Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Chapter 5. Such Moments Exist.
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The light enveloping me slowly faded away.
When I opened my eyes, what I saw was... a bunch of dour faces huddled around a round table.
They were all clad in gleaming silver armor, looking exactly like the ghosts I'd been seeing nonstop in Tartarus up until two weeks ago. Blond hair, blue eyes... you get the idea.
Well, the castle's architecture was Western-style, after all.
Huh. Seeing it like this, it felt strangely familiar. Honestly, this world felt more natural to me than modern Korea ever did...
I was just starting to take a closer look when, before I could even grasp the situation, one of them kicked back his chair and pointed a finger right at me.
"It's not just about refusing to surrender! We've already run out of the castle's stockpiled food! Are you saying we should all just die in this situation?!"
I had no idea what was going on, but one thing was clear: I hated people pointing fingers at me. Conveniently, there was a plain teacup right in front of me, with about half of the tea still left inside.
I was debating whether to hurl it at him when the guy sitting next to the finger-pointer stood up and drew his sword on him.
"How dare you speak to the Captain like that? Insolent fool!"
"I'm saying this because it's frustrating! At this rate, everyone in the castle will die!"
"Would you abandon the honor of the Knights' Order?!"
"What's honor worth if we're dead?!"
I had no clue what was happening, but damn, they were going at it.
For now, I scanned the room.
This place was a far cry from the barren ruins I'd been in moments ago.
A lavish red tapestry embroidered with golden threads hung on the wall, adorned with all sorts of weapons.
The room felt a bit cramped with the massive round table taking up space, but the plush carpet on the floor kept it from feeling too spartan.
Come to think of it, the system message had mentioned being incorporated into "this timeline."
So, this must be the timeline when Ghost Castle was still alive—before it became a tomb for ghosts?
- Your position has been set to defender. You can check related rewards.
The last message I'd seen was still hovering in front of me. Before doing anything else, I decided to check the rewards first.
- Reward: You will possess one of the individuals from this timeline. The individual is randomly selected based on the closest match to the player's disposition. You can inherit some of that individual's stats and memories.
- The individual you possess is the Captain of the Knights' Order who defended '■■ of ■■ Castle' until the very end. Detailed information is available.
- Some information is restricted due to temporal variance.
- Fulfilling this individual's wish will clear the mission.
- Strategy Tip: Fulfilling more ghost wishes grants bonus achievement points.
Messages popped up one after another.
The restricted info was a bit unsettling, but overall, it seemed positive.
Right—I was the Captain? And the Captain who defended this castle to the bitter end, no less.
Best of all, I could inherit this person's stats. A Knights' Captain? Even if he seemed weak, he had to be better off than me right now.
Heart pounding, I opened my status window.
- You have inherited the individual's stats. You can claim these stats as a reward upon mission clear.
Player Name: Wandering Pilgrim (Status: Possession)
LV. 79 (LV. 22)
Trait: Piercing Talon (Honorable Warrior)
Class: Hero (Knight)
Vitality: 40 (+350)
Strength: 35 (+300)
Agility: 25 (+200)
Mana: 750 (+100)
Skills: Flame of Soul Annihilation lv. max, Return from Death lv. max, Immortal Will - Passive (Skills are not transferred.)
"Wha...!"
Holy shit! I jumped up in excitement and slammed my knee into the table. There was a sharp crack—maybe I'd split it.
Even that sound felt welcoming.
The knights, who had been at each other's throats with swords and fingers, all turned to stare at me.
But I had no time for their stares.
I could claim these stats as a reward?!
It was the best news ever for someone like me, who'd entered this dungeon specifically to fix my stat issues.
It had been so long since I'd had stats like these that my memory was fuzzy, but with numbers like that, I wouldn't get sore swinging a mithril sword.
Sure, they were nothing compared to my prime, but compared to my current near-normal-human stats, this was a godsend.
And I hadn't even gotten the Hero class bonuses yet—maybe I could boost them higher.
If I could push Vitality, Strength, and Agility into the high three-digits, things would get a lot easier.
At least I wouldn't die pathetically in the next ranking match.
Alright. No matter what, I'm clearing this dungeon. Ghosts, bring it on!
I clenched my fist.
"C-Captain?"
Someone addressed me—the Captain, or rather, me. Since I was possessed, I must look like their leader to them.
I slowly scanned the knights seated around the table. The one who'd pointed at me earlier was red-faced with rage.
"Are you lost in thought during such a crucial meeting?"
His tone dripped with contempt. Should I get mad if I'm the Captain?
But maybe because I knew the future, looking at his face didn't anger me—it reminded me of the tragedy I'd seen in the mirror.
I hadn't pieced together the full situation, but I could guess what had happened from the scenes I'd glimpsed.
The walls had crumbled, the moat filled with corpses instead of water, people mocked cruelly.
In my timeline, these were already dead. They'd become ghosts, manifesting as this dungeon mission.
Clearing the mission only benefited me. The dead wouldn't come back to life.
"...Tch."
It left a bitter taste.
But right now, I had to do what I could.
I glared at the system messages floating in the air.
- You must faithfully fulfill the role of the possessed individual.
- Fulfilling the possessed individual's wish will clear the mission.
- However, surrendering to the enemy will result in mission failure, regardless of reason.
- What you must protect is 'the lives of the innocent and the honor of your comrades.'
- This mission has a time limit. Clear it before the eighth night falls.
Got it.
I'd been wondering since entering the dungeon, and now it clicked. It took eight nights for this castle to fall.
So where were the other hunters who'd been cursed like me? They must've been slotted into the same timeline, but their positions were the issue.
If any of them were on the siege side, that'd be a headache...
"Captain! Are you even listening?!"
I slowly looked down at the knight who'd stood up. A white name floated above his head.
Hayden Dante.
So this was part of the inherited memories? The system called it "possession," so I had to act like this unknown person.
It had said to stay true to the role, right? Makes sense—that's how the ghost would find closure.
In other words, I had to play the refreshing soda that pierces through all the frustrating melodrama these poor bastards had endured.
Well then.
I grinned.
If I were just some modern Korean guy, mimicking an unknown Knights' Captain might be tough. But I'd racked up plenty of experience in Tartarus.
I knew plenty of people worth imitating, in speech and manner.
"Hayden Dante."
I jerked my chin at him. He shut his mouth, momentarily cowed.
Of course. It probably came off as pretty arrogant and authoritative. I was channeling the continent's haughtiest, greatest Mercenary King—Alicia.
With my lips curled and arms crossed, I looked down at the standing Hayden Dante from my seat.
Physical height meant nothing when intimidating someone.
"What? Keep going. Let's see how far you get."
If I were their Captain, this seemed fair game.
Maybe the Captain had always been an authoritative figure, because my words doused the room like cold water. The mood plummeted.
Hayden, who'd pointed at me, went pale.
"I said, keep going?"
He wasn't too dumb to get the rebuke. Hayden clamped his mouth shut and sat down.
I placed my sheathed sword from my waist onto the table and slowly rose. Fortunately, it was my Apex Light Sword, unchanged.
There were barely ten knights around the table. I looked each in the face and declared lowly.
"We will not surrender."
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
"Everyone will really die!"
Hayden's face twisted in fear and fury as he shouted.
Fear is contagious. The knights' faces began to mirror his.
And his words did sound like desperate counsel from a loyal retainer.
"Please hear me out! I'm not suggesting surrender to those detestable foes because I want to! We're standing on the edge of a cliff. To protect the castle's people...!"
"Yes. We must protect everyone."
I drew my sword. Was it the boosted Strength? The sensation felt entirely different.
"C-Captain! What are you doing?!"
Hayden Dante flinched at the drawn blade and reached for his own sword—but didn't draw it.
The others, equally shocked that I'd draw mine, jumped up to stop me.
"Captain!"
"Stay your hand! Of course Sir Dante was excessive, but it comes from loyalty...!"
"Loyalty. Good word, loyalty. It's the most important thing right now. Because we're on the edge of a cliff."
I chuckled lowly and leveled my drawn sword at Hayden. As the pale blade gleamed toward him, he tensed and glared back.
The moment our brown eyes met, an inexplicable hostility flared within me.
This wasn't my emotion. It was the remnant of some long-dead soul.
Struggling not to sink into that icy malice, I spat out the words that had been on my tongue.
"So first, I need to weed out the traitor who's pushing my back toward the cliff and breaking our loyalty."
Silence fell. The knights' gazes turned to Hayden. His face drained to blue under their suspicion.
"What nonsense is that, Captain? Framing me without evidence?!"
"Evidence?"
I tilted my head crookedly. Next to "Hayden Dante" burned the red word "Traitor."
Evidence? Your dead Captain was already lamenting you as a vile spy.
But I couldn't just blurt it out. What I saw was a system message—no hard proof. And the memories I had were only fragments, not the full picture.
Still, I had plenty to say. Sword still aimed at Hayden Dante, I continued.
"Isn't preaching surrender in this situation the seed of betrayal? Better uproot it now. The disobedient will be ruled by death."
"Captain, do you mean that?"
"Yes."
The table fell into heavy silence. Some looked panicked, others fearful, a few resolute as they stared at me.
I met every pair of eyes.
"Of course, life is paramount. Death ends everything."
That was my honest thought—not some dead stranger's.
Truth be told, if I'd really lived in this time, I might've advocated surrender like Hayden Dante.
Death ends it all. Honor, others' lives—you have to survive to protect them.
But I knew someone who valued honor over life, and how he'd upheld it.
What would Lucas say in front of these men?
The answer was simple.
I held my sword upright before my chest—the knight's oath I'd learned from the Prince.
"But there are things worth giving this life to protect."
Yes. Unlike me, they had something more important than life.
Something unforgettable even in death, so they waited as ghosts for someone to fulfill their wish.
- What you must protect is 'the lives of the innocent and the honor of your comrades.'
I didn't know this dead man's name or his life story.
I never would.
Yet this knight had defied fate even in death because he couldn't protect the innocents' lives or his comrades' honor. Everything he wished for in death was for others.
How could I ignore such a foolish wish?
I worried no one would follow, but there was no need.
The silence didn't last. A clear ring of steel echoed soon after.
"I will follow."
Lowly, then the next spark ignited.
The knight who'd first aimed his sword at Hayden declared it, holding his blade before his chest.
Our eyes met.
The first to raise her sword was a woman with striking green eyes and black hair.
The name that appeared: Elisa May.
Seeing it flooded my chest with emotions that weren't mine.
Sorrow, pride, reverence.
"Damn it, why's the mood like this? I was ready to die following you from the start!"
And Damon O'Neil.
A lively young man with freckles ground his teeth, glaring at Hayden.
"That bastard's nonsense just left everyone stunned for a sec!"
"You don't know solemnity even facing death, Damon."
"Young blood's got its perks. Captain, my back's killing me—I can't even lift my sword."
Once the dam broke, jokes flew. The taut atmosphere shattered.
One by one, the standing knights raised their swords to their chests.
Finally, even Hayden—cowed by the mood—glanced around and followed suit.
"Give us your orders, Captain."
Elisa said quietly.
I smiled at those raised blades. No—the person who should be here might've wanted to cry.
"So many fools here."
Laughter erupted among the knights.
Elisa frowned but smirked; Damon laughed loudest.
Yes. Laughter is always the starting point to overcome despair.
The swords gleamed in the morning sun streaming through the window.
Just a few blades. Feeble light against the darkness that snuffed out their lives.
Still. Let's try.
- The sixth morning is in progress. 05:40:55