Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: Harvest
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The living room turned into a total mess in an instant.
The necromantic golems, sensing that the clutter inside the mansion had exceeded a certain level, all sprang to life at once...
*Kiriririk—* *Crack crack crack—*
And started cleaning.
*Rumble rumble—* *Thud thud thud thud! Roll roll—*
“Whew, it was already chaotic enough, but now it’s double the chaos.”
“We have to clean, though. Ah, my head hurts. Damn it.”
Curses were slipping out of my mouth on their own.
“Whew, I’d been holding back on swearing for a while...”
Jang Hyun-deok grumbled upon hearing my muttering.
“The wizard never held back on swearing...”
“Didn’t I?”
“Not really...”
“Ah, shit... Don’t piss me off. Hey, give me your hand.”
“Ehh? Again?”
“What do you mean ‘ehh, again’? Hand it over, man. This is for your benefit, not mine.”
Jang Hyun-deok grumbled as he extended his hand.
“No, not like that—palm up. Yeah, like that.”
I supported the back of his hand with mine and pushed mana into him.
“How’s that? This time?”
“Huh? It feels different from before.”
This wasn’t infiltration to influence or analyze his state. I was straight-up transferring a portion of my mana into his body, like handing it over.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“My mana. But it doesn’t feel like a foreign substance like last time, right?”
“Yeah, huh? How’d you do that?”
“I improved your constitution.”
I’d reshaped his mana core to boost mana generation efficiency.
The part touched by the [King in Yellow] wouldn’t budge at all, so it was pure hell.
I had to create bypasses, make an auxiliary core, trick the [Living Altar], make it recognize the generated auxiliary core as possessed by Jang Hyun-deok, sync them to avoid side effects, link it to the main core for dual reinforcement... blah blah. Explaining it in detail would make my head explode; it took every convoluted trick in the book.
“Let’s start with the basics. Gather mana in your right hand.”
“Mm— like this?”
Mana concentrated in Jang Hyun-deok’s right hand. But what he was manipulating right now wasn’t his own mana. It was mine.
‘I gave it as desaturated, attribute-less mana, but he’s already converting it into his own and using it right away.’
Success.
That’s right. This is the power I’d bestowed on Jang Hyun-deok’s body. Now he can use others’ mana as if it were his own.
Once he trains his mana control (a grueling process, no doubt), any average wraith possessing him won’t be able to take over—instead, it’ll get absorbed by Jang Hyun-deok outright.
I imbued the mana he’d gathered with a specific tendency and said,
“Good. Just like that. Exactly. Now cast a spell.”
“Huh? Cast a spell? Right now?”
“Yeah.”
I forcibly manipulated the mana gathered in his right hand, structuring a spell. Concentration—control—conversion—attribute assignment—rising and sublimating—
*[Ignition]*
*Whoosh—*
Flames of mana rose from Jang Hyun-deok’s right hand.
“W-whoa!?”
Jang Hyun-deok stared at his right hand in complete shock.
“Ah, I get it now— I understand how to do it! I think I’ve got it!”
It was like teaching him the stance by grabbing him from behind and guiding his movements.
“Good.”
I canceled the ignition and released his mana back to him.
“Now gather mana in your left hand. No need to add attributes.”
“Mmm—”
*Ziiiiing—*
Mana concentrated into a sphere at his fingertips.
“Yeah. Normally it forms a circle. Now change it into a different shape.”
“What shape?”
“You still remember the sensation from when Heo Ji-hyeon—your aunt—made it through your body, right? Think you can recreate that?”
Heo Ji-hyeon had converted primal mana into threads without attribute changes. That was probably her specialty as a puppeteer, exerting physical force or dominance through them.
*Tss tss—*
The mana gradually morphed into threads.
“Whoa! Wizard! It’s working! I think it is!”
“Yeah. I told you, didn’t I? You’ve got talent.”
Separate from Jang Hyun-deok’s joy, I felt a sense of accomplishment myself.
I did it. Kim Shin-hwa.
Teaching magic to a guy like Jang Hyun-deok—truly a victory for humanity.
* * *
The next day.
“Yes, yes. Things are progressing well. I have to head out soon... Yes. Then let’s meet there.”
After hanging up, I waved my hand again to unfurl the blueprint.
I had a lot on my plate today.
Make and deliver Yeom Geum-ja’s ‘additional order,’ meet a few people on the way out—and knock out a quest or two while I’m at it.
*Crack—pop—*
I cracked my knuckles and peered at the blueprint.
“I pulled this out to translate ancient script.”
But it was being used in a weird way.
Considering its original purpose in the game, was this even right?
I extended both hands, levitating the scattered junk on the floor into the air.
*Clank clank clank—shhhrk—*
*Click! Shhhk—clack clack clack!*
‘Toy guns’ assembled in an instant. The inconsistent specs were stabilizing bit by bit through repeated work.
‘Stability...’
[Ffailure Rate: 21%]
“Ugh, no matter what I do, it won’t drop below 20%.”
Even with crafting traits?
‘Probably not.’
The ‘toy guns’ I was making weren’t what this blueprint intended. They were flukes born from my immature interpretation and lacking crafting skills.
In short, the design itself was flawed. To fix misfires, malfunctions, explosions, etc., I needed to deepen my understanding of the blueprint.
‘But if I do...’
It probably wouldn’t be these ‘toy guns’ anymore. Something completely different. If I fully interpreted this blueprint—what could I make? Maybe something beyond my imagination.
For example, suppose this was an ancient [car blueprint]. I might be using part of the internal combustion engine, mislabeled as a ‘railgun,’ as a weapon.
‘Well, in this insane world, probably no cute twists like that.’
Please don’t let it be [Black Hole Generator]! Thanks to our Kim Shin-hwa, Earth and the whole solar system got wrecked~☆
“Hmm. Anyway, for this scale of production...”
The basement was getting cramped. Couldn’t expand it since it was underground...
Things were organizing and stabilizing nicely, so new desires were emerging.
“At this point, hmm, maybe build a dedicated workshop annex. Where to put it...?”
I could add another building on Jangmyeongsan, but that wasn’t the point.
‘Fortunately, thanks to Park Gwang-rim, no immediate worries.’
There was a bounty on my head from the Hunter Association.
An abyssal entity had already invaded once, and Jangmyeongsan’s notoriety was drawing in every two-bit fixer.
‘Definitely need a second residence for emergencies.’
Somewhere that could completely defend against intruders, unknown to others, spiritually fortified.
Did such a place exist?
* * *
“Wizard, check this out!”
“Hm, you’re doing well.”
Jang Hyun-deok sat on the sofa, training his mana control with Ddol-dol and Achilles flanking him.
He was forming shapes and mana lines with mana concentrated in both hands.
It wasn’t just magic; he seemed thrilled by learning itself.
“I, uh, only finished elementary school. Never had much chance to learn anything.”
He clarified it was actually middle school dropout.
Not that unusual, but seeing him work harder than expected didn’t feel bad.
‘Am I teaching him properly, though?’
Was this the right method...? Honestly, no clue. I didn’t learn that way; [Cthulhu World] has no apprentice system.
And magic progress is automatic.
Innate spells come from grimoires, artifacts, or surreal entities, but it’s just [Research] or [Learn] button.
So the magic I was teaching Jang Hyun-deok was—frankly—cobbled together from [Spell Mastery] trait knowledge.
‘Eh, whatever. As long as he doesn’t fall into madness like qi deviation, it’s fine, right?’
Besides, who teaches magic for free? If it goes wrong, it’s his karma for a bad master.
I shoved aside the unnecessary thoughts and told Jang Hyun-deok,
“Hyun-deok, let’s head out.”
“Ah, going out? Where to today?”
“Meeting Bongilcheonpa first. And some others. Ddol-dol. Eat this.”
*Rumble rumble—*
A massive pile of weapons and artifacts poured out from the basement door.
“Whoa!? You made that many already?”
“You’re the reason I’m exhausted, and Bongilcheonpa’s nagging me. Hey, we’re late. Hurry up.”
“Yes sir!”
Ddol-dol devoured the mountain of gear in huge bites, while Jang Hyun-deok stood from the sofa, prepping to leave.
But from the kitchen...
“Shin-hwa-ssi.”
Heo Sang-hyeon approached with a grim expression. Looked like he had something on his mind. What was—
“Keeek!”
Red suddenly barreled out and charged.
Since I’d banned flight, Red had taken to waddling around gigantic-penguin-style lately. Cute in its way, but too big to be comfy. Wait, was it spreading both wings to hug me?
“Gah, Red! Don’t! You’ll kill me!”
Red’s sudden hug nearly snapped my spine...
I repelled it with a burst of mana and said to Heo Sang-hyeon,
“Sang-hyeon-ssi, something wrong?”
“I have something to tell you...”
“Is it urgent?”
Heo Sang-hyeon pondered briefly, then sighed shortly.
“No. Not really.”
“Hm, then after I get back— Hey! Red, cut it out!”
“Keeek!”
I finally escaped after Red nuzzled me thoroughly in its embrace.
* * *
“By the way, you’re still using those dangerous guns without issue?”
“Well, Yeom Geum-ja doesn’t have options.”
We were delivering to Yeom Geum-ja and heading elsewhere. No deaths yet? Good, but complicated feelings.
“Options?”
“Yeah, I got suspicious when she was sniffing around for mana stone bombs recently, so I asked a contact about back-alley dealings.”
Before delivering these guns—right before I got locked in Paju Central Hospital—she’d asked for weapons.
“Ah, what’s the scene like now?”
“Heard some interesting stuff.”
Yeom Geum-ja lost options because of Jeokdu.
Jeokdu, newly allied with some force, had smashed Bongilcheonpa’s weapon supply lines.
“What’s this new force?”
“Well, Jeokdu always liked hanging with foreigners and shady types.”
That’s why they allied with the cult [Spawn of Fomalhaut]. Until I (well, Dokgo Gyeom, tricked by me) wrecked them.
“Ah, allied with another cult?”
“Right. This time, not one or two, but multiple denominations.”
Not a sign of expansion. No cult in Paju matched [Spawn of Fomalhaut]’s scale yet.
So they allied with small-fry cults, losing focus and territory.
“In that mess, shouldn’t you buddy up somewhere solid and sweep up the profits, wizard?”
“Profits?”
“Yeah, Cheongho begged you to join the family, right?”
“They did.”
Suddenly on Cheongho.
“Ah, got it! That’s why we’re heading there now?”
“Huh? What?”
“We’re going to meet Cheongho faction now, right? No way?”
“Huh?”
“The back-alley info guy? That was Cheongho people?”
This guy was sharp as hell today.
Yeah, I was heading to Cheongho right now.