Chapter 124: Nuclear Fallout Shelter (2)

The basement was dark and damp.

Above all, an overwhelming stench pierced the air.

"Ugh..."

Suddenly, Jang Hyeon-deok shuddered and made a strange noise.

Just a moment ago, he had been talking energetically but now he seemed off.

"The lights are on, but it's unusually dark."

This was Goo Jin-chul's voice. He, on the other hand, looked rather calm.

"The atmosphere is certainly strange."

Looking up, there was a large lighting fixture attached to the ceiling.

It wasn't designed in a modern way. The unnecessarily heavy lamp had an overly elaborate design, reminiscent of outdated steampunk decor.

"That's a magic stone lamp. They're using such a precious thing in a place like this?"

"Magic stone...?"

"Yes, a magic stone lamp. It's designed to emit light semi-permanently."

There couldn't have been a more fitting light for a space designed with a post-nuclear war apocalypse in mind.

"I was wondering where that thing went, and here it is."

Goo Jin-chul said disdainfully.

"Well, it's over the top, but considering the design intent, there's no more appropriate place, is there?"

"No, it's not that. The chairman turned everything upside down while looking for that. Turns out he hid it himself and blamed others."

"Oh..."

This was a small piece of information that would only be a hot topic within the Cheong-ho faction.

I recalled the past when I used to talk to every NPC to confirm those meaningless settings.

Too bad. I'd really like to update the wiki.

No, that's not the issue here.

"Ugh... Something's wrong. It's cold here, right? Is it just me? The smell is weird too... I feel like throwing up."

"I smell it too, but it seems like you're the only one feeling cold."

Jang Hyeon-deok's condition was getting worse.

Was it the [Living Altar] trait causing strange side effects due to his mediumship talents? I didn't have such trait, so I couldn't tell.

"Once we pass through that iron door, the real game begins. How do you feel? Think you can manage?"

"Ugh, I think I'm still okay for now."

"Really? Anyway, it's your life, so take care of it. If you can't handle it, tell me right away."

I said this but I knew we couldn't leave him like this. I cast a few protective spells on Jang Hyeon-deok.

Let's move on.

After passing through this passage, there should be a storage room, another storage room, and then a room.

Just like Jang Hyeon-deok said at the beginning, each space was separated by a heavy iron door that looked like a submarine hatch.

The place we were standing in now seemed more like an emergency partition space than a corridor.

"Hold on a second."

Once again, Goo Jin-cheol stepped forward to open the door.

Creeeak.

Beyond the door lay a strange darkness.

Upon closer inspection, there were indeed lights on in the room beyond.

Unpleasant shadows clung to various parts of the room, like creatures with physical forms or willful spirits crouching in the dismal darkness.

Looking back, I saw that the area beyond the door was filled with pitch-black darkness. The entire shelter was filled with negative energy that blocked the light.

Ah, this must be that.

Fog of war.

It's a common effect seen in games. It prevents you from seeing into rooms that haven't fully loaded or areas you haven't yet explored.

It was implemented in this way.

In games, it was artificial darkness set to implement the character's field of vision, but in reality, it caused a troublesome problem.

"This is driving me crazy. We're going to get lost in a small room."

"Lost? We're getting lost?"

"Should I say surreal? No, it's better to say magical. Anyway, there's too much negative energy here. Simply put, the room is filled with so much evil energy that light can't travel through it properly."

"Like the tricks that demon worshippers create?"

Even among the people of Paju, understanding of the beings of the abyss varied.

I kept calling them beings of the abyss, but in fact, few people used the term correctly. Some called them great beings, ancient rulers, great old beings, beings from another world, gods from another world, death gods, evil gods, or simply demons.

"Yes, something like that. Anyway, don't stray too far. Even if you take just a few steps away, you won't be able to see each other."

"This, this is the first time I've seen anything like this. So, Kim Shin-hwa-nim, I never... never..."

Goo Jin-cheol stuttered with an anxious expression on his face.

"I know it's not a trap. Even if someone prepared it on purpose, how could they create such a trap?"

Thinking about it, Jang Hyeon-deok who was trembling next to Goo Jin-cheol had dragged me into a worse trap before.

I couldn't blame Jang Hyeon-deok, but thinking about the hardships I endured back then made me want to give him a smack on the head.

Come to think of it, I said I'd hit him twice back then but only hit him once. Should I hit him now?

"Please, take care of yourself first, director, or if you have any extra time, please look after this idiot."

"Understood."

"Hey, Jang Hyeon-deok, you're being a nuisance, you know?"

"Ugh... I'm sorry."

Since I dragged him here against his will, I couldn't really blame him.

"Anyway, let's go a bit further inside."

After forcing the reluctant Jang Hyeon-deok to take another step, we moved further in.

The expensive magic stone lights continued to illuminate our way.

And under that light, the scene that unfolded... was quite chaotic.

"This is my first time coming this far in, but it seems this is the storage room."

The treasure vault of Cheong-ho, or rather, the secret storage.

A room filled with various artifacts, gold bars, artworks locked away merely because of their high value, and personal collections of no value to anyone outside Cheong-ho.

That's what this room is.

But this space isn't what's important right now. What matters is the condition of this space.

"This place looks exactly like where a man with no living skills has lived alone for over a month."

"Our Chairman is not someone capable of cleaning or cooking for himself."

That was just a joke.

The scene before my eyes couldn't be discussed at such a simple level. Despite the lighting, the strange darkness that filled the storage room was severe.

If I put it that way, it might cause some misunderstanding. Almost everything in this room was smashed, broken, dented, and dirty.

Small safes were split in half and rolled across the floor. Gold bars rolled on the dirty floor. Artworks were blackened as if there had been a small-scale explosion or fire. There were broken ceramics, completely crushed metal shelves, and large cracks in the inner wall.

The metal shelves had clear handprints on them.

"Did someone crush it by hand? Anyway, that's some strong guy."

"Kim Shin-hwa-nim, I think... the Chairman's condition might be dangerous."

"Well, I think it might be quite dangerous too."

Goo Jin-cheol was looking at one side of the space.

A large private photo that raised concerns about narcissism, a family photo next to it, and a group photo with the executives of the Cheong-ho faction.

That was what those photos used to be.

Now, just by looking at them, it was impossible to tell what scenes the photos on the wall depicted. Charcoal? I didn't know where he found it, but he had smeared the photos with something like charcoal or coal and erased them.

Especially notable was Cheong-ho's solo portrait, where a large, black skull was drawn over the part with his face.

Cheong-ho survival score plus one point. Cheong-ho sanity score minus ten points.

"Ah, this is giving me a headache."

Although he behaved badly last time, Cheong-ho was quite a powerful NPC.

I tripped him once but that was just like tripping a distracted person.

If Cheong-ho who was driven by madness decided to attack seriously... Well, I was confident I wouldn't lose, but I wasn't sure I could capture him with his limbs intact.

Hehehehe...

The laughter echoed again. It sounded less like a person and more like the wind or some inanimate object creaking.

"Is it starting again?"

[A sinister laugh echoes.]

A message window suddenly appeared.

Is that all the explanation?

[Just hearing it can shatter your sanity. You use your mental strength stat to make a sanity check. Sanity check...]

Ah, damn it. I was wondering when this would happen.

[Success.]

Whether I succeed or fail doesn't matter to me. Glancing past the message window, I saw Goo Jin-cheol's face. He looked a bit pale, but otherwise, he seemed fine. Thank goodness.

[You instinctively know that the voice belongs to Cheong-ho. At the same time, you sense that there is more than simple madness affecting Cheong-ho's mind and body.]

The tone of the information from the message window was different than usual. What is this? Why is it acting so serious?

Creak, creak, crack.

This was a signal from Achilles. When I looked back, Achilles nodded its head and gestured that I should check on Jang Hyeon-deok. Jang Hyeon-deok... Ugh, he didn't look very good.

"Ma, Mage-nim... I was wrong. I'm going back now. Ah, I can't do this."

His face was pale to the point of turning black, and his hands were trembling. His legs seemed ready to give way as if he might collapse at any moment. Goo Jin-cheol who was next to him supported Jang Hyeon-deok.

"Are you alright? Going back alone now is not a good idea. Let me help you."

It seemed that Jang Hyeon-deok had failed the sanity check. A faint madness was beginning to emerge. Probably something like [Status Ailment - Fear]?

"I-I'm doomed! There's a monster inside! Can't you hear that sound? The whispering! Strange whispering keeps coming! Aah! Ah!"

He was starting to exhibit symptoms of auditory hallucinations and paranoia.

"Hmm, this isn't good."

"Are you planning to go in alone?"

"There hasn't been anything major up to this point, so in some sense, safety is secured. Director should wait here too."

"Really?"

"That seems like the best option. Achilles, protect these two. Make your own judgments. If communication is cut off—."

I took out two magic stones from my backpack. I threw one of them to Achilles.

"—take this. Priority one is to protect the primary target. Priority two is to secure an escape route. Priority three is to protect yourself. Do not move more than two meters away from the primary target, and follow their commands only if they do not contradict priorities one, two, and three."

Creak, crack.

I took out another magic stone and handed it to Goo Jin-cheol instead of Jang Hyeon-deok.

"If that dog breaks the magic stone, it means there's a problem, so run away. If you give this to the dog when it's not moving, it will start moving again."

"I, I...."

"Well, I don't trust the director that much. But I do trust contracts."

Goo Jin-cheol rubbed his stomach with a grimace.

Goo Jin-cheol, whose mind had been completely shattered and reassembled, seemed to have reformed, but how was he really?

I don't keep Goo Jin-cheol around because I trust him.

Just as I did with the cultists before, I made Goo Jin-cheol swallow the contract's enforcer before we started.

Since I showed him what happens when it explodes, he should manage well on his own.

"Then see you later."

Leaving the two behind, I went deeper into the fallout shelter.

A short passage.

It was a mechanism designed to isolate each section if problems arose.

I extended my magical power to open the door on the other side.

Creeeak....

The door opened. Beyond it was pitch-black darkness. The density of magical power was steadily increasing.

[System: The 'Enhanced Vigilance' trait has been activated.]

Just when I was about to step into the darkness,

"Brother."

A voice signal with meaning traveled through the air. I stopped my step and looked into the darkness.

"Hmm..."

I couldn't see anything here. Just darkness. I fiddled with the mask covering my face for a moment before responding.

"Although we did share some camaraderie, I don't recall forming any sworn brotherhood."

From within the darkness beyond the door, something made a bizarre, indescribably unpleasant, and horrific metallic sound.

Heeheeheehee, heeheeheeheehee!

Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee, hee-hee, hee-hee.

Ah, was he laughing?

"Isn't that right, Chairman? Seeing you laugh so much now, it seems you've become much more cheerful than before. Anyway, I'll be coming in now."

I stepped into the darkness.