Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Wall Rubbing
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‘This isn’t the time to be sitting around. I need to get out of here first! That’s all I should focus on right now.’
The makeshift campfire was on the verge of dying out at any moment.
The areas beyond the warmth of the fire were cold and dark, but I could still make out shapes well enough.
Rows of cryogenic tubes and the experimental subjects inside them.
This place was called the [K-3675 Secret Research Facility].
It had a half-assed name that felt like someone just strung together random numbers, but regardless, it was a covert lab owned by some corporation.
A site where they’d researched forbidden technologies like life extension and resurrecting the dead.
They’d chased arrogant dreams of turning the impossible into reality, and in the end, they’d tampered with knowledge they never should have touched.
But what they created weren’t the living or the dead—they were grotesque, blasphemous monsters that could be neither.
The facility’s meager defenses couldn’t hold back those monsters, so the lab was ultimately sealed shut.
It came with all this elaborate backstory, but right now, none of that mattered.
In the game’s early story, the protagonist would stumble upon the reason for their amnesia while searching for a way out, uncovering the horrifying truth of what happened here...
“Not relevant to me.”
Especially since the info and keycard the protagonist needed first were buried in that pile of paper currently burning merrily away. Nice job on that. So much for the standard route.
But that wasn’t a problem.
As you can see, I hadn’t lost my memory, I knew exactly what went down in the experiments, and I even knew how to escape this place.
The real issue was survival.
Even though the [K-3675 Secret Research Facility] was basically a tutorial area, the game’s notoriously brutal difficulty made escaping it no walk in the park.
If you started with a half-baked character build, you’d be lucky to avoid a death ending, let alone get out.
‘Ugh, this is so fucking frustrating. Why’d I have to end up in a game like this? Wouldn’t it have been nice to drop into some flashy nurturing sim or dating simulator instead?’
I’d never played anything that glamorous myself... but still, why [Cthulhu World] of all things?!
I raised my hand toward the campfire, which was now little more than dying embers.
A slender, fragile arm and trembling fingers came into view.
It was a completely different body and sensation from before I’d opened my eyes in this world.
Even trying to flex my fingers, my hand barely managed the minimal movement, ignoring my will entirely.
[Strength 4: Frail]
I’d picked this stat figuring I could just remake the character if things went south, but would there even be a “remake” option for me in this world?
That’s when a bizarre noise suddenly echoed.
Screeeeech...
Grrrrr...
Shhhh...
I turned to look at the large passageway carved into one wall. No door or cover in sight.
- Kreaaaa!
- Kreeeak!
- Grroooo...
A massive horde of something was approaching, their grotesque noises and horrific groans filling the air. Not just one or two.
The view was different from the thousands of hours I’d spent staring at a computer screen, but this was the [K-3675 Secret Research Facility].
A place where eldritch experiments and forbidden research had summoned monsters that shouldn’t exist in reality, leading to its shutdown.
No one had dealt with those monsters in the process.
The researchers abandoned along with the facility became monster chow, turning the whole place into a nest.
And here I was, lighting a bright campfire in such a spot... Of course I’d drawn attention by now.
‘But this is way too many for that, isn’t it?’
Normally, this area only spawns one tutorial monster: an easy zombie. It’s a probability-based encounter, so bad luck could mean up to three... but...
- Kweeeek!
- Gyaaaaak!
- Kirrrruk!
- Grroooo!
Even conservatively, that sounded like at least thirty. Something’s off.
Zombies started pouring in from the dark corridor. A full platoon’s worth charging straight at me.
[System: Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ has activated.]
[Abyssal beings are taking an interest in you.]
‘Ah, so that’s how it is...’
I wouldn’t call it satisfying, but what can you do?
Zombies aren’t abyssal beings. The system’s “abyssal beings” refer to surreal gods or otherworldly overlords. Looks like some great existence exerted its unfathomable influence to send these zombies my way—for my sake, apparently.
We were now close enough to clearly see the zombies.
The wide corridor was so packed they kept shoving each other.
Zombies that got knocked down were trampled and crushed by those coming from behind... a sight to behold.
Their decay and bodily damage varied, but they all wore tattered white lab coats.
Probably researchers who worked here.
Brilliant minds who once delved into unholy knowledge to surpass human limits.
Now reduced to undead that could neither live nor die.
Little trace of their human forms remained.
Viciously overgrown claws on hands and feet, bodies covered in wounds oozing sticky black fluids.
Some missing an arm or leg.
Others spilling guts from gaping abdominal wounds.
Heads cracked open, brains exposed.
Like in many games, zombies in [Cthulhu World] were low-tier, pathetic monsters.
But facing them for real... they had an undeniable presence you couldn’t ignore.
The raw killing intent that would crush a normal human’s spirit, the revolting stench.
Yet despite the realism, I felt no shock or fear.
‘Whoa, shit. This is real, real.’
Real. Actually real.
Real zombies.
An overwhelming realism that no imagination or dream could match.
What surprised me wasn’t the zombies—it was the fact that this absurd situation had become my reality.
[A zombie horde approaches you, spewing repulsive black fluids. Overwhelming numbers. A hopeless situation no one could escape. The stench of gruesome death, unnatural movements. Witnessing their grotesque, hideous forms fills you with visceral revulsion, dizzying terror, helplessness, and despair.]
Despair my ass. I’m telling you, no fear.
[System: Mental Fortitude stat resists fear. Mental Fortitude check... failed.]
“What?”
Shit, I yelled out in disbelief.
Failed? For real? Oh, right—probability-based checks.
[But you have already gazed into the deep, deep abyss. The abyss’s madness will paradoxically serve as a shield protecting your sanity...]
Zzzt—
A white spark flared at my temple, purging the artificial fear trying to take hold.
[System: Unique trait ‘Abyss Madness’ activated. Fear effect removed.]
By now, I had a rough idea of what was going on.
I wasn’t a normal human. As long as I had the [Abyss Madness] trait, no matter how repulsive those monsters looked, they couldn’t touch my mind.
And I had more than that.
“Hey, you zombie bastards, stay back.”
- Grroooo...
As if words would work. They didn’t have the brains for it anyway. No... as the horde closed in, my mind cleared instead, ideas flooding in on what I could do—what I should do. Perfect. Show ’em, Kim Shin-hwa. Show ’em what you’ve got!
I directed my will toward the campfire, reduced to mere sparks.
My massive 30 Intelligence stat kicked into gear. All the calculations for mana manipulation finished in an instant, my thoughts manifesting in reality faster than thought itself.
As I properly channeled mana, it became visible in detail.
Mana scattered around the room surged violently.
‘Those red sparkles covering the whole room... that’s all my mana?’
It felt surreal, like being inside a fantasy special effect.
[Flame Manipulation]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximized]
Fwooooosh—
The flames exploded outward with ferocious momentum.
The campfire, now worthy of being called a blaze, expanded its reach in seconds, surging toward the zombies like a living beast.
Flame Manipulation was a minor spell that merely redirected existing flames.
But combined with [Spell Enhancement: Maximized], that trivial magic became unbelievably amplified.
Fwooboomboomcrack!
- Kreeeeeeeeee!
- Graaaaaaaa!
Whoa, what... the firepower’s way stronger than I expected.
No, it wasn’t just that.
The amount of mana pouring from my body... it was too much!
Way, way, way too much.
‘What’s with this insane amount of mana?’
As I fully unleashed it, mana flooded out from my mana core.
Like floodgates opening on a long-sealed dam.
Pure, high-grade mana gushing endlessly.
I couldn’t control it!
Even dumping this much, my mana core showed no sign of depleting. No—that wasn’t it.
‘What the hell? It’s a goddamn ocean?’
Not the best metaphor mid-firefight, but it was like needing a cup of water and dumping an entire sea instead.
‘How far can I push this?’
Glowing mana particles danced at my command.
I poured it all into the flames incinerating the zombies.
Shrieeeeeek—
The fire had become a massive wall of flame, engulfing the entire corridor where they’d swarmed.
This level of power could crush upper 3rd-circle or even low 4th-circle spells. And it came from a 0th-circle cantrip meant to just nudge flames and relight a campfire!
Zombies, being mindless undead that don’t feel pain, kept pushing through the blaze. But even the few elite ones showing grit crumbled to charcoal before the inferno.
“Got ’em...?”
Oops, my mistake. I clamped my mouth shut too late—the needless noise had consequences.
- Grrooooar!
There... at the rear of the merrily burning zombie horde, a new friend appeared.
Impossible to miss from afar: standout aggression and presence.
A hulking frame filling the narrow corridor alone.
A grotesquely bloated, twisted body.
The mid-boss of this secret facility: [Giant Zombie]. Setting aside its generically named vibe, why the hell had this thing crawled all the way here?
‘You’re supposed to be one floor up. [Feast’s Offering] effect? Totally doing whatever it wants.’
Unlike regular zombies, this one had something resembling intelligence.
Not that it meant much... it wouldn’t charge blindly into massive flames, sure. But it was still dangerous.
- Grrooooaaar!
The Giant Zombie flexed its bulging muscles, grabbing zombies and hurling them my way. Oof, this guy’s strong. Burning zombies flying straight at me.
[Invisible Hand]
A spell for small-scale telekinesis.
I considered [Barrier] or [Distortion Field], but those are 1st-circle spells—I couldn’t cast them yet.
No matter how absurd my mana was, level 1 was level 1.
Only 0th-circle cantrips available.
But I compensated for low efficiency by brute-forcing mana into it, and transcended limited effects with god-tier mana control.
I visualized the [Invisible Hand] grabbing the incoming zombies.
Cracklerattlecrash!
“Urk?”
Whoops, too much force.
The flying zombie squished like a tomato in a press, every drop of juice squeezed out.
Not a pretty sight. But worse was how I felt nothing—no emotion, no shock—watching something human-like burn or shatter.
No time for reflection.
Dragging this out would bring more.
I pumped new imagery into the [Invisible Hand] with mana.
Shuuu—splat—
Boom!
How does it even make that sound...? I’d just grabbed the zombie chunks in midair, crushed them, and flung the mess at the Giant Zombie. But it hit like artillery, blasting the brute to pieces.
The zombie horde’s clamor died down around then.
‘Mostly cleaned up... smells awful.’
Burning zombie flesh filled the air with acrid smoke and rancid stink.
But a strange vibration rumbled from afar.
- Woo woo woo...
Every zombie from other floors heading here...? Guess our Kim Shin-hwa’s popular.
‘Ugh, annoying.’
I scratched my head, then changed plans. Wasting time on zombies and following the main route was pointless.
I scanned the room.
A drab rectangular space.
One exit.
On the left wall by the exit: cryogenic tubes—one, two, three, four. People inside, but no reason to touch them.
Opposite wall: desks—one, two. That’s it.
The second desk... normally there’d be an [Examine] option, but now I had to do it manually. Damn, no time.
When I’d examined it in-game, the message was...
‘[Found a pistol in the bottom drawer of the desk.]’
Even a hardcore player like me doesn’t memorize every throwaway line from minor spots.
Yet I remembered it crystal clear—guess high Intelligence boosted more than just spellcasting.
Sure enough, the bottom drawer of the second desk held a pistol.
High Intelligence didn’t grant new skills I didn’t have.
My grip on the gun looked awkward even to me.
“Roughly... this is the safety, pull this, then shoot?”
The gun itself wasn’t key. Even with it, I couldn’t use it properly.
What mattered was that it was right where I remembered.
This was the game world of [Cthulhu World].
I’d traversed this [K-3675 Secret Research Facility] thousands of times.
I knew nearly every hidden door, secret spot, and item location in [Cthulhu World], and now my superhuman Intelligence let me recall them in detail.
So... what if that applied here too?
Instead of the zombie-filled passage, I eyed the wall beside it.
‘This is the wall-rubbing spot...’
Reinforced with machinery and steel plates. Exact position. Time to rub against it.
“Hmm... but how do I rub?”
Not literally rubbing my body, of course...
[Cthulhu World] wasn’t perfect, despite my love for it.
Far from it—buggy enough that players abandoned it.
Hence, unclickable objects or “walls you could phase through by rubbing” now and then.
This was one such wall.
A go-to for my speedruns, but... how exactly did you “rub”? Couldn’t assume game bugs worked the same here?
I reached out slowly, feeling the cold steel plating.
Just a solid, ordinary wall. No phasing possible. Wait.
I cast [Detect Secret Doors], a basic 0th-circle spell.
Fizzbuzz—
Mana shot from my fingertips like glowing lines, toward the wall.
The lines spread like a circuit diagram, branching out to cover it instantly.
The wall’s structure flowed into my mind.
Thickness, strength, embedded mechanisms... yes! Hidden switch found!
Forcing the mana-detected switch activated it, opening the secret door concealed in the wall.
Beyond the dark, gaping hole between walls stretched a long secret passage.
“But this is too weird...”
I’d accepted it in-game without thought, but seeing it in reality highlighted how awkward the setup was.
Why build a passage like this?
Even stranger was the secret mechanism.
In-game, this was only accessible via a bug.
The door didn’t exist from the start; the passage was a dev oversight. But now it felt deliberately designed.
Like it was testing if I’d find it.
“Feels like a trap, but better than wasting time on zombies.”
It wouldn’t be hard, but I didn’t want the hassle. Goal was to escape this facility ASAP.
Zombie noises closed in. Yeah, whatever. Trap or not, I’d find out.
I stepped into the dark passage.
Straight ahead led directly to the [K-3675 Secret Research Facility]’s boss room.