Chapter 311
Chapter 311
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 311
Chapter Title: Total Chaos
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The sun, sizzling as it burned, vanished beyond the mountains, and night fell over Busan.
It was an unsettling night, somehow.
The commotion from earlier in the day still lingered in Go Kyung-soo's mind, yet Busan’s night was eerily quiet—and the massive full moon hanging in the sky cast an ominously gloomy glow.
Fwoooosh—
A flock of pure white birds flew past, obscuring the moon.
“Hey, that... was that a bird?”
Wild Guns Security’s fixers glanced at Go Kyung-soo, who’d blurted out something random the moment he arrived, and shot back.
“Boss, what’re you talking about?”
“You sure it wasn’t just a seagull?”
“No, I swear it had four wings. A drone maybe?”
“A drone?”
“Bird? Or a goblin?”
A minor commotion broke out in the makeshift guard post at the Cure Medical Care research facility site.
The Wild Guns fixers murmured as they peered up at the sky.
“Nothing there?”
“You must’ve seen wrong.”
Their gazes shifted elsewhere.
“...Not a goblin.”
Night Owl, the old man huddled on the bare ground, gave his answer.
A collective sigh of disappointment.
Eyes turned back to Go Kyung-soo.
Followed by jeers.
“Come on, boss. You were freaked out, huh?”
“Jeez. Birds, what birds.”
“He’s probably just escaping reality after all that nagging he got.”
The fixers guffawed and teased.
Go Kyung-soo forced a wry smile, relieved that his men still had the spirit to laugh.
They’d be pulling another all-nighter outdoors with no roof over their heads.
At least it wasn’t cold. Being treated like this in the middle of the city felt like ages ago.
“So, what’d Cure say?”
“We’re not heading out goblin-hunting again, right?”
“The dogs were throwing fits at the thought of going near Songjeong Port.”
“They got spooked by that amphibious bastard.”
His men clamored.
“Nah. They told us to drop the goblin chase and just hold the outpost tonight.”
“Tonight? How long’s ‘tonight’?”
“Ha!”
As if he’d been waiting for the question, Go Kyung-soo jabbed a finger at the air and said.
“I asked the same thing. Apparently, we just hold till 06:00, and the mission’s done.”
Oohs of admiration.
The original contract was to [Defend the outpost from goblins].
They hadn’t achieved the bonus objective of [Exterminate goblins], so the payout would be less—but it wasn’t bad.
“Exactly. No telling what kinda shit we’d eat if we stuck around longer.”
“When that 6 a.m. bell chimes, we pack up and bolt.”
‘It definitely wasn’t supposed to be this dangerous...’
Not until Kim Shin-hwa made that weird declaration.
『Come to Busan in 6 days.』
『That day, I’ll open the lid on Muju River with Cure Medical Care. A swarm of starving abyssal worms and beasts will pour out from that pitch-black abyss.』
Since then, Busan had gone to hell.
Criminals, cultists, otherkin, fixers from all over the country—not to mention every nutjob drawn to the chaos—had flooded in.
And that monstrous amphibious horror had shown up too.
Best to bail before Kim Shin-hwa’s [6 days later] arrived.
“But, boss.”
“Yeah?”
“That ‘6 days later’ Kim Shin-hwa mentioned. Doesn’t that start tomorrow morning? Why let us go now?”
A fair point.
Any normal client wouldn’t release armed manpower right when shit was about to hit the fan, right?
“Hmm. Who knows? That [6 days later] already started. It’s past midnight.”
Go Kyung-soo had sensed the weirdness too and already asked Akiyama the same thing.
‘The answer was kinda cryptic...’
“We just need to hold tonight. Once this night ends, a beautiful new morning unlike any before will dawn.”
Akiyama had spoken as if everything would wrap up by tonight.
‘No way Kim Shin-hwa shows up tonight...? We’re just here for goblins. We can’t handle a high-rank mage.’
What Go Kyung-soo had asked Akiyama back then.
Fortunately, Akiyama had replied with confident assurance.
“No. Kim Shin-hwa absolutely cannot come to Busan tonight.”
‘If he’s that sure...’
Something’s up, huh?
Go Kyung-soo was a Paju broker too.
Assessing the firepower needed if disputes arose with major Paju fixers was part of his job.
On his list, Kim Shin-hwa was one of the rare monster-class fixers marked [No counter].
How the hell did they plan to stop him?
Go Kyung-soo wondered as he gazed toward the Paju sky.
* * *
“Mage! Not this way!”
Jang Hyun-deok’s scream from below my feet.
“We’re off the highway!”
He was right.
We’d veered off the Gyeongbu Expressway connecting Gyeonggi to Busan—and were barreling south at insane speeds.
Balancing on the van’s roof, I yelled back at Jang Hyun-deok.
“I know! Just floor it!”
Groooarrrr!!
A roar chased us down the roadless path.
“Grraaaaaarrr!!”
A monster that could’ve been shark or crab or octopus—impossible to tell—let out its guttural cry.
“Grrr! Lord of the silent depths! Grant your apostle the mighty power of the sea!”
Yong-su bellowed from atop the shark-crab-octopus.
[System: ‘Feast of Sacrifices’ effect activates. An abyssal entity shares its power with its apostle.]
At Yong-su’s gesture, the Geumgang River surged in unison.
Kwarrrumble!!
The water shot skyward, crashing toward us as a massive tidal wave.
“Shit!”
I conjured blue magic circles everywhere, hijacking control of the wave.
Not easy, since it was fueled by abyssal mana lent by that entity!
Ziiiiiing—
“Argh! Damn it! Why?!”
Yong-su’s frustrated shout.
“That’s why I said fight me without magic, asshole!”
[Glacial Gorge]
Krakrakrak!!
The churning waves twisted into a canyon of hundreds of icy blades.
“Urgh! You monster mage! Break through! Break it!”
Shrrrrush!
I’d already ripped off its most dangerous pincer, but vicious teeth and ridiculous octopus tentacles remained.
Kwachichik!
The shark-crab-octopus smashed the ice spears with its massive tentacles.
“Plenty more ice where that came from! Keep breaking!”
[Glacial Wall]
Kwaddddud!
Fresh white glaciers rose endlessly.
The towering ice fully blocked our pursuers, giving me a moment to think.
‘This path leads to Geumsan?’
A mental map of Korea popped up.
Geumgang’s northwest, so we’ve passed Geumsan.
Further south is Muju County—
“Hyun-deok! Keep south—we’ll hit the Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway! Get on there, hit Jinju, then Busan!”
“That’s over 2 hours! It’s past midnight already!”
“What can ya do? We’re late!”
Some days, plans fall apart.
Just salvage it and wrap up clean.
Kwarrrumble!
A vibration from beyond the glacier.
“Kim Shin-haaaaa!”
Yong-su’s roar.
“Damn.”
If it was just Yong-su and that shark-crab-octopus, I wouldn’t be in this mess...
[System: ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ activates.]
“Move.”
A small voice from beyond the ice. I’d never have heard it normally, but my expanded senses from [Enhanced Vigilance] caught it clear.
Sssshwick!!
The glacier, unbreached by giant shark-crab-octopus tentacles, was sliced apart in an instant.
“Gah! It’s here! Hyun-deok, we’re screwed!”
“M-Mage! Calm down, please!”
“Does this look calm?!”
“It’s just a dog!”
“Gaaaaah!”
Kwarrrrrumble!!
The glacier crumbles! Gaaaaah!
My hyper-sensitive senses kicked in—temporarily slowing the world to slo-mo.
Ice shards flying everywhere—glittering powder reflecting moonlight—shattered glacier chunks exploding outward from massive octopus tentacles—and—and—and—
Amid that beautiful yet grotesque scene burst a silver-haired woman.
Dual-wielding swords enchanted with magic—
A swordswoman of supreme skill—
And, well, a grandma with a badass pet!
“Kyaaaaong!”
With her twin blades raised, out came 《A horrific four-legged beast of unspeakable form. Emits deathly light from its eyes, spews despair from its maw—an eldritch horror. And a carnivore that’s lived alongside humanity for ages. Scientific name: Canis lupus familiaris.》 roaring ferociously.
“Gaaaaah!”
I screamed.
[You have gazed upon Jjokko, comrade, friend, and pet of the Conqueror. This Great Dane, freakishly huge even among giant breeds, triggers your phobia.]
From paws to shoulders: about 1.5m.
Next to a 10m+ shark-octopus-crab, it wasn’t that weird objectively—but to me, the conditions were pure nightmare fuel.
[Madness – Cynophobia manifests.]
“Shin-hwa! Back-to-back like this’ll break you fast!” “Run, you idiot!”
My other personalities seized control of my mouth the moment my mind destabilized.
[System: Mental Fortitude stat resists delirium. Judgment...]
“Hang on! You’re crashing in my head rent-free!”
[Success]
“Yeah! Pay up that rent!”
“Mage! Snap out of it!”
Even after the delirium and phobia faded, my split personalities lingered—multiplying, even.
This multiple personality disorder might not be madness byproduct, but a defense mechanism my brain cooked up against induced phobias...
“I’m trying my best!”
“No! It’s another one!”
“Huh?”
Another? What?
[System: ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ activates.]
“Ahead...”
“Wahahahaha—”
Before Jang Hyun-deok finished, laughter boomed from ahead.
“Sis! Sis! Still in the game, huh! Hyah!”
“Heeheeheeng!”
Proof this [Cthulhu World] had gone mad: another arrival.
Kid the Gunman, pro bounty hunter from the Hunter Guild, charging on a massive black horse—the same bastard who’d tailed me nonstop.
“We’re fucked.”
Bang bang bang!
Revolver rounds from Kid.
[Distortion Field]
I deflected them with magic, eyeing the crazy old coot in classic cowboy getup and cool sideburns.
“Deflects bullets like nothing! Prime prey!”
I’d checked his data before leaving.
He had that ability even in this [Cthulhu World].
“Alright, let’s hunt! Kyaaaaah!!”
Kid spread his arms wide, howling like a beast.
His body ballooned, fur sprouting everywhere.
Muzzle, claws, fangs elongated.
“Awooooooo!!!”
Now a grotesque dog-man hybrid (though Kid’d claim wolf), he spurred his black steed forward.
Beast Morphing, in other words.
Not the only NPC with it—but why now?!
[System: ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ activates.]
“Hiyah!”
A new foe before madness could hit.
“What the hell is that!?”
Yakuza ninja cultists bursting from the woods!
I’d dropped ninjas earlier, but these had special company.
“Kiba! Tsume! Hige! 行け!”
“Woof woof woof!”
Ninja dogs charging with katanas in their mouths.
Kiba, Tsume, Hige (fang, claw, whisker)—Japanese words, but context says pet names?
The dogs barked woof-woof, but to me it sounded like ‘Kim Shin-hwa, kill yourself already.’
[Madness – Cynophobia manifests.]
My limbs went limp.
“Bye, Hyun-deok. Guess I’m done. Wanted to grant your wish before I go...”
Yeah, just let go, and this hell ends.
Filthy world. Farewell.
This is how I check out...
“Mage, get down here in the passenger seat!”
“Huh?”
What now?
“I’ll handle it somehow—hurry!”
[System: Mental Fortitude stat resists delirium. Judgment... Success!]