Chapter 9: Solar Eclipse (3)

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【Monster Manual – Tales of Legend Wiki】

— Entry: Whispering Horror (WH-074)

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Danger Level: ★★★★☆ (Perceived: ★★★★★+)
Warning: The Mental Contamination ability is extremely dangerous—far more lethal than its physical strength. Without a high Mental Resistance stat, the monster is virtually unconquerable.

Key Traits:
• Unleashes wide-range mental attacks that amplify trauma, anxiety, and fear. Victims experience hallucinations and panic—immediate incapacitation if unresisted.
• Possesses immense physical strength and a hardened exoskeleton.

Strategy for Conquest:
• Required Trait: Mental Resistance — unlocked when Mental stat exceeds 100. Cannot be achieved through training alone; must be obtained via artifacts, single-use items, or church blessings.
• Recommended Party: Minimum five 4-star heroes.
• A tank or damage-dealer with high mental resistance should lead. Others must support from a distance.
• For physical attacks, aim for the red pupils or areas lacking mouths (still under investigation).
• Holy magic or blessed items may reduce mental contamination (verification pending).

Estimated Drops:
– Shadow Cloak, Ring of Terror (enhances mental resistance and dark magic affinity)
– Essence of Whispering, Shadow Fragment (used in high-tier equipment crafting)
– Eye of Terror (rare): Grants either mental attack capabilities or immense resistance. Effect unknown until equipped.

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Sssss…

Finally, the creature emerged fully from the darkness.

Whispering Horror. The terrifying entity I had only seen in the game manual now stood in front of me. Its massive body shimmered like a formless shadow. Its grotesque exoskeleton was studded with red pupils, some of them blinking or twitching.

Where its face should’ve been, there were several mouths—big and small—randomly placed, constantly muttering ominous whispers in different voices.

“—Answer the question—”
“—Do you repent your sins—”

It moved toward a nearby soldier.

The soldier’s eyes rolled back as he shouted, “Y-You mad monster! Die! Dieeee!”

Swish.

The soldier’s sword cut off one of the creature’s fingers. Relief showed on his face—it seemed like he thought he could win.

But then—

“—Repent your sins—”

Thud.

His head was suddenly detached from his body and embedded into the creature’s body. His face melted away, replaced by another whispering mouth.

“—Answer the question—”
“—Do you repent your sins—”

Fck. Fck, fck, fck!

Why the hell did something like this show up in Seorigol?

▶ Mental Resistance strongly resists the external mental contamination effect!

The soldiers, who had already lost their minds before its appearance, went mad, some covering their ears, some swinging their swords wildly, and some praising the anomaly.
“—Do you repent your sins—”
“I repent. I repent! Let me repent…”

One by one, they were absorbed into the creature. Eventually, they became nothing more than whispering mouths on its body. Only Kaelen and I remained standing. But Kaelen was biting his lip, bleeding heavily, clearly struggling. Which meant—I was the only one still sane. I didn’t know why I could resist. But right now, that didn’t matter.

What mattered was surviving.

“—Do you repent your sins—”

Its gaze locked onto me.

“Ugh!”

A gut-wrenching nausea hit me—like someone was kneading my brain from the inside. But I could endure it. It turned fully toward me. All its red eyes fixed on me—Ian Darkest. It had noticed the only one still resisting its madness.

“—What are you—”

Yeah…
A good question.
What am I?
Why am I even here—facing this nightmare?

[Achievement Unlocked!]
You have succeeded in resisting a ‘Higher Being.’
▶ Trait level up unlocked.
▶ Mental Resistance (Lv.0) → Mental Resistance (Lv.1)

Its dozens of red pupils all turned towards me at once. It had taken an interest in the only being that was withstanding its mental attack.

“—You endure. Why only you? Why only you?—”

Dozens of mouths simultaneously poured a more powerful whisper towards me.It felt like my head would split open from the pain. But I gritted my teeth.

Get a grip.

The moment I lose my mind, my life and even my soul will be stripped away.

I’d rather die than become part of that thing.

“—Strange child, strange child—”

Frustrated by my resistance, the Whispering Horror raised its massive shadow arm. Sharp claws glinted in the torchlight. Since its mental attack wasn’t working, it was now trying to crush me with direct physical force.

“Damn it…!”
I quickly rolled my body to avoid its downward strike.
Kwang!

Its claw smashed the ground where I’d been, throwing dust and rocks into the air. I jumped up, gripped my sword, and slashed at what seemed like a leg.

Clang!

The blade bounced off. My wrist nearly shattered from the impact. Its exoskeleton was tougher than I thought.

F*cking anomalies!

The more I fought it, the more I remembered from the game.

Whispering Horror’s weakness is… sharp, piercing attacks.

But no matter how I slashed, the sword just bounced off. Clang. Clang. Pain in my hand grew worse. Meanwhile, one hit from it would kill me. Desperate, I tried to bait it toward a trap I’d spent a year preparing.

“Over here, you monster!”

It followed me. The trap—sharpened wooden stakes—stood ready. It walked straight through them, crushing them effortlessly.

“Damn it!”

I rolled to the side, avoiding its striking claw. At the same time, I took out the oil pouch from my waist and threw it.

Splash!

Oil coated part of its body.

I threw a torch—

“Please work!”

Fwoosh!

Flames erupted on its black body. It flinched, but… no scream. No sign of pain. Instead, it chuckled.
“—Foolish struggle—”
“—Useless—”

It swung an arm. I couldn’t dodge.

Thwack!

Pain exploded in my ribs. I coughed up blood.

“Keuk…!”

As I struggled to breathe, its giant foot rose to crush me. I had no energy left. No strength to move.

What a s*htty game.*

Does it make any sense to drop a city-level anomaly on a backwater fief like this?

“Haha… f*ck.”

A hollow laugh escaped. I thought I was ready for this dark fantasy world. But clearly—I wasn’t.

Then—

“Duck!”

A voice shouted.

Kaelen!

Whether he had barely managed to pull himself together amidst the mental confusion, I could see him mustering his last remaining strength and charging at the ‘Whispering Horror’. His sword, emitting a blue aura, slashed to its side. The swordsmanship of the Darkest family. Not as great as the eldest son’s, but still elite.

He’s easily a 3-star hero.

—Kuaaaak!

The Whispering Horror screamed in pain for the first time. Dark blood spilled from its side. But that was all.

“—Divine punishment for the foolish—”

The enraged ‘Whispering Horror’ swung its shadow tentacle and pierced Kaelen’s body.

“Keuk…!”

Kaelen’s eyes widened in disbelief. He coughed up blood and slowly knelt down. And he collapsed just like that.

“Sir Kaelen…!”

I called his name, but he no longer moved. It was really the end now. There was no one to protect me, no one to buy me time. The ‘Whispering Horror’, having dealt with the nuisance, turned its gaze back to me. Its red pupils were filled with annoyance and blatant murderous intent. It raised its giant foot again. This time, it was determined to finish me off.

“—Now… it’s time to end this—”

The massive claw came crashing down. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t defend.

‘…Is this really how it ends?’

I closed my eyes.
999 deaths.
And now, the 1000th.
Maybe… this is fate.

…
……
………?

The pain never came.
Everything went silent.
When I opened my eyes—
An impossible scene awaited me. The creature’s claw hovered just inches above me—frozen mid-strike. The wind. The fire. Even dust particles in the air… all completely still.

“…?”

No way, did time… stop?
Is that even possible in TeLe?
In my confused mind, a name suddenly popped out of my mouth.

“…Rinea. Rinea Yudit.”

Tales of Legend.

One of the heroes I had worked so hard to save over tens of thousands of hours. The one and only successor to spacetime magic.
Rinea Yudit.

“…But how?”

She was a hero. One of the few 5-star heroes in the empire. What reason would such a hero have to come to a fief that’s not even 1-star? She, who should have lost her memories from the previous regression.

Time was stopped.

—Thud.

I heard soft footsteps approaching…