I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game
chapter-11

This was the first reason why this request was inevitably doomed to fail. While Helistic outwardly posed itself as a legitimate corporation, it was one of the malevolent entities steeped in the Cthulhu mythos’s madness.

Becoming entangled with these people wouldn’t pose an immediate problem, but depending on the route, I might end up fighting Helistic until the game’s conclusion.

“If this is a request from a company, it won’t just be one or two guys chasing after him, right? When was the bounty issued?”

This was the second reason why Lee Chang-hyuk was a dud.

The real serious issue was that finding Lee Chang-hyuk was simply a nuisance.

If luck was not on my side, I could waste days in vain.

Moreover, this quest had a time limit.

If about 15 days had already passed since a bounty was put on his head, he would successfully smuggle himself out on a ship from Incheon.

No, but usually the time limit starts after you receive the request, right? What kind of quest has a timer running before you even accept it? No wonder they call it a failed game.

Therefore, depending on how many days have already passed, there might be no way to resolve this task.

“He’s been quite successful at evading capture so far. Today marks exactly two weeks since he fled.”

Holy shit.

“Exactly 14 days? Or is it about that long?”

When I leaned in to ask again, Tudor gave me a puzzled look. This was only natural since she wouldn’t have considered the existence of a time limit.

Tudor paused for a moment, then rifled through the documents.

“Um… yes, today is exactly the 14th day since then. Midnight tonight will mark the 15th day.”

What now?

At this point, requesting something else would cause Tudor to lose interest in me.

While it wouldn’t mean I would get no work at all, I would likely only receive the leftovers, the scraps of jobs others had passed on.

So, to establish a stable connection with Tudor, it was better to proceed as planned.

“What about the reward?”

In truth, there wasn’t much more I was curious about. The reward would probably be the same as mentioned in the game.

However, I couldn’t just not ask about it.

If a new fixer who just signed a contract appeared to know everything about a request from the start, it could arouse unnecessary suspicion.

Tudor looked at my mask for a moment and then continued.

“Five million for Lee Chang-hyuk’s head. And twenty-five million for retrieving the artifact he has.”

“It’s a subtly low price.”

And the balance of the amounts was almost laughable.

“They don’t want to spend too much on such a small fry. That’s why he hasn’t been caught yet. If they raised the bounty by just two million more, skilled guys would swoop in and snatch him up, right?”

This was exactly like the dialogue in the game. In the game, it was just text without voice acting, but hearing it in Tudor’s languid voice gave it a new feel. His high charisma really did make a difference.

“Alright. I’ll take it on.”

[You’ve accepted the quest!

<Bounty Quest: Hunting Lee Chang-hyuk>

Capture “Lee Chang-hyuk” who stole a sample destined for a Helistic subsidiary’s laboratory, and retrieve the “Artifact: Security Bag Containing the Test Subject” he took.

! Time Limit: Lee Chang-hyuk will escape Korea via Incheon in (1) day !

Reward: 50,000XP (+ the monetary reward promised by the broker is separate.) Failure: Tudor will be disappointed.]

The quest window appears even when for bounty requests.

I remember when I hovered the mouse cursor over the reward section back in the game, a message popped up saying, “Gaining the broker’s favor can lead to more rewards”.

“By any chance, Tudor, can you see this?”

I asked Tudor if she could see the message window just in case.

“Do you have any other symptoms… apart from that?”

No, that’s not what I meant…

Despite my attempts to clear up Tudor’s misunderstanding with several explanations, none of them worked out.

Eventually, I gave up on trying to correct Tudor’s misunderstanding and left her office.

However, I couldn’t depart right away.

There were things I needed to prepare.

I borrowed a pair of scissors from Orb and settled at a secluded table in the café.

Tudor was sitting right opposite me at the table as she watched my actions. She leaned her chin on her hands clasped together, completely relaxed… Is she finding this amusing?

“What if a seizure suddenly starts? That would be serious, wouldn’t it?”

Tudor wore a warm expression as if she understood everything about me. What does she understand? She’s a witch.

Thanks to Tudor, the gazes of other fixers hanging around in the café were also drawn to me.

Ignore them, just ignore them. I pulled out the straitjacket I was wearing previously from my backpack.

Then, using the scissors, I cut off the dangling straps from the straitjacket.

Was dexterity influenced by my agility stat? With a mere agility of 8, which was not helpful for this task, it took longer than expected.

Tudor burst into laughter when she saw that one of the straps had turned almost into rags.

Haah… Just bear with it…

Eventually, after much effort, I managed to produce six intact straps and two that were nearly tattered.

The straitjacket also ended up almost like a rag, but I stuffed it into my backpack anyway.

“Why don’t you just “whoosh- bang!” and capture him? You’re a mage, aren’t you?”

“…Then the artifact would be damaged too.”

Lee Chang-hyuk was a superhuman who developed special abilities due to a condition called magical power hypertrophy.

Thanks to that, he possessed several special abilities along with a decent level of magical resistance.

If the request had been “capture and kill”, I could have approached him without much thought and finished him off with a single blow.

However, spells like that usually come with excessively flashy effects. To safely recover the artifact he possessed required some careful planning.

I thought about buying some rope, but where was the money to waste like that? There were plenty of things here to tie with.

Tudor, laughing heartily again, bid me farewell with words expressing her anticipation about what shape I would return in.

Yeah, laugh all you want. Today will be the last day I play the pauper.

I started by walking and searching through the Geumchon neighborhood.

I had played countless bounty quests and never failed to capture a target.

Ideally, it would have been better if Lee Chang-hyuk had a fixed hideout, but he was designed as a roaming-type criminal to keep the veteran players from getting bored.

That doesn’t mean he roamed aimlessly. If that were the case, I would have just given up.

He didn’t stay in a fixed location but appeared randomly at six different sites.

The patterns of his appearances changed over time, so he could reappear at a place I had already checked, making him an especially troublesome target.

Oh, I don’t want to walk!

Once I collect the bounty and stabilize my finances, I should get some mode of transportation. The penalty trait [Weakened Stamina] makes my body feel drained after just a short walk.

But at least the first spot was relatively close.

I looked up at a dirty building. It was a bar without a sign that operated in the back alleys of the Geumchon neighborhood.

According to the setup, it was Lee Chang-hyuk’s favorite bar, and inside were many delinquents who were on friendly terms with him.

Entering meant that regardless of whether Lee Chang-hyuk was there or not, a big brawl was likely to break out.

“Fortunately, I won’t need to go that far.”

I leaned my hand against the wall of the bar and gathered my magical power.

[Magical Power Detection]

Bright green lines of magic emanated from my fingertips and seeped into the building.

It was like watching tree roots made of neon signs burrow into the ground.

He’s not here.

Lee Chang-hyuk suffered from magical power hypertrophy. Since he never appeared with other people with special abilities, I could skip most of the unnecessary investigation with this simple detection spell.

I still had to visit each location in person, though…

It was just a race against time.

The day was already turning to dusk.

I need to resolve this quickly.

Thinking about Cthulhu-dimensional travel and other matters would have to wait.

To maintain my condition, I needed to wash, eat, and find a place to rest.

I had to catch Lee Chang-hyuk and get the money before the sun rose again.

***

Bingo.

I found him in the third spot.

My luck wasn’t entirely bad.

The place where the abnormal magical power unique to magical power hypertrophy was detected was a motel located on the outskirts of the Gwangtan neighborhood.

It was a relief to find him here; otherwise, I would have had to travel much farther.

Once the location was pinpointed, the rest was in my control. His hiding spot was room 304, and my entry methods included breaking down the door, negotiating with the motel owner, entering through a window, or…

“Delivery~.”

This was the simplest method and the timing was perfect.

Lying in wait at the motel, there’s usually a moment when he’d briefly step out to collect ordered food. That’s the ideal time for a surprise attack.

Even though the deliveryman arrived, Lee Chang-hyuk didn’t open the door and merely replied back.

“Just leave it there.”

“Enjoy your meal.”

What did he order? It seems like a soup dish. I’m hungry already; maybe I’ll eat it after dealing with him?

The deliveryman left the food and went on his way, but the door remained closed for a long time. He was likely being cautious.

With [Magical Power Detection] still active, I could clearly see what he was up to.

He was pressed up against the door, probably listening for sounds from outside.

Fine, I’ll stay quiet. Come on out.

Click.

The sound of the lock opening. This is it. I prepared my spell, timing it with the sound.

Creak…

Good. Now!

[Magic Bullet]

I hurled a bullet of magical energy through the slightly ajar door.

Crash!

“Aargh!”

The door that was hit was completely shattered, and the impact sent Lee Chang-hyuk tumbling backward.

Crash!

He rolled over and scrambled into the room. Ah, trying to grab his bag, I see?

“Hey there~, Lee Chang-hyuk~!”

I deliberately moved slowly as I entered his room.

Sure, leaping in might look impressive, but with this body, any hasty movement would just make me seem retarded.

Instead, it is better to create a sense of fear leisurely.

As expected, Lee Chang-hyuk was holding a large bag in one hand. It was a large silver bag reinforced with metal.

That must be the security bag containing the test subject. In the game, it was just a quest item, so I couldn’t check its contents.

And his other hand was hidden inside his clothing. He’s concealing a handgun.

“What, what are you!”

“What do you think? Isn’t it obvious? Just hand over that bag, and I won’t hurt you.”

“Eh… hufffffff…”

He suddenly stopped talking and took a sharp breath.

His upper body swelled up to at least twice the size of an average person’s.

He might seem bizarre, but this was actually Lee Chang-hyuk’s attack stance.

Predicting his next move was simple. Now, to time it right!

One, two…

His mouth opened. Right now is the moment. Three!

– Kwaah!

An unbelievably loud sound erupted from his mouth, something no human should be able to produce.

But I too had completed my spell just as his mouth opened.

Whooosh!

A magic circle of light appeared right in front of me.

It distorted and twisted the sound waves coming from his mouth.

This was my own modified version of the zero-order spell, Transmission.

Should I name it something like [Sound Wave Distortion]?

It defied physical laws, twisting the direction of the sound.

Therefore, even though Lee Chang-hyuk, who had the condition of magical power hypertrophy, attacked me with his magical power through sound, no damage was inflicted on me!

Crash!

Instead, the walls on the left, right and bottom of the motel were shattered and scattered around.

“Shit! What is that! What did you just do?!”

Seeing his attack fail, he grimaced and let out a shout of frustration.

Still, he moved his hand quickly and took something out of his clothes.

Click.

It was a gun.

“Die!”

Lee Chang-hyuk’s gun spat fire without hesitation.

Wow, that was quick! But then, this is how one survives in this world, isn’t it?