Free Web NovelChapter 47: Chapter 47
Countless system windows flooded my vision.
I stared at them through blurry eyes.
◆ <Han Goyo> Epic Quest: Close 3 Trials within one month.
Trials currently closed (2/3)
(Warning! Failure will result in dismemberment! Success will keep all limbs intact.)
’Han Goyo’ has made a name for themselves in Akasha!
■■ ■■■ continues to watch you.
Current Recognition: 0.1%
Trial <Clean! Clean! Clean!> has concluded.
The Trial will be permanently closed in 80 seconds.
You are the Top Contributor of <Clean! Clean! Clean!>.
You may take ’1’ item.
Item selection complete.
My vision cleared a little.
After reading through all the system windows that had appeared, nothing new surfaced.
Probably because nothing could surface.
The opening sequence of a new Trial was playing.
A choir of boys and girls swelled in the background.
Clear voices singing a sacred hymn to the accompaniment of an organ and strings — each note steeped in sorrow.
A dreamy funeral march of a song played as ’I’ stepped off a train billowing smoke.
I smoothed my rumpled suit with my hands — wrinkled from sitting too long — and looked out at the city before me.
’I’ was a reporter working for a small newspaper in London, sent to a tiny country town called Morneveil for an assignment.
The city was wrapped in a pale fog like a shroud, filled with a distinctive gloom.
Officially, ’I’ had come to investigate a mysterious string of disappearances happening here.
But I didn’t need to come all the way to Morneveil for a reason like that.
London had far more sensational and interesting incidents happening all the time.
If I wanted material for an article, London would have been the better choice.
The truth was, ’I’ had heard a story.
That the disappearances here were serial murders committed by a cult hiding in the city — and that they were trying to summon a god from beyond the Earth through human sacrifice.
’I’, who had always been interested in the occult, reached out to the people I suspected were part of the cult.
When I said I wanted to cover their group, surprisingly, they agreed readily.
And so, invited by the cult, ’I’ came to Morneveil.
"Are you the Little Lamb?"
The woman who came to pick me up was kind and gentle.
She drove me around the city, introducing Morneveil in a friendly voice.
Then she stopped the car in front of an old hotel.
"This is a hotel run by our order. Everyone will make sure you’re comfortable during your stay."
"Does this mean I’m a member now?"
I put on a serious face and joked — she burst into cheerful laughter.
"Of course not. We only accept those who sincerely wish to join. But feel free to look around."
Her eyes sparkled.
"I’m looking forward to your coverage, Little Lamb. I hope we get along."
She left. After checking into the hotel, ’I’ was finally alone.
As soon as I set my luggage down in the room, a system window appeared.
’Han Goyo (Little Lamb)’ has entered <Call of the Void>!
Finally regaining my free will, I staggered to the window and wrenched it open.
Cool outside air flooded the dim room, but the nausea churning in my stomach didn’t settle easily.
I took a deep breath.
My hands, which had been trembling uncontrollably, steadied.
I dropped onto the sofa in the room.
Watching dust motes drift through the air, I began sorting through the chaos in my head, one piece at a time.
’Clean3... is it closed?’
I’d definitely cleared it with a True Ending.
But I couldn’t be sure Clean3 was actually closed.
Because in the final moment, the butlers hadn’t disappeared.
They’d forced me into a new Trial.
And what they’d said then pointed toward a reunion.
"We’ll be waiting for the day we return home with the Master."
"We’ll wait, Little Lamb."
I covered my face with my hands.
I’d promised them I’d find their Master — I never expected that promise to boomerang back like this.
That Trial had been strange from the start.
It was connected to the records of a game I’d played in the past, so I’d fully accounted for the possibility of anomalies.
But NPCs not disappearing even after reaching the ending?
That was impossible under the structural rules of a Trial that followed game logic.
It felt like everything I knew about Trials was crumbling.
Even the name I used in the Trial had changed.
’It said the tutorial was complete. Is that related?’
I tried to speculate, but the system window was unresponsive, so nothing worked.
And of all the Trials to enter, it had to be <Call of the Void>...
"...Hah."
Letting out a short sigh, I pushed myself off the sofa.
’First, clear it and get out.’
I checked the system window floating before me.
◆ <Call of the Void> Main Quest: Investigate the secret of Morneveil and make a choice.
The quest window looked very different from usual.
Normally, a lengthy quest description would scroll below, but now it was just a brief statement.
The objective was vague and unintuitive.
If I hadn’t played this game before, I’d have no idea what to do.
’That’s weird. Come on, show me the proper window.’
I tried talking to it in my head, but no response.
Seemed like it was broken again.
As always, it never showed up when I needed it.
At least the system window was appearing at all — I supposed I had to be satisfied with that.
I tried to check Je Hyun-oh and the Captains’ status windows, but again, no response.
Cursing the system window’s uselessness, I recalled what I knew.
This game — called Call of the Void for short, or CallVo — was an interactive game where the story branched based on choices.
When you start playing, you have to choose between two routes.
Stop the cult’s plot to summon an Outer God from beyond Earth — or become their leader and summon the Outer God yourself.
In the former, you expose the cult’s brutal human sacrifices as a reporter. In the latter, you join the cult, rise to the position of leader, and summon the head of the Outer Gods.
I’d played both routes to see every ending.
I knew the game’s content and how to play it well, but there was one critical problem.
I didn’t know the True Ending of Call of the Void. freewёbnoνel.com
It wasn’t because the game was boring or too hard that I gave up halfway.
The Creator’s games were always interesting, and I especially liked Call of the Void for its unique setting.
But the reason I never saw the True Ending was frustratingly anticlimactic.
While progressing through the Cult Leader route, after summoning what I assumed was the head Outer God, the game just... stopped.
The screen went black, unresponsive, and only a somber funeral march kept playing.
When I told the Creator about it at the time, they said it was an error in an unfinished game and suggested I play something else first.
I had no choice but to move on to another game, and afterward, I kept waiting for Call of the Void to be completed.
’And now I’m suddenly face-to-face with it.’
I’d never played the True Ending, but I guessed it involved becoming the cult leader and summoning the Outer God.
I was sure of it because I’d played every other ending.
But this time, I was giving up on the True Ending.
’Who knows what might happen.’
The butlers had sent me to wherever their Master was.
There was no way that Master was just an ordinary NPC.
Given how the powerful butlers served them with such loyalty, they had to be an incredible being — and I had no idea what kind of anomaly I’d face if I ran into them.
’If I become the cult leader and summon the Outer God, that Master NPC might get summoned too...’
I was going to choose the ending where I escape Morneveil as a reporter.
As for my promise to the butlers — someday, somewhere down the line, I’d make it happen.
Maybe I could re-enter Call of the Void later, after I’d gotten stronger.
But not now.
There was also the Epic Quest to close three Trials within a month, but I’d think about that after getting out.
To proceed with the Reporter Route, there was one thing I needed to do first.
Win over the key NPC — ’Dr. Dominic’ — to my side.
He was a psychiatrist running a small clinic. Originally, in peaceful Morneveil, he had little to do and lived quietly.
But as the cult’s influence grew, people thrown into chaos started visiting his clinic, dragging him into the incident.
I absolutely had to recruit him as an ally from the early stages to make the Reporter Route’s Exposure Ending possible.
Because he had the ability to break the cult’s brainwashing.
I checked outside the window.
The sun hadn’t set yet, so the doctor’s clinic should still be open.
I was about to dash out of the hotel when I stopped and looked at the mirror.
I needed to tidy up my appearance a bit so I didn’t look like a patient to Dr. Dominic.
Since the game was set in a fictional British city at the end of the 19th century, my clothes were a classic suit.
A frock coat, vest, and trousers — a ditto suit. My reflection looked unfamiliar.
I wiped the cold sweat from my face with a handkerchief and smoothed my disheveled hair.
Finally, I buttoned the shirt button that had been left undone, then left the room.
A system window appeared.
First choice. Which path will you take?
- As a reporter, investigate the cult of Morneveil and uncover their secrets. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
- Become a cultist, join the cult of Morneveil, and explore their secrets. (This choice cannot be changed midway.)
It was the choice for which route to take.
You could switch from the Reporter Route to the Cultist Route, but not the other way around.
Without hesitation, I chose the Reporter Route.
Begin collecting evidence to expose the cult’s secrets as a reporter.
Then, as soon as I stepped outside the hotel, another choice appeared.
You have exited the hotel. Where would you like to go?
- Shopping district
- City Hall
- Plaza
Only the places I’d seen while riding with the cult woman were available as options.
I chose the Plaza, and my body moved on its own.
I bought a newspaper from a newsboy in the plaza.
Then I flipped through it until I found what I was looking for.
An advertisement for Dr. Dominic’s clinic.
<A Sanctuary for the Weary Souls of Modern Times — Dr. Dominic’s Clinic!>
Is your night troubled?
For the lost souls amid the city’s noise, Dr. Dominic’s Clinic has opened its doors.
Through hypnotherapy based on the latest medical theories and psychological relaxation techniques, we promise to thoroughly wash away the primal fears and anxieties hidden within you.
Dr. Dominic listens to your voice.
Visit us now and reclaim your inner peace!
- Specialties: Insomnia, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, delusions, emotional instability, etc.
- Location: End of Willow Forest Path, western outskirts of Morneveil.
After reading the ad, I left the plaza, and a new choice appeared.
You have exited the plaza. Where would you like to go?
- Hotel
- Shopping district
- City Hall
- Dr. Dominic’s Clinic
I chose the clinic, and my body moved on its own again.
The clinic was located on the outskirts — quite a distance away.
A car would have been convenient, but apparently because of the ’poor reporter with shallow pockets’ setting, ’I’ walked.
After a brisk walk, a modest house came into view.
A Victorian-style house built from faded wood, using the first floor as a clinic and the second as a residence.
A well-tended garden with a gravel path led up to the house.
A car was parked in front — maybe a patient had come for treatment.
I walked carefully along the gravel path toward the doctor’s clinic.
The crunch of stones under my shoes grated against the quiet.
I reached for the brass door knocker, about to knock — when I heard a voice from inside.
"Oh, it’s all thanks to your treatment, Doctor!"
The lively voice was probably a patient who’d visited the clinic.
She seemed to be talking to the doctor at the door before leaving.
The patient spoke in a bright voice.
"Before, so many people were talking to me inside my head every single day. It was truly agonizing. I couldn’t even function normally. But after your treatment, the auditory hallucinations and delusions all disappeared."
I held my breath, listening.
Had Dominic treated a cult member brainwashed by the cult?
But something felt off.
"Now I only hear your voice in my head, Doctor! I only think about you!"
...What?
’I don’t think she’s fully cured yet.’
Maybe she needed more treatment.
But contrary to my thoughts, the patient continued happily.
"All that unnecessary suffering I trapped myself in before... I’m so happy now, Doctor."
The emotion in her voice was genuine.
I sensed something was wrong.
Quietly, I let go of the door knocker and stepped back.
Just as I turned to flee —
The front door opened.
"Watch your step, Miss Mary."
A deep, refined voice.
A woman in an hourglass-style dress with a cinched waist hurried out.
Then from behind her.
He appeared.
...
With trembling eyes, I slowly looked up.
Bending his head low to pass through the doorway — far too low for his height — the man spotted me.
"Hello! Haven’t seen you before."
He smiled gently and offered his hand.
"I’m Dominic."
The man introducing himself as Dr. Dominic.
An NPC I’d never seen in Call of the Void.
And he was —
Three meters tall.
