Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Heo Sang-hyeon
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"Huh, what? You back again, mask guy?"
...To be honest, I'd been feeling a bit sentimental.
But that mood shattered the instant I took in the chaotic clutter of Geumchon Pawnshop and laid eyes on Jeong Eun-taek.
"Yes, sir. I'm here. No sign of your granddaughter helping out today?"
Jeong Ye-eun, who usually pitches in around the pawnshop, was nowhere to be seen.
"That girl's off at the night market, said she wanted to check it out."
"Ah, I see. Could I trouble you for some items?"
"Sure, what do you need today?"
"Well... first off, about ten meters of silver thread, if you have it. And some tree branches I can use as materials—any kind of wood is fine, as long as they've been blessed or consecrated."
"No idea what you're cooking up with all this stuff."
My list of requests went on from there.
Each time, Jeong Eun-taek grumbled with a look of disgust, but amazingly, he had everything I needed.
'This place really is a whole other world.'
Just a short walk outside, and Paju's locals are snapping selfies while munching on street food at the night market—yet here I am, buying ghoul hand bones and dried basilisk skins.
By the time we'd finished tallying up the bill, Jeong Eun-taek hesitated a moment before speaking up.
"Hey, last time you mentioned wanting to go to Thousand Gold Hall, right?"
I'd been about to ask myself, but he beat me to it.
Perfect timing—now that I'm over level 30, I've cleared the minimum entry requirement.
"Can I get an entry pass?"
"Hmph, it's not that easy to come by."
"But you wouldn't bring it up if there wasn't something in the works, right?"
He shot me another annoyed look at that.
"Someone I know asked me to recommend a fixer. Turns out, no one's better suited than you."
"Uh... probably just exaggerated rumors."
"Exaggerated my foot. I may be retired, but my ears still work fine."
He paused again before continuing.
"Tch, anyway—give it about a fortnight. I'll pass word through that back-alley witch. Take the job when it comes."
"Someone looking to head into Thousand Gold Hall?"
"Yeah. A mentor I owe a debt to from about twenty years back... wants to go. Mind lending a hand?"
He'd danced around it, but this was clearly a precursor quest for Thousand Gold Hall entry.
I'd end up visiting alongside whoever held the pass.
I smiled and replied.
"Sure."
With the mask on, as always, no need to worry about my expression.
* * *
A short trip later, back in front of the Hungry Manor.
"Wanna come in and rest a bit?"
"No, no, no! I've got another fare lined up, so I'll head out and get back to work!"
Jang Hyun-deok was still traumatized by the wraiths, flailing in panic.
'Trauma like that doesn't just vanish overnight.'
"Call me anytime next time. If a mage like you summons me, I'll go anywhere!"
He threw out that brazen line before speeding off.
The tone suggested he figured I wouldn't need him anytime soon—but our next meeting would come sooner than he thought.
It was deep in the mountains, far from the city, with no buses running out here.
Even grabbing simple snacks or drinks would probably require calling him.
Anyway, once I'd confirmed Jang Hyun-deok was gone, Dolldol and I headed inside.
The cleaning was nearly done.
Most of the yin energy piled up with the dust had been cleared out, along with the stale air and the wraiths clinging to the manor.
Of course, that didn't erase its identity as a haunted house.
Even after all that chaos all day, the place remained dark and foreboding. Stubborn wraiths still lingered in every corner, not fully purged.
"Those persistent bastards..."
Calling them troubled tenants displaced by a new landlord felt off—they were clearly rattled by the sudden upheaval too.
The moment my gaze hit them, they seeped into wall cracks and hid.
Hunting them down one by one would be exhausting.
"Can't really blame Jang Hyun-deok for bolting..."
No excuses changed the fact: this was still a ghost manor. And that essence would persist.
Time wasn't infinite, so priorities first.
"Dolldol! Follow me to the basement!"
I called out as I headed downstairs.
Clatter clatter, rumble rumble, groooowl, grrrumble!
Smaller now, it moved even more noisily than before.
"Let's pull out what we stashed earlier."
Grrrumble!
One of the spatial pockets in Dolldol's mouth yawned open.
The shrunken interior could barely fit a human head, but out poured enough luggage to fill a one-room apartment.
Cursed gems, fragments of golden dancers' bodies, a golden head still alive in hibernation, an egg born from fused flesh-monster and parasite, a few grimoires and magic stones, assorted junk we'd scavenged, magical catalysts, material items, low-utility artifacts we'd set aside.
The basement had been Heo Joo's lab and disassembly room for necromantic sacrifices—his previous owner.
A space where countless lives had ended.
The necro golems had tidied it up, but traces lingered.
Faint blood scent mixed with rot.
"Well, it'll get better if I just tough it out and use it."
Either way, this was the mage's workshop I'd craved.
While the necro golems busied themselves sorting, I pored over Heo Joo's research logs and grimoires in the basement.
It interrupted their work, but no one complained—they lacked the ego for it.
A lab used for 150 years by someone backed by abyssal entities.
I'd looted this manor before, but never received it in such intact condition.
The magic system differed from mine, so some tweaks were needed, but most fixtures could stay.
Biased toward certain fields by nature, but the knowledge here would become mine.
"Thanks to this, I can dive right in without much prep."
Time to tackle the projects I'd put off for lack of a workshop.
My eye caught the golden dancer's head from Tan-hyeon.
"Was wondering what to do with that. Once I'm set up, it'll be first on the list."
A powerful magical creature that had given even me trouble.
Combining it with necro golem tech would yield something incredibly useful.
Prep wouldn't take long, and soon a request via Tudor would come for Thousand Gold Hall.
Cheongho's black market tip still had me intrigued too.
Having a home sparked all sorts of forward-thinking ideas.
Once this manor was fully prepped, I could kick off mid-game in [Cthulhu World].
No more sticking to Paju—I'd roam other regions, tackling the main storyline for real.
With that, I summoned a few more necro golems to finish workshop setup.
Now I could finally rest. Stretching my still-achy body, I slowly climbed out of the basement—when an unexpected issue cropped up.
[.......]
A signal from the necro golem surveilling Heo Sang-hyeon.
"Talk about bad timing."
Heo Sang-hyeon had woken up.
I sighed, glancing at a hallway window.
Outside was dark, stars speckling the sky.
My sleep schedule was already off, and now I'd be crashing after sunrise.
On the second floor, at Heo Sang-hyeon's room, I knocked lightly before entering.
He jolted awake at my entrance, struggling to sit up.
Even just counting sleep time, it'd been over 24 hours.
I silently observed him, gauging his state.
His appearance offered no clues to his health.
Still a gaunt, corpse-pale face.
The undead aura of death.
To check his condition, I peered beyond the surface—inside.
The sinister yin-dimensional mana flowing through Heo Sang-hyeon churned more vigorously than before.
Mingyeong's power had amplified it, adding mana of a different nature from his original flow.
Mana originating from me... instantly responsive to my will.
"Well, you look better than expected."
His oversized eyes—standing out against his emaciated face—darted wildly as he blinked excessively. After hesitating, he spoke.
"M-Master...?"
Ugh, I'd figured it'd be like this, but still awkward.
Sure, I'd become a mage solving bizarre cases in fantastic Paju, but before that, Kim Shin-hwa was just an ordinary Korean office worker for decades.
No way getting "Master" from a guy eight years my senior felt normal.
"Ditch the 'Master' stuff. How's your body feeling?"
"I... I'm fine. Much better than before..."
"Good to hear."
"But..."
He unconsciously fiddled with the Mingyeong around his neck. A spell unlike the necromancy that had bound him before.
Far kinder than necromancy. Yet Heo Sang-hyeon seemed uneasy with it.
"What did you do...? To Master? And what happened to me?"
"Hmm..."
I'd left him be for this conversation, but where to start?
For now, the "Master" he meant was Heo Joo, not me.
"First off, your former master, Heo Joo, is dead."
"Dead? No way...!?"
"What do you mean, no way? You can sense it yourself, can't you?"
"......"
"And likewise, you can sense that I've inherited everything in this manor."
"Yes... I can tell."
"Everything" included Heo Sang-hyeon, Heo Joo's slave.
His prior chats, mockery, and attacks on me were mostly not his will.
Probably the one genuine bit was trying to boot me out on sight.
"Look, separate from that, I have no intention of forcing you into slavery. But I'm not keen on wasting mana and artifacts for nothing, either."
Heo Sang-hyeon gave a faint smile.
The kind only brainwashed fanatics could muster.
What he'd thought before didn't matter now.
Loyalty to me had already taken root in his mind.
Over any self-preservation, hope, or dreams.
If I ordered death, he'd embrace it with joy and ecstasy.
"I probably can't grasp your desires or psyche. Never died and come back. Sure, artificial loyalty likely dilutes personal wants anyway..."
I extended a hand toward him.
Magic circles bloomed in the air midway between us.
Some linked to the Mingyeong at his neck, others to his head and heart.
I manipulated the one tied to his head.
Whirrrrr...
It shifted at my command. A portion of the mental restraints reshaped.
Specifically, I'd removed the compulsory loyalty curbing his thoughts and actions.
His body reacted instantly.
Bloodless lips twisted; bony hands trembled.
The true emotion he should feel: terror.
"Now, can you think a bit more about yourself?"
Heo Sang-hyeon couldn't speak.
Just huddled, rolling those huge eyes in anxiety.
"If you want release to the afterlife, I'll free you now. No pain or discomfort."
"I-I-I... I..."
I raised a hand to silence him.
"Hear me out to the end."
"...Yes."
"If you'd rather keep living like this, I can help with that."
His eyes widened again.
Huge enough to unsettle even me.
"Of course, it won't be free. I need a butler to manage the manor."
The mask hid it, but I smiled.