## Chapter 458 – Kim Kat and the Haunted House
“Fucking ghost bastards!”
I dash through the mansion, which is like a maze.
Just when I think I’ve shaken off the ghosts, new ones appear, and when I think I’ve shaken those off too, even more show up.
Not only are little girl ghosts chasing me, but also nun ghosts, maids, and ghosts that look like servants. I feel like a nobleman being chased by the servants during the French Revolution, and it’s driving me crazy.
Goddamn it, this isn’t an amusement park, it’s a haunted house.
As expected, being dead, they want to take the hot blood and flesh of the living.
Right now, the only way to fight them off is with holy water, so there’s nothing I can do but run.
I have good stamina and holy water, so I can escape, but what situation are the others in right now? Are they being chased alone like me?
I can’t help but think that I need to find my friends and join them as soon as possible, but the ghost bastards won’t leave them alone. Wasting time is dangerous. Career or friendship, I will never abandon my friends.
“Shit…!”
ㅡThe terrain is winding.
To be honest, I don’t think I can find my way around this mansion.
The mansion is a serious maze. It’s randomly winding and extremely complicated.
I had a feeling that if I kept running like this, I might reach the center of the mansion.
But that can’t be possible.
The mansion was clearly a “ㅁ” shaped structure. There is no center, and it shouldn’t be a maze like this in the first place. It was definitely a huge mansion, but it wasn’t this big.
Even as I ran, the corridors continued, and I felt like the scenery was repeating, just like Lina pointed out earlier.
I can’t even see the stairs leading to the second floor that I’ve found so many times. The doors won’t open either. The doorknobs don’t turn, as if they’re not real rooms but decorations.
“Damn it…! Is it a barrier after all!”
I had a feeling that this mansion was a space separate from the real world. Shit, the fact that it suddenly appeared in the first place was suspicious.
The inside of the mansion was literally a different space!
That means that as long as I’m here, I’ll have to be dragged around by the ghosts. They have control over the space!
ㅡKkyaaaaaaaaak!!!
ㅡKyaaaaaaaaak!
ㅡSaaaaaaat!!!
“You motherfucking bastards! Get the hell out of here, you ghouls!!!!”
I keep running, turning corners and changing directions. Is there really an end to this? Will I run into a dead end? I’ve been running for so long, but I haven’t found even a single strand of Copson’s hair.
At this moment, the concept of physical space was meaningless.
As I ran, a corridor without ghosts appeared this time.
“Haa… shit.”
I need to rest for a moment at times like this.
Even I can’t run indefinitely. I immediately leaned against the window and caught my breath. I took a sip of water to quench my burning thirst. I even chewed on some jerky to recover my stamina.
“Haa… haa… God, goddamn it…”
If I could just cut down the ghosts, I would have just smashed them all and gotten out. I could put holy water on my sword and start slashing, but I don’t know how much I could do with that.
ㅡThwack!
“Whoa shit! You scared me!”
As I was recovering my stamina, I suddenly heard a loud noise of something hitting the window hard from behind. I quickly turned around and dodged, then pointed my sword at the windowㅡ
“ㅡOh, come on!”
ㅡThump! Thump!
ㅡThwack! Thwack! Thwack!
ㅡThump! Thump! Thump!
The outside of the window was as red as blood.
Even the reddest sunset wouldn’t be this red. The outside of the window was extremely red, as if I had fallen into the middle of a burning hell. Because of that light, the inside of the mansion was instantly dyed an ominous red.
ㅡThump! Thump! Thump!
“Oh, oh my…!”
But it didn’t end there.
ㅡPalms.
Countless palms were hitting the window like crazy!
ㅡThwack! Thwack! Thwack!
ㅡThump! Thump! Thump!
“Hell Hands!!!”
Hundreds, maybe thousands of the dead!
They’re lined up and clinging to every window, trying to break them! Are even hands trying to covet me now, not just ghosts!
I thought I should run to a place with no windows. There’s no way I can beat that hellish Thousand-Hand Guanyin. My rest is over. I ran right away.
Still, it was better to be red like this than dark, because it was easier to secure visibility.
ㅡThump thump!
ㅡThump thump thump!
But even as I ran, I couldn’t reach a corridor without windows. The quiet mansion was filled with the sound of windows being hit.
It was the most unpleasant percussion performance.
“Stop hitting it, you bastards!!!! Heavenly Demon Shattering Palm!!!”
I was already stressed out, and I was pissed off by the shitty noise between floors, so I immediately fired a Heavenly Demon Shattering Palm at the window.
ㅡThwack!
“Let’s see who wins, you motherfuckers!!”
ㅡThwack!
ㅡThwack!
ㅡThwack!
I forgot about running away and fired Heavenly Demon Shattering Palms at the window for a long time. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked, and the thousands of palms that filled the window began to retreat.
As the palms disappeared, the red light went out, and this time a pale blue light filled the mansion.
“Hoo…!”
As expected, the moment you are consumed by fear against ghosts, you lose. Look, because I fought back so bravely, the demons of hell returned to where they should be.
I drew my sword and walked slowly.
“…”
The mansion… this mansion is full of resentment and hatred. A space where the dead live. They must be remaining in this world because they want something.
It’s definitely a deep resentment.
Maybe I can only get out of the mansion if I resolve it.
Many adventurers came to the mansion and went missing. Where are they now? If they died, there would be corpses left. Did the ghosts even eat the corpses?
There are so many things I don’t know.
But just because I don’t know doesn’t mean I can sit still and complain. I moved to find the stairs. Whether it’s the basement or the upper floor. I have to go and explore to find clues.
“Hngh… hngh! Hngh hngh! My knight… where is my knight? Why don’t you save me? I waited and waited, but why… hngh! Hngh hngh!”
The nun ghost’s crying was getting closer.
She’s been wandering around the mansion looking for her knight since earlier. To be honest, she looks so strong that I don’t even want to run into her.
Come to think of it, the portrait I found earlier in the day… somehow, it seemed to resemble the face of this nun ghost.
“The owner of the mansion?”
The owner… then that must be the strongest ghost in the mansion, and also the ghost with the strongest resentment.
Will holy water work?
Can I defeat a ghost like that with just these two small bottles? I don’t know for sure, but it’s a powerful evil spirit with the ability to turn the mansion itself into its own barrier. No matter how effective the holy water of the Brass Celestial Angel Society is, there’s a possibility that it won’t work.
My life isn’t the only thing at stake to gamble.
And that’s not the only way. There’s still a situation where I can find other ways. Let’s gamble at the very end.
I ran again.
ㅡTap tap tap tap.
I ran through the ghost mansion like that.
ㅡHwaaaaaak!
“You bitch!”
I avoid the ghosts that appear, and if I can’t, I use the Heavenly Demon Descent Step to break through them. As I moved like that, I arrived at a dead end before I knew it.
“A dead end here… shit.”
Just as I was about to turn back, I noticed a white woman standing behind me. I don’t know if she’s the same ghost as before.
“…”
I stopped when I was about to run away.
ㅡShe didn’t attack.
Let’s ask one more time.
“…What do you want?”
Of course, she didn’t answer my question.
Still, I ask.
“What kind of resentment do you have? No matter how much you chase me like this, there’s nothing you can do. You can never kill me. Don’t try to interfere with the living, you dead. Go back to where you should be.”
“…”
They became evil spirits because of resentment and hatred.
However, it’s a miscalculation if you think you can kill this Kim Kat with that kind of resentment.
“The lives of the living are not as light as your souls.”
“…”
The banshee looked straight at me.
ㅡSadness.
Somehow, her face seemed to be filled with deep sadness.
“…Are you a strong knight?”
Soon, a cold voice flowed out. It was colder than the cold of winter. A question about being a strong knight. I can answer that with confidence.
“I’m a goddamn strong knight.”
“…I can’t understand. Are you a strong knight?”
“God… no. Yes. I’m a strong knight.”
There aren’t many knights as strong as me.
“You’re a knight who can deal with ghosts like you without any problems.”
“…”
The banshee lowered her head as if she was worried.
A knight… the nun ghost was looking for one too. Do they need a knight?
ㅡRustle.
“Free us.”
Suddenly, the banshee raised her arm and pointed to the right. At the same time, her figure scattered and disappeared like fog.
“…What?”
There was a staircase leading to the second floor where she pointed.
I’m sure there wasn’t anything like that before?
“Did she send me a message?”
Anyway, the second floor staircase that I had been looking for so much appeared. There’s a possibility that it’s a trap, but I have to try it first. There’s no answer if I just wander around the first floor forever.
Let’s do what we can now.
I immediately approached the stairs while being cautious.
The stairs were very high, and the top was endlessly black. I didn’t want to go into that darkness, but there was no other way.
ㅡCreak.
That’s the sound it made when I carefully took a step.
As expected, it’s an old mansion.
“Shit, are ghosts anything special?”
I immediately go up.
“I am Heavenly Demon Kim Kat.”
Fear only comes out when there’s a place to run away. I go up the endlessly dark stairs like that. ㅡCreak. ㅡCreak. The only worry is that it might collapse in the middle because the sound is so ominous.
When I came up to the second floor.
“Huh, huh?”
ㅡWhoosh.
Suddenly the background changed and a bright light burst out. It’s a bright light, as if I’m walking through a garden in the middle of the day. Could it be morning already?
No.
I don’t think so.
“…Music?”
Along with the light, I heard very comfortable and bright music. The sound of beautiful stringed instruments. A melody like a spring festival.
I rubbed my eyes once, wondering if the ghosts were trying to seduce me.
“What is this.”
I felt embarrassed.
ㅡSlide.
A party was in full swing on the second floor of the mansion.
“Bring this wine to that lord over there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where should we move the roasted pig?”
A very large hall.
All kinds of servants and waiters were moving busily there under the command of the butler. The maids poured wine into the glasses of the nobles sitting at the table, and the servants constantly moved food.
“Ohohong, the wine tastes good.”
A nobleman with good clothes and a nice beard admires the taste of the wine. I rubbed my eyes again and looked at the scenery, wondering if this was an illusion of the ghosts.
A wonderful chandelier.
Bright light.
And the sound of music.
The orchestra over there was playing beautiful music, and under it, the daughters of noble families and neatly dressed knights were dancing with swords. It was literally a banquet, a festival, a party.
Or a social gathering of nobles.
ㅡThe mansion.
I had a feeling that this is what it always felt like when this mansion was at its peak, when the owner and his servants lived in it in its original form.
Anyway, I was standing alone in the middle of such a banquet hall.
If I’m in a place like this right now, my clothes and everything will stand out a lot…
“Hohoho, handsome knight? Is this your first time at a party like this?”
Suddenly, a woman with big breasts and golden bun hair approached me. The beautiful dress was a radical design that exposed more than half of her breasts. But it didn’t match Winia’s size.
But is she talking to me right now?
“Huh? What… uh.”
“Then shall we dance?”
The woman smiled and held out her hand to me. I looked at my body, wondering if I had been recognized as a member of this place.
“Huh.”
Oh.
There are so many embarrassing things.
My clothes had been changed into something like a fancy dress like the knights dancing over there.
“Tell me a war story.”
