Chapter 231
Chapter 231
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: Recent Status
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“Impossible!”
A shout came from an unexpected direction.
A wrinkled old sorcerer with vivid green skin dotted with black spots, his repulsive appearance reminiscent of a toad, burst out of the temple wailing.
“It can’t be! There’s no way! How dare he! How dare a mere human—!?”
“You’re right, this isn’t a spell that could activate so easily under normal circumstances.”
But not anymore.
Not with the toad stone I had, a conduit marked by the influence of an abyssal being.
“Stop it! Stop it! You can’t defile our faith! Our god! Our master!”
“What’s there to stop? It’s already activated.”
I savored the desperate screams ringing in my ears as I manipulated the magic circle.
Rumble rumble crash!
“Grr— grrrgrgrgr— grrrrk—”
[The descent of the Abyssal Being: Gajashira Buddha has been canceled.]
The massive bronze statue, meant to serve as the medium for the [Sangdubul]’s descent empowered by abyssal forces, froze in place.
Traces of the [Sangdubul] might linger in that statue, but for all intents and purposes, it was now just an inert object.
[The pervasive influence of ‘Gajashira Buddha’ in the vicinity has dissipated.]
Whoooosh—
A sudden wind began to blow.
A cool, clear breeze flowing through the canyon.
The damp, miasmic poison—the power of the Sangdubul—that the frog monks of the Sangbul Temple had forcibly gathered was gone.
My own toxic cloud had dissipated too, but that was irrelevant now.
“The power of our god... it’s gone...?”
“How could a human... a human defeat a god?”
“Is... is that thing really human!?”
The monks of Sangbul Temple—no, just frogmen now—wailed in refusal to accept the reality.
“Alright, it’s over. Now release the humans you were holding as sacrifices.”
“Not yet! Not yet! It’s not over!”
The old sorcerer who had screamed earlier clung to the bronze statue with the suction cups on his fingers, unleashing every ounce of his mana.
“Grrruk— grrrgrgr— grrrrk—”
“Our god has returned!”
“Our Sangdubul endures!”
The frogmen cheered ecstatically, their flagging morale surging anew.
“Well, well? Looks like there’s still someone who can put up a little show.”
The [Sangdubul]’s descent had been canceled.
The statue might be moving, but it was nothing more than a puppet show by a seasoned shaman.
“No need for powerful spells, but...”
To completely crush their spirits, a flashy demonstration was in order.
[Gravity Control]
[Element Concentration]
[Chill Convergence]
Creak— grrrruk— creak creak creak—
[Gravity Control] began pulling scattered rock fragments from the surroundings to a single point.
Then [Element Concentration] and [Chill Convergence], cast in sequence, merged with the gathered fragments, shaping them into a specific form.
“W-what is that!?”
“It’s absurd! Utterly absurd!”
The ice and rock had become a massive serpent coiled in striking pose.
“Snakes are the natural enemy of frogs, after all.”
[Chains of Dominion]
“Move!”
Rumble rumble rumble—
The giant serpent began to stir, making the bronze statue controlled by the sorcerer look like a child’s toy.
“It’s moving! That massive thing is moving!”
“Arghhh! Aaaarghhh!”
“Everyone, stay calm! The Sangdubul will protect us—”
The sorcerer tried to challenge it with his statue in a contest of strength, but he couldn’t even mimic the scene.
Boom!!
The bronze statue shattered in an instant.
Without pause, I unleashed a new spell.
[Fear Infusion]
[Word of Authority]
『You frog bastards, get lost! All of you!』
But words alone wouldn’t suffice.
Rumble! Boom!
I directed the serpent toward them—
“Arghhh! Run! Run away!”
“Arghhh! Monster! Monster!”
“Spare us! Please spare us!”
I watched the frogmen flee, then sent a mental message to Jang Hyun-deok.
“Hyun-deok, it’s done here. Call in Yeonam Logistics.”
- Oh, so that’s what the wizard summoned? Got it!
I hadn’t summoned it; I’d just mashed some stuff together and forced it to move. But whatever, details.
* * *
A sharp suit reinforced with metal guards here and there.
“Man, I knew you’d pull through. The ultimate fixer!”
And a chest so massive it blocked my view.
“You’re the one they said was coming?”
“Huh? That’s a cold tone. Aren’t you happy to see me after so long?”
His bulging muscles rippled across his body, threatening to burst the suit at the seams.
“Well, it has been a while.”
“But not happy?”
He leaned down, shoving his face into mine.
Ugh, so unnecessarily persistent.
“Fine, sure. Good to see you, Team Leader Kwak Dae-yong.”
“Hahaha! Still as impressive as ever.”
This job had cleared three quests in total.
[Quest completed!
[Hunting Quest: Demolition Operation]
Defeat the cultists occupying the site of Yeonam Construction’s planned resort and render the Jawoong Mountain canyon ‘safe.’
Reward: 4,000,000 XP + 150,000,000 won + Yeonam Group trust]
[Quest completed!
[Search Quest: Frog Lair]
Yeonam Electronics’ HR manager has been kidnapped. A witness at the abduction site reported seeing a giant frog shadow. Locate the HR manager and ensure their safety.
Reward: 1,000,000 XP + 200,000,000 won + Yeonam Group trust]
[Quest completed!
[Search Quest: Critical Issue]
A ‘relic of antiquity’ stored by Yeonam Logistics has gone ‘missing.’ Locate the ‘relics of antiquity’ and recover all missing items.
Relics of antiquity: 8/8
Reward: 6,500,000 XP + 4,000,000,000 won + Yeonam Group trust]
All tied to the Yeonam Group.
So when they said they were sending someone for relic recovery and HR protection, it turned out to be Kwak Dae-yong, security team leader for Yeonam Construction.
[You have gained enough experience to reach the next level. Level increased by 1.]
Dealing with Kwak amid the message windows blocking my view was a bit annoying.
I skimmed it—level 59 now—and responded.
“I figured it wouldn’t be you, Team Leader Kwak.”
“Huh? Why’s that?”
Because of how it went in the game.
“Thought it’d be someone from Yeonam Logistics.”
“Oh— the relics? Yeah, that would’ve been normal, but I’m not with Yeonam Construction security anymore.”
Kwak Dae-yong was originally Yeonam Construction’s security team leader. He’d long guarded Mun Seung-hee, a key Yeonam Group NPC, before conveniently exiting stage left... but things had changed.
“So where are you with now? Gotta call you something else besides team leader?”
“Hmm, still a team leader, technically... but my position’s different now.”
He pulled a crisp business card from his pocket and handed it over.
Heh, never thought I’d live to get Kwak Dae-yong’s business card.
It read: Kwak Dae-yong, Manager and Team Leader, Protection Team 1, YA Security.
“YA Security?”
Jang Hyun-deok’s voice chimed in from behind.
He’d been peeking and read over my shoulder.
“No, it’s ‘Why-Age.’ From Yeonam.”
Kwak’s explanation.
“Ah, gotcha?”
Jang’s lame exclamation.
“Hmm...”
I tapped the purifier on my gas mask, thinking.
‘What’s this? Something new that wasn’t there before.’
“Yeonam Group’s new comprehensive security firm. They’ve folded each company’s security teams into it...”
“And dispatches them out?”
“Exactly. Not just protection—we handle fixer gigs like yours too. Times are rough these days, right?”
“Hey— wizard, isn’t this that thing? Big corp muscling into alleyway business...”
“Yeah, I get it. But they’re still outsourcing, aren’t they?”
“Ahem— infrastructure’s not fully built yet.”
Typical big corp move.
Not about doing the work themselves—just inserting as middlemen to skim fees.
“So, what do you think?”
Kwak asked out of the blue.
“About what?”
“Told you before. Used to be just Yeonam Construction security, but now I’ve got more pull.”
He smirked smugly.
“Fancy joining a big corp—?”
“Nope.”
“Nope? Everyone dreams of— domestic giant—”
“Nope.”
“Job market’s tough these—”
“Nope.”
“Our benefits are—”
“No.”
“Tch, alright.”
“Anyway, how’s Manager Mun Seung-hee these days?”
“Oh, the manager?”
“She doing okay?”
Depending on events, you could team up with Mun Seung-hee to vie for Yeonam succession or uncover the horrific curse in the owner family’s blood—the ‘Queenmaker’ route.
I’d skipped the hassle, but she remained a top ally NPC.
“Hmm— actually, I’ll see her after this wraps. She’s on long-term assignment in Sokcho for a big project and requested protection. Probably my team.”
“Oh, Sokcho? Fun place.”
In [Cthulhu World], Sokcho, Inje, and Goseong were a blast. As fun as Paju in [Cthulhu World].
* * *
Handover with Kwak wrapped up smoothly.
“Hit me up anytime you change your mind! I’ll be waiting!”
Kwak waved from the passenger seat of a fully armored truck.
Escorted by five armed vehicles.
“No mind-changing here, but expect away.”
I waved lazily and headed to where Jang’s call van was hidden.
“More rounds today?”
“Let’s call it here. This thing’s more unstable than I thought.”
‘This thing’ was the massive stone construct parked next to Jang’s call van.
“Ugh, that dolmen. Unstable?”
Dolmen, huh...
A human-shaped boulder forcibly fused with metal plates, bizarre contraptions, spirit-trapping rocks, and high-purity magistones.
Yeah... it did look like a dolmen festooned with garbage.
“It won’t explode or anything, so don’t worry.”
No explosion.
If it malfunctioned, I’d just die—and the world would crudely end.
[Portable Barrier Generator].
A magic tool I’d made using the toad stone these past few days.
It reverse-engineered the influence of [The One Who Waits Silently], emitting jamming waves against similar mana patterns—a jammer, basically.
‘Won’t work on all of them.’
Activating it disrupted descents of [Predator of the Mountains] and his avatars, neutralizing their influence.
“Got one already.”
Not just [Sangdubul]. Roaming Paju with Jang, I’d weakened many [Predator of the Mountains]-linked groups.
Same method as infiltrating the Foamhaut descendants’ sanctuary before their ritual—disrupting it.
And looting them, or preempting related quests.
That’s my routine now.
[Predator of the Mountains]?
Whatever. To descend here cheaply and exert influence, they needed a medium, ritual, or sacrifice to receive them.
A powerful relic might force it—but try me. I’d loot it first.
“No matter what bullshit they pull, I’ll make sure they can’t descend in Paju.”
“Wizard, talking to yourself again.”
“Tch!”
“Haha— so, where to next? Basilis?”
“Nah, tired. Home first.”
Quest rewards could wait. And these weren’t the only quests I’d accepted.