1 Prologue

Update Schedule: Twice Monthly.

Featuring: SCP-1529.

Note: I don't know anything about mountaineering, so I'm probably wrong.

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*Fwoooo....*

"What a wonderful day~ Plenty of sunshine heading my wa- Ack! Son of a-" Charlus Osiris Gaunt was having a wonderful day. No really. Descending down Mt. Everest by himself in the bitter harsh cold was truly an…. Novel experience.

Above, the sky was dark and gray, clouds obscuring the sun completely. He gripped the sides of the mountain face, slowly descending down the mountain. His heavy boots clenched against the side of the mountain as he threw a tough nylon rope about.

Below him, was an endless void of flurrying snow and ice, with the end very much out of sight. It was the hardest part of the climb, blisters covering his body, and his nose and fingers numb. Through his cracking goggles, Charlus looked down as he strained his harness, his boots thumping against the rocky ground as he descended even more.

Staring out into the abyssal landscape, Charlus sighed. It had been twenty long years since he had come to this world. This new terrifying world. A world of terrors, of thaumaturgy and rituals, of unspeakable horrors, or….. Anomalies, as one could say.

The SCP Universe. How he knew of it, was an anomaly in its self. After he passed away, Charlus had suddenly woken up within a small crib, tears rolling down the sides of his cheeks. Early on, he'd found that he had a higher edge in most things, that was almost unnatural. Higher instincts, hand-eye coordination, strength, speed, more clarity of mind in a sense. And now he was here, doing the dumbest thing of his life.

Climbing Mt. Everest. Alone. On the most dangerous route there was the path nicknamed, the "Eight Purgatory". A treacherous and risky task of willpower, the death rate was about at 85% with steep slopes, and much more hand held climbing then one would expect. So in all his wonderful ideas, he had decided to scale the mountain using this "road". On this mountain, that was probably chock-filled with more Keter-classes then Charlus most likely knew of.

After all, in such a world, the more isolated the place, the more…. Unusual dangers were more likely to appear.

Prime example being a more notable of sorts, the Mountain King. A lone figure, much like himself that scaled the mountains, ensnaring people in its gaze, and giving them hypothermia and other "frosty" conditions that killed them.

There was also SCP-1540, but those corpses were negligible. As long as he didn't touch any dead bodies, everything was hopefully fine. The view up there was nice, really. Old and distant, but bright with beauty, everything below encapsulated in a sea of clouds and ice.

And now, Charlus, was going back down. Doing the most difficult thing of your life… Enjoying the enthralling view and such, before realizing that you have to do it all over again, but backward.

Maybe he was a masochist? But scaling Everest was a once in a lifetime experience, that did well to pump his blood and give him adrenaline. Thrill-seeking.

The climb up had been rather uneventful, with the normal hellish experience of scaling Everest. Falling rocks, almost slipping, slight hallucinations. Completely normal.

Hands trembling, Charlus gasped. Only a while more and he would be back at camp. Scraping some bitter snow off of his arms, he flexed his gloved hands, hooded parka covered in frost. As he stretched a bit, barely feeling any part of his upper body, his spine suddenly tingled as he felt… Something approaching.

*Thump!*

It was faint, but with his heightened senses, he heard the sound of old leather boots clamping against ice. It was extremely close, as if just above him. Charlus's eyes darted up as a wool-cloaked figure jumped down and landed with a crunch. Wearing an old brown parka, with a pair of thick gloves, the figure looked up, ice and snow seemingly unheeded in his steps.

Charlus could see other resemblances of some common mountaineering equipment, such as hooks and harnesses, yet the person did not seem to be attached to any…. Which meant that whoever it was, was free-climbing.

It was a ghost among the mountain, completely unheeded and unsuspected as it stood there, its shadow flickering in and out of existence, without making a single sound. Its opaque black googles were slightly cracked, old and eerie.

But as soon as Charlus saw this creature, for just a moment, his face jerked down instinctively and his fingers cracked. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he shuddered. Wasn't there like a pattern to the Mountain King's appearances….? Why the hell was the thing here!? Part of the reason he'd come up the mountain was because of the assurance that the Foundation was monitoring the whole situation…

But then again, there was a flash storm going on at the moment that no one had anticipated….. While for others it could be a death sentence, for Charlus, who was quite the expert, it was…. Bearable. Not anymore. SInce this guy showed up, things could get a little rough.

If this was truly SCP-1529, then…. This would be the first-ever time he experienced an anomaly… He would have to treat the whole thing like the Shy Guy. Don't look up.

"Hullo…? Sorry if I can't stare at you. Got people issues. No inferiority complex or anything. I just hate eye contact." Charlus shrugged nonchalantly, his heart beating abnormally as he spoke, before going on:

"Anyway… You must be a free climber, huh? Never knew that was a thing on Everest…. It seems a bit tricky to scale with your hands alone. "

His first line of defense. Distraction. He would go on with a bunch of random tomfoolery, and while it had its guard down, he would strike. Charlus was sure that the creature was punchable. In the archives, the Mountain King had been punched, so he was taking his bets.

Plan B? If punching the creature didn't work, he would…. Run for it. Charlus would rather die from fall damage then being lulled into a false warmth before getting frozen alive.

Charlus could see it approaching, its feet trudging, but he could tell that his wordplay was working, as the creature approached hesitantly, it did not seem used to someone exchanging casual conversation on it with one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

Acting psychotic in the face of fear truly was quite the mask.

As it arrived before him, Charlus resisted the urge to look up. This wasn't like 096, or the Shy Guy. While he'd never seen the anomaly in person, for good reason, Charlus was sure that all the pictures online in his previous life were accurate of that tall lanky creature, so if they were to meet, there wouldn't be much urge.

It was different for this though.

*Shwooosh!*

Icy wind, shot about as Charlus firmly planted his feet into the ground. He hid a fist behind his back as he continued talking, numbed muscles tensing. The figure grew closer, and cold sweat dribbled down his neck. His right leg started to cramp up, and his toes were frozen cold.

"Anyway, those are some nice boots you got. Where did you get them?" The diversion tactics were slowly waning as it stood a few inches away from him. And then, out of nowhere, it reached out, its gloved hand reaching for his chin. The being's thickly coated arm reached out, trying to grab him.

*Bam!*

A smooth uppercut. Charlus's fist shot forwards, smashing into the creature's chin before his booted foot rose into the air and kicked it down the side of the mountain.

*Trumchk!*

Charlus gaped for a second, staring at his own fist for a second, before looking down into the storm below.

"Hm….. Maybe I've really been overestimating anomalies....."

He twisted about for a second…. What if that guy was actually a person? No… It was highly unlikely. Charlus shrugged, before staring down. That sound…. It was of someones hands scraping against ice.

Staring down, he watched as, like a grotesque undead reaching from its earthly grave, a grisly hand reached out, clamping down upon the face that Charlus stood upon. Below, in the wind, a flash of eerie yellow could be seen and a hoarse guttural noise came as the Mountain King once again climbed up, most definitely not in a good mood. Yup, that was definitely an anomaly.

*Tsrck!!!*

Choking up, Charlus gasped, and stepped on the gloved hand hard, wrenching it about before he bent down, reaching and grabbing the being by the head. He gritted his teeth as he heaved, pulling the creature from the rock face and throwing it down, down, and down.

The shadow descended, falling before disappearing from view, and the cold wind of the north began howling once more.

The one with the high ground always wins. It was common sense, yet the creature decided that it was a good idea to just rush him.

He stared off into the snow, shaking his arms about. It really had taken all of his strength to pull it away. No wonder it could scale the mountain… The grip strength and power needed to do so was not something any ordinary person could posses. Thankfully, he wasn't exactly an ordinary human. The transmigration really had buffed him quite a bit.

But anyway… Why the hell was it so easy to deal with? While some part of him was relieved, it was also sort of disappointing…. This creature was an obscure, unknown anomaly, whose story was filled with mystery, yet it had been thrown off a cliff so easily?

Was it a matter of its skillset and overconfidence? The man in the interview log on SCP-1529's file had caught the creature by surprise when he resisted it…

Shaking his head, Charlus continued on with the climb. It would only take another thirty minutes to get back to camp, and he wasn't risking staying out here overnight. It was to risky.

The only problem was the Mountain King, which was an uncertainty. It was doubtful that the fall had "neutralized" it….

Grabbing onto the side of a rock, he edged his way across a creaking wooden plank, continuing his descent down to the nearest camp. Charlus climbed, his cold misty breath fogging up parts of his goggles as he went.

Suddenly, in a flash of blue light, a flickering mirage of color arrived before Charlus.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations on getting the Achievement: Decrowning The Mountain King II]

[Collect Reward Y/N?]

"Huh." Charlus blinked.

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[Decrowning Of The Mountain King II]

[Desc: You, a "mere mortal" literally kicked the King of Everest off a ledge. Twice. How does that even work?]

"Umm…" Charlus was still sort of confused. He stepped sideways down the side of a narrow sloped pass, traveling as fast as he humanly could. The Mountain King could go for a third-round if he wasn't fast enough….

[Collect Reward Y/N?]

That haunting button, similar to that from a video game, hovered about his eyes in a tantalizing manner. He had it in his right mind to say yes, but Charlus wasn't sure if this was a trick or not. Sure, it was a common trope in most transmigration stories, the fabled "Golden Finger", but this was the SCP Universe.

Anomalies could do many things. Best not to let greed get the best of him. There could be a price he would have to pay….

So…. Why the hell wasn't the status window leaving?! No matter what he said or thought, the screen just kept floating in his face, as if taunting him as he climbed. Sure, it wasn't much of a distraction, but was there really no exit button or anything? He didn't want to go about his daily life like this.

Maybe it would disappear after a while…? Charlus decided to be optimistic and wait a few hours. If it didn't, then he would give it a try.

20 Minutes Later….

Standing at the ridge, he looked out across the small path down the side of the Mountain. It would only take a while more before he could finally get some rest.

Stretching, he clomped his way down, stepping with some caution, but more happiness. Before his face, the virtual screen still floated, the messages streaming and flickering.

Sighing, Charlus kicked aside some snow, about to continue on, before he heard a chorus of footsteps from behind. Turning, he watched as a crowd of people, yelling and panting, arrived. They were dressed in puffy red jackets and black hiking boots, along with the rest of the climbing equipment most people usually had on these parts.

They seemed not to be SCP's, and the records showed that a few other teams had been going up on the same day as he did… It took around nine hours to get up the summit at this time of the year, and going down took even more of a toll on people.

It was also the tallest visible mountain on Earth, which also added to its difficulty. That much was obvious.

Charlus stopped walking, stopping next to an old metal sign feeling as the cold metal touched with his gloves. Leaning against it, he watched as the group slowly but surely made their way up to him.

"Hi?" Charlus asked to who he presumed was the leader of the group, a tall tanned man with wrinkles along the sides of his face. On his back was a large pack, containing no doubt supplies and other things.

"Hello. Are you alone?" The man asked awkwardly with a thick accent, staring at Charlus in uncertainty.

"Yes, I took the hard route and decided to not bring along anybody else. The death rate is a little on the… Extreme." Shrugging, Charlus smiled under his mask, hand gripping the side of the sign.

"Y-you…. Climbed Ninth Purgatory….? B-by yourself?" The man or Sherpa stared on. Before, he did see in the records of a single young man who wanted to try it out solo. It was a treacherous journey, filled with even more dangers and horrors that only few had survived…. The Sherpa's all agreed that the man would quit part way or die trying….

Squinting on, the Sherpa shifted, staring at the man before him. Icy frosted goggles, tears and gashes. Their group had barely managed to escape the harsh storm that had unexpectedly hit just a bit before, yet they weren't in such a condition as the man himself.

"Yup. I can show you proof later. But first, I want a break. Let's head back to camp first." Shrugging, Charlus turned, stamping his boot into the ground, before he continued on collectively with the group…..

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