Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Try to Smooth Things Over with Words
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This was off-script from my original plan anyway.
I'd intended to keep things strictly businesslike with Thousand Gold Hall, ignoring any quests that popped up from them.
Back when I was playing [Cthulhu World] as a game, that was fine.
Because,
‘This is just DLC—Downloadable Content.’
In other words, optional add-ons unrelated to the main story.
It involved becoming the guardian of Thousand Gold Hall and fighting against monsters from a Korean- or East Asian-flavored adaptation of the Cthulhu Mythos—and if you just wanted to stick to the main storyline, you could safely ignore or skip it.
‘But that's just the game mechanics.’
In the game, there's no scenario where the Thousand Gold Leader shows up and strong-arms you into a quest.
Because the trials in the DLC only appear after you become the Thousand Gold Leader, or as part of defending Thousand Gold Hall in that role.
‘That's why I turned down King of Ten Thousand Golds' offers entirely, but now here we are, tangled up anyway.’
It wasn't just me caving to Seo Cheonseol's threats and taking the job.
I'd stopped the great flood, but Paju had still gotten hit with flooding. So I'd accepted the request to check out the aftermath on Paju and [Cthulhu World].
Including Seo Cheonseol, three days of observation had been plenty, and now it was time for me to take the reins.
"Thousand Gold Leader, how many Duoksini do you want me to catch?"
"All of them?"
"There were a lot that escaped this time, sure, but this isn't the first breakout. You planning to round up every single Duoksini that's slipped away before? Do you even know how many that is?"
"Hmm, as many as possible?"
"'As many as possible'—how many is that, exactly?"
"Enough to satisfy King of Ten Thousand Golds?"
Seo Cheonseol wasn't saying this because she was dumb.
It's just exhausting trying to talk specifics like numbers, the concept of others versus self, or individuality with a non-human race that doesn't grasp those ideas clearly.
"Just catching a bunch and bringing them back will satisfy King of Ten Thousand Golds?"
"Then?"
"You saw how they acted, right? What'd you think?"
"They didn't act like proper goblins."
"Yeah, that too—but even after you showed up, Thousand Gold Leader, they pretended to fight back for a bit before trying to run. Take a look at our haul."
"Our haul?"
Mira was just a zombie-like thing spawned from evil qi, so she's not part of this.
That leaves heads and blood-filled torsos—
Logically, between flying heads and walking torsos, the torsos should be easier to catch.
Yet we caught three times as many heads as torsos.
"Kki-ee!"
"Yeah, that's partly because you did such a good job."
"Kki-ee—"
Red puffed up with pride, pleased as punch.
Anyway, that means we let two-thirds of the torsos get away.
Seo Cheonseol nodded as if she got it.
"I see what you're driving at now, Kim. You're saying they prioritized stealing away those blood-filled torsos over taking down these bodies?"
"Exactly. And if they'd properly digested that blood or even weaponized it, they'd have been way more dangerous. But even as the heads came charging at us, the torsos bolted desperately."
"So you're saying the Duoksini weren't collecting blood for their own power or satisfaction—they were gathering it to offer up to someone else?"
"Looks that way. What do you think?"
"Selfish little Duoksini don't usually do that unless it's extreme circumstances. Guess those runaways from King of Ten Thousand Golds' fold ended up serving some rotten bastard."
I whooped exaggeratedly at Seo Cheonseol's words.
"Is that the wisdom of the goblins? Impressive, Thousand Gold Leader!"
"Oh, you didn't know? Honestly, Kim. Can't be helped."
Some abyssal being must have taken in the Duoksini that escaped King of Ten Thousand Golds' grasp as its minions.
Seo Cheonseol pondered for a moment before asking me,
"That must've been what you wanted to say earlier."
"Good to know you get it."
"So you even know who's behind stealing the Duoksini?"
"Well..."
Seo Cheonseol looked at me expectantly. Sorry to disappoint.
"No clue."
Not enough clues yet.
Sure, there are abyssal beings that particularly love blood, but blood is an eternal elixir—and most abyssal beings like it anyway.
"But I can make a guess about where we should head."
"A guess?"
"Check this out."
I pulled a stack of papers from my backpack. Stuff I'd gathered over the three days wandering with Seo Cheonseol.
"What's this?"
"Another reason King of Ten Thousand Golds had you tag along with a human. This is called a newspaper."
"News... paper?"
"Yeah, newspaper. Humans use these to get local news."
Out-of-towners don't pay much attention to Paju, so unless it's a big deal, there's no coverage on Paju-related stuff.
That's why there's a local paper just for Paju folks.
"If you had this, why didn't you use it sooner?"
Like you were listening to a word I said until just now?
And there's another reason.
"Because up until now, I didn't even know what I was tracking."
All sorts of incidents happen in Paju. From news articles alone, no way to tell which ones were relevant.
But now I've identified the target and figured out the method of killing—so I can start piecing the puzzle together.
"Let's see..."
Murders, murders, murders, unnatural deaths, sudden deaths, destruction, explosions, fires, article about the Foreigner Management Office returning recently, opinion piece on aliens. Today's feature: the probability that Paju's mayor is actually a puppet brainwashed by non-humans.
From those, I picked out a few unnatural death cases.
"Mummified corpses, head thefts, people vanishing and leaving only their clothes behind."
I summoned mana to create a massive map of Paju on the ground.
Incident sites scattered haphazardly across it.
"And add our current position here."
The dump alley incident didn't make the news. That's one puzzle piece I was missing.
"And if we factor in the direction those potbellies fled—"
Lines stretched out from the points on the map, all pointing toward a certain area of Paju.
"Over there? What's that?"
"Bongil Stream."
"Bongil Stream? Anyway, that's where the thing the Duoksini are serving is? You know what's there?"
"Who knows. Paju's scene changes so much these days."
The setting with the Bongil Stream gang still holds, but there might be a new cult that's moved in recently.
"Alright then, Kim, let's go."
"Hold up."
"Hm?"
"Before we head out, we need to settle something for sure."
"What?"
"What exactly was Thousand Gold Leader's request?"
Seo Cheonseol scratched her chin and replied.
"To help catch the Duoksini."
"So I just need to catch Duoksini, right?"
"Ah, I get what you're saying, Kim."
Seo Cheonseol slowly nodded and continued.
"I'll revise the request. Let's smash that rotten bastard who lured away these Duoksini, together with me."
The abyssal being itself probably won't show up.
Likely some human cultist intermediary—or ruins or ghost equivalent.
"Deal. But changing the request comes with conditions."
"What? You want more treasure than we agreed on?"
One S-grade or higher artifact.
And a hundred taels of gold coins infused with King of Ten Thousand Golds' blessing.
‘Saying "a hundred taels of gold" sounds kinda funny.’
Ten nyang make one tael of gold.
A hundred taels is roughly 300 million won.
And it's not just any gold—it's blessed by King of Ten Thousand Golds, worth two or three times more.
Sell it right, and I could double or triple that again.
"The treasure's fine as is. Let's add a different condition."
"What do you want?"
"First, from here on out, I call the shots on our plan of action."
"That's—"
Seo Cheonseol started to grumble with a sour look,
"I know what you're gonna say, but there's a reason I need to decide our moves."
"A reason?"
"First off, Thousand Gold Leader—that's not how you use a Bagua compass."
"What?"
"Hmm, how to explain this? This isn't the spirit world. I'm human, sure, but I'm Kim Shinhwa, a unique existence separate from other humans. You're trying to track 'Duoksini' in this world, so the Bagua compass isn't working right."
"Ah, got it."
Just as Seo Cheonseol's sense of time and logic seems weird from a human perspective, from her side, the rigid real-world structure—walk east and you end up east—is hard to grasp.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Didn't think you'd listen."
"Hmph, you sly Kim."
"Anyway, it works in the spirit world, but here, I'm the one who should navigate. Got it?"
Seo Cheonseol didn't answer, fiddling with her Bagua compass instead.
This'll take a bit.
"And I've got some cursed junk piling up at home. Once we're done, swing by Thousand Gold Hall and trade it in for me."
At my words, Seo Cheonseol dropped the compass in a hurry.
"You trying to turn me into your errand girl, Kim?"
"Nah, just asking nicely. Takes me weeks to make a trip, but you can zip back and forth easy."
"Hmm."
"And one last thing."
"Why so many demands?"
I shrugged and went on.
"Time to get real. You've just been tagging along so far, but from now on, no dragging your feet with risks or uncertainties."
"Real?"
"Yeah, real. And what was that back during the Duoksini fight? Don't play coy—anyone could see you were testing me."
"Hmm—"
"You have no idea how frustrating it was to watch. You're not the type to scheme and set traps in the first place, Thousand Gold Leader. So just lay it out straight."
Originally, Seo Cheonseol was supposed to be even more bold and straightforward.
Seeing her hide her true feelings and play the schemer was embarrassing even for me.
"Kim."
Seo Cheonseol slowly flipped her mask down over her face.
A snarling demon mask covering half her face.
The exposed half matched it, snarling in fury.
"I hate you."
"......"
I was speechless for a moment.
I'd half-expected something like this, but she dropped the "this one" and "Kim" act, using plain "I" and "you."
"I really hate you. You're not to my liking."
Seo Cheonseol stomped like she couldn't hold back her anger.
Boom! Rumble—
A massive quake rippled out. It was practically an earthquake, her voice booming like thunder.
"That's why I got permission from King of Ten Thousand Golds!"
Kraroom—grrrumble!
No way was I getting knocked over like some sloppy fool. I summoned mana to shield myself and listened to Seo Cheonseol's declaration.
"If you weren't worth the effort King of Ten Thousand Golds put into you, I'd have gouged out your eyes and crushed your hands."
It was like shouting into a gale, but I feigned calm and replied.
"Sounds thrilling. So after three days of watching, what do you think of me?"
"Those three days were a mess. You didn't offer any proper solutions or wisdom, no special powers or skills. I was leaning toward crushing you."
That was deliberate staging. Seo Cheonseol knew that now, so I asked,
"And now?"
"Who knows? Your 'wisdom' doesn't sit right with me, but it seems reasonable for the moment."
"Glad you're being straight with me, Thousand Gold Leader."
"Bahaha! Yeah, feels good to get it off my chest."
Seo Cheonseol laughed heartily.
"Bahaha!"
Kwaroom—kwarrumble—
Her laughter unleashed destructive shockwaves in all directions. Totally different scale from when she'd swung at the Duoksini.
"So what're you gonna do about it?"
"I'll leave you to handle more dangerous situations alone and see how you manage. Hmm—best to trap you in one if possible."
Her mindset's so alien, the answers are hard to parse. But at least it's straightforward—refreshing.
"Cool. So we're settled?"
"Yeah. How long to that Bongil Stream place?"
"Walking? Four or five hours, I'd say."
"What a hassle. Which way is it exactly?"
"That way."
"Got it. You've shown off your slick tongue enough, Kim. Time for a taste of goblin talk."