Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: King Castle Club
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“My subordinates! What the hell’s happening to our guys trapped in there?”
“Mr. Kim, your men are currently being gobbled up by the duibitni inside.”
“What? What did you say!?”
“No idea what kind of deal they struck, but I can guess.”
“Oh, Mr. Kim. You get it?”
“You got duped by the Gourmet Expedition Team, ma’am. You saw your men turning into monsters, right? Your subordinates were gradually being replaced by monsters. And why’d you gather all your crew at that club?”
“Th-those Gourmet Expedition Team XXXX bastards called an impromptu team dinner and rounded everyone up. J-just an hour or two ago. That’s why I was rushing over to the club myself.”
“Aha, so you owe your life to yourself, Mr. Kim. The ones still inside the club are probably the side dishes for that feast right about now.”
Yeom Geumja owed her life to me. But her subordinates trapped in the club were in dire straits.
“The f-feast’s...! They’re really getting eaten!?”
Yeom Geumja’s face drained of color.
The moment I confirmed most of Bongil Cheonpa’s members were gathered in the club—outside business hours, no less—I’d figured something like this would go down.
Bickering with Yeom Geumja was just to confirm the cult lurking in the shadows.
Now that I had it pinned down, no need to drag this out.
“What’re you planning to do, Mr. Kim?”
“That’s what I need to ask the Heavenly Gold Captain.”
“Me?”
“What’s your play? Now’s the perfect time to bail.”
“Bail?”
Seo Cheonseul furrowed her brow.
“Save my guys! You said you’d restore everything earlier, you bastaaaaard!”
Yeom Geumja was foaming at the mouth in desperation, but I ignored her and spoke to Seo Cheonseul.
“Your detection range probably picked them up ages ago. See those waves of mana heading our way? Stick around much longer, and the Foreigner Management Agency will crash the party.”
“Oh, that eyeball-packed Mr. Kim of yours?”
“Yep. My plan’s to dump this on them and bounce.”
“Huh—dump it on them?”
“Yeah. Those guys in the club? They’ll handle it.”
The duibitni we were dealing with weren’t wild beasts loose in the city.
They were more like a bandit crew with clear goals and plans.
“The duibitni were hauling a ton of blood, right?”
But that blood wasn’t here.
“Which means there’s another spot where they’re collecting it. Nothing left for us here.”
“That’s sharp talkin’.”
“The mass murder ritual kicking off the second we arrived? No coincidence. They spotted you moving and fast-tracked their plans. We gotta hustle.”
They scrapped the idea of using Bongil Cheonpa as pawns and turned them all into mountain sacrifices instead.
And with their blood collected, what they’re up to...
When the puppet masters were murky, I wondered what they wanted with the blood. But the [Predator of the Mountains]’s game was obvious.
“If we don’t hurry to where they’re stockpiling the blood, we’ll be facing something way worse than duibitni.”
“That your scheme, Mr. Kim? Doesn’t sit right with me.”
But Seo Cheonseul looked dissatisfied.
“It’s the most logical plan.”
“Logical?”
“Quit nitpicking. Time’s short. Plus, just like you can’t tell me apart from other humans, the Foreigner Management Agency won’t distinguish you from the duibitni.”
By the Agency’s shallow foreigner-sorting methods, Seo Cheonseul was just another unregistered alien without Korean permanent residency.
It was ridiculous—like wrestling a sacred tree that’d stood for over a thousand years just because it didn’t have an ID.
“But still! It rubs me the wrong way!”
Boom!
Seo Cheonseul slammed her Vajra Rod into the ground and crossed her arms.
‘That move from the game.’
She wouldn’t budge until I pitched something she liked.
“Run off and leave Mr. Kim’s crew to be duibitni chow? Can’t you tweak it into a plan I’d actually like?”
“Sigh. Knew you’d say that.”
That’s Seo Cheonseul for you. That’s why I’d anticipated this.
“How about this? Screw the Agency showing up—we charge in, smash everything fast as we can, and bolt.”
“Oho.”
She lit up with excitement.
“And move quick enough to wreck their next phase before it’s done.”
“Perfect. I like that plan.”
I rolled my shoulders in a stretch and continued.
“But inside, follow my lead. Mismatched moves, and it’ll be a total mess.”
I laid out the plan briefly. Nothing complicated.
Seo Cheonseul nodded right away.
“That’s doable.”
“Alright. Let’s roll.”
I poured mana into the solid cement encasing the five-story gray rock mountain—no, the King Castle Club.
[Forced Phase Transition]
Rumble rumble rumble!
The hardened cement softened all at once into moist clay.
“Dol Dola, eat up.”
Thud thud thud thud!
Dol Dola bounced excitedly at the command.
Grroooar!
The stone box’s lid popped open, and hundreds of sacks’ worth of cement got sucked into its sub-dimensional space.
In an instant, the King Castle Club reverted to its original form. Well, except the chunks Dol Dola devoured. Ignoring that, I turned to Yeom Geumja.
“There, restored to normal, right?”
“Ha, ha, ha, ha—”
Too shocking a sight?
Yeom Geumja just stared blankly, laughing.
The Foreigner Management Agency approaching from afar...
[Gate Creation]
A small hole appeared at knee height.
“Achilles!”
Skreeee—
Achilles burst out.
Solo ops would guzzle mana. I leaned down, kissed its nose lightly, and transferred a hefty dose.
“Sorry to keep dumping this on you, but distract the Agency.”
Skreeee—
[S-grade magic tool ‘Beacon Staff’’s unique function, ‘Binding of the Fire Kin,’ activates.
// Binding of the Fire Kin: Grants the owner the ability to summon and control kin of the ‘living flame.’]
Massive fireballs spawned around Achilles.
“Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!!”
“Yhaaaaaaaaa!!!”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Skreeee—
Achilles launched the fireballs skyward, leaped onto a nearby building, and vanished.
“And Reddie!”
“Kwee?”
“Yeah, you too. Fly off and back up Achilles.”
“Kwee!”
Whoosh!
Reddie took flight.
Not a fight—just diversion to buy time. If they teamed up well, they’d stall just fine.
“Mr. Kim, ready now?”
“Yeah.”
“Here, catch.”
Seo Cheonseul tossed me the sack.
“But Mr. Kim, you know how to use this sack?”
“I do.”
I infused mana into the sack and eyed Yeom Geumja.
“Ma’am Yeom Geumja?”
“What?”
Lost in a daze, she answered without thinking—whirrr—
And got sucked straight into the sack.
“Huh, handling a first-time item like a pro.”
Well, I’d used it in the game.
This sack was a cheat artifact.
Just call their name, and they’re trapped inside.
“But if the target hears their name and doesn’t respond, it won’t work—so watch out.”
“And it fails on magic-resistant foes. Anything else?”
It only worked on regular folks without special abilities.
“Bwahaha! Yeah, that covers it.”
“Cool. Let’s go.”
We opened the club doors.
“Dark in here.”
Dim interior. Screams echoed from beyond the shadows blanketing the building. The stench of blood rode the air—
“Bwahaha! Keep up, Mr. Kim!”
Seo Cheonseul charged in, spinning her glowing Vajra Rod like she was dancing.
“Nice!”
Never teamed up like this in the game, but her moves obliterated the creepy horror vibes.
“Hey! Hold up! You said you’d follow my lead!”
“Oh, right?”
Seo Cheonseul skidded to an awkward halt.
I put her behind me and advanced slowly.
Past the long hallway with two bends, the dance hall awaited.
At the entrance, I cast a spell.
[Voice of Delusion]
“Ah, ah—”
Yeom Geumja’s voice came from my throat.
“Gasp—”
I inhaled and layered another spell.
[Sonic Impact]
“Kang Ji-yoon! Lee Joon-min! Seo Ji-an! Ahn Kyung-hoon! Choi Ki-beom! Kim Ji-seop! Kim Sang-jin! Choi Hee-seo! Lee Se-hyun! Han Hee-jung! Eom Tae-goo! Cheon Ho-yeon! Park Hyung-jin! Lee Young-chan! Choi Ah-ra! Kim Dan-bi!”
Rumble—
The names boomed through the entire building.
I’d tweaked the sonic formula—no shockwave.
“To think you remember all those Mr. Kims’ names. Impressive.”
Seo Cheonseul’s mutter drifted from where she leaned against the wall, watching casually.
My Intelligence stat endlessly pulled up Bongil Cheonpa’s roster and details from my memory.
Guys I’d forgotten even existed, let alone their roles.
But 30 Intelligence dutifully listed even the names I’d glimpsed in the game.
“Lee Woo-bin! Lee Gil-tae! Kwak Pil-hyung! Lee Chae-min! Lee Myung-jun! Choi Sun-ah! Lee Da-won! Kim Seo-won!”
And more, and more, and more.
Around 88 people inside the club, but unsure who from Bongil Cheonpa, so I called nearly 100 names.
“Hah—hah—whew, this takes it out of me.”
Whirrrrr—
Dozens sucked into the sack in a flash.
Not just mimicry.
The delusion enchantment meant familiar voices triggered automatic responses—no resistance.
“Heavenly Gold Captain! Go wild now! No blood or anything back there. Just smash whatever’s in your way!”
“That’s what I’ve been waiting for! Nice!”
The Heavenly Gold Captain charged into the dance hall, swinging her Vajra Rod.
Boom!
“Behold! The Heavenly Gold Captain has arrived!”
She whooped gleefully.
“Gahhh! It’s the Heavenly Gold Captain!”
“The one who stole the mountain sacrifices!?”
“Grab him! No, kill him! Turn that goblin bitch into a sacrifice for the Master’s descent too!”
Eerie duibitni voices from the dance hall’s darkness.
[Grotesque duibitni burst from the pitch-black dance hall. Their skin blends with the shadows, while their glaring yellow eyes shine brighter, evoking sheer terror.]
The message window tried hard to amp up the horror, fear, gruesomeness, and danger.
But one ally here clashed totally with the genre.
“Dark, so dark! Is no one here? Light it up!”
The Heavenly Gold Captain’s command.
Crackle—
Golden shockwaves rippled out with otherworldly power.
Every light in the club flicked on in response.
‘Of all places, a club.’
Not ordinary bulbs—flashy club lights.
Red, blue, purple, magenta, green flashing everywhere—even blinding lasers.
In the dance hall’s chaotic swirl of colors, a golden vortex danced center stage.
“Behold! The gold of dreams shines unforgettable!”
Boom!
“Ehehehehe—ee—heh—ohohoho—!”
Singing, dancing, rampaging Heavenly Gold Captain.
Drums, gongs, janggu beats seemed to echo from somewhere. Or were they real?
“Gahhhh!”
Fake duibitni and zombies drained of blood lunged at the Heavenly Gold Captain in frenzy.
Like moths to a flame, dying for it. She sang even merrier at the sight.
“Oho—oho—yes, gather more! Show me your tricks! Dance! You the dancing crane? You the chattering parrot? More talents! Your heh—hoo—huh!”
Boom!
Each Vajra Rod swing flashed gold, exploding fake duibitni away.
From the 2nd-floor terrace, I watched her rampage and thought.
‘But really, no blood.’
Thanks to that, she could go nuts, but something felt off.
Piles of fully drained corpses, yet no blood-soaked duibitni?
They didn’t flee. Not yet.
‘They’re hiding somewhere. What’re they prepping?’
I slowly expanded my detection range.