LotM: Surviving as a Marionette

After stuffing the written note into an unexpected location within the dormitory campus, Don watched as the mission progress bar filled up completely, and it was finished.

[Mission information has been updated.]

[Side Mission: Establish a Secret Organization (Second Phase).]

[Please establish comprehensive rules and regulations for the secret organization!]

[Mission Reward: Mystery Gift Box×1]

[Mission Status: Completed.]

[Reward has been distributed.]

[This side mission has entered the third phase.]

[Side Mission: Establish a Secret Organization (Third Phase)]

[Having good rules and regulations is a quality that a secret organization should possess! After all, an organization that's not public, not transparent, and has no promotion opportunities... oh, to put it bluntly, who the hell would want to join such a crappy organization... Of course, this isn't referring to you, but you should also know that the development of a secret organization requires a very, very long time...]

[So, after establishing comprehensive rules and regulations, you face a new challenge.]

[Miskatonic University, an organization with pivotal importance in the Cthulhu Mythos system. Choosing it as the codename for your secret organization also proves that you have extraordinary ambition!]

[With an unparalleled collection in its library, talented individuals from various fields, unique mysticism knowledge, seeking the unknown! Exploring the unknown! Unveiling the unknown! Every Miskatonic University student should implement this philosophy!]

[But now, you don't seem to have any proper students, do you?]

[Please recruit outstanding students who possess the above qualities! And conduct preliminary mysticism cultivation!]

[Speaking quietly, such people are not uncommon. People who court death can be found everywhere...]

[Mission Progress: 0/100]

[Mission Reward: Mystery Gift Pack×1, Black Magic Book "Necronomicon" Copy.]

['That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.']

"Pfft—"

Don spat out the water he had just drunk.

He coughed several times, nearly choking to death.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Don pulled over the system panel, staring fixedly at that line of mission reward, his voice becoming somewhat shrill, "System!"

He had been in a pretty good mood just moments ago, having received another Mystery Box. Although he didn't know what it was, opening it would most likely yield good stuff, especially since the system had just confidently promised to give him a surprise.

A surprise? What surprise? More like a shock!

The Knowledge Moor isn't even pretending anymore, going straight to filling his brain with crazy knowledge, huh?

[Host, the main system over there really has so many good things~] The system said proudly, 'This reward is absolutely awesome!'

Although it didn't get any Ancient God remains or anything like that, this was something it had pestered the main system for ages, frantically testing the limits at the edge of being terminated by the main system's exasperation, and this was the good stuff it managed to get for its host!

[Even if it's just a copy, it doesn't lack any of the things it should have~ Host, you understand what I mean, right?]

Host, hurry up and praise it, praise it, praise it!

Awesome?! Understand you?

Yes, yes, yes, things brought over from the Knowledge Moor, just from their essential nature, are all close to Source Quality level stuff.

But this book title, even if it looks like something from the old era, who knows if it's filled with crazy knowledge describing Old Ones or depicting Pillars.

This thing would be fine in an era when the extraordinary isn't manifest, but putting it out now, everyone who sees it would say it's good, then they'd all go crazy while shouting "The Old Ones have arrived, the stars are right" and start performing rituals?!

System, are you alright? Are you really alright?

The moment he gets this thing, the next second might be deities knocking on his door to check the gas meter.

After all, unlike those books from the era when the extraordinary wasn't manifest, the stuff brought over from the Knowledge Moor is most likely... all real things...

[It's fine~ Oh, right, the main system over there still has quite a lot of similar stuff, I'll sneak some more next time~]

Don collapsed into his chair, then looked peacefully at the system panel in front of him.

Thinking that this thing was something the system fought for him...

"It's fine, it's fine, everything will be okay after a good sleep. System, you're really something~"

Don gave it a thumbs up.

Having such a dedicated and responsible system, the future is truly promising~

Maybe there'll be something like the "Unaussprechlichen Kulten" next, with records of summoning the Fallen and whatnot.

It's fine, when you have many debts, you don't worry about them—if a few more books come, he'll just burn them all in one go.

What, put them in the library? To cultivate a few Old One believers who keep shouting about soaring ninety thousand li into the sky?

Peaceful death.jpg

System: ??

---

The second Mystery Box contained, in addition to general knowledge fragments, forging attempts, identification attempts, and 'Bionic Marionette' usage times, another piece of Stargazing equipment.

[Astrolabe for Stargazing.]

[Quality: System Exclusive.]

[An astrolabe is an astronomical instrument that displays celestial bodies specifically before people, allowing observation of stars without raising one's head to directly face the starry sky.]

[As everyone knows, the best time to observe stars is always at night, and during the day, using an astrolabe to observe the movement of stars is your best choice!]

[Carving out the observed star movements at night and replicating them on the astrolabe, you can occasionally observe traces of stars through this method?]

[System reminder: To carve corresponding stars, you need to use the "Astronomical Telescope for Stargazing"~]

Don held the 'Astrolabe for Stargazing'—actually just a disk with nothing on it—sitting on high ground, looking at the stars overhead.

"This item is quite interesting."

Unlike the mosaic glasses and astronomical telescope, this item has an offensive extraordinary power in addition to its auxiliary functions.

[Extinguished stars also want to leave their traces in the astrolabe! This is their final trace!]

[You can summon an extinguished star by infusing a certain amount of spirituality!]

[Note: This extraordinary ability can only be used once in a short period. If used too much, the astrolabe will have to retain the destiny trajectory of extinguished stars~ And where do extinguished stars get their destiny from?]

"In other words, I can summon meteors to silence people?"

This is much more reasonable than the unreasonable plots written by third-rate novelists.

But are extinguished stars really just extinguished stars?

Might there be strange remnants on them, seeping through the Seven Gods' seal into Earth?

Reining in his wandering thoughts, Don took out the astronomical telescope.

The 'stars' placed on the 'Astrolabe for Stargazing' don't refer to those stars in the astral world overhead.

Rather, it's about peering into destiny through the stars.

"A very powerful tool for glimpsing destiny trajectories." Don pondered.

All items in the Stargazing set should be applicable to Euclid space. Could this item be related to time?

Just like how he used the Yesterday Once More charm to borrow power from the future, and destiny, in mysticism, can be understood as the future spirituality's warning to past spirituality.

(End of Chapter)