Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Veteran Player
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A guy with a tail.
A guy with four arms.
A guy with an extra joint in each leg.
It was a place designed to artificially create monsters like the one Lee Chang-hyuk had transformed into.
They didn't have stable forms like "mutants," but transitional shapes pursuing those forms caught the eye.
And most of them... Ah, damn. Annoying.
'The guys who got here first messed around unnecessarily, so they're already in siege mode.'
"Alright, Curtain Call. Take a look at this."
[Illusion Creation]
A three-dimensional image of the abandoned hospital's interior began recreating itself above my hands.
"Whoa... impressive. Kim Shin-hwa, I didn't know you had it in you."
"It's nothing."
"You think I look like a casual player? This speed isn't 'nothing'."
Curtain Call, ever the pro, emphasized the speed over the detail in the image. Fair enough—it's not easy to pull this off at this pace without specialized detection skills or gear or artifacts.
"Anyway, that's not the point right now. See this barricade?"
"Yeah."
"It's rigged with explosives."
Curtain Call whistled, looking intrigued.
"Fun bunch of psychos. Suicide bombing?"
"Nah, not that extreme. Just hurts if you touch it."
Not enough to blow the building sky-high.
"Now it's a pain. Anything else?"
"They're all armed with metal machinery and gunpowder... you know, firearms. Not sure on the types, but at least machine guns."
"Tudor's intel didn't mention that. Oh, they must've taken them from the Wild Guns girls?"
"Probably."
[Cthulhu World] has a fairly sophisticated real-time system that operates in nuanced ways. The promo blurb was slick too.
'Dynamic real-time active quest system where every NPC lives and moves based on your choices! Visit the same place at different times or situations, and you'll see completely different scenes!'
Depending on when I make choices, who I take quests from, or even random tweaks, things shift a bit.
A super exciting system, right? Yeah, it was fun when it was just a game... Ha... Good times. Who'd have thought I'd end up trapped in this crap?
Now it's just a reality designed to torment people.
Anyway, judging by those guys' setup, they're in [Siege Mode].
The lab subjects inside the hospital stripped the fixers who came to capture them and armed themselves with their guns.
If you approach to smash that barricade, someone on the second floor will pop out and spray bullets... They've got grenades too, at least 1 to 4.
"And up here."
I adjusted the size and angle of the holographic image as I continued.
"These guys at the third-floor windows look like snipers."
"Snipers aren't a big deal, but I don't know the blast radius on that barricade explosive. Kim Shin-hwa, can you clear it?"
Snipers aren't a big deal? Impressive. From what I remembered, Curtain Call's stats and prowess ranked high among Basilissa's fixers, but not bulletproof.
I wondered if that attitude was pure confidence or from some 'change' she'd undergone.
"Just the barricade?"
"Yeah. Can you?"
I took a moment to scan the hospital building, the barricade, and the surrounding terrain.
'The simplest, dumbest solution is to torch the whole thing and bail...'
But Holistic would love that. Love it so much they'd slap a bounty on my head...
Plus, while it'd work for the primary goal of neutralizing the subjects, we had a secondary objective. Even if I blast magic, I can't damage the systems and computers inside.
Two sedans... The barricade blast won't collapse the building...
A few ideas popped up.
"I'll handle that much."
"Good. Once that's done, we proceed like we planned. And this okay? I'll take them out?"
Curtain Call pointed at the sniper in my hologram. I could handle that level.
"I'll do that too. Just herd the body-blockers to the first floor."
"Got it. Ready to roll?"
"Hold up."
[Lion's Courage]
[Bear's Resolve]
[Fox's Agility]
I cast a few enchantments on Curtain Call's body. Buffs for strength, vitality, and agility stats.
Sensing the magic settle into her, Curtain Call made a disgusted face out of nowhere.
"Ugh. What the hell is this?"
"Good for you."
"I don't need this crap... Ugh... Never mind. Thanks, Kim Shin-hwa."
She scratched near her neck, acting itchy.
"Shouldn't feel like anything."
"It tickles."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
No way. Not like she's allergic to mana or something. Why would an enchantment tickle?
I wanted to probe her odd reaction further, but dragging it out here would be bad form.
"Alright, let's go, Curtain Call. Hang back a sec—I wanna test something."
"Whatever it is, make it quick."
Curtain Call kept scratching her neck as she fell back slightly.
'Alright. With bombs and barricades, sneaking through quietly is impossible anyway.'
So why not go big instead?
[Chains of Dominion]
Ching-ching-ching—
Three chains extended from my wrists. Golden chains gleaming with mana.
I can manipulate objects linked by the chains.
Can't do anything complex, but I don't need fancy anyway.
Force-start the engines and overload them.
Vroom, vrrrum... VRROOOOM...
The vehicles roared violently.
Hearing it, the hospital grew noisy inside.
Lights flicked on at the third floor.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Whoa, can't die to a stray bullet.
I activated [Protective Ward] and ducked behind the vehicles.
Curtain Call muttered directionless curses and melted into the shadows.
Once safe, next step.
[Hardening]
Granted magical durability to all chained vehicles.
'Could just ram them as-is... But since we're at it, test one thing.'
Via [Chains of Dominion], I injected a command into all three vehicles.
『Do not move.』
[Impact]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-Cast]
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOOM!!
Impact spells fired in sequence.
Target: The rear of the revving vehicles.
Like whipping a halted horse, massive blows repeated.
"What the—!? Are you nuts? What is this... Kim Shin-hwa?"
Curtain Call yelped in confusion at my actions. But I was busy. Piling on more explosions and impacts.
Screee—SCREEEEE!!
Impossible car noises echoed.
Forward-thrusting impact force tangled with anti-forward mana, creating abnormal backlash.
Some pent-up energy fused with mana, sparking into heat, light, sound vibrations.
All vehicles glowed red, thrashing menacingly.
Grrrrr...
About to explode any second.
Now!
『Full speed ahead!』
Built-up backlash released at once, unleashing insane kinetic energy!
KABOOM! BWOOOM! BWOOOOOM!
The vehicles shot out like missiles.
Not just fast.
Wheels weren't even touching ground. All three literally launched.
Makes sense?
A physicist would foam at the mouth, but we saw it—here, it works!
'Not that... It actually works here.'
KABOOOOOM!
KABOOOOOM!!
The crazily hurled vehicles smashed through the hospital barricade and buried inside.
Barricade explosives detonated simultaneously.
BOOOOM-BOOOOOM-BOOOOOM!!!!
Smoke and flames erupted, vibrations and noise shaking skin.
But my launched vehicles didn't slow in the blast.
Plowed deep into the hospital.
"Kim Shin-hwa! At this rate, they'll punch clean through to the other side!"
"Could happen."
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
One vehicle actually pierced the hospital and bounced out the far side.
"Whoa! Kim Shin-hwa! You're the best!"
Curtain Call's cheer was premature—the destruction wasn't over.
Crunch-crunch, BWOOOM!!
Sounds of a vehicle thrashing inside the building.
BAM!
The one that punched through apparently slammed into a huge tree on the opposite side.
Crack-crack-crackle...
Creeeak... THUD!
Tree fell toward the hospital, it seemed. More chaos than expected. Some window lights suddenly winked out.
Huh? That might...
I broke a light sweat and hurriedly cast detection magic.
Luckily, not all power's out.
Hard to say for sure, but my target area should be fine.
No way for Curtain Call to know my worries, she commented gleefully.
"No wonder Tudor thinks so highly of you—you're capable of insane stuff."
Not really magic's doing.
Any [Cthulhu World] veteran could pull this—common knowledge shared openly to even converse with others.
A glitch... Used by so many, it became a攻略 trick.
Not some hidden piece—just poor game design.
Physics engine glitch plain and simple.
'But why does it work for real here?'
In this vivid, tangible world, such bugs?
'Either way, this world's rules are way sloppier than mine.'
Exploit what I can to survive and escape.
"Assault!"
"Move the wounded!"
Hospital buzzed. A few faces peeked from the now-breached barricade.
They were on guard, but not for absurd bombardment like this.
[Remaining Targets: 6/58]
Six down in one go. Some dead? Hopefully alive if lucky.
"Alright, my turn. Meet on the third floor soon."
With that, Curtain Call bolted at insane speed toward the gaping hospital entrance.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!!
Tiny body, massive demon-slaying blade over shoulder, hurtling unnaturally fast. Only warriors converting excess mana to physicality could move like that.
Ground exploded under her feet.
Closing distance in a blink, she latched onto one subject with a roar.
"Cover your heads!!"
"Wh-what!?"
Subject reflexively guarded head, but her lightning-fast greatsword bisected him mid-defense. Blood sprayed everywhere.
Undeterred, Curtain Call spun wide, slicing another clumsily charging subject.
"Die, all of you!!"
She leaped straight inside. Hospital erupted in chaos. Screams, shouts, explosions, wild gunfire—rat-tat-tat! Blood painting windows red, a subject's head shattering glass outward. Crash!
Soon, blood-soaked Curtain Call burst from a random window.
Rolled several times, then defied inertia and physics, dashing to the hospital rear.
"Grab her!"
"No, stop! Don't chase!"
"Kill her!"
Subjects flailed in panic, poor decisions.
True beauty of area suppression: destruction, chaos, madness.
Anyway, no time to stand still.
Time for real veteran play.
Focused mind, unleashed mana.
Several times the usual casting amount.
Dense, thick mana poured out.
Dirt twitched around me, air churned.
Before me, a massive magic circle formed—1.5 meters diameter.
In [Cthulhu World], Intelligence stat is mana's source and provides everything for casting, adapting, creating spells.
That's why I endured the painful penalties for max Intelligence.
Mine's 30 now.
Letting me wield mana volumes beyond human limits.
'And with mana to spare, you can try absurd crap.'
Clasped hands in front... Spread them.
One circle split to two, then three.
Mana trajectories of different colors combined at varying speeds.
Final: five circles.
Each set for different-element spells, completing at intervals.
'First one fires right away.'
Fastest circle blazed red with flame rune.
[Fireball]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximize]
Fwooooosh—
Massive fireball matching circle size bloomed, hurtling at hospital entrance.
Smashed into vehicle-ravaged entrance, erupting ferocious flames.
KABOOOOOOM!