Chapter 158.2

 

It’s still reading something! It’s reading—no, no…!

Damn it.

“Agent Choi loaded the strongest mental defense round he had into the glass handgun, feeling an overwhelming urge to bite down on his own tongue. There were only three rounds—prioritization was crucial.”

What? Wait.

The narration and thoughts were starting to merge.

“Even the thoughts and words of Daydream Inc.’s employees are now being understood. Agent Bronze swallowed hard. …The supernatural structure of the ghost story, which normally only presents hallucinations to children, is being ignored.”

Hold on.

“A chilling sense of crisis crawled up the scar on his neck.”

This phenomenon that’s appearing right now, this is…

“Annihilation-sanctioned?”

“What do you want?! What do you want from us?! Why are we dying?! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I’ll do anything—I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do, but I’ll do it! Please, just go awa—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“……”

“……”

It vanished.

Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace and Mermaid Grave returned to view.

Thud—

They collapsed to the ground, eyes vacant. The indescribably vast ■■■ had disappeared, and the void slowly filled…

And then, a grim premonition.

“Just now you said you’d do anything…”

All eyes turned to the black goat mask-wearing Baek Saheon.

“If I go away, you’ll do anything, you said…”

As Baek Saheon’s face went ashen—

Jingle.

“…!”

Something emerged silently from the darkness at the alley’s end.

“That…”

It was a black cat.

The red‑eyed quadruped stared blankly at the humans.

A symbol of misfortune, a history of fear and persecution, a familiar street animal passing through everyday life.

The protagonist of the most famous short horror tale.

The cat stepped forward.

“…!”

A crackling sound accompanied its shifting form.

Tension rippled through the crowd. They halted their complex rivalries and conflicts to watch the moving creature.

Before the black‑goat mask, it opened its mouth.

 

[This way]

 

“…!”

A will was spoken.

 

[This way]

 

The cat’s gaze was directed towards that side.

Baek Saheon staggered to his feet, glared at the cat with a pale face, then began to move.

The black quadruped walked alongside him. Humans and mer-children alike staggered along…

 

 

 

‘It’s working, it’s working.’

Even if inside he was Kim Soleum swallowing cold sweat and tears!

 

– Do you have a sticker for tattoos that reads aloud anything I input, like an app? …Ah! You can print it on the spot?

 

Yes, that’s right.

At Moonlight Tattoo Shop, Kim Soleum had purchased a music‑note tattoo sticker that ‘transmits thoughts as spoken words’ and applied it to his paw-pad.

He moved on all fours, desperately projecting composed authority.

In any case, he was relieved that events were unfolding as intended.

‘I thought I’d actually go crazy!’

 

 

* * *

 

 

A few hours earlier.

‘Huu.’

Emerging from Moonlight Tattoo Shop, Kim Soleum shed his cat guise and returned to being a child.

He surveyed the surroundings—once again a blissful paradise—and stifled a shudder.

The old stamp was now tattered. One more use and it’d be spent…. But this was absolutely a deed that had to be done in human form.

“I finally have the chance to try it.”

He retrieved the item he had been saving.

Deep within the inventory tattoo on his skin, he at last drew out the object he’d bought long ago at the Space Shopping Mall.

‘Huu.’

Right then…

It was a strange tome. Its cover was bound in human skin, finished with dark red wax, bearing human faces mid‑scream.

 

Necronomicon

 

The Book of Death.

Kim Soleum stared at the ancient grimoire, its red‑wax seal seeming to hold back unspeakable secrets.

‘…Braun recognized it.’

But there’s one thing about it.

 

– This is not the Necronomicon you’re thinking of.

 

It’s exactly as he said back then.

Kim Soleum reverted to cat form and shifted his forepaws. To reduce suspicion.

By carefully feeling beneath the wax with his paws… he could find it.

There, at the edge, was a tiny hinge.

Of course. This thing…

‘This grim tome was really just a bookcase.’

When he opened it—

Click.

He saw a wireless‑bound softcover with neat, standard fonts and cover.

 

네크로노미콘
Easy Korean Revised Edition Now Available!

 

A slick yet tacky modern publication.

“……”

At this point you’re probably thinking, ‘????’ but just bear it a bit more.

He flipped the cover. Beyond the table of contents, the text began.

 

Wijah e’i wijah e’i enkuru ga zakayip hirigeubu someruka bua-teu ni— allat hotelp peurigibeu winiwi-keu zaiche-ruleuge

 

…Did you catch that?

Alien words written in approximated phonetics.

Right. This book was a (different kind of) horrific mistranslation…!

According to researchers in the <Dark Exploration Records>, it was so full of typos it was laughable.

A botched edition that clumsily mimicked the pronunciation of some old‑version Necronomicon!

‘In cosmic horror, fictional tongues are nearly impossible to fully pronounce or understand, so this was truly pointless.’

Needless to say, it couldn’t summon the madness or cosmic dread of the real thing. Its true nature was…

A ghost story mocking crowdfunding scams.

Mm-hmm, right. That sort of item.

Yet in every ghost story, there’s always at least one gruesome side effect.

And this corrupted edition had exactly one—appropriate to its scam theme.

Exactly what’s expected… A psychological effect.

 

When this book is read aloud, the reader falls into a state of delusion, experiencing madness and fear as if a colossal entity has truly descended.

It is also estimated that all individuals within a 10-meter radius who hear the reader’s voice are subject to similar effects.

The more deeply the reader is immersed in horror media or possesses a high level of suggestibility, the more vivid and pronounced the effects become.

At the very least, it provides the reader with an immersive experience– making it, relatively speaking, a more ‘honest’ form of deception.

—Assistant Manager Lee Yeonhwa of Research Team 1

 

In short, a bluff item for intimidation!

And a little embarrassing…

 

The more deeply the reader is immersed in horror media or possesses a high level of suggestibility, the more vivid and pronounced the effects become.

 

…Which meant, Kim Soleum judged, it was an item made for him.

‘Keuugh.’

Of course, he nearly lost his mind reading it.

Without the lemonade from Moonlight Tattoo Shop, he might have bled from every pore.

Anyway.

‘I can’t do that anymore.’

He couldn’t read another line. He’d go mad mid‑reading. And if he stayed in cat form and was caught reading it, the plan would be ruined.

But that terrifying psychological effect only triggered when reading the Necronomicon.

So, disguised as a cat now, Kim Soleum’s abilities were no different from any other street animal…

‘Could I… fool them?’

But he had to try.

 

[This way]

 

And so Kim Soleum resolutely led the Daydream Inc. employees and the Disaster Bureau agents as if he were an extraordinary creature.

‘Please, I implore you, just help me escape.’

Their destination…

The place where the Angel’s Sigh still remained.