I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game
chapter-131

“Whooo…”

I took a deep breath.

Masquerade… This is an event even I might find hard to handle.

Right. I haven’t even checked the letter yet.

“Let’s open it first.”

The envelope contained two pieces of paper.

One was a folded A4 sheet, and the other was a cute illustrated postcard that looked like a Christmas card.

“Oh, it’s a bear?”

Heo Sang-hyeon’s voice sounded bewildered.

He looked relieved for a moment. As if saying, “What, I misunderstood for no reason?” a helpless smile appeared on his face.

For now, I agreed with Heo Sang-hyeon.

“Yes, it’s a cute bear design.”

It was a postcard with an image of a cute purple bear shyly greeting.

Even more, it was a cute bear with colorful candies drawn on its belly.

Unfortunately, this was not a situation to be relieved about.

This was actually a warning sign.

In this world, there was only one crazy person who would send such a postcard to a 150-year-old necromancer.

Dokgo Gyeom.

One of the most dangerous figures in the Cthulhu World.

Indeed, if it was a masquerade, it could only be Dokgo Gyeom.

“This letter is from Dokgo Gyeom. It’s probably an invitation.”

Heo Sang-hyeon looked at me with a curious expression.

“You haven’t even read the contents yet, but you’re speaking as if you already know what it is?”

“Oh, it’s because I know what a masquerade is.”

A masquerade was a very special gathering.

It was established by a certain mad NPC in the Cthulhu World aiming for religious unification…

It’s an organization that transcends sects and cults.

It was an interfaith union for cultists that aimed at mutual development, enhancing their rights, and stopping annoying individuals like fixers or the administration.

There was a membership fee, and they exchanged information for fun among themselves, occasionally gathered for workshops, attended events, sent gifts during holidays, lent money to each other, and avenged dead friends…

They were essentially just a cult, but they enjoyed themselves well.

I could roughly guess what was written on the postcard.

Let’s see.

“The movement of the stars is unusual. Soon, the stars will find their places. Before that day comes, a gathering is needed to decide the direction of the judges. Prepare your masks. Though the time is near, we wish to hold a masquerade.”

Ah, shit. I was right.

Different religious cultists were planning to gather and wear masks to have a friendly exchange.

Of course, it wasn’t just about socializing.

Usually, the exchange was a light pre-event, and the main event was a joint ritual with cultists from different cults gathered in one place.

I shook my head and said to Heo Sang-hyeon.

“They sent a letter not knowing that Hollow Lord is dead?”

“There are too many words I don’t understand.”

Heo Sang-hyeon looked completely baffled.

“Well, it’s nothing much. So—”

Hmm, if I start explaining this in detail, it will take a long time. Do I really need to?

“This is a meeting of judges from each cult.”

“Judges…? Are they similar to the former master? Like a cult leader?”

Ah, do I need to explain from there?

“No, to be precise, it’s a bit different. This is just a title that the cultists decided on themselves.”

“Decided on themselves?”

It’s really a baseless title.

It’s not like the beings of the abyss call them that, nor is it a title recognized outside of their gatherings.

In fact, even in the Call of Cthulhu universe, which inspired the [Cthulhu World] game, there were no such titles. It’s a title unique to this place.

“From the cultists’ perspective, the beings of the abyss are gods, right? If a cultist receives an excessive amount of attention from such a being and becomes famous enough to surpass other cultists, they are called a judge.”

Usually, only those at the level of a cult leader receive such a title, but sometimes, like in Hwa In’s case, someone who is not a leader but inherits the title or traits can become one.

There are also those with exceptionally outstanding talents, those who can manifest special miracles with legendary artifacts, and so on.

“Hmm…”

Was my explanation too long? Heo Sang-hyeon had a strained expression, trying to remember the details.

In short, that’s what it is.

“They’re just the strongest people in each cult. Depending on the structure of the cult, there might be someone stronger than the cult leader.”

“So, when these people gather…”

“It’s obvious what a bunch of big shots from each cult would do when they gather, isn’t it? They’ll perform the kind of wretched blood rituals that the Hollow Lord used to do alone but on a massive scale.”

“Ah.”

A very exciting and enjoyable, yet terrible and evil ritual that will change the fate of this world will take place.

Because of this, there will be dangers of a different level compared to quests, events, or random encounters experienced before.

For starters, the strongest members of each cult will participate.

Additionally, they’ll bring their most promising disciples, and although the number of participants varies slightly each time…

Because of the Feast Offering trait, if I go, the maximum number of participants will likely be there.

So, at least 300 people?

Not just any random cultists, but about 50 strong ones like Hollow Lord or Hwa In.

Around 100 direct disciples.

And roughly 150 low-ranked members brought along to help run the event.

It was an event that was rumored to be a developer-intended instant death trap until a clear method was found.

“What should we do …”

The worried expression of Heo Sang-hyeon who was beside me grew even darker. He looked as eerie as a ghost butler from a haunted mansion.

“Surely, you’re not thinking of participating?”

“Well, I’ll see how things go. In any case, I’ll have to be away from home for a day or two in some form.”

“A day or two?”

Heo Sang-hyeon rolled his large eyes menacingly and made a strange expression.

“Huh? Why that face?”

“Every time you’ve declared an overnight stay, it has extended to at least a week.”

“Ugh, during the Thousand Gold Temple, it was a situation I couldn’t control. As for Cheong-ho… well, I have no excuse for that.”

“The number of intruders is steadily increasing.”

Ah, was that a warning from the butler?

Heo Sang-hyeon wasn’t just whining out of boredom.

Even in the game, the butler character often warned of the dangers that arose during outings. This seemed to be one of those cases.

It would be appropriate to interpret this as an increase in the level of attention or notoriety of the place of residence.

“I guess we need to strengthen the mansion’s defenses.”

The experimental subjects released around the mansion were not enough. Should I go catch some ghosts and set them loose?

“Could those defenses be the reason the number of intruders is increasing?”

Heo Sang-hyeon cautiously added.

“Ah, has the rumor spread already?”

“Rumor? Was this your intention?”

“Well, automatic farming is necessary at a reasonable level, right?”

This was something Heo Sang-hyeon couldn’t understand.

As expected, Heo Sang-hyeon just made a face that said, “He’s talking nonsense again,” and didn’t say anything more. He was used to my frequent nonsense.

“Anyway.”

I waved my hand to wrap things up.

“Not going isn’t an option either.”

Non-participants face disadvantages.

It’s not just a matter of paying a fine.

It would be treated as if I had withdrawn from the gathering, and the entire Judges’ gathering would consider the Hungry Mansion as a hostile force.

Wouldn’t the strong ones take turns attacking here?

If it’s revealed that the Hollow Lord died in the process, they might even want to hold their events in the Hungry Mansion.

That’s not all. Ignoring this event would lead to other problems.

T’s clock, in other words, the doom counter.

“Another star would be added to the doom counter.”

In short, it’s a headache.

This event is a miserable hurdle that I can’t handle at my current level, but ignoring it would lead to an even worse situation.

Heo Sang-hyeon briefly opened his large eyes wide…. Wow, how could anyone open their eyes that wide? Anyway, he said with his eyes wide open.

“So, in the end, do we have to accept this invitation?”

Heo Sang-hyeon seems to have roughly understood what I was trying to say.

The area under his eyes darkened to the point it turned bluish.

“Don’t worry. We can just cancel the event here.”

“What?”

Heo Sang-hyeon asked back in a bewildered tone.

Oh no, since I was talking about the game settings, I ended up talking as if I was a streamer.

“Oh, I misspoke. Come on, what can I do by participating here? If I just go there in advance and set fire to the place, the meeting won’t be held at all.”

“Fire… you say?”

“Hoho, that’s right. They would need a place to hold the event after all, right?”

Actually, this was a sort of bug exploitation, but if I attacked in advance and destroyed the place where they were supposed to gather, the meeting wouldn’t happen.

Of course, this wasn’t easy either.

To prevent this kind of game abuse (the act of gaining advantage in a different way than intended in the game), the quests in [Cthulhu World] often had randomly changing locations.

But this time, we knew the location in advance, right?

“They kindly announced the location beforehand, didn’t they? If we go there and burn it all down in advance, it’ll be simple.”

Oh, of course, there were some random artifacts that could only be obtained by clearing this event.

But most of the items that come from here are usually useless, so it’s okay to ignore them.

Since it was a kind of bug exploitation, there would be no rewards or even experience points.

However, it was more stable to prevent the meeting from happening than to suffer in that terrible place with hundreds of cultists gathered.

So decision made!

To use this strategy, we had to move quickly.

Now, let’s see, when was the event scheduled?

The event schedule was written on an A4 paper enclosed with the postcard.

The date is tight.

Ah, this is really annoying. Should I do a speed run after a long time?

And then, the meeting place written below.

“Sejong City, huh?”

Geez, they called me far away. How is an old man with bones that barely move supposed to get there?

And the event schedule listed below.

An immoral feast using immoral ingredients.

The main event along with human sacrifice.

With other sadistic and disgusting acts that didn’t need detailed mention.

And then there was …

Huh?

An unexpected sentence caught my eye.

The clear reward that players could only think of as random.

It was written there.

The owner of the [Mask of the Faceless One] will also be decided this time.

They were giving the [Mask of the Faceless One] as a reward?

Again, the best play here is to just cancel the event itself.

But…

If the event was stopped, this artifact couldn’t be obtained.

I have to give this up?

My reflection appeared in the mirror hanging in the living room.

The image of a mad mage stared back at me.

A crazy mage always wearing a bizarrely shaped mask.

I already had an L-rank mask artifact anyway.

Unless I had two faces, I couldn’t use the other mask even if I got it.

And just like I had only one face, I had only one life.

Sometimes I deliberately put myself in danger, but that was usually an adventure born out of extreme situations. Pointless adventures are unnecessary when you already know what will happen.

At this moment, I needed a calm and rational judgment.

Yes, Kim Shin-hwa, get a grip.

“Hmm… But this is still kind of tempting.”

TN: Lol, man is obsessed with masks