Chapter 86: Transfer of Ownership (1)
[Achievement unlocked! You have made The Hungry Mansion your base. You have obtained the Rare Achievement: People Live in This House?
As a reward for the achievement, you gain the unique trait Master of the Haunted House and additional experience points.]
[Unique trait Master of the Haunted House has been activated.]
[Ownership of the mansions magic, curses, and summoned creatures has been transferred to you.]
<em>Keeeeeeng</em>
The magic dwelling in the mansion slowly began to connect to me.
This was a very special benefit that one couldnt obtain from a typical house that could be bought with money.
Now, if anyone wanted to challenge me, they must ovee the same obstacles I faced to even invade this mansion.
Of course, there were changes and weaknesses as the influence provided by the beings of the abyss faded away, but on the other hand, these could bepensated for or enhanced with my own magic.
<em>Ill create a truly terrible haunted house one that absolutely no one can enter.</em>
[Amazing Achievement Unlocked! You have stolen the power of a great old being from the bastard child of He One Who Comes from the Darkness. You have obtained the Mythical Achievement: Heir of the Corpse Pile.
As a reward for the achievement, you gain the hidden trait Heir of the Corpse Pile and additional experience points.]
This was a higher trait than [Bastard of the Corpse Pile] which was owned by the previous owner of this house, the Hollow Lord.
It was a decent ability, but this trait alsoes with penalties simr to [Madness of the Abyss].
[Hidden trait Heir of the Corpse Pile activated. Mental IllnessKilling Impulse, Mental IllnessBizarre Rituals, Mental Illness Dual Personalities, Mental IllnessPartial Amnesia, Mental IllnessStrange Tastes, Mental IllnessAltar Obsession are now afflicting your mind.]
The mental illnesses thate as a penalty amount to six types. This might as well mean dont even y.
There was just one time before.
There was a time when I defeated Hollow Lord and obtained [Heir of the Corpse Pile] in the same way as now.
Back then, Icked the abilities I have now so I really had to struggle to obtain it. But with the reward came the attachment of six types of mental illnesses.
Unable to cope with such madness, I became unable to continue ying. Honestly, if I hadpletely abandoned the [Cthulhu World] game back then, I wouldnt be in this predicament now
In any case, it was such an inefficient achievement trait. Thats why I never repeated the same action afterward.
But now things are different.
<em>Crackle!!!</em>
Blue sparks fly from my temples.
[System: The unique trait Madness from the Abyss has been activated. The mental illness afflicting your mind has been nullified.]
This is it.
Now, I can skip the penalties and reap only the benefits.
[System: There are still unexplored areas within the base. Investigate the entire mansion to obtain the remaining rewards.]
<em>That can be sorted out slowly.</em>
[Experience Bonus: You have achieved a total of (3) achievements in the Hungry Mansion.]
[You have umted enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]
[You have reached level 31!
As a level achievement reward, you receive (1) bonus stat point to distribute freely.]
I invested the bonus stat point into my mental strength without hesitation.
Unless something unexpected came up, I nned to continue enhancing my mental strength next time.
My goal was to reach a pure 16, andter, with the addition of a +2 mental strength artifact, to achieve a total of 20.
<em>Well, if I get another artifact before then, Ill reconsider my choice.</em>
[Since you have umted enough experience, you have unlocked the use of third-order magic. Please note that in order to effectively use third-order magic, you need to obtain or learn a grimoire containing third-order spells.]
[System: The Spell Mastery trait has been activated. You automatically learn the basic spells of the third order.]
The addition of third-order magic became avable with the unlocking of the third order, but the number of spells essible at this level was significantly fewerpared to those from the first and second orders.
This was because from now on, the number of spells that could be considered basic magic would decrease significantly.
However, this wasnt a major issue. After reaching level 30, the number of grimoires and unique spells avable to me would dramatically increase.
Securing a proper base during this period was crucial for this reason.
In the end, my stats were as follows.
****
Kim Shin-hwa
ss: Mage Gazing into the Abyss
Level: 31
Magic Order: Third
Mental Illness: [Mask Obsession], [Ichthyophobia (fear of fish)]
Strength: 5(+3) (Ring of Corrupted mes)
Health: 7
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 30
Mental Strength: 15(+2) (Body Snatchers Ne)
Charm; 18
****
Is this the end?
Just settling the quest had taken quite a while.
As soon as the day breaks, Ill go to the Geumchon neighborhood, gather the belongings I hid in my studio apartment, and then this dreadful moving operation will finally be over.
Ah, of course, I still need to register everything and pay the fee to Tudor
Magical ownership of the mansion had indeed be mine, but there were courts and registrations here as well.
Since the previous owner had died, there were a fewplications that were difficult to resolve clearly, but those could be handled by the shady merchants or brokers that roamed the back alleys of Paju.
After the message windows that had obscured my view were neatly sorted out, I was just about to shift my focus elsewhere when a new message appeared.
[System: Summoned CreaturesNecromancy Golems are requesting magical power. The amount of magical power requested by the summons will be automatically transferred ording to the established contract.]
Then the magical power was automatically taken away.
[System: Summoned CreaturesNecromancy Golems are requesting magical power. The amount of magical power requested by the summons will be automatically transferred ording to the established contract.]
With the transfer of the ownership of Hollow Lords properties to me, issues that had not needed management so far had arisen.
My magical power continued to be drawn out.
Ah, the magical ownership transfer process hasnt beenpleted yet.
The direction the magical power was flowing toward
It was the first floor.
[System: Summoned CreaturesNecromancy Golems are requesting magical power. The amount of magical power requested by]
Damn it, stop taking it!
I hurriedly ran down to the first floor.
***
<em>Screech Screech, screech</em>
The state of the first floor was truly a sight to behold.
The traces of battle were still clear to see, and more importantly, right there
[System: Summoned CreaturesNecromancy Golems are requesting magical power.]
<em>Screech Screech, screech</em>
It was the necromancy golems.
After the former owner of the mansion Hollow Lord disappeared, everything in the mansion became mine.
Naturally, the necromancy golems that Hollow Lord had controlled also became my property.
The problem was that just because ownership was transferred to me, it didnt mean that the current state of things changed.
<em>Creak Screech Screech Screech, screech Screech Crack, snap! Crunch, crunch!</em>
Ah, how noisy!
The golems were made up of all sorts of junk, utensils, and furniture.
Every movement they made was apanied by creaking and grinding noises.
These creatures were all pressed against one wall near the living room and were attacking each other in awkward postures.
Moreover, most of them are even burning with fireballs attached to their bodies.
This meant that even if left alone, they were structured to eventually fall apart on their own.
Once a necromancy golem was damaged beyond a certain point, it would initiate the process of repairing its body ording to a set procedure.
Of course, the repairs werent free.
[System: Summoned CreaturesNecromancy Golems are requesting magical power. The amount of magical power requested by the summons will be automatically transferred ording to the established contract.]
Once again, chunks of magical power were being sucked away.
Haaah
Who could I me?
I was the one who had created this situation.
<em>First, lets extinguish the mes.</em>
Snap!
With a flick of my fingers, I erased the magical mes clinging to their bodies.
This action alone significantly reduced the relentless drain of magical power.
Now, I need to get them out of the wall
Though I had extinguished the fire, the necromancy golems were still unable to free themselves.
<em>Screech, screech Screech Screech</em>
Regrettably, it was impossible.
These creatures were not physically stuck in the wall.
Stuck in the wall.
It was exactly that bug that often urred in 3D games.
In this mansion, and in the world of [Cthulhu World], there were walls and objects that looked perfectly solid yet, for some reason, could be passed through as if they had no substance.
Among the stagnant waters, some would remember such spots and use them as tricks to shorten their travel paths.
However, it was forbidden to overuse them.
Among these holes, some could trap you while passing through and render you immobile.
<em>Crack! Crunch! Crackle!</em>
In their desperate attempts to escape the wall, they would il about, collide with each other and cause mutual damage.
Then they would repair themselves.
[System: Summoned CreaturesNecromancy Golems are requesting magical power.]
Stop taking it!
What was bastard Hollow Lord thinking when using such things
Including the corpse golems, which were a lower version of the necromancy golems, there were as many as 30 of these creatures.
Although their patron, [He One Who Comes from the Shadows], did provide magical power
He was actually maintaining such a crazy system.
The reason Hollow Lord had struggled in the recent fight even though he was wielding the magical power of a being from the abyss like [He Who Comes from the Darkness] was exactly this.
From Hollow Lords perspective, it seemed he thought of it as an endless spring.
Thats probably why he maintained such an inefficient system.
But even a small problem could lead to this disaster.
Alright, lets stop thementary now.
First, I had to solve the problem of the necromancy golems continuously draining my magical power.
I raised my magical power toward the necromancy golems and formed a hand seal.
<em>Fwoosh!</em>
Dozens ofrge and small magic circles appeared around me.
These magic circles created from aplicated array of symbols and sphemous patterns orbited around each other or spun on their own while interacting with each other.
I moved my magical power while observing this dazzling scene.
<em>Ziiing</em>
Several magic circles flew towards me.
My will and the magic circles synchronized.
Lets see are they connected?
I touched a nearby magic circle with my finger and issued amand.
Stop.
Thud.
The necromancy golems that were each iling in their own unnatural way simultaneously ceased their movements.
It was a scene that could be described as creepy.
However, the only emotion that surged through me as I faced this scene was sheer delight.
It felt like I had received an enormous box of toys.
After examining the magic circle further, I issued a newmand.
Disassemble.
The moment themand was given, the bindings that held together theponents of the necromancy golems were released.
This meant that the assorted items clinging to the wall began to pour down all at once.
<em>tter! Crash! Tinkle</em>
Good, that was simple. Though something did break.
Now its time for the fun part: reassembly.