Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Unjeong Station
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No more time to waste. I had to finish this before the next train arrived.
When your body's weak, your brain has to work overtime. To compensate for my lacking strength and health, I'd racked my mind for ages.
That's why I'd chosen this place: Unjeong Station.
There was a hidden secret spot inside Unjeong Station.
'Right here.'
My health and strength were critically low, so I'd paid less attention to it, but my agility was abysmally bad too.
[Agility 8: Clumsy]
- Ding ding ding ding ding di di di ding... The train bound for Yongsan is now arriving at Yongsan.
The announcement echoed from the platform. I'd barely reached my target spot.
'This was always such a fun place.'
Truth be told, this spot was impossible to enter or even start the prerequisite quest for at my current level.
It was a bug that no one else in the community knew about—just me.
Around here, if you hugged the wall and kept jumping and rubbing against it until the train came, a secret door you'd somehow slip into would appear.
Jumping until the train arrived? Fine. But the "rubbing to slip in" part was still weird... Would it be the same as last time?
I pressed my hand to the wall and channeled my mana.
[Secret Door Detection]
Mana threads extended from my fingertips, tracing the wall and forming glowing blue circuit patterns.
Pzzzzzt-.
The mana threads swept over the wall and quickly found the hidden secret door.
Unlike a normal door, this one was a vertical passage installed in the ceiling. Who the hell puts a door up there? Unless you knew exactly where to look from the start, how were you supposed to find it? The mechanism was... simple enough, but there was a lock.
No big deal. I focused the mana I'd spread for [Secret Door Detection] and probed the lock's interior. Normally, you'd have to touch it by hand to trigger it, but...
Pababak!
The mana threads, spread like a complex circuit diagram, branched out in an instant, enveloping the ceiling-mounted door and lock.
[Lock Released]
[Spell Enhancement: Range Extension]
Krik- click.
Blue sparks flew from the lock, hanging out of reach, and the door swung open.
'Will this even give me any EXP anymore?'
I'd probably need to pick advanced locks with higher skill levels or magical security measures for EXP or achievements. Maybe I should set aside a day to go around picking locks?
The real problem came next.
'Hmm, how do I climb up there?'
I'd opened the door with magic, but there was nothing to grab or climb.
The ceiling was pretty high already, and the vertical passage beyond stretched even farther.
In the game... it was "time your jumps to the train's arrival"... But that wouldn't cut it now, and wasting time here gained me nothing.
[Dancing Flames]
Paaat-.
Beautiful, glowing magical fireballs floated up at my command.
Factoring in the space above the door...
'Pretty high. All told, about 10 meters?'
No ladders around. To get up there in one go, I'd need magic.
'[Float] is... no way in hell. Gotta get at least 1st Circle soon. Spells like [Leap] are so efficient, right?'
Baaaang-.
The train was approaching.
'Jump until the train gets close...!'
Did I really have to? Just then, through the mana threads I'd spread for secret door detection, I sensed something I hadn't known before.
'There's a magic circle right in front of the train!'
No doubt about it. A powerful repulsion spell was attached to the train's front. Jump at the right timing, and the magic circle's effect would launch me toward the ceiling!
In the game, it triggered "by accident while jumping," but with Intelligence 30's superhuman calculation and mana detection abilities, I instantly figured out the perfect moment and angle. The problem was...
'I get the theory, but can this body nail the timing?!'
The train was closing in. Not much time left.
"Ah, damn it."
Screw it.
[Arrow of Ruin]
[Lightning]
[Invisible Hand]
Kwaaang!
Pzzzzzt-.
This was a bizarre method that the half-unemployed me—Kim Shin-hwa, who usually just played games and scraped by on freelance gigs—could never have dreamed up.
I ran precise lightning through my body's muscles with [Lightning] to artificially induce reflexes while firing [Arrow of Ruin] at the ground for repulsion. [Invisible Hand] handled the fine adjustments and trajectory corrections with telekinetic force!
My body shot forward at high speed. The leap, contact with the train, and...
Flash-!
The magic circle on the train activated, propelling me into a super-jump.
The scenery blurred in an instant, and I rocketed into the ceiling passage just as planned.
It sounded simple, but it required superhuman focus, computational power, and sub-second mana control.
'To think I'm using this ultra-precise, ultra-dense mana manipulation just to time a jump.'
That's how I reached the space above the ceiling. A heroic landing would have been nice, but I flew in like discarded trash and rolled around like garbage.
The area beyond the secret door was spacious. I lay there in the position I'd been thrown, struggling to get up.
"Ughhh..."
A groan escaped my lips. I'd overtaxed my already meager muscles, and my thighs still felt like they might burst.
'That other secret door was the same... Which came first?'
Chicken or the egg?
Had someone installed the secret door and cast magic on the train to recreate a bug from the game [Cthulhu World]?
Or did bugs arise in [Cthulhu World] while implementing real-world secret spots?
'Maybe test the money duplication bug or NPC dialogue bug later to find out?'
More importantly, I needed to move now.
I forced my shaky legs to stand. A staff or something would be nice... Like a wizard's staff?
[Dancing Flames]
Paaat-.
Four magical fireballs appeared around me, emitting light without heat.
With the light, the surroundings came into view. It was quite spacious inside.
Rough walls with exposed concrete. Grotesque, blasphemous graffiti in red—blood or paint, hard to tell.
The shapes were utterly bizarre, yet they evoked a church somehow.
Rows of chairs for worshippers, and a wide altar at the front.
It was a kind of church, in fact. Not for wholesome faith, but for evil cultists worshipping Cthulhu mythos entities.
Later, cultists gathered here would summon a mythos being, causing a horrific arson at Unjeong Station in one scenario.
But right now, it was empty.
'That's the key to this exploit. Come before the event, and no one's here!'
I walked toward the altar ahead.
'What were they called again?'
The [Offspring of Fomalhaut]. Those pyromaniac freaks.
At the front of the altar was a symbol of the Great Old One they worshipped, carved in stone.
Master of colossal flames, greatest vampire of fire.
The eternally burning wrath residing in distant Fomalhaut.
A fire demon-god who ascended to divinity in the instant a supernova exploded.
The symbol of the [Living Flame].
A message about temporarily exempting Sanity checks flashed and vanished. Weak-minded folks would go mad just looking at it, but it was no issue for me. Good.
Fitting for cultists of a fire god, the stone altar was caked in massive soot stains. They'd burned tons of sacrifices, no doubt. Typical for an unventilated basement.
And behind the altar, there should be a small box...
'There we go.'
A jewel box about the size of a first-aid kit. Its surface was intricately engraved with motifs extolling fire's greatness. But the real prize was inside.
[Obtained 'Essence of Fire.']
[Obtained 'Crimson Dragon Orb.']
[Obtained 'Corrupted Flame Ring.']
Essence of Fire was a consumable catalyst or material for spells and magic items. The Crimson Dragon Orb was an A-grade artifact that generated a protective flame shield for its owner. There were also some minor trinkets, glass vials, and non-magical religious icons, but who cares.
The star was the Corrupted Flame Ring. The artifact I got every time after discovering this exploit.
It looked so artistically stunning in person, not just as a game icon.
A blood-red, lustrous ruby gleamed like a demon's eye ripped out and set in place.
'Not that I went through all this for the looks.'
[Corrupted Flame Ring (S-grade Accessory): An evil ring forged from Fomalhaut's flames. Imbued with corrupted fire mana and curses.
Torchbearer: Forces a Sanity check upon equipping. Failure inflicts 'Madness - Pyromaniac' on your mind.
Burning Madness: On Sanity failure, corrupted flames' curse may trigger at a certain probability.
Crimson Element Focus: All fire-type spell effects increased by 50%.
Fire Incarnate: Strength +3
Flame Knowledge Inheritance: Increases understanding of 'fire-type magic.'
...]
'Yes! Strength +3!'
It was an S-grade accessory loaded with all sorts of extra effects.
Plus, the 'Flame Knowledge Inheritance' had a bug: instead of just boosting fire-type understanding, it let you cast certain fire spells ignoring their circle requirements.
I tucked the Essence of Fire and Crimson Dragon Orb into my pockets for now, took a deep breath, and slipped on the ring.
[You have equipped the ring of the Great Old One residing in Fomalhaut. Blessings for the faithful, eternal fire's curse for the faithless! The great will of fire targets your mind. That being...]
Sheesh... getting all worked up. I ignored the stream of message windows and flexed my limbs. Sure enough, vitality and heat like never before surged through my body.
'But now Strength's just 8...'
A sigh escaped. Long road ahead.
[System: Exclusive trait 'Abyss's Madness' activated. Changes Sanity check result to success.]
Good, we're done?
Failing Sanity here would've given [Madness - Pyromaniac] and unlocked the fun criminal route, but [Abyss's Madness] blocked it as expected.
"Eghhh... Time to head out."
On the opposite wall from the altar was a normal exit. Of course, I couldn't use it to leave. Beyond lay an elevator to a building owned by the cultists.
A horrific building crawling with cultists disguised as civilians.
Without this exploit, I'd have to fight a horde of them.
I circled the altar and headed back to the entrance I'd come through.
[Achievement Unlocked! You have /Null'd the Offspring of Fomalhaut.]
Wait, what?
["Unknown Command." You /Null'd their church with astonishing /Null and /Null and /Null /Null /Null /Null /Null /Null. Your astonishing /Null! Ttukgut halgalgga!]
Ttukgut? The message window started distorting. It had sparked and changed before, but this was totally different.
[Feast of the Offering effect triggers. Effect: Increases chance of encountering abyss-proximate entities. Feast of the Offering effect triggers. Effect: Increases chance of encountering abyss-proximate entities. Feast of the Offering effect triggers. Effect: Increases chance of encountering abyss-proximate entities. Feast of the Offering effect triggers. Effect: Increases chance of encountering /Null-proximate /Nulls /Null. Feast of the Offering effect triggers. /Nulls. /Null Feast of the Offering effect /Nulls. Feast of the Offering /Null /Nulls.]
Intense noise, sparks, and unpleasant error messages flooded my vision.
[You are /Null /Null /Null /Null /Null /Null]
The surrounding mana began to churn.
"What the hell?"
Something bizarre happened. The space in front of me warped. Not magical... more like... a glitch effect?
The multicolored noise you only saw during critical bugs erupted. At the same time, space twisted, spawning something that hadn't been there before.
['Mushub◎Spawn鞏Goo' pierces your mind.]
[Ttukhun Sanity check success.]
Amid the violent sparks and dizzying glitches warping my body's components, I knew what the monster was.
Yeah, that monster's a Shub-Niggurath spawn? Damn, can't even pronounce it. What is that?
['Mushub◎Spawn鞏Goo' approaches you. 'Mushub◎Spawn鞏Goo's body consists of endlessly fluid, sticky slime. That indescribably repulsive flesh constantly splits and mutates, sprouting grotesque appendages like reptilian legs or tentacles. Just watching it would drive you mad... a dizzying, horrific form.]
The message window seemed fixed. Indeed, the sparks distorting the massive monster ahead faded away.
The mapbul... now I got it. Formless Spawn, vile familiar summoned by an abyssal entity. Things like that don't wander; one of the abyss-dwellers sent it to attack me.
The Formless Spawn rose with a grotesque cry.
- Kraaaah!!!
"I don't know what's going on, but I'll roast you anyway!"
Roooar-.
The temple built to serve the fire god began filling with crimson flames.