Chapter 276
Chapter 276
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 276
Chapter Title: Second Visit to Bongam Hall
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Fwoosh—
The sound of the [Night Veil Wing Robe] fluttering in the wind.
'A bit of an awkward distance.'
My destination was Bongam Hall.
It was too far to cover purely with [Flight].
'It's not a spell meant for prolonged use, anyway.'
The mana drain was acceptable in combat, but wasteful for simple travel.
That was why this game had a separate Driver class.
'Anyway, I should probably mark Bongam Hall this time too.'
Thud—
After finishing a leap that was close to flight, I paused briefly on an abnormally thick tree trunk—
[Leap]
Thump—
—and jumped again.
Fwoosh—
The trees that had grown to unnatural heights made perfect platforms for chaining leaps.
With several enchantments wrapped around my body to boost my physical abilities, I alternated between short bursts of [Flight] and long [Leaps] toward Bongam Hall.
The result? I looked like a night bird prowling the darkness, or maybe one of the Evergreen Mountain Association elders.
To think they could pull this off with raw physical prowess alone—those old folks were impressive.
Fwoosh—
'You helped us like that last time too.'
That was what Moon Seung-hee had said.
'No details, but "helped" probably means saving Lee Sun-bin, right?'
The day I first met her.
The day we fought ghouls in the apartment complex in Munsan.
I'd arrived at the complex and immediately done something that seemed random, saving Lee Sun-bin.
'Honestly, it just felt like [I did it because it worked].'
It had been a gamer's instinct with no deeper meaning, but it left a strong impression on Moon Seung-hee.
A fixer asking to act independently right upon arrival? Even without [Cthulhu World]'s culture, that could've pissed off any client.
Yet Moon Seung-hee had expressed strong trust in me.
'You said independent action, but since it's you, Mage-nim, there must be special meaning to it. I won't ask unnecessary questions. Tell me if you need anything else. I'll provide any support within my authority.'
"Well, it made things easier for me."
Fwoooosh—
'Something feels off about the vibe around here, though?'
Not Moon Seung-hee.
Here.
Right now, in this area.
The forest. The trees. The path to Bongam Hall.
Something was weird.
Whether it was the effect of [Heightened Vigilance] or [Keen Observation], I couldn't tell—but it felt subtly off.
This forest was so dense.
'Was it always this empty?'
I realized the reason almost the instant I noticed the awkwardness.
No animals.
Not even small birds.
"Huh?"
It was the same path I'd taken before regression. The atmosphere had been the same then, so I hadn't noticed.
But it shouldn't be like this now.
Last time, no animals because...
"Yeah, shoggoths were prowling around."
Damn, so what was it this time?
Another shoggoth?
No, that didn't make sense.
Shoggoths were set to emerge from underground ruins entrances.
Whiiiir—
I expanded my detection range while keeping my speed.
"That it?"
I found a clue. In a game, it'd be an [Observation Check Success] message.
It wasn't far off my path.
* * *
Fwoosh—
I adjusted my leap trajectory and descended to the base of a tree.
"Cough— Urghhh—"
"Hey, old timer."
I crouched down to check on the dying old man.
Flashy hiking gear, crude but functional weapons.
'An Evergreen Mountain Association fixer.'
He lay alone, spilling blood and guts, yet expressed his unyielding pride and rage.
"The god you serve... I curse you... in its name... curse you, cultist scum... the Conqueror..."
"Sir, I'm not a cultist."
"The Conqueror... is coming soon. Hnngh— Haah... The Conqueror... will hunt you down. For the sins... you committed at Bongam Hall..."
It seemed like his last burst of strength.
The old man exhaled while holding his steadfast demeanor, but didn't inhale again.
I closed his wide-open eyes and stood.
"Hmm, these folks aren't the type to abandon comrades."
One more.
Another Evergreen Mountain Association fixer.
No chance for talk this time. Burned to death.
'A fight happened.'
Traces of magic around. Cruel, lethal attack spells typical of cultists.
The old man who'd just died had suffered the same. Limbs twisted in unnatural directions.
Corpses aligned in a consistent direction. Bloodstains. Destruction marks.
My Intelligence stat kicked in, naturally reconstructing the scene.
A battle at abnormal speeds.
Explosion over there. Elders pouring from the trees. Freezing magic triggered for counterattack. Curses. Attacks. Another explosion.
One dies there. The cursed old man with tangled limbs thrashes here and dies. An elder hit directly by the blast flies far off. The Association's attacks slowed the high-speed mages briefly, but no decisive hits.
Elders retreating. They set traps while leaving, but the mages used [Trap Detection] or similar. Simple 0th-circle spells disarmed them.
"They moved fast. [Nature Walk]? No, this is [Haste] level."
In short, fast-moving mages bumped into the [Evergreen Mountain Association], brief clash, drove them off, and kept going without hesitation.
The Association weren't pushovers.
Not like they sought the fight; a small group passing through ran into them by chance.
"I don't owe these elders anything specific..."
But leaving them like trash didn't sit right.
Whiiiir—
I gathered mana and carefully collected the visible corpses in one spot.
No grand meaning. As always—just because I could.
"This way, other elders will recover them and hold funerals. Anyway..."
Considering the traces, the number of mages here was...
Twelve.
'Those construction site troublemakers from earlier.'
They were heading my way.
Straight this direction led to Bongam Hall.
'Come to think of it, those decapitated bodies at Bongam Hall last time.'
Eleven of them?
Plus Kim Sung-hwan locked in the warehouse... totals twelve.
It connected nicely. Perfect.
"Moving right away was the right call. Faster than expected?"
Linger too long, and I might miss the event.
Fwoooosh—
I sped up even more toward Bongam Hall.
* * *
A high moon.
Clouds twisting into grotesque shapes, writhing ominously.
An old traditional house suddenly appearing in the forest.
Bamboo stakes at the gate, red and white cloths tied to them.
Bongam Hall.
Fwoosh—
Wrapped fully in my [Night Veil Wing Robe], I mimicked a night bird's flight, blending into the dark shadows to approach Bongam Hall undetected.
'Can't let my guard down.'
They were low-tier, but still mages slain by abyssal beings.
Whirrr—
Several security and stealth spells activated. I erased all presence and traces, landing on Bongam Hall's roof.
'Ah, I'm beat.'
Realizing I couldn't pace myself, I'd gone full throttle.
'Tired, but that's stamina. Mana's still fine.'
I steadied my mind and body, extending detection into Bongam Hall.
'Not too late... but I am. What the hell?'
Middle-aged men, energetic for their age, rummaging through Bongam Hall.
'God, this game's skins are... no wonder it flopped.'
Beautiful elves shooting arrows to guard forests? Nah, elders in hiking gear hurling boomerangs to protect Seoraksan.
Potbellied uncles playing evil dark wizards? Just accept it.
Looks aside, they were cultists of the [Ancient Voices], worshippers of the abyssal [Great Origin].
"Where the hell's this book?"
"If it existed, they'd have told us, right?"
"We could've ended it in one go if we'd known sooner. Back here again."
"President Park, check over there too."
"Argh, this sucks. Where'd she hide it? Even dead, the old hag's a pain in the ass."
All CEOs somewhere.
Not small-time landlords—big shots where 'you can't pass through this neighborhood without stepping on their land.'
Closed membership for elite mystics honing Western occultism and magecraft? Fine, but they lacked manpower for this.
Work underlings would've handled? Now they grumbled nonstop.
Grumble here, complain there—with every move.
Made info gathering easy.
'So... not today.'
I wasn't late.
The [Guardian of Bongam Hall] was killed long ago.
Piecing their loose talk: even if I'd moved faster, I couldn't have saved her.
'At earliest three days ago, at latest a week.'
They only learned of the [Bongam Scripture] later, so back now.
"Moon Kyung-nam, that bastard. Telling us now? What the hell?"
"Bossing from afar. Thinks we're his minions?"
Moon Seung-hee got Moon Kyung-nam's call recently too? Me beating him delayed their notice.
"Found it! This is it!"
Time to decide next move.
Regrettable missing the Guardian, but securing the [Bongam Scripture] was fine now.
Ssssh—
Something materialized beside me, crouched on the roof.
"...?"
Almost yelped.
A hazy silhouette of a grandmother in pure white mourning clothes.
Same as last time. The [Guardian of Bongam Hall], protector of this land for ages.
No noise, so I conveyed to her.
『Do you have something to say?』
Her reply was imagery and emotion, not words, but translated to:
『A child bearing power no human can handle.』
Fear, worry, pity, sorrow from her white spirit.
『Why carry so much? I'm afraid you'll burst.』
I scratched my black-hooded head and conveyed:
『I'm fine. More importantly, how did this happen?』
Thought it key, but she ignored her death, pointing at the chattering cultists.
『By the name of Cheon-geum-dang in your body, I beg you. Stop them.』
『Was planning to anyway.』
『Stop her.』
『Her? What do you mean?』
The [Great Voices] cultists—even including Moon Kyung-nam forcibly—were all middle-aged men.
And "her" meant a woman past a certain age...
『Stop her rage and grief.』
Sorrow, worry, fear.
Damn, no clue.
Even as [Guardian of Bongam Hall], she was a ghost now. No proper medium traits, no deeper talk.
I gave up on the ghost chat.
My task was clear anyway. And time was short—under 20 minutes to midnight.
Magic phobia unlikely to recur, but best handle fast just in case.
Phobia or not, they had to go. For the Guardian turned ghost by their evil...
"Just burn it all! Simplest way!"
"Fine, step back—I'll do it!"
A particularly ruddy-skinned cultist stepped up, chanting.
"Purest power of destruction, ignite their souls in the dance of ruin."
[Flame...]
[Mana Leak]
Pffft—
A hole punctured the rising flame formula from his hand, scattering his focused mana.
"Wh-what? My mana...?!"
Panicking cultists.
But one sharp one yelled.
"No—someone used [Spell Counter]!"
Roaring dark mana.
"Who's there!?"
"Enemy! Everyone, heads up!"
"Where!? Who dares disrupt our rite!"
Face-reddened shouting cultists.
Crash!
Five originally in the yard.
Four rushing out.
Three still in the main hall.
"There! That's him!"
"Look! On the roof!"
"Hard to believe, but I have an aversion to killing humanoid lifeforms. Hand over the book, repent your past sins, and I'll settle for a couple beatings."
"Shut up!"
"Who do you think we are!?"
"Grab that bastard and kill him! Pull him down!"
Murmurs turning to chaos.
Spells firing everywhere at once.
Take down twelve ex-corporate mage cultists in 20 minutes?
"Well, easy enough."