Cthulhu Dies
Yu Eunhye lost her parents when she was young.
She was still a child and lived resenting every ghost in the world.
'Why did you take my precious mom and dad? What did I do wrong to get this?'
As she grew older, she realized it wasn't that strange a thing.
It was definitely a sad thing, a pain so terrible.
But people like this were common in this world.
A common tragedy that could come to anyone.
That was all there was to it.
Too many people died from anomalies every day.
Her parents' death was no different from a single 'accident'—nothing special.
When she first realized that, the feeling she felt was emptiness.
I was so sad, like I'd lost the world.
Her parents' death was just one insignificant event that could be used as material for a drama.
People dying from anomalies was like a disaster.
Her parents hadn't done anything wrong; they were just one of the unlucky ones.
Ironically, it was this realization that allowed her to accept her parents' death.
But it was hard to bear that their death meant nothing.
Still, maybe the time she resented anomalies helped.
Yu Eunhye could awaken her spiritual ability.
She joined Cheonjihae by recognizing that power.
Here, she dreamed of growing her power and saving children who suffer like her.
But reality wasn't so easy.
'I... I don't have talent.'
The people gathered at Cheonjihae were all geniuses.
In fact, Yu Eunhye could reach average with her talent.
The problem was that there were too many 'real' geniuses around her.
Her closest friends were the top and second place in the entrance exam.
The famous Nam Dohyeong, who showed interest in every instructor with legendary talent.
Cheok Jiyeon, the head of the famous Cheok family, already possessing sword skills above current exorcists.
And Yoo Yeonhwa, who was interested in Nam Dohyeong for some reason.
There were also many talented people like Go Juyeong and Mi Nahye.
'Can I catch up if I try?'
'It's simple to think that if I run at my own pace, I'll catch up.'
But every time she saw her friends who had gone far ahead of her.
She felt an anxiety that maybe she was the only one left behind.
'If those kids keep going forward and I fall behind...'
She could accept her weakness.
But the fear of friends abandoning her was too much.
Just like when her parents disappeared, becoming alone again was scarier than anomalies.
Yu Eunhye didn't know yet.
That she had undeniable 'talent'.
And the fact that there was a being in the darkness targeting that talent and turbid heart.
****
"Eunhye! Wake up, Yu Eunhye!"
She called Eunhye many times, but no response.
She was just sitting quietly with her eyes completely black.
'Did she really get in contact?'
Even in the original work, something similar happened to Eunhye.
The reason I didn't expect this is because it's deeply related to Eunhye's mind and spiritual ability.
It shouldn't have been at that stage yet.
I don't understand why it happened from the first contact.
'Is it because of me? Is this a butterfly effect created because of me?'
She was close with the entrance exam peers.
But how could that lead to an extinction-level event.
"This needs to be stopped quickly... it's really dangerous."
If my memory is correct, this is a direct path to a bad ending.
The screen suddenly darkened, the game ended, and the chat was flooded with '?'.
'It's fortunate that Eunhye hasn't grown yet.'
Originally, this event would happen in the late story.
It was when Eunhye, who had some interaction with the protagonist, felt inferior seeing other people.
But now, it's early in the internship.
Like others, Eunhye's spiritual ability hadn't risen much.
'Right now, she won't be able to influence the world like in the game. But...'
Eunhye's condition wasn't good for comfort.
Her eyes, completely black without whites, showed she wasn't normal.
'If I don't save her quickly, her body won't hold out.'
I had to chase out the monster that entered Eunhye somehow.
But how?
My instant death doesn't work on remote shots.
I experimented with it on anomalies shown on live TV.
To 'instant death' anything, it had to be within the range I could recognize.
That is, to exorcise it, I had to enter Eunhye's inner self directly.
'Going into a place with an extinction-level anomaly that leads to bad ending in the game, killing it and coming out safely?'
Just thinking about it was not easy.
Fortunately, it wasn't impossible.
If my prediction is correct, it might be solved surprisingly easily.
But it was also true that I had to risk my life.
'...Eunhye was a supporting character in the game, and she's a dangerous element anyway. Thinking about future stability, it might be better not to have her.'
Yes, like now, Eunhye is full of dangerous elements.
If she disappeared completely, it was like removing one bomb.
Since it wasn't my fault anyway, no one would blame me for giving up here.
No, no one knew that I abandoned Eunhye in the first place.
...Would it really be?
"No way. I know it."
I grabbed Eunhye's hand holding the talisman.
Bad ending, extinction-level anomaly.
Those didn't matter.
Eunhye was the first friend I made at Cheonjihae.
That alone was enough reason not to give up.
'If I run away saying it's scary here, I'll hate myself for the rest of my life.'
Why was I so obsessed with surviving?
At least, I wouldn't want to survive by abandoning friends.
I couldn't let Eunhye die here.
No, I didn't want to give up without trying.
Since there's a possibility, I don't want to leave a friend dying.
"Just do it."
I immediately poured my spiritual power into the talisman and sensed Eunhye's 'it'.
Soon, the world flipped, and my consciousness was sucked into the darkness.
Time to meet the otherworldly being.
****
Where I opened my eyes was an empty black space.
Just infinitely black.
It was different from saying it's dark because there's no light.
It was that the space itself felt like darkness.
The only thing recognized was my body.
If I lost the existence of 'me', everything would disappear.
This alone was enough to scare humans.
That darkness stretched all the way to the horizon.
'This is Eunhye's inner self... no, it should be the space created by the otherworldly anomaly.'
I wasn't sure if the ground I stepped on was land.
No, was there even gravity here?
Still, I could 'walk'.
Feeling that strange sensation, as I went forward, I saw Eunhye lying far away.
In the dark space, only Eunhye emitted white light.
But around her, something was full.
[Ooh... how unfortunate. With this much sensitivity, but lacking spiritual power to call formally.]
An unknown black 'something' without form.
Clearly not of this world, that thing was slowly approaching Eunhye.
[Can't I descend? As unfortunate as it is, even this body.]
"Get away from that kid. If you don't want to die."
I shouted while approaching Eunhye.
'The thing' stopped its body as if startled and 'looked' at me.
Did it not expect someone else to enter here.
No, did it not know that there was a human who would say such words to it.
[What? How can you humans look at me and be fine? What kind of spiritual being is so...]
"How? How is that? Because you're a bastard without roots."
[What, what?!]
The voice in a metallic tone raised its volume.
[Do you not know who I am! I am the chaos itself of the entire universe, the great... that cannot be called by name!]
"Great? What a joke. If comparing jealousy, you're a guy born later than Sherlock Holmes."
[What, what?!]
As if lost for words, or incredulous.
The thing stopped talking and went into a frenzy.
[You mortal trash, daring to insult me. Or because you're ignorant, you lost even fear?]
Whether the thing was startled or not.
I lightly shrugged my shoulders.
[I'm the true myth and transcendent of the universe that even gods fear...]
"What? You're just a fictional existence born while playing as a Pinky Liege."
[This, this bastard...!]
"With only a hundred years since creation, a myth? You're kidding. If you were a great extinction, you'd be the creator of the entire universe to the Flying Spaghetti Monster."
[You Asian monkey without roots...!]
"The reason you spread such legends is because you are an anomaly that feeds on human fear and realizes it. But what to do? Here, there's only one angry human besides someone who would fear you."
Despite my sarcasm, the thing did nothing.
Even though it said it could drive people crazy just by hearing the voice.
And even though it was a monster that would burst the head just by looking.
Why?
Because it didn't have the ability to do so.
"Once you've assessed the situation, get out. Don't obsess over a cute girl like the uncle in Hitomi. If you get annoyed, bring a hypnosis app or something."
[Waah! I'm going to kill you! Kill you! Kill you! I will definitely kill you. I will tear your limbs, pull out your intestines, show you the collapsing body in front of your eyes, and make you despair...!]
Black smoke enveloped Eunhye.
It was just that my power weakened because of me, it wasn't that it became a useless fool.
"Talking about killing isn't like that, man."
But, looking at the current situation and the thing's reaction, I could be sure.
If it were me, I could 'kill' that guy.
"Die."
With the instant death I activated, the black smoke scattered everywhere.
Soon, light filled the space that was previously full of darkness.