Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Broker on the Verge of Explosion (1)
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A request regarding a house or property haunted by spiritual issues.
In the end, it was a plea to find what’s commonly known as a haunted mansion—a ghost house, plain and simple.
‘Hmm, a classic setup. It’s a horror game, so around this timing, we’ve gotta drop by a haunted house or two, right?’
Ever since the old Cthulhu Mythos stories, haunted mansions of all sorts had popped up in various forms.
The [Cthulhu World] game, built on that mythos, was packed with a colorful array of haunted properties too.
Of course, most came with subtitles like “cursed house” or “abandoned ruin.” They were rarely in livable condition. But some, if you ignored the ghosts, were pretty decent places.
You storm in, exorcise the spirits, take down the boss, and boom—the house is your reward.
Not that it’s easy. These aren’t simple homes; you’ve got to overcome murderous obstacles.
‘That’s why I need to prepare.’
Tudor doesn’t mess around when it comes to work.
She said it’d be ready tomorrow, so she’ll hand over the request tomorrow.
I had until then to get ready.
That’s why I hopped on my skateboard and zipped over to the pawnshop in Geumchon Market. You can get pretty much anything you need there.
Maybe because it was later than usual, the shop felt calmer and quieter than normal. Part of it was the late hour, but there was another reason.
“No part-timer today?”
“I don’t work till this godforsaken hour.”
“Fair enough.”
I requested bundles of talismans, along with various materials for shamanism, spiritualism, and necromancy.
“Got a funeral coming up? What’s with all this?”
“Why do you always get pissed whenever I buy something?”
“Who said I’m pissed?”
“Eh, whatever.”
No special items to sell today. Just straight purchases, no haggling, and a cool 35 million won gone in a flash.
“Paying cash straight up, no tricks today?”
“When have I ever pulled tricks?”
“Eh, whatever.”
Considering I didn’t even know what request I’d get yet, it was a bold spend. But at this point, that kind of money wasn’t a big deal. Worst case, I could sweep through the city for a day or sell off some junk piling up at home and recover it quick.
On the way back from stocking up, I ran into someone unexpected in an unexpected place.
A dingy back alley in Geumchon-dong, littered with scattered flyers.
It was a spot so deserted I used it often without running into anyone. The kind of place you’d never imagine bumping into someone.
And the person I met in that dark, damp alley...
“Ahem. Cough. Long time no see.”
It was standard modern Korean, but the accent was off, awkward.
Park Kwanglim, one of Paju’s brokers.
“Long time, sure. But what the hell happened to you?”
“Had a little trouble with a client... Ahem, cough. Ended up like this.”
Park Kwanglim was in the same anachronistic suit as last time, but his state was a sight to behold.
Torn in places, scorch marks everywhere. His white shirt was caked in soot, nearly black. And that fedora he seemed to treasure? Sold it off, apparently—his shaggy long hair was fully exposed.
“Cough, ahem. Cough.”
Plus these intermittent fake coughs. Annoying as hell.
“Some deadbeat PI must’ve torched your office, huh?”
“Ha-ha-ha!”
Park Kwanglim let out a big, cheerful laugh.
“Not entirely wrong. Not the PI—the client set the fire.”
“Oh.”
That’s when I pieced together what happened to Park Kwanglim.
Even in crazy Paju, not many clients would burn down a broker’s office. And the reason he’d come to me looking like that.
“Don’t come closer.”
“Cough, ahem. You’re too much.”
“You know why, right?”
Park Kwanglim gave a wry smile and bent at the waist.
An exaggerated motion, like a magician prepping a trick.
Not a 90-degree bow. He was reaching for a flyer on the ground. With slow movements, he picked one up...
[System: ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait activates.]
Whoosh!
The flyer burst into flames.
Park Kwanglim was a mana-overload psychic. He had a power that let him roam Paju’s back alleys comfortably even at night.
But his ability wasn’t spontaneous combustion. The way the mana surged with the flames, and that nasty lump hanging off his left shoulder from the start.
“A living flame curse has taken root in my left hand.”
The kind of declaration you’d see on a middle school online forum.
A few jokes crossed my mind, but his face was dead serious, so I held back.
“Fomalhaut’s spawn must be pissed. How big an advance did you take to land a curse this nasty?”
“It’s really, really, really bad. Could you help me out?”
Park Kwanglim was a skilled broker, but also a massive con artist.
Fomalhaut’s Descendants, the cult worshiping the [Living Flame], had hired him to track me down. No one in Paju could match him at finding people.
But even after pinpointing me ages ago, he hadn’t handed me over.
Should’ve known not to bite off more than he could chew. The impatient cultists must’ve cursed him.
“Karma, huh?”
“Karma? Isn’t this because I was protecting Kim Shin-hwa? Cough, hack, ahem!”
Sure, because the longer he stalled, the bigger the bill.
I knew the crap he pulled on gullible clients. In detective work, where fees pile up daily, solving quick is a loss.
Plus, he’d planned to leverage their hunt for me to squeeze me too.
“Cough, cough. Hack!”
Whoosh!
The dark alley lit up bright, then dimmed again.
“Whoa! Ha-ha-ha! Damn it! Did you see that?”
Yeah, I saw.
Fire had suddenly burst from his mouth.
Jeez, this was no joke. The curse wasn’t just in his hand anymore; it was spreading through his body.
“Damn, this is serious.”
“Heh-heh... Heh-heh-heh... Yeah, it’s really serious. Please help. Cough, ahem.”
A weird, unnatural grin was creeping onto Park Kwanglim’s face. Even with guts of steel, symptoms like that would crack anyone’s sanity. His brain was probably marinating in dopamine and adrenaline by now.
“Kwanglim, like I said, this ain’t my business. Even if you sold me out, Fomalhaut’s crew would be disappointed. I’d be pissed too. And Tudor’s all hyped using me lately—she’d be heartbroken if something happened.”
In Park Kwanglim’s world, a disappointed Tudor was probably the scariest thing.
“I know. That’s why I’m asking you.”
Now he was inching closer with a desperate look. The curse was seriously advanced.
This wasn’t some off-the-shelf hex. You’d need at least one human sacrifice offered to the [Living Flame] for something this potent.
How to lift it? Smashing, burning, exploding—easy. Curse-breaking? Not my specialty.
If I had a Thousand Gold Hall pass, maybe I could fix it quick, but not yet.
I could borrow [Living Flame] power via the [Corrupted Flame Ring], but the situation was different now.
This was a formal curse from ordained cultists, backed by a sacrifice. Would it lend power to undo it?
I sighed loudly and cast some spells.
[Omniscience]
[Curse Detection]
[Mana Detection]
[Trap Detection]
[Lifeform Detection]
“No watchers around. Figured they’d tail you, but you shook ’em good?”
“Cough. I’m not that sloppy.”
“No kidding, or they wouldn’t have hit you with something this brutal.”
“Cough, cough, hack!”
Whoosh!
Flames erupted with another cough. Getting worse. Looked like he had under 48 hours before he couldn’t talk anymore.
I had three options.
First: Too annoying—ditch him. Bad call. He might die on his own, but he’d rat me out to the cult first.
To shut that blabbermouth up, maybe make sure he couldn’t talk at all. Dead men tell no tales.
But hey, waste a high-end NPC like Park Kwanglim?
He was a sleazy scammer, but unmatched in a few niche areas.
Best bet: third option. Do him a solid, and he’d owe me one later.
I scratched my head hard and told him.
“You’re damn lucky. Any other day, I couldn’t have helped even if I wanted to.”
“Yes! You’ve got a way? As expected from Paju’s top rising fixer, the genius wizard of unknown origins, the dark horse of Basilissa stealing the spotlight, the Three Heads’ secret weapon.”
“What the hell are those ridiculous nicknames?”
And Three Heads’ what?
“Cough, ahem. Cough! They’re actually going around these days. Rumors say you’re a bioweapon from Helix or an avatar of a botched summoning.”
“Great, now I’m dizzy.”
Tudor said she’d make me famous? She’s working overtime.
Anyway, any other time maybe not, but right now I had a way. If I hadn’t just shopped for haunted house raiding, why would I be wandering Geumchon’s alleys loaded with exorcism gear?
“So, how much you got?”
“...How much?”
“Name your price for your life.”
“...”
“Nah, I don’t haggle over lives. Let’s say materials cost times ten. Materials around 35 mil, so 350 million.”
Perfect—the stuff I just bought from the pawnshop. No clue how it shook out this way, but they’d be the ingredients.
“Cough, ahem. Ha... Thank you.”
From his face, I’d lowballed it. Underworld broker like him could scrape up a couple hundred mil easy.
“Alright. Quest accepted.”
[Quest accepted!
[Mini Quest: Broker on the Verge of Explosion]
The cultists worshiping the ‘Living Flame’ have inflicted a fatal curse on Park Kwanglim. Lift the curse on him.
! Time Limit: Park Kwanglim dies in (29) hours. !
Reward: 150,000 XP + Park Kwanglim’s Trust + 350 million won]
Failure: Boom! Park Kwanglim explodes.]