Chapter 90
Chapter 90
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Big Cleanup
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I scratched my head vigorously and let out a sigh.
"Whew, that Heo Sang-hyeon guy... if I really try to make use of him somehow, he's not completely useless."
In any case, Heo Joo's death had dealt massive damage to Heo Sang-hyeon's soul.
But that damage seemed fully healed now.
Even without me doing anything special, if I just left him alone a bit longer, he'd wake up on his own.
I spoke to the spectral golem idling by the bedside.
"Keep watch, and call me when he wakes up."
*Kiririk, prrrddduk.*
The spectral golem nodded in acknowledgment, then disassembled into scattered junk and dispersed around his bed.
I headed back down to the first floor.
The spectral golems were still busy with cleanup and organizing.
After checking the surroundings a bit more, I reached a conclusion.
"This should be fine now. I can step away."
They were all performing so well that I didn't need to hover and micromanage.
In short, I finally had some leeway to leave for a bit.
I should use this chance to head to my old one-room apartment.
The move wouldn't be complete until I grabbed the stuff I'd left behind.
And while I'm out, I need to buy essentials for living here for the time being.
To replace the Myeong-gyeong that Heo Sang-hyeon took from me, I'll need to visit the pawnshop for materials to craft an artifact.
But to do that...
'Feeding these guys is the problem.'
What spectral golems "eat" is, of course, mana.
And all that mana comes from my body.
A total of thirteen spectral golems.
I'd optimized their ritual structures over time, so running them on my pure mana reserves wasn't an issue—especially since this wasn't a combat situation.
'But even for me, transmitting mana from downtown all the way here would be a stretch.'
Efficiency drops naturally the farther the distance for wireless charging.
Of course, if I went the villain or madman route, solving the mana issue would be simple.
Like Heo Joo before, contract with some abyssal entity for a mana supply, or dismantle innocent victims' souls to extract mana.
Morality aside, pulling stunts like that invites backlash.
You could get branded a black mage or cultist, drawing bounty hunters, or end up like Heo Joo—an undead husk after fulfilling some abyssal being's demands.
I pondered for a moment, then recalled an artifact perfect for this situation.
"Yeah, using that one's probably best."
Yesterday, after knocking out the stone coffin, I'd scored a mountain of rewards.
Among them was something useful.
I glanced around briefly.
The spectral golems were the only ones moving about, cleaning.
Where was that guy right now?
"Hey~ Rocky!"
Not on the first floor, not on the second... so the basement?
*Thud thud thud thud...!*
A heavy rumbling echoed from underground.
The dull sound of something massive and weighty moving on dozens of legs.
"So you were in the basement, huh?"
Rocky—that is, the Hungry Stone Coffin—came charging up the stairs.
"Whoa, hold on, be careful!"
*Boom!*
Rocky barreled straight into one of the spectral golems with his enormous bulk.
*Crash!*
The spectral golem shattered into pieces, junk flying everywhere.
*Thud thud thud thud...!*
Undeterred, Rocky kept charging until he arrived right in front of me.
"You little... if you're gonna smash through..."
*Clunk clunk. Thump thump.*
Rocky bobbed his lid and nosed around me.
It was the kind of motion you could liken to a pet dog rushing to its owner—adorable, if you squint.
"...Good boy."
Just yesterday, he was a monster lunging to devour me.
A box-shaped magic beast bound to [The One Who Comes from the Darkness].
But now that the bond was severed and he belonged to me, he'd somehow turned into an innocent puppy.
'Probably influenced by my soul, changing his personality and traits.'
The issue was, if we're comparing to a dog, he's a massive breed.
A monstrous great dane oblivious to his own size, strength, and weight...
The sight of a colossal stone coffin thrashing about in delight, mistaking itself for a dog... well, it's hard to call it purely cute.
Especially since getting clipped by that innocent flailing could cause serious injury.
"Anyway, open up. I just need to grab one thing."
*Rattle, rattle. Creak...*
Rocky twitched as if to open his lid, then clamped shut and backed away.
It'd be hard to understand normally, but I could sense Rocky's emotional state, so I knew what he wanted.
"Come here. Here, have this instead."
I held out a nearby teacup.
*Rattle, rattle... clunk!*
Rocky peeked cautiously, hesitated, then opened his lid.
Beneath the lid swirled a pitch-black, eerie darkness.
*Whoosh—.*
I tossed the teacup into that darkness, and it vanished into the bottomless void.
*Thump!*
Having swallowed the teacup, Rocky wriggled in satisfaction, then opened his lid again.
This time, no swirling darkness—just the real storage inside.
"Good boy."
The [Hungry Stone Coffin] was a magic box.
Like the infinite inventory bags in games, providing unlimited storage via layered, overlapping pocket dimensions.
To access the specific pocket I wanted amid all those layers, I needed the stone coffin's—Rocky's—permission.
I didn't know where that bizarre subspace led, but tossing junk into the darkness... made Rocky happy.
Probably another trait influenced by me.
'Now I have to cater to the box's whims too?'
I wondered where my life was headed, but anyway, I checked the items inside.
At a glance, Rocky's interior was packed with antique-looking objects.
Not all top-tier, but each brimmed with mana or a sinister origin—artifacts through and through.
Destroy the Hungry Stone Coffin, and most would vanish into some subspace.
'Well, with effort, I could recover some.'
Only by subduing the one and only Hungry Stone Coffin—Rocky—and claiming him could I obtain all this.
Plus, there were items more valuable than artifacts.
'Like this, for example.'
I pulled out a weathered book from inside the stone coffin.
[Taiyin Water Treasure Secret Scripture (太陰水珍秘經)
Category: Grimoire
Author: Unknown
Creation Year: 19th Century
Language: Classical Chinese
A catechism for the followers of the 'Leader of Asphyxiation.'
Presumed to be a translation of an original written in French.
Covers the ecology and history of entities lurking in the earth's darkness, secrets to imprisoning and controlling human souls, and includes methods of human sacrifice.
Research required to assess true value.]
The Leader of Asphyxiation was one of the titles of the Great Old One Heo Joo served: [The One Who Comes from the Darkness].
This cursed tome was why the manor was built, why monsters like Heo Joo were born.
And the descendants born in this house after lived on as Heo Joo's slaves, generation after generation.
Of course, translation errors and degradation meant it wasn't as potent as the original, but it was one of the top grimoires in the [Cthulhu World].
I should prioritize examining this over delaying the interpretation of the Mongly Moonlit Dream Scripture.
'But... not what I need right now.'
I set the Taiyin Water Treasure Secret Scripture aside, revealing the item hidden beneath.
A silver mask, crafted with such exquisite detail it felt unsettling.
It replicated some real human face in hyper-realistic fashion.
"Everything that shows up in this manor is like this, but..."
This one was especially creepy.
Not just an unpleasant design.
This was a death mask: poured silver over a mold taken from a corpse's face, an effigy of a human countenance.
'Meaning there was a body with this exact face once.'
He was a deranged cultist who summoned [The One Who Comes from the Darkness]'s influence through vile, abhorrent rituals... Heo Joo's father.
A madman stripped of humanity, spawning an abyssal offspring, only to have his soul trapped in this mask at the end.
*Gulp.*
What was that? Did I just swallow hard?
'Mask Obsession's influence...'
The madness embedded in my mind: Mask Obsession.
It started as a mere compulsion to cover my face with a mask, but now even glimpsing mask-like objects surges me with excessive emotion.
No doubt about it.
I thought this mask was really cool.
A mask forged by encasing an entire human death.
Even though faint dying screams from its soul echoed from this grotesque thing, right now I wanted to wear it immediately.
'Ugh... I did pull it out to wear it...'
Don't think too deeply right now.
Unlike the other phobias, Mask Obsession had lingered in my head far too long.
I need to overcome it before it causes bigger problems.
As I pulled out the [Mask of the Departed], I said to Rocky,
"You can close now."
*Thump!*
I scratched Rocky's head... well, the top of the stone coffin... and continued.
"Good boy. Go rest on the second floor."
*Thud thud thud...!*
*Boom!*
*Crash! Crunch!*
"..."
Rocky smashed another spectral golem to bits on his way to the second floor.
Feeling a massive drain on my mana, I could only sigh.
"Whew..."
Whatever.
I raised my hand to examine the mask I'd taken from Rocky's body.
[Mask of the Departed (A-rank Accessory): A mask made to seal a dead human's soul and mana.
The longer worn, the more you assimilate with the soul trapped in the mask.
Silver Madness: Triggers a forced Sanity check upon equipping. Failure on this effect inflicts random Madness and possession by the mask's trapped soul.
Gift of the Dead: Store or retrieve mana and knowledge inside the mask.
First Summon: Summon and command the specter dwelling in the mask.]
The [Mask of the Departed] was an A-rank artifact usable for storing/retrieving mana, as a catalyst, or as a magic circle core.
If Heo Joo had charged in wearing this, my mana depletion strategy wouldn't have worked.
'Huge storage capacity makes it an amazing item... but the penalties mean it's not for casual use.'
Instead, the more you use it, the more the mask's departed soul claims your body and mind.
The mask, mimicking a dead man's face, stared up at me.
The hollow eyeholes showed only empty darkness, yet somehow I felt a gaze from the awkwardly gaping mouth hole.
From inside the mask came a gaze mixed with curiosity, anticipation, and hunger.
"What're you expecting? Even abyssal beings can't enter my mind—go ahead, try whatever."
But I'm immune to penalties like this.
I removed the [Mask of Kargosa] I was wearing and donned the [Mask of the Departed] without hesitation.