Chapter 125: The Laughing One (1)

"Ah, it's getting worse and worse, isn't it?"

Shelves lined up along the wall, various preserved foods, and supplies necessary for survival.

If the previous room was the treasure vault of Cheong-ho, this room is truly a storage for the purpose of a shelter.

In other words, a space filled with items to survive in the apocalypse era.

To be exact, that's what the original design intent was.

Everything stored for survival has been destroyed.

It looks like the ruins left by a madman or a gorilla, or perhaps a mad gorilla, rampaging.

The rampage isn't the problem.

The biggest issue is the disgusting traces covering this entire mess.

A terrible stench was emanating from the bizarre stains covering the room and walls.

"I've been smelling rot since a while ago, and this must be the reason."

Rejoice, Cheong-ho faction members! The chairman's sanity score you've been waiting for has finally reached minus 100 points.

Someone had mashed and crushed preserved food and drinks, leaving traces smeared on the walls. It was hard to make out, but it seemed they wanted to create some kind of inscription or shape.

Thanks to my unnecessarily high intelligence stat, I could recall exactly what had happened in this room.

Panicked hand movements. Abruptly interrupted patterns. Traces of shattered tiles on the floor. While scribbling, they had paused around here, trembling and stamping their feet. Then, they had moved over there... no, they jumped.

They picked up something sticky again and smeared it on the wall over there. Then they struck the nearby shelf. Cans came tumbling down. They had stomped on a few of the fallen cans, bursting them open, and smeared or threw the food that spilled out. It was disgusting.

Deeply imprinted footprints on the floor. They had rampaged again while stamping like a monkey. Bloodstains? Self-harm maybe? Several thick nails lay among the bloodstains. Broken and shattered nails. Some had almost completely peeled off, with bits of flesh still attached.

"Well, at least it's a relief he used food for the scribbles?"

Judging by the state of his mind, it wouldn't have been surprising if he had used excrement instead of food.

Ritualistic patterns. Primitive symbols. Obscene curses written to desecrate the human spirit and mock human achievements. It reminded me of the grotesque murals created by the ghouls in the basement of the apartment complex.

Amidst all this, there were expressions that couldn't be written without surreal cognition and knowledge of the abyss.

How much did Cheong-ho understand about the existence of the abyss?

Almost zero.

Excluding his identity as an underworld boss, Cheong-ho was a rather simple and pure gentleman. Even if compared only to the three heads of the Triad, Cheong-ho was more like a romantic thug from the 1950s than a character from [Cthulhu World].

It was unbelievable that such a gentleman had done something like this.

But conversely, that was all there was to it.

"But why is there no one here?"

Who was it that spoke to me earlier?

"Haah..."

I let out a sigh. This really was a crappy game.

In the end, there were only three rooms, including the one at the entrance, in this rat hole. Was it really designed to be explored to the very end?

"Oh, Chairman! Do you really have to do this? Isn't it customary to greet guests at the entrance?"

Oh, adults these days really have no manners, no manners at all.

Just in case, I called out for Cheong-ho, but no special response came back. It meant I had to enter the last room.

"Oh well. Yeah it's all my fault. I'm going, I'm going."

I guess it's pointless to talk about his survival score anymore, let alone his sanity score.

Even if I met something resembling Cheong-ho, I might not realize it was him.

I summoned my magical power again and opened the last door.

Considering the game's structure, searching this room should reveal some meaningful clues or useful items. But I had no intention of wasting more time trying to find them.

Creeeeak...

The deep darkness repeated itself once more.

"Haaah ..."

So did my sigh.

What should I tell Jeong-hyeon-ah? It would be nice if I could at least find something resembling a corpse to bring back.

The last room beyond this contrived darkness was a living space.

A bed, shower facilities, a toilet, a kitchen area, and a hobby space to endure long periods of confinement.

I felt sorry for Jeong-hyeon-ah, but I started to think about just setting a fire and walking away.

But could I really do that?

"Oh, I can roughly predict the next development."

This is why you shouldn't enter Tanhyeon carelessly.

The distance between Tanhyeon and the abyss is narrower than other places.

Even with the smallest trigger, a previously nonexistent ruin would form and previously nonexistent monsters would roam.

And those would eventually become footholds for the beings from the deep, deep abyss to project their influence.

Since it has dragged on this long, something big will pop out eventually.

Cheong-ho was just bait to lure me in.

A being of the abyss that would act in this manner...

"Hmm... from what I've seen so far, I'm not sure. Maybe it's [The Master of Boundaries]?"

[The One and All], [The Key and the Door], [The Path Opener], [The Viceroy].

No, that's not it.

If [The Master of Boundaries] were to appear soon, there would have been a more chaotic and horrifying omen than this. He wouldn't be satisfied with just driving one person crazy.

So, who is interfering this time?

This time, there were too many unpredictable variables.

"Alright. So, is this really the tiger's den?"

To capture a tiger cub, you have to enter the tiger's den.

In the end, it was a matter of checking the pace.

I pushed my head into the deep, deep darkness.

But the darkness didn't disappear. It was just deep darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

No matter how far I walked.

No matter how much I advanced, the darkness didn't disappear.

It was dark. Deep, deep darkness.

"Damn it, how long is this loading going to take?"

It might not actually be loading, but to me, it somehow felt like it.

[System: The penalty trait 'Feast Offering' has been activated.]

At the same time, something began.

A strange cry was heard from somewhere.

It was the sound of something wailing. A groan filled with pain, or perhaps a sweet scream steeped in pleasure and joy.

An incomprehensible alien language was heard.

The owner of this shelter must have created this place to protect himself from external disasters and destruction.

However, contrary to its purpose, this place had become a greenhouse for the world's destruction.

The sturdy shell created to protect people from external disasters and ruin was rotting from the inside. It was now but a haven for terrible monsters.

And the meaningless sound of laughter like scraping metal.

Heeheehee, heeheeheehee, heeheeheeheehee...

"Hey, wait a minute."

I opened my mouth to speak for a moment, but there was no response.

Just an emotionless meaning flowed in, like a recited spell. A bizarre will delivered not through the air but through the darkness.

Khh, heeheehee, heeheeheeheeheek!

- Prophet, the one with wisdom, the one who foretells the future, the one who will lead you to your distant future.

- The one who eliminates fear, dread, and despair of the unknown future, the one who will realize the impending disaster.

"Wait, sorry, but can I say just one word?"

But there was no response.

Only the repeated recitation of the spell continued.

The darkness seeped into my skin and burrowed into my mind.

A vile darkness that eroded my soul and sought to annihilate my very existence, along with many other unhealthy things trying to invade.

Hey, you bastards, my head's already a mess, so stop barging in!

Crackle!

A blue spark crackled near my temple. My special trait was activated at the right moment.

[System: The unique trait 'Madness of the Abyss' has been activated. The effects of mental erosion have been nullified.]

Yes, my dear Madness of the Abyss.

You're working hard again today.

- No matter what you think, no matter what hope you hold, in the darkness, in the abyss, in that deep dream...

Nevertheless, the darkness continued to speak to me. The darkness that kept trying to penetrate my mind, the damp madness, the fishy smell that kept trying to penetrate my mind.

"Ah, damn it, shut up."

Stop it, you bastards.

[Ibn Ghazi's Beacon]

A pure white flame imbued with the power of protection flared up. This alone didn't seem to be enough.

Dozens of magic circles bloomed all around. Runes and magic circles with different effects emitted colorful flashes of light.

The darkness that had been swirling around me retreated far back and avoided the light.

"Ah, that feels refreshing."

I rolled my eyes beneath the mask and scanned the surroundings.

What I saw before me... Ugh, it wasn't completely over yet.

The darkness had merely retreated; it hadn't completely disappeared. An unnaturally thick darkness still covered the entire room.

From the looks of it, it had the same properties as the black slime seen outside the shelter.

"It's wider than I thought."

If my memory was correct, this room wasn't supposed to be this spacious.

Compared to the other rooms I had passed through earlier, this one was definitely smaller. But now, it didn't seem that way.

Ah, that's not it.

The sense of distance was being distorted.

This was not a good sign. The shamanistic power, surreal pressure, and eerie darkness were interfering with my senses. Not only my spatial awareness but also my detection abilities and magical influence were being disrupted.

Since there were no visible enemies, it wasn't a major problem... but then again, the lack of visible enemies was a problem in itself, wasn't it?

"After all the commotion I caused coming in, shouldn't someone be here to greet me?"

There was no response.

How disappointing.

"Ah, damn it, what is this?"

This was an event that didn't exist in the game.

Therefore, anything could happen.

In [Cthulhu World], bugs often occur where important NPCs disappear and events become impossible. Shit, could it be that? Could it be that after setting up such an atmosphere, they're stuck somewhere unable to move?

I cautiously walked further into the room.

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

Something appeared.

The direction? Damn, my detection abilities were delayed.

It was behind me.

"Hehehe, hehehehe. You have come, you have come, my brother. Hehehe...."

"Oh, Chairman, you're safe? I was worried you might be stuck between some objects and couldn't appear."

Though I said this, it's not the time for jokes.

Cheong-ho entered through the same door I came through.

How did he avoid my sight and come in from behind me? Is it not just the sense of distance but the space itself being distorted?

What about Jang Hyeon-deok and Goo Jin-cheol?

Due to the excessively high density of magical power, I couldn't sense the situation beyond the room.

Regardless of my doubts, Cheong-ho just burst into laughter.

"Khrr, khuhuhuhuhu, kuhuhuhuh...."

Is laughter the source of all happiness?

"You look cheerful and healthy. It seems you've been doing better than I thought?"

A hunched posture. Wide-open eyes. Drooling saliva.

Tattered clothes and skin smeared with all kinds of filth, an unpleasant smell that makes me want to vomit immediately.

Anyone would see that he was in an unstable state.

Anyone walking down the street like that would be arrested and taken to the hospital in 30 minutes.

But is that really Cheong-ho?

What is that?

I'm not talking about his pathological laughter or unstable demeanor that suggests madness.

Cheong-ho looked exactly the same and spoke with Cheong-ho's voice, but something was different.

It felt as if some foreign entity was wearing Cheong-ho's skin.

"Kuhuhuh... it couldn't be better. Kim Shin-hwa, my brother. Kuhuhu, kuhuhuhu, kuhuh... kuhuhuhu..."

Cheong-ho made a sound that was hard to tell if he was crying or laughing and trembled.

"Kuh, kuhuhuhuhu, kuhuhuhu... I missed you. I have been waiting for you all this time. Kuhuhu, in this dreadful darkness, for such a long, long time, how much time has passed? Kuh, kuhihit!"

"Ah, just a moment. It seems like it's about time for you to start saying something serious. May I briefly say something first?"

Before Cheong-ho could start spouting nonsense, I had to say what I needed to.

"If you plan to say, 'I know everything you don't know, but I won't tell you easily' just stop it. If you have something to say, speak quickly and briefly, using precise words; otherwise, just say one thing."

"One thing?"

The same thing I had recommended to Hwa In last time.

"Yes. If you scream 'Kkieeek' and run at me, I will say 'I knew it!' and hit you."