OJTTEG-Chapter 26: The Golden Finger Arrives!

It doesn't even hurt?

"Am I already dead?"

"Of course not, I pulled you into this space!" A somewhat irritating voice sounds from behind him.

Haunter turns around to see a mass of ancient god's body, swaying like seaweed. In front of him is a huge screen, displaying his own perspective.

"So it's you! The Seaweed God!"

"Call me Nyarlathotep!" The figure pulls down sharply on a cone-shaped object in its hand.

"Pop!"

A few small streamers burst out, landing on Haunter's head.

"The newbie gift pack is here!"

"Isn't this gift a bit late? If this were a game, players would be furious!"

Haunter resists the urge to punch this guy in front of him.

"Too bad I'm about to die. Doesn't that make this gift pointless?"

"You can get this gift pack as long as you play enough pranks. Didn't I tell you?"

"Are you sure you didn't erase my memory of anything mysterious along with it?" Haunter replies coolly, "I don't remember at all."

"Oh! Is that so?" The tentacles floating in the air scratch the terrifying-looking head.

"Hey! I can't even use the gift pack now."

Haunter raises an index finger, feigning surprise, "Since I'm about to die, why don't I give you the gift pack? Try the newbie gift pack!"

Who needs a belated golden finger?

It's like having a poop in your pants and someone handing you a roll of toilet paper afterward—what's the use?

"Don't make that face," the god waves a hand nonchalantly. "Let me explain it again."

"I'll engrave a number on your wrist that only you can see. It'll increase when you play pranks. When it reaches 100, you can offer it to me. If you stay inactive for a while..."

"I'll die?"

"The number will drop quickly, reaching zero within a day. Then you'll die."

"How will I know if it's dropping?" Haunter raises his middle finger. "If it hits zero while I'm asleep, I'm done for."

"You'll know. Your wrist will heat up until you wake and see the number. You have a day to restore it to its previous level to stop it from falling. You can check your progress in the room."

Sounds challenging.

Wait, why does this sound like a game tutorial?

Nyarlathotep steps aside, revealing a table with five masks on it.

"Choose a mask to wear. You'll temporarily gain unlimited revival and some of my powers, with a random time limit."

"A time limit? What's the minimum? Not three minutes, right?"

"Not that much, it's 10 seconds."

"So when you said 'not that much,' you meant not that much time!"

"Exactly."

"Can't I wear them all at once?"

"Won't work, all five masks have the same effect."

"Then what's the point of having five choices?"

"Fun. I thought I'd give you some options."

Ha, if I make it out alive, I'm eating ten bowls of seaweed in one go.

"How do I know I'm still alive?" Haunter keeps rubbing his temples. Talking to this guy is a real headache.

"It's simple. As long as you can think, silently say my name, and you'll arrive in this room. You can stay here until your brain completely shuts down. Pick a mask you like, put it on, and you can leave."

"Why do I have to choose a mask? Can't I just leave directly?"

"Sure," Nyarlathotep's tentacles all point to one place.

It's a toilet.

"A space-time transporter!"

"That's just an ordinary toilet!"

"Anyway, just sit on it and pull the chain, and you'll return to reality."

"Who designed this toilet?"

"Of course, it was me."

"You really are an abstract god!"

"Whether I'm abstract or not doesn't matter, but you're almost done in by a little vampire," Nyarlathotep teases.

"What could I do? For someone who's never faced a vampire, managing this much is quite impressive, right?" Haunter sighs. Imagining and actually doing are worlds apart. It's frustrating to have prepared so much and still barely survive.

"If you can't handle it, find someone else! Could anyone else deal with this vampire as well as I did?"

"And what if there is someone?"

"Then bring them on!" Haunter throws up his hands, sitting on the toilet and pulling the handle, arguing back fiercely before he gets flushed away, "Replace me! Bury me, I beg you!"

"I refuse, because you're my best choice." Nyarlathotep floats beside him.

"One more question."

"Go ahead."

"You mentioned taking away my negative emotions. What does that actually mean?"

"Did I let that slip? Alright, let me explain. I only take away the emotions that would lead to a loss of sanity."

The mass of seaweed-like tentacles floats for a moment, giving a clear answer.

"For example, you lack the primal fears inherent in humans... Essentially, you'll always remain rational; madness will never touch you."

……

Haunter watches the black-haired girl sipping his blood, a sly grin slowly forming on his lips.

Can you guess why I suddenly have this "I'm counting on you for everything" look?

Of course, I have ulterior motives!

Drink up, because once you leave, I'll make sure you never see me again in this lifetime.

College girls are the easiest to fool... Actually, anyone who hasn't entered society yet is easy to deceive.

Step 1: Let her finish drinking my blood and go rescue Ormond.

Step 2: Use Nyarlathotep's mask when I'm on the brink of death.

Step 3: Find a way to blow up this ruin, preferably engulf it in flames until it's reduced to ashes.

Gasoline? Plenty of cars around here.

Then I can head to another city overnight, to that orphanage in the northern part of the Arkham Federation.

If I remember correctly, there's a place there that makes fake documents. Just find the director, spend a little money, and you get a whole set of papers—it's a full-service package.

Not bad, really.

No wonder it's an orphanage! Such a wide range of services—truly a nice place.

Wait a minute.

Feeling a bit dizzy. Why do my arms look so thin? Is this what happens when you lose too much blood?

Losing a third of your blood makes you start to lose consciousness. This little one sure drinks fast. More noticeably, her body is starting to heal. Haunter can even hear the sound of flesh and blood regenerating.