Chapter 148: File A Support Ticket!

This scenario could go in many terrible directions in Han's mind—he was no Diplomat. Man, he wished he was one in this particular moment, and perhaps he could have talked his way out of here. Or if he was a smooth Noble like Sir Leon de Harrington, maybe they could have used charisma or some fancy Noble Skill to change this ghost's mind. Heck, they might even walk out of here with one book if they had the Noble.

Although to be fair, that wasn't his goal.

Because as far as he was concerned, he didn't come here to steal from this guy's library if he was this stingy and dangerous. No, he was out here to save Ellynn and Timothy, too, apparently. And yet the Spectre's words of 'Seekers' now finally clicked as he threw a look in Timothy's direction.

Did he and Ellynn put themselves in danger for the books here?

That could have probably saved them money—it was brilliant, but it wasn't so smart when this place had its resident keeper in place. And of course, that ginger-haired guy just probably desecrated the Spectre by pointing about the skeleton in the cell chamber! They were doomed now, weren't they?

But instead, the Spectre stiffened.

It surprised him first, but maybe the Spectre would blow up. Han could only wonder if the guy with Ellynn would be their deaths, but before that happened— "Cell? You idiot, this guy is a Mage-Scholar! How dare you talk to him like that! Someone like Mister Spectre wouldn't be in a cell! Take that back!" He could at least talk shit and hope for the best. He doubted Ellynn could defeat a Spectre being that was probably here for a long time.

Or maybe she could—but she wasn't moving yet. Anyhow, the ginger-haired man looked taken aback with his words like the Spectre, "I—er, I was just asking, my apologies!" The man raised his hands in defense and looked genuinely disturbed at his own words. "I don't mean any offense to you, Mister Spectre!" The guy even called the Spectre the same way he did.

It made Han feel a bit guilty—because as much as he tried for the affable persona, this guy seemed to be hands down really this way. But an act was an act. And it was either this one or Han would logout fast and be done with this game for good. He gave the ginger-haired guy a sharp look and nodded, "You better be sorry, yeah!"

"...That young man is actually right." The Spectre spoke at last with a solemn tone. "I lived in that cell."

Instead of being flattered at Han's attempts of building them up, the Mage-Scholar turned Spectre admitted to the truth. It was as if this unworldly creature's shoulders had suddenly weighed with something heavy. The Spectre floated down a bit, and as he did, so did Timothy and Han. He turned to his library and sighed. "I am indeed a seeker of knowledge, but there is truth in that I was locked and even died here."

Something like this was an unexpected dialogue.

Or maybe it was something he expected.

"All I had back then was a few scrolls filled with basic magical knowledge, and I was just a mere Scholar back then with a group of Adventurers that sought to conquer this place. I was supposed to document this place. But that was until we reached this level, and I attempted to translate the hidden meaning of some of the dungeon's inscribed words, but my companions thought of me mad! They threw me here! I had to use my mind to reach higher pinnacles of wisdom all by myself! I labored and—"

"Did you write all the books here?" Han interrupted them with a well-meaning question. He was sort of genuinely curious about how they even managed to accumulate books, and the only thing that made sense was them writing it all down. And not only that, it was also because Han wanted to change the topic—inscribed words in the dungeon, that was the 'Races: Online' logo the Spectre was talking of right now! He had landed here because of the Creators' decision to place some aesthetic designs? He wanted to file a support ticket to Peach right now.

If things had gone awry, would Timothy have walked the same path as this guy?

The Spectre gave him a displeased look but shook his head, "Unbeknownst to them, they thought of me as a mere Scholar, but I leveled while I was here and was able to break out of the makeshift cell chamber they had made. You may probably ask me, why are you still here when you managed to free myself?"

An air of silence emerged in that moment.

"Yes, why did you stay here?" It was the ginger-haired young man who asked. He tilted his head with a genuine thirst.

Han inwardly sighed, they were going with the story route then.

As the Spectre reached the floor, he nodded to himself and looked pleased with the question. "I could have gone out, but I was sure that those Adventurers would have thrown me back—or even tried to kill me. That was how much of a danger they thought I posed for reading the hidden messages in the dungeon. And so I never once thought of going back. Instead, I made this place my own home, and though I did go out to find food—it was mainly to collect books, tomes, and other items of knowledge. I had done it in secret, but of course, no secret lasts long."

Their surroundings dimmed as the fire in the Spectre's eyes glowed.

The Spectre continued as he shook his head, "Word came out at last when they learned that I hoarded these books, and by that time, knowledge was dwindling rapidly for some reason. It might have been some war, but I didn't really care."

Han Jing would give him a point for at least using the word 'hoard' because that was pretty much what they were doing. This was probably something similar to a Dragon's treasure hoard, except the Spectre simply had books. Han landed on the floor with a soft thud as the Spectre paced around and gesticulated with earnestness.

"Numerous people hunted me down, and I fended them off. I used my plethora of knowledge to lay traps and even use monsters in the dungeon to trap them." The Spectre smiled until it faltered as he gave them a look, it seemed that he remembered that they had also come here for the books. But instead of attacking them, he instead continued his dialogue.

Whether you were a Human or not, everybody loved talking about themselves.

The Spectre's hands balled into fists. "And I wept as I grew older and frailer. My trove of knowledge was enormous by that time, but I would soon be gone and extinguished as a flame that burned to its last embers. Someone else was going to get all of this after all the decades of isolation and safeguarding I did! Not a chance! I labored and searched for something to ensure that my work would not be for naught. Perhaps it may have been a wish granted by the gods, or one of the Spells I did that had worked? I dabbled a bit in Necromancy and also attempted to make a golem and transfer my consciousness as some last resort. Unfortunately, resources were already dwindling back in that age, and so I failed—but when I finally breathed my last. I became this Spectre."

And this was the end right?

It may have not looked like it, but even Han listened until the very end. He didn't skip the cutscenes in games at all. Finally, someone gave the Spectre a round of applause and of course it was the ginger-haired guy that Ellynn was standing next to.

The man pushed up his spectacles and looked at the Spectre in awe, "T-That's amazing! It's a shame that you were thrown here by those Adventurers, but it was because of that event that had allowed you to create this wonderful library, yes?"

Even the old Spectre was a bit embarrassed from the way they coughed.

"Y-Yes, that is the truth! Without that point in my life, I would have simply stayed as a humble Scholar that was trying to be a Mage." He shook his head as if the idea was impossible for him to comprehend.

This was the Spectre who had probably killed countless of seekers who sought for this library… it was perhaps their first time encountering genuine praise. Han wanted to say something, but it seemed like this wasn't his moment. It wasn't up to him to be a judge of character right now when all he wanted to do was get the hell out of here. Let the two talk for all he cared. Instead he threw a look at Timothy and tried to send them a message with [ Telepathy ] but whether it was because he the human mind was harder to communicate with or something else—it didn't work.

Timothy looked disgruntled at the situation and was already taking steps away from the Spectre. And he was moving way too close to one of the tomes that were floating close to the ground. He better not do what Han was thinking!

'Head back here, you idiot!'

He thought hard but there was no sign of his companion actually hearing his thoughts. Han needed to speak up and say something without disrupting the 'calm' mood right now.

"And this library really is wonderful! But don't you think it's a little wrong to keep hoarding all the books for yourself?"

Han wasn't the one who said that—but did that even matter at this point?