Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Tanhyeon Picnic
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"Here it is."
In Jang Hyun-deok's hand was a grimy mask. More precisely, fragments of a shattered mask.
"See? It's awfully similar to the one you're wearing, Mr. Wizard."
"I see."
To reiterate, these were fragments of a mask.
The chin portion was missing entirely, and the forehead was cracked, leaving only a barely intact piece that covered the area around the eyes. And those eyes were particularly unusual.
"-Four eyes."
Even without that distinctive appearance, there were other ways to tell this wasn't just trash.
[Damaged Mask (Junk) - A fragment of some mask.
Research or appraisal is needed to determine its identity.]
Not every random object triggered a message window. If it did, the dumplings I'd eaten today would have popped one up too. This thing must hold some special secret.
"Let me see it."
"You have to give it back!"
"I will."
Jang Hyun-deok made me promise several more times before finally handing over the mask.
"Hmm..."
I turned the mask fragment this way and that, examining it closely. It was a faded gray with a navy tint, but it must have originally been white.
'There's a residual trace of mana, but it's too decayed to make out.'
I'd struggled quite a bit appraising the Carcosa mask I was currently wearing, but something this ruined might actually be easier to appraise without much effort.
[Appraisal]
Activating the 1st-circle appraisal spell produced a dry whoosh of an effect sound, along with a burst of light.
[System: Removing the veil surrounding the 'Damaged Mask.']
[Veil removal judgment in progress...]
Through the mask fragment, I could see Jang Hyun-deok's face.
The fluorescent glow emanating from the mask tangled with the purple sunset falling from the sky, creating an indescribable eerie hue that made his handsome face look somehow like a sinister mythical being born from the abyss.
Ziiing...
[Judgment successful.]
It succeeded more easily than expected.
At the same time, new information appeared in the message window.
[Carcosa's Mask: Damaged (Junk) - Now completely destroyed and bereft of power, this item was once imbued with the might of a great Elder ruler, the one whose name must not be spoken, the exalted [Yellow King].]
"Damn it, it's real."
"I told you, right? And to repeat, there are tons of identical things in Tanhyeon!"
* * *
Tanhyeon is a neighborhood northwest of Geumchon-dong. If we're talking relative to the real world where I used to live, it's one of Paju's tourist spots.
It has Heyri Art Village, a folk museum, a decent-sized theme park, and even one of Korea's two Unification Observatories.
Since I lived in Paju in my original world, I'd visited a few times in person.
To be honest, Tanhyeon's vibe is less touristy and more rural.
It's all endless forests, endless mountains, endless factories, then a brief tourist spot, Imjin River along the roadside, and over there—you see North Korea, that kind of place.
But in [Cthulhu World], Tanhyeon holds special significance.
It has a similar issue to the Yeonam Construction apartment complex I visited last time: in [Cthulhu World], being close to North Korea means it's dangerous.
That's why Tanhyeon in this world has become a kind of high-level zone, and none of its tourist spots are operational anymore.
Instead, it's riddled with lawless zones where outlaws gather, no-entry areas born from surreal calamities, and slums hiding bizarre inhabitants.
Jang Hyun-deok drove through such an absurd place with a cheerful expression, chattering away pointlessly.
"The atmosphere here's gotten a bit weird now, but it used to be beautiful and a pretty decent tourist spot. See that ruin way over there? That's Heyri Art Village. Oh, and you know the legend about beautiful nymphs coming down to dance at a pond around here?"
"You're somehow finding beauty in a place like this."
"Well, it doesn't look so hot now, huh?"
As fewer people visited, Tanhyeon's landscape had changed completely.
Even the air outside the window felt different. We were clearly leaving the city outskirts for nature's embrace, but this nature wasn't the clear, vibrant green we expected.
The trees growing through roads and buildings had drunk water flowing from North Korea, twisting grotesquely and sprouting eerie grayish-brown leaves that were neither green nor yellow.
Every tree, stone, and tree in sight was warped and contorted like it was diseased. Amid those twisted shadows, it felt like illusions of something neither human nor beast slithering about.
Those gloomy trees formed endless forests, distant endless mountains, Imjin River by the road, and beyond that, North Korean land you absolutely shouldn't stare at for long.
It wasn't the sort of place where bandits or goblins would suddenly leap out blocking the road, but no sane citizen from bright-side Paju would ever visit.
It had been quite a while since we'd left Geumchon-dong. This was one of the deepest parts of Tanhyeon.
"Getting into proper Tanhyeon territory now. You sure you know where you're going? I can't be held responsible from here on out."
"Oh, of course. This isn't my first time. I've ferried around pros like you plenty of times."
"So, how much farther?"
"Almost there. From here, about... five minutes? No, ten?"
I told him this while wondering how much it'd cost to call another armored cab from inside Tanhyeon.
"Alright, I'll trust you."
"Huh? Were you doubting me?"
"Nobody trusts someone they meet in Paju after dark."
"Ouch... I trusted you enough to come all this way. That's harsh."
Jang Hyun-deok sounded disappointed, but his face was full of smiles.
We'd never been the type of relationship where loyalty or trust came into play.
The moment I confirmed the mask fragment was real, he'd demanded an info fee, and after a long, tedious back-and-forth, we'd reached this agreement:
"So, two million for the info fee, three million for driving me there, and any treasure or artifacts we find get split exactly 5-5."
Once we entered Tanhyeon proper, our speed dropped noticeably. Potholed, abandoned roads were tame by comparison.
Massive trees or grotesquely twisted beast corpses blocked the way at times, and there were moments we had to plow through underbrush off-road.
The car didn't just shake—it pitched and rolled like a ship in a storm. To avoid seasickness, I had to circulate mana to stabilize my metabolism.
At some point, Jang Hyun-deok went quiet. Glancing at his profile, I saw him muttering numbers under his breath.
"Six, seven. Signpost next, then two, three."
No wonder he'd navigated without GPS—he was memorizing the route by roadside trees and rocks.
It was a path complex enough to demand that level of focus.
After several more off-road detours, the car finally stopped.
"We're here! Right there!"
Jang Hyun-deok pointed between the trees with one hand.
"Just trees?"
"Yeah, it's hard to see from here. Can't drive any farther, so we'll have to walk a bit."
"Hiking...?"
"Nah, not that bad... Just past those trees."
Jang Hyun-deok got out. My head was still buzzing with vibrations all the way to the crown, making it hard to move quickly, but I gritted my teeth and followed.
If only my vitality were a bit higher... but I couldn't raise it here, could I?
As he said, the destination wasn't far. I could feel an unpleasant mana pooling ahead, unlike anywhere else.
I did some light waist stretches while activating spells.
[Trap Detection]
[Mana Detection]
[Invisibility Detection]
Aside from the unnatural mana concentration, no special dangers registered.
Meanwhile, Jang Hyun-deok had slipped ahead a bit.
"Hey, Jang Hyun-deok. Together."
"Ah, yes. Come on, it's right here."
"Slower."
[Protection Circle]
[Distortion Field]
[Goat's Footsteps]
Honestly, I hadn't fully recovered from the quest three days ago, so my condition wasn't great. That meant layering stamina-boosting auxiliaries on top of basic defenses.
'Maintaining this many spells at once isn't ideal.'
No matter how much mana I had, juggling multiple spells simultaneously was never good. Their power and precision dropped, and it constantly drained my focus.
Beyond spellcasting, the surroundings were sapping my concentration.
First, the fishy stench wafting from the trees. Not the damp forest smell—more like sewage sludge. And the freakish bugs clinging to the trees, with thorny carapaces or human-face patterns, scuttling on eight or nine legs.
"Nothing normal around here."
Not knowing the layout was grating on my nerves too. I'd bypassed scripted events before, but not like this. I knew Tanhyeon inside the game and out, but I'd never been here.
And then, I realized we'd reached the place Jang Hyun-deok mentioned.
"What... is that?"
It was a sight I'd never seen before.
Endless trees and forests abruptly ended in an excessively wide clearing.
And in that clearing, spaced at regular intervals, hundreds of... rocks?
I'd called them rocks because they were stone, but could I really?
Those "rocks" pulsed with grotesque vitality, as if grown from the ground instead of trees, while exuding a malicious aura that rejected any notion of natural formation.
Just describing them soured my mood, but they were human-sized, vaguely human-shaped.
Like...
[The ruins spread before your eyes are eerily silent. No rustle of insects or birdsong tickles your ears—just a land of utter silence. Not a single tree or flower blooms on this barren soil.
Across the vast expanse stand endless grotesque stone pillars, shaped like humans writhing in agony, frozen mid-plea to a cruel god—indescribably ominous forms.
Everything in sight is a horrific, blasphemous spectacle sculpted by an artist gripped by hyper-dynamic, destructive madness.]
[The ominous silence and malevolent mana drifting in this space negatively affect your mind.]
[System: Attempting resistance to the malevolent influence via mental fortitude stat. Mental fortitude check... success.]
The check succeeded, so no damage came my way, but that didn't make it any less creepy.