Surviving Among the Entities

[“The third and final news: The protagonist of this world, Lee So-young, will be going to Seoraksan Mountain tomorrow. She will not be climbing the mountain but wandering around the parking lot area, where there will be thick fog, it says.”]

Lee So-young followed the instructions given by the bizarre creature.
It was a terrifying situation where a creature with only ears and a mouth knew her name and seemed to be communicating in real-time from beyond the screen, but trusting the monster was better than living in this world.

[“In the fog, close your eyes, take a hundred steps forward, fifty steps to the right, and twenty-five steps to the left, then open your eyes. You must not open your eyes mid-way under any circumstances. If you lose count of your steps, crouch down and count to a hundred. If you don’t, there will be a big problem.”]

And if she did well, she could even restore this world to its original state, couldn’t she?
As someone who had no desire to live in a world ruled by the cult chairman, she had no choice.

[“After following all the instructions and opening her eyes, the news says she will discover Hangmasa Temple. Inside, there will be various tools and instructions, and by following them, she will meet a great helper.”]

She arrived at the Seoraksan parking lot.
As soon as she arrived, fog began to set in.

‘A hundred steps forward, fifty steps to the right, twenty-five steps to the left.’

For a few minutes, she followed the instructions while carrying the still-unconscious Frankenstein on her back.
After completing all the instructions and opening her eyes, an old temple was indeed right before her.

“Hangmasa Temple.”

Reading the sign on the plaque, she entered inside.
The interior was lined with various woodblocks, each depicting the summoning of something.

‘It’s like a cartoon.’

Surely it couldn’t be telling her to summon a demon or something?
Past the woodblocks, deeper inside, stone tablets appeared along with numerous ritual tools scattered about, depicting ritual methods.

“I’ll leave you here for a bit.”

She laid Frankenstein down on the floor and prepared for the ritual described on the stone tablets.

“Heaven’s spirits, earth’s spirits, Venerable Lord Lao, urgent as imperial edicts.”

She danced according to the ritual.

“Commanding ghosts and spirits, manifesting swiftly, Venerable Lord Lao, urgent as imperial edicts.”

She chanted the incantations according to the ritual.

“Heaven’s decree, descent of myriad deities, yin and yang resonance, contract fulfilled, urgent as imperial edicts.”

Finally, she chanted the closing incantation.

“Svāhā!”

However, nothing happened.

“……Am I doing it wrong?”

Come to think of it, this was a temple, wasn’t it?
The incantations she had just recited were Taoist mantras, weren’t they?
While not well-versed in the occult, she had taken a liberal arts course on understanding Taoism and recalled her past memories.

“I think I’m doing it right?”
“Oh dear.”

The sound of a fly reached her ears.
Turning her head, she saw a tiny creature sitting on her shoulder.

“Of all times to come over together. This situation is because of you, isn’t it?”
“That’s my line to say. Our Lord of Karma-to-be is walking the wrong path, so I came, but shouldn’t you be the one taking action?”

A tiny creature with a fly’s face, dressed in a suit.
A tiny creature dressed as a judge, with a face covered by a mesh veil, sitting on her other shoulder.

“You’re the one who should be saying that. Mr. Seung-hoon Lee is the next president of our Lucifer Company. By the way, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a human attempting these old-fashioned summoning methods.”
“Well, we did mark her anyway. But that issue can wait, these old-fashioned methods are something else. It’s a detour method instead of a dimensional gateway, which is how we were able to come over!”
“Who… are you two?”

In response to Lee So-young’s question, the strange beings introduced themselves.

“Oh, I’m late with the introductions. I’m Baal Zebub, the head of the R&D department at Lucifer Company.”
“I forgot my introduction. I’m the executive director of the Karma Call Center, Chugang Daewang (初江大王).”

From the moment they appeared, they bickered, but they shared one intention.

“I will help you stop Mr. Seung-hoon Lee.”
“I will help stop our Lord of Karma-to-be from running rampant.”

“The problem with these old-fashioned summoning rituals is this. Since the required energy for summoning is fixed, you cannot utilize the full power of the summoned target, can you? Moreover, with you also coming over, that power was further split, resulting in this fairy-like appearance – truly disgraceful for demons.”
“Are you just going to keep repeating what I say?”

Baal Zebub.
One of the demons the professor had casually mentioned during the “Understanding Christianity” liberal arts course as a pastime.

Chugang Daewang.
One of the Lords of Hell the professor had spoken of during the “Understanding Buddhism” liberal arts course.

‘A Christian demon and a Buddhist Lord of Hell summoned through a Taoist ritual at a temple?’

What kind of madness was this?
Moreover, their appearance resembled fairy-like companion characters that would help the protagonist in children’s cartoons.

“Shall we quickly work on restoring the world?”
“There is much to do.”

And true to their companion roles, they indeed provided much help.

“First, while entry from the outside was impossible, observation was possible.”
“Same for us. There was only one way to resolve the issue caused by our Lord of Karma-to-be.”
“Racing. If you defeat Mr. Seung-hoon Lee in the central concept that encompasses this world, the axis that forms this world will collapse, and you will return to the original reality.”

They informed her of the way to restore the world.

“Then let’s take a look at Mr. Seung-hoon Lee’s skills.”
“You have a smartphone, right? Quickly search with that.”

However, it was not easy.

“……It seems our Lord of Karma-to-be is an asura.”
“Oh dear, I understand what kind of power that is now.”
“What kind of power?”
“It’s the result of various powers attaching themselves to his unfulfilled desires, leading to his current form.”
“Wait, does that mean the power possessed by Wangjo’s Blue Moon is also present? Along with the power of the Lone Cultivator and unknown powers?”
“The final one must be the power of that strange fruit Mr. Seung-hoon Lee always consumes. In any case, it seems other entities’ powers have combined with his long-held driving complex, resulting in an entity-like phenomenon.”

On the screen beyond, Seung-hoon Lee’s racing was something no human could possibly overcome.

“You want me to defeat that? It’s just a storm? No, a bomb, isn’t it? If I drive next to it, I’ll just get caught up and die, won’t I? And I don’t even have a license?”
“Oh, summoner, do not worry. We are here to solve that very issue.”

Baal took something out.
It was a small bottle containing a transparent liquid, and the moment she saw it, Lee So-young felt a raging fire within her.

“These are the tears shed by our president. If you put this in the engine, it will unleash tremendous power.”
“I brought something too!”

What Chugang Daewang took out was a bundle of amulets that could be worn around the neck.

“If you wear these, the racers in the afterlife will help you.”
“Oh dear, since Lee So-young was not transformed into this world’s person, she cannot use a Machine Spirit. Therefore, enhancing the vehicle should be the priority – a poor choice.”
“One must become strong themselves, not relying on objects, to overcome anything!”
“Idealism? This is why your side never succeeds. You’ll just keep reciting the doctrine of ‘mind-only’ and blame everything on yourself instead of tools.”
“No, that’s not it!”
“Anyway, let’s proceed quickly.”

Baal vigorously wiped his fly-like eyes with his hands.

“At this rate, our president might truly become angry. I’ve been persuading him to take an interest in this dimension again recently, but with this situation, how can he not be furious?”
“Same for us. Lord Yama is displeased. Those who should be coming to the afterlife are not arriving and are instead wandering the heavens or disappearing elsewhere. Ugh.”

From then on, progress was swift.
They worked together fervently to create a vehicle for Lee So-young, and strange beings would often come to offer their assistance.

“Even for a VVIP customer, this is an outrage! People are all obsessed with racing and not coming to our company! They’re more interested in tire rubber, the steel and plastic for the body than gold, ugh!”

A bizarre company where all employees had identical faces, introducing themselves as Office Workers.

“So we will help you! Without accepting any gold!”
“Wow, you really seem furious.”
“Woah… you must be really angry, huh?”

With their gestures, a race car with a golden body appeared.

“This is a race car directly crafted by us Office Workers! Boasting unbreakable strength, all you need to do is drive well!”
“Will your president not be making an appearance?”
“Our president is in his Golden-Rage Time. He will likely be sleeping until next year.”
“Oh, what a pity.”

Next was a monster with around eight arms, doing business in a strange space.

“Due to Mr. Seung-hoon Lee’s outrage, customers have forgotten about me. Truly a regrettable turn of events. Therefore, I too shall offer my assistance.”

The item the monster gave her was a ring.

“The Hero’s Ring. While wearing this, you will possess the same physical abilities as the heroes who have saved dimensions in the past. Not just overall enhanced physical abilities, but you will also be able to feel magical power, and if you believe in gods, you will gain divine power as well.”

She had obtained a race car, special fuel, and a ring that enhanced her physical abilities as a racer, but she was still missing one crucial thing.

“Excuse me? Everyone seems to have forgotten that I don’t have a license?”

A license, precisely.

“Oh, at your age and you still haven’t gotten a license? What have you been doing?”
“Public transportation can take me anywhere, so?”
“Hmm, you need to cultivate your driving skills……”
“Aaaaaaang-!”

Frankenstein, who had been asleep this entire time, suddenly made a siren sound with her mouth.

“Connection failed! Detour connection! Multi-dimensional camouflage provisional connection! Success!”
[“Oh dear, Frankenstein! The emergency signal startled me! What in the world is going on!?”]
“Professor!”

As if the girl’s mouth was a speaker, another person’s voice also came through.

“Want pudding!”
[“Hahaha! Frankenstein, you can have pudding once the world is back to normal. You don’t need to explain the situation, actually. I just finished downloading your memories into my brain, including the stories you heard while you were asleep!”]

The voice that emerged found Lee So-young.

[“Miss So-young, so you’re the protagonist who will save this distorted dimension? But you can’t drive because you don’t have a license? This Dr. Janus will help you!”]
“Uurgh!”

Frankenstein suddenly spat something out.
Held in the girl’s hands, far too large for her mouth size, was a large glass bottle in pristine condition, containing a single pill that was also too large for the bottle’s size.

[“It’s called the ‘Ultimate Racer Pill Final Edition’! I created this pill to defeat the Legendary Racer of Jongno 3-ga, and after continuous improvements, it’s finally complete! Just one of these pills, and you too can become a Legendary Racer!”]
“The Ultimate Racer Pill?”
[“Oh dear, the dimensional signal is about to be cut off. If even the detour method gets blocked so quickly, how dreadful! Well then! Take good care of Frankenstein!”]

As the connection was severed, Baal and Chugang Daewang finally spoke up.

“I had a feeling this little girl was related to Dr. Janus. She did seem quite familiar.”
“Is this child one created by that madman? Now that I look closely, she seems to lack a soul?”
“You’re only realizing this now, Lord of Hell?”
“You didn’t realize it either.”
“That’s because my power was weakened by you.”
“Same for me. Anyway, the preparations are complete.”

The two of them stared intently at Lee So-young.

“Only the real deal remains.”
“Only the real deal is left.”
“Wait, you want me to actually take this suspicious thing?”
“Yes, for the sake of the world.”
“You’re the protagonist, don’t you want to live a special life? Don’t worry and just take it.”
“Well……”

Unable to resist their pressure, Lee So-young consumed the pill.

“We need to quickly restore the world!”
“Let’s quickly restore the world to its original state.”
“Pudding!”

5 months had passed.

“Phew……”

She had become an excellent racer.

“This damn sh*tty world.”

Her speech was a bit rough.

“I wish everyone else would just f*cking lose.”

A rather rough-mouthed racer.