Hearing Captain Lake speak, Duanmu Huai and Professor Pamar returned to the cabin. Then Captain Lake brought them to the radio station and handed them a pair of headphones.
"This is what we just received."
"..."
Duanmu Huai and Professor Pamar exchanged a glance, then took the headphones and put them to their ears. Soon, they heard a fragmented transmission coming through.
"This is Geo… we are under… no… help…"
Aside from a few barely discernible words at the beginning and middle, the rest was nothing but static. Hearing this, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow but said nothing, while Professor Pamar looked at the captain in confusion.
"What's going on?"
"I'm not sure either. It might be from the team that came here earlier…"
"Understood. We'll go check it out when the time comes."
Duanmu Huai gave his answer calmly. He had already more or less guessed what had happened.
Clearly, those idiot cultists had screwed themselves over.
Wasn't that normal? Foolish mortals always think they can manipulate Outer Gods with their own strength, but in reality, they simply don't have that ability. Investigators stop them not to block their ambitions—because those ambitions are doomed to fail anyway—but to prevent these idiots from dragging everyone else down with them when they inevitably lose control.
That's right, their ambitions are bound to fail.
Not "likely"—inevitable.
The reason is simple: most of these cultists perceive the thoughts of Outer Gods through inspiration, then convince themselves they've discovered the truth of the world, and start trying to please these entities to achieve their goals.
But in reality… what they perceive is like blind men feeling an elephant.
That's right. The human mind simply cannot fully comprehend the existence and essence of Outer Gods. They can only sense the fragment they're capable of perceiving. Just like in this world, many artists can sense the dreams of Outer Gods and paint all sorts of grotesque creatures—then assume these are evil omens or manifestations of indescribable darkness.
But if you think about it another way… maybe what you sensed was just a random nightmare of an Outer God.
Like a person dreaming of being surrounded by flies, or dreaming their house suddenly explodes… trying to interpret reality from the ramblings of an Outer God's dream is about as ridiculous as trying to solve the Goldbach Conjecture using your college roommate's sleep-talking.
In fact, many adventures follow this same pattern. Players, acting as investigators, track down cult conspiracies step by step, eventually reaching the site of the final ritual. They confront the cultists—but suddenly, the cultists receive a revelation from their god, declaring that the investigator is the key to completing the ritual, and must make the final choice.
So a whole group of cultists just stands there like idiots, watching as the outcome of their painstaking ritual is handed over to the very investigator who's been hunting them…
It's no different from a dream. People often have similar experiences in dreams: imagining a group performing a ritual to please them, then someone interrupts, and out of curiosity they let that person decide the outcome. It makes no logical sense in reality—but dreams don't follow logic.
Although they received that strange radio signal, the group didn't alter their course. After all, this was Antarctica—before worrying about others, they had to ensure their own safety.
So they proceeded as planned, departing from the icebreaker and heading to Queen Elizabeth Station, beginning the work of cleaning and preparing the research base. In Antarctica, even unused stations didn't get particularly dirty. As long as the facilities functioned properly, that was enough.
Fortunately, their luck was good. Not long after they entered the station, a sudden blizzard swept in, forcing everyone indoors before they even had the chance to properly admire Antarctica's blue skies and white clouds.
"Haah…"
Lying in bed and staring at the howling blizzard outside, Mary let out a soft sigh. From the beginning until now, everything felt like a dream. It had started as a small incident in the Fog City—yet somehow she had ended up in Antarctica?
Even now, Mary found it hard to believe. She almost suspected it was all a dream—that perhaps when she woke up tomorrow morning, she'd still be in her warm, comfortable apartment, heading to school with Ashe and Shari, going to Mrs. Leeds' restaurant for afternoon tea, telling them about this dream… only for Shari to tease her, and the three of them to chat about Ashe's fiancé…
As she thought about it, Mary slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Compared to Mary, who fell asleep from exhaustion amid the blizzard, someone else was far more energetic.
"I-I'm finally alive again…!"
Lorena practically raised both hands high, as if praising the goddess.
"By the Goddess, I'm alive again!"
"Honestly, I never expected you to get seasick."
Watching Lorena—who had been like a dead fish the entire journey and was now suddenly fully revived—Duanmu Huai shook his head. Clearly, this was some kind of extremely specific weakness.
After all, ever since she started following him, Lorena had ridden in carriages, gunships, starships, cars, trains, airships, airplanes—all without issue.
And yet the moment she got on this icebreaker, she completely broke down.
You don't get seasick in outer space, but you get seasick here?
At that point, it could only be called fate.
"Ugh… I didn't expect it either…"
Recalling the days on the icebreaker, Lorena's face turned pale again.
"Sir Knight, can I apply to swim back on the return trip? I think that would feel better…"
Judging by her expression, she might actually be capable of swimming from Antarctica back to Tierra del Fuego.
"I've already had a maid prepare a plane. Don't worry."
Duanmu Huai reassured her quietly. To be honest, he didn't really want to take a ship again either…
"Okay… By the way, Sir Knight, what are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm tracking where those idiots went."
Duanmu Huai held a map of Antarctica, marking it up as he spoke. The map showed the locations of various research stations and some explored regions. But for him, that wasn't the important part.
He first marked a massive mountain range at 76°15′ south latitude and 113°10′ east longitude—higher than the Himalayas—then drew a continuous chain extending westward. Hidden within those mountains lay one of the sacred locations players longed to visit but rarely could—
The ancient city left behind by the Elder Things, and beneath it, a slumbering, grotesque race that had slept for tens of millions of years.
Shoggoths.
From the earlier radio signal, that research station was located not far from the Mountains of Madness. In other words, those cultists had chosen the closest route to the mountains.
At this point, whether they were killed by Shoggoths, killed by Shoggoths, or killed by Shoggoths…
Well, there weren't really any other possibilities.
It wasn't like Duanmu Huai would arrive to find those idiots holding hands with Shoggoths around a campfire.
Queen Elizabeth Station, where Duanmu Huai's group was located, was relatively far away. Clearly, they'd need a plane to get there.
Of course, for Duanmu Huai, that wasn't a problem. As soon as the weather cleared, he could have a maid fly in and take them over.
If not for the need to transport supplies via icebreaker…
…well, too late to complain about that now.
"How's Mary's situation?"
"Keep an eye on her. If her friend's soul is really here, I think it will resonate with Mary in some way."
Duanmu Huai looked at the map and tapped a spot with his finger.
"If that's the case, then we'll have to rely on the Golden Eyes to guide us."
He spoke calmly.
At times like this… one just had to trust in the power of friendship.
…It should be friendship, right?
The cold wind howled.
Snow-laden gusts battered the window as Mary lay fast asleep, as usual. For her, this was just another dream—but at the same time, it was completely different.
At some point, the roaring blizzard turned into the sound of light rain. When Mary came to her senses, she found herself holding an umbrella, standing on a street in the Fog City.
There was no one around. It felt as though she had been walking back to her apartment, then suddenly snapped back to awareness.
But soon, Mary realized something was wrong.
This wasn't the Fog City she knew. This was another world—the one where she had once struggled and fled desperately.
Standing at a crossroads, she looked around. Everywhere she saw was covered in a faint mist, obscuring all buildings and scenery.
Then suddenly, she spotted a flicker of light in the distance.
She hurried forward, crossing the intersection, walking down the street, arriving at the entrance of an alley.
"Mary…"
At that moment, a voice she knew better than any other echoed in her ears.
"Shari? Where are you?"
Gripping her umbrella tightly, Mary called out loudly. Soon, a series of hurried footsteps rang out again, and this time she didn't hesitate, chasing after the sound at a near run.
"Don't come any further, Mary."
Shari's voice was intermittent, filled with sorrow.
"No, Shari…!"
Mary refused to stop. Gritting her teeth, she ran forward, plunging through the thick mist—
—and in the next moment, a freezing wind and snow blasted against her face. She instinctively halted and looked ahead.
She was no longer in the Fog City.
Instead, she stood on the edge of a towering mountain cliff. Below it lay a vast, bizarre, twisted city—unlike anything she had ever seen—filled with impossible, multidimensional structures.
It stretched endlessly, as though it ruled everything.
At that moment, Shari's voice sounded again.
"Don't come… go back, Mary…"
"No, Shari, where are you? I—"
Before she could finish—
The cliff beneath her feet suddenly collapsed.
"———————"
Mary's eyes flew open as she jolted upright.
Outside, the blizzard still raged.
"Shari…"
Staring at the storm beyond the window, Mary clenched her teeth.
"I will find you."
No more fever, but my stomach still feels bad—nausea, sweating easily, drinking too much water makes me want to vomit… for now, I'll update one chapter a day… let's see when it improves… the rhinitis is still there.
(End of Chapter)