🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 1
Prologue
Watching the ending credits scroll across the screen, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia.
About ten hours a day on average.
I had played for ten years.
A total playtime approaching 40,000 hours—an enormous amount of time.
Pouring all of that into a single game was by no means easy.
The only reason I could do it was that this game perfectly matched my tastes.
From the moment I first learned to read, my eyes had been drawn to the obscure rather than the mainstream.
While others studied Korean history, I delved into the Cthulhu Mythos. When I studied science, I immersed myself in sci-fi and cyberpunk.
In between, I occasionally indulged in horror and urban legends.
Still, I wasn’t academically bad, so my grades were always at the top of my class.
That was until I met the game of my life: COC (Chrome of Cthulhu).
Chrome of Cthulhu (COC) was an open-world indie game created by a tiny American company.
I discovered it in middle school.
At that time, I was studying English relentlessly.
Because I was reading English originals and actively participating in foreign communities.
That’s when an anonymous Reddit user introduced me to COC.
COC had a fusion-punk world combining a cyberpunk setting with fantasy elements.
But, as the name suggested, it wasn’t just fusion-punk.
This tiny American company had achieved the miracle of blending fusion-punk with the Cthulhu Mythos.
Even the U.M.O. (Unidentified Mysterious Object) elements that occasionally appeared during play added another layer of intrigue.
It was truly the kind of game that only a small indie company could dare create—a minor work for minor tastes.
Yet, for people like me, it was completely mesmerizing.
I loved it so much that I would sleep at school and then stay up all night playing COC after classes.
As a result, my top grades plummeted.
But I have no regrets about that.
COC was a once-in-a-lifetime game for me.
It was fair to say I had poured my life into it.
Finally, the ending credits rolled after the final scene where the elite party infiltrates Cthulhu’s lair.
I had finally cleared this maddening game.
So now…
After a brief pause, I gripped the mouse again.
“Shall I go for a second playthrough?”
Finally, the first clear was over.
Having only seen the first ending, it was truly the beginning.
From now on, more hidden content would unlock, offering new endings—and I was excited.
The first clear had been with a character from a traditional family contracted with a local deity.
They had unified the ten families controlling each city, gathering all resources and souls to launch humanity’s first attack on Cthulhu’s lair.
I had spent ten years for this one ending, so for the next playthrough, I wanted to try a completely different approach.
As I created a new character, a previously unseen trait appeared.
I selected it without hesitation.
[Second Tentacle of Cthulhu]
“…What’s this?”
The names of other traits were already metaphorical, but this one stood out.
I read the description with curiosity.
[This is a second being contracted with the Great Entity, Cthulhu.
You must prepare for Cthulhu’s return until the stars find their positions once again.
No penalties from ‘Madness’.
‘Neutral’ and ‘Evil’ alignments unlocked.
Start with hostility toward local deities.]
“So far, there hasn’t been any trait related to Cthulhu?”
A force opposite to what I had played for—to protect the original world.
Just that fact alone promised a completely different playthrough.
“According to the trait, I have to go full black mage.”
In COC, black mages generally contracted with great demons, spirits, or celestial beings to borrow their power.
The rank of the black mage depended on which entity they contracted with—but here, the trait already had a contract with Cthulhu?
I half expected that the job selection screen would block this choice due to its overwhelming power.
Click.
“…And it works?”
I selected [Black Mage], which I had assumed was impossible.
At first, I was stunned—but soon the gamer’s fire ignited.
How far could I go with this character?
Would this time put me at odds with the cities?
Or perhaps I could actually oppose Cthulhu itself.
This game prided itself on insane freedom.
Before, we had only managed to chase Cthulhu away—but with this character’s specs, new strategies might emerge.
With a new character and fascinating traits, I eagerly typed a name at random.
[Ph’nglui Mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh Wgah’nagl Fhtagn]
A name my hands typed almost instinctively.
For a moment, I wondered why I typed it—but, who cares?
It was just a game character name.
In fact, it was hard to pronounce properly, which made the roleplay concept even more enjoyable.
I pressed the button to complete character creation, filled with anticipation.
The computer screen went pitch black.
Thud.
…Huh?
A sticky, viscous sound.
I looked down with trembling eyes and saw thick tentacles from the screen burrowing into my chest.
Tentacles kept sprouting endlessly from the screen, wriggling and penetrating my body.
Cold, delicate, and with a texture like decayed fish innards.
Could a human truly feel something this vividly through their heart?
The sticky, thick, almost stinging tentacles wrapped rapidly around my heart.
“Ah… ah…?”
As I was mesmerized by this bizarre sensation, suddenly—
Whoosh!
Another bundle of tentacles shot forward, covering my face and plunging me into darkness.
Simultaneously, I felt the full-body sensation of the restraining tentacles, and a strange voice echoed in my mind.
【Ph’nglui Mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh Wgah’nagl Fhtagn】
An unpronounceable, mysterious sound.
Yet, somehow, its meaning understood itself in my mind.
【The dead Cthulhu dreams and waits in his lair in R’lyeh.】
Understanding this profane message, I could do nothing but lose consciousness.
