I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game

Chapter 138: Competitors Swarming in

“No, what am I thinking right now?”

I had to knock on my head a few times to get a grip.

My obsession with masks is getting worse. This place is too stimulating for me.

Mutants in a rage, and cultists looking for a chance to take advantage of the situation, were charging at me.

But not right now. Give me a short break for just a few seconds.

“Phew…”

I took a brief deep breath. Wow, my stamina.

From here, it’s really going to be chaotic. I need to rest as much as I can while I have the chance.

“Gwaaaaah!!”

Ugh, is the break already over? Two mutants have gotten close.

I took out the skateboard that I had shrunk with magic from my pocket and threw it on the ground.

“It’s been a while since I rode a board.”

[Leap]

I barely ignored the treasure chest I had dragged down and leaped into the sky. My direction was above the heads of the mutants charging at me.

Bzzzzt!!

Two mutants leaped towards me while stretching out hundreds upon hundreds of tentacles. I’m quite popular. At the peak of my leap, I cast a spell.

[Fireball]

[Spell Enhancement: Toxic]

Fwoosh! Boom!

The fireball that transformed into deadly toxic flames through spell enhancement exploded with jet-black fire.

Sizzle… Crackle…

“Graaah! Graaah!”

The monsters desperately tried to shake off the toxic flames clinging to their bodies, but they couldn’t escape. The flames moved like a living creature, burning fiercely with a demonic intensity.

Oh, and then.

“Move, you jerk!”

[Hardening]

[Protective Circle]

Crunch!

I stomped on the head of a mutant that was in an awkward position with my skateboard.

“Graargh!”

The monster extended its tentacles to wrap around me but the magic activated faster.

[Flame Burst]

Boom!

A dazzling pillar of fire shot up. It was accompanied by a shockwave so violent it was visible to the eye.

Meticulousness is the virtue of a stagnant water. I pulled the shockwave towards myself and launched my body back into the air.

After leaping again, I spread my senses to scan the surroundings.

The consecutive flame spells triggered the mutants in the banquet hall with their fierce noise and brilliant light, but so what?

There was something more important. The flames imbued with toxicity began to produce the additional effects I desired.

Whoosh!

The dozens of curtains I had dropped earlier.

Now, the toxic black flames spread to the curtains covering the entire hall. They seemed expensive at a glance, but were they actually cheap? They burned far more fiercely than I expected while spewing out toxic smoke.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. In their haste to prepare things, they ignored the fire safety regulations.”

According to the Fire Safety Management Act, cultural and assembly facilities, religious facilities, and sports facilities must use flame-retardant curtains.

“Ah! The fire is too intense!”

“Cough, cough! I can’t see anything!”

Yes, yes. Well done.

The fiercely burning flames naturally isolated the stragglers in the rear, which included most of the mutants and cultists.

Of course, some had already gotten close, and there would be those who would ignore the fire and push through. But the important thing was that I no longer had to deal with hundreds of them at once.

“Good, everything is proceeding according to schedule.”

I had marked everything, collapsed the pillar, dropped the treasure chest, attracted the cultists’ attention, and set the fire.

Next on the list…

Check the condition of the treasure chest.

Just then, a few diligent cultists had circled around the edge of the hall and were approaching the treasure chest.

How quick. They must have some sort of movement ability.

“Got it, it’s mine!”

“No, it’s mine!”

I couldn’t let that happen.

[Grasp of the Dead]

Creak!

Dozens of gray hands rose from the floor and lifted the treasure chest.

“Ahhh!?”

One of the cultists who had approached the chest screamed and backed away.

I want to open the lid and take the mask out, but…

There were still more cultists sticking around.

To shake them off and check the condition of the treasure chest as planned, I cast a spell.

[Spirit Explosion]

[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]

Boom!

A rather splendid explosion.

The cultists who had swarmed near the chest were all blown away by the blast’s aftermath.

“But, as expected, the chest didn’t get a scratch.”

A moment ago, that same spell had brought down a giant pillar in one blow. Even with spell enhancement to maximize its power.

It seems the chest’s settings are the same.

I didn’t know how it was implemented here, but it was an indestructible object.

An item with no set HP or durability.

Since it wasn’t a target for attacks, it couldn’t be destroyed no matter what was done.

“It can’t be opened yet! And it can’t be destroyed by such trivial means! All of this is a ritual! A ritual to awaken the perfect artifact that will evolve you all! We need more sacrifices! More blood!”

Dokgo Gyeom repeated the exact lines from the game.

Yes, sacrifices. That mask was sealed.

The reason this large cult agreed to use their own disciples as sacrifices was likely to break the seal on that chest.

“Everyone, your sacrifices are not in vain. Spill more blood! Through that blood, the mask will awaken!”

Anyway, if things go south, I can just take the chest and run away.

Considering the other things I had done in this world, that too could probably be unsealed through magical means.

But there wasn’t time for that now.

“What are you mumbling about!!”

An unknown cultist wielding a giant scythe charged at me. Good grief, this is exhausting. Oh, right. You should feel the pain of someone who has no stamina.

[Exhaustion Shackles]

Clink! Crack!

Dazzling shackles made of runes and magical lines glowing in crimson wrapped around his limbs.

“Ugh…”

Instantly, the cultist fell into a state of exhaustion. He started losing the strength to hold the large scythe and collapsing to the ground. He would be unable to attack for the next ten minutes. It was all dependent on my mental strength.

Alright, the chest check was done.

What was written on the next page of the schedule?

“Surround him!”

“Block the way!”

Dozens of masks surrounded me. Mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask.

This time, everywhere I looked, there were only masks.

An unexpected thrill surged through me.

My body shook convulsively. My left hand, the back of my neck, under my chin, and around my eyes twitched, and my heart rate sped up.

Suddenly, my adrenaline and dopamine levels spiked. My vision expanded and my senses heightened.

At this point, I wouldn’t mind dying—no, what am I thinking? Get a grip!

Forget the plan; I could die if I got hit even once!

My body had some terrifying penalty traits.

[Decreased Stamina], [Increased Damage], [Higher Injury Probability], [Close Combat Weakness].

I struggled to gather my wits and spoke to the masks—or rather, the cultists—surrounding me.

“You shameless bastards. I went through the trouble of breaking the pillar and cleaning up the mutants, and now you’re surrounding me?”

“Looks like none of you could beat me one-on-one.”

“Hohoho, if there’s an overwhelmingly strong candidate, it’s only natural to take them out first, right?”

I didn’t need to worry about those whose names I couldn’t remember. They were all direct disciples, successors, geniuses, and such, but in the end, they were just mass-produced cultists.

In fact, most of the cults had sent those with grand titles but no real ability as sacrificial lambs for today’s ritual.

Oh, of course, some cults did send their real contenders and were aiming seriously for the top prize.

“You, you, you!”

Yes, just like that guy over there.

“Is this bastard pretty strong?”

It was the beak mask newcomer of the Azure Moon Cult.

I ignored him and enchanted my skateboard to jump to the side.

Craaaaack!!

A massive ice pillar erupted where I had been standing.

The caster was a wolf-masked man dancing while holding a drum decorated with buffalo horns.

“You dodged that!”

If I hadn’t jumped immediately, I would have been impaled by that ice pillar.

“I didn’t expect someone this impressive to come from Paju!”

The woman with the lace mask spoke.

“Is there some secret ultimate technique passed down through your family?”

“I told you earlier, never underestimate the Judge of the Hungry Mansion.”

It seems the value of the Hollow Lord has soared unexpectedly.

“There’s nothing like that, you idiots.”

Vrooooom!

Oops, a battering ram—or rather, a giant spear—flew toward the spot where I was supposed to land.

Leap again! No, there isn’t enough time.

[Hardening]

[Fireball]

Boom!

Using the explosion of the fireball I cast, I forcibly changed my direction in midair.

To successfully pull off such physics-defying moves, you need strong core muscles. Of course, I don’t have those.

“Ugh… damn, my spine is going to break.”

“I’m curious what you ate to become so strong. If I eat you, can I become strong too?”

“I’ll cook the thigh meat perfectly for you.”

A monster hunter with a boar mask and a cannibal chef with an iron mask were curious about the taste of my flesh.

It seemed the spear had been thrown by the monster hunter. The cannibal chef wielded two large cleavers while hanging onto the monster hunter’s shoulder.

“Why do I keep feeling like I’m being forced into penalty matches?”

How many are there? Damn, there are already more than 30 of them.

“Take this!”

“Aaah!”

The low-ranking cultists recklessly charged at me. Get lost!

[Gale]

Whoooosh!!!

“Aaaargh!”

“Ugh, we can’t get close!”

When I lightly knocked a few of them away, the small fry that surrounded me at a distance didn’t dare to come closer.

“Pathetic! Get out of my way!”

Once again, a spear like a battering ram flew towards me.

Crash!!

I sensed it through the flow of magical power in advance and moved my body a step ahead of the spear.

[Leap]

Hmm, what level should I move at to make it seem like I’m just at Heo Sang-hyeon’s moderately impressive skill level?

I wanted to blow them all away, but excessive action was forbidden.

The moment I go all out, I would have to fight those judges gathered above in the gallery. If that happens, it would be impossible for me to escape without harm.

In short, I had to fight using only the abilities that Heo Sang-hyeon could use, and the enemies I needed to watch out for now were that brute and…

“You let your guard down!”

Whooosh!

The cannibal chef hiding behind the giant monster hunter, who stood three meters tall, leaped out. Two cleavers twirled elegantly in his hands.

“Who said I let my guard down?”

With my right hand, I gathered the grudges of those who died today and struck him.

[Spirit Strike]

Boom!!

“Kraaaah!”

And with my left hand…

[Magnetic Control]

A second-order magnetic control spell. I generated a powerful artificial magnetic force to pull in metallic objects.

Buzzzzz!

At that moment, I noticed someone beyond the wall of cultists, preparing a large-scale spell. Drums decorated with buffalo horns, and strange dance moves. He was the shaman wearing a wolf mask.

“O wanderer of the wind! With your breath, bestow upon my enemies the trial of severe cold!”

He must be quite busy playing the drums and dancing alone.

“Hey, don’t summon that!”

“Hahaha! Do you think you can stop the coming winter with mere shouting?”

Crash!

A metallic object flew from afar, drawn by my magnetic control spell. It was the treasure chest containing a mask that struck the wolf-masked shaman.

The wolf-masked shaman coughed up blood and flew through the air. Serves him right.

“Wh-What the hell!?”

“Why? Didn’t you want this?”

I infused more magical power into the magnetic force and swung the treasure chest around wildly.

Crash! Crash!

Cultists flew like bowling pins. How could people be tossed around like that? It looked as if the laws of physics had broken down.

Buzzzzzzz!

The treasure chest orbited around me with tremendous force.

One foolish cultist had struck the treasure chest with a fist filled with magical power, only to be repelled by the equal force of his own blow and sent flying. It was ridiculous.

The world was as poorly made as a hastily developed game.

Still, thanks to this, I had a brief moment to spare.

[Heavenly Sight]

I sent part of my vision and consciousness outside the hall. Before my eyes, I saw two completely different places. One was, of course, where my body was, and the other was…

“Wait, where is this? What? How far did they drag you? Oh, because of the fixer? Damn, that can’t be helped. Can you move? I see. Good. That’ll do.”

No, this wasn’t a symptom of madness. I was simply talking with my comrade outside the banquet hall via [Heavenly Sight].

However, to the cultists surrounding me, how did I appear…?

“I-Is that bastard hearing things?”

“Shit, I knew he was strong, but he’s completely nuts!”

Fine, let them talk. Insults are only a momentary shame. Ignoring the cultists’ nonsense, I continued speaking.

“I’ll buy you some more time, so move as fast as you can. Yes, you sense the signal, right?”

Good. The plan was slightly off schedule, but now came the final phase.

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