I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game
chapter-116

I sat down on the sofa and spoke to Jeong Hyeon-ah.

“Anyway, I assume you didn’t come to ask about the mask, so what brings you here?”

Jeong Hyeon-ah hesitated for a moment, making a thoughtful sound before opening her mouth.

“I came to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Others told me that you did it on purpose.”

This time, it was my turn to make a thoughtful sound.

It seemed she had some misunderstanding about the part where I beat up Goo Jin-cheol. Perhaps Chae Tae-won had spoken well of me.

What would be the best response in this situation?

“Don’t mention it. It was just—.”

I did it because Goo Jin-cheol’s annoying smile irritated me.

“—to keep my loyalty to the chairman.”

This was what Jeong Hyeon-ah had asked of me earlier. She had asked for my help, considering my loyalty to the chairman. She must have thought of that too, as she answered in a hushed voice.

“Really…?”

“Yes.”

And to add more, there was another reason.

The men who usually received exorbitant salaries and walked around with inflated egos had stepped back and left a girl with no skills to represent in a negotiation she couldn’t handle which annoyed me.

This isn’t some medieval monarchy; it’s modern society.

Moreover, honestly, aren’t all the guys putting on airs here just a bunch of gangsters?

In an age where lineage means nothing, they insisted on putting this young girl at the head of a conference room lined with men three times her age?

Well, all of this must have been part of Goo Jin-cheol’s plan.

Including calling me here and staging this unnecessary drama.

Ultimately, he probably intended to completely eliminate Cheong-ho’s influence this time.

By forcing Jeong Hyeon-ah into a representative role and then sweeping away the executives clinging to that representation all at once.

I hadn’t intended to get involved, but the whole situation was so irritating that I ended up interfering.

Well, there was no need to tell Jeong Hyeon-ah all of this.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find the chairman, or rather, your father.”

“No. I still want to thank you properly.”

“Huh?”

Jeong Hyeon-ah stood up and bowed politely.

“Thank you for your help.”

Ugh, it was embarrassing to receive such gratitude from a student half my age.

“As I mentioned earlier, it’s still a bit early to receive thanks.”

Besides, I wasn’t entirely blameless for Cheong-ho’s disappearance.

I didn’t tell him to be enchanted by the grimoire, but if I hadn’t asked for it, Cheong-ho wouldn’t have gone missing.

“Please, make sure you find my father.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Jeong Hyeon-ah repeated similar words a few more times, but she ended up stammering and couldn’t form a proper sentence.

Now, was the midnight event over?

However, being the courageous high school girl that she is, Jeong Hyeon-ah forced a new topic.

“By the way, is it alright if we don’t arrange a place for you to sleep?”

This was a space close to a reception room, with only a few shelves, vases, and sofas.

It wasn’t a place suitable for sleeping, but it was enough. After all, it wasn’t time to go to sleep yet.

“No, I can’t sleep yet. I’ll sleep separately during the day, so don’t worry.”

“Can’t sleep?”

“You’ll understand in a little while. Ah, this is perfect timing. I was actually about to come find you. Please hold onto this for a moment.”

“This is…?”

The item I handed to Jeong Hyeon-ah was a large round orb.

“Just take it for now. Ah—”

I added more, taking into account the security guard who was probably nervous beyond the door.

“Ah, it might feel a bit strange, but please don’t scream.”

“Alright… Eek!?”

Despite the warning, the sensation must have been intense.

She screamed in surprise as soon as she took the orb from me.

Bang!!

“Miss!!!”

Ugh, I should have just used magic to silence her.

“No, it’s a misunderstanding. Put the gun down.”

But the bodyguard had no intention of lowering his weapon.

“You shameless scoundrel, how dare you commit such shameless acts!”

I could roughly guess the misunderstanding, but how many times was he going to use the word shameless?

Despite the young bodyguard’s intense threats, Jeong Hyeon-ah looked at the item I handed her and said something unexpected.

“This is… an egg?”

“Yes, that’s right. But could you calm the agitated gunman first?”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I just got startled over nothing. Mage-nim didn’t do anything strange…”

“Hmm… is that so?”

The bodyguard lowered his gun but didn’t completely drop his suspicious gaze.

He hesitated for a moment and wavered. Why wasn’t he leaving?

Eventually, he stood at a diagonal behind Jeong Hyeon-ah while keeping an eye on me without leaving the room. Oh, great. Just stay there. It’s actually more comfortable for me that way.

It wasn’t entirely pleasant, but I had to give him credit for doing his job properly. Good job, nameless bodyguard NPC.

“As you instinctively sensed, Miss, it’s an egg.”

Though I had never said it was an egg, and frankly, it looked more like an oversized orb.

Nevertheless, as soon as Jeong Hyeon-ah touched it, she instinctively realized it was an egg. Just as I had when I first handled it.

It was an egg created from the fluids of the [Black Goat With a Thousand Young], infused with the flesh of an alien parasite and the magical power of the [Blind Idiot God].

It was something I obtained while rescuing Jeong Hyeon-ah.

I had left it alone since I didn’t know its use, but I recently figured out how to use it.

“I’ll lend it to you for a while. I’m not giving it to you. Tomorrow—no, it’s already today since it’s past midnight. Anyway, you can return it once its role is over.”

“Role? What role does this egg play?”

“If the situation calls for it, it’ll beat up that unlucky guy for you.”

“Huh?”

“Well, something like that. Think of it as a self-defense item just in case. I’ll do my best to prevent such a situation from happening, so ideally, nothing will happen.”

In any case, it’s best if it ends quietly.

[System: The ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait has been activated.]

Huh?

My senses sharpened against my will, and my detection range began to expand rapidly.

A tremendous amount of magical power and an absurd vibration were being detected from far away.

“Oh, they’re really coming.”

“Huh?”

I thought there might be a chance they wouldn’t come, but they’re really on their way.

They’re quite a distance away, but they’re approaching at an incredible speed.

There was no more time to relax.

I glanced at my watch and then cast a few support spells on Jeong Hyeon-ah.

“Huh? Mage-nim?”

“Now, from this moment, please go to that conference room with the guard. Then, call Branch Manager Chae Tae-won.”

“Now? Right now?”

“Yes. And you too.”

“Me?”

“You don’t have any magic allergies, right?”

“Allergies?”

“Actually, it’s rare. I’ve only met one person with it, so don’t worry.”

[Radiance of the Eagle]

[Courage of the Lion]

[Agility of the Fox]

“This, what is this?”

A typical reaction. They have a look that says, “I feel powerful!” Yeah, that’s the usual response.

In the end, four spells for Jeong Hyeon-ah, three for the guard, and one for the egg.

This is tight.

Will they be able to maintain full condition?

Actually, a few enhancement spells aren’t the problem.

The more problematic issue is the magical power and mental power that are being sucked out to maintain the magic that has been spread widely beyond the site.

“Fixer-nim!!”

Suddenly, someone ran into the room.

“Ah, why are you here, young miss!”

It was the old executive who had fervently supported me earlier.

“Take the young miss and run!”

At that moment, a large flash of light erupted outside the window.

Boom!!!

An immense shockwave hit a beat later. The windows all shook at the same time.

“Kyah!”

“Aah!”

“Get a grip! What did I tell you?”

“Take the young miss and…”

“Oh, come on!”

I flicked a small spark at the dumbfounded guard’s shin.

Fzzzzt!

“Aaagh!”

Did I zap him too hard? Anyway, that wasn’t the problem.

“Run!”

“Y-yes!”

The guard finally came to his senses and he practically picked up Jeong Hyeon-ah and ran out.

A belated shout came from the old executive.

“Fixer-nim, outside! Outside!”

“Sir, please calm down. The explosion outside is my magic.”

“W-what did you say?”

When I looked out the window, a breathtaking view unfolded.

Cheong-ho’s mansion was built in a secluded open area with few people around.

A wide-open view, a space without a single obstacle.

Large trailers were rushing in from all directions, ignoring roads and everything else.

Dozens of large trailers were swarming toward Cheong-ho’s mansion.

I thought this house had quite a bit of paranoid people, but these guys are even crazier.

Indeed, this wasn’t just a gang conflict; it was a full-on siege.

Cheong-ho’s mansion began to buzz like a disturbed beehive in an instant.

“Over there! Those crazy bastards!”

“What was that explosion just now!?”

The explosion had occurred right there, exactly there.

Cheong-ho’s underlings were frantically running around trying to locate the site of the explosion.

“Go and inform them that I caused the explosion and to prepare for defense.”

“What?”

Oh, this is frustrating.

“Do you see the overturned trailer near the wall? That’s the one that exploded.”

From the direction I pointed, one trailer was billowing black smoke and burning.

Kwooooom!!

Once more, with a tremendous roar that shook the ground, another trailer shot up into the sky.

Bwoooooom!! Rumble, rumble, rumble!!

Like watching in slow motion, the trailer that had floated in the air crashed back to the ground with its massive weight.

Thud!!

And then another one, boom!!

Ah, how refreshing.

“Wow!!”

“That was the mage from earlier!”

“Waaaaa!!”

Cheers erupted from all around us.

The old executive of the Cheong-ho faction gaped in astonishment at the scene.

“Magic? Magic? Are, are, are you saying that massive explosion was really magic? Not a bomb?”

“A bomb…? It was magic.”

“You maintained a magic causing explosions of that magnitude for this long? How many did you set?”

“I set about fifty of them generously. They only react to heavy objects, so you can’t approach unless you walk.”

“F-f-fifty?”

“More than that! Do you remember? The special clause.”

If such an incident occurs, Party A will make his best efforts to protect the safety of the mansion and the members of Party B. Details below are omitted.

In return, if such-and-such events occur, Party B will pay such-and-such amount to Party A according to such-and-such conditions. Details below are omitted.

Most of the detailed negotiations were handled by Tudor.

I took a brief look too and saw that there were an awful lot of devilish clauses.

With an attack of this scale, we might be able to extract an entire year’s budget from the Cheong-ho faction.

“The special clause! Of course! As for money, I’ll give you as much as you want!”

Talking as if it was his own money? Well, he is the one managing the Cheong-ho faction’s assets.

“Very well.”

[You have accepted an unexpected quest!

Eliminate the attackers and defend the base.

Reward: 1,450,000XP + bonus based on mission performance.

Failure: The balance of the Triad will be destroyed.]

Whether we succeed or fail, isn’t the balance of the Triad already already destroyed?

But what is that…?

I saw something strange in the distance.

Are my eyes deceiving me?

It looks like there’s someone standing on top of the oncoming large trailer.