Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: D-2
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Now on the fifth day of vacation.
Today off, tomorrow off, one more day off, and then it’s back to the thrilling, insane life of a mad wizard in the [Cthulhu World].
I’d decided no major threats would come my way during this time. Plus, the issues plaguing my mind and soul had gone dormant for now.
In other words, this was my chance to tackle problems I’d been putting off.
“There’s no definitive cure for dissociative identity disorder. This medication won’t treat or resolve the symptoms outright—it’s mainly to help regulate extreme emotional swings.”
The doctor’s a person with a name, sure, but in [Cthulhu World] terms, she’s just another nameless NPC.
I’d come to a psychiatric clinic in southern Paju.
“Understood.”
“Hmm…”
My robotic response draws a thoughtful look from her.
“If you’re after something else…”
“No. I’m not here for Nirvana or Heart Breaker.”
“Ah, I see.”
Her face visibly brightens.
Makes sense—I’m wearing a disguise infini-mask, but my outfit’s not much different from usual. Black hoodie, flowing robe. Bulky backpack and artifacts dangling from my belt.
Anyone could tell I’m one of those fixers prowling Paju’s shadows.
“We’re a real hospital that doesn’t deal in that stuff, but we still get pushy types sometimes.”
“You have my sympathies.”
Nirvana and Heart Breaker are surreal mental enhancers. Ordinary fixers without my madness resistance have no choice but to abuse illegal drugs no better than street narcotics, wrecking their minds and bodies just to keep going.
Like she said, this is a genuine, everyday hospital.
In the game, you couldn’t even visit it—it was just background scenery on the map.
Even so, this doctor had [Mental Analysis] and [Psychological Counseling] traits, and our session gave me exactly what I wanted.
[System: Sanity restored through psychiatric counseling.]
[System: +1 from ‘relaxed atmosphere,’ +1 from ‘safe environment,’ +4 bonus from doctor’s ‘Psychological Counseling’ level. Final recoverable Sanity range: 1~10+6.
Mental fortitude check… success. Sanity restored: 15 points.]
Damn, this doctor’s good.
Unlike the game, I can’t see my exact Sanity score. But after all the chaos lately, it’s probably eaten through everything I regained via hibernation.
The [Shattered Psyche] trait had blocked normal counseling before, but now it’s different. I can recover Sanity peacefully, no surreal methods needed.
My estimated Sanity now… around 60? Diary-writing might’ve cost some too (reliving near-breakdown moments is unavoidable). Could be as low as 50.
Max capacity’s 100, for reference.
‘Kugh, stable Sanity for the first time in ages.’
This should hold me for a while.
Safety-first playstyle goes for 80+, but too high and spellcasting suffers.
“Thank you for your time.”
“Haha, no problem. Next session…?”
“No, I won’t be able to make it for a while.”
With that, I left the clinic.
“Alright. This much recovery means I can handle glimpsing horrors without much damage.”
High-Sanity folks don’t snap as easily from abominations. Time to start meeting those steeped in madness again.
I strolled to the bus stop, face serene. Jang Hyun-deok’s off today too—off to see his siblings in Ansan, apparently.
* * *
Emergency Meeting Minutes—20230610-3
Attendees: A, B, D, F
*Personal info redacted (per Security Protocol 2-8)*
A: Holy shit, right?
B: You cool starting the minutes like that?
A: What’s wrong? It is a holy shit moment. Hey,■■■, write that■■■■■said ‘Holy shit, right?’ at the start.
D: Got it.
B: (lowers voice)■■sir, he’ll actually write it that way!
A: Whatever. Let’s get to the point.
B: Fine, whatever.
A: That crystal scanner hobby of■■■’s—the batshit insane one. I told him not to use it, but he did anyway. And get this: it’s actually super effective against IPE-4587, the [Parasitic Worms]?
B: It’s beyond that. It’s showing limited but incredible results even on unrelated patients. Even partial success treating madness—y’know, surreal mental disorders—beyond physical or surreal issues. Mechanism’s unknown, so can’t spam it, but■■■made something huge.
A: Fine, whatever else, but how the hell do you treat those worms? I saw them—no cure for that shit.
(A and B look at F.)
F: Uh, keep in mind I don’t fully get it myself.
A: Spit it out. We’re all busy here.
F: Right. The issue with IPE-4587—the [Parasitic Worms]—was they’d devoured the patients’ bodies. Even removing them left too much damage for recovery. But■■■■figured the worms retained the patients’ body data.
A: And?
F:■■■■replaced all crystals with high-purity magistones. Energy from the stones reverted the worms to mana, then reabsorbed that mana into patients to reconstruct lost tissue.
A: That works? With that machine? How the fuck did he build it?
D: Claims he contracted a transcendent being from outer space.
A: Aliens? Wait—■■■contracted with Black, i.e., an [Abyssal Entity]?
B: No. Lately he’s been ranting about communing with some prince from Andromeda or Cthulhu-something.
A: Cthulhu planet? Where’s that? Prince from there?
B: It’s a figure of speech—no need to take it seriously!
A: Ah, got it. So surreal symptoms and madness get surreal treatment? Via ‘magical’ mechanics.
F: Yes.
A: Side effects? Cut the fluff—short and to the point. Told you, nobody here’s got time.
F: R-Right. Issue is it absorbs the worms’ original mana and data. Some patients lose memories, gain new personalities or beliefs… and a few awakened abilities they never had.
A: Abilities random? Or patterns?
F: Mostly combat-oriented ones. Details in the report I gave earlier.
B: Numbers are low, but one got A-rank. They’re those thugs called Bongil Cheonpa. If they discharge…
A: Gang of punks turns into powered militia. Got it.
B: Exactly! That’s the problem! This isn’t medical tech…■■■might’ve built an ability generator.
A: Ha, (censored profanity) interesting? So we can mass-produce espers as needed? Can we mass-produce the machine?
D: No.
A: No? What’s that mean?
B: Rights are tangled up…
(Ward lockdown: Rank A emergency. Meeting adjourned.)
* * *
“So it worked, huh?”
“Yesss~ It was amaaazing~”
Yi Ha-seo, flushed like a girl in love, eagerly described the grotesque sight of worms reabsorbing into bodies. I half-listened while skimming the report she’d snuck me.
‘Stronger effects than I expected.’
The [Crystal Spiral Energy Emitter] contains early incarnation stones infused with traces of [Predator of the Mountains]’ mana.
With him depowered, the stolen mana lost its specificity, becoming more versatile and general.
‘Yel Gold’ll love it.’
All those “lost” underlings coming back as espers.
‘No, Bongil Cheonpa’s not the issue.’
As the minutes said: it’s cranking out espers like crazy. Can’t pick grades like I did with Jang Hyun-deok, but it’s turned dangerous.
Won’t this cause problems later?
‘And this hospital’s security is a joke.’
Minutes that should be under max lockdown are right here in my hands.
I voiced my concern, and Yi Ha-seo giggled in agreement.
“Yup~ Total chaos that day~”
She pointed to the minutes’ end—Rank A emergency—while calling it “that day.”
“What happened? The lockdown ward still looks wrecked.”
I’d seen it on the way in: one side covered by massive orange tarps.
“Someone led a mass unauthorized discharge~”
Mass walkout. Not good. Wait—the meeting date… June 10th?
I can guess.
The day [Predator of the Mountains] showed up in Cheontae-dong.
His attack wiped Yangju and parts of Paju. This place got fallout too, apparently.
Rollback fixed the damage, but not the patient breakout—retconned as regular riot escape.
“But ‘someone led’? Who?”
“Dunno if you know? Transfer from Foreign Entity Control. IPE-3344, [Fish Man].”
“Deep One?”
“Yess~ That’s the outside name~”
“No, Deep Ones are grouped as [Fish Folk], right? What’s this [Fish Man]?”
“Wow~ How’d you know? Ahh—alien tech hacked my brain?”
“…Hacked Park Ru-hyun’s brain.”
Park Ru-hyun’s B from the minutes.
“Pfft, pick a better one next time~. Mine when you’re free—”
“No, seriously—what’s [Fish Man]?”
“Riiight. He’s different from other [Fish Folk]—managed separately. Super powerful ability, weird build. Missing hand seemed like injury.”
“…”
Yong-su?
In-su Village’s genius Deep One, Yong-su.
Already talented by lore, but I forcibly class-changed him to priest, pumping his power.
Anyway, Yong-su escaped… Hope he heads straight home, not after revenge on me.
“Anyway, updates aside—let’s get to work.”
“Yesss! Arm out, left one.”
Yi Ha-seo lifts the syringe with a creepy grin. My hard-won Sanity plummets at the sight.
“Blood draw todayyy~”
“Do it.”
“Heeheehee~”
“…”
I’d just had a normal session with a sane doctor at a proper clinic. Why am I now playing hospital with this freak in her bizarre, irrational ward?