Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Abandoned Hospital on Mount Gamak
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"Hmm, darling."
Tudor leaned against the counter with a sly smile, tilting her face toward me. Her long hair cascaded down in a dazzling shimmer of light.
"Fixers generally don't share much info unless it bumps up their own price tag. Same goes for you."
"And?"
"But the kind of personal dirt that a fixer really doesn't want out there—the stuff under your mask—is worth a fortune. Or it might just get you targeted for digging into it in the first place."
I got the gist. She could look into it for a price, but I'd better be ready for the fallout.
"I'm not looking to hire you for that right now. Actually, I'm here to pick up a job today."
"Hmm, good, good. I've got a fun one that should catch your fancy... Sertin, mind watching the counter for a sec?"
Maybe because I'm such a regular, Sertin chuckled and waved okay. He didn't seem keen on playing barista, though—just leaned against one end of the counter. Probably planning to shoo away any customers or make them wait.
Tudor gave Sertin a quick nod, then gestured for me to follow her to the back office.
"And I've got a proposition for you."
"What kind?"
"We can... go inside and chat about it cozy-like, just the two of us?"
She punctuated it with a wink.
The moment we sat down in the office, Tudor jumped straight into settlements.
I'd danced around with Jang Hyun-deok and Tan-hyeon, met the Yellow King, mined gold, and caused all sorts of chaos in a wild blues riff—so things felt pitch-black normal again—but my last official quest on record was smashing those ghouls and their ghoul sorcerer in the apartment basement in Munsan-eup.
"Like I mentioned before, Yeonam Construction was thrilled. Cleanup must've been spotless, huh?"
"I don't half-ass things."
"Yeah, so they threw in a bonus."
"Bonus?"
"Yep, bonus. Hang on."
Tudor paused, tapping at her keyboard. A witch in a wide-brimmed pointed hat peering at a computer screen to process a bank transfer... it never got old.
"There, transfer complete. Got a banking app on your smartphone? Or do you at least know what an app is?"
"...I know."
"A wizard living under that mask doing bank stuff on a smartphone? Always cracks me up."
I couldn't tell if she'd read my mind or it was just coincidence, but it hit me off-guard. I brushed off her tease and checked my phone.
100 million, plus 80 million won.
My account had exactly 100 million before, so this was 80 million fresh.
"Nice payout. 30 million bonus on top? I'm grateful."
"Your voice doesn't sound thrilled at all."
"Nah, I am. Money's great."
I'd been bedridden for nearly a week, but one night's work for 80 million?
I was starting to go numb to it all.
That numbness had something to do with the cursed gems piling up in my room right now. Tough to offload, but if I could, they'd be worth several times what's in my account.
"Well, a wizard of your caliber wouldn't be scraping by as a fixer if money was your thing."
"Can't deny that."
"So... what would make you happy?"
She propped herself half-reclining on the desk, looking up at me. I sometimes forgot—her looks were a 20. Transcendent beauty. Without my wizard talents and perks, back when I was just plain old work-from-home twenty-something Kim Shin-hwa, I'd have frozen solid and gone speechless.
"The stuff I mentioned yesterday's plenty. It's a job that piques my interest."
"Hmm, fair enough. Money talk's done—shall we move on to the new gig?"
With that, she handed over a thick binder.
Flipping past the cover to the first page, I saw a photo attached.
It showed an old hospital. Trees crowded around it, and behind the hospital loomed a massive mountain.
Hospital, trees, mountain.
Pinpointing the spot from those keywords alone wouldn't be easy, but I knew that mountain from the photo. A place I'd visited multiple times in the game.
Paju's tallest peak: Mount Gamak.
And the dilapidated, ancient abandoned hospital built against it.
*Finally, it's here.*
I'd been waiting.
This was it.
This was one big reason I'd chosen Tudor out of all the brokers operating in Paju.
Her first signature quest: [The Abandoned Hospital on Mount Gamak].
From the outside, the building looked like just another ownerless ruin. But closer inspection revealed oddities. Only the exterior seemed neglected.
For an abandoned place, the windows were too clean, and a peek inside showed unnatural tidiness.
I wanted to say I knew it all already, skip the rest, and bolt for Mount Gamak—but that'd be too eager. Tensions were already simmering with how she treated me; acting like I knew this quest inside-out on first sight wouldn't fly.
Time to play along for a bit.
"Looks like some busted hospital? Where's this at?"
Tudor flashed a knowing smile, peering into my mask. What was she thinking? Her lips parted soon enough.
"It's on Mount Gamak. Ring a bell?"
"Only that a mountain like that exists. So?"
"Paju's highest peak. And it's got plenty for wizards and espers—might be worth a look around while you're there."
Just like she said, in [Cthulhu World], Mount Gamak was that kind of spot. Wander right, and you could harvest spirit herbs, find mana-boosting essences, or stumble on altars for summoning mythos entities.
I nodded along, and she continued slowly.
"Publicly, it's just a long-abandoned wreck. But the owner's still maintaining it. Some ghost-hunting streamer tried exploring once and got chased off by the caretaker."
"Funny story. A place like this has a full-time guard?"
She smiled at my words.
"Spot on. The owner wants it looking like a ruin."
"Hiding something juicy inside, huh?"
"But lately, trouble. Some randos occupied it, claiming a lien."
Lien enforcement. Common in the real world, but [Cthulhu World] layered on special twists. Like what was written in this binder...
"Says here they're not just randos—an armed group of espers and mutants."
"Right. The title's a bit messy, but they have no real claim. Just thugs."
"Can't resolve it legally or sensibly, I take it?"
"Sent a team from elsewhere already—no one came back. So it rolled down to me. Pay's 120 million won."
With 180 million in the bank, 120 more makes exactly 300?
Like she'd pointed out earlier, the amount didn't wow me. Something else nagged more. Was that all?
I'd been waiting for [The Abandoned Hospital on Mount Gamak] for reasons beyond cash, so if this was it, fine...
But from what I remembered, especially tied to Tudor, the quest had more. Wondering if there was a satisfaction trigger I missed, I asked.
"That's it? Go in, knock out whoever's there?"
Sure enough, she winked and went on.
"Heh, if it was just eviction duty, plenty of others could've taken it."
There we go. This quest had hidden layers.
I nodded, showing interest, and she beamed proudly.
"After picking this up, it felt... off. So I dug deeper before offering it to you."
"Something hidden?"
"Yep. The client gave way too much detail on these espers here. Oh, it's attached at the back of the docs. Anyway... the faces listed? Total strangers to me."
I knew it all, but the buildup made it worth hearing.
"Hm, unknowns? So?"
"Turns out, it wasn't a hospital to begin with."
She declared it like a bombshell. Right—it was a lab. Secret human experimentation.
And in Paju, only one group pulled that crap.
"It's one of Holistic's secret labs."
Yeah, those guys.
This hospital on Mount Gamak was like the secret lab where I'd woken up.
"The mutants and espers occupying it? Experiment subjects who got weird procedures there. Not that they're innocents."
Like I'd agreed with Tudor at our contract—no dealing with normals.
As she said, they weren't civilians or innocent victims. Holistic's test subjects were usually scumbags like Lee Chang-hyuk—hardened criminals or death row types.
They were desperate enough to volunteer for body mods. Beating down trash like that? No qualms.
"Hm, good. I'll take it."
[Quest accepted!
[Base Securing Quest: The Abandoned Hospital on Mount Gamak]
Subjugate all espers occupying the abandoned hospital and restore it to a 'safe' state.
Remaining targets: 0/58
Rewards: 750,000 XP + 180,000,000 won
Failure: Death]
Quest details locked in. Subduing the 58 subjects shown in remaining targets ends the mission.
58 subjects... Doable, but not a cakewalk. Fewer heads than ghouls, but these weren't mindless rushers. Some were as annoying as ghoul sorcerers.
But I had reasons to push this quest.
If things went smooth, it might unravel some mysteries tormenting me in this world. And even without that... unique loot only here.
As I stood to leave, Tudor grabbed me.
"Darling, one proposition before you go?"
"Proposition? Oh, right—you mentioned."
"I held it for you, but someone else showed interest before you came."
"And?"
"What if you two teamed up? Think you'd like her."
"Like her? Why?"
"Because she's the fixer I'm introducing you to."
Tudor slid a photo over.
A front-shot of one fixer.
White long hair, blood-red leather jacket, small face hard to age, a massive demon-slaying sword straight out of a comic.
"Curtain Call."