Chapter 208
Chapter 208
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 208
Chapter Title: Paju Central Hospital
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“Come on, then. Let’s get started.”
With a wave of my hand, massive magic circles bloom across the mansion in every direction.
It’s a flashy sight that doesn’t suit this dark, damp, starving old house at all. Ruby-like glowing magic circles seep into every corner of the building, manifesting my will.
“Ah, damn. They’ve multiplied like crazy in that short time.”
In the cracks of the walls, under shadows, in the narrow spaces inside the ceiling, in room corners, under the wooden stairs.
Huge, surreal slug-like heteromorphs are wriggling all over the house.
They’re all offspring of Ggwool, in other words, larvae of the [Intestinal Snails].
“No wonder the house felt off.”
That sense of wrongness I felt right before heading out must’ve been noise from these slugs.
According to Ggwool, these guys followed me all the way from the Paju Three Tombs. And like parasites burrowing into a creature’s guts, they infiltrated the mansion.
The [Predator of the Mountains] was using them to gather intel on me.
“Good thing I found them before it got any worse.”
New magic circles spread out everywhere.
They’re all descendants of Ggwool anyway. Now that Ggwool’s submitted to me, dealing with them is a piece of cake.
In an instant, the captured [Intestinal Snail] larvae are all sealed in barriers and locked away in the attic.
“Might as well boost the defenses while I’m at it.”
I pull up all the magic stones I just acquired and embed them into the mansion’s outer walls.
Magic lines extend from the evenly spaced magic stones, branching out in every direction like a complex circuit diagram.
Soon, barriers—no, more direct structures—appear all over the mansion.
Spirit-repelling lamps and insect screens that operate through spiritual or magical means.
“And now, time to fix up the building.”
Shattered windows reassemble, crumbled outer walls repair themselves. It’s like watching a video in reverse.
“Phew, that should keep anything like this from happening again.”
“Amazing…. How on earth do you do things like this, Mr. Shinwa?”
“Hmm, I just fixed it up, exterminated some bugs, and added a few things.”
“You activated no specific repair spells, detection spells, or capture spells. Implementing all this with just intent and mana flow alone would’ve blown a normal mage’s brain out in the calculation phase.”
“Yeah, well, that’s true. Hmm—”
Hwang Sang-hyun’s no slouch in necromancy himself. Is some intellectual curiosity suddenly sparking?
He starts firing off questions about magical theory, looking a bit excited.
He doesn’t show this side often, so it’d feel weird to just say, ‘You could do it too if you maxed out your Intelligence stat to 30.’
“Too chaotic right now to explain. I’ll teach you properly later.”
He seems to pick up on my reluctance and nods politely, stepping back.
“Understood. I’ll go put Mr. Hyen-deok to bed in his room for now.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Hwang Sang-hyun scoops up Jang Hyen-deok, who’d been roughly laid out in the courtyard.
To avoid any disasters during repairs—like him getting stuck in a wall—I’d had to drag the sleeping guy outside.
‘That lanky dude, and he’s carrying him like it’s nothing.’
Hwang Sang-hyun strides off with the limp Jang Hyen-deok in his arms.
Doesn’t even look winded. Strength and health really are the best.
Two things to do before heading out.
First, the mansion maintenance I just finished.
The other… preparing for attacks from the [Predator of the Mountains].
As Hwang Sang-hyun heads upstairs, I go down to the basement.
“Ah, my homunculi….”
The homunculi lying in their stone coffins.
Yesterday they felt like living versions of ‘me,’ but now they just look like stranger’s corpses.
Thanks to all that trouble, I got them back unscathed, but forcing them into action mid-tuning wrecked their states.
On top of that, that [Predator of the Mountains] bastard planted parasites in their guts.
I pulled out all the [Intestinal Snails], of course, but retuning them will take time.
“But what to do? Scrap them?”
The Kim Shinwas from the [Fusion Sect] in my dream told me not to use them.
“Ah, it’s such a waste.”
A brief moment of hesitation.
“Screw it.”
I close the coffin lids and set up seals. For now, sealed.
“I’ll dig them out and reuse them once the issues are sorted.”
Hope that Banquet Offering senior has a solution.
After sealing the homunculi, I approach the largest piece of furniture in the basement.
A barrier made of tangled massive metal devices, ritual tools, and semi-permanently engraved magic circles.
I extend my mana and pull open the silver door at its center.
The door creaks open.
“Been a while since the prison door opened.”
As soon as it does, a faint chuckle echoes, followed by the voice of [The Smiling One].
“You planning to stay like that forever?”
[The Smiling One], trapped inside the barrier, still looks like Cheong-ho. More precisely, Cheong-ho wearing the [Mask of the Faceless One].
“Turns out I like it more than I thought. Kim Shinwa, I figured you’d like this look too?”
“Not a fan.”
“Khahaha, glad it bugs you.”
[The Smiling One] lets out a sleazy laugh while keeping Cheong-ho’s form. Falling for obvious taunts like that would just ruin my mood.
“Whatever, do what you want. Just hold still for a sec.”
[Observation]
I inspect Cheong-ho. Or more accurately, the state of the [Mask of the Faceless One] he’s wearing.
“The malice infused in the mask has mostly drained out. I could wear it now with no side effects.”
“You here… to take it?”
Cheong-ho’s form steps back into the barrier’s shadows, clearly displeased.
[The Smiling One] is absorbing the mask’s power—Nyarlathotep’s might and curse—to prepare for ascension as an abyssal being.
I’m leaving him be since he can’t finish growing while I’m alive, but I didn’t lend him the mask just to idly level up [The Smiling One].
“Nah, not now. Keep using it for a bit longer.”
As I speak, I check the barrier’s internals. The markers I carved last time are still intact.
If needed, I can open a gate anytime and grab the mask.
“Alright, that’s sorted.”
“Kim Shinwa. Quit wasting time wandering around. If you’ve got questions, if you need something, if you want more power—tell me. Wish to me. Beg me. No need for futile efforts or aimless flailing. I have all the answers. I’ll share truth, knowledge, power with you.”
“Don’t need it.”
Why wish to some fake abyssal being wannabe who’s just cosplaying one?
“Here, take this instead.”
With a gesture, the cube I brought from Paju Three Tombs floats into the barrier.
“This…. The shell’s too tough? Can’t properly drink it like this.”
“Who said drink it? Don’t touch the contents. See the marked spot?”
“I see it. This is the [Predator of the Mountains]’s influence, huh?”
“Yeah, just eat that part.”
The [Predator of the Mountains] infiltrated the mansion via this imperfectly purified cube.
To use the cube properly, it needs purification, but that’d take me too long.
“Kim Shinwa. What the hell do you think I am?”
Some microbial garbage disposal for food waste, or maybe a water purifier?
The thought crosses my mind first, but instead of saying it, I toss out something vague.
“What else? A comrade. A comrade.”
“What?”
“A friend bound by trust and friendship. The most precious treasure we’ll gain at the end of this adventure. Isn’t that what we are?”
“Cut the crap!”
“Anyway, eat the impurities for your comrade here and tweak it like I marked. I’m too busy to handle that myself.”
I add extra bindings and restrictions so he can’t misuse the cube’s power.
“You spout all that comrade and friendship bullshit, then add more chains to bind me?”
Of course. Why the hell would I trust you?
“Either way, good chance for you to power up, right?”
“Hmm….”
Can’t deny that. Eating it will definitely accelerate his growth.
“So, mutual benefit deal sealed?”
“Deal? Yeah. It’s a deal. Sealed.”
“Great. See you later.”
The barrier door shuts with a creak and thud.
I tweak the internals a bit more, then turn away.
“Next up….”
I raise my mana, levitating the magic stones stacked on the shelves. They sparkle in various colors.
“Hmm, all money right here.”
Kinda wasteful, but no choice.
Magic circles bloom everywhere. At the same time, changes come over the floating stones.
Crack, crunch—
“This should do it, right?”
Sheesh. Just going to the hospital and it’s this much hassle.
* * *
Take the train from Geumchon Station north two stops to Paju Station.
Then a five-minute walk from Paju Station.
That’s where Paju Central Hospital is.
“There used to be some industrial complex here.”
In my old world, no hospital stood here. Paju Central Hospital only exists in the [Cthulhu World] to begin with.
“Ah, seeing it with my own eyes, it’s ridiculous.”
Five grand buildings arranged to enclose a vast plot of land.
Compared to real-life Paju’s meager medical infrastructure, the scale is absurd. Big enough to swallow a whole village.
But Paju Central Hospital’s ridiculousness doesn’t end with size.
Excluding minor annexes, it’s divided into five sections: East Wing, West Wing, South Wing, North Wing. And….
“That thing?”
A triangular structure jutting out beyond the massive hospital buildings.
The triangle is part of Paju Central Hospital too. Hard to see from this angle, but from higher up, it’s clear.
A giant pyramid of glass and reinforced concrete.
Unlike the typical hospital image, Paju Central Hospital is a secretive, dangerous place.
And that pyramid houses the core content of Paju Central Hospital: the closed ward.
‘Let’s take it slow and head in.’
Can’t go straight to the closed ward.
No need to take down the Four Dark Medical Emperors in the wings or collect seven hidden keys to unlock the door.
‘Just pop into the North Wing, check a few things, then straight in.’
The North Wing handles general treatment and admin procedures. Basically, the most ‘hospital-like’ building here.
“Ugh, and they’ve already sent a welcome party.”
In front of the hospital building.
It’s a big hospital, so plenty of people coming and going.
Among the bustling crowd, some stand out with their bizarre appearances.
“Buzzz….”
“Bububububu….”
Unfocused eyes. Dreamy, dazed expressions. Grotesque lifeforms wriggling under their skin.
“Sheesh, didn’t expect them to come at me this straightforward.”
Probably sent by the [Predator of the Mountains].
Hoping for a bloody hospital brawl, a Paju massacre, innocents caught in the crossfire—something like that?
“Ah, just let me go to the damn hospital. Hospital.”
What a pain. Why’s the path to the hospital this obstructed?
Fighting them would trigger Banquet Offering nonsense and cause weird trouble.
Might not even get in today, let alone tomorrow.
“Ah, annoying. I’ll just ignore them and go in.”
Easy enough to dodge this kind of attack anyway.