Chapter 301
Chapter 301
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 301
Chapter Title: How to Make Friends in a Cosmic Horror World
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“What the hell happened?!”
A higher-ranking cultist shouted at the others.
“G-Ghoul Kim Shin-hwa showed up again and turned the place into a mess.”
“Damn it! He only appears at the worst possible times! What the hell is that guy?!”
The amphibious tiger advanced northeast with the slow but steady, relentless momentum of a massive typhoon on the horizon.
This site was off its trajectory, but if it got too close—
The tiger might notice.
That’s why they’d set up multiple decoy bases. It had backfired, scattering their forces and leaving them too slow to respond when [The Laughing One]—whom the cultists believed to be Kim Shin-hwa—attacked.
Crunch-crunch-crunch—Heh-heh-heh-heh—Crack-snap—
Eerie noises and laughter echoed from the pit below.
“G-Ghoul Kim Shin-hwa, that bastard…”
The stranded survivors had fallen to Kim Shin-hwa.
No, their lives didn’t matter. What they carried: the [Soul Shackles].
Those were the only way to win this fight… and now they were about to be taken by Kim Shin-hwa.
“No! That can’t happen!”
As the cultists milled about in panic, debating their next move, a sticky [laughter]—no, something grotesque tangled with pristine white bones and darkness—oozed from the pit.
“Kekekeke—Heh-heh-heh-heh—It can’t happen?”
Squelch—
“G-Gh Kim Shin-hwa!?”
A massive, horrific, amorphous monster—formed from twisted darkness and the sacrificed bodies of the stranded survivors—emerged, wearing a mask frozen in hollow laughter.
“Yes, yes. Hate Kim Shin-hwa.”
Squelch—
Dark tentacles whipped out in all directions like lashes.
[The Laughing One] had been bound by the restrictions Kim Shin-hwa imposed, unable to unleash its full power until now.
But things were different. It had feasted enough and swallowed a transcendental artifact left by an abyssal being.
Bzzzzt-crackle!
The restrictions and binding spells Kim Shin-hwa had placed shattered with a deafening pop.
Crunch!
A person was crushed. Head, arms, legs, guts—all exploded into the sky. Blood rained down.
“Keh-heh-heh—this—this—this is—splendid.”
In a single clash, nearly all the mid-tier cultists were wiped out.
“U-Uwaaaah—”
“The monster! Kim Shin-hwa’s become a monster!”
“No, that guy was always a monster!”
The low-tier cultists floundered, unable to flee or fight back.
[The Laughing One] toyed with its bloated flesh, gauging its newfound power, then contracted its body.
Sloosh—
Darkness gathered around the mask, incapable of any expression but laughter, reforming into a single human-sized form.
A massive yet still human-scale body. Muscles writhing as if about to burst through the skin. Dozens of horizontal scars etched across it.
The form of Cheongho, once ruler of a third of Paju’s underworld.
In that shape, [The Laughing One] turned its head.
Wooo-ooo-ooo—
Sirens wailed.
Kaboombaba boom!!
A colossal wave of violence approached like a storm.
“A blemish on this world approaches. Even I can’t clash with that.”
Where to escape? [The Laughing One] scanned for an exit.
“Hm?”
It spotted the Blood Marquess. She held her Seven Star Sword horizontally, bowing her head in an odd direction.
Her faith target lost, she’d stooped to relying on trash like [Feast’s Offering]. What the hell was she looking at…?
Something curious entered [The Laughing One]’s view.
Squelch—
Trees uprooted themselves and stepped aside.
Then pristine white ice formed a path with a crunch-crunch-crunch.
Rumble-roar—
A vehicle raced along the ice path, leaping over mountains.
Seeing it, the Blood Marquess spoke with awe and emotion.
“The mountain trees part of their own accord, the valley streams rise to pave the way—ahh, the great Sezon has arrived!”
* * *
I stepped out of the car and said to [The Laughing One].
“How about it? Wanna go for a stroll since you’re out? Get some fresh air, grab something tasty?”
“Kekekeke—Ahh, yes. Kim Shin-hwa. Kim Shin-hwa. Kim Shin-hwa. It’s all thanks to you.”
[The Laughing One] expressed excessive glee through its Cheongho-mimicking body.
A body twitching grotesquely like a malformed 3D model. Geez, getting that excited?
“Hey, you haven’t forgotten, right?”
Its true body was still in [The Hungry Manor].
And the physical form it wore now was based on my controlled death spirit golem.
With light provocation and mockery, I continued.
“You’re just a single page.”
“Kekekekeke—Yes, that’s true. But thanks to the excessive gifts you provided, I’ve already gained power beyond a single page.”
[The Laughing One] twisted and reveled in Cheongho’s bulging muscles.
I turned south for a moment.
Wooo-ooo-ooo—
Sirens in the distance.
Pretty close.
Plus, higher cultists who’d grasped the situation were rushing this way.
“Nice. Let’s wrap this up quick. I’ve got stuff to do.”
“Kekekeke—In a hurry, eh? Fine, I’ll end it now.”
Crack—Cheongho’s neck twisted sharply left. A new, unfamiliar head sprouted in its place.
“Uh—ah—uh… Wh-who… am I…?”
The new head sprouting from Cheongho’s body rolled its eyes and let out a grotesque moan.
One of the cultists it swallowed earlier?
“Kekekeke—Die, Kim Shin-hwa.”
“Sheekshak—Whirr—cha—k, tra.”
Crack—The cultist’s eyeball popped out, replaced by something smooth and jade-green rising up.
[Soul Shackle].
An artifact containing a fragment of [The Source of Corruption], incarnation of [The Great Origin]. With it, one could skip the ritual step for [The Great Origin]’s descent—omitting sacrifices, rituals, or mediums.
And—
“Kr—cha—ookta—br—toff—sha—suak.”
With the [Soul Shackle], it could activate the unique ability [Two Graves].
A instant-death spell that claimed the user’s life as cost, bestowing unavoidable death on a target.
It looked confident activating it, so it must work. Good, confirmed.
[Time Stop]
* * *
The moment [The Laughing One] tried to activate the [Soul Shackle]’s power, another pre-set spell on its body triggered.
[Contract Enforcer]
Bzzzzt-crackle!
Sparks erupted massively from its body.
“Kraaaagh!”
『Those who violate the contract shall have their limbs torn asunder and die.』
Crunch-crunch-crunch—
[The Laughing One]’s temporary body shattered in an instant.
Cheongho’s head, rolling on the ground, spat black blood and opened its mouth.
“Wha—khek—keh-heh—what?! What did you do?!”
“You idiot? You think I’d just walk up to someone with an instant-death spell unprepared?”
“How… how did you… Damn it. How did you know the [Soul Shackle]’s power, something never revealed to the world before?”
Ah…
Right, originally no one knew that ability.
“If you ignored your mom and grinded games all night like me, you’d know too.”
“But even knowing it, what did you do? I clearly destroyed all your restrictions…”
“What you broke were the fake restrictions set to shatter the moment you acted.”
The real restriction—for attacking me— was hidden deep in the core of the death spirit golem making up its body.
“You messed up from the start fighting me with the body I gave you. Should’ve swapped bodies first if you were gonna try.”
“Ahh—most, supremely, wise Sezon. Astonishing. Miraculous. This Blood Marquess has witnessed your heaven-piercing foresight, where all you foretold comes true.”
Ugh, the Blood Marquess.
With faith meant for [The Mountain Predator] redirected, all cultist NPCs including her were in that state.
“Ah, I told you to drop the ‘Sezon’ thing.”
“But Sezon…”
[The Laughing One] caught some info from the Blood Marquess’s words and groaned.
“You foresaw even me devouring the [Soul Shackle]…? No, Kim Shin-hwa. You bastard, Kim Shin-hwa. Damn it. You lured me into swallowing the [Soul Shackle].”
Its head glared at me, grinding its teeth.
“Lured? You chose it. And you broke the contract.”
“True, I forgot a mere page can’t handle you. I admit my folly.”
Fortunately, it admitted defeat meekly. Yeah, what’s the point resisting?
This was just a fragment, a single page split from the main body.
If it were the original, it wouldn’t fall for such shallow tricks or temptations.
“What tedious scheme did you cook up this for? To make me do?”
“Well, to help me befriend the amphibious tiger, obviously.”
I summoned mana and imposed new bindings on [The Laughing One]’s body.
Now it was truly ready. I’d planned to wrap up faster, but [The Laughing One] got too excited and dragged it out.
I walked to Jang Hyun-deok’s colt van and said.
“Alright, shall we go make a new friend?”
* * *
Wooo-ooo-ooo-ooo—
It had closed to within a few kilometers.
Sirens mixed with static announcements.
—Zzzt… Zzztzzzt… If you hear this, zzztzzzt… move in the opposite direction immediately, zzztzzzt… I repeat. Zzzt… Move in the opposite direction immediately. Zzztzzzt…
An ominous broadcast.
“Run or get flattened”—that’s what it meant. The range was all within the amphibious tiger’s reach.
Rooooaaar—
A ferocious gale.
The wind alone rocked the car like it’d flip.
“We’re really charging straight at a rampaging amphibious tiger in earnest.”
Park Gwang-rim muttered low, shaking his head.
His expression in the rearview was anxious, like speaking louder would alert it.
“Hmm, don’t worry. We’re not fighting.”
“But just approaching…”
Kabooboom!!
A truck flew from the sky and slammed into the ground.
A hasty cultist reinforcement—patches of welded steel plates visible—but it crumpled with them, rolling.
From the back seat, Park Gwang-rim peeked forward, dizzy. “What the…”
Now whispering, he continued.
“I’ve heard rumors about the amphibious tiger, but never that it uses magic. What ability does that?”
“The amphibious tiger can’t use magic. Just punches… or whatever’s handy.”
Ever seen it toy with criminals, cultists, or fixers in the city?
If the amphibious tiger was “beating them down” with brute, merciless force… you witnessed its restraint and mercy.
If she fought in earnest…
Rumble! Boom! Kaboom!
Flashing lightning. Thunder blanketing the sky.
‘Yeah, this is it.’
Heaven quakes, earth trembles.
True shock-heaven-move-earth.
“Uwaaaaa…”
Jang Hyun-deok’s jaw shook, teeth chattering.
“Just punches? Can’t you see the lightning?”
“Someone summoning a storm to fight the amphibious tiger?”
Park Gwang-rim offered the calmest analysis, but no.
“I could explain, but you’d call it a lie.”
“Wh-what? Some other reason?”
“Shockwaves from its attacks shoving clouds, sparking lightning. Or static from air friction at high speed…”
“D-don’t lie! A joke, right?”
Jang Hyun-deok’s confused shout.
“Why can’t you escape my predictions once?”
“Rumors say she transcends humans, but this is nonsense. No human could do that!”
“‘Don’t anger the amphibious tiger,’ they said—what’s that!? Is she an abyssal being?!”
I used magic to deflect flying corpses and building debris.
“No! The amphibious tiger’s just human!”
Just wielding surreal power beyond other humans’ comprehension.
For reference, [Cthulhu World] has no lore explaining her insane strength.
No reason for the amphibious tiger’s power. She was just born that way.
‘In-game lore-wise.’
Originally, she probably wasn’t this strong.
Maybe a dev input error…
Only out-of-game speculation.
‘No, if not a bug, that attack power wouldn’t exist.’
The most plausible theory: one of her stat numbers overflowed, maxing several abilities to the game’s output limit.
Maybe why amphibious tiger events have so many progression-blocking bugs.
‘Usually, no one approaches her at all because of that, but…’
Today, that’s exactly why we came.