Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Wrapping Up
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Jangmyeongsan was a low, modest mountain.
It wasn't tucked away in some remote wilderness outside the city, either. You could reach it in no time once you left the bustling streets of Paju.
That was why JJ had accepted this job. The broker who'd tipped him off, Purmir, had called it a "simple gig."
"Damn it. That bastard Purmir. Simple my ass!"
"Cut the swearing. You're making the General uncomfortable."
"Hah!"
JJ glanced at his companions. One middle-aged geezer, two young women, one guy, and JJ himself—five fixers in total.
"And this makes any sense?!"
Pouring rain cascaded down.
They'd set out to find the "Hungry Mansion" hidden somewhere on Jangmyeongsan, but they hadn't spotted so much as a house. They'd gotten lost on this tiny little mountain.
"Let's pull back for now. This is a barrier. It's messing with our sense of direction through that sneaky terrain layout and the flow of mana."
The woman in the bizarre getup—exaggerated military uniform, bulletproof vest, sunglasses, and a flashy bell that looked like something a shaman might use—replied. Her name was Amina.
"With our current numbers and gear, we're screwed."
"Damn—"
It pissed him off, but it was a reasonable suggestion.
And what the hell was with this endless downpour?
"Is this rain coming down because of that barrier too?"
"I told you no, same as before. This rain's separate from the barrier. The General's scared. Something weird's happening up north."
Amina was a shaman who served the General Spirit.
This rain was unnatural. There was strange mana mixed in with the rainwater. The last thing he wanted was to wander even more while getting soaked in it.
What the hell was going on?
JJ looked north with an uneasy expression. That horrific explosion sound from somewhere up there earlier.
He'd thought the sky was ripping open and the mountain collapsing.
"The Great Collapse! The Great Collapse is beginning! Collapse is coming! The great gods shall descend!"
Night Owl—the veteran fixer (whom JJ called a middle-aged geezer)—let out a scream. Surviving long in this line of work meant he was incredibly skilled, but it also meant he was even more of a lunatic.
"The old man's having another fit."
"Give him some Nirvana."
The mental enhancer used by weathered fixers.
Thanks to Nirvana, they could fight monsters that shattered human minds and defiled souls just by existing.
"Haaah—"
Night Owl inhaled the Nirvana and gazed up at the storm-ravaged night sky with an ecstatic expression.
"Over there—they're coming."
"Coming? What're you talking about?"
"They're coming! They're on their way! The great leader who will save this world is returning!"
Side effect? Nirvana was a miracle drug, but it came with dependency and mild side effects like hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, delirium, convulsions, chills, and even the manifestation of psychic powers or limited precognition.
Without much hope, JJ looked in the direction Night Owl was pointing.
"Huh? What the hell is that?"
Crack—creeeak—
The sound of perfectly healthy trees toppling over.
A massive shadow suddenly appeared higher up on Jangmyeongsan. The enormous shadow was...
Pitch-black dorsal fins and six gigantic legs.
And a pitch-black, horrific form that seemed forged from the darkness of the night sky.
The absurd monster charged westward, thundering along with booming footsteps—BOOM BOOM BOOM!
With trembling hands, JJ pulled out his own Nirvana and said,
"L-Let's head back...."
He'd abandon this job. This was beyond what they could handle.
Some ridiculous monster lived on this mountain.
* * *
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"Shin-hwa-nim! Kim Shin-hwa-nim!"
"Waaaaah!!"
Dozens of villagers were going wild, cheering and trying to grab even the hem of my clothes.
Some bowed their heads, others wept, and a few couldn't contain their emotions—they screamed or collapsed.
"This grace! We'll never forget it!"
"Thank you.... Thank you...."
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down."
Hmm, a bit overwhelming.
I was on the verge of collapsing myself, in more ways than one.
To avoid exposing the location of my home, the Hungry Mansion, I'd burned through a massive amount of mana.
No matter how much it rained, you couldn't move a ship on a mountain without water.
So I'd disassembled the spirit golems, reassembled them, and fused them to the sides of the ship.
In an instant, the ship became a beetle-like thing with six legs, and I cast [Shadow Veil] over it for magical camouflage.
From a distance, it must've looked like a massive black monster with six legs—but
'Who'd be dumb enough to wander around Jangmyeongsan at this hour anyway.'
Too much rain. I just wanted to get home.
I calmed the endlessly grateful villagers and loaded them onto the buses.
Two buses in total.
The people trapped in In-su Village had been captured from all over the country by the deep sea folk. I'd hired buses for a nationwide tour to send them home.
"Come on, everyone, hop on the buses. Time to get you back home."
Once the people were loaded, Park Kwang-rim approached under a large umbrella.
"I've handled things as you instructed."
Awkward Korean accent.
Park Kwang-rim was obsessed with standard speech, but he couldn't fix his dialect.
"Good work. The gold?"
"That weird stone box ate it all up."
Grumble-grrr—clatter-clunk—
The stone roller spinning gleefully in the downpour.
It looked like a monster but acted like a tame giant dog. Seemed happy to satisfy its hoarding urge after so long.
"Where'd you find something so docile?"
It was originally an artifact from the same lineage as mimics—those fantasy monsters lurking in underground caves, waiting to devour victims.
"Luck of the draw."
Ever since contracting with me, it had turned into this giant puppy personality.
"But why bother converting it all to cash one by one?"
"Hm?"
The escapees from In-su Village hadn't just showered me with thanks and cheers.
They'd eagerly handed over gold jewelry and mana stones—and I'd exchanged it all for cash.
It required mobilizing a hefty amount of cash, so I'd called in Park Kwang-rim to handle it cleanly.
Maybe my actions were too outlandish, because even the villagers said things like,
"No, this is our gift to you!"
"You can just take it!"
"Why go this far for us?"
Truth was, all their gold jewelry was cursed by the deep sea.
Stuff on the same level as the gold from defeating the Golden Dancer before.
Not something ordinary folks could easily offload.
I'd turned it straight into cash for them, so of course they were grateful.
Just when I thought we were done sorting it out, Park Kwang-rim sidled up and whispered,
"What are these people that you're going this far for them?"
"Hm. Just people."
"Just people?"
"Yeah. Just folks."
"Huh."
Park Kwang-rim looked dumbfounded for a moment.
200 million per bus.
Two buses, so 400 million total.
Under normal circumstances, no one would need such an absurd amount.
But Paju was in chaos right now.
In the middle of that, securing two buses to carry dozens of people nationwide while maintaining perfect security and the ability to punch through surreal dangers? Tough ask.
Plus, Park Kwang-rim's fee: 40 million separate.
"You're gonna get called a sucker later."
"Let 'em call me what they want."
Sucker? Please.
That was just idiots judging by appearances.
Cash held no real value to me anymore.
'I'm escaping this world, after all.'
I couldn't lug unlimited cash through the escape process anyway—anything beyond a certain amount was worthless.
Cash was just a resource to sustain my life until then. Cursed gold actually had more uses.
'In that sense, it's a win-win.'
For someone like me who could hit up a pawnshop anytime, cursed gold was worth more than face value.
So even paying this much, I came out ahead.
But Park Kwang-rim clearly couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Is this groundwork for some bigger scheme down the line?"
He was asking if he could get in on that grand plan too. For the poor guy's sake, I decided to indulge his little hope.
"Yeah, something like that. Those folks'll spread out across the country and do their part."
Not entirely a lie.
Long-term, they'd be a huge help to me.
"I knew it. That's why you handed out your business cards to them."
"Uh... yeah, exactly. So track them down, collect their contacts."
"Ahh—got it. I'll do that for free."
"No. Take the money."
"......"
Park Kwang-rim probably thought I was some weirdo, but it was the opposite. The moment he thought I'd repaid the favor from last time when I helped him out?
He'd betray me.
Conversely, the more I fed him money, the more benefits he'd provide.
"How's Paju? I mean the city proper."
"Total mess."
It was called the Paju flood, but it hadn't escalated to a full-blown disaster. Water rose to waist height in some spots, neck-deep in others, with plenty of property damage. Lots of people tripped and got hurt in the chaos—but
"Miraculously, no deaths?"
"Official word says none so far. But—"
"But?"
"Munsan area's in bad shape, from what I hear. You know that fancy new apartment complex there?"
"Oh."
Yeah, I did. I'd killed over a hundred ghouls in its underground parking garage.
"They say the basement garage is completely flooded."
"Ah, gotcha."
If it were just a regular flood, fine. But it was seawater laced with deep sea curses. With the ghouls' grudges lingering in that spot, pooled up like that... Could birth some surprising new life.
I resolved not to be shocked if deep sea-ghoul hybrids showed up later and wrapped up the chat with Park Kwang-rim.
"Ughhh—now, shall we head home?"
Rain was still pouring.
At least I'd averted one of the worst routes: the [Great Flood].
Rain pounding, floods raging, deep sea-cursed seawater wreaking havoc on Paju... But it was a cheap fix compared to the world ending outright.
'Though the folks suffering immediate damage probably wouldn't see it that way.'
Nothing I could do about that.
"Let's get home for now. And... I need to seriously think about what to do next."
This time I'd gained some utterly insane power. Starting from there, tomorrow I'd deliberate on my future plans.
"Alright. Rolly, let's go."
I rode Rolly back to the mansion. The ride wasn't exactly smooth, but it was tireless transport. Got me home quick.
"Urghhh—my back hurts more than I thought. Rolly, maybe wheels next time?"
Caterpillar tracks might do the trick.
Lost in such thoughts, I entered my home, the Hungry Mansion, and...
"Shin-hwa-nim! Come in quick! Big trouble!"
Heo Sang-hyeon was in full battle mode for some reason. He even had a skull-topped staff he'd grabbed from somewhere.
"What is it??"
"A massive monster was summoned right next to the mansion a while ago! This time it seems like a really powerful enemy."
"Was it a black monster with six legs by any chance?"
"Yes! Hurry inside! Deploy all the spirit golems!"
Heo Sang-hyeon was ready to throw himself at it to protect me, so I had to sweat bullets calming him down.
* * *
Heo Sang-hyeon handed me a large mug.
Hot cocoa with melted marshmallows. Never more grateful. I took the mug and replied.
"Three weeks?"
"Yes. You were gone for three whole weeks. I was so worried. Glad you're back safe."
I sat in the living room with a towel over my still-damp hair, chatting with Heo Sang-hyeon.
Even after scrubbing for hours, I still felt like I reeked of fish.
"I see. Three weeks, huh?"
Three weeks.
Lots of problems.
My memories hadn't fully returned.
I could recall most of what past Kim Shin-hwa had done and thought, but no way it covered three weeks.
There were still holes in my memory.
'And one more thing. This is an even bigger issue.'
The sensation of my mind splintered into three pieces lingered.
'Is this really fully healed?'
My consciousness didn't feel entirely whole yet.
I felt awkward even to myself.
This time, all three consciousnesses had agreed, so they'd merged easily. But if something similar happened again, would it be that simple?
'Unsettling.'
Maybe this wasn't some artificial madness induced by the system.
Not the instant kind that triggered on conditions and cleared on resolution—but real madness.
There might be a fundamental problem brewing in my psyche.