STGB Episode 548

The Secret Chamber (1)

87 days since entering the labyrinth.

While going through my morning routine, I received an unusual report from Amelia.

“A ghost, huh…”

Amelia checked and didn’t find anything during her inspection, but since there were already multiple eyewitnesses, we couldn’t just ignore it.

Everyone in the patrol unit—except for Amelia—claimed to have seen the ghost during night watch.

So, I called them all in for brief interviews.

“I felt something eerie, so I turned my head in that direction, there was something with white hair staring at me.”

Starting with Mikhail Rectors from the Royal Investigation Bureau, I heard testimony from everyone who saw the ghost—and surprisingly, they all described something completely different.

“What I saw was a creature with fangs sticking out this far…….”

“Mine was different… It was a man dressed in rags. His eyes were completely black, and he was staring at me with eyes full of resentment, crying tears of blood.”

“What I saw was like a slime. It clung to the floor as if melting into it, creeping toward me in the darkness. But when I blinked, it was suddenly gone. I thought I was just seeing things because I was tired.”

The testimonies were all over the place.

But there was one common detail in all the sightings.

The ghost would disappear the moment someone looked away, even briefly.

“Did everyone see it yesterday?”

“No, at different times,” Amelia answered “It was only after Rectors mentioned it during last night’s watch that I asked around and found out everyone except me had seen it at least once.”

Right, so that’s how it is…

As I stroked my chin in thought, a grinding sound came from beside me.

Grind, grind, grrrrind—!

It came from Aynar’s jaw. Barbarians clench their teeth whenever they’re frightened.

Barbarians tend to clench their jaws when they’re scared.

“A-a ghost… isn’t that dangerous…… right?!”

Now that I think about it, Aynar has always been terrified of this kind of stuff.

Well, most barbarians are.

They have an instinctive aversion to spectral monsters, and many even harbor deep-seated fear.

At one point, I’d been curious about this trait and asked Raven about it. Back then, she’d given me this explanation:

The blood of the Barbarian race.

In other words, their genetics might carry an inherent awareness of natural enemies
that can’t be harmed by physical force.

Since barbarians rely heavily on instinct, this trait could be a common survival mechanism across their species.

Well, that’s not what’s important right now.

“I smell something.”

“Huh? A smell? Is it meat?!”

At my muttering, Aynar started sniffing the air.

It seems that her desire for meat is stronger than her fear of ghosts.

Ridiculous. I ignored her, because the scent I had caught wasn’t that.

Meat is nice, sure…

But there are things even more delicious than meat.

I smelled one of those.

Hidden Piece.

Anyone who has ever played Dungeon & Stone would go crazy the moment they discovered one of these.

And the moment I heard about the ghost, that scent hit me.

Slurp.

The rich, intoxicating scent of the Hidden Piece.

And it was strong.

***

Hidden Piece.

In this world, it’s called Gavrilius Arrangement.

Having found countless Hidden Pieces while playing Dungeon & Stone, I immediately got to work.

First, I needed information.

Lots of it—enough to form a statistical analysis.

“What was the time?”

“It was a little past 1 AM.”

“Since it was the first night watch… probably around 11 PM.”

After questioning all the members who reported seeing the ghost, I found that it only appeared between 11 PM and 3 AM.

Coincidence?

No way.

The ghost in the library appears from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.

“There! Over there. It was staring at me from there.”

“I was up on the bookshelf when I saw it…”

“In my case, it was near the stairs leading outside.”

The locations seemed random-in other words, anywhere in the library.

“Mister, do you think that ghost might be one of Gabrilius’s achievents?”

While I was deep in research, Erwin looked at me with curious eyes.

Actually, it wasn’t just her.

“Yeah, for now.”

When I nodded, the other explorers who’d been eavesdropping lit up with excitement.

“Gabrilius’ achievement!”

“So it’s true!”

The Armin Exploration Team, which specialized in uncovering Hidden Pieces, was naturally thrilled, but even the members of the Hex Clan had a gleam of greed in their eyes.

Well, how could any explorer resist?

“So… if we find the ghost, we can get treasure? I heard those who discovered his achievements all became rich.”

Even Aynar, who had been terrified of ghosts, subtly revealed her true feelings.

But not everyone was completely blinded by greed.

“Jandel, you’re looking at this too positively.”

Someone approached me and expressed her concern.

Amelia

My colleague with whom I have a timeless bond.

“Too positively?”

“Yes. You’re only seeing the positives—unlike you.”

Ah, I think I get what she means.

To be honest, when I first heard about the ghost, I was thinking about something else.

What if this ghost was sent by someone as surveillance, and we just happened to stumble upon it?

‘Like the Village Chief, for example.’

Just like the incident with the Silver Lion Clan leader, who had to make an emergency escape when we revisited the library.

Assuming the ghost’s presence is purely a good thing isn’t wise.

Even if it’s not the Village Chief, it might not be a ‘good thing’ at all.

“Emily, I understand what you mean. I’ll keep it in mind, so don’t worry too much.”

“…If you say so. Alright.”

“Yeah, thanks for telling me.”

My gut still insisted that the ghost was related to the Hidden Piece, but I decided to heed Amelia’s advice and proceed with caution.

Assuming the worst in any situation was always helpful.

We’ll know tonight what it is tonight.

With that settled, I went back to my “day job”: summoning monsters and fighting them.

We fought monsters all day, taking only the necessary breaks, but unfortunately, today’s haul was small.

‘Just one Level 4 essence I can’t even consume…’

Normally, I’d have been thrilled to put it in a testube, but my standards had risen to the point where this wasn’t satisfying anymore.

Tsk.

The biggest disappointment was that I luckily found two more Bellarios but didn’t get any essences from them.

Still, at this rate, I’ll probably get one before leaving the first basement floor. The frequency of encounters has definitely increased as the bookshelves got higher.

What do I do with my last essence slots?

One was reserved for Bellarios’s essence, and the Hipramagent’s essence would eventually replace the Orc Hero’s, so that didn’t count.

The last slot was the problem—I didn’t have a clear plan for it

I’d only considered filling all the slots in preparation for a potential violent clash with the Village Chief, but it wasn’t like I can get my graduation essences right now.

Unless another rift guardian like Milayel from the 8th floor appeared, anything I acquired now would have to be erased in a few months.

‘…I’ll think about it later. There’s no urgent need to decide right now.’

If I hadn’t obtained the Aegis’ Wall, things might have been different.

But now that I had my Graduation Shield, there was no need to rush—even with the Village Chief involved.

With that, I ended my thoughts.

Tick, tock—

The day ended, and we set our camp in the library.

[23:00]

Night had fallen.

**
11 PM.

At this hour, most of our expedition team would be fast asleep, recovering their fatigue for tomorrow—except for those on night watch.

But surprisingly, many were still awake.

“The great sage’s achievement…”

“Do you think it’s true?”

“Even if it’s not, I’m still curious. It might hold clues to escaping this place.”

Like children unable to sleep the night before a field trip, the explorers lay in bed, chatting with their comrades.

Hey, just go to sleep already.

“Enough chit-chat! Close your eyes! If too many people stay awake, the ghost might not appear!” I barked.
Silence soon returned—well, except for the snores:
Drrrrrrrrrrrrr—!

Drrr‑ron‑drong‑drrong—

Dozens of explorers were snoring at various volumes.

“Seems like everyone’s asleep.”

“So, what’s the plan now?”

“What else? We walk around and look for it.”

Once I confirmed everyone was asleep, I took Amelia and Versil with me to patrol the area.

And then…

“So… we have to keep doing this until 3 AM?”

After about an hour of patrolling with no results, Versil finally spoke up.

She didn’t seem bothered, just a little bored.

“How have you been lately, Jandel?”

Guess she was trying to pass the time with small talk. I didn’t mind.

“How’ve I been? What do you mean?”

“In general. Everyone’s curious.”

“About what?”

She glanced toward Amelia, who was patrolling alone in the distance, then whispered quietly.

“So who is it?”

“…Can you please use a subject?”

“Oh come on, you know what I mean.”

Well… yeah, I did.

I chuckled softly.

“No one.”

“Huh? Really? I thought you and Ms. Rainz were a couple.”

“Nope. We’re just teammates.”

“I see… Really?”

She didn’t sound convinced, and then she brought up someone else.

“What about Kalstein? You’ve been spending more time with her.”

“It’s not like that.”

We’ve just gotten a little less awkward. We talk more now, but it’s mostly mundane stuff—about food, vegetables, whatever.

“People are curious. She’s your only ex-girlfriend, after all.”

Geez. Everyone’s just gossiping now, huh?

Small talk is fine, but this was a little stressful.

“That’s enough. People are sleeping.”

Our teammates needed rest to work tomorrow.

“….”

Why isn’t she answering?

Is she sulking?

I turned around—and—

“…Jandel” she murmured without moving her lips, “over there.”

While keeping her face toward me, she motioned with her eyes.

I followed her gaze.

And then…

“Right? That’s the ghost people were talking about.”

“Hmm, not sure, but it’s worth checking out.”

“…It’s kind of scary. No one mentioned it looking this horrifying.”

That made me tilt my head.

‘Horrifying?’

It seemed Versil and I were seeing completely different things.

‘Fascinating.’

All I saw was a tiny mouse.
***

A mysterious creature living in the library.

Its defining traits were appearing between 11 PM and 3 AM and taking on different forms depending on who saw it.

It was a mysterious little thing, but capturing it turned out to be surprisingly easy.

「Character has activated [Eye of the Storm].」

「Due to the Transcendent’s authority, the inherent abilities of this skill are unlocked.」

One grab skill was all it took.

[Squeak! Squeak—!!!]

It was so small I didn’t even need [Gigantification]—it fit snugly in my palm.

However, the moment I grabbed it…

[Squeak! Squeak—!!!]

The mouse twisted and screamed, its body was turning translucent.

I almost reflexively crushed it in panic, but…

「Versil Gowland has cast Level 8 curse magic [Materialization].」

Versil reacted just in time, restoring the mouse’s body to its solid form.

“What was that noise just now—?”

Amelia, who had rushed over at the commotion, frowned at me.

“Jandel, what’s that in your hand?”

“Hmm, what does it look like to you?”

“…Some kind of grotesque, slimy thing.”

“Really? Versil, what about you?”

“A man covered in filth… He looks suspiciously like someone I know.”

“Someone you know…?”

“Someone you wouldn’t know.”

Hmm, I see…

[Squeak! Squeak—!!!]

I licked my lips and stared down at the creature in my hand.

To me, it looked like a giant upright hamster.

The only difference was its size – unlike Earth’s hamsters, this one was huge. It would completely dwarf an Earth hamster.

[Squeak! Squeak—!!!]

Its desperate squirming was almost cute.

But that was beside the point.

“First, let’s wake up the others… Oh, never mind.”

They were already awake, having heard the commotion, and were all staring in my direction.

“…Is that the ghost?”

“A truly horrifying form.”

“If I’d seen that alone at night, I’d have been terrified…”

“If I saw that alone at night, I’d faint…”

Whatever they thought, I carried the rat toward the library’s altar.

And—

Plop.

I placed it on the summoning altar.

“…Nothing?”

Unfortunately, the altar didn’t react at all.

Which meant…

[Squeak, squeak! Squeeeee—! Squeak!!!]

I now had two options:

Just kill it.

Or cast a distortion spell on it, then kill it.

Since I had only one specimen, I needed to choose carefully.

[Squeak! Squeak! SQUEEEE!!!]

As I debated, with the rat bound on the altar like a test subject—

[You—you heartless scoundrel!! Release me at once! I said, release me!!]

…The rat suddenly started speaking human language.

 

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