Chapter 4
The inside of the church was far darker than outside. Though I knew well that no one was there, I opened my mouth out of instinctive fear.
“Is anyone here?”
Perhaps because of the high ceiling, my voice echoed loudly. Shivering at the eerie resonance, I quickly lit the oil lamp.
Fsshhk— A faint hiss accompanied the small flame that brightened the space slightly, allowing me to see more clearly.
Thick stone columns typical of Romanesque architecture supported the lofty arched ceiling.
Beyond them lay the ruined and crumbling sanctuary.
My heart thudded with a strange thrill at the scene that looked far more “haunted” than I had expected.
This is going to make a damn good photo.
Of course, there was no way real monsters existed. But even one good atmospheric photo would make this trip worth it.
With that thought, I stepped in deeper.
That was when I heard a noise from behind the sanctuary.
Scratch, scratch.
Maybe a small animal got in.
Thinking little of it, I walked toward the sound. But the closer I got, the more a disgusting stench pierced my nose.
The gnawing noise also grew louder.
I considered turning back, but just then, a sudden gust of wind blew from inside.
Boom. The large wooden door slammed shut behind me.
“Krrrk?”
With that eerie sound, something hiding behind the altar revealed itself.
“…!”
I nearly dropped the oil lamp from sheer shock at what I saw.
What the hell is that…?
Krrrk. Krrrk. That chilling sound was coming from the ‘creature.’
Its hunched, protruding back resembled a hunchback, and its skin was discolored pitch black. What little hair remained hung limp over facial features that looked more beast than human.
It was gnawing ferociously on something with sharp, animal-like teeth.
That “something” was—
Oh God.
The sickening rot and the bloody stench? It came from the corpse the creature was devouring.
My hand holding the lamp trembled violently. I tried to move, to run, but it was too late.
“Krrrk…”
The monster had already noticed me.
Its grotesque, half-melted face stared straight at me.
Krrk. Krrk. Krrk. It crept closer.
I… have to run.
But my legs wouldn’t move, as if nailed to the floor.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
My heartbeat roared in my ears, while the stench closed in around me.
SCREECH! The creature lunged at me.
Its gaping jaws bared sharp fangs that sank into my throat. Pain exploded—hot and unbearable.
Is this… how I die?
As my blood drained rapidly, numbness spread through my limbs. Just before death fully claimed me—
A whisper rang out in my mind, loud and clear.
—My one and only true Apostle, Emily Carter.
A golden light flooded my vision. The crushing weight of death that had seized my body began to lift.
—I shall turn back your time with My own hands.
My mind went completely white.
* * *
“—Gasp!”
When I opened my eyes, I was in the third-class car of a train. A book lay open across my lap, its pages exactly where I had been reading earlier.
…It was the train headed for the outskirts near the abandoned church.
What… was that just now?
My entire body was drenched in cold sweat. I shivered, trying to recall what had happened. Was that just a nightmare? I wondered.
But even as I considered it, a voice echoed in my head, as if to prove me wrong.
—Eliminate the corpse-eating entity.
The same voice I’d heard in that dream. …So that memory wasn’t a dream?
“….”
I shook my head. Months ago, when I passed out, I’d had hallucinations and muttered nonsense.
And now I’m hearing voices?
Wasn’t it time I seriously considered seeing a doctor? Just then, the letters on the open book in my lap began to erase themselves.
“….”
New words appeared immediately after.
[My Apostle, prove your worth.]
My hand trembled as I reached out to touch them. The letters, which had seemed printed on the page, vanished at my touch and were replaced by new ones.
[You, Emily Carter, are the chosen one of Me, the Yellow King.]
[An Apostle must fulfill the commandments of the King.]
I stared in silence, unable to even groan, as the magical letters appeared and disappeared on the page.
The creature in the church, the attack, my return to the past—
Even the letters appearing and vanishing before me now—
…All of it was far beyond the realm of rational understanding.
[Destroy the Ghoul—the corpse-eating creature—with your power.]
[This is the bare minimum to prove your qualification as an Apostle.]
I still had no idea what was happening to me.
But one thing was clear:
The “Yellow King” being mentioned here… he was the one I had seen in that golden robe.
And that being—that thing—was ordering me to destroy the Ghoul.
[Should you fail to fulfill the King’s command within six months,]
[the world shall fall to ruin before your very eyes.]
The end of the world.
It sounded completely absurd, like something out of a bad pulp novel.
But my focus was elsewhere.
So… I have to go back there again?
Judging from what the text said, the grotesque creature I’d encountered in the abandoned church had definitely been a “Ghoul,” just as I’d suspected.
Ghouls are real? Dear God.
When I closed my eyes, the image of the monster lunging at me reappeared.
Terror gripped my body. Orders from a King or not, I never wanted to return to that place.
Why the hell would I willingly walk to my own death?
I shook my pale face in denial, and just then, a voice came over the train’s speakers.
—Next stop, Euston. Euston Station…
I grabbed my things and got off the train without hesitation. I planned to catch a carriage in front of the station and return home—but I never made it.
“Look out!”
The moment I stepped out of Euston Station, a team of horses pulling a carriage went berserk and trampled me.
And I died.
—I shall turn back your time with My own hands…
That familiar voice echoed again—followed by the bone-shattering agony of my entire body breaking apart.
* * *
I tried repeatedly to escape death, but it was no use.
In my third life, I managed to board a train going in the opposite direction and nearly reached home—only to die of food poisoning after eating at a local diner.
In my fourth life, I skipped meals entirely and rushed home in a carriage, only to be struck and killed by a car as soon as I stepped out.
Each time I died and returned, memories I’d never had before flooded back, throwing my mind into confusion. But the truth of those memories wasn’t what mattered.
My top priority now was simply staying alive.
What if I ran away from London entirely?
Wouldn’t that avoid the fatal event altogether?
In my fifth life, I resolved to flee as far away as I could.
I stayed on the train all the way to a coastal city far from London—Cardiff—before disembarking.
Looking up at the clear blue sky, I felt a strange and ungrounded sense of certainty.
“This place… feels safe.”
I entered the nearest restaurant and filled my belly with fish and mashed potatoes—and still, nothing happened. My optimism grew.
This time, I won’t die so pathetically.
I made my way to a hotel in the city center and decided to stay long-term.
I informed my aunt in London and a few magazine editors of my extended stay, and then spent several peaceful months in Cardiff.
As I led this quiet seaside life, strange news continued to pour in from London.
A social gathering ended with the sudden deaths of every attendee.
A family claimed to see a ghost—and all died of shock.
Corpses rose from a neglected graveyard.
A demonic beast attacked a countryside farm…
Clucking my tongue, I looked down at an illustration on the front page of The Illustrated London News—a sketch of the “revived corpses.”
“This isn’t some trash tabloid. How is The Illustrated London News printing horror stories on the front page?”
I was sitting on the balcony of a beachside restaurant. Beyond the window, the vast ocean stretched out endlessly.
I was savoring the tranquil view when—
Elegant handwriting began to appear on the checkered tablecloth before me.
[The time allotted to the young and beautiful Apostle has run out.]
[Alas, the world’s end draws near.]
The end of the world. That was the punishment for failing the King’s command.
I had forgotten—until now.
At that very moment, the entire restaurant shook violently.
Everyone gasped. Someone pointed outside and screamed.
“T-the sea!”
Splash… splash…
The water, which had been calm all day, began to stir ominously. Everyone turned toward it.
Then came a deafening roar.
KUUUUUOOOOOO! The sea split in two, and an enormous form emerged.
It was—
“Screeeeeeam!”
“Run! Run away!”
“Our Father who art in Heaven…”
As panicked shrieks filled the air, I stared wide-eyed at the sea.
Long, tentacled limbs like a monstrous octopus… a massive head that defied biology…
It was a horror that no human mind could comprehend.
That thing…
Before that unfathomable abyss, people fell into madness.
Some collapsed in seizures, others raised pistols to their temples, and some flung themselves into the ocean.
Only I—
Only I stood my ground, fists clenched.
Because even then, the voice of the Yellow King echoed in my mind.
—My Apostle.
—I shall protect your mind.
Perhaps thanks to the King’s power, I alone remained sane amid the chaos.
And I realized what that thing was.
The Master of R’lyeh, the ancient ruler of Earth.
The very embodiment of cosmic horror created by American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft.
Standing before me was none other than the otherworldly god—Cthulhu.
And I realized one more thing.
This world, which resembled 1890s Britain and where my modern memories remained intact, was—
The setting of a cosmic horror universe, inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos.
A world with no dreams or hope.
“……”
Frozen in terror before that overwhelming fear, my vision suddenly blacked out.
And I had a crystal-clear realization:
…The Great Old One had appeared in London.
And so, the end of the world had begun.
