I was definitely trying to resolve this quietly.

At this point, it seemed impossible for rumors not to spread.

But it wasnt entirely a bad thing either.

Whether it was notoriety or any other form of fame, it served to elevate a fixers reputation. This, in turn, led to higher levels of compensation and more important quests.

Lee Chang-hyuk was causing an uproar beyond imagination.

With this level of commotion, even the slowest informants would undoubtedly know of me.

[Leap]

On the surface of the black hooded sweatshirt I was wearing, two trails of light shone like neon signs. One was purple and the other was blue.

They were a kind of magic circuit that could evolve into magic circles.

I created them hastily without considering the symmetry or aesthetic aspects that mages obsessively maintain, and they ended up looking like scrawled graffiti.

Still, they had a certain graffiti-like coolness to them. Ah, but this wasnt the time to be concerned with such things.

The purple circuit wrapped around my body endowed me with surreal leaping ability.

Whoosh

I jumped through the window and reached the roof of the building on the other side. The movement was more akin to flight than a leap.

The blue circuit glowed, compensating for my lack of agility and aiding in posture control.

Thanks to this additional circuit, I could perform feats beyond just explosive leaping power.

I pursued Lee Chang-hyuk while jumping from one rooftop to another across the city.

Wherever I went, dazzling trails of light that looked like neon signs trailed behind me.

Whoosh-

I leaped across a rooftop.

Thud, tap-tap- whoosh.

Then I took another leap forward using an unstable signboard as a stepping stone.

I moved freely between the dark citys sky and the buildings rooftops.

This was almost on the level of a superhero. I might be able to fly if I level up more, but this feeling is quite satisfying as it is.

Gwaoooooo!

Boom! Bang bang bang!

Such a commotion in the middle of the night.

Having transformed into a half-human, half-beast monster, Lee Chang-hyuk acted without any semblance of reason.

He simply ran in any direction he could and destroyed anything that hindered him.

He was likely fleeing in madness but his rampage made tracking him easy enough.

I could snipe him from a distance but I needed to get close enough to avoid any problems.

Now this distance should do. I was just about 15 meters away from Lee Chang-hyuk.

Having reached the rooftop in front of the alley he was running through, I positioned myself and shouted.

Hey, Lee Chang-hyuk!

As he ran, Lee Chang-hyuk looked up at me. It seems he recognizes his own name, at least.

My eyes met his long and horizontal pupils that looked like those of a mountain goat. His appearance was more demonic than beastly.

White foam was dribbling from the corners of his mouth.

Before he could make another move, my spell was ready.

Die, you bastard!

[Lightning Strike]

Rumble-

An intense light flashed brilliantly.

A bolt of lightning that was forcibly drawn from the sky cascaded down with a chilling flash. And then

Boom!!

The thunder followed the light belatedly. It was a spell that summoned the very essence of natural lightning. It must have been excruciatingly painful.

Arghhh!

Excess electricity sparked and surged around Lee Chang-hyuk.

The ground around him was completely scorched black, but he hadnt lost his spirit yet.

Realizing he could no longer flee, he began to thrash about desperately.

He grabbed a parked car nearby with his large hands and hurled it towards me.

Ah, stop throwing things!

[Fireball]

Whoosh Boom!

I first countered the flying car with a fireball, stopping it in its tracks Now its my turn, isnt it? Time for a game of catch!

[Shockwave]

[Invisible Hand]

Boom!

I pushed the exploding car back in mid-air, sending it flying back towards him!

The now-burning car hurtled towards him with even more menacing force.

Gwaaaaah!

You think that will stop it, dumbass?

[Soundwave Refraction]

[Spell Enhancement: Range Increase]

A magic circle of soundwave refraction materialized right in front of his nose. The shock wave generated from the creatures snout vanished futilely in the light of the magic circle.

Kwaang!

And then the car that was flying towards him crushed his body with its immense flame and weight.

At the same time

[Fireball]

[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]

A fireball far larger than before formed in the air. I felt almost as if I were summoning and hurling the sun itself.

Gooo

Having maximized its firepower, a foreboding noise emanated from the fireball itself. Anyway, this was going to be the end.

Kwaang!!!

An enormous explosion and heat swirled for a long time. The surrounding asphalt melted and boiled.

The car that had crushed him was completely flattened and bounced far away, while he lay there, completely charred.

Still, he was incredibly tough. His extremities, like fingers, were crushed, but he still writhed with his limbs reasonably intact.

Guoo Grrrrr

Things were roughly sorted out.

But should I even say this was a success

The request was to retrieve Lee Chang-hyuk along with the security bag containing the test subject, right?

From the Helistic company perspective, Lee Chang-hyuk who mutated by fusing with the test subject may also have some use.

However, they would probably come up with all sorts of excuses to blame me for the failure of the mission, wouldnt they?

After all this effort, I couldnt accept it ending as an unpaid service.

I momentarily fiddled with the ring on my finger while looking down at Lee Chang-hyuk, who was in a near-death state.

A human mutated by the blessing of Shub-Niggurath

Several ideas came to mind. But would that work? Such an idea would be impossible to execute in the game.

But somehow, I felt that it might be possible.

Up until now, I had cleared various challenges based on my experience as a gamer.

However, the idea that had just occurred to me was something difficult to conceive with the mindset of viewing this world as a game.

Is this inspiration thanks to the intelligence of 30?

Originally, the concept of mutating using a quest item was also an idea that couldnt be realized in the game.

Hooo

Alright. Theres no harm in trying.

I jumped down from the roof and approached Lee Chang-hyuks body.

Intense heat rose from the now sticky asphalt ground. It was so intense that an ordinary person would have struggled to breathe in such temperature.

Yet, thanks to my fire resistance, I felt no discomfort from the heat.

Ah, but that wasnt the case for my mask. I quickly channeled magical power to protect it.

Ugh this is so inconvenient.

Id have to make time later to change or upgrade the mask.

As I approached, Lee Chang-hyuk barely managed to gasp for air, unable to move.

Hmm still, just to be safe

I never thought Id use it in this situation, but it was a good idea to keep it anyway.

I opened my backpack and took out the straps I had packed.

There were six of them that were torn from the straitjacket earlier in the day. These brown leather straps fluttered in the air.

Before the straps hit the ground, I extended my hand and infused them with a bright green magical power.

[Hardening]

[Entangling Rope]

The straps, now imbued with magical power, slithered like snakes and they coiled around Lee Chang-hyuks body.

Since they were hardened by magical power, they were unlikely to catch fire or break easily.

I slowly reached out my hand towards him and then I pushed magical power into the Ring of Corrupted Flames.

He let out a death-like groan and thrashed a few times, but he couldnt escape.

Hey, stay still for a moment.

It seemed like an impossible task at first, but I somehow felt like I could do it

The blessing of [The Black Goat of a Thousand Young]

I began to expel the power of [The Living Flame].

In the world of [Cthulhu], there were various spells, but I had never seen magic used in such a way.

However, by combining the effects of individual spells it seemed possible.

This was something I had learned while actually using magic. It was more than just clicking a button.

[Prayer of Protection]

[Elevation]

[Gesture of Guardianship]

Magic circles of various colors began to emerge around my body.

[Elevation] would awaken Lee Chang-hyuks weakened body and mind.

[Prayer of Protection] would cling to Lee Chang-hyuks soul, which was under the control of an outer goddess.

[Gesture of Guardianship] would protect Lee Chang-hyuk from the intense treatment about to begin.at least his human part.

[Power Expulsion]

[Regeneration]

New spells were activated. The magic circles orbited around me, each responding to the effects of the others.

[Regeneration] would provide the power to revert his transformed body back to human form.

[Power Expulsion] was a spell to drive out the influence of the outer goddess. However, it was a first-order spell with only the effect of driving out evil spirits. It wasnt enough on its own.

[Word of Power]

[Word of Power] was a spell to temporarily control a human weaker than myself. It would only allow him to carry out simple commands I vocalized but now I needed Lee Chang-hyuks strength too.

Lee Chang-hyuk, return to your human form.

In the process of using and fusing spells, an inspiration I had never experienced before emerged.

It felt like a fountain of light had burst inside my head. Such ecstasy arose. the kind only realized when an expectation turns into reality.

As I had previously thought, I became capable of not only what I could do but also what I had believed impossible.

A new spell was completed.

[The Flame that Burns Sin].

Such a spell did not exist in [Cthulhu World]. Moreover, it wasnt a spell that a first-order mage could activate.

Using the Ring of Corrupted Flame, which allowed the activation of some fire attribute spells regardless of hierarchy, I forcibly drew in the abundant heat around me.

It was akin to borrowing the power of [Living Flame], a being from the abyss I was certain I could draw it out.

It seemed absurd, but it turned out to be easier than expected. With an intelligence of 30, it seems I can do almost anything.

Whoosh

From the tips of Lee Chang-hyuks feet, white flames began to rise.

The flames burned only the non-human parts of his body.

The areas the fire passed over were reverting back to human form.

[System: The unique trait Feast Offering has been activated. Being of the Abyss: Living Flame is showing interest in you.]

What? Just because I used a bit of its power, its come to watch? I felt the hairs on my forearm stand on end.

I heightened my [Enhanced Vigilance] trait and scanned the surroundings, but there were no significant changes. Was it just observing?

Damn it, watch or dont watch. This is the crucial part. If I intended to just burn it away I wouldnt have started this in the first place.

[Liquid Manipulation] [Restraint]

[Evil Gaze]

[Cold Bone Prison]

This time, there were four spells.

[Evil Gaze] minimized the influence of the outer goddess.

[Liquid Manipulation] and [Restraint] crystallized the silver goats fluid that had spread throughout Lee Chang-hyuks body.

Lastly, [Cold Bone Prison] created a barrier from the netherworld

Sweat trickled down the back of my neck. I felt slightly dizzy.

This was a task of a completely different caliber than picking a mere lock. I was extracting a mythical being, fused at the cellular level, from a human body

Crackle Fizz

From Lee Chang-hyuks head, the unpleasant sound of skin being torn away reached my ears. Lee Chang-hyuk-ssi please sacrifice a bit of your scalp as the cost of your life.

Crunch.

The completely separated fluid of the black goat was trapped in a geometrically shaped barrier created in mid-air as it writhed grotesquely.

Well, indeed. It worked.

I wiped the sweat trickling down my neck and pulled the floating barrier toward me.

The task was a complete success. It wasnt for nothing that I saved Lee Chang-hyuk.

It didnt matter to me whether this guy lived or died. However, had I not separated the fluid from his body, the quest would have been deemed a failure.

If it had been utterly impossible, that would be one thing. But if its doable, its better to do it.