Chapter 69: Body Snatchers (3)

I stepped into the warehouse together with Chae Tae-won.

The warehouse was cluttered and grimy inside, yet it seemed to have been in normal operation until quite recently.

Everywhere I looked, large old shelves were arranged to form walls and these shelves were laden with goods whose origins were difficult to determine.

This arrangement significantly limited our field of vision, and it wasn't long before I realized that these goods were not placed randomly.

These aren't just stacked randomly.

It looked like someone had deliberately calculated the layout to naturally divide the space.

Chae Tae-won seemed to have the same thoughts as me and he whispered to me with a cautious look.

"The structure seems a bit odd."

"It seems like someone has deliberately calculated to naturally divide the space."

"A maze... Is that what it is?"

"Yes. Probably to slow down the entry of outsiders and to conceal whatever is in the deepest part."

This wasn't a structure thrown together overnight. Someone must have taken a long time to slowly rearrange the warehouse's structure to divide the huge space with no partitions and hide what was inside.

As we moved further inside, a faint smell of blood mixed with sulfur began to emerge.

It wasn't a fresh scent; blood had been spilled here numerous times before.

Over and over again.

Humans must have been kidnapped and brought deep inside for rituals of breeding and parasitism.

There were a total of sixty sources of magical power detected within the warehouse.

Most possessed a moderate level of magical power.

They were probably on par with the ones we had just encountered outside. Judging by their forms and poor abilities, the ones we saw earlier were clearly young beings that hadn't been parasitizing human bodies for long.

However, among these young ones, there was one that stood out with exceptionally strong magical power.

It wasn't as formidable as Je Mu-gyeong, whom I had faced not long ago, but it was still significantly challenging. This wasn't an opponent that could be easily blown away.

It seemed to be the adult body among them and possibly their matriarch...

"This place appears to be a colony of an adult body that recently became independent and began actively breeding."

"Independent... You mean there are more like this?"

"Yes, and this is just the beginning. The numbers will grow exponentially as time goes by."

Chae Tae-won let out a low groan.

But there was no room for further discussion.

A sinister and low voice began to emanate from deeper within.

Accompanied by the low rumble of percussion instruments.

"Y'aaaaa... G'anghel, fai... Ngath... Fhaagh."

"Uaaah... Chug Ahi al buh buh... Ph'nglui mgagn K'yarnakagn..."

The alien language repeated like a chant.

Just by listening to that voice, you could become brainwashed and go crazy.

[System: The unique trait 'Madness of the Abyss' has been activated. The effect of mind control has been nullified.]

As long as I had the "Madness of the Abyss" trait, I would be unaffected.

The problem lies with Chae Tae-won.

He looked like he was trying hard to stay calm, but his complexion was not good. Given his experiences in Paju, he has likely faced his fair share of psychics and mutants. However, those encounters were within the realm of human experience.

Facing such an extreme anomaly and surreal situation must be incredibly difficult for him to accept.

However, there was no time to hesitate. As I moved toward the source of the sound, I spotted a passage leading into the deepest part of the warehouse. Beyond this passageway, the nest of the parasites would likely be revealed.

Tch, they're so careful.

Regrettably, there was a guardian at the passage. A parasite inhabiting a human body. I signaled Chae Tae-won and just like we did outside, I cast the [Sound Distortion] spell to silence our movements.

Almost at the same time that I cast the spell, Chae Tae-won sprang into action.

He leaped onto a nearby shelf in a single bound and, with a motion akin to running along the wall, he launched himself at the parasite standing guard. What followed was a ruthless kick.

Crush!

The force was tremendous. The head of the guard kicked by his magical power-infused foot was torn off in one go, and the head containing the parasite's main body was sent flying. But, what do we do about the head being sent off like that?

[Arrow of Destruction]

[Spell Enhancement: Poison]

I launched a bolt of poisonous nether energy toward the flying head, and the parasite that was pierced died before it could escape from the head.

"Kicking it off like that could have allowed the main body to escape and hide."

"Hmm... I intended to crush the head completely, but I seem to have misjudged my strength."

He almost talked like Curtain Call. Are people who rely on physical strength generally like this? Or perhaps not. It appeared he was beginning to be overwhelmed by the surreal circumstances at hand. That likely led to his hasty and irrational decisions.

Of course, it would be nice if that madness could be changed to recklessness like in the case of Curtain Call, but the Chae Tae-won I remembered, the one I had seen in the game, was not that type of person.

"Let's go inside."

"Wait a moment."

I called Chae Tae-won to a halt.

"Branch Manager, you seem to be losing your composure."

"Huh?"

I pointed at his fist. He had been clenching his fist so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Realizing what I meant after he looked at his hand, Chae Tae-won responded with a flustered expression.

"This.... I came here to help, but I almost ended up causing you trouble."

"It's okay. However, these creatures feast on human brains. I am worried you might lose your composure at the sight awaiting us."

With those words, I cast a spell on his mind.

[Courage of the Lion]

[Exhilaration]

"This...?"

The sight that awaited us was beyond what Chae Tae-won could handle.

Thus, I infused his mind with the strength to cope with the instability and the will to not flee.

Chae Tae-won's body seemed to have rejuvenated and his expression showed considerable vitality.

"Your movements earlier were impressive. Let's approach it that way."

Saying so, I gestured towards the top of the shelves forming the walls.

Chae Tae-won looked in that direction and flashed a somewhat sheepish smile.

"It's embarrassing, but I understand."

With those words, Chae Tae-won's body quickly ascended. He reached the topmost shelf with the silence of a ninja before crouching down and slowly moving forward.

He makes the warrior class look enviable. The last character I played was a warrior too...

[Sound Distortion]

I lacked the confidence to move as silently so I distorted the sounds around me as I moved.

[Leap]

I gestured for Chae Tae-won to wait a moment and then went ahead. Traditional tactics would have the one with brute force take the lead.... but I guess I'm just worried.

As I went a little further inside, we were met with a scene starkly different from the rest of the warehouse.

It was a space as large as a classroom, completely empty as if all the furniture had been removed. The floors and walls of this barren space were marred by unpleasant mucus and dried bloodstains scattered around.

A large pentagram was drawn in the middle of the floor of that space, and a girl was lying in the center of the pentagram.

She was wearing a robe and had glass cuts on several parts of her body.

It was Jung Hyeon-ah.

There were no restraints binding her, nor did she appear to be unconscious. Jung Hyeon-ah simply stared into the void as she lay there with an expression that showed no emotions or thoughts.

She was likely immobilized by some nerve agent with hypnotic effects.

At each corner of the large pentagram where Jung Hyeon-ah lay stood a human being

They were five in total. The remaining twenty or so individuals stood outside the pentagram and they were observing the ongoing ritual with respectful postures or playing strange-shaped instruments.

The visible participants varied in gender, age, clothing, and everything else.

The term "human" might not even be appropriate here.

They were not living humans.

They breathed, spoke, and even possessed magical powers...

But inside their heads lurked grotesque alien life forms instead of brains.

And the one with the strongest magical power among them.

The parasite wearing the body of a middle-aged man in a gray suit stepped out of his designated spot and slowly walked into the pentagram.

He started to speak.

"O great and invulnerable Daemon Sultan, the blind idiot god, the true king of this universe who dreams the cosmic dream."

His words flowed continuously.

"Our Lord has granted permission for the ritual of proliferation."

"Iä! Iä!"

"Iä! Iä!"

A dark purple magical power started to emanate from the pentagram drawn on the floor.

Before I knew it, the magical power that had seeped into my surroundings was about to envelop my body.

It was slow... but was unmistakably beginning to corrode my mind.

Crackle...

[System: The unique trait 'Madness of the Abyss' has been activated.]

A spark flickered at my temples as the trait activated.

The approaching purple magical power was stopped and it recoiled away. It was a good decision to enter before Chae Tae-won.

Although it caused a slight noise, fortunately, they were too engrossed in their ritual to notice my presence.

These guys worshiped the greatest evil that may as well be the starting point of the universe, the [Blind Idiot God].

He was different from the other abyssal beings that voraciously expand their followers.

He required neither worshippers to serve him nor monuments or temples to commemorate his existence.

The [Blind Idiot God] harbored no will to act on his own.

It was simply an entity of conceptual existence, an ideological principle, or merely a force of pure power that had been since the dawn of time.

Yet, despite this, certain ancient rituals passed down through the eons allowed one to borrow his power for a time. The ritual being conducted by the creatures now was one such ancient ritual.

The murmured incantations stopped.

The adult parasites that had entered the pentagram turned to Jeong Hyun-ah and their grotesque smiles widened as they spoke to her.

From their mouths.... voices so unnaturally sweet and gentle flowed out.

"Do not fear, child of humanity."

"There will be no pain, no suffering."

"We shall grant you only joy, happiness, and pleasure."

"Lose the recognition you unfairly gained and return to your innocent past life. A life of obedience, a life of servitude suits you."

"Accept it. Accept it. Accept it."

They're spouting a lot of sh*t.

At this time, among those outside the pentagram, a particularly large man walked in.

His mouth began to open.

It opened wide.

Unnaturally wide. Even surpassing the physical limits one might expect.

And then from that gaping maw, a small parasite crawled out.

It was a hideous monster, neither human nor insect.

The sight was so bizarre that it would shatter the sanity of anyone in Paju. No, anyone in the entire world.

And with that, a new message window appeared and blocked my view.