“This place looks like it’s haunted.”

Grandpa made this comment as soon as he saw the mansion in the back alley.

It does look rather eerie. The iron gate is rusted, the walls that should protect the house are old and look like they could collapse at any moment, the garden beyond is full of withered, brown plants, and the house in the middle is nothing short of a monstrosity.

…

I didn’t think much of it when I saw it on the screen, but seeing it in real life is a bit unsettling.

“This is the place you mentioned, my lady.”

Carl smiled at the sight of the mansion.

How can he smile at the sight of this abandoned place?

Do knights need to have nerves of steel or something?

“I used to come here often during my school days.”

‘As a punishment?’

“As a punishment?”

“Yes. There were rumors of ghosts appearing here, so it was often used for that.”

Looks like the setting where students come and cause trouble has been preserved.

I wonder if there will be anyone here today?

It would be easier to explore if no one else was around.

“I often came here, but I never actually saw a ghost. It was probably just a baseless rumor.”

‘There is one...’

“There’s a ghost. A timid, lousy one.”

“…What?”

Wasn’t she the daughter of the previous owner of this mansion?

I vaguely remember something like that.

Anyway, she doesn’t cause any harm, so there’s no need to worry about it.

‘Let’s go.’

“Let’s go, lousy knight.”

“My lady, wait a moment. You’re joking, right? My lady!”

I walked past the rusty gate and into the mansion.

There was nothing in this mansion that was still intact; it had been abandoned for a long time.

If there were a thief who got a thrill out of breaking into places, they would never touch this house.

All the doors were broken, so you could enter from anywhere.

As I stepped inside the mansion, the wooden floor creaked under my feet.

“Hiiik!”

When I turned at the sound of a scream, I saw Carl’s face had turned pale.

What’s this?

Don’t tell me…

“Carl, are you…”

“Lousy knight, are you afraid of ghosts?”

“No! How could a knight fear such wicked beings?”

Carl shouted as if to deny my suspicion, but he couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.

It’s hard to believe that someone who could probably take down a troll with his bare hands is afraid of ghosts.

What will he do when we encounter a dungeon full of ghosts later? That dungeon has so many sudden horror elements that it feels like the game genre changes completely.

“I’m telling the truth! Please believe me!”

‘Alright…’

“Alright, lousy knight.”

There’s no point in arguing here, so I’ll just let it go.

I led the jumpy Carl down to the basement.

My destination was the iron door at the far end of the mansion’s basement.

It was the only thing in this decrepit mansion that was still in its original condition.

“So that key was meant to open this door.”

Carl swallowed hard as he looked at the door.

Even though he was standing in front of me like a proper knight, I could see his hands trembling in fear.

Sigh. I wonder if he’ll be able to properly clear the dungeon below.

Just as I was about to take out the key and unlock the door, a thought crossed my mind.

In the game, you couldn’t break this door, so you had to use the key, but isn’t that different now?

I feel like I could just smash this iron door with my mace.

Thinking that, I raised my mace and struck the door.

Bang!

Even though I put a lot of force into the blow, the door remained unscathed.

“My lady, this door cannot be broken by any means.”

“There are sometimes objects like this. Unless certain conditions are met, they won’t budge, no matter how much you hit them.”

Carl declared that the door couldn’t be broken, and Grandpa explained that such things exist.

So what you’re saying is…

These doors won’t move unless you’ve received the quest, just like in the game?

Ugh. If I could break doors like this myself, I could’ve used all sorts of tricks in the future.

Regretfully, I opened the door with the key.

A staircase leading to the second basement level was revealed.

It was pitch black, perfect for tripping and falling if you walked forward recklessly.

In the past, I would have brought a torch, but now I have another method.

‘Oh, divine light.’

As I recited the prayer internally, a sphere of light appeared in front of me, illuminating the path.

“You’re handling this well now.”

‘When have I ever struggled with this spell?’

“Have you forgotten the time you created an enormous sphere and blinded yourself with its flash?”

I ignored Grandpa’s laughing remarks about how he could still vividly remember me rolling on the floor, clutching my eyes.

Grandpa, if you’re an old man, act like one and forget recent events quickly.

Why does someone so old have such a good memory?

“So, now we just need to find the item the female student asked for, right? Let’s find it quickly and—”

‘Don’t worry about that.’

“Lousy knight, you can’t see past your nose, can you? Don’t worry about that.”

“Pardon? But—”

‘It’s just an excuse.’

“The so-called noble lady was just making an excuse.”

If I were to explain in detail, it would be a long story, but the request to find an item was just a lie to get the player to come here.

The real objective is elsewhere.

I casually answered Carl as I walked deeper into the second basement.

When I opened the door at the very end, a stone gate was revealed.

“That’s… the entrance to a dungeon.”

It was indeed the entrance to a dungeon.

Ding.

[The quest has changed.] [Request from a Female Student] [???] [Reward: ???]

‘This place…’

“The noble lady’s real objective is to have us clear this dungeon. She’s a creepy woman, isn’t she?”

“It’s strange. If she wanted to clear the dungeon, it would have been faster to report it to the academy or the church.”

I could have answered Carl’s question.

The female student is actually a novice necromancer who can communicate with the ghost in this mansion.

She befriended the ghost and promised to clear the dungeon at its request.

However, if she asked the academy or the church, the ghost would be exorcised along with the dungeon’s clearing, so she was conflicted.

But knowing that mentioning a ghost would scare Carl, I just shrugged and pushed open the dungeon door.

The surroundings changed.

It was a gloomy cemetery.

The sky was filled with dark clouds, with not a single star shining through. Instead, rain fell from the sky, making a constant dripping sound.

The wet earth of the graves emitted a foul odor.

I didn’t care much in the game, but now that it’s real, this place is really annoying.

I’ll have to finish this and get out of here before my hair gets soaked.

With that in mind, I created a shield with divine power.

“Just when I thought we’d escaped the creepy mansion, now we’re in a cemetery.”

Carl sighed as he looked around the dungeon.

‘Don’t worry, Carl…’

“Lousy knight, don’t worry. There are no ghosts here.”

Ghosts, I mean.

As soon as I spoke, I felt a presence near one of the graves.

When I looked, I saw corpses digging their way out of the graves, just like in a B-grade zombie movie.

Zombies.

The main monsters of this dungeon.

I bet the lousy knight is going to get scared again.

I was waiting for a scream, but it didn’t come.

Instead, I heard the sound of a zombie’s head flying through the air.

“Undead, huh? That’s a relief.”

‘What the…’

“What’s this? Lousy knight, I thought you were scared of things like that?”

“I fear the unknown, not weak monsters like those.”

It seemed Carl made a distinction between zombies and ghosts, even though they’re both undead.

Well, that’s a relief.

I brought him along because I was worried Aghra might pull some nonsense, but it would’ve been a problem if he froze up at the sight of undead.

“In the end, isn’t he just admitting that he’s scared of ghosts?”

‘Grandpa, at times like this, you just pretend you don’t know.’

After all, he’s still a knight. If he’s treated like a coward, it might wound his pride.

I think it’s a master’s duty to be lenient and overlook such things.

‘Carl…’

“Lousy knight, there’s no need to bother with that trash. Let’s go.”

“What? But they’re monsters.”

‘Just do as I say!’

“Just follow your master like the dog you are. Got it?”

If we end up leveling up because we mess with them, it’ll only cause more trouble.

When I said that, Carl looked reluctant, but he nodded.

After getting Carl’s agreement, I led him forward.

These zombies are ridiculously slow anyway.

They have good health and strength, but that’s it. If you run fast, they can’t keep up.

So the best way to clear this dungeon was to ignore the zombies and just run straight ahead.

How long did we run through the cemetery?

In the distance, I saw the end of the cemetery.

Under a broken cross, someone who had been digging a hole saw us approaching, set down their shovel, and looked up.

“Welcome, guests. Did you enjoy the warm welcome from my family?”

The necromancer, who was the boss of this dungeon, greeted us with exaggerated gestures, his rain-soaked coat hanging limply.

“My lady, is that man the master of this dungeon?”

‘Yes.’

“That’s right. Doesn’t he seem mentally unbalanced, which suits this dungeon?”

“Oh my, thank you for the compliment.”

Despite my insult, the necromancer laughed and moved his hands.

That was when Carl stepped forward.

It was a charge driven by combat logic, which dictated that you must strike down your opponent before they could make a move.

The necromancer didn’t react at all.

Carl’s sword slashed through the necromancer’s coat.

“Wow! Impressive strength!”

But despite Carl’s attack, the necromancer was unharmed.

It wasn’t because of magical protection.

Nor did he dodge.

It’s just that there was nothing beneath the coat to cut.

“But it’s unfortunate! I’m a being that exists on the boundary between this world and the next.”

As the leather coat was slashed and fluttered to the ground, what was hidden beneath it was revealed.

The necromancer’s body was semi-transparent.

Just like a ghost from a horror movie.

“No physical attack can harm me.”

The master of this dungeon is both a necromancer and a ghost.

To defeat him, you need something other than physical attacks.

You’d need at least a level 30 priest or mage to damage him.

In other words, he’s a boss you can’t defeat early in the game by traditional methods.

But there’s a trick to this.

I walked past Carl, who was frowning in frustration, and swung my mace.

“That’s pointless.”

The necromancer laughed as he spread his arms, welcoming my mace.

As if to say that such an attack couldn’t harm him.

But the result was different.

“Huh?!”

I heard the necromancer gasp as the mace struck him.

Was he startled by the unexpected pain?

The necromancer staggered back, his voice losing its composure as he shouted at me.

“What did you do?!”

“Is your brain so rotten that you can’t think?♡ I attacked you♡, you insignificant wraith♡”

“You! You shouldn’t be able to hurt me!”

Right. Normally, that would be true.

But you see, you can’t expect normal things from a veteran player.

You lousy fool.