BCST 23

A sight I had never seen in my life.

It was a wondrous meeting of black sea and space—something I had never seen in my original life, nor in the future to which I had suddenly fallen.

Splash.

Where the black of the sky met the black of the sea.

Yet it was clear that no part of it was the same darkness; different shades created the scene. A faint horizon line stretched out without a single blemish, reaching everywhere until beginning and end met.

Because that line lay below my eye level, in this moment it really struck me that I was standing on some spherical planet.

Splash.

“…….”

In the very center of nature’s primeval form, not a trace of human civilization could be found.

Standing alone there, emotions I had never defined before—mysteries I couldn’t name—came one after another and brushed past my chest.

Awe.

Isolation.

Fear.

And at the end of them was an endless void, like the floor had fallen out from beneath me.

Then, suddenly, I realized I was barefoot on some artificial structure.

When I bowed my head, there before me was a door of enormous size.

Beyond the rolling waves, slowly revealing itself, was the unreal form of a cephalopod.

Neo-Arkam City, District 56.

A border area close to District 57, where the Pixel Dream Motel is located.

There, too, towering buildings’ signs shimmered and danced, and vehicles’ lights traced curves along the streets.

On a massive exterior billboard underneath, an advertising model wore an elegant smile, and in the square people hurried along with purposeful steps.

At that moment one person stopped walking and blinked in confusion.

“Huh? Why did the call drop all of a sudden?”

A call that had been working moments ago had gone dead.

And it wasn’t only that person: several others began to check implants like neural interfaces, complaining about malfunctions.

“Ah, what the hell? I can’t connect.”

“Nerve pain… is it a virus?”

Then the street lights flickered faintly and began to blink irregularly.

“What? Power outage?”

“An earthquake?”

But the flickering didn’t stop at the streetlights.

It spread ominously—from nearby shops to low floors of buildings and gradually upward to higher levels—the lights came on and off.

When some people, unsettled by the strange phenomenon, looked up as if hypnotized and stared in one direction—

Blink.

“Ugh…!”

The elegant woman from the giant billboard grinned grotesquely and looked down at the people in the square as if mocking them.

Startled, people rubbed their eyes; when they looked again, the billboard showed the woman in her usual graceful pose.

The scene felt like a lie, as if what they had just seen were a trick.

Most people, as if they had never seen anything odd, continued on naturally.

So the small number who had experienced the strange event convinced themselves it was just their imagination and moved on.

But in truth this bizarre occurrence wasn’t limited to just this place.

The border areas of District 56—places where someone might think, “today’s going to be unlucky”—had been showing odd signs all day.

Rats in alleys acting unusually aggressive, dogs and cats twitching their nerves and crying out in excess.

People’s neural links stuttering a little, odd images flashing for a moment like a broadcast glitch.

Things that would seem strange if you paid attention, but that you’d forget a little later if you didn’t.

So no one connected the dots—but if someone had investigated and drawn a map, they would have found Pixel Dream Motel at the center.

The top floor of the motel where Eddy was staying.

Swoooosh…

The ceiling there was eerily rippling like some body of water.

The room was filled with the salty, humid smell of the sea.

Thick tentacles hung down from the ceiling and stretched threateningly over the bed where Eddy lay.

They were like the supple, glossy legs of an octopus—things that should exist only in the cold depths of the ocean.

The tentacles dripped viscous liquid and, as if teasing, slowly caressed Eddy’s cheek.

Squelch…

A tentacle lifted from Eddy’s cheek, leaving a long strand of sticky fluid.

In the next moment the whole space began to vibrate violently.

Drdrdrdr…

The vibrations of this space became the vocal cords of a higher-dimensional being delivering a brief intention through this small incarnation.

A message only possible when all other presences had been minimized.

But even that was hard to accept—the surrounding space twisted and distorted.

[다나니중아에가보때자은꾸직나아]

A sentence beyond human perceptual filters.

But the very fact that that short phrase revealed itself to the world caused the strange phenomena to radiate around the motel building.

It was all because the will of that existence could not be properly received by the present dimension.

Squelch…

After a while, the tentacles that had been caressing Eddy’s face withdrew as if their purpose had been served.

When the tentacles drew back past the rippling “surface” of the ceiling, everything in the surrounding area that had been twisting like a nightmare returned to normal in an instant.

As if it had all been a mere dream.

The only trace left in the room was the sticky fluid on Eddy’s cheek.

Four days passed.

Finally I was able to move my body, but I still glared at the ceiling with a grave expression.

Because of what I had last seen.

When I looked at the pattern on the floor I had been standing on, I immediately recognized it as my lineage’s magic.

And unlike the spider pattern from before, I intuited that this sigil would extend not upward but toward the abyss.

In reality I couldn’t perceive it properly yet—because my level was insufficient.

At least rank 5.

All schools of magic start at rank 1 with minor magics, but it seemed my lineage magic only allowed access beginning at rank 5.

Perhaps it had existed in the trait window from the beginning, but only now, having reached rank 3, could I at least confirm its existence.

Of course, if I learned more of this lineage magic, its power would be guaranteed.

But…

Should I really learn it?

The discomfort I felt the first time I saw that symbol.

The inhuman-scale emotions I felt in that other, unknown place.

And in a prior conversation with the rank-5 old man Bajir, the story that as rank rose, the path with a contractor widened.

All of that whispered a cursed, uneasy future to me.

So even though I had spent a trait point, I felt sullied by a bad mood.

“…Enough.”

There’s nothing to be gained by sulking here.

First, get up and move.

With that thought, I raised my upper body.

Plip.

What the—

Swish.

When I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand, a really foul smell came off.

It was like the scent of a mangy dog that raided a seafood market trash can and, without drinking, let the reek ferment in its mouth and then licked my cheek.

Could I have drooled in my sleep?

No.

This couldn’t possibly be a secretion from a human.

And that sticky residue—just like something from a marine creature.

“No way…?”

‘That guy’?

Because of what happened this time, that being’s interference came to mind naturally.

This was the sticky slime you’d expect from an octopus or cuttlefish.

But I immediately denied my own thought.

Because that thing was sealed in Lrüe and at this stage couldn’t be interfering here.

If it could, this world should already be rushing toward destruction like the late game of a game.

It wouldn’t be the kind of entity who leisurely played or amused itself like a person.

So only one conclusion remained.

No—fuck—this really is my own spit?

I recoiled in disgust and headed straight for the shower to wash.

I scrubbed especially hard where the drool had been on my cheek.

Shwash—.

Come to think of it, hadn’t I said Mya had been unreachable for about a week?

But now I was able to move sooner than expected.

Because of my serious worries I hadn’t noticed immediately, but this, too, was odd.

Until now it usually took a long time for invested trait points to manifest—but this time that rule didn’t apply.

I had invested the most points, yet the time required shrank?

When these things contradict common sense, the trait called “Cthulhu’s Second Tentacle” often fit the bill.

But this time there were other variables.

A broad understanding of black magic through “Zhan’s Grimoire.”

And gaining the “Counter Spell” might also be the cause.

This time I hadn’t spread points around—I’d spent everything solely for this one magic.

My intuition leaned toward understanding black magic plus the number of learned skills as the reason…

Well, whatever—good is good.

After finishing the shower I shook my hair and came out.

No need to trouble myself further when things aren’t going well.

It was time to focus on the positives.

Especially, I had high expectations for the “Counter Spell” I’d learned this time.

A must in wizard duels.

If the Tylon Goksell I had fought before had known this spell, the difficulty of that fight would have been completely different.

But judging by the situation here, it would be enough to stay on alert.

No black magician seemed to pick spells in the way I did.

“Then, how about stopping by Edge Line for the first time in a while.”

Last time I had taken a commission by phone only and couldn’t visit the shop in person.

Now that I had time I’d drop by to collect the reward for this commission and the remaining payment from the last one, and show my face.

After preparing to go out, I headed to the front desk in the lobby to extend my stay.

At the desk stood a cylindrical AI robot with a front display.

A friend I’d gotten used to passing by during my comings and goings.

“I want to extend my stay. About two weeks.”

The robot that processed my extension request flashed a smiling emoticon on its display.

[Yes, customer, your extension procedure has been completed.]

Alright, good job.

As I turned to leave, the AI robot unexpectedly stopped me.

“What now?”

Something that had never happened while using this place.

I turned, puzzled, and the robot showed a warning on its face and said:

[We are informing customers who are about to go out of the following fact. A level-1 madness incursion was detected in this district a few days ago.]

Wait, what?

[At Pixel Dream Motel your safety is our top priority, so we provide instant weapons upon going out for your protection.]

Sss—.

The robot’s body opened and produced a very simply designed disposable pistol.