Chapter 147: For a While

To start with the conclusion, the mask obsession mental illness was not resolved.

In fact, I had expected as much.

After all, it wasn't as if my madness had manifested, and considering that I was acting while wearing a mask amidst the masks placed all around me, I couldn't say I had overcome the mask.

Instead, there was a slight change in my status window.

Kim Shin-hwa

Class: Mage Gazing Into the Abyss

Level: 43

Magic Order: Fourth Order

Mental Illness: [Mask Obsession (Dormant)], [Ichthyophobia (Fear of Fish)]

Strength: 5 + 4 (Residual Heat of the North Star)

Health: 7 + 3 (Great Justice Tiger Sword (Nokjon))

Agility: 8 + 2 (Winged Robe of the Night Veil)

Intelligence: 30

Mental Strength: 17 + 2 (the Body Snatcher's Necklace)

Charm: 19

The achievements were rambled on about, and rewards were provided along with experience points.

I gained a level.

Right now, the level isn't very important.

What matters more is what's below that...

Mental Illness.

The [Mask Obsession] changed to [Mask Obsession (Dormant)].

"I know what this is, though."

The dormancy of a mental illness. More precisely, [Dormant Madness].

It's the stage before madness is cured.

In this state, with prolonged rest, treatment in a hospital, or other diligent actions to treat a mental illness in the real world, it might be cured with some probability.

Of course, that's what the system says.

"You're not going to let it heal naturally, are you?"

Since this is attached as a penalty of the trait, it won't be cured.

If [Mask Obsession (Dormant)] is explained again in a state where there is no possibility of cure, it goes like this.

Temporary alleviation of the penalty.

Even if the mask fell off suddenly like last time, as long as the check succeeded, I could act rationally like an ordinary person.

What if the check failed?

It would be treated as if the check had succeeded in a state of madness.

Like with [Musophobia (fear of rats) ], I would tremble, but if I tried hard enough, I could still move. In exchange, the madness would no longer remain dormant.

So to put it very simply...

Something like, I'll let you off the hook once?

In other words, an extra life? A shield? A one-time madness exemption?

"Honestly, it's not bad."

I had some complaints, but this was a pretty good reward.

It was much better than randomly drawing a mental illness that could produce anything unpredictable.

For now, I had grown quite used to the mask obsession, and having a one-time madness exemption made it easier to prepare countermeasures.

If I suddenly gained a ridiculous obsession at this point, my strategy so far could completely fall apart. Among the madness in [Cthulhu World], there was murder mania or an obsession with flesh as Je Mu Gyeong had shown before.

And above all, the dreadful scatological madness... No, let's not even think about that.

[Recovery complete]

Huh?

[Achievement unlocked! You have opened the 'Unopenable Chest'.

You have obtained the 'Rare Achievement: The One Who Opened the Unopenable Chest'.

As a reward for this achievement, the 'Mask of the Faceless One' is bound to you as an artifact, and you gain additional experience points.]

Has the error finally been fixed? The achievement that should have been displayed earlier is only appearing now. The name of the achievement is quite uncreative. Was it hastily created?

[You have shown remarkable resilience in overcoming various challenges. However, this time you used a truly unexpected method. You anticipated and perfectly overcame all hidden traps.]

I smiled with satisfaction. Of course, the smile was hidden behind the mask.

"So, it seems it's true that I'm beyond your foresight?"

If they could predict my actions, the fight itself wouldn't be possible.

That's why I had intentionally taken action several times to confirm whether they could foresee my moves.

[Those watching you likely thought you were being driven by mask obsession. Indeed, it appeared to be a completely uncontrollable situation.]

They were watching me and knew about my mask obsession.

They were likely the beings of the abyss watching the offerings of the banquet.

[But it wasn't like that, was it? Was every choice, every action and obsession that seemed so precarious, all an act? Were you not driven by mask obsession, but rather waiting for the right moment like a cunning serpent?]

"Yes, it was all an act."

For a moment, the message window remained silent.

From the beginning, I had planned everything upon seeing the term [Faceless One] rather than the word mask.

Because of that, they judged that even a trap of this degree would bring me down. And so, I was able to grasp the power of [Faceless One], specifically Nyarlathotep.

...I wish I could confidently say that.

Ugh, from the middle, it stopped being an act.

Due to the mask obsession, it became genuine halfway through. The disgrace I showed was indeed because of the mask obsession. Why did I even bring the other masks?

If it weren't for Jang Hyeon-deok and Heo Sang-hyeon, I might still be out of my mind.

But so what?

Now, they will attach meaning to and suspect every single one of my actions.

[But how will your dealings with high mental bodies affect your future? And the knowledge you have about this world, how long will it continue to be useful? The moment your knowledge ceases to be effective, what expression will you make? Beware of the chaotic future that awaits.]

The message window disappeared.

Another clumsy threat, but this much is enough. I tried to stand up... but it wasn't easy.

"Ugh... You bastards, give me some health."

I grabbed the nearby table and managed to stand up.

My legs were trembling.

Although I had forced my stats up with artifacts, it was fundamentally different from real health using my own muscles. The same went for the 30 intelligence stat lodged in my head.

After using it continuously, I realized this was ultimately fake intelligence.

When recalling memories or performing calculations, it operated naturally, but it didn't function as my own intelligence.

"How should I put it... it feels like an external graphics card?"

Is that the right analogy? It felt like a separate processing unit connected externally rather than my own intelligence.

I looked around for a moment.

"It's a complete mess."

The basement, which had been neatly organized, had suddenly become a mess.

The documents piled on the desk were scattered everywhere, and all the books on the shelves had fallen to the floor.

Even the masks were in disarray.

I no longer felt anything special when I saw the masks.

Thanks to the change in my mask obsession, my indiscriminate obsession with masks seemed to have died down a bit.

"But if I let my guard down again, it will become a mess, right?"

Although I was no longer overwhelmed with pleasure just by looking at the masks, a vague fondness still lingered.

It felt like my obsession had reduced to the level of a mere enthusiast.

I snapped my fingers to open the barrier where the [Book of Greed and Destruction] was trapped.

Creeeak.

"How is it?"

"I like it."

From the darkness between the gap in the barrier, a faint image of Cheong-ho appeared. Was that bastard planning to keep talking in Cheong-ho's form?

Cheong-ho's appearance had changed from before.

He was now wearing the [Mask of the Faceless One].

Cheong-ho who now had the mask on spoke.

"Kim Shin-hwa. You're giving me something so precious. Won't you regret this?"

"Who's giving what to whom? Are you out of your mind?"

I was merely storing the spoils I had acquired in one place.

The dangerous grimoire, [Book of Greed and Destruction], and the even more dangerous magical artifact, [Mask of the Faceless One].

A question and a secretive request were conveyed together.

This was the real deal.

Help me escape the temptation of the mask and seal it away.

In return, I would share some of my power with him.

But that didn't mean I was handing over the mask itself.

It was more like he could barely pick up some of the power overflowing from the mask.

Yet, he was satisfied with just that.

"Anyway, thank you. Soon, I will become a true member of the abyss."

"Sure, grow strong and healthy."

[The Book of Greed and Destruction] was nothing but a terminal of a high mental body, but it would grow stronger by absorbing the power embedded in the mask.

"Fine. Don't call me for a while. I will cultivate my strength here along with the pain you taught me."

"Fine. I will leave you alone for a while. But only for a short while according to mortal standards."

"...Mortal standards?"

"When I say 'a while', I mean about three to seven days."

"..."

"By the way, a day is 24 hours. And an hour is 3,600 seconds."

"...That's too short to do anything."

"Probably so. Anyway, see you soon. And by 'soon', I also mean according to mortal standards."

Thud.

The door of the barrier closed.

Once he reached the level he desired, I wouldn't be able to control him anymore.

But that wasn't a big issue.

I had already taken that into account when I made my plan.

The time he needed to reach his desired level was...

"Anyway, he will have to gather strength until my son's grandson's great-grandson dies."

I could think about the problems he might cause later, slowly.

He had to be exploited to the fullest "for a while".

"..."

It's horrifying...

My emotional state was dreadful.

He had mocked me, killed Cheong-ho, and committed those atrocious acts.

The memories hadn't faded but the emotions tied to those events had almost evaporated.

It hadn't even been a few days.

Now I could joke and negotiate with him as if nothing had happened, even though he spoke with Cheong-ho's appearance and voice, the one he killed.

Everything besides the madness lodged in my head is becoming trivial.

Madness, fear, and mental shock no longer affected me. Events that the previous [Ordinary Kim Shin-hwa] couldn't handle were mere jokes to the [Crazy Mage Kim Shin-hwa].

I climbed the stairs slowly while struggling to hold onto this dreadful feeling.

Quite a few days had passed.

A few more days had gone by since I told the [Book of Greed and Destruction] to leave me alone.

From the day Cheong-ho died to the Masquerade.

I had hardly rested for a single day, but this time I allowed myself to relax and take a break for a while.

Of course, I didn't completely rest. I worked on various trivial tasks to prepare for the future and continued deciphering the magic books I had put off.

Thanks to this, I acquired a few additional spells, though most of them were rather mediocre.

Oh, but that wasn't all.

Although I said I rested, it's more accurate to say I was lying low.

My schedule would change depending on the outcome of the incident in Sejong City.

It seemed that Dokgo Gyeom had finally shaken off the pursuit of Yang Seo-ho. Dokgo Gyeom's bounty had appeared on the fixer network.

"That's interesting."

The person on the other end of the smartphone answered in Korean with an awkward accent.

- The amount is... quite surprising. Don't be shocked.

"Come on, how much is it?"

- 400 billion won.

"Huh, that's quite a lot. Does the city have that much budget to spare?"

Well, it was understandable given the situation.

- No, the bounty wasn't posted by the city but by the Hunter Association. Though, Sejong City probably nudged them to do it.

"I see."

The Hunter Association was an organization for bounty hunters. Still, 400 billion won was a ridiculous amount.

- So, anyway, it's a really chaotic situation right now. The Immigration Bureau announced a statement declaring war against illegal criminal activities and deceptive pseudo-religions.

"Officially?"

- It's under the name of the National Police Agency for now. In any case, they're determined to round up all the cultists who caused trouble in Sejong City.

"I see. Could it be that the descendants of Fomalhaut got involved as a result?"

- Tsk, it would have been good for both me and Kim Shin-hwa if that were the case. But it wasn't. They never showed up in Sejong City to begin with.

"I see. That's a shame."

- Ah, but there was another incident instead.

"What is it? Is it related to Fomalhaut?"

- Yes. Recently, there was an explosion at a business operated by the descendants of Fomalhaut.

"Was it Yang Seo-ho who did it anonymously?"

He spoke slyly, but it was probably Dokgo Gyeom. The man with a 400 billion won bounty sure was diligent.

And there would likely be internal strife following this. It seemed safe to assume that the routes related to the judges had disappeared.

- That could be the case. Anyway, that's about the gist of the current situation. So then, shall we...?

"Shall we?"

- Let's wrap up the small talk and get down to business. You didn't call just to hear about these rumors, did you?

Ah, right. It was time to talk business.

I didn't call Park Kwang-lim out of simple curiosity about the rumors.

"Alright. Actually, I called because I have a request."

- A request? From Kim Shi-nhwa to me?

"Yes. Make a few more Kim Shin-hwas for me."

It was time for me to start implementing some serious safety measures.