Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Way Back
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“Driving…… I know how, but.”
Should I load everyone into Jang Hyeon-deok’s call van and head back? That wasn’t a choice I wanted to make……
If I stole a security taxi and got caught, I’d become enemies with the Paju Transport Union. The bounty would be one issue, but until I paid tribute to lift the hostility, I wouldn’t be able to use any transportation in Paju.
“But finding a taxi willing to come all the way out here is impossible too……”
No helping it. I scratched my head furiously and walked over to where Jang Hyeon-deok lay collapsed.
“Ah, damn…… tonight’s been one thing after another.”
I’d just confirmed the message about forming a solid alliance with him moments ago, but there was no way he was still alive.
Even a minor wraith or decent demon possessing a body would wreck it. And Jang Hyeon-deok had taken on the will of an abyssal being directly. He might’ve shared some of the damage as a medium, but he couldn’t possibly have survived. Even if sheer luck kept him breathing, the unrelenting divine fever would soon crush his body, or the abyssal influence would dominate him, collapsing his flesh and mind into madness or monstrosity.
Turning into a golden dancer would at least keep him somewhat human-shaped—a lucky break. He could just as easily become a grotesque spawn of Carcosa or an oath fulfiller.
But I soon faced an unexpected situation.
“Well, well? This guy’s still alive?”
Incredibly, he was. And in pretty good shape, at that. Sure, he was passed out, scraped up and filthy here and there, but nothing was majorly broken or spilling out that shouldn’t be, and all ten fingers were still properly attached to his arms.
Compared to my singed, torn, broken, and burst state, it was downright infuriating.
“Hmm…… not turned into a monster, at least.”
Looking fine on the outside didn’t mean it was over.
“But the insides probably aren’t okay……?”
I recalled the scene right before he’d snapped into delirium. Jang Hyeon-deok cackling wildly, praising the dancers’ routine.
“Waking him up might just get me nonsense from a broken mind……”
Worst case, he’d screech like “Kieeeek!” and attack me.
I tapped the mask covering my face with a finger, lost in thought.
It didn’t last long. I reached a decision.
[Prayer of Protection]
[Protection Circle]
[Fox’s Cunning]
A few more besides. Each spell sent a tearing pain through my fingers like they were ripping apart, but I couldn’t afford to relax even for a moment.
“As long as he doesn’t suddenly spew tentacles from his mouth……”
Still, with [Enhanced Vigilance] not triggering, it probably wasn’t that dangerous a trap. I kept about two meters’ distance from Jang Hyeon-deok and cast a new spell.
I’d just learned a 2nd-circle incantation, so time to try a 2nd-circle spell. Not flashy, but one of the key spells for surviving in the Cthulhu World.
[Discern]
Where 1st-circle [Identify] checked an object’s origins or components, 2nd-circle [Discern] revealed the nature of places, humans, or unidentified other races. In simple terms, it let you view someone else’s status window.
It wouldn’t reveal knowledge I didn’t already have, of course. Just facts like ‘A=B.’ But that was plenty.
‘Besides, no one knows the Cthulhu World better than me.’
Ziiiiiing……
The magical tendrils from [Discern] reached toward Jang Hyeon-deok. From head to toe, it slowly checked external mutations, internal condition, and inherent traits.
“Perfectly fine……?”
Shockingly, his mind was as pristine as his outward appearance suggested. Not completely normal, of course.
He’d witnessed horrors and gained forbidden knowledge. He bore the minimal madness, trauma, and mental scars that came with glimpsing this world’s truth. But that was standard for anyone surviving Paju’s perilous nights.
For a body once host to an abyssal being, it was far too intact.
Lee Chang-hyeok, turned satyr after touching the fluids of the [Black Goat that Begets Madness]. The ghoul sorcerer ruined by ecstasy from the power gifted by the [Father of All Ghouls]. Lee Seon-bin, whose mind shattered just from seeing a ritual offered to the [Father of All Ghouls] amid a horde of ghouls.
That’s how it usually went for those who approached abyssal beings.
“So why’s this guy so fine……? Ah, it’s this.”
[Discern] detected the flow of mana in Jang Hyeon-deok’s body and how it functioned. First time checking someone else’s mana pathways, but my artificially implanted wizard knowledge and [Incantation Mastery] trait let me understand what his mana structure meant.
If I reformatted it as a status window, it’d look like this.
****
[Living Altar]: Possession, channeling, descent efficiency +1200%. Minimizes penalties from possession, channeling, descent. Ignores most restrictions on possession, channeling, descent.
// You’re less a free-willed human and more a living altar, blessed with innate medium talent.
****
Top-tier trait for shamans, channelers, or cultists. A rare one you couldn’t just pick up on a whim. I’d played shamans and cultists plenty back in the day, but only tried a [Living Altar] build a couple times.
Look at that 1200% efficiency boost.
Why did a taxi driver NPC have this?
Unlike [Abyssal Madness], it wasn’t class-exclusive or hidden behind specific methods. As a talent, it could randomly appear on odd characters.
Aftereffect from the [King in Yellow]? Remodeled his mana before leaving……? But why would the Yellow King bother? To make him useful for Kim Shin-hwa’s crew? Or easy re-entry next time?
No solving this in my current state. Pure thought and deduction would trap me in endless loops, achieving nothing. Guess shoving my head into the bushes was the way, after all.
“Hey, wake up.”
[Bennu’s Cry]
Bennu’s Cry was a 2nd-circle buff spell. It temporarily boosted mental stats, invigorated stamina for a tonic effect, prevented status ailments—and could rouse the unconscious.
The moment it activated, an enormous bird cry echoed in your head as a side effect.
Kyeeeeeek!!! Queeeeeek!!!
Specifically, an egret’s call.
“Gahhh!”
The spell triggered, and Jang Hyeon-deok bolted up clutching his ears. No use; the sound was inside his skull.
“You up?”
“W-Wizard! Something’s screaming in my head!!”
Tempting to let him stew a bit longer out of spite, but he hadn’t really done anything wrong, and talking came first. I snapped my fingers to dispel it.
“Feeling better?”
“What…… what happened? This mess…… Wait, Wizard, what’s wrong with your hand?”
Prioritizing my well-being over his own? Promising kid.
“Explaining would take forever. What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Hmm……”
Jang Hyeon-deok scanned the surroundings with a grave look.
“I remember deciding to come in here……. But…… Wizard……”
“Yeah?”
“If I said I wasn’t in my right mind after meeting you, would you believe me?”
“No reason not to.”
My lenient response unleashed a torrent from him.
“The moment I saw your mask, something was off! That mask messed with my head! I didn’t even know about this place originally! And I didn’t pick up that mask scrap here! Mr. Myeong gave it to me! Seung-jae and Uncle Gil-young have them too! Something’s wrong! I wasn’t trying to deceive you—I was being used too!”
He desperately rattled off more nonsense. The orphanage, rabbit-like little siblings looking only to him, he’d promised to bring gifts soon and the kids were waiting eagerly, but if he vanished without word……. He’d blabbered similar when entering earlier; seems panic brought out his true, non-possessed personality.
Considering how fixers, monster hunters, and treasure seekers in grim Paju usually punished threats…… his behavior wasn’t exactly overreactive. Hell, I’d considered beheading the unconscious him as the safest move.
“Hey, got it.”
“Please believe me! I’m innocent!”
“Yeah, yeah. No more excuses needed.”
I meant it literally—shut up—but he took it as ‘No need to explain, just die, Jang Hyeon-deok.’ He clung even more desperately.
“Aaah! Please! At least let me deliver those shoes I promised Hyeonji……”
“Ah, let go! I get it! My back hurts!”
“Wizard! Please! Spare me!”
I tried prying Jang Hyeon-deok off my waist but gave up.
“Fine, Jang Hyeon-deok. I get it. Got it, okay?”
“You believe me!”
“Yeah. So shut up and take two hits.”
“Huh?”
Whack.
I swatted his head hard.
“Urk…… my hand……”
Not the best use for these hands.
I turned to Jang Hyeon-deok, who cradled his head and groaned.
“Meant for two, but my hand hurts, so one’s enough.”
He looked up at me, bewildered, still huddled.
“You’re…… sparing me?”
“Yeah. We’re square now. Drop it.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. But we’ve got work. Follow me.”
“O-Okay!”
I dragged Jang Hyeon-deok to the dancers’ corpses. Seeing the golden remains scattered in alluring yet gruesome ruin, he recoiled in horror.
“We agreed to split fifty-fifty at first.”
“Huh? Oh…… yeah, but…… that’s……”
“I’ll take these. You want those?”
“……”
Jang Hyeon-deok couldn’t answer right away. His face said it all. Normal reaction for an average person. Treasures or not, they reeked of ill omen and horror. Fear of curses and death should outweigh greed.
In front of him, I shoved my hand into the gut of a shattered dancer corpse and ripped out scales.
No revulsion or emotional stir at gutting a human-like thing. The pain from my mangled fingers was worse.
More like inanimate objects animated by magic than living beings. “Stopped machine” fit better than “dead body.”
From the wrecked dancer’s innards, I pulled out the one truly valuable item.