Chapter 181 – Dragon (1)

“What is this? There’s nothing here.”

That was the first thing I said upon reaching the top floor.

After all the effort I put into farming, I couldn’t sense a single presence on the highest level.

Only the pale moonlight streamed through the windows, tinting the hallway in silver.

For a moment, I felt a wave of emptiness. How hard had I worked to gather this army of ghosts…?

Though not even a minute had passed, I’d moved all over. But if I had to push any further, the effort wouldn’t be worth it.

If that was all, I would’ve stormed the final boss with sashimi in hand from the start.

Gathering the ghost army had been a kind of insurance. In other words, not essential.

‘Still, I got really into forming it. Dammit.’

Wearing a clearly disappointed expression, I scanned the fourth floor quickly. Then I realized why I hadn’t felt anything in the hallway.

There was only one door.

At the very end, a single classroom bore the Chinese characters 【死靈死】—“Death Spirit Death.”

Its ominous aura seemed to welcome me and my ghostly army.

‘Up to the third floor, the hallway was the main battlefield. But here on the top floor, the layout is different.’

Seen that way, this wasn’t a total waste.

Even in the Buffalo Dungeon, there were no monsters outside the Bull King’s chamber.

Before the storm comes calm. That quiet before the climax is intentional. Silence amplifies dramatic tension.

Far better than having random enemies pop up and ruin the pacing.

‘In the Undead Dungeon too, before I faced the draugr, there was absolute silence.’

A faint smile crossed my lips.

Even though I was about to face the final boss, I couldn’t help but smile…

After almost two years in this world, maybe my mind had started slipping. On the bright side, it showed how well I’d adapted. Not bad at all.

Graaaargh!

As if sharing my mood, a roar erupted behind me. A kind of battle cry before entering the field.

In that moment, I truly looked like a necromancer. And I had to admit—it wasn’t a bad feeling.

I advanced slowly, my ghost army behind me. The march was so calm it almost made me sleepy.

But I could never let my guard down. That was rule number one etched in my heart. It’s the only reason I’m still alive.

I sharpened my senses to the max and scanned ahead. Nothing.

Peripheral vigilance was up to those behind me, so I ignored that for now.

I walked through a roughly 200-meter corridor without issue, stopping in front of the classroom where the final boss almost certainly waited.

【死靈死】

A door stained with blood-red rust. Its surface rough like sandpaper as I pushed.

A screech of rusted metal. A foul stench. Beyond that, the interior of a large room drenched in dark red came into view.

Thump. Thump.

In the center of the room, a giant heart throbbed while bound in chains. Around it stood ghost knights, completely filling the chamber like sentinels.

Their number approached three hundred. A military formation, guarding that heart as one unit.

A light flared in the ghost knights’ eyes, like bulbs switching on. Then they let out a ghastly cry.

In the next moment, they conjured hazy scythes and gripped them tight.

“Ha…”

I let out a hollow laugh. I knew exactly what kind of monsters these were.

Death angels that reaped the dead with scythes. A-rank magical beasts: Grim Reapers.

Especially the scythes they wielded—Death’s Scythe—were infamous. Each strike stole ten years of lifespan. A cursed magical weapon at its worst.

Even back in the game, the weapon’s fame surpassed the monsters themselves.

Players called them “Time Thieves,” or simply “Timejackers.”

That weapon, practically an instant death skill, terrified more than a few.

Now, these creatures ruled this nightmare. Guardians of the core.

Unlike the other undead, who were low-rank magical beasts, a single Grim Reaper was overwhelmingly strong alone.

Had I come unprepared, I wouldn’t stand a chance. That was clear.

But…

I laughed again. Not because I’d lost it—but because the absurd timing was hilarious.

Maybe that’s why people invest so much in insurance.

As I saw them approaching with their scythes, I muttered:

“Ten years per hit, huh?”

Grrraaaaaaah!

My ghosts surrounded me like a protective barrier. With ferocity that let no one approach.

Snap. I clicked my fingers.

At once, the ghosts crouched to leap, like chained beasts about to pounce. They bared their fangs with a growl.

I smirked and continued:

“Then against those who don’t have lives to begin with… it’s useless.”

Snap. The sound of skin on skin echoed in the chamber. Simultaneously, my army surged forward.

Boom!

Both sides clashed in the center of the room. Thousands of footsteps shook the floor.

That roar marked the beginning of the battle.

The Grim Reapers swung their scythes like claws. Their blades, glowing with ivory light, cut down ghosts again and again.

They moved like a trained military force. With mechanical precision that made it hard to believe this battle had erupted suddenly. Each scythe swing had one purpose.

“To protect the core.”

And so, they blocked the ghosts charging at the heart.

But the battle didn’t go as the reapers had hoped.

No matter how many they cut, the ghosts kept charging.

“Gueeeeeaaaaah!”

The ghosts lunged like hounds. They took direct hits with their bodies and bit down viciously.

They weren’t a match for the reapers. Their only advantage was numbers—they were inferior in every other way.

Still, they had their own fighting style.

Covered by ghostly pests, the reapers slashed at their own bodies to shake them off.

But the ghosts, moving like animals, dodged the scythes and dove back in, teeth-first.

My army was made of spirits long dead. So even with life-stealing weapons, they charged without hesitation.

They no longer feared death—so they had no reason to avoid dirty fights.

Rather than massive attacks, they chipped away with countless bites. Slowly, it began to show.

The reapers shifted from offense to defense. A clear sign we were gaining ground.

Seizing the momentum, the ghosts pushed harder. They stomped like wild stallions, shrieking as they charged.

They broke enemy lines and scattered their formation.

Ghosts versus reapers.

While these superhuman beings fought, I simply watched. Hands in my pockets, enjoying auto-battle mode.

Thump…

The last Grim Reaper fell.

Only then did I take my hands out of my pockets and approach the still-beating heart.

Swoosh.

It was time to wake from this nightmare.

***

[NEW! You have completed the hidden mission “Horror Maze: The Nightmare Caused by the Joaquin Tragedy.” A reward has been granted.]

[▷ “Blessing of Communication” has been elevated to Spirit Level.]

[…]

[…]

[Tip: Just once, you may cross the timeline and speak with someone from the past, present, or future.

※ You only get one chance—so choose wisely. Don’t regret it when the time comes, understood? (……)]

***

“Ah.”

The five people standing in front of the Aaron Pavilion exclaimed in unison.

As soon as they opened their eyes after what felt like a deep sleep, they began to pant. Even though they were outside, they were breathing heavily.

They stayed that way for a while, as if they had just escaped from a sealed-off space.

It was a feeling hard to describe. The night wind, damp and gloomy, swirled around them.

The first voice to break the strange silence was Speedweapon’s.

“Y-You guys… were you ghosts… or not…?”

A question heavy with meaning. Everyone shook their heads.

Their faces were pale as death. Despite the cold, sweat drenched their foreheads. All from the bizarre phenomenon they had just experienced together.

Suddenly, Speedweapon turned around. His hand was still on the doorknob of the pavilion.

“Shit!”

He jumped back in horror. A rare curse spilled from his mouth.

But no one scolded him. On the contrary, the harsh word perfectly captured their mental state.

In fact, if he had started kicking the door, no one would have stopped him.

They all stared intently at the entrance of the building. Even though it looked clean on the outside, the inside gave off a grotesque aura.

They hadn’t even entered it—and yet, they had been dragged in. It wasn’t just a dream. There was no way to pretend what they experienced wasn’t real with that lingering terror on their faces.

It had been a real nightmare. And they didn’t even know when it had started. In that sense, it did resemble a dream.

Creack…

Suddenly, the door opened. They all froze like statues.

Only Abel, with effort, managed to reach for her sword hilt.

In a place that cursed, nothing felt out of place.

They held their breath, eyes fixed on the entrance.

Step.

A foot emerged from the doorway. Abel drew half her blade. Her gaze gleamed with the same sharpness as the edge of her sword.

After a long silence, a voice came from the other side of the door. A familiar voice.

“So this is why people say not to mess with haunted house experiences? Damn, that was exhausting.”

The one who opened the door was Kang Geom-Ma. He walked out slowly, looking completely drained.

Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.

The tension that had reached its peak vanished in an instant. Three of the five collapsed to the ground.

Honestly, they no longer knew if this was still part of the dream or not. But seeing his face, a wave of relief washed over them.

Because it was Kang Geom-Ma. And seeing his face gave them more comfort than any doubts about whether it had all been real. Gradually, they let their guard down.

A few minutes later, Saki stood up, staggering. Her clothes were dirty with sweat and soil, but she didn’t seem to care. She walked up to Kang Geom-Ma.

“Kang Geom-Ma, what were you doing in there?”

He scratched his cheek and replied with a complicated expression:

“An exorcism?”

***

Several days passed. My clubmates and I talked several times about what had happened that day.

First, the “why” something like that even existed inside the academy. We tossed out a lot of theories, and eventually narrowed it down to one that made sense.

Dungeons, by nature, are places where magical energy concentrates. The older, darker, and more shadowed a place is, the easier it becomes for energy to build up.

Aaron Pavilion checked all those boxes. Ancient, shaded, and located in the most remote corner.

Then came the “how” that magical energy ended up there.

The clue was in the hidden mission: 『Horror Maze: The Nightmare Triggered by the Joaquin Tragedy』.

That day, the third corps commander, Vesna, had unleashed her magical power to the limit.

The residual energy lingered in the air, and the wind carried it to the Aaron Pavilion.

Also, the site of the disaster was the election hall in the northeast, while Aaron Pavilion was in the southwest.

If the wind had blown that way, it made sense that all that magic-laced energy settled there.

‘Though I still don’t know why it turned into a ghost nest…’

Lying on my bed, I stared at the ceiling while reviewing the reward I got from the Horror Maze dungeon.

— Just once, you can cross the timeline and speak with someone from the past, present, or future.

That message appeared when the Blessing of Communication leveled up.

Until now, I thought of it as a glorified translator. Then they dropped this bomb—complete with a warning:

— You only have one chance. Think carefully before using it. Don’t regret it afterward.

With that said, I couldn’t use it lightly. For example, I could contact my future self three years from now and ask, “Was humanity destroyed?”

Didn’t take a genius to realize this was an absurdly powerful ability.

‘I need to seriously think about when… and with whom to use it.’

Ring~

A sharp tone rang from my phone. It was a message from Choi Seol-ah.

[Choi Seol-ah: My lord… do you remember the little lizard you asked me to take care of…?]

Ah, right—I had entrusted Horn to her. As a man, I couldn’t live with her, so I asked Seol-ah to feed and shelter her.

She had complained that she preferred living alone. I smiled and showed her my sashimi. Without another word, she accepted and took Horn with her.

Since then, every four days, she’s been sending me status reports about Horn.

“…But what’s with this way of talking?”

At that moment, the screen lit up again.

[Choi Seol-ah: I’m afraid… something serious just happened…]