Chapter 56: Conclusion
He had already sustained a fatal injury and lost his artifact.
"What's this, you've come to your senses?"
"Khaaaak.... Ptui...."
Instead of answering, he spat out a clot of blood and then raised his saw.
"You have a hole in your stomach, and you still want to continue?"
"It is true that I momentarily lost control of my mind, but the knowledge I have come to understand is not false. This world is a hell on the brink of destruction. For those who cannot escape, what remains is a life worse than death. There is only the terrible despair of neither death nor life."
"Hmm... I have something I want to ask about that."
"Are you crazy, Kim Shin-hwa? Do you have no sense of the situation?"
The voice of Curtain Call rose up sharply. Oh, please. Anyway, I still have questions that need to be resolved.
But Je Mu-gyeong responded with a firm voice.
"All I want from you is your skin."
Ah, this guy is really crazy. Still harping on about the skin?
He seemed to have broken free from his delirium, yet his obsession and madness had not faded.
He had gazed into the abyss in his own way.
"Let me tell you something, though... I know what you seek in the USB you took from me. What lies beyond will be of no help to you."
What did he mean? Ah, I see. I understand now.
I realized why Je Mu-gyeong was waiting for me in a state of madness even more intense than what I had seen in the game.
"Je Mu-gyeong! You saw that book....in the basement, didn't you?"
Among the hidden rewards available in this hospital was a grimoire.
I even remember the title clearly.
It was called "The Silent Scripture of the Dreaming Path".
The message window at that time had described it as a book containing information about the afterlife and the world of dreams and how to achieve enlightenment.
The powers it conferred, and the madness it induced, were far more extreme than anything portrayed by the game's lore.
It was unmistakable that the knowledge gained from reading that book had led to his current state.
"That book... I should not have read it... There is knowledge in this world that we do not need to possess, knowledge that is unnecessary for living in this world... From the knowledge in that book, I became aware of the power of dimensional species and heard the voices... coming from the abyss..."
This was a world in [Cthulhu World] that was completely different from the world I lived in.
In this place, there were only hideous truths and wisdom steeped in despair.
Premature enlightenment does nothing but shatter fragile minds.
Now, he is pleading with me to end his life.
If I refuse, I might find myself killed with my skin stripped away.
Perhaps, as he believes, flaying my skin might create a means to escape this world... But for now, it seems like a temporary comfort.
Je Mu-gyeong adopted a stance entirely different from before.
This must be his true posture for attack.
It was a stark contrast from the frenzied rush of a madman who relied solely on brute strength and momentum.
Perhaps, since my arrival here, the setting of the [Cthulhu World] has started to diverge from that of the game?
Je Mu-gyeong inciting the test subjects to rebel was within the scope of the game's setting.
However, reading the grimoire in the meantime and gaining strength far beyond what was predetermined, along with an even more potent madness, was certainly beyond the intended scope of the setting.
Perhaps because he thought there was no need to say anything more, he changed his stance and stepped forward.
Thud!
His body flew away with a dull impact sound that made the entire building vibrate.
The assault continued with charge after charge, but this time it was utterly different.
His body was damaged, and he had but a single weapon left... yet I instinctively knew this attack was the most dangerous of them all.
[Protective Circle]
[Spell Amplification: Multicasting]
[Frost Wall].
[Hardening]
Five layers of protective circles and a wall made of frozen blood collected from corpses block his path.
Baaaang!
But all of these defensive spells shattered laughably.
[Leap]
One must not remain in the same spot.
I had to move fast, faster still.
[Protective Circle]
[Impact]
I executed a double jump in the expanse of thin air and then kicked off the wall to propel myself further.
Crash! Boom-boom-boom!
His attack flew to the spot where I was standing a second ago, if not a millisecond ago.
Any attempt to evade his blows based on mere sight was a sure path towards death.
By this time, the area was filled with my magical power.
Everything must be judged by the sensation of reading magical power, not by sight and hearing.
Even his formidable destructive power originated from his own magical power.
His will directed the flow of his magic; I needed to intercept and respond with my own spells at a speed that surpassed what he could realize through his will.
[Arrow of Destruction]
I slipped in some offensive magic between leaps. I didn't even have the time to strengthen the spells.
My painstakingly cast magic was effortlessly severed by a mere swipe of his saw as if cutting through air.
Still, I couldn't stop. I had to scatter the simplest and quickest spells I could muster, with relentless speed.
Whooooosh!
Ice shards scattered in all directions.
Streams of lightning forked out in dozens of directions, followed by arrows of glowing magical power soaring through the air.
Yet, all those spells were swept away by a single monstrous wave of his saw.
Ice pillars were sliced in an instant, lightning was deflected, and a few arrows were simply taken head-on as he charged forward.
It seemed like an endless exchange, but the first to tire was not me, but Je Mu-gyeong.
It's humanly wrong to fight this long with a gaping hole in your stomach.
He had to pause momentarily to vomit the blood that was welling up in his mouth.
Three seconds? No, it must have been about a second.
That was enough.
[Fireball]
[Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]
A huge fireball was hurtled towards him.
It was too big to fend off. In the end, he chose to dodge... but it was all according to plan.
As he evaded, a second fireball was already on its way to where he had moved.
Launched right after the first, it completely cornered him. There was no escape!
Boom!
The huge fireball exploded around him.
Fierce flames and a blast.
[Earthquake Strike]
Rumble... Boom!
It was a spell designed to shake the ground and cause it to collapse.
This was the third floor, where stable ground was non-existent.
The floor, which had repeatedly been forcibly frozen and burned, was already at its limit.
Unable to withstand the vibrations, the floor cracked open.
Collapse!
Boom!
"Kuaaaaaa!"
The floor gave way, and rocks fell with it, and the massive figure of Je Mu-gyeong plummeted to the second floor.
Phew... There was nothing I needed on the second floor. It wouldn't matter if it all burned down.
[Burning Spear]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]
[Spell Enhancement: Strength Increase]
A large magic circle formed horizontally in the air, facing the hole through which he had fallen.
To subdue him, an incredibly powerful attack was necessary.
From the large magic circle, with a diameter of 2 meters, a spear of absurd proportions was launched.
It was more akin to a pillar or a tower than a spear, such was the scale of the magic.
Rumble-rumble...
Whooooooooooosh!
A pillar of flame struck him, unleashing an immense amount of fire in all directions.
The entire second floor was engulfed in flames.
The erupted flames then moved according to my will and condensed into a whirlwind of fire.
Everything trapped inside was reduced to ash, leaving not even a trace behind.
Standing on the third floor, I was blasted by fierce hot winds. The heat was so intense that even my [Flame Resistance] couldn't fully block it.
It felt like an eternity of death had passed.
Now, there was nothing left on the second floor.
Everything caught in the massive whirlwind of fire was burned to dust, leaving behind only small embers and ash swirling like dust.
A strangely shaped scorch mark lay where Je Mu-gyeong previously stood, which remained to indicate his demise in this place.
"Phew... This was no easy feat."
The issue wasn't the power.
I had perfectly controlled the heat and flames to prevent the building from catching fire.
It was a surreal level of control that transcended the limits allowed to second-order mages.
I think I'm more exhausted because of that... Next time, it would be better to fight outdoors if possible.
The remaining enemies were now...
[Achievement Unlocked! You have subdued all the test subjects in the secret laboratory. You have earned the 'General Achievement: Hospital Janitor'.
As a reward for this achievement, you receive the artifact 'Butcher's Hook' and additional experience points.]
The [Butcher's Hook] was... the hook attached to the chain that Je Mu-gyeong had swung around.
Huh... What am I supposed to do with this?
[Butcher's Hook (S-rank Weapon): This is the hook that Je Mu-gyeong, who had taken over the secret laboratory, possessed.
Madness: When equipped, a forced sanity check is initiated. If you fail this sanity check triggered by the effect, your mind will be imbued with 'Mental illness—Killing Frenzy'.
Blood Weapon: Automatically casts stored [Blood] attribute spells. However, this ability requires blood to be charged to use.
Time of Slaughter: Increases the probability of inflicting critical and bleeding damage by 100% on all attacks targeting 'humans'.
Proof of Slaughter: Increases the power of necromancy spells by 100%.]
Ah, there was a magic enhancement effect. But it's not like carrying around a magic wand, and it's just too cumbersome for me to use.
Its length was 60cm after all. It's already inconvenient enough to move around during the day because of the mask, and now they expect me to carry this around?
Still, there might come a time when it could be useful... So, for the time being, I slipped it into my belt like one would a sword.
[<Base Capture Quest: The Abandoned Hospital in Gamaksan>
Subdue all the psychics occupying the abandoned hospital and restore the facility to a 'safe' condition.
Remaining Targets: 58/58
! The abandoned hospital is not yet in a safe state!]
Not yet. It seems the two I couldn't catch on the first floor were hiding on the second.
I checked the USB in my hand.
Haah... If it weren't for this, I could have finished them off much sooner.
[You have subdued all the test subjects that were controlling Helistic's secret laboratory and accessed the hidden information. Helistic, which has continued research on the potential of humans, will remember your help.]
The generic message that appears at the end of each quest started to display in the message window.
From the start, I was not fond of it, but what truly irked me was the tone that seemed to arbitrarily abbreviate my actions or guide them in a specific direction.
[You have made the Ga-5060 secret laboratory a safe place. Experience points gained.]
[You have accumulated enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]
[You have defeated 'test subjects of the abandoned hospital' (58). Your understanding of mutants had increased.]
[You have defeated 'test subject Je Mu-gyeong'. Your understanding of dimensional species has significantly increased.]
[You have accumulated enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]
[Discovery: You have acquired a secret item from the laboratory (1). Experience points gained.]
[Discovery: You have uncovered a secret place within the abandoned hospital. Experience points gained.]
[Achievement Unlocked! You have completed The Abandoned Hospital of Gamaksan Mountain quest faster than anyone else.
You have earned the 'General Achievement: Speed Star of the Abandoned Hospital'.
As a reward for this achievement, you gain the 'Type C Biologic Tissue Sample' and additional experience points.]
[Experience Bonus: You have achieved a total of (2) achievements in the Ga-5060 secret laboratory.]
[You have accumulated enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]
[You have reached level 25! As a level achievement reward, you receive (1) bonus stat point to distribute freely.]
I pondered where to allocate the bonus stat point. I considered adding 1 point to health to achieve a total of 8 points in health, but it wasn't an easy decision.
From the beginning, when deciding on character stats, I had already planned out how to distribute the stats gained from leveling up. I had a rough plan from the character creation stage about the order in which to collect certain artifacts and which quests to undertake.
It was time to increase charm. In fact, because I had previously allocated the bonus to health instead of charm, my plan had already gone slightly awry.
I really need to find a health-boosting artifact soon to get it up to 8.
In the end, I decided to allocate the stat point to charm.
***
Kim Shin-hwa
Class: Mage Gazing into the Abyss
Level: 25
Magic Order: Second Order
Mental Illness: [Mask Obsession], [Ichthyophobia]
Strength: 5(+3) (Ring of Corrupted Flame)
Health: 7
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 30
Mental Strength: 14
Charm: 18
***