I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game
chapter-142

Oh no, I can’t stay in the back seat any longer.

“Urahchacha!”

I hurriedly climbed over the seat and squeezed into the passenger seat. As soon as I sat in the passenger seat…

Thud!

The treasure chest fell with me. It was the treasure chest containing the mask.

Rumble!!

Then, dozens of masks poured in with me.

“Jang Hyeon-deok! How many times do I have to say it? Start the car!”

It was a pretty clear order, but Jang Hyeon-deok did something completely different. Huh, why is he suddenly screaming and struggling?

“Aaaaah!! Monster! Monster!”

“Get a grip, man! It’s me, Kim Shin-hwa!”

I grabbed Jang Hyeon-deok’s shoulders and shook him, but…

“Aaaaah!”

It was useless. He just screamed louder. What was wrong with him? I realized the reason after seeing my reflection in the car window.

Due to the [Shadow Desception], I still appeared as a pitch-black silhouette. Plus, I was wearing a different mask than usual. From just the silhouette, I must have looked like a terrifying demon.

I sighed briefly and dispelled the magic. Then, I gathered my magical energy to instill unparalleled courage and exhilaration into Jang Hyeon-deok’s mind.

[Courage of the Lion]

“Whaaat!? Mage-nim?”

“Yeah, it’s me!”

“I couldn’t recognize you because you looked like a suspect from a mystery comic!”

“Alright, now you know it’s me, right?”

Even though I was still wearing the demon mask I picked up along the way, I appeared as the usual [Fixer Kim Shin-hwa].

“I almost had a heart attack! And what are those masks!?”

Masks of all shapes were chattering in the back seat.

Kiririiiie!

Even Achilles seemed to be dissatisfied with the suddenly cramped back seat.

“I brought some souvenirs. They said they were special products of Sejong City.”

“What kind of nonsense is that…!?”

“If you have time to talk nonsense, step on it! Don’t you see that?”

I pointed to “that.”

By “that,” I meant the wrecked buildings, dozens of monstrous birds, fire spirits, cultists, and the likes of Dokgo Gyeom flying around wrapped in lightning and storms.

“Ugh, I wondered what all the commotion was, but of course, it was caused by Mage-nim…”

“Jang Hyeon-deok, you bastard, can’t you pull yourself together? Aren’t you a professional?”

“I’m back! Situation understood! Let’s go!”

Clunk! Click!

The sound of the gear shifting smoothly.

Vroooom!!

And the tremendous noise from the illegally modified engine.

Screeeech!!

The sound of tires grinding and a huge cloud of smoke erupting.

I felt my body being pulled back; the feeling was so strong it made me think gravity had changed direction. Such was the abrupt start.

“That’s it! Faster! We need to get out of Sejong City before things escalate further!”

Maybe because he was driving, or perhaps the magic I cast was too effective, Jang Hyeon-deok started to chatter excitedly.

“What on earth is going on?! Did you really intend to turn Sejong City into a sea of fire?”

“Well, that’s how it turned out, didn’t it?”

“Is that all you have to say? Really, you…”

“Everybody stooooop!!”

A booming voice suddenly interrupted us. It was from outside.

They weren’t telling Jang Hyeon-deok and me to stop. It was directed in a completely different direction. Soon, new voices appeared.

“You cultist scum! Don’t move an inch!”

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?!”

Police cars swarmed in from all directions.

And the fixers operating in Sejong City.

Yeah, it was about time they showed up.

No matter what, things had escalated this much. In a way, you could say they appeared too late.

Vroom, vroom, vroom!

Drones poured out of the massive airship hovering over Sejong City.

Ratatatatatat!

Two helicopters with great horsepower also made their appearance.

Boom!

A huge fireball shot out from one of the helicopters. It seemed a battle mage from City Hall was aboard. The fireball’s target was Dokgo Gyeom behind us.

“Get out of here!!!”

Boom, boom, boom!!

Dokgo Gyeom’s lightning bolts now fired wildly in all directions.

Outside the car window, the bizarrely bustling night view of Sejong City sped by. And the outrageous commotion I had caused.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions were heard intermittently from all directions.

Bang! Bang! Ratatatata!

Gunfire erupted from everywhere.

Dokgo Gyeom wasn’t the only enemy Sejong City had to capture. Cultists were scattering in all directions.

The judges wouldn’t have been killed so easily.

Most of them likely escaped alive. Though not as strong as Dokgo Gyeom, each was a high-profile criminal. Operations to capture them would soon start.

The city’s exits would probably be sealed, followed by thorough inspections.

In the worst-case scenario, martial law could be declared.

If we get caught up in that, we’ll be in danger too.

Though I felt sorry for Sejong City’s fixers, we needed to create more chaos.

“Achilles!”

Kiririri!

“You’ve done well all day! Now, send all the summoned creatures to Dokgo Gyeom and cut the connection.”

There was only one type of summoned creature.

“Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!”

A bizarre scream echoed from afar.

In the distance, fireballs with long tails flew between Sejong City’s tall buildings like a meteor shower.

“Bastards of Fomalhaut! I’ll kill you all!”

I will kill you—kill you—kill you—kill you—Dokgo Gyeom’s monstrous scream echoed with tremendous vibrations.

“At least the sabotage was a great success.”

I didn’t know whether Dokgo Gyeom could escape this situation, but if he managed to get out somehow, he would crush the descendants of Fomalhaut.

“Can’t you go any faster?”

“This is already maximum speed! We’re in the heart of Sejong City!”

“If you can’t go faster, find another way! If we waste time, we might not get out of Sejong City!”

We needed to escape quickly while everyone was still in disarray. If we delay any longer…

Huh?

A wave of blinding white light surged in.

It sent shivers down my spine.

An enormous flash of light erupted from afar.

Sound disappeared, and everything before my eyes was engulfed in blinding white light.

Are we too late?

It felt like time had stopped, but that was only for a very brief moment.

KABOOM!

The delayed explosion rang out.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The car shook as if it would flip over.

Crash! Bang! Clatter!

A massive amount of glass shards fell from the sky. The windows of the high-rise buildings must have all exploded at once from the impact.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!”

Jang Hyeon-deok’s scream came three beats too late.

“What was that!? What just happened!? What descended!? What descended!?”

Descended? If it were something like that, it wouldn’t end this way.

“No, a real pro has appeared.”

“What? A real pro? What do you mean?”

“That’s the Immigration Bureau.”

To be precise, it was the monster created by the Immigration Bureau.

It would be Yang Seo-ho.

Or maybe someone actually launched a missile.

“The Bureau? That Bureau?”

“Yeah, that Bureau!”

From my perspective, a missile might have been better.

Jang Hyeon-deok would know well the notoriety of the Immigration Bureau. Thirty percent of a security taxi driver’s income came thanks to the Bureau.

If there weren’t criminals needing to avoid the Bureau’s eyes, the number of security taxi drivers would be less than half.

“Ugh! Why are they coming down here?”

“Well, the Shantaks are illegal aliens.”

“Oh, those birds are aliens?”

Yes. The Shantaks weren’t just strange birds or part of a bizarre phenomenon; they were intelligent beings from another world. In terms of lineage, they were similar to the extraterrestrial parasites that once kidnapped Jeong Hyeon-ah.

However, when they were leisurely flying over Paju, their true nature was unknown, so they were left alone… that’s the backstory.

And if you drag those Shantaks out of Paju, a few hours later, Yang Seo-ho from the Immigration Bureau will come and smash them all to pieces.

It’s all according to the game’s settings. I also factored this in when I brought in the Shantaks.

“Yeah, so before Yang Seo-ho catches wind, get as far away from Sejong City as possible.”

“Huh? Catch wind of what? Oh no, Mage-nim… could it be?!”

“What do you mean, ‘could it be’? If Yang Seo-ho finds out that a call van dragged Shantaks to Sejong City, she’ll rip your spine out!”

“Me? Why me?”

“Are you going to keep babbling? Hey! Front! Look ahead!”

An obstacle blocked the way.

Screech!

Jang Hyeon-deok’s hands moved quickly.

Screeeech!!

The scenery outside the car window spun at an incredible speed.

“Ahh!”

I really thought he was going to hit someone, but his driving skills were truly impressive.

Crash!

Well, smashing a few signboards was just a minor mishap.

_Bang! Crash! “_Aaaah!” “Stop!” “Don’t come closer!” “Get lost!” “Freeze! You cultist scum!” “You idiots! Kill the heretics and get me out of here!”

The explosions and chaos continued, with foreign languages that were incomprehensible, noisy curses, and—Boom!—the call van barreling through obstacles.

“I’ll get revenge! I swear I’ll get revenge!”

Dokgo-gyeom’s distant wail echoed.

“Hahaha! Yahoo!”

For some reason, Jang Hyeon-deok burst into laughter and cheers.

Everything in Sejong City was forcibly awakened, shaken, flashing, blending, tangling, and collapsing.

It was a tremendous commotion that seemed capable of driving anyone crazy.

And then, all that chaos suddenly disappeared.

A dark and vast field stretched out before us as if we had fallen into another world. And along that field ran a long road.

Although the scenery had changed completely, we hadn’t abruptly fallen into another world.

“We got out!”

The heart of Sejong City abruptly ended.

It was typical of a new city, but to me, it felt like the game’s map had been split.

Now, all that was visible were dark fields, mountains, trees, rice paddies, and occasionally small buildings. Yes, we escaped.

“We made it out! Truly, Jang Hyeon-deok is a genius!”

“Ahahaha! That’s right! I am indeed the genius Jang Hyeon-deok!”

Could I finally relax?

“Good! Very good! I’ll forgive you for boasting for a while!”

“Wow! I can’t believe we did it!”

“Yes! Now let’s hurry back to Paju!”

Even after that, Jang Hyeon-deok kept talking enthusiastically, but I ignored his words and turned my head.

The rapidly receding view of Sejong City. Despite it being early morning, the brightly lit city, the massive buildings rising up to obscure the horizon, the huge airships moving to safe zones, and the helicopters crashing in flames.

There is something new in the scenery of Sejong City.

It really looked as if a missile had struck with thick black smoke rising into the sky.

Though it wasn’t a missile. It was the ridiculous power of a single superhuman.

“Ugh… I dismissed it as just a game, but what the heck is that?”

Although my level has risen quite a bit, it’s still not enough.

I can’t handle guys like Yang Seo-ho or Dokgo Gyeom.

I’d rather face a Shoggoth in a one-on-one duel.

“Mage-nim, that… that…”

His voice sounded somewhat subdued.

“Hmm?”

“Didn’t everyone die?”

“They shouldn’t be. It wasn’t a residential area.”

While property damage is unavoidable, there shouldn’t be many human casualties.

Oh, cultists are excluded from the human category since they’ve strayed from the path of humanity.

Anyway, any civilians who might have been loitering around the gymnasium were already cleared out by the cultists of Eternal One Origin Cult using every method they could. That’s why I could cause such a commotion without worrying.

“Will it take about two hours to get home?”

“It should take around an hour and a half.”

Is it because it’s a time when there are no cars on the road? Well, earlier, when we were being chased by the Shantaks, it took just over an hour.

“Then I’ll get some sleep.”

“Go ahead.”

Both my physical and mental stamina were at their limit now.

Even though it’s just me and Jang Hyeon-deok in the car, I won’t sleep unless safety is guaranteed.

I merely leaned back against the seat and stared straight ahead. No, to be precise…

[The Masquerade, a gathering of judges convened by the cultists of the Eternal One Origin Cult, ended in the worst way ever.]

I looked at the message window.

I had ignored its messages for a while, but now I decided to pay it a bit more attention.

[It’s unbelievable that so many events occurred in just one night.]