Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: How the No.1 Ranked Hero Protects the World
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The sudden word left my mind in a haze. Ghosts? It was a term I wasn't familiar with at all.
Undead would have been one thing.
I'd encountered undead plenty of times by now, after all—they were one of the monsters I'd seen a lot.
The lich that had shown up as a boss monster just recently was one example, but even aside from that, there were rare cases where someone developed magic or a skill to create undead, which turned their class into "Necromancer" so they could command them as minions.
Of course, in Tartarus, doing that would make you a public enemy of the continent.
But with undead, the system message always properly labeled them as "Undead"...
A ghost, though? Was this a new type of monster?
I decided to check and called up the system.
"Query clear conditions."
- Clear condition for this dungeon: Exterminate all monsters present in this dungeon.
The system message spat out exactly what the rookie hunter had said before we entered the dungeon—nothing more.
It didn't specify "ghosts."
All monsters...
I looked around for now.
Now that I'd heard it called Ghost Castle, the foreboding castle ahead looked even creepier, but the vast field stretching out around it seemed perfectly peaceful otherwise.
Butterflies danced among the wildflowers, rabbits nibbled at the grass, and birds soared through the crystal-clear sky like a babbling brook.
It was a scene straight out of a picnic.
There wasn't a single monster in sight. No hunters pushing through a raid, either. No one at all.
Still, just in case, I tested the waters by firing a few mana arrows into the air. They streaked upward and burst like fireworks.
Startled birds veered off sharply and flew in another direction.
If there were any monsters or hunters—any living thing—it should have reacted...
I waited a moment, but nothing happened.
"...Guess I have to go inside after all?"
Using Nymph's Wind, I quickly approached the castle gate.
From afar, it had just looked spooky...
Up close, it was even spookier.
Gray castle walls were tangled with ivy climbing wildly over them, and the deep moat at the base was choked with filth, plants, and insect corpses floating in a revolting stench.
The gate, which should have been firmly shut, was half-destroyed and hanging uselessly open.
Looking at it now, it gave off a familiar vibe from the many castles I'd seen in Tartarus. It was just abandoned and unkempt.
A fortress properly built to defend against enemies.
Ghosts aside, what was this "fifth night"? Were they playing some mafia game with monsters inside?
For a split second, I pictured a translucent ghost with blood dripping from its head charging at me like a mafioso, and a chill ran down my spine.
Anyway, with zero info right now, there was nothing to say.
After pondering, I called up the system again.
"Query boss monster."
- There is no boss monster in this dungeon.
"Then, detailed query on ghost monster."
- No information exists on this monster.
The system results were astonishingly blank. So maybe it was just called Ghost Castle in name only, and there were no ghost monsters?
I queried the system one last time.
"Detailed info on fifth night."
Honestly, vague terms like this usually got no tips from the system, so I wasn't expecting much.
But surprisingly, a result popped up.
- The fifth night refers to the time when siege warfare takes place. At night, actions such as "ambush," "spy infiltration," "diplomacy," and "execution of stratagems" are possible.
- Time remaining until end of "fifth night": 00:33:57
I froze mid-message.
What the hell?
"Siege warfare?"
Siege warfare was usually about attacking a castle, right?
I looked around. Was there another castle somewhere? But no matter how I scanned, all I saw was the eerie old fortress with no signs of life.
"No way... is conquering this 'Ghost Castle' the siege warfare?"
With no one around, who was I supposed to fight to attack the castle? Just smash an empty fortress? That sounded easy.
Right as I raised my light sword and channeled mana, a system message appeared.
- Will you participate in the siege warfare? Attacking the castle now will lock in your position as "Attacker."
"Wa-wait!"
- Position confirmation canceled. You will not receive position confirmation rewards.
I canceled the system prompt.
Po-position?
The moment I saw that word, cold sweat trickled down my back.
This was the instinct of someone who'd endured the system's malice for far too long.
Locking in a position with zero info here? I'd end up suffering endlessly later—or worse, wishing for death.
Dungeons that forced players to pick a "position" weren't new to me. They were my least favorite type.
Give me a straightforward boss like a mighty Optatio to take down for clear—anything but "exterminate" conditions that made players choose sides.
My body shuddered involuntarily.
Scary. Way scarier than ghosts!
"This could go so... wrong..."
Or, to be blunt, it already had.
No choice but to hurry inside and scout the situation.
Once I had a rough grasp, I could pick the most advantageous position. If I didn't have to pick at all, even better...
- Will you enter the "Ghost Castle" field?
Yeah, yeah, I'm going.
Damn it all.
I stepped through the gate.
Inside, the towering walls enclosed only desolate ruins. Every visible building had collapsed beyond recognition.
Bats and animals clinging to half-fallen stone walls scattered at the sound of my footsteps.
I scanned the surroundings.
I'd crashed in abandoned houses plenty of times wandering Tartarus, and untouched buildings always had this eerie chill, the air bone-dry.
Like an untended grave.
Yeah, just like here.
Amid the small, scattered ruins stretched a wide road.
It led up a hill to another walled castle.
So this was the outer bailey, and that was the main field.
Which meant Lee Seon and the other hunters were probably...
That's when it hit.
- "Angelus's Blessing" defends your mind.
- Special effect of "Angelus's Blessing," "Filtering," has activated.
Huh?
The thought had barely formed when something lunged at me.
It was a figure with empty sockets where eyes should be, bleeding profusely.
A ghost, hanging upside down, shoving its face right in mine!
I gasped involuntarily, but afraid the ghost's hazy form would get sucked in with my breath, I clamped a hand over my mouth.
It stared at me point-blank.
The upside-down face was smashed beyond recognition, and so close I could see into the hollow eye sockets.
Deep in that darkness, something writhed.
The moment my eyes met hundreds of insects and an "eye," goosebumps exploded across my skin.
Ugh... aaack!
A ghost!
I leaped back.
Nymph's Wind sent me flying over three meters, but my legs buckled, nearly tumbling me to the ground.
"Fuck!"
I barely landed and whipped my light sword from its sheath. But the reassuring shing! I'd always trusted sounded so frail now!
"Where the hell is the filtering?!"
Or was that already filtered?!
The horrific sight had shocked me so badly my voice and movements lagged.
It was nightmare fuel.
I'd seen countless corpses, grown numb to gore, but "that" was different.
Just looking made my skin crawl, limbs go cold.
Why was I reacting like this?
Angelus's Blessing had properly blocked the mental attack. My heart had raced seeing Lee Woo-yeon earlier too—something was wrong with my body.
But no time to analyze the weirdness.
The upside-down ghost in midair worked its toothless mouth and slowly approached.
Fuck this system bullshit—ghosts aren't monsters! Aren't they?! You lying bastard!
"What kind of ghost is scarier than undead!"
This time, I gritted my teeth. I couldn't let something like this halt a dungeon clear.
If I failed now, the survivors would end up ghost fodder too.
"Damn it, whatever!"
Clenching my jaw, I drew Apex and swung at the ghost.
It was all I could do, and my partner had never let me down, so I trusted it'd handle this.
The ghost just stood there dumbly, not even dodging the slash.
Just watching the blade fly at it.
Despite my lacking strength, a clean whoosh cut through its form.
"No..."
But all that escaped me was a hollow groan.
My trusted Apex light sword passed right through the translucent ghost. No sensation of hitting anything.
Wait, you're a holy sword! Can't holy swords exorcise ghosts?
My ever-reliable partner stayed silent.
Apex light sword shows no reaction. Just a normal sword, apparently.
Fuck!
With no countermeasures, its hollow gaze, writhing mouth, blue-tinted body, and pale translucent hand reached for my cheek again.
The lipless mouth gaped wide enough to show the black throat, closed, then gaped again.
Trying to say something...?
I stared a moment, and it slowly tilted its head. Empty eyes, reaching hand, ceaselessly moving mouth.
The next instant, as I leaned in closer—
Behind the ghost, back to the main road, hundreds—no, thousands—of ghosts peeked out in unison.
I nearly screamed again at the sight.
- "Filtering" is active.
What kind of filtering is this?!
Every ghost's gaze locked on me.
One screamed with mouth agape, hopping on its single leg; another crawled on two arms to grab my ankle; others...
"Aaaah!"
I screamed after all. Insane!
Using Nymph's Wind, I leaped high and far, avoiding the ground as I bolted down the main road to the inner castle.
Countless ghosts stretched silent hands, shrieking inaudibly.
Each brush of translucent fingers sent icy jolts up my ankles.
I finally reached the inner castle gate and glanced back, panting.
Luckily, the ghosts hadn't followed. They just stood dazed, staring or reaching out.
As if gazing at something...
What?
At least some distance made the distant translucent shapes less terrifying.
I caught my breath.
Good or bad, they weren't monsters to kill, and couldn't really harm me, so best to ignore them.
Now to find the other hunters and push the raid...
As I scanned the area, a hand touched my back.
This one had solid presence.
Knowing it was pointless, hand on my sword hilt, I turned very, very slowly.
A bloodied woman's face peeked through iron bars.
U, uwa...!
"Huh? Thought I saw wrong, but it's you...!"
The woman, about to greet me happily, jolted and pointed at my mouth.
"Hey, you're bleeding. Bite your tongue?"
...Yeah, I bit it mid-scream, so leave it.
But no.
I was stunned to see the first living person since entering.
"...Im Mi-sol?"
Wasn't this the crazy herbalist who'd bought my items straight from the Hunter Store main branch?
She froze at the name, then exclaimed "Ah!"
She stuck her equally wrecked hand through the bars.
"Im Mi-sol's my newbie name at the government-run Hunter Store sales dept. I'm Lee Seon. Government hunter. Call me Seon."
I stared, dumbfounded, at the mad herbalist—Rank 4 Lee Seon—acting all confident in this hopeless mess.
- Fifth night phase has ended.
- Wait time granted until sixth morning.
- 01:00:00