Chapter 218
Chapter 218
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Sweet Proposal
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[‘The One Who Waits Silently’ has revealed itself before your eyes.]
Stepping over blood-soaked debris, borrowing the corpse of a body, the grotesque entity wrapped in blood took one step toward me.
Thud-
[The unique trait ‘Celestial Descent’ of ‘The One Who Waits Silently’ activates.]
It was clearly the footsteps of a gaunt old man, yet the moment he stepped forward, an absurd roar erupted.
[Due to the effect of ‘Celestial Descent,’ madness is forcibly injected into your mind. ‘Madness – Adoration for the Great Being’ is forcibly injected. We remind you once more. That one is your friend. You must feel adoration toward that great one.]
And another step.
Boom-
Every being taking refuge in this cramped isolation ward screamed in unison.
[Due to the effect of ‘Celestial Descent,’ madness is forcibly injected into your mind. ‘Madness – Loyalty to the Great Being’ is forcibly injected. We remind you once more. That one is your master. You must feel loyalty toward that great one.]
And another step.
Boom-
Half of the humanoid intelligences in the isolation ward vomited blood from their mouths and died instantly, a quarter of the remaining half had their minds utterly shattered, rendering them unable to perceive the world as before. That quarter was reborn, shedding their former flesh for a new form. But how pitiable—some could not receive the grace of the great abyss.
[Due to the effect of ‘Celestial Descent,’ madness is forcibly injected into your mind. ‘Madness – Love for the Great Being’ is forcibly injected. We remind you once more. That one is your lover. You must feel love toward that great one.]
And another step.
Boom-
Among the so-called surreal entities pitifully imprisoned by this hospital’s humans, half of those taking the form of objects ceased all function immediately, and half of those taking the form of living creatures pledged loyalty to this truly wondrous one, this truly astonishing one, this truly radiant one, this truly wise one, this truly beautiful one. But how pitiable—some could not behold the grace of the great abyss.
[Due to the effect of ‘Celestial Descent,’ madness is forcibly injected into your mind. ‘Madness – Fanaticism for the Great Being’ is forcibly injected. We remind you once more. That one is your god. You must feel fanaticism toward that great one.]
And another step-
Crackle!
Blue sparks flew from my temples.
[System: Exclusive trait ‘Abyssal Madness’ activates. The madness imposed on your mind dissipates.]
“Stop! Don’t come any closer! Gah—cough!”
Viscous blood flowed from my mouth.
Even with the [Abyssal Madness] trait blocking the vicious madness and horrific influence, it couldn’t fully offset the shock?
I backed away while glaring at it. My stomach twisted. No, it wasn’t just my stomach twisting. My mind, my soul—everything was twisting.
“How pitiable, how lamentable, how tragic. Why do you reject me? I adore and love you so.”
“Love? Bullshit. Stay away! Come any closer, and I’ll kill myself!”
Such a threat wouldn’t work on others, but it would on [The One Who Waits Silently], incarnation of [Predator of the Mountains].
Sure enough, it closed its eyes and halted without a word.
Ha, damn it. What the hell is this? How did it descend so suddenly without any warning? No, was there a sign? No way? This isn’t even Tanheon? Ah, it used that brief chaos and slaughter as the foundation for descent?
No, impossible. This place has barriers—even if crudely thrown together—to block abyssal entities.
Descending without ritual or sacrifice is impossible.
“Yeah, this doesn’t make sense! What did you do? You crazy bastard! You ignored the game’s rules?”
“Game? Heh—calling it a game is amusing. But I’ve violated no rules. No tricks, no lies—I stand here plainly.”
“Shut up! Grandpa doesn’t have any medium traits like spirit channeling! There’s no ritual to buffer your presence, no sacrifice to receive your power! You can’t descend just from that brief anomaly, chaos, and madness.”
“Feast’s offering, I say again: I exist here without any lies. Grrrgle—”
Its body suddenly swelled—ah, damn it. What now?!
[Protective Formation][Husk of Tindalos][Ward of Sanctification][Evil Eye][Prison of Cold Bones][Beacon of Even Gaze][Gesture of Protection][Prayer of Guardianship]
I activated multiple defensive spells at once. Composing rituals that worked in different ways simultaneously brought on a headache, but I had no idea what trick it was trying.
Pop!
An absurd sight.
Grandpa’s body swelled, spewing horrific bloody foam before exploding.
My vision, my body, the entire corridor—covered in horrific red.
[You have witnessed a truly horrific sight. The image of a living being exploding before your eyes negatively affects your mind. To endure this shock, a sanity check is performed using your Mental Fortitude stat.]
What? Blood phobia ended ages ago?
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking...]
No, it’s not blood phobia. It’s just forcing terror on me.
[Check failed!]
[System: Exclusive trait ‘Abyssal Madness’ activates. Changes the sanity check result to success.]
Crackle!
“What the hell? What are you trying to do?”
An incomprehensible grotesque act. But it wasn’t over yet.
The security guard’s corpse—eaten by the monster I’d just crushed, now less than a third intact—began to rise.
Guts spilling from its belly, head smashed, left arm and leg gone, yet the corpse stood.
The floor beneath it had guts, blood, and flesh “coincidentally” arranged like a massive lotus flower.
The security guard’s corpse slowly raised one hand. I didn’t know the meaning, but with eyes closed, it extended fingers toward the sky.
The sight was chillingly grotesque, eerie and beautifully uncanny.
And through the long-dead guard’s mouth, it spoke.
“Kim Shin-hwa. I have come here to offer you one beneficial and auspicious proposal. You will hear my proposal and obey it.”
“Proposal?”
“Yes, Kim Shin-hwa. You will submit to me, follow my teachings, and take up the blessed role of proclaiming my will to the world.”
A proposal not worth hearing.
I gave the same response I always did to similar nonsense.
“I refuse.”
“What a pityyyyyy... grrrgle!”
Pop!
Red spraying everywhere.
What?
[You have witnessed a truly horrific sight. The image of a living being exploding before your eyes negatively affects your mind. To endure this shock, a sanity check is performed using your Mental Fortitude stat.]
Well, now?
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
No way, seriously?
Crunch-crunch-
Boom!
The wall beside the corridor crumbled.
Standing there was an unnamed security guard. No idea what killed him, but horrific plants grew from his body.
Twisting in spirals from his toes to his head, the green plants looked like an aura flowing through him, and the massive red flower blooming from his head like a halo.
And “coincidentally,” the tree roots extending in a lotus shape.
The sight induced vomit, yet was eerily beautiful.
“Kim Shin-hwa. I tell you again. Will you submit to me and take the role of proclaiming my will to the world?”
“I refuse.”
“Very well. Grrgle!”
Splat!
Plant fragments and massive blood scattering everywhere.
[You have witnessed a truly horrific sight. The image of a living being exploding before your eyes negatively affects your mind. To endure this shock, a sanity check is performed using your Mental Fortitude stat.]
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
Another corpse appeared. It was truly—
“You crazy fuck! Cut it out already?”
[Spontaneous Combustion]
Whoosh!
“Kim Shin-hwa, it seems this does not please you.”
“How many times are you gonna repeat this? Stop it!”
“If I use even the humans outside this building, I can do it roughly 8,349 times. Time is plentiful. I’ll adjust to your tastes—grrrgle!”
Pop!
Blood spraying everywhere.
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“Yeah, sure. You descended honestly without any cheats, huh?”
This was brute force. Forcing entry via Grandpa’s body, then descending indiscriminately through irresistible corpses.
People with spirit-channeling traits like Jang Hyun-deok are extremely rare.
This lunatic was forcing descents into bodies without any talent, toying with me.
Without the talent, [The One Who Waits Silently] could only use 0.01%. The immense presence caused backlash, making them explode.
‘Then...’
That earlier nonsense about halves dying or whatever was just a smokescreen using temporary delirium.
No idea how many corpses are in this building, but it can’t repeat 8,000 times. Maybe another—20? 30?
“......”
Can my mind endure this torture?
“Kim Shin-hwa, do you know how deeply I’ve stooped to speak in a form you can understand, perceive, and comprehend? How do you converse with an ant?”
“Whatever.”
“Very well. Grrgle!”
Pop!
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“H-Help me!”
A sudden voice. Someone in patient garb flew toward me, jerking like a grotesque puppet on strings.
“Ah, damn it.”
Yeah, all that poking around earlier was to gauge my weaknesses.
Crack-pop-
The suspended person’s limbs twisted in unnatural directions, ignoring human joint limits.
“Gaaah! Please! Please!”
Snap!
All joints in the limbs shattered. It jerked like a comical puppet show.
The unfortunate victim’s face turned blue and contorted. Unable to bear the agony, bloody foam dripped from their mouth. They squeezed out a faint voice.
“Please... surrender to Him. Kim Shin-hwa! Please, I beg you!”
“No.”
Crack-
The head moved unnaturally. The victim, moments ago twisted in pain, now spoke with utter calm.
“How cruel, Kim Shin-hwa. You killed this one.”
“Bullshit.”
“Then—grrrgle—”
Pop!
The message window popped up again.
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
How many times have I been drenched in blood now?
Somehow, laughter bubbled up. How many more times did it say?
“Kim Shin-hwa! Please! Submit to Him!”
“No.”
“Cough—gah!”
Pop-
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“Kim Shin-hwa! Please give up! Please!”
“No.”
“Grrgle—”
Pop-
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“Guhhh—grrrgle—please, I beg you! Please! Please!”
“No.”
Pop-
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“No.”
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“No.”
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“Stop it!”
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]
“Stop it, I said!”
[System: Due to the ‘Terror Infusion’ effect, a forced sanity check activates on the target. Checking... Check successful! You have endured the horrific shock.]