I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game - Chapter 152: The Shadow of Insu Village (1)

The old man introduced himself as the village chief.

Although we had a brief conversation afterward, it inevitably led to situations where I had to ask questions about things that the past Kim Shin-hwa would have known.

What did I manage to find out?

That the old man was very wealthy and that the past Kim Shin-hwa had come to the village of his own accord to help with the ritual?

“The villagers are grateful for your help. We can’t afford to mess up again the ritual that only happens once a year, can we?”

“Mess it up again?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? Last year’s overseer was a complete mess. Thanks to him, the village was in shambles.”

The chief clicked his tongue with a grating sound.

The overseer was the term for someone who came to assist with the village festival.

The skin on his face twitched. It looked as if the skin of someone wearing a mask was about to peel off. I ignored the strange sight and asked again.

“What happened?”

“Why are you asking again when you already know?”

Damn it. I didn’t know.

“I just don’t want to make any mistakes at such an important event.”

Was that not a good answer? The village chief widened his large eyes at me. I guess I can never complain about Sang-hyeon-ssi’s eye size again.

Suddenly, he seemed to become wary. Maybe he was just annoyed by my questions. He turned his head slightly and headed towards the front door.

“Well, I can’t let a hungry person stay hungry.”

“No, Chief.”

“Just wait here; I’ll go to the village hall and get something to eat.”

I couldn’t hold him back any longer. It was an awkward time to keep him, so I had to let him go.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Anyway, it’s about time I helped out with some work. I’ll be a while, so just wait a bit.”

After saying this, the chief opened the inner door and left.

He paused briefly between the inner door and the front door and suspiciously locked the inner door.

Click.

A lock that can’t be opened from the inside.

Not something you’d install in a typical house. It wasn’t to keep intruders out but to lock something inside.

The chief even shook the inner door to make sure it was securely closed before opening the front door and going outside.

Click. Clack. Beep, beep beep.

The sound of the front door locking followed. There wasn’t just one lock on the front door? He locked it three times and even used a digital lock. He then shook it again to check if it was securely locked.

Those locks probably can’t be opened from the inside either.

It wasn’t until I heard the sound of the front door closing that I sighed.

“He’s acting blatantly suspicious.”

The words he spoke were those of an ordinary old man from the countryside, but his appearance and actions walked a fine line between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

He might have looked like a monster, but he barely qualified as human, and his suspicious actions were just barely within the bounds of what could be considered cautious behavior.

For now, the chief is a potential danger.

To be precise, the entire village was dangerous.

Damn it, now that I think about it, this is just like the message said, isn’t it?

It said something like this:

[The knowledge you have about this world. How long will it be useful? When the moment comes that your knowledge no longer works, what kind of expression will you make? Beware of the chaotic future ahead.]

The entity behind the message window couldn’t predict my actions. This had already been confirmed through the incident of the [Mask of the Faceless One]. But the entity could make guesses.

This meant there had been signs without my knowing.

Perhaps this isn’t the first time.

Yes.

Thinking that way, it didn’t make sense that I hadn’t seen “those things” for such a long time.

Surely, I must have encountered things related to my phobia several times.

Each time, I must have experienced localized amnesia and gradually forgotten the related information.

The problem is, this time the situation is much bigger.

With the amnesia, I had lost not only a period of memories but also all the information related to this quest connected to my phobia.

The quest’s setting was Insu Village and it featured obstacles, stories, and even the different races and their gods.

It was indeed quite troublesome.

If I overcome this madness, can I recover my lost memories?

I couldn’t just sit back and let things happen.

I had to secure some clues before the chief returned.

“It seems like a classic style quest.”

If I followed the traditional strategy, I would be able to see the flow.

“If I investigate the house and take a look around the village, something will probably happen at night.”

If I didn’t gather enough information today, I’d die once the festival started tomorrow. Ah, not die, but become a villager, right?

Would I end up like the chief? Gulp.

I placed my palm on the inner door and released my magic.

Buzz…

The magical power concentrated beyond the inner door passed through the front door and flew outside. The yard outside…. wasn’t very big.

The magical power soon reached the wall. A barrier was installed in a circle along the wall.

“It seems I’m still pretending to be friendly with the villagers.”

So I couldn’t just set up an offensive barrier outright.

[Alarm]

It was a simple surveillance barrier. It would only alert me to any creatures or magic approaching the wall.

This should be enough to detect any intruders in advance.

I was prepared for potential dangers. Now, it was time to investigate the house.

I didn’t want to wander around this large house with my weakened—strength of 5 and health of 7— frail body.

I summoned my magical power and spread my detection spell throughout the house.

[Detection]

A faint buzzing sound filled the air.

“See, I knew there was something.”

The location was the kitchen.

The kitchen appeared as if it hadn’t been used for a long time. There were no signs of cooking or meals. Inside the refrigerator… oh. Impressive.

Several dead rats were stored in the refrigerator.

“Interesting taste.”

It was probably arranged as part of some horror show. The rats didn’t matter to me. I bent down and reached my hand under the sink.

Among the sticky tiles, dust, and insect carcasses…

I found a crumpled piece of paper. There was a small trash bin nearby.

Did someone try to throw it away but it rolled under the sink?

Or maybe the past Kim Shin-hwa hid it there?

At first glance, it looked like a page torn from a notebook…

There’s a faint trace of my magical power.

This was a message from my past self to my present self.

[What the overseer should do at the Dragon King Festival in Insu Village.

I’m writing it down so I don’t forget! First: 589, 356, 1632.

If you’re so confused that you can’t remember your own name, just die.

1399. Overseer = A person who helps with the ritual and performs the duties of a ritual officer. Both the ritual officer and village chief are good people just like teachers so let’s help them well.
1400. On the night of the ritual, spend the night at the temple with the ritual officer. There must be something to do at the temple.
1401. From the day before the ritual, the overseer must abstain from alcohol and tobacco and maintain proper behavior. Is there anything else to take care of?
1402. The mask must be worn at all times. It is an important ritual for the overseer from another place to integrate with the people of this village. The person who was overseer before I came here…

“Why is a cliché like this happening now?”

The paper was torn, so I couldn’t read the next part.

Well, it can’t be helped. But even this much reveals a lot.

It seems that the past Kim Shin-hwa predicted that he would lose his memory later on.

“Anyway, did he say ‘just die’?”

It wasn’t the past Kim Shin-hwa being rude to me.

This was a code. The method to decipher it isn’t difficult.

First, Kim Shin-hwa 1399.

These are the names of the characters I created.

Since it was bothersome to come up with new names each time, I named the characters by attaching numbers to Kim Shin-hwa.

“My name is Kim Shin-hwa. And the number, I remember it. So it must hint at the way of death.”

The characters in [Cthulhu World] had limited ways to come back to life.

So a death almost always leads to a game over, but thanks to my intelligence stat, I can remember all 1,700 of my characters’ deaths.

In other words, the sentences written in this note were a code that only someone who could recall how my characters died could solve.

Kim Shin-hwa 1399. And the ritual officer and village chief are like teachers.

Why did Kim Shin-hwa 1399 die?

At that time, Kim Shin-hwa 1399 was killed by a cultist NPC named Woo Gwang-no.

In other words, it means to be wary of the ritual officer and village chief.

“Why did I make a code based on how I died?”

To be precise, it’s how the game characters I raised died.

Kim Shin-hwa 924.

While searching for a missing item for an NPC on Park Kwang-lim’s request, I was betrayed and killed by that bastard Park Kwang-lim. So…

At the temple, it’s probably not betrayal, but finding a missing item?

“Ah, are they at the temple?”

It seems that the artifacts I lost were at the temple. Luckily, they were in a place where I could retrieve it.

Kim Shin-hwa 755.

My character died while trying to ram a yacht into a being of the abyss.

A yacht, or maybe a ship? Is it telling me to get a boat? Could this be an island?

Kim Shin-hwa 6.

When did I raise this character? It was Kim Shin-hwa from the very beginning. When I didn’t understand the game’s structure well, I wandered around aimlessly and went mad. I eventually died.

The latter part of the content was cut off, so I couldn’t interpret anything related to Kim Shin-hwa 6. It seemed to be a warning about madness, but without proper interpretation, it was a bit scary.

“If I’m lucky, I might find the missing parts in some unexpected place.”

Anyway, I felt relieved. Regardless of everything else, it meant that past Kim Shin-hwa had predicted all these situations.

In other words, being trapped in Insu Village after losing my memory wasn’t the result of an unfair defeat but part of a bigger plan to gain more.

“Then I just need to do what I think is best.”

I took immediate action.

I immediately moved to the master bedroom.

The door to the master bedroom was locked, but this was hardly an obstacle.

[Unlock]

Click.

I entered the master bedroom.

It was the room likely used by the house owner, the village chief, but like the kitchen, there were no signs of use.

The room was still damp, and the flooring was sticky. Every step I took made a squelching sound as the floor peeled up.

There was a queen-sized bed in the corner. It was piled high with blankets.

I briefly reached out and brushed my hand over the blankets. Dust touched my palm.

“It seems these bedding haven’t been used in a while.”

I momentarily recalled the village chief’s peculiar appearance. The refrigerator full of rats must have been for the village chief to eat, right? Is it a mutation? People who have lived in this village for a long time undergo physical changes. They are blessed by the Cthulhu Mythos and get reborn as otherworldly beings.

“Considering the order written in the note, this should be done first.”

589, 356, 1632, written in a note left by the past Kim Shin-hwa.

Kim Shin-hwa 589. Died when a trap was triggered while opening the safe.

Kim Shin-hwa 356. Died when a monster jumped out of a small box.

Kim Shin-hwa 1632. Died when touching a treasure blessed by a being of the abyss.

“Looks like I’m supposed to take the item from the safe, right?”

I confirmed the location of the safe when I cast the detection spell earlier.

Even without the detection spell, there were hints placed to find the safe’s location. This house and village are ultimately designed according to a game-like structure.

The fact that the blankets are all taken out on the bed,

“Means there’s something in the wardrobe.”

Creak…

Inside the wardrobe was a huge safe that was large enough to hold a person.

The safe was massive and exuded an incredible sense of weight. The bottom part of the wardrobe had been removed; this was likely because it couldn’t bear the safe’s weight.

In short, the safe wasn’t placed inside the wardrobe. Rather, the wardrobe was built around the safe.

“But this is…”

A dull metallic body.

It was a typical safe with a large door, a dial, and a keyhole.

I raised my hand and infused magical power into the surface of the safe.

Crackle!

“This is not an ordinary item.”

Despite its ordinary appearance, the safe repelled my magical power.

No, it didn’t just repel it; the magical power couldn’t penetrate it at all. The magical power that lost its direction sparked meaninglessly on the surface of the safe.

“Where did he get something like this?”

This was similar to the treasure chest that contained the [Mask of the Faceless One].

Without the correct key, it would never open.

The village chief probably has the key.

It meant that I had to either knock out the village chief, steal from him, trick him, or engage in some other dangerous action to open it.

“I suppose I could ignore all that and just open it…”

There would be a lot of sparks. Could I hide it well enough?

Moreover, I didn’t have [Carcosa’s Mask].

The good thing was that it seemed a bit softer than the treasure chest I opened last time.

“Haaah, there’s no other way. For now, is that window the most dangerous route?”

I extended my left hand and placed an additional barrier on the window. This time, it wasn’t just a simple alarm spell. I embedded an aggressive barrier that would strike anyone who approached the window with lightning.

Then, I set up a new barrier surrounding the entire bedroom.

This was to minimize the commotion that would soon occur.

Alright.

“Whew.”

With a short deep breath, I activated my magic. After all, whatever was stored in a safe of this level must be something truly amazing.

[Perception]