I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game
Chapter 28: Reinforcement

The underground parking lot was engulfed in pitch-black darkness, but thanks to my senses as a mage and the effect of the auxiliary spell on my eyes, I had no problems seeing my surroundings.

Rrrrrrrrrrrr—

The skateboard I had been carrying since my last fight with the biker gang proved quite useful.

Of course, my stats and physical abilities were not quite up to skillfully handling a skateboard, but most of these issues could be resolved through magical assistance.

[Posture Correction]

[Fox’s Agility]

[Chains of Domination]

[Invisible Hand]

It seemed excessive to use so many spells just to ride a skateboard, but thanks to the excessive amount of magical power I had, I could exhibit mobility beyond what a normal human could expect.

The pitch-black darkness and the identical-looking pillars swiftly flashed by.

I need a foothold.

[Frost Pillar]

Crack!

I leaped and rode on the ice pillar that just sprung up from the ground.

I could have shown off a few skateboard tricks if I wanted, but there was no time for such frivolity.

“Aaaaah!”

The scream of a human.

I hurled magic at the ghouls attacking a cornered security team member.

Then seizing the cold from the ice platform I had created behind me…

[Frost Thorn Spear]

Crackle, crash!

Giant ice spikes materialized in the air and started tearing through the bodies of the ghouls.

[Achievement Unlocked! You have defeated 100 ghouls.

You have earned the ‘Rare Achievement: Ghoul Slayer.’

As a reward for this achievement, you gain the ‘Ghoul Expert’ trait and additional experience points.]

[Remaining Targets: 100/122]

It’s an achievement, a good achievement, but…

Aaagh! Don’t block my view!

“Ah, move! I can’t see!”

I waved my hands through the air where the message window hovered.

The window soon vanished, but it was obscuring something moments ago.

There were ghoul corpses scattered on the floor.

“Damn!”

[Leap]

Whoosh!

If I had been a skilled skateboarder, I might have used an ollie or some other board trick to dodge, but lacking the physical stats for such techniques, I had to use a spell to forcibly lift my body.

Thump!

Rrrrrrrr—

To land cleanly, I had to add another posture correction spell.

“Ugh…”

I was exhausted.

“All because of that stupid gorilla…”

If Kwak Dae-yong, that fool, hadn’t excitedly rushed out, things would have been a thousand times easier.

“Haah…”

No, not that. What’s the point of blaming Kwak Dae-yong?

It’s all because of the distortion system of the [Cthulhu World].

Overwhelmed by the ghouls’ grotesque shapes, the darkness, the lethal threat, the blood, and the malevolent energy saturating this underground parking lot, Kwak Dae-yong became overly excited.

Unknowingly, he had been afflicted by a mild distortion before leading his subordinates and recklessly charging in.

****

[Distortion—Violence]: You become obsessed with blood and the desire to destroy your enemies.

Your attack power significantly increases, and your evasion rate significantly decreases.

****

Yes, that’s it.

It seemed like a healthier choice for my mental state to consider it fortunate that neither [Distortion—Paranoia] nor [Distortion —Bloodlust] had manifested in me.

“Is that a hundred now…? Are we almost done with these ghouls? Hey, be careful!”

When I spotted a group of ghouls about to attack a lagging member of the security team, I cast a spell.

[Crush]

An energy form that possessed overwhelming physical force, squeezed one of the leading ghouls into oblivion.

Crunch!

[Remaining Targets: 102/122]

Got one, and the rest around it… Ah, there’s no time.

[Corpse Explosion]

I detonated the crushed ghoul’s body.

Boom!

Bone shards and flesh flew in all directions, turning into lethal shrapnel that obliterated the surrounding ghouls in one fell swoop.

[Remaining Targets: 103/122]

[Remaining Targets: 104/122]

[Remaining Targets: 105/122]

[Remaining Targets: 106/122]

Each time a ghoul fell, a new message window appeared, cluttering my vision.

“Ah, move out of the way!”

“Yes, yes!”

A voice from an unexpected direction called out; it belonged to a member of the security team.

“No, not you! You go over there… Right there!”

[Dancing Flames]

Whoosh!

I conjured magical flames above Kwak Dae-yong’s head.

“Ack, what is this!”

Kwak Dae-yong’s scream echoed from afar.

“See that idiot? Gather nicely over there so I don’t have to save you every time!”

At the same time, I sent a spell toward someone cornered and under attack by ghouls.

[Magic Bullet]

[Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]

Ratatatatatata!!!

The bullets of magical power, like a machine gun, transformed the ghouls into chunks of meat.

“Th-thank you!”

“Quickly, gather over there! Your scattering prevents me from using powerful magic!”

“Security team! This way! Gather here!”

This was Kwak Dae-yong’s voice. Did he finally regain his calm?

Tatatatatatata!!

Boom!

Wham!

Gunshots, explosions, and the immense burst of sound from Kwak Dae-yong’s giant battle hammer resonated.

– Gyaahhaaaaaa!!!

Then, suddenly, the eerie screams of newly arrived ghouls filled the air.

[Remaining Targets: 112/122]

Now, only ten remained.

– Kieeeeeek!!

– Gyaahhaaaaa!!!

The ghouls’ screams echoed sporadically from various places.

In the midst of chaos, madness, and a battlefield stained with blood, a new sound emerged.

Ding

It was a small, clear… sound of a bell.

A bell, an unlikely sound to hear in this place.

“It seems that ghouls are not the only threat.”

Beings from the abyss were targeting me.

In such a situation where any of those creatures could intervene, it wouldn’t be surprising if something absurd happened.

Rrrrrrrr—

The underground parking lot was filled with profound darkness.

My heightened hearing captured various sounds echoing in this ominous underground parking lot.

The groans of the fierce ghouls.

The desperate, panting breaths of Kwak Dae-yong’s crew.

The sound of weapons being swung.

Explosions.

Ding

The bell sounded again.

What’s this?

The dense, damp malevolent energy that filled the underground parking lot was now violently fluctuating.

There might be ghouls capable of magic, but this was different. It wasn’t the doing of ghouls. It was a spell of a different level.

An arrogant and unpleasant ritual, a technique that only humans can handle.

[Quest information has been updated.

The number of targets to be eliminated has changed from 122 to 167.]

“What?”

Suddenly the number of ghouls increased.

Though there had been ominous signs, this situation was unexpected.

It’s not a problem that can be solved simply by eliminating a large number of ghouls.

If, as Kwak Dae-yong said, the tunnels were interconnected, such a sudden increase would be impossible.

My magical power detection range envelops the entire underground parking lot. There is no tunnel beyond my detection range.

Then…

It must be summoning magic.

The human mage I had sensed earlier. Somewhere in the underground parking lot, there was a mage summoning ghouls.

That they were moving so openly suggested they might soon start to exercise abilities beyond summoning.

Just as my thoughts reached this point, a new problem arose.

The malevolent energy that had been fluctuating wildly suddenly surged in one direction, and at the same moment, a terrible scream erupted from the depths of the parking lot’s darkness.

“Arghhh! My hand! My hand!!”

It wasn’t the scream of a ghoul. The source was quite far, but…

[Remote Detection]

I activated a remote detection spell with reflex-like speed.

Beyond the considerable distance and the darkness that filled it, I could discern the situation at the problem’s location.

A man in a suit and armor with a sword dropped to the ground.

One of Kwak Dae-yong’s subordinates, the one who wielded a sleek single-edged sword.

I never had the chance to call out to him, but I already knew his name.

Was it Yeom Cheol-min?

With a bit more thought, I could recall his specific stats and a full illustration, but that wasn’t necessary. Among Kwak Dae-yong’s subordinates, he was a named NPC with fairly high stats.

One of his arms was blackened and rotting away.

From his fingertips, black tumors blossomed, and the yellowish pus that spewed from them further decayed his flesh.

A magical poison was rapidly corroding his arm.

“Ah, shit. Why did it have to be that?”

The effect was weak, but it was a spell with the same effect as the toxic spell I had used.

Later, if things went wrong, it might be treated as a death caused by my mistake.

“Cheol-min-aaaah!”

This was Kwak Dae-yong’s shout. I could feel Kwak Dae-yong and his men moving towards Yeom Cheol-min.

Why is that guy suddenly acting up?

It would be better to arrive before Kwak Dae-yong and sort out the situation.

Rrrrrr—

I rolled on the ground, changing the direction of the skateboard, and activated a spell.

[Hardening]

[Impact]

The magic circle embedded underneath the board activated, performing a skateboard trick only possible by a mage of [Cthulhu World]… an explosive acceleration.

Kwaang!!

Shhhhh

It felt like every joint in my body was breaking due to the abnormal acceleration that relied on explosive power, but I quickly reached near Yeom Cheol-min.

[Human Body Scanning]

[Remote Detection]

[Magic Detection]

[Invisibility Detection]

[Curse Detection]

[Trap Detection]

At the same time, I extended invisible lines of magical power in all directions, analyzing and observing his wounds, the situation, potential dangers, solutions, unexpected variables, traps, and curses.

Ah, this wound is beyond repair.

“Sorry, Cheol-min-ssi!”

[Blade of Wind]

Swoosh-.

A sharply honed blade of wind flew and sliced off Yeom Cheol-min’s forearm.

“Ahh!”

He must have been startled, but it was an extremely focused blade. He probably didn’t even feel the pain or realize he was cut.

[Hardening]

[Enhancement]

[Courage of the Lion]

I quickly hardened Yeom Cheol-min’s wound to stop the bleeding and cast several enchantments on his mind to calm him down.

And the Blade of Wind that had cut off Yeom Cheol-min’s arm and continued on…

It went on and sliced through the corpse of a ghoul lying on the ground.

Puk!

“Guh!”

Look at this. A ghoul, already dead, screaming?

The initiative ensures victory. Time for a combo.

[Cold Bone Prison]

Crush—

A giant skeletal hand rose from the ground and grasped the once-sliced ghoul…

[Burning Spear]

Shrrrrrrr!!!

Boom!

I thrust a spear of flame into it. Surprisingly, the ghoul that was clearly dead before began to move and opened its mouth.

What it said was…

“Yo-you little…!!!”

Ah, no need to listen to that.

I decided that there was no need to listen to the ghoul anymore; instead, I shouted at Kwak Dae-yong.

“Team Leader Kwak Dae-yong, look at that! Wow! The ghoul corpse is talking! [Fireball]!”

[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]

Kwak Dae-yong who didn’t understand the situation let out a bewildered sound.

“Uh, what?!”

Whether Kwak Dae-yong understood the situation or not, the giant fireballs I had created in my hands flew straight at the ghoul.

Shiiiiiiik!!!

Kwaang!!!!

Oops, I forgot to control the fire… The walls got a bit scorched and the floor cracked, but that’s not the problem right now.

The body of the ghoul hit by the fireballs was shattered and scattered in all directions.

Kwak Dae-yong came in late and then spoke to me with a dazed look on his face.

“What in the world? What was that?”

“Looks like a strange guy, or rather it seems a mage was involved?”

“A mage?!”

Yeom Cheol-min, staggered and holding his wounded area, interjected.

“Ugh… Yes, captain. That ghoul’s corpse spewed some strange mucus at me!”

“If that’s the case…”

Kwak Dae-yong’s eyes frantically rolled around the place.

He looked at Yeom Cheol-min, then at me, then at the fragmented ghoul’s corpse, back to Yeom Cheol-min, then at me again, at the ghoul’s corpse, and back at me, and at the ghoul’s corpse again… Oh, stop it!

“Ah, come on! Can’t you grasp the situation?!”

“No, no, I get it! Something did burst out, but you took it down, right?”

“Hmm… A nice summary, but slightly off.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

Ding

The sound of a bell rang again from the darkness.

“I haven’t finished it off yet.”

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