All four walls of the entertainment room were covered in paintings. Of course, Duanmu Huai had no idea what order they were meant to be viewed in, but fortunately each painting had a number beneath it, which saved him some trouble.
After a quick scan, he realized that nearly all of them depicted ghouls.
The first painting showed Arkham City. The upper half portrayed ordinary citizens living their lives on the surface, while beneath their feet, in the sewer pipes below, groups of ghouls scurried about like rats.
The second painting showed several ghouls sneaking silently into a household. They stole the family's infant and replaced it with an ugly, malevolent little ghoul in the cradle.
In the third painting, the human baby had grown into a child, learning under the ghouls' guidance to gnaw on corpses. Meanwhile, in the split image on the other half of the canvas, the swapped ghoul child had grown up among humans. Though he looked no different from an ordinary person, the twisted, vicious expression on his face and the malicious grin said everything.
In the following paintings, the human infant raised among ghouls had become one of them. The ghoul infiltrator within human society stood atop a high mountain, passionately pointing toward Arkham City below. Behind him stood hundreds of ghouls.
After that, the paintings depicted the ghouls attacking Arkham City and slaughtering humans. They crawled up from cracks in the ground, massacring people in subway stations. They hid in park bushes, hunting passersby as prey. The entire city burned under their assault—smoke billowing, corpses strewn everywhere…
How should one put it…
Quite the daydream.
"Sir Knight? Are these paintings really that scary?"
Duanmu Huai swept his gaze across them and rolled his eyes.
Lorena blinked curiously. The scenes painted were indeed disgusting—especially the ripped-open corpses and the ghoul hordes feasting upon them. They looked disturbingly lifelike. It almost felt as though the ghouls' open jaws might snap shut at any moment, tearing flesh apart. Even just looking at the paintings, one could almost smell the heavy stench of blood.
If this were exhibited publicly, it would definitely need to be 21+. It was more nauseating than a B-grade gore film.
Disgusting? Absolutely.
Terrifying?
Well… Duanmu Huai felt that was understandable.
"For people in this world, it's scary enough."
"Is… it?"
"Of course. You have to remember, the people here don't see monsters in their daily lives. For them, even ghosts are legends."
He spread his hands helplessly.
Lorena had grown up in the Holy City. As a pilgrimage priestess, she had slain plenty of monsters. Not to mention she had been traveling with Duanmu Huai—she'd seen all kinds of demons and aberrations. Mere ghouls wouldn't faze her.
But for the people of this world?
Vampires, ghouls, ghosts—they were superstitions, fairy tales. Seeing them with their own eyes would shatter their worldview.
So while the diary's description was full of anguish, to Duanmu Huai and Lorena…
It was just this much.
Besides, this was still a beginner-level tutorial mission. So far, their enemies were only low-tier races like ghouls. No Byakhee, no Star Spawn, no Dagon. The real threats were still to come.
And as for the Great Old Ones…
In RPG terms, they were basically still fighting slimes. The final boss was far, far away.
"Alright, we've basically figured out what's going on. That Cliff guy is probably a ghoul who swapped into the human world. His goal is to lead a ghoul army to destroy Arkham City? These ghouls really have no brains. This is 2000, not 1900…"
Honestly, once Duanmu Huai understood their ambition, he was speechless.
Back in 1900, maybe their tough bodies and monstrous appearances might have worked.
But in 2000?
You dare charge at tanks?
Are you tired of living?
"Meow————!!"
As Duanmu Huai pondered, Suzune seemed to notice something. She tapped his cheek with her paw and pointed deeper into the entertainment room.
Duanmu Huai turned and saw another door.
He opened it, passed through a corridor, and reached the end. Judging by the layout, this should be a study.
Through the thick door, he could hear intermittent low growling from inside.
Without hesitation, he turned and kicked the door open.
Bang!
The door flew inward.
In the center of the blood-splattered floor was a magic circle formed from congealed blood.
Bound inside it was a middle-aged man in a well-tailored suit. His eyes were wide with pain and terror.
Outside the circle stood a figure wrapped in black robes—like a stereotypical cultist.
Several ghouls knelt at his feet, seemingly in the middle of some ritual.
They were so focused that when Duanmu Huai burst in, everyone jumped in shock.
Even the bound middle-aged man stopped struggling momentarily. He stared at Duanmu Huai—
Then rolled his eyes back and fainted.
"…."
Duanmu Huai didn't even need to check the system prompt to know what that meant.
"Who are you?!"
The black-robed man panicked at the sight of this massive brute who had smashed his way in. His body trembled uncontrollably.
But soon he seemed to recall something. He hurriedly pulled out a twisted, grotesque statue from his robe and raised it high.
"No matter who you are, you cannot stop the ritual! As long as—"
He didn't finish.
The statue suddenly exploded.
A foul-smelling mist poured out, spreading rapidly. The stench was so overwhelming that even Duanmu Huai and Lorena were forced to retreat from the room.
At the same time, a shrill scream echoed from within the fog.
A black shadow burst out, jaws wide, lunging toward Duanmu Huai!
It was a grotesque, twisted, black monster.
Over ten meters long, with a single bat-like wing. Its head wasn't snake-like—instead it resembled a massive, rotting piece of hollow spaghetti. Its body was a giant hollow tube. Its head looked like some kind of worm. When it opened its mouth, Duanmu Huai could clearly see that the entire 180-degree interior was filled with rotating, shifting rows of sharp teeth.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
An ordinary person would've panicked.
Duanmu Huai did not.
He roared and grabbed the creature's body with both arms, restraining it.
At the same time, he glanced at Lorena and the maid.
"Go grab the people inside!"
They nodded and rushed in.
Meanwhile, the massive serpent struggled violently, trying to swallow him whole.
"You've got a death wish!"
Enraged, Duanmu Huai dug his fingers deep into its flesh. A suffocating stench erupted from the wound, along with dark green blood.
The serpent writhed desperately.
Too late.
His hands pierced straight through its rubbery, shifting body. He could feel countless writhing, tentacle-like sensations inside its flesh—like hundreds of cockroaches crawling across his hands.
"Die!"
With a violent motion, he tore it in half.
The monster screamed, collapsed, and melted into a foul puddle of viscous sludge.
"Tch. What a hassle."
Duanmu Huai brushed the disgusting slime off his chest.
No weapons was inconvenient.
Too bad there were no thunder hammers or chainswords here. Fighting barehanded wasn't ideal.
And his shooting skill was basically negative.
Seems he'd need to find a suitable weapon after this mission.
At this point, things were essentially resolved.
The sacrificial middle-aged man—his distant relative, the unlucky art dealer—was rescued.
The black-robed cultist was Cliff.
Unfortunately for him, when he summoned the serpent with the statue, he lost control—and the creature bit off half his body.
The remaining ghouls were smashed to death by Lorena's holy scripture.
Afterward, Duanmu Huai called the police.
Why not call earlier?
Simple.
In places where unspeakable creatures manifest, the boundary between reality and nightmare destabilizes. Communication—phone or otherwise—usually doesn't work until the disturbance is eliminated and space stabilizes.
The police soon arrived to investigate.
Duanmu Huai handed over the clues and evidence he had collected.
This was crucial.
Clues and evidence not only affected the system's mission rating, but also influenced how the police in this world viewed him.
If the evidence was solid, they'd believe his actions were justified.
If not?
Breaking into someone's house and wrecking everything—
Straight to jail.
Since this was only a beginner-level stage, it was trivial for an old hand like Duanmu Huai.
Soon, a detective approached him.
"Good evening, sir."
The detective looked slightly nervous facing someone several heads taller than him.
"We've cross-checked the clues and evidence you provided. Everything is confirmed…"
"So, may I leave now?"
"Of course. However… we have a small request."
"Oh?"
Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow. He already knew what was coming.
"What request?"
"Would you be interested in assisting the police as an investigator?"
(End of Chapter)