Chapter 81: Hungry Mansion (5)

Standing at the door, Heo Sang-hyeon's appearance was frankly bizarre.

If Jang Hyeon-deok had seen him, he might have screamed in terror.

This isn't to say that he had multiple eyes or tentacles sprouting from his body.

Heo Sang-hyeon's appearance was ordinary.

His age? Roughly in his mid-thirties.

At most, he didn't seem to surpass his late thirties.

His face, setting aside several issues, could be considered handsome, and his upright posture even conveyed a certain dignity to him.

The issue lay in the ominous aura that seeped from his entire body.

An eerie scent of death.

His skin was as pale as a vampire's and his overly wide eyes carried a strange madness.

Despite his good looks, this aura made Heo Sang-hyeon seem unpleasant, ominous... and almost monstrous.

Isn't this enough to question his sanity?

Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, he exuded the unsettling air of a drug addict or a psychopathic serial killer.

Heo Sang-hyeon who had been silently observing me for quite some time finally spoke.

"I wish to cancel the request."

His voice cracked like wringing a rotten log.

Wait, what did he say?

"What did you say?"

"Please go back."

"Are you serious?"

"I'm saying this for your own good."

A somber emotion swirled in Heo Sang-hyeon's eyes.

Fear, worry, tension, hesitation, and guilt.

"The situation has changed significantly since I made the request."

This was rather interesting. It was a completely different turn of events from when I played [Cthulhu World].

Now, whether the request was canceled wasn't the issue.

It's necessary to find out what went wrong.

"Hmm, instead of that, why don't you tell me what's happening in detail?"

As I said this, I stepped towards the stairs in front of the entrance.

"Having come all this way, I can't just turn back now."

Heo Sang-hyeon's eyes flickered with unease.

"Something, something has awakened. You can't handle it alone. Monsters have appeared... strange beasts... and just now, continuous terrible explosions were coming from outside the house... it's all gone wrong..."

In the original game, it was rare for Heo Sang-hyeon to appear in his right mind.

Considering that, this is actually quite decent. At least he seems to be concerned about me, right?

"Strange beasts, you say... Are you talking about something like this?"

"Like what?"

I gestured behind me with my hand.

Scattered among the overgrown weeds were fragments of a necromancy golem.

Beside them, bright red stuff that wasn't clear whether it was blood or bodily fluids was mixed with the pouring rain to form a red puddle.

When he saw this scene, Heo Sang-hyeon shuddered and stepped back slightly.

"Ugh?! What in the world is that?"

"It used to be a bear. Over there, do you see that?"

I pointed at one of the larger pieces of the necromancy golem.

It was what used to be the bear's head.

Though it was completely destroyed, it wasn't beyond recognition.

"That is...!"

"It seems to have come from this mansion. Are these the monsters that appeared today?"

"You dealt with this...? You fixer-nim took care of it?"

Ah, I'm starting to understand.

Just because the progression of the game has changed doesn't mean the characters will act according to the system.

From Heo Sang-hyeon's point of view, it seemed he was frightened when the taxidermies on the second floor suddenly began to move, and then he was startled by various noises.

"Unbelievable... That's amazing....?"

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened, is it?"

"Yes, that's right. But something this big has never moved before..."

"If we leave it be, more incidents will occur in the future."

"That's true."

Heo Sang-hyeon's expression subtly shifted.

He didn't have a "Wow, this guy is amazing!" look on his face, but instead his face was a mix of doubt, fear, and tension.

It was quite a peculiar look for someone gazing at their rescuer.

"I'd like to deal with the things inside the house too. May I go in?"

"Yes? Oh, yes, I understand. Please come in."

I shrugged my shoulders slightly and followed Heo Sang-hyeon into the entrance.

As soon as I set foot in the mansion, a transparent square obscured my view.

Whoosh—

It was a message window.

[Quest Information Update

<Secure Base Quest: The Hungry Mansion> Subdue all the evil spirits haunting the mansion and return it to a 'safe' state.

First Objective (Cleared): Investigate the first floor of the mansion to uncover 'The Truth of the Mansion'.

Third Objective (Cleared): Eliminate the attacking ghosts and corpse golems.

Second Objective: Purify the mansion.

Fourth Objective: Defeat 'The Master of the Mansion'.

Reward: 250,000XP + Ownership of the Mansion

Failure: Possession by an evil spirit.]

The quest status is strange.

First off, the reversal of the second and third objectives was concerning.

It seems like starting by defeating the necromancy golem outside has caused some sort of issue with the system.

Feels like a bug in this buggy game.

[Cthulhu World] had always been a game rife with bugs.

This level of bug was hardly worth noting.

Anyway, it's not like there will be any problems with the process...

Let's think positively.

The real issue was the unpredictability of when and how bugs would manifest.

Stop blocking my view, just go away already.

I waved my hand and dismissed the message window.

Finally, I could properly inspect the interior of the mansion.

Right next to the entrance door was a short corridor, and in the order they came into view were the living room, drawing room, kitchen, and dining room.

And tucked in a corner was a staircase leading to the second floor.

There's no need to head upstairs yet.

Normally, one would scour the mansion for Heo Sang-hyeon's diary, blueprints, secret documents, and such.

But perhaps because I already knew all the related truths, those tasks were marked as completed.

Well, the most annoying part has been skipped, so that's convenient.

I decided to take it easy.

The truths weren't all that significant.

The circumstances under which Heo Sang-hyeon inherited the house, how his ancestors fell into corruption, who died, and who was sacrificed were all details I didn't need to bother with.

Since there was no need to investigate, the immediate tasks were clear.

First, clear out the things on the first floor, and then deal with the boss hiding on the second floor.

I could already hear the bubbling sounds of ghosts.

The tittering laughter.

The screeching sound of something scraping against glass.

And the soft footsteps coming from beyond the ceiling.

"Can you hear that sound?"

"I do... That horrendous sound that never goes away no matter what I do..."

Heo Sang-hyeon wrapped his arms around himself as if he was chilled to the bone.

"Even the other fixer who came before couldn't fix it. You are a fixer, right? Kim Shin-hwa, was it? Can you get rid of it?"

"It's not hard to get rid of."

"Then...?"

"There are some things I need to look into first. May I ask you a few questions?"

Hope flickered across Heo Sang-hyeon's pale face.

"I'll answer anything I know."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A month... No, it's been about 3 years."

A sense of time stretching from 30 days to about 3 years...

"It started not long after I inherited this mansion."

"At first, you wanted to operate it as a guesthouse, right?"

"That's right. It took about a year to get everything ready. Just when I thought we were about to start operating properly, those things started appearing."

"I see. I understand."

That should be enough information.

I gestured for Heo Sang-hyeon to follow and walked into the corridor.

With just a few steps, the corridor that should have been straight began to appear eerily twisted and bent.

"Be careful where you step.... there seems to be some sort of optical illusion that could cause you to trip."

"Optical illusion.... I see."

If the homeowner says it's an illusion, then an illusion it must be.

The living room, in keeping with the atmosphere of the mansion, was a space filled with antique decorations and wallpaper...It was a gloomy and dangerous space.

I surveyed the surroundings while standing beside a luxurious sofa made of deep green leather.

A rather convincing... haunted house.

The living room appeared dark, cramped, and dangerous due to the creepy mist-like malevolent energy enveloping it.

And at the edge of my vision, I could see the shapes of people crawling around.

The forms of ghosts huddled in every shadow.

Rumbleee...

The lightning and torrential rain pouring outside the large windows only intensified the mansion's sinister atmosphere.

"That staff, or rather, is it a hook? Are you using magic right now?"

When I turned my head to look at Heo Sang-hyeon, I noticed his gaze fixed on the butcher's hook hanging at my waist.

No, more precisely, he was looking at the thin lines of magical power extending from the tip of the hook.

I slightly lifted the butcher's hook and said.

"So you can see this?"

"Ah... I'm not capable of using magic myself. I've been told I have a somewhat heightened sensitivity compared to others."

This too was a form of magical hypersensitivity. If developed further, one might become able to use innate magic like Lee Chang-hyeok, or even become a mage or psychic.

There were still some spells I was maintaining on the car, so it seemed he was bothered by the magical power lines extending from the butcher's hook.

"I took a taxi here, and I cast a few protective spells on it."

"On the taxi?"

"Yes. There are ghosts wandering around outside as well."

"Wait a minute."

Heo Sang-hyeon looked incredulous.

"You're still maintaining those spells? Several of them?"

And? What's the issue with that?

"For a vehicle, which isn't exactly small, to be maintained beyond your line of sight... And to maintain the spells over such a distance in such a distorted environment?"

The protective magic itself wasn't particularly extraordinary but in terms of duration, distance, and scale... it's not exactly an easy feat for an average mage to maintain.

"Well, that's how it is."

Heo Sang-hyeon's already pale face turned even paler and his face settled into a complete "I'm shocked" expression.

If he knew exactly what magic I was maintaining, he might just faint.

"Could you step aside for a moment so I can start working?"

"Ah, yes, of course..."

Even after stepping back, Heo Sang-hyeon continued to mutter something under his breath.

If you're going to lie, at least put some effort into acting...

Just now, Heo Sang-hyeon was surprised in a way that one couldn't be unless they knew about magic.

In reality, Heo Sang-hyeon was more than just a case of simple magical hypertrophy. The guy could use magic.

Had he been just an ordinary person with a slightly higher sensitivity to magical power, whatever I did would have merely seemed fascinating to him.

One couldn't be surprised at the duration of magic, the range of its influence, and the number of spells that could be maintained at the same time unless they knew something about magic.

Well, I might be acting like this with him, but I already know everything...

After all, I was fully aware of what was emerging here and what secrets lay hidden.

I gestured to Heo Sang-hyeon to step back for a moment.

I then pulled a few items out of the duffel bag I was carrying.

These were items I had acquired from a pawn shop for today.

"Since you know about magic, you must have a rough idea. I'm about to set up a barrier to drive away the ghosts."

"A barrier... with that?"