Chapter 15: Whispers from the Forgotten

[This looks like ancient script.]

[Would you like to interpret it? (Unlocked by the [Highly Educated] trait.)]

[Warning! This knowledge looks very dangerous. It can be unlocked by the [Truth Seeker] trait.]

Ah.

I know what this is.

It’s a random event that happens while exploring dungeons.

If a highly educated character is in the party, sometimes a knowledge acquisition event occurs, claiming to have discovered ancient knowledge.

If acquired, it can grant positive traits or temporary bonuses to stats.

It looks good on the surface, but this is essentially an event exclusive to dungeon seekers.

Just trusting the Highly Educated trait and diving in comes with a high risk of failure.

If it’s not worth it, I’ll just abandon it completely.

[This script appears too dangerous for you to comprehend.]

[You have abandoned the interpretation of the script…]

[However, it might be possible to infer its meaning using your background knowledge.]

[You have a deep understanding of death and souls. (Unlocked by the [Necromancer] trait.)]

[You have spent a long time pursuing knowledge. (Unlocked by the [Highly Educated] trait.)]

Would you like to infer its meaning?

If I declare abandonment, the next step will be triggered.

Reading ancient scripts to uncover new knowledge or quest-related information is truly valuable.

If there’s a dungeon seeker in the party, most overseers will choose to interpret the ancient script.

But if there’s no dungeon seeker, it’s better to just take a low reward and leave.

Trying to gamble and failing will cause the character to suffer a semi-permanent penalty.

They typically gain a trait called “Intellectual Madness,” which basically means the character goes mad.

If a low-level character goes mad, you can just slowly remove the trait by teasing them in the village.

It’ll take time, but it’s manageable.

But in this case, the one who would go mad is me.

Am I really going to just start reading ancient scripts because I’ve gone mad?

Instead, inferring the meaning of the script is entirely possible.

Characters with the Highly Educated trait already attached.

So, necromancers or alchemists provide this kind of help when exploring early dungeons.

Other characters must acquire the Highly Educated trait later in the game to trigger such events.

[You slowly focused your mind on the ancient script…]

[You discovered dark traces engraved in the mural!]

[The power of darkness brings forth new knowledge!]

[You have completed your investigation of the ancient script.]

Phew.

Success.

“Jangcheok! Sion! Roa!”

I called the resting party members.

“What’s going on?”

Jangcheok, whose belly was hanging out from under his chainmail, scratched his shiny head as he approached.

Sion, wearing a helmet at his side, also showed interest.

“Wait, look at this.”

Pointing at the mural with my thumb, the ignorant, illiterate members blinked at each other.

Ugh. What would they know?

“What is this?”

Unlike Jangcheok, who was completely uninterested, Roa was startled and removed his robe.

“You… read this?”

“Yeah.”

“Why…”

Roa hesitated as if to say something but stopped when he met my gaze and quickly put his robe back on.

He was brave for about three seconds, then turned back into a timid mess.

He seemed upset.

“I… I guess if a necromancer investigated the ruins, there must be a good reason… Even if ghosts appear… I… I can’t do anything…”

Was he thinking about traps where undead appear when investigating ruins?

Sometimes, such traps do exist.

I read the letters carved into the wall aloud, and undead poured out from all directions.

This game had every kind of absurd event implemented.

What should I do now?

I have memorized every undead event.

This isn’t an event where enemies are added, so I proceeded.

“Roa.”

“…Yes?”

Roa, who was barely showing his eyes from beneath his robe, looked up nervously.

“Are you scared of ghosts?”

I asked with a grin, and Roa let out a strange squeak, ducking his head.

Ah~ ghosts, they’re not a big deal~

Of course, it’s no big deal because I’m a necromancer.

In the dungeon overseer, the undead are a bunch of filthy, petty, and disgusting creatures, tightly packed together with all sorts of nasty and despicable traits.

This is why necromancers become stronger as the game progresses.

When undead appear later in the game, they are easy to deal with.

That’s the main reason necromancers’ value keeps rising.

“Oh, no! I swore to the Tower of Twilight! The eyes of the guardians who keep secrets never sleep! Ghosts… If ghosts appear…”

Then Roa muttered in a creeping voice.

“The necromancer… will help, right?”

I kept my mouth shut and pretended not to hear.

Aren’t there plenty of people who can help other than me?

But when I looked closely, Jangcheok was also desperately pretending not to notice.

Does he hate ghosts too?

“The ritual isn’t necromancy. The script is too old to read in detail.

But if you look here, you’ll see that these pictures serve as characters. This is a form of pictorial writing.”

I tried to show off a little bit of what I had learned.

The system taught me everything, though.

“To roughly grasp the meaning…”

[You feel the soul inscribed in the letters, drawing on your rich knowledge of necromancy.]

[You hear the voice of the dead…]

“There’s a crypt in the room below. If we enter through the tunnel made by the ants, we’ll get there quickly.

There are souls bound there, souls that haven’t crossed over yet.”

This is an ancient script event that can be unlocked with just the Highly Educated trait, but for a necromancer, it can be interpreted this way.

“Let’s go and find a local guide.”

Necromancers can gain the necessary information from the souls of the dead.

“You… you’re going to meet ghosts?”

Roa was adorably startled by my words.

Jangcheok was also surprised.

It wasn’t cute at all.

Only Sion was unfazed.

“Are you going to ask the ghosts something?”

“Yeah. Usually, ghosts tied to dungeons are all restless spirits.

They’ve been stuck in one place, so they must have seen everything that passes by.”

“We can find out where the cart is.”

Sion definitely agreed with my idea.

“Oh. That could actually be useful. Necromancers do have their use after all.”

Is he… a jerk?

His tone was annoying, but Sion agreed with me, I think.

Jangcheok and Roa would obviously agree as well.

“Anyone have a better idea?”

Then, Jangcheok and Roa both raised their hands at the same time.

Ah, I phrased the question wrong.

“Anyone have a better idea than me?”

When I asked again, both of them slowly lowered their arms like wilted plants.

They looked incredibly gloomy.

Fine.

“Then let’s rest a little longer before heading down.”

Next, it was time to figure out the dungeon structure.

We won the battle, but having no loot to gather is demoralizing.

The only useful part of the giant ants’ bodies is the chitinous exoskeleton.

But to peel each one off and collect it would take all day.

And unlike goblins, killing ants doesn’t earn a reward from the guild.

If there were a bounty on them, explorers would have become rich.

There need to be a lot more ants for that.

In the end, we didn’t get anything during the break.

Weapon checks and journal entries were all we managed to do.

Let’s be grateful for that.

“So, where are we going?”

Sion asked, and I unfolded the map, pointing to the next destination.

The next goal was the hidden crypt inside the ruins.

The ant tunnels were structured in a bizarre way.

The city built by the Gezer and the tunnels dug by the ants overlap partially, so sometimes we had to explore underground cities, and other times crawl through tunnels.

This time, we had to descend directly through stairs built by the Gezer.

“Here.”

Sion, holding the torch, took the lead.

The formation was the same as before.

Sion in front, followed by me, Roa, and Jangcheok.

Using the information obtained from deducing the ancient script, we found the hidden stairs.

They were stairs with a hatch on the floor, looking like an escape route.

When we opened the door and descended, deep stairs with a rotating structure appeared, similar to a spire.

There were no handrails on the old, worn-down stairs, and below was a pitch-black pit where nothing could be seen.

The only sound was the loud crackling of the torch burning the worn cobwebs.

After a while of descending, we saw a door in the middle of the wall.

“Stop here.”

The party halted at my command.

I wasn’t sure how deep these stairs went, but there was no need to go all the way down.

“Is this it?”

Jangcheok asked.

As expected, he was holding the torch and sweating profusely while walking.

He looked like a department head coming back from a fight.

“Yes. Just a moment.”

I examined the door, but there were no suspicious signs.

The dungeon was filled with traps set by paranoid perverts.

Some traps are hard to understand the purpose of, but the most ridiculous trap in the dungeon overseer might be the basket trap.

When you open the door, a steel basket from the ceiling falls and restrains the party members…

Why would they make something like that?

Anyway, it was good news that there were no traps.

“Nothing unusual. I’ll open it now.”

I pushed with all my strength, and the stone door, which had clearly not been used in a long time, creaked open.

Sion entered first, holding the torch and shield.

“This is…”

Sion stopped, forgetting what to say.

The room was like the tomb of an ancient pharaoh, filled with coffins covered in dirt and dust.

Like the plaza above, the walls were covered with bas-reliefs and pictographs resembling geometric patterns.

From the ceiling, faded incense burners, whether rotted or rusted, hung, and at one end of the room, a broken stele glowed faintly on a raised platform like an altar.

The air was thick with dust, and the stillness was oppressive.

Sweat streamed down, dripping like rain from the blazing torch.

Four explorers stepped into the ancient crypt, a place where the footsteps of the living had long ceased.