Chapter 329
Chapter 329
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 329
Chapter Title: Appropriate Rewards and Kind Advice
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“You’re like a rotten civil servant.”
I thought the job was done, but Yang Seo-ho said, “I don’t need your help anymore,” and launched into an all-out attack.
I won’t deny that a part of me hoped he was just talking big and would go easy on us.
Like Kid said, we’d fought the same enemy side by side, hadn’t we?
But after sweeping up the ninjas, Yang Seo-ho attacked me without a moment’s hesitation.
“Ah, seriously, how could you do this?”
If I stretch it—really stretch it—he might’ve actually gone easy on me.
If he’d really meant to catch me, he would’ve come after me first.
“Ugh, my poor body...”
Or maybe he just attacked in the order he saw us—or the order that was easiest to grab.
If he’d chased me down, he would’ve let the others go, and I could’ve escaped somehow.
“Ah, whatever. Either way, I nearly died.”
I somehow dodged Yang Seo-ho desperately and escaped, scooping up my family with a [Dimensional Gate] from the [Gate Creation] spell, making it back to the Hungry Manor.
“Whoa?! Mr. Shin-hwa, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine—”
“Mr. Shin-hwa!! What happened to that hand!?”
Heo Sang-hyeon freaked out seeing us return in tatters again, and when he spotted my left hand patched up like a quilt, he nearly screamed.
“You forcibly reattached your severed hand with necromancy. What in the world—”
“Hey, hey, calm down. I’ve got something urgent first...”
“What could be more urgent than that hand right now?”
I just wanted to wash up quick, eat, and dive into bed.
And like Heo Sang-hyeon said, I needed to fix my left hand, peek into that idiot Jang Hyeon-deok’s head, check on Park Gwang-rim who was stumbling around drugged up—
But there was one pressing administrative task left, so I headed to the basement.
* * *
[You have banished the ‘Abyssal Being – Source of Life’. Experience gained.]
[You have banished the ‘Abyssal Being – Source of Corruption’. Experience gained.]
[You have banished the ‘Abyssal Being – Great Source’. Experience gained.]
[You have defeated numerous cultists (Cure Medical Care). Understanding of the ‘Source of Life Cult’ has increased.]
[You have defeated Shoggoth (Akiyama). Understanding of God’s Kin in general has increased.]
[You have defeated numerous ‘Progeny of the Source’. Understanding of God’s Kin in general has increased.]
And so on...
I took down a ton.
This time, they really poured out from every direction.
[You have accumulated enough experience to reach the next stage. Level up by 5.]
Big numbers, all kinds, none of them small fry.
“Still, level up by 5? Not bad.”
[Legendary achievement unlocked! You have banished the ‘Abyssal Being – Source of Corruption’.
You have obtained the ‘Legendary Achievement: Dissolution of Corruption’.
As achievement reward, you obtain ‘Mirror of Wisdom’ and additional experience.]
“Obtain? I brought it myself.”
Even the [Soul Shackles] that the [Source of Life] had swallowed vanished into the abyss.
‘Well, even if I had it, the only usable ability is that insta-kill one.’
Fancy calling it insta-kill—it costs the user’s life to activate, so it’s basically a suicide bomb.
Not something I’d use my real life on, since I’m not a game character, so no regrets.
[Legendary achievement unlocked! You have banished the ‘Abyssal Being – Great Source’.
You have obtained the ‘Legendary Achievement: Great Ruin’.
As achievement reward, you obtain ‘Shoggoth Crystal’ and additional experience.]
“Hmm, kinda meh reward.”
The Shoggoth Crystal is an artifact for creating and controlling shoggoths.
It has the side effect of driving you mad, but that kind of penalty isn’t a big deal for me.
If you planted the Shoggoth Crystal in the ground and waited for a shoggoth tree to grow and bear shoggoth fruit, maybe... but no.
“You have to feed it people?”
I barely even use [Child of Darkness] because it’s such a hassle. A shoggoth? Forget it.
Still, it’s a rare artifact, so not a bad mood.
And the last achievement...
[Legendary achievement unlocked! You have banished the ‘Abyssal Being – Source of Life’.
You have obtained the ‘Legendary Achievement: Death of Life’.
As achievement reward, your relationship with the ‘Abyssal Being – Source of Life’ advances, and you obtain additional experience.]
[System: Relationship with ‘Abyssal Being – Source of Life’ changes to ‘Mad Love’.]
“What?”
A headache hits.
* * *
I sit still and think for a bit, but no answers.
What kind of relationship do you form with something you just banished?
I’ve never even seen a ‘Mad Love’ relationship before. [Firm Alliance] is the highest, right?
Sure, between people, there are things beyond alliance, but this system never had that.
“Eh, just a glitch?”
Like always.
Of course, unlike [Predator of the Mountains] that vanished completely, it was just chased back to the abyss, so it might return someday—but without special variables, that’d take centuries or millennia.
“I wiped out all the cultists and destroyed their bases of influence... Should be fine.”
I think that and wait for the next message.
More minor messages about discoveries and gains, plus achievements.
The additional experience from those achievements... was, naturally, absurd numbers—
[You have accumulated enough experience to reach the next stage. Level up by 3.]
My level shot up to 80 in one go.
[Level achievement reward: Obtain 2 bonus stat points to freely allocate.]
[Sufficient experience accumulated. 8th-circle magic usage unlocked. Note that to properly use 8th-circle magic, you need a grimoire containing 8th-circle spells or to learn them.]
I assigned the bonus stats to Mental Strength and Strength. I’d neglected Strength for a while due to [Cthulhu World]’s stat calculation structure, but actually, even stats are better.
They give invisible bonuses at even numbers. Nothing huge, but...
****
Kim Shin-hwa
Class: Abyss-Gazing Wizard
Level: 80
Magic Tier: 8th Circle
Madness: [Mask Obsession (Latent)]
Strength 6 + 4 (Embers of Bukraksa Gate)
Vitality 8 + 3 (Four-Sound Cleaving Sword (Rokjon))
Agility 8 + 2 (Night Veil Wingsuit)
Intelligence 30
Mental 22 + 2 (Necklace of the Body Usurper)
Charisma 20 + 2 (Sword of the Flesh)
****
Ah, nice and neat!
Gamers know this itch. Strength had been bugging me all odd-numbered, but now it’s better.
Vitality’s still odd, but that’s artifact adjustment—I’ll swap artifacts later.
Anyway, all rewards claimed.
[...not only thwarted the ‘Source of Life’s’ descent preparations. You also eradicated the ‘Source of Corruption’ and ‘Great Source’, who were plotting separately in different locations. Thanks to you, their unprecedented plan for annihilation couldn’t even launch and was halted.]
“Ugh, we really dodged a bullet.”
The [Great Source]’s avatar isn’t just the [Source of Life].
There was the [Source of Corruption] in Buyeo.
I wondered why it was so quiet—turns out it was scheming separately.
“Well, took them all out at once anyway.”
Whatever the event was, it’s canceled.
[System: Penalty trait ‘Shattered Mind’ activates. You have 1 Madness, so a random Madness manifests.]
Ah, and the real important admin starts.
Honestly, this is why I rushed to the basement instead of anything else.
No time to deal with corpse phobia, foreigner phobia, or idiot phobia popping up in the living room with everyone around.
[System: ‘Madness – Ophidiophobia’ is imposed on your mind.]
“Snakes?”
Snakes—hold on!
I hurriedly channel mana and scribble in my notebook. Not ink, but magical heat forming sentences.
Printing-speed writing.
I manage several pages in one go, but before finishing, a severe disgust hits, and I shove the notebook away.
“Ugh—”
Rustle—
Scaly horrors crawling in my head.
New phobia-related info slithering into the deep, dark corners of my mind.
“Urgh.”
Still, less this time.
I record every time, keep a diary too.
Just no time to review, or I forget it exists.
“And honestly, what’s the point of recording.”
No guts to open a notebook with phobia-linked info.
I’ll tough it out without looking again—till it all goes to hell.
“Damn. At least it’s not something common in the city.”
Sssshhhh—
No.
In the dark, damp corner of the basement, that cold horror slithers.
No.
Hallucination.
Nothing there.
Calm down.
“Whew—”
* * *
[It was thanks to your astonishing magical talent and the comrades who fought for you. People thought of you as just suspicious and dangerous until now, but more are recognizing your true worth. Precious friends. Reliable comrades. Devoted followers. People who love you. And people you love. Such special bonds are growing. Truly delightful.]
“Not special, not precious, not reliable. Stop peddling drugs and shut up.”
[Cthulhu World] isn’t a normal game.
If I start cherishing something special, it rips it away, defiles it, breaks it, and smugly hands it back.
To avoid that...
[Saying you have no friends to protect your precious ones. Cool, noble, beautiful attitude. And one more important thing. Finally, you’ve found the ‘clue’ you’ve been seeking.]
“Yeah.”
Mid-fight with [Source of Life], I learned the secret of the [Rakureks Grimoire].
And how Akiyama made the [Golden Hairpin].
[Using the ‘Mirror of Wisdom’, you’ll soon reconstruct the ‘Rakureks Grimoire’. You’ll find a way to abandon this crumbling fragile world and leave for another. Discard all bonds met in this world, all precious things, erase all these events, and escape this world.]
“...”
[Now, a new event begins. The Abyssal Beings have noticed what you cherish, what you value.]
Seriously.
[They’ll help you leave this world with peace of mind.]
This world is a nightmare.