Chapter 93: New Job

Do you think you can keep avoiding this?

An unpleasant voice.

Dreams are the true reality. The place you think is real is just a short dream of one night.

Voices rise from a deep abyss. A nauseating chorus from hundreds of mouths. An irritating cacophony.

Do you think this is just a simple dream?

Right now, at this moment, you are connected to us.

You can never escape.

Did you think you could stop us with that toy?

Not for a single day have you escaped from us.

You have merely forgotten.

Noises buzz like a swarm of flies. A simultaneous horrific cry. The slime of darkness.

In the end, what you clench in your small hand is nothing more than a handful of sand.

The tidal wave is approaching. The great flood will soon begin. The wave rising from the abyss will reveal what you have been ignoring.

A snickering laughter.

Yes, keep dreaming. Keep dreaming your delightful, yet futile dreams.

Crackle...

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

"It seems this won't do after all."

I looked at the dreamcatcher hanging by my bedside.

As expected, the silver core was completely stained black.

[Silver Dreamcatcher (B-rank Magical Tool): A handmade dreamcatcher woven from birch imbued with magical power and silver thread. It possesses the power to ward off evil and block the intrusion of dream demons.

Dream Veil: Blocks magical and cursed influences that approach through dreams.

Creator: Kim Shin-hwa

Current Status: Ruptured due to overload]

It held up well. It blocked nightmares for about two weeks, but eventually, it broke.

"Ah... To make something as good as the 'Ancient God's Mirror', should I use more expensive materials?"

In any case, the "Ancient God's Mirror" contained the influence of ancient gods.

Ancient gods.

Or the Old Gods, Great Spirits, Pure Souls, the Great Ones, beings existing since before the dawn of time, and so on.

People call them what they will, but the most commonly accepted name was ancient gods.

These were surreal beings who existed at the opposite pole of the existence of the abyss and opposed its existence.

As a result, there were those who thought of them as good gods opposing the evil ones, but that wasn't exactly the case.

Depending on the circumstances, even the ancient gods could turn into demons or disasters at any moment.

From the human perspective, they were entities far too powerful and merciless. Should I say that they were akin to storms or tsunamis?

Just as there can be no benevolent tsunamis or kind-hearted storms, the very existence of the ancient gods was nothing short of a massive disaster.

"Still, from a player's perspective, dealing with ancient gods is somewhat easier."

Among them, there were some who had appeared in human history in a positive light a few times, and if one traced the origins of ancient religions or native beliefs, they would find these entities.

Thanks to that, many of them were relatively easier to communicate with.

Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my ally.

The ancient gods generally despised the beings of the abyss.

Thanks to this, there were times when they would lend their power or wisdom if one decided to fight against the abyssal beings.

If one were to put it bluntly, both sides were like gangsters.

The difference was that whoever had the first claim to the territory had been there longer and could communicate better.

It was an artifact with such origins, and although the "Ancient God's Mirror" was of low rank, it had the power to block the influence emanating from the beings of the abyss.

I removed the dreamcatcher that had been hanging by my bedside and examined the deteriorated parts.

A simple item crafted by gathering magical or natural energies had its limitations.

"Tsk, next time I need to make something better."

I tossed the dreamcatcher toward the trash can in the corner of the room.

Thud, thunk.

The dreamcatcher hit the rim of the trash can and fell to the floor.

However, there was no need for me to go over and pick it up again.

Creak, screech...

The trash can moved on its own and swallowed the dreamcatcher.

It had been two weeks since I acquired the Hungry Mansion.

Although I kept in touch with Tudor and Jang Hyeon-deok from time to time, I hardly went out.

I had paused my work as a fixer to focus on translating grimoires and crafting artifacts.

"There were some minor successes, though..."

But I wasn't completely satisfied.

Most of what I achieved was merely stabilizing the current situation or temporarily postponing problems.

Of course, it wasn't that nothing had changed.

After briefly washing my face, I picked up my clothes, put them on, and went down to the first floor.

"Ah, you're awake?"

This was Heo Sang-hyeon who ended up sharing a room with me.

"You woke up early again today?"

"Well, I woke up in the morning."

"Hmm. What time is it now? It feels like daytime."

"It's 2 PM."

"I've finally managed to wake up at a decent hour."

"...I'll prepare the meal now, so please wait a moment."

"Understood."

An undead that I unintentionally too over from the Hollow Lord.

In the end, Heo Sang-hyeon decided to live a little longer.

Now, my relationship with Heo Sang-hyeon was a firm alliance just like my relationship with Cheong-ho or Jang Hyeon-deok.

Of course, the situation with Jang Hyeon-deok was a bit different.

According to the system of [Cthulhu World], he was my summon... essentially a magical slave.

And at the same time, he is also a butler NPC that comes with the housing system.

Although I've removed his excessive level of loyalty, it's ambiguous to say he's entirely free.

After all, he was both a summon and a butler. In the game's system, the titles a player can be called by such beings are limited.

At first, Heo Sang-hyeon tried to address me with that title. But now...

"Shin-hwa-nim, it's ready."

"Yes."

It was a bit strange to think this way, but once I started, there seemed to be no end. "Shin-hwa ya, since I'm your hyung, I'll call you informally". Would our relationship go as far as that kind of development? Anyway, I decided to keep my title like this for the time being.

Beside the living room on the first floor was a dining area.

In the center of the dining area, there was a large table covered with a pristine white tablecloth.

The table was large enough to host a banquet for more than ten people, yet today, I was the only one eating on it.

On one side of the table, there was a cup of milk, pancakes, jam, fried eggs, salad, grilled sausages, grilled tomatoes, grilled pineapple, and bite-sized pieces of cheese...

Listing them one by one, it sounded like a lot but they were mostly one or two pieces each, so the quantity was moderate.

The problem was more about the vast table.

The sight of a meal for one neatly set on such a wide space seemed incredibly ridiculous.

"I've always thought about this, but isn't this dining room excessively large?"

"The previous owner often held banquets..."

Heo Sang-hyeon infused a strange nuance into the word "banquet".

Hollow Lord, Heo Sang-hyeon's former master and the owner of this mansion, did not like to waste corpses.

Human corpses were highly useful as magical materials, ingredients for golems, and catalysts for spells.

And the leftovers could still be used as ornaments or even food ingredients.

Perhaps those banquets were some sort of inhumane and repulsive ritual.

Or maybe they were just frivolous acts to satisfy the Hollow Lord's sadistic desires.

"That makes sense."

"Yes, I'll be in the living room for a while."

"Okay."

It seems Hollow Lord liked to invite others who shared his peculiar tastes for meals, but I never enjoyed eating with others.

After all, one cannot eat while wearing this mask.

I took out the dining mask I had left in the dining room and switched it.

It's a mask with openings for the jaw and mouth.

The eyes, forehead, nose, and cheeks are still covered, but having even a part of my face exposed makes me uncomfortable.

To avoid accidentally catching sight of any part of my face, I had all the mirrors in the dining room removed.

I even got rid of the metal utensils.

It might be called the obsession of a lunatic but...

"Well, I am a lunatic after all."

...

Ah, this is fu*king ridiculous. I tried to think positively, but it's not easy.

What is this mess, really? I wish I could get over this obsession with masks quickly.

I spread jam on pancakes with a wooden spoon and ate slowly.

"Ah, this meal is really..."

Excessively delicious.

Heo Sang-hyeon said it was nothing special, but it tasted fantastic.

At first, I wondered why anyone would cook fruit, but I learned that some fruits taste better cooked than raw.

The combination of juicy sausages that burst with flavor and pineapples grilled with sugar created a delightful sweet and salty harmony. Fluffy pancakes and the fine-quality grape jam that Heo Sang-hyeon claimed to have made himself followed suit.

He said he had continued to make this jam even while he was enslaved by the Hollow Lord.

To put it in a twisted way, you could say it was a jam created by an undead who could neither die nor live while the horrific slaughter and blasphemous rituals were taking place in this mansion.

However, it was the only food Heo Sang-hyeon made by his own will, amidst a life devoid of freedom.

It's hard to dwell on negative thoughts with jam this delicious.

"Though he took the Ancient God's Mirror from me, I gained a meal like this so it's not a loss."

Life in the harsh conditions of the Cthulhu world after falling from my usual self-sufficient life had been too long.

What will they prepare for dinner tonight?

Just as I was nearly finished eating,

My smartphone began to vibrate.

Before coming to this world, I really lived glued to my phone and computer...

Games and web novels. Those were my only hobbies, the joys that filled most of my life. But now that I was trapped in this bizarre world and living as if being chased every day, ironically ...

"Ah, right, a phone call."

I hardly ever use my phone, so I forgot that I needed to answer it when it vibrated.

- Dear! Why didn't you come to see me when you were at the market last time?

It was Tudor. How did she know I had been to Paju fifteen days ago?

"Well, it wasn't really a situation where I could stop by."

- What? Do you know how busy it's been here lately? Are you going to keep lazing around like this?

"Busy? What's going on?"

- Hmph, never mind. You should come and see what it's like here these days, but right now, listen to what I have to say about work.

"Calling this early, must be a request for a job, right?"

- Early?

It's the crack of dawn right now. It was 2 PM.

- Dear... I know fixers tend to be like this, but how about living like a normal person for a change?

To be scolded like this by a witch who could go without sleep and work 24 hours was indeed something else ....

"Let's talk about work instead of my lifestyle habits, shall we?"

- Ah, right. So, I see you've been making friends and networking in places I don't know about? Making me jealous, huh?

Networks and the current timing. I roughly understood why she had called.

"I see why you called. Is it a bodyguard job?"

- Hehe... your quick thinking really makes things easier. Yes, it's a request that came through the old man from Geumchon Pawnshop. It's to guard a gentleman, and the location is none other than...

"The Thousand Gold Temple."

- That's right. You! My pretty thing! How did you manage to snag a job at the Thousand Gold Temple? They say a diligent broker finds good fortune even in her sleep. Must be Buddha's grace for all my church-going.

Though it was clearly a joke, when it came from a witch who had crossed over from Europe, it sounded serious enough to be a bit scary.

Tudor explained the rough details of the request, and I agreed to move out tomorrow. We ended the call with that plan in place.

Tomorrow, it seems, I will finally have a chance to go out.