intervention from the abyssal entity, Dagon.
'They couldn't create something that elaborate in a place like this.'
But it would have at least a temporary effect.
[S-grade magical artifact 'Ocarina of the Deep Sea' unique function 'Melody of the Deep' activates.
Melody of the Deep: All water current-based magic effects increased by 100%.]
[Curtain of Waves]
Shhhhh—
A barrier infused with the magic of the sea.
If it came down to a direct clash, fire as a counter or summoning raw darkness would be ideal.
'But for deception, same-attribute magic is more advantageous.'
Distorting Dagon's influence just a bit is enough for now.
"Grrr, grrr. Urk. Ack, guh!"
The fallen old man suddenly writhed, letting out grotesque noises.
Why the sudden fit? Magic surged chaotically from the old man's body. This magic pattern...
"Sea stench and a curse?"
Why? I've blocked external influences, so why is this happening?
My vision suddenly blurs.
'It's like a slave's shackle.'
'If you stray beyond Dagon's influence, the Deep Sea curse activates.'
'And the way to counter it...'
Important info surfaced a beat too late.
This isn't a new curse striking suddenly. The curse was already there.
With Dagon's influence gone, it deemed the old man as having escaped the village and triggered its designated effect.
"Ughhh. Ack! Gack!"
The old man's face flushed red, then blue, then a sickly purple.
"Blorp, gack! Blub! Krk, urk!"
Groans I'd never heard a human make.
Splurt, whoooosh, gurgle!!
Is this a sound that comes from a person's mouth?
The old man began vomiting an impossible amount of seawater from his mouth and nose.
"This is..."
Damn. It's the execution method for useless traitors.
Dagon's magic was turning straight into seawater, filling the old man's lungs. Left alone, he'd drown on dry land.
"Luckily, dispelling it shouldn't be too hard."
I swiftly formed hand seals and reached toward the old man's chest. A sharp pain shot through my missing-nail middle finger.
[Spell Nullification]
Pop!
Blue magical energy burst around the old man's body.
The curse structure dismantled, but traces of Dagon's magic lingered in his body. To purge that too...
[Absorption]
Absorbing Dagon's magic into this body would turn me into a frog. I needed something to handle the absorption instead. Good thing I had a helper.
"Red, eat it all up."
Kiiii— A faint sound echoed from inside the old man.
The scattering blue energy converged on Red, which had seeped into the old man's body. How much could it handle? A little more? Complex equations swirled in my mind.
I didn't make Red for this purpose originally. Absorbing too much could make it burst. Now? No, just a bit more. Yeah. That's it.
"Good. Now. Come out!"
Crimson steam poured from the old man's back.
At the same time, an enormous noise erupted from his mouth.
"Wheeeek! Ooowheeeek! Hack! Heuk! Haaack!!"
Gurgle— whooooosh!
The seawater filling his lungs and windpipe poured out in one go. A rough treatment, but proof he was recovering.
I closely monitored the old man's condition while directing my remaining focus to the red steam drifting through the house, infusing it with magic.
"Good job. Take a short rest."
Whirrr—
The red steam, clashing with Dagon's magic, condensed into a single point.
Plop.
Back to its pre-magical creature form. A crystallized red orb formed from congealed blood.
A jewel crafted literally from blood.
'Contaminated.'
What was once a ruby-clear red now held inclusions of deep blue. Strange creatures swimming in blood-red seas, or debris like waves or coral.
'Can I reuse it? Seems tough for Red to digest.'
Still, incredible performance. I made it as a disposable scout, but it handled so much.
'It feels like it's done something similar before.'
What is this vague memory?
If I use the impurity right, I could make Red even stronger.
"Haa, haa..."
The old man's condition was stabilizing. I tucked the red orb away and spoke to him.
"How are you feeling? Better?"
"What... what in the world..."
The old man stared at me, his face pale as a ghost.
Who am I? I paused to pick the right words before answering.
"I'm someone who came from beyond the barrier to save you all."
That seemed the most plausible.
The old Kim Shin-hwa might disagree, but this is what I'd go with.
"Un... unbelievable..."
"Believe it. Didn't I just lift the curse from your body?"
"You..."
"No. The resemblance is a disguise. We'll settle things during tomorrow's festival. Once that's done, I can lift the curses on the villagers too."
The old man's face twisted in shock.
"You read my... thoughts!?"
Oops. He seemed more shocked by the method than the content.
"No. I didn't read your mind."
Your story was just too obvious, sir.
Actually, there's another reason.
Another image of the old man overlaid his face. From a different time. And in that one, I met him in a completely different way.
[The old man weeps bitterly as he tells his tale.]
'Last year, my son gathered people to resist those monsters.'
A [Cthulhu World] game screen.
I'd just forgotten for a moment. I knew every detail of this quest.
I'd experienced every possibility, every event that could happen here.
Now I could proceed comfortably.
"Last year, your son gathered people to resist the Deep Ones, right?"
"How... how do you..."
'But it failed.'
'Too many died because of it. So many...'
More info bubbled up.
"The shock left you in a death-wish stupor, drowning in drink."
Unlike the villagers desperately preparing the Sea Dragon Festival, the old man had been off by himself boozing.
Suicidal behavior, given the Deep Ones' tendencies.
"N-No..."
"Right?"
"Ah, aaah! Yes! Yes! Oh, who are you? Where did you come from?"
The old man burst into tears and bowed his head.
"Uh..."
I'm perceptive enough. He wasn't asking for my address or name. He saw me as some special, divine being.
To clear the misunderstanding, I answered casually, like always.
"Didn't I tell you? I'm a fixer from beyond the barrier. Name's just Kim Shin-hwa."
"Aaah! Shin-hwa! Lord Shin-hwa! Oh, please! Save us! Please! Save the people trapped here!"
'Ah, maybe I shouldn't have said my name.'
Blame my parents for naming me this.
"Sir, no need for that. Please stand."
I helped him up as I spoke.
"Tomorrow, I will..."
'Tomorrow, I'll go to the altar with the priestess.'
"...go to the altar with the priestess."
'And when I send the signal...'
"And when I send the signal, lead the villagers and gather... at the village entrance..."
'Gather at the village entrance.'
"...gather there."
Right. That's the plan the old Kim Shin-hwa came up with.
Am I sure?
Honestly, no clue. Maybe I'm recalling something totally wrong.
The old man bowed again.
"Understood! I will do exactly as you say!"
My business here was done.
I started to leave, but the old man grabbed me and brought out something utterly absurd.
"Take this... please use this to... against them..."
A bomb. Made with magic stones.
Magic stones fixed in a metal frame, with circuits and wires.
[Magic Stone Bomb (B-grade Explosive): An unstable homemade bomb crafted with amateur skills. Uses top-grade magic stones, so its explosive power rivals A-grade.]
Truth be told, I could produce an explosion like this with my own magic. But I took it without pointless chatter.
"Thank you. I'll make sure to use it for something important."
Info about this bomb surfaced in my mind.
'Magic stones are plentiful around here. Getting the other parts tied to them was the real hassle.'
'My son spent years making it.'
'To kill the scaled monsters!'
'But he never got to use it. It all failed.'
'Avenge us. Please! Revenge!'
I left the old man and stepped out.
'What a mess of events.'
The sky was darkening.
The milky fog had turned an ominous gray, swirling in eerie patterns.
'The frog bastards are still prowling.'
Get inside already; it's getting dark.
[Blur of Presence]
[Leap]
My body felt heavy, but no choice. I leaped across rooftops, evading the frogs' eyes.
'Anyway, sticking to the established route so far.'
I chose this old man because his behavior stood out from the other villagers.
And sure enough, he was key to this quest.
Everything was proceeding according to the old Kim Shin-hwa's plan—or the quest designer's intent.
'If I hadn't recalled Dagon at that timing and gotten pursued, I might've just ditched the old man.'
Part of the plan too? Nah, that doesn't make sense.
Overthinking it.
On second thought, given my personality, I'd probably reach this point even without the Dagon hiccup.
A loose plan like 'Future me will handle it.'
'Better to think I nearly missed it but caught it thanks to luck and coincidence.'
One more unfinished task.
'Head to where the boat is.'
Didn't remember during the day, but now I do.
'There's an altar for Dagon in the mountain behind the village.'
'And between the altar and village...'
'Absurd, but there's a boat in the woods.'
"That must be it."
Having to hike in this body. Tough luck. Not too far, but it'd be easier with... that guy.
That guy, I mean.
The blond who drove that call van...
Tall...
What was his name?
"..."
What's Tudor's business called?
What was Curtain Call's favorite guy's name? The one with that weird trait?
Who is Hyun-seon?
I glanced aside to check my status.
[Status: Partial Amnesia]
"Damn. I get it now."
Memories returning?
No.
Not returning.
'They're getting tangled.'
Instead of forgotten ones surfacing, I'm forgetting what I know.