Chapter 108
“I’ll give you some simple information, so read it if you have time.”
After saying that, the “Adult” disappeared somewhere.
The statues that had been standing in the corners of the room were also all gone.
It had begun.
In front of my eyes, the information window that the “Adult” mentioned appeared.
—
[Bernhardt’s Mansion ▼]
You have been invited to Bernhardt’s Mansion.
Like all places, this mansion has its own story.
Its former owner, Bernhardt, had a rather refined hobby in a world where destruction had arrived… collecting “items.”
However, unfortunately, Bernhardt could not distinguish “cursed items.”
And so, as he was dying, he realized that his mansion itself had become a kind of dungeon.
In his own home, drying up and dying without even being able to drink a sip of water!
How miserable is that?
That the master of the greatest hero would die of mere starvation!
—
[Bernhardt’s Mansion.]
At those words, I frowned slightly.
—
▼
The statues are still here, continuing their work!
That is because they swore eternal obedience to Bernhardt!
Thus, they are living beings that act with clear will.
Because they are human!
Although now, the only will left in them is to serve their little master and obey the one who commands them.
Be careful.
They will not tolerate insults toward their little master or their commander.
Still, this mansion will be quite useful.
It is no different from a grave where countless items lie dormant.
Whether they are cursed or not, there is no way to tell!
—
Blink. Blink.
The cursor flickered.
—
▼
I hope what I’ve grasped onto isn’t like that.
I wish you good luck!
—
What this information window told me was simple.
The “statues” had will, this place was “Bernhardt’s Mansion,” and among the items, there were “cursed ones” mixed in.
‘The merit of this place is items.’
Bernhardt’s Mansion.
This space had also appeared in the novel.
A place the “Nightmare Brat” used only at the very beginning, and then stopped using.
More precisely, it was closer to being unable to use.
‘Because it’s hard to balance the difficulty.’
A vast mansion.
Dealing with the statues that resided here was extremely difficult.
And among the many items scattered throughout, there were quite a lot that were cursed.
It was the perfect place to get wiped out.
But if you adjusted the difficulty to make it manageable, then too many of the items sleeping here would be taken outside.
Either way, it caused an imbalance.
I turned my head and looked around.
The people nearby were still standing frozen.
Some were blankly staring at the information window.
Others were simply too afraid to step outside.
When someone finally went out, people quickly followed and began to scatter.
“Lee Hoin, let’s go.”
Simple rules.
A simple objective.
A place where you just had to survive.
As if he had finished all his calculations,
Lee Hoin silently began walking.
Watching him, I glanced once at Resonance.
The Resonance Therapy skill… with 46 hours remaining until it could be activated again.
***
It was an old-fashioned castle.
Every time we passed through corridors engraved with elegant patterns,
I subtly scanned the surroundings, checking for statues.
There were no footsteps yet, so I moved with a slightly more relaxed mindset.
First, we needed to find a place to hide.
“Why is this place so damn big?”
Lee Hoin frowned as he said that.
The corridors were long, the doors massive, and the artworks scattered everywhere made you flinch, wondering if they were statues.
Even without being told that items were hidden here, it was obvious this place was filled with objects that seemed to carry stories.
While searching for a hiding place,
I randomly opened a door.
Inside… there was nothing but portraits.
I looked around quietly, then turned my head toward the largest portrait hanging at the center of one wall.
‘Three.’
A woman sitting in the center wearing a dress, a man standing behind her, and a child standing beside them.
A portrait of only three people… yet it looked like a masterpiece on its own.
If there was a flaw, it was that their faces weren’t clearly visible.
For some reason, the portrait was unusually large.
Only the child’s face, the closest figure, was barely visible.
A child with round cheeks that hadn’t yet lost their baby fat, holding onto the chair the woman was sitting in, with a somewhat composed expression.
As I looked around more carefully,
I realized that all the portraits depicted the same people.
For some reason, it made me feel uneasy, so I shut the door.
Aside from the densely packed portraits… There was nothing else.
Truly nothing.
—
[How grotesque!]
[Perhaps he was a narcissist. A narcissistic family, maybe?]
—
In the end, we entered another room.
That room was filled with weapons and armor.
As soon as we stepped in quietly,
Lee Hoin immediately picked up a hammer.
His sword was already slung over his back.
‘That’s the right choice.’
Against statues, smashing is more effective than stabbing or slashing.
As I thought that and turned… suddenly, a sound came from outside.
A chilling sound.
Scrrrk
Scrrrrrrk
Something is dragging across the floor.
And then…
Jingle.
A clear bell sound.
Lee Hoin immediately held the hammer on his shoulder and stood still.
I also listened carefully.
The statue seemed to be heading somewhere, its dragging footsteps gradually fading away.
The bell sound grew distant.
I let out a breath and turned my head.
Then I opened the door slightly.
The corridor… was empty.
As we stepped out holding two hammers, suddenly, at the far end of the hallway… we saw a small figure.
Anyone would recognize it as a child.
But…
“…Hey, that’s a person.”
It was definitely a person.
The skin tone was too human for it to be a statue, and if it were the “special tagger,” it wouldn’t just be standing there blankly looking at us.
There was no bell sound.
It didn’t seem to have any “attack” behavior.
Honestly, that made sense.
It just stood there like a ghost, covered in a white cloth.
Then… it suddenly scampered off somewhere.
Vanishing beyond the corridor.
“A kid? Why is a kid here?”
“…No idea.”
Something felt off.
The fact that all of the “Nightmare Brat’s” agents were children kept bothering me.
I frowned and turned my head.
“Let’s go.”
Ignoring it was probably the better choice.
—
[And yet, you always end up paying attention anyway… that’s the problem!]
—
***
We continued searching the rooms.
We found various items, but distinguishing them… for now, we relied on Lee Hoin’s instincts and my suspicion.
Maybe because neither of our levels was high, there were many cases where Lee Hoin said something was fine, but I felt it wasn’t, and discarded it.
There weren’t many items we both agreed on.
Still, this was better… than carrying around a bunch of unknown, cursed objects.
As we explored the mansion, one thing stood out.
—
[There are way too many portraits!]
[Why did they bother painting every single servant’s face?]
[What a waste! They were probably used as disposable tools anyway.]
[Did they want to be remembered as a great master in history?]
—
There were a lot of portraits.
Really, a lot.
At first, seeing people in elegant and luxurious clothing,
I thought…
Ah, nobles. The owners of this place.
But it wasn’t just them.
There were portraits of maids, of people who clearly looked like hired workers, all painted on massive canvases.
They all wore neat, proper smiles.
And yet… instead of feeling lively, they felt strangely inorganic.
It felt like they were painted for mourning.
Like this mansion was a massive grave.
Not just for “items,” but for all of them.
Like everything here was part of a funeral.
As I thought that, I stared at a large portrait of a servant… standing upright, one hand adjusting his mustache.
Then slowly,
I turned my head.
And there… in the distance… stood that child again, covered in cloth, staring at me.
Closer than before, but still far away… watching, as if observing.
At some point, Lee Hoin had noticed too, and frowned.
“Looks like it’s getting closer. Lee Hoin, what do you think?”
“It is getting closer.”
Right as we said that… the child ran away again.
Scampering off somewhere.
The way it ran… felt like a child who wanted to be caught.
That made me frown even more.
“…Ha.”
It was definitely strange.
No matter how you looked at it… It was strange.
Of course, it was harder to find something not strange in an event space.
But still…
‘This is really weird.’
Every time it got closer, there was something I felt.
That face… it felt like I had seen it before.
Among the countless portraits.
Comments (0)