Chapter 161 – 161. Mansion of Shivering – Strategy Success
After sending Jack and Meiling into the mirror, I jumped into the mirror after them.
Originally, I wouldn’t have gambled on throwing myself into an unknown device, but after suffering from automatons all day, I just wanted to get out of here quickly.
-Phew…
When I came out through the mirror, I was able to check the overall appearance of the family room. The part seen in the mirror was only a small part. Looking through the mirror and checking the room to go, I could see that it was quite large and in a very messy state.
“Here… Is there no… Go-to? Jack. Was anyone here?”
“Yeah.. No one was there…”
“Huh…”
Looking around, there were no other people besides us. I thought there would be some kind of boss mob or something, but it was unexpected.
‘Let’s look around for now..’
I looked around the place where I couldn’t tell if it was a workshop or a place to go.
Scrolls and complicated-looking drawings lying on a wooden table. And various tools, sparkling jewels, and dolls hanging so many that they fill one wall. Finally, the broken failures, as if broken by a pottery master.
Looking at the dolls hanging on the wall, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘Looks like a jeweler.. Looks the same…’
Looking at it, I could see that the faces of the dolls were very similar to those of the jeweler. Hundreds of dolls with the same face as the jewelry store were lined up.
The obsession and madness I felt while watching the clones when I went to the future is felt here as well. It was the madness of an unknown monster who lost his humanity to pursue an unattainable dream.
‘Let’s start with the ring and think about it.’
I first searched the head of the household where there was a lot of paperwork. It was a desk with three drawers on each side, and I was able to get a signet ring from the second drawer on the right without difficulty. Fortunately, it seems that not a single player made it this far because the difficulty was not a joke. Thanks to that, we arrived first and got the ring.
‘Rose pattern…’
With this, I got the quest item that I must obtain. Now I just need to take care of things and go to Hyundai. We don’t even have to look for a grandfather clock. Because I have a double helix pocket watch. You just have to go to the present day, treat Nick with medicine and magic books, and go home with a happy heart.
‘Thanks to the peddlers, things are progressing quickly…’
I am truly grateful. A compass, a master key, and a pocket watch saved me a lot of time. I’ll have to say thank you later.
‘Should I pack everything I can even if I go?’
The items in the homeroom seemed like materials that might be useful for Hellas’ research. I put all the scrolls, unknown books, and complex drawings on the table into the large-capacity magic bag.
Since the magic bag can hold up to 1 ton without difficulty, it went in well even if I randomly hit items in the place where I used to write and read because it was a workshop.
“Hey! Jack! Don’t play around, but quickly sweep here too.”
“Uh, yes!”
Jack wriggled his tentacled arm and, at my command, swept the items from the living room into the bag with me.
It felt so good to be able to gulp the achievements of someone’s lifetime of research without any effort and for free. It was truly a pleasure to eat.
‘Everything tastes best when eaten raw without any effort.’
I always wanted to live this easy life. Eating raw life. However, looking back, there are only memories of dog suffering. I’ve never had anything come off easily.
Whenever I tried to do well, something strange happened or there were guys who stood in my way. Still, I’m glad this visit went smoothly…
“Excuse me..”
As I was stealing an unknown tool in the midst of satisfaction, Meiling pulled my wrist lightly. I answered his call bluntly.
“Why?”
“There’s something over there…”
Suddenly, I felt a little disgusted. If Mei Ling was a very pretty woman, she would have thought of making her my woman, but since she is a man, everything he does is annoying. I felt like I was going to vomit at that womanly act that seemed to be downcast.
I wanted to feed him TS whiskey right away, but I saved it for the 777. Bayou just wants her to feel the pain of living as a man, even though she is still a woman.
“What is it?”
“It’s like a living woman.”
“Huh?”
I tried to tell her to stay out of the way if it was nothing special, but when she said that there was a woman alive, I left Frost with Jack and quickly followed Meiling.
Mei Ling wonders how she found her. She crawled into a hidden space behind a bookshelf, and there she found a doll no different from a living person..
‘It’s not a doll, it looks like a corpse?’
She is an infallible person, but she doesn’t breathe. What Meiling found was a corpse lying on a tombstone with glowing letters.
“What is this… It’s not a doll… It looks like a corpse…”
“That’s… I’m not breathing, but when I touch it, it’s still warm…”
“Hey, I told you not to touch anything. Are you crazy?”
“Ah… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
After nagging Meiling, I gently touched the cheek of the woman lying on the table. As Meiling said, the corpse was unusually not cold. Had some warmth.
‘Did he just die…? Or… I don’t know if it’s somehow keeping the moment of death intact… Rather… This face must be…’
The woman on the shining tombstone looked very similar to the dolls hanging on the wall. No, this is probably the original that became the motif of those dolls.
‘I heard that the reason the head of the mansion was obsessed with doll making… Was because she wanted her dead daughter back… I guess this woman is the main character.’
It didn’t seem like anything good would happen if we touched it, so we decided to get out of the secret room and go back to the room.
Then Jack screamed.
“Turn it off!!”
“This!!”
When Mei-Ling and I went outside, Jack was grabbed by a crooked, old tree-like man who looked like he was well over four meters tall, and his tentacled arm was being torn off.
The man who looked like an old tree easily fooled Jack even with his back bent and dying.
“Quaaaaa!!!!”
“This, this..!!”
I quickly pulled the bag Jack had dropped with my tentacle ejection. Jack seems to have no choice but to leave here.
“Goodbye!! Jack!!!”
“For a moment!!! Don’t leave me!!!!”
I immediately started the pocket watch. At that time, the man who threw Jack to the bookshelf drew a complicated magic circle in the air in an instant and chanted a spell.
-Push shuk…
At the same time, the pocket watch made a strange noise and stopped.
“Fuck!! It’s malfunctioning again!!”
In the future, it didn’t work because of the clones, but now it stopped working because of some unknown magic. Isn’t this a bad product? Maybe I should ask the peddlers…
“Hey… You guys… Who are you…”
As we were preparing for battle with Meiling, a man like an old tree, presumably the family head, started talking to us.
Without answering his words, I immediately tried to use Abyss Maw.
However, the skill was canceled when Gazoo whipped his hand once. This was the first time. To think that the skill would be misfired by being interfered with by mana before it could even be used…
‘Poetry, fuck…’
A cold sweat ran down my back. It seemed that Meiling had the same skill.
‘Should I call Kisseria at least?’
I think I will be destroyed first while calling…
“Impossible numbers.. Don’t work… I don’t know who I am… I dare…”
I don’t know who you are, but I think it might be someone who has reached the pinnacle of magic.
“Last chance… Who are you…?”
“Ooh, we…”
What should I answer? Intruder? A research thief? Or… Industrial espionage? Dragon hunter friend?
No matter what answer I gave, there was no answer.
“You can’t answer… These thieves… You guys… Just become my research materials…”
Should I draw a sword?
No, the opponent is a monster who instantly disables the time movement device and blocks the skill.
How far will my power go against that madman who uses magic like breathing?
Feeling a different sense of vagueness than when I faced Dragonslayer Zeke, I stopped the family tree from trying to use magic.
“For a moment!!”
“Yes…?”
“Hey, let’s make a deal!!”
“Ooh… The lab rat… Made a deal… With me…?”
“Yes.. It’s a deal!!”
I don’t know what deal to make. I thought I would die if I stayed still, so I recklessly shouted and watched it.
‘Head. I have to use my head.’
It’s not a great head, but it still has a good memory. So, you need to figure out how to avoid this situation as much as possible.
‘Innumerable dolls, broken failures, and the embalmed body of a woman who is still warm…’
There can be no way out at all… Yes, the soul extractor..!
‘There’s no way that the creator of the event would have made a future part of the House of Tremors and consumed useless amounts… It must have been meaningful..’
A soul extractor that can be obtained from the future. I wonder if this is like a hidden piece to safely get out of the mansion. Maybe this is why it sequentially blew us to different time zones.
The answer came. I shouted at the lord.
“I’ll transfer your daughter’s soul into a doll!!”
“Hmm…?”
That bastard must have made a bowl, but couldn’t he have gone mad because there was no way to transfer his soul? When I offered to transfer the soul, as if it was the correct answer, he showed interest.
“Is that… Possible..?”
The family’s reaction is not bad. It seems my suggestion worked.
“Yeah, yes! I’ll show you, hey…Give me any doll.”
“Yes.. If it is a lie… The brain will be dissected without dying…”
Fortunately, the head of household accepted my proposal, as if it was worth the money. He took out one of the dolls hanging on the wall and threw it in front of me.
Without delay, I took the Soul Extractor out of my bag.
“I don’t know who it is, but there is a woman’s soul here! I will put it in this doll.”
“Hmm.. Syringe-shaped mechanism.. Interesting.. Interesting.. Continue.”
He stroked his beard-filled chin and looked at me with curious eyes. He patiently waited for the soul to be injected into the doll.
‘Please… Go in properly..’
I inserted the needle into the doll and put all the blue ectoplasm in the soul extractor.
Ectoplasm enters without hesitation. Soon the doll glowed brightly with a blue light.
“Ohhh…!!!”
“Wow!!”
The doll rattled as the light faded.
“Ah..Aaaaa…!!”
The doll screamed. It was a husky female voice.
“@*$Ú±úÁü#*^%*…(Uh, why.. In a body like this…)”
The woman looked herself down at her palms and muttered something I couldn’t understand at all. She looked very embarrassed, probably because she was attached to the doll’s body.
“I see… For real…”
The head of the doll, who was talking nonsense halfway out of his mind, grabbed the doll’s head with both hands and broke it as it was. Soon, the doll that was talking to itself lost its head and became limp.
“As a daughter… Don’t make noise…”
The householder threw the dead doll to the place where the failed works were abandoned. The end of the unknown woman… Was quite futile.
“If you properly… Place your daughter… In the doll’s body… I’ll… Let you go…”
“Of course..!”
In any case, he gained the trust of the family head. I let out a sigh of relief. I followed the guard back to the place where the body was.
Before entering the place where the woman’s body was located, I glanced over and saw that Jack had already passed away. His neck bent in a strange way and he didn’t even move.
Unfortunately, Jack’s journey ended here.
“Well then…”
I thrust the syringe into the arm of the woman lying on the tombstone. Her pooled blood flowed slightly, and soon blue ectoplasm began to come out.
“That… My daughter’s… Soul…”
“That’s right. I have to put it in when it’s fresh.. Bring a doll to use as a bowl..”
“Ah… Of course…”
The family head picked up one of the dolls hanging on the wall and handed it to me. It was most like a dead woman.
“The most.. Painstakingly made.. Masterpiece of my life..”
“Okay. For a moment..”
I injected ectoplasm into the doll. Soon, the doll shimmered and shone and revived like the unknown woman from before. Immediately, the head of the house trembled and approached the doll.
“Ah… Aria.. My little star.. Ah…”
“Dad..?”
“Yes.. Your father.. My dear… Daughter..”
A touching father-daughter reunion.
The family head muttered and shed tears as she hugged the doll in the form of her daughter. The doll in his arms couldn’t even laugh or cry, she just silently accepted her father’s hug. Because she was a doll, there was no way to express her emotions.
“Now.. Let’s run away quickly.”
“Huh..!”
I hurriedly turned on my pocket watch before the psychopath’s wife came back to her senses.