A confident smile appeared on Tudor’s face.
You were curious about Collie, weren’t you? Instead of digging for her information from behind the scenes, how about meeting her in person to see for yourself? Tudor didn’t say a word, but her expression seemed to convey that very suggestion.
It didn’t feel like she was trying to manipulate the situation from a higher position. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I was being overly generous in my interpretation because of Tudor’s high charm score, but I decided to let it slide this time.
“It’s not just talk. Ever since Collie’s tastes changed, the nature of the requests she takes on has shifted too.”
“What do you mean the nature of her requests has changed?”
“Since she arrived here, or rather… After Lee Chang-hyuk went on such a rampage, Collie has somehow become obsessively interested in taking on any request related to the Helistic company, regardless of the type.”
“Related to Helistic?”
“Yes. She started accepting all requests related to Helistic without considering whether they were beneficial or harmful for Helistic.”
“Hmm…”
That’s interesting. If her goal was simply to harm Helistic, there would be no reason to take on this request. But she wants to participate just because it’s related to Helistic?
“If we bring her along this time, we might be able to find out what triggered this change in her.”
I tapped my mask with my finger for a moment before responding.
“Understood. I’ll discuss it with Curtain Call.”
“Ha, good. Then I’ll make preparations for that.”
“What about the day of action?”
“Helistic seems to want us to go immediately, but we need to coordinate with Collie… How about in two days?”
After considering what I needed to prepare, I replied.
“In two days then. Contact me once the arrangements are finalized.”
***
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})There was a mountain of things to do in preparation for the quest, and it wasn’t easy to handle everything swiftly due to my accumulated fatigue and my deteriorating health.
However, I managed to finish the preparations without any major issues and arrived at the meeting place near Gamaksan mountain.
Gamaksan mountain is so vast that it’s counted among the five great mountains of Gyeonggi Province.
It’s also known in the real world for its strong spiritual energy.
This is why it’s considered an important location even in [Cthulhu World].
There are as many as four main event-level quests related to Gamaksan mountain.
If you include the passing-through chain quests and side quests, they’re too numerous to count.
Tudor had casually mentioned stopping by Gamaksan mountain to find something beneficial for a mage, but the quest we were about to undertake [The Abandoned Hospital of Gamaksan mountain] was merely a brief exploration of the mountain.
I remember there was also a quest to beat up a fanatic trying to summon an outer god at one of those peaks of Gamaksan mountain.
That was a dreadful quest that required climbing up and down the mountain several times.
Haah, I really don’t want to do that quest… But if left alone, they end up summoning an outer god called the [Predator of the Mountains] which would cause complete chaos.
It’s something that I’ll eventually have to deal with at some point.
Maybe I should go ahead and smash them up like I did with the [Descendants of Fomalhaut]?
Well, that’s a problem for another day.
Today, there’s no need to venture deep into Gamaksan mountain.
The location of the abandoned hospital was toward the southwest of Gamaksan mountain, in the direction of Mugeon-ri. A short climb up the mountain trail leads right to it.
Because we intentionally left late at night, it was already completely dark.
The grass grew densely around the unpaved road and the damp scent of wood tickled my nostrils.
The noisy cries of insects and the chilly air contributed to the atmosphere.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})And there, the eerie sight of the abandoned hospital completed the horror-genre ambiance.
It was indeed a spine-chilling place.
Just by walking around with a camera, you can easily film a B horror movie.
And the silhouette of the fixer standing in the darkness halfway to the hospital would definitively mark that film as the epitome of Bs.
I had thought this before, but her character design was still incredibly unique.
A short stature, short limbs proportioned to that height, and a youthful face. This information alone was menacing. Yet she did not stop there.
Her long hair was bleach-blond, she wore a shiny red leather jacket, and in one hand, she casually held a huge zanbato sword (a horse-slaying sword).
For today, just this one day, I was partnered with a temporary ally known as Curtain Call.
“Ah, Kim Shin-hwa. You’re late! Late, Kim Shin-hwa!”
“I’m not late. You’re just early.”
“Shouldn’t you have come earlier?”
“Maybe. But that thing…”
“That thing?”
What Curtain Call was holding in her other hand that wasn’t holding the zanbato sword was a large piece of metal that I think used to be a spoon… And the reason I said I think it used to be a spoon is…
“Are you eating that?”
“Yes.”
Crunch, munch. Gnash, gnash.
I’ll say it again: this is a very temporary team. I have no plans to work with Curtain Call after today. Therefore… I need to gather as much information as possible today.
“Why?”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})“Why?”
“Why are you eating that?”
“Because I can eat it?”
I wanted to stop asking questions. What kind of conversation was this, anyway?
Though Curtain Call’s responses were devoid of any real substance or meaning, the movement of magical power around her body provided much more information. The flow of her magical power was peculiar.
It seemed merely eccentric behavior but she was actually absorbing energy rapidly from the spoon… that is, from the metallic organic material.
Even though her seemingly specific design choices in the game were targeting a certain audience, the Curtain Call I knew was a strong warrior. She possessed great strength and a few support abilities, but she had never displayed this type of power before.
It seemed difficult to ascertain her abilities in this state. I wished I could see her in action.
“Tudor seems to like you a lot, Kim Shin-hwa.”
“What?”
“All this talk of dual contracts and such, I would have been fine with the usual people I worked with. But she kept making excuses and eventually paired you with me.”
Though she was talking casually, her expression was full of dissatisfaction as if she wasn’t pleased with the current situation.
“Are you unhappy because it’s me?”
“No. I don’t care who I work with, as long as I can feast on those things.”
“Those things? Are you talking about the test subjects or Helistic? Which one are you talking about?”
It seemed my response was not to her liking, as Curtain Call furrowed one brow and glanced up at me briefly before stuffing the remnants of her spoon into her mouth and starting to walk in the direction of the abandoned hospital.
“Everything that Helistic has touched.”
“……”
“I’m going to destroy it all. Everything, everything, everything.”
Her reaction seemed to carry a personal vendetta, but it was too intense to be simply chalked up to a mere grudge.
“Hmph. Anyway, Kim Shin-hwa, the information you talked about yesterday, that was true, right?”
“Of course.”
“So, are we really going ahead with that bullsh*t plan you mentioned?”
Bullsh*t plan, she said… I had a separate conversation with Curtain Call when we met yesterday.
This hospital, or more precisely, Helistic’s secret research facility harbors a secret basement unknown to others.
Well, it’s akin to the secret research facility I was part of before. There, they held human samples in cryogenic sleep. And I think one of those samples might have been me…
Such a place exists here as well. And I’m interested in the items that are going to be there.
And while I wasn’t exactly sure what she was interested in, Curtain Call showed an interest in that place too.
“Well, if you don’t like it, you can still turn back now.”
“No. Tudor said you’re someone to look forward to, so I’ll give you a chance, Kim Shin-hwa.”
I found her logic hard to follow, but it was a relief she was somehow convinced.
Curtain Call continued moving without pause, and I had to accompany her to the planned destination as well.
The distance wasn’t long, but I quickly grew tired due to the penalty trait [Decreased Stamina].
Moreover, it was a dark mountain path without any reliable lighting.
The weather was chilly, yet before I knew it, the back of my neck was damp with sweat.
Phew, damn it. I can already see that my health has decreased.
I wanted to ride the board I was carrying, but moving stealthily with it on an unpaved path would be difficult. At least I was somewhat fortunate that the magical power wrapped around my body kept the bugs at bay.
“Even for a mage, don’t you think you neglect physical exercise too much?”
“It’s not like you’re healthy because of exercise anyway, right?”
“If you weren’t born lucky, you should at least exercise.”
No comeback for that. Damn it.
“We’re almost there.”
Finally, we reached our destination. The front of the hospital was blocked by a tall fence, yet the main gate had been completely destroyed.
Well, here we are at the abandoned hospital we were aiming for.
Curtain Call, hidden in the shadows beneath the fence, was slowly drawing her oversized sword from its sheath. Given that the sword was disproportionately large compared to her arm length, her method of drawing it was less like a swift unsheathing and more like clumsily fishing it out.
In the meantime, I raised my head to survey the area beyond the fence.
The hospital was a large three-story building.
It was strangely situated in the middle of a forest with no human habitation nearby, but it had been constructed under the guise of serving as a hospital.
The building was a typical square-shaped structure, white in color, with a green cross emblem on the sign.
What kind of name is that?
I hadn’t paid much attention when I saw it in the game, but there was a sign next to the hospital that read [Gamaksan Hospital].
However, the outwardly old-fashioned and neglected appearance was all a facade.
The official name of this building was [Ga-5060 Secret Research Facility] and it was a dreadful place where Helistic conducted human experiments.
It had now become a site of conflict where the subjects of those experiments had risen up and were staging a sit-in protest.
Except for the first floor all the lights were off, casting the building in deep darkness and the atmosphere was as silent as a grave.
The dark night sky covered in clouds that obscured even the moon, the lukewarm breeze meandering through the air, and the fishy smell of blood mixed with the wind.
“Look, there are still signs of the team that came before us.”
Curtain Call who was hidden in the shadows of the fence pointed towards the parking lot beyond the barrier.
A 1-ton truck and two cars were left abandoned inside the hospital’s walls.
“W.G., that’s the Wild Guns’ sub-team, right?”
“Idiots relying on sheer numbers. They probably barged in without any real plan and got wiped out.”
“Well, their fate doesn’t really concern our mission.”
It didn’t matter. Curtain Call seemed to agree with my words and nodded her head nonchalantly before gesturing toward the interior.
“Alright. Let’s get moving, Kim Shin-hwa; let’s go.”
She had a peculiar way of speaking.
Though the details were largely omitted, we had already laid out a rough plan back at Vasilisa, so I began to carry out the actions desired by Curtain Call without much hesitation.
In truth, it wasn’t that we had devised an extraordinarily elaborate plan.
[Trap Detection]
[Magic Detection]
[Invisibility Detection]
[Infrared Vision]
[Remote Detection]
These detection spells had almost become habitual for me to activate. Checking for traps was a necessity. Like a radar, my magical detection abilities spread out in all directions. Though there was a risk that enemies capable of using magic, albeit at a lower level than mine, might detect my spells….
Well, there’s no one among the test subjects here capable of that.
Nothing particularly unusual was detected by the spells.
First, I assessed the condition of the hospital’s first floor.
A barricade had been set up at the entrance of the hospital.
It was a makeshift construction that was hastily piled up with hospital equipment, chairs, and desks.
Though it was a crude construction, the barricade was bristling with sharpened metal pipes protruding aggressively through its gaps.
Beyond the barricade and windows, the test subjects who had taken over the hospital were hiding. However, my enhanced senses detected their positions more accurately than sight could have.
Each of the subjects caught by my detection spells bore bizarre forms.
