Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Ghost Road (1)
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The Professor and I were walking through the alleys of Geumchon-dong.
My back was laden with a pack full of the cursed gems we'd taken from the mansion, and in one hand, I carried the outdated briefcase Tudor had entrusted to me.
It wasn't the most convenient getup for helping someone in a wheelchair.
But the Professor didn't need that kind of assistance.
No one was pushing or pulling him, yet the wheelchair's wheels were turning.
That said, the Professor wasn't pedaling them himself either.
Both his hands were occupied wrapping a large jade-green bundle resting on his lap.
The ordinary-looking wheelchair was moving on its own, just like a powered one.
'Well, this guy's no ordinary person anyway.'
When I thought about it, it was quite the spectacle.
A self-moving wheelchair, a bizarre mask with four eyes, and all our bulky luggage.
If we ran into the police or inspectors by chance, it wouldn't be easy to talk our way out.
"Walking like this..."
Perhaps thinking the same thing, the Professor suddenly spoke up.
"...it reminds me of twenty years ago."
No, not the same thought after all.
"You've been to Paju before, I take it?"
It was a setting I already knew well, but as always, I played dumb and asked.
"Indeed, wizard. Twenty years ago, I came around here quite often."
He said "about twenty years ago," but precisely, it was twenty-three.
Just looking at Hoju, who was 150 years old, or Tudor, even older, still up and about, made it clear that Cthulhu mythos problems had existed twenty-three years ago too.
But they were all hidden deep in the shadows of this world, secret knowledge shared only among a select few.
The Great Collapse that happened twenty-three years ago in the Cthulhu World was the event that made those secrets no longer secret.
There were people like Jeong Eun-taek, who made a killing and retired swiftly, but most couldn't.
They died, went mad, or lost their purity entirely and became cultists.
The Professor was one of those who roamed Paju's darkness back then as an "Explorer of Unknown Worlds," and he's among the rare few still active without losing his purity or original purpose.
On top of that, in the treacherous Cthulhu World full of traps, betrayals, and schemes, he's one of the very few trustworthy NPCs.
We walked aimlessly without any discussion of routes or directions.
The Professor looked as relaxed as if he were out for a casual nighttime stroll.
With no need for me to suggest anything, I quietly followed him.
Before long, we'd reached the vicinity of Geumchon Market.
It was late, but the night market from last time hadn't ended yet.
The market was brightly lit.
There seemed to be more people around than during the day.
Stalls here and there sold exotic street food and processed goods of unknown origin.
Seeing the scene, the Professor said in a voice full of delight.
"My, so many people."
"It's the night market. See the banner over there?"
A banner at the market entrance announced it.
"Better to start from a crowded place anyway. Shall we head in?"
"In this getup... I mean, like this, it might be a bit awkward."
"Hmm... Any spells or techniques you could use, perhaps?"
"If it's okay for me to push the wheelchair, that should be fine."
"Ah, of course. Would you mind?"
"Sure."
At his words, the Professor slowed the wheelchair slightly.
I matched his pace and fell in behind him.
At the same time, I cast a spell to lower my presence and conjured a light illusion.
In a crowd like this, that was enough. People surprisingly don't pay much attention to others.
"Think you'll need this soon?"
I picked up the bag hanging from the back of his wheelchair and handed it to him.
Taking it, the Professor looked up at me with an intrigued expression for a moment.
"I heard this was your first time, but was there a misunderstanding?"
"Pardon?"
"Haha, normally, you'd explain how to get to Thousand Gold Hall around now. But you seem awfully familiar with it."
It wasn't my first time, but no need to let that slip.
"It is my first. I just overheard the directions."
"Is that so? The procedure to reach Thousand Gold Hall is actually quite simple. But what amused me was your attitude."
"My attitude?"
"You seem so comfortable and at ease. If it really is your first time, you're quite bold. People who only half-know about Thousand Gold Hall get really tense."
The Professor wasn't exaggerating.
Thousand Gold Hall was hidden in a place hard to accept rationally. If you didn't know the way at all, fine, but as he said, half-knowledge made it tense-worthy.
Because it wasn't in this world—it was in the land of spirits and yokai.
"I must've gotten all my tension out last night, so now I can't tense up more."
"Hahaha, amusing. Alright, I'm not doubting you, but knowledge can have errors, so I'll quickly go over it."
Perhaps a occupational habit, he began lecturing just like a professor.
"Sounds good."
"Here, take a look at this."
He rummaged in the bag I'd handed him and pulled out an artifact.
It was like a jar made of hardened paper.
About the size of a child's head.
Of course, it wasn't a real jar. The bottom—what would be the jar's base—was open, and the top had a long wooden handle attached.
At a glance, it resembled a handbell.
But this had nothing to do with sound. It was a lighting device made with traditional techniques.
"This lantern is your ticket into Thousand Gold Hall."
"I see."
"Haha, most people are surprised at this point. You're no fun."
"I've picked up a lot of hearsay, but this is my first time seeing the real thing."
"It's not something modern folks see easily, artifact or not. It's called an Illuminating Foot Lantern, modeled after the traditional ones used since the Joseon era. Excluding its artifact powers, it functions exactly like one of those."
In other words, light the candle inside, and it illuminates your feet.
But as an artifact, it held power beyond mere light.
[Ghost Road's Illuminating Foot Lantern (Thousand Gold Hall): A lantern that lights the Ghost Road.
It can be used continuously as long as the candle in the fire window remains.
On a dark night, light the lantern's candle and walk the main road, and you'll soon enter the Ghost Road.
Stray from the set path, and you won't reach your destination.
Destination: Thousand Gold Hall
Enhancement: The more crowded the starting place, the sooner you arrive.]
"You don't need to push, but at least hold the wheelchair with one hand."
I casually gripped the handle on the back with one hand. Let go, and we might lose the way.
"Got it."
"Now, light this lantern... Ah, mind giving me a flame?"
I extended a finger toward the lantern's candle and flicked a small spark.
The lantern ignited, and the Professor lowered it to light the path ahead as we moved.
"Excellent. Now, just follow the light it casts. That alone will take us into the Ghost Road."
"Feels like we're already started."
Maybe because of the crowd, the change came quickly.
Heterogeneous elements began infiltrating the surroundings.
"Already noticed? Hard to spot this soon—you must be quite sensitive. Very perceptive."
Walking the Ghost Road was, in a way, a form of dimensional shift.
But no need for the usual black void to pass through or flashing lights.
Things that weren't there before simply started appearing, as if slowly blending into reality.
As the Professor said, it began with tiny specks, mismatched déjà vu, awkward gestures from passersby, minor optical illusions.
Subtle changes even the sensitive might miss.
We kept walking through Geumchon Market as it gradually turned alien.
Soon, changes even the oblivious couldn't ignore arrived.
People in era-mismatched clothing, for instance.
A woman in mourning garb strolling through the bustling market.
An old uniformed soldier passing beside her.
An elder in a ragged hemp robe.
Faint, eerie music drifting in.
Shadows here and there seeming to dance.
Processions of the restless dead moving in unison.
Without pause, we'd entered the road of the wandering dead.
The Ghost Road.
"As a wizard, no need to explain what the Ghost Road is, right?"
"I know not to talk to those walking it."
Those walking the Ghost Road without special items were, naturally, not the living.
"Best not to meet eyes or stare at faces. Your mask helps there."
The Professor continued in a tone like he was handling a favored student, somehow pleased.
Unlike typical professors I knew, his voice had perfect rhythm, making it never boring to listen.
Most still mimicked humans for now, but increasingly grotesque forms appeared.
Like the 10-meter giant peeking from that building.
A dragon-like beast dashing through the alley, one-eyed figures, faces covered in hundreds of eyes, faceless ones, and more...
Scenes that would've triggered sanity checks in the old days.
Madness issues didn't concern me, but normal entrants to the Ghost Road didn't get sanity checks.
This whole space was tangible reality, another plane's otherworld, and a night's dreamlike illusion all at once.
When faced with unacceptable reality, the mind breaks into madness from the shock.
But since this place was dreamlike... something like that. I didn't know the exact mechanics.
Anyway, in spaces like this, no pesky per-item sanity checks, message windows, trait activations, or crackling effects.
Of course, like any nightmare, mistake it for reality without realizing, and you'd take the shock.
Same if forcibly ejected like waking from a dream, or hit with a strong attack.
But that wasn't a worry now.
"Wizard, see those lanterns over there?"
Dozens of shield-shaped lanterns now floated in the dark sky ahead.
"I see them."
"Good eyes. Or rather, good sensitivity? Those are the curses gathered at Thousand Gold Hall, hanging there. Unprepared eyes can't even see them."
To me, they came with bluish will-o'-the-wisps flying about and bizarre mana radiating everywhere.
"And there's Thousand Gold Hall. Looks far visually, but we'll arrive sooner than you think."