I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game Chapter 7: Nightmare

It was a terrible nightmare I had.

I was aware that I was rely dreaming of this nightmare yet I couldnt escape from it.

The pouring rain and the chilling moonlight.

The ground split open as massive pillars rose up. Even though this was a place where there shouldnt be a sea, huge waves crashed in, and the dark sea water covered everything.

The mud and stench, the horrifyingly turbulent rotten and fishy sll.

In the bizarre sky radiating an indescribable light, stood a giganticenormously largegreen giant.

That massivegreatterrifyingbeing gazed down at with its strangely eerie eyes.

Those empty eyes that contained darkness and the abyss! looked down at !

Crackle-

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

It was the Nightmare of Rlyeh event that randomly occurs when dreaming.

It was like a fun broadcast sent randomly by the great Cthulhu buried in the deep sea, but if you got caught in it, you could be forced into losing your sanity.

[Madness of the Abyss] protected my sanity and mind, but it couldnt prevent the feeling of disgust from rising up.

Such a rare event on the first day! What luck! Shit, it must be because of that trait, right?

[Feast Offering: Increased probability of encountering beings from the abyss]

Haah

I couldnt help but sigh.

The tacky wallpaper of the cheap unmanned hotel caught my eye. I had escaped the nightmare, but not this unfortunate reality.

I could shove aside the damp, sticky bedsheet, but I couldnt bring myself to get up.

Ah, this is driving crazy.

Its not like Ive developed [ntal illness Lying Down is Best], and I dont want to waste ti lying around when every mont counts.

I wanted to escape this hotel right away but my body wouldnt move.

Its only natural that I need a warm-up, but really, this body is too much.

Ultimately, this was the consequence of my own making.

I thought, Its not really my life anyway, and carelessly loaded myself with penalties, which have now booranged back to beco my life.

Its not just a matter of stats. I couldnt see my HP bar, but due to [Weakened Health], my HP must be extrely low.

Because of [Weakened Strength], my actual physical strength was probably lower than the 5 shown on my status screen.

[Weakened Stamina] ant I had to struggle imnsely just to walk a short distance.

And then there was [Weakened Close Combat], [Weakness: Disease], [Weakness: Poison]. I really set myself up for death.

The worst part was the combo of [Increased Damage] and [Reduced Healing]!

Any damage I take is always critical, and any healing I receive is halved.

Ah, forget it; forget it.

Starting a quest in this condition was too risky.

A single mistake could be fatal.

If it were just a ga, I could laugh it off and play again, but I only had one life here.

Hmm do I really have only one though?

The thought of maybe respawning even if I died crossed my mind, but I couldnt bring myself to experint with such a terrifying thought using my own life.

For now, lets assu I only have one life.

Right, Ive played plenty of hardcore modes where you cant resurrect once you die.

For now, it was difficult to offset the penalties attached to my traits imdiately. It wasnt impossible, but I needed to go to places that were currently out of reach at my level.

On the other hand, there is a way to address the stats issue right away.

I couldnt operate at maximum efficiency due to my penalty traits, but my stats were terrible anyway. So, I needed to boost my stats first.

That ant grinding was the way to go.

I could imdiately get items like the [Corrupted Fla Ring] and the [Slurping Gloves].

Both were cursed items, but they were the most cost-effective ones among what I could obtain now.

The [Corrupted Fla Ring] had the effect of providing the wearer with the power of fire and granted a 3 strength boost.

The [Slurping Gloves] despite their funny na, they were equipped with multiple magical effects and a 2 to health.

Ugh I need to get up first.

I tried to rise, but my back just wouldnt support .

Ah shit

Despite my efforts, managing to dangle my legs off the bed was the best I could do. It seed better to lie down while I still could.

If only I could move, nothing else would be a problem. I rembered almost everything about this [Cthulhu World].

The various dungeons, hidden doors, secret quests, and nurous tricks and bugs to reap rewards without effort.

I also recalled a few useful bugs related to item trading.

If this wasnt a crazy world full of otherworldly gods and Great Old Ones, I could have made a fortune by trading.

But for that, I needed so initial capital.

Money how much did I have right now?

I stretched out my leg to pull the wallet rolling on the floor towards . Ouch, a cramp! A cramp in my foot!

When I suddenly flexed my toes, a cramp shot through my calf, and I had to massage it for a while. Anyway, I got the wallet. Kim Shin-hwa-ssi, lets use our hands next ti.

The money I snatched from the thugs was around 200,000 won. After paying for food and accommodations, I had used about half of it and I guess I had roughly one days worth of living expenses left

I could probably beat up a few more thugs a couple of tis, but at my current level, I risked encountering soone too powerful to handle, or worse, becoming the target of a retaliatory assassination.

Moreover, the efficiency of such actions was poor to begin with. Since [Cthulhu World] was based on a modern society, fewer people carried cash than I expected. Who carries cash these days, anyway?

This was a problem that applied to as well. I needed a bank account and a card, and also an ID.

Perhaps the fixer route was the way to go. It was one of the various money-making thods available in [Cthulhu World].

If I struck a deal with a savvy broker, they would take care of the money, get an ID, a burner phone, and sort out various tasks, even scouting for suitable items.

Of course, to receive such services, I had to endlessly complete annoying requests.

Moreover, brokers varied in their skills, and so did the types of requests. So were almost con artists, and others would betray you the mont they made a decent profit.

If you wanted to play the ga for a long ti, it was best to work with a trustworthy person even if the pay was less.

Naturally, finding a good broker in a cosmic horror-thed world like [Cthulhu World] was almost as likely as winning the lottery.

But thats a story for beginners who play blindly.

Roughly speaking. perhaps heading to Furmil would be a good idea? Or maybe YB or Ko Kyung-soo, though a bit far, Tudor wasnt a bad choice either.

Each NPC had their own pros and cons. Whoever I chose to make a contract with would greatly influence the atmosphere of the ga. Considering my current situation and the stats I needed, the best broker would be

Alright. Ill go to Tudor.

Tudor offered a fixed quest, The Abandoned Hospital in Gamaksan. If I was lucky, I could find an S-rank item or sothing higher over there.

Getting such an item early on would make progress smoother in the future.

Tudor was known for his bad temper, entry restrictions, and the nurous bugs in related events, but he provided opportunities to face mythical creatures from the start, so I often used his services.

Considering the entry restrictions, it seed best to grind on the way there, starting with the necessary base stats.

The plan was set. Ti to get up.

Hmm Ill just lie down for 5 more minutes

In 5 minutes, Ill really get up.

I wonder if there are any quests I could solve while lying down

***

In the end, I had no choice but to pay an additional fee because I exceeded the check-out ti of the unmanned hotel by more than 2 hours.

It was around 3 p.m.

Unlike Paju City at night, full of madness and revelry, dayti Paju was relatively calm with most of the night businesses closed.

As a result, people who looked blatantly like relatives of criminals werent around, and the sight of a madman like wearing a paper bag was bound to stand out.

It just had to be mask obsession I cant take it off because Id go mad for real

But wearing it makes look mad anyway.

Maybe it was Nyarlathotep who dragged here? Isnt that guy the real mask-obsessed one?

Among Nyarlathoteps nicknas was sothing about wearing a thousand masks

Considering hes one of the few Outer Gods who would enjoy such pointless antics, its almost certain.

No, no, cant jump to conclusions just yet.

I still lack enough clues.

Anyway.

This paper bag was not only flimsy but also uncomfortable to wear. I need a replacent in case it gets torn off or ripped during a fight and I fall into delirium.

I need to buy a proper mask. Later on, Ill enchant one and make it myself

Suddenly, a general store caught my eye. The sign read All that you want. Well, with a na like that, they should have masks as well.

Such stores were rely background elents during gaplay and couldnt be accessed, but now I could enter them. The ga itself doesnt seem to be fully implented.

Heek!

Upon entering the store, the clerk let out a gasp. However, since the city itself was rife with odd characters, they refrained from any further reaction.

First, lets go to the party supplies section good, there are plenty of masks here. Id prefer to avoid anything that looks too much like a toy, though Surely, Im not planning to stick with this paper bag on my head, am I?

In the end, I bought several party masks and, just in case, picked up so bread bags that could be quickly flipped over and worn. I tucked them away as I left the store.

As soon as I stepped out, I hid in a secluded spot to change masks. I chose a plain white mask labeled sothing like Halloween Night.

Then, I bought an oversized hoodie from a nearby stall. I couldnt keep stuffing things inside my clothes, so I also purchased a large backpack.

It was a black backpack with a sporty design. Although it had a famous brands logo on it, it was probably a counterfeit because it was sold at a street corner, right?

It was a waste of money, but I had no choice as I had a lot of luggage to take care of, like the shoes and watch I had taken from the thugs. And I even carefully stuffed the straitjacket I was wearing inside.

Since there were already status and ssage windows popping up left and right, shouldnt there have been inventory storage or sothing of the sort.

Anyway, I was ready.

Now, I looked sowhat decent.

Still, I ended up looking like a character playing a criminal in a dramatic reenactnt for a current affairs expos show.

No more dallying needed. Since my destination wasnt nearby, lets take the bus.no it was better to hail a taxi rather than a bus.

I worried about not being able to get a taxi but it was surprisingly easy. The driver even joked around, asking if I was headed sowhere fun. To survive as a taxi driver in Paju, which was no different from a den of thieves, one must have at least this amount of guts.

I arrived at. Unjeong Station, which was arguably the heart of Paju City.

Paju in [Cthulhu World] was more populated than its real-world counterpart. Therefore, the number of people coming and going through Unjeong Station was exceptionally high. It was almost as comparable to the bustling density of Hongdae or Gangnam Station at their peaks.

I carefully observed my surroundings before activating a spell I had prepared.

[Hazy Presence]

Sssssss

An invisible mist made of magical power began to surround .

[Hazy Presence] was a minor zero-order spell designed to reduce ones presence and make them less noticeable.

In essence, it didnt render invisible to others; rather, it made them less likely to pay attention to .

Ideally, I would have preferred to use a fourth-order spell like [Invisibility] or at least a second-order one like [Shadow Walking], but those were beyond my current level.

However, thanks to my magical talent and powerful traits, even the zero-order[Hazy Presence] worked as efficiently as the second-order [Shadow Walking].

This ant that as long as I wasnt wrapped in hundreds of LED bulbs while shouting Look at , everyone in the neighborhood!, I would be fine.

After blending into the crowd, I made my way to the platform inside the train station. It seed that a train had just arrived.

The timing is perfect.

The train stayed open for a while, waiting for people to board, but I did not get on.

My purpose at Unjeong Station was not to take the train.

Eventually, the train doors closed and it departed with a prolonged noise.

I looked down at the empty tracks for a mont then stepped down onto them.

My goal lay within the station itself.

Inside the tracks of Unjeong Station, there was a hidden passage.

I proceeded along the train tracks as if I was chasing after the departed train.