The sun was setting, casting long, jagged shadows against the cobblestone path as Haruto and the three Goddesses walked toward their new manor. The air was cool, but the silence between them was heavy.
Lustra broke the quiet first. She tilted her head, her eyes glowing faintly in the twilight. "Haruto," she started, her voice soft but curious.
"Your first day at the Academy... It seemed to go well. But there's something that's been bothering me."
She stepped closer, her silk robes fluttering.
"You're from another world. Our language... it should be gibberish to you. How is it that you understand us so perfectly?"
Haruto stopped walking. He looked at a nearby shop sign, written in complex, swirling ancient runes. He didn't have to translate them; the meaning simply appeared in his mind, as clear as a notification.
"To be honest," Haruto said, his voice dropping into a low, mysterious tone.
"I've been asking myself the same thing. I don't know, just somehow it seems normal to me."
After that Haruto and the girls headed straight back to the hotel, but they didn't even make it past the front doors before they saw the "Welcome Mat" had been pulled out from under them. Their belongings were already packed into neat, expensive-looking suitcases, lined up like soldiers near the entrance.
The receptionist greeted them with a bright, overly professional smile—the kind people use when they're kicking you out but don't want a scene. Her eyes darted nervously between Haruto's bored expression and the three intimidating Goddesses standing behind him like a firing squad.
"Welcome back! I took the liberty of having your luggage brought down. Since the Great Wizard's party is arriving shortly, we wanted to make sure your transition was smooth."
She handed Haruto a set of heavy, antique iron keys and gestured toward Kobi, who was waiting by a small, modest cart.
Haruto looked down at their "luggage" and almost wanted to laugh. For a "Platinum Prince" and three "Level 6 Goddesses," their inventory was laughably small. There were no heavy chests or magical artifacts. It was just a few basic sets of clothes the hotel had provided and a couple of small bags for essentials.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)Luggage? This isn't luggage; it's a starter kit. I've got zero 'Item Weight' right now. No legendary swords, no enchanted armor—just the basic skins provided by the hotel. It makes us look like we're either incredibly poor or so powerful we don't need 'Gear' to survive.
"This is all of it?" Kobi asked, looking at the small pile of clothes. He seemed surprised that someone staying in the Royal Suite traveled so light.
"It's all I need," Haruto said, picking up his own bag.
"Excess items just slows down the processing speed. I prefer to travel with a clean cache."
Kobi blinked, clearly not understanding the "Earth-slang," but he gave a respectful nod.
"Understood, Sir.."
Haruto looked at Kobi, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"By the way, Kobi... where were you? I expected the Royal Carriage at the Academy gates. Did something happen, or did you take a detour?"
Kobi let out a sheepish laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "Ah, my apologies, Sir! I had to run an errand at the King's Palace earlier today. Just some routine business, you know how it is."
Haruto paused, his 'Gamer Instinct' suddenly pinging with a loud alert.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)The King's Palace? He says it like he just went to a grocery store. This guy Kobi... he's flagged as a 'Local Scout,' but he has clearance for the Royal District? Either he's the most overqualified errand boy in history, or he's a spy keeping an eye on something.
"The Palace, huh?" Haruto asked, his voice dripping with forced casualness.
"Must be some Big Work if it keeps you from me."
"Oh, nothing like that, Sir!" Kobi chirped, already loading the small bags onto his cart.
"Just some small stuff. Nothing for a person like you to worry about. Now, shall we?"
The three Goddesses looked exhausted. Still in their red and black school uniforms, their only thought was getting to a bathroom and washing off the dust of the Academy.
"Does the place at least have water?" Bellona muttered, adjusting her collar.
"Oh, even better!" the receptionist chirped.
"The sale includes all the original furniture and the ancient mana-heated baths. It's a fully furnished manor—if you don't mind the cobwebs."
Haruto's eyes lit up. A fully furnished base for 10 G-Credits? That was a massive win. He didn't waste time; he pulled out a high-grade Mana Stone to settle the final processing fee.
As he pressed his thumb against the stone to authorize the payment and "unlock" the deed to the house, a sudden hum of energy vibrated through the lobby. A faint blue light swirled around Haruto.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: PROPERTY ACQUIRED.]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED FOR 'BASE ESTABLISHMENT'.]
In a flash of light, Haruto's status flickered. Level 1 → Level 2.
The lobby went dead silent. The receptionist's jaw dropped, and the guests nearby stared in utter shock. People spent months, sometimes years, grinding to level up in this world, yet this kid had just jumped a level by... buying a house?
The whispers started instantly. "Did he just level up by spending money?" "Is his mana that dense?"
The receptionist trembled as she reached under the counter. With shaking hands, she pulled out a heavy, velvet-lined box containing a set of thick, antique iron keys.
"H-here... Sir," she stammered, handing the keys to Haruto.
"The keys to the... to your estate. Your status... It's just... I've never seen a transaction trigger a Level-Up before."
Haruto took the keys, the heavy iron feeling solid in his hand. He didn't care about their shock. To him, this was just efficient 'Inventory Management.'
Seeing the unwanted attention, Ivory stepped forward quickly to cover for him. She put on a convincing, tired face. "Don't be so surprised," she told the crowd loudly.
"We were given a highly experimental 'Level Boost Potion' at the Academy today as part of the Elite Track orientation. It looks like it finally kicked in for him."
The crowd murmured, nodding slowly. It sounded far-fetched, but in a world governed by strict levels, an "Elite Potion" was the only explanation they could wrap their heads around. They couldn't possibly imagine that Haruto was gaining XP by interacting with the world like a game.
But then, the Receptionist leaned over the counter, her eyes squinting behind her spectacles. "Wait... an Elite Potion?" she asked, her voice skeptical.
"Sir, when you checked in just two days ago, you were Level 0. I remember because I had to manually override the system just to register a guest with no mana signature. Jumping two levels in 48 hours without a single combat quest? That's... that's impossible!"
Ivory froze. Her eyes widened as she looked at Haruto, her mental firewall crumbling.
(Ivory's Inner Thoughts:)『(Total Disaster!) I forgot this woman had access to the check-in logs. My 'Potion' lie just got hit with a 'Fact-Check'! 』
Haruto didn't even flinch. He just looked at the Receptionist with his usual vacant, bored expression, his Level 2 HUD still glowing softly above his head.
"The potion was very... high-resolution," Haruto said, his voice flat.
"It fixes 'Bugs' in the mana-circuitry quite effectively. Now, if you're done auditing my soul, can we have our bags? We have a mansion to haunt."
Kobi, the guide, cleared his throat.
"If you're ready, sir... the sun is going down. We should reach the manor before the 'shadows' start moving."
As Haruto turned to leave the lobby, he felt a heavy, suffocating presence blocking his path.
The temperature in the lobby just dropped. The heavy doors burst open as four massive figures in pitch-black combat gear marched in, their faces hidden behind black cloths. They weren't just bodyguards; they were personal "Cleanup Crew." The guests in the lobby stopped breathing, their lungs struggling against the sudden spike in mana-density.
Fredric M. Jackson stepped out from the shadow of the stone pillar, his presence looming over Haruto like a physical weight.
He was an old lion of a man, his face a map of a thousand battles. His grey hair was cropped short, and a single silver piercing glinted in his left ear. But the most terrifying detail was the jagged, deep scar that ran across his throat—a souvenir from a Rift-monster that should have killed him.
He had seen the blue glow. He had seen the Level 1 flicker into a Level 2 just from a simple transaction. To a man who had bled and fought for every bit of experience, what Haruto just did was an impossibility—a "glitch" in the natural order.
Fredric stepped forward, his massive frame looming over Haruto.
"A potion, you say?" His voice was like grinding gravel. He ignored Ivory completely, his eyes locked on Haruto.
"I've traveled from the Capital to the Edge, and I've never seen an 'orientation potion' that works that fast. Or that cleanly on level."
Before Haruto could move, Fredric reached out a hand, not to attack, but to command.
"Show me your HUD (Heads-Up Display). Now. If your level jumped, I want to see the source. I want to see your skills and your Title. A kid like you shouldn't have enough mana-density to level up from a property deed."
He looked up at Fredric, his eyes dull but sharp, and asked bluntly,
"Who the hell are you anyway? And why are you so obsessed with another man's HUD?"
The lobby went silent. Nobody talked to Fredric like that.
Fredric's eyes narrowed, his mana beginning to leak out, making the nearby tea sets rattle.
"I am the man who keeps this village from being swallowed by the Rift. And I don't like anomalies. Show me your Status screen. I want to see your Title and your Skills."
Haruto felt a cold sweat prickle his neck. This was bad. If Fredric saw his true Title or the" interface, the secret was out. His heart started to race, and he felt that dangerous, "unstable" excitement bubbling up again. The air around him began to hum.
Ivory rushed to his side, but Fredric was a seasoned warrior—he didn't budge.
"Well?" Fredric pressed, his gaze piercing.
"Show me the screen, boy. What are you hiding?"
Just as the tension was about to snap, a loud, booming laugh echoed from the hotel stairs. Another high-level adventurer, a man with a scarred face and a friendly grin—likely Fredric's long-time comrade—walked over and slapped Fredric hard on the back.
"Leave the kid alone, Fred!" the friend laughed, pulling him back.
"He's just a lucky brat from the Elite Track. You're becoming an obsessed old man. Stop bullying children about their stats and get to the Room. The Captain is waiting to discuss the mission, and we've got a long night of planning ahead."
Fredric lingered for a second, his eyes narrowing one last time at Haruto, sensing that something was fundamentally "wrong" about the boy's status. But, with a grunt of annoyance, he allowed his friend to lead him away toward the private lounge. "This isn't over," Fredric muttered under his breath.
Haruto exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. "That was close," he whispered.
"Too close," Ivory replied, her face pale. "Kobi, let's go. Now. Before he changes his mind."
Before they even reached the gates, the group had to deal with their guide, Kobi.
He sat perched on the driver's seat of a rickety horse-drawn carriage, flicking the reins with surprisingly nimble fingers while whistling a tune that sounded like a broken flute.
"Alright, settle in, high-spenders!" Kobi barked in a voice that was way too deep for his tiny body.
"The Old King's Manor isn't just 'down the road'—it's tucked away in the 'Trash Bin' of the village. Most folks don't even remember the path anymore!"
Kobi's rickety carriage groaned to a halt before the massive, rusted iron gates. The short, stout elf hopped down, his round belly shaking as he landed with a heavy thud. He adjusted his red cap, his eyes darting toward the dark woods as if he expected a monster to jump out at any second.
"Here it is," Kobi grunted, quickly unloading their trunks onto the gravel.
"The King's Jackpot. I've done my job, but I'm not staying a second longer. Legend says this place has been abandoned since the Great War, but look at it... it doesn't look dead to me."
He turned to Haruto, his expression softening for a moment. The usual greedy glint in his eyes was replaced by a genuine, weary smile.
"Listen, Sir Haruto," Kobi said, tipping his hat one last time.
"If you ever need a scout, a driver, or just someone who knows how to bypass the Royal District's red tape... find me at the hotel. I'll always have a 'VIP Slot' open for you."
Haruto looked at the stout little elf and actually felt a small flicker of something that wasn't boredom.
"Yeah," Haruto said, a rare, faint smile crossing his face.
"I'll keep that in mind, Kobi. I'm actually going to miss you. You were the only one today who didn't look at my Level 1 tag."
Kobi let out a hearty laugh, slapping his knee.
"Ahahaha! Well, my job with you is officially done, but man... I had a blast! You're the weirdest guest I've ever met, and I love it!"
Without waiting for a formal thank you, the little elf scrambled back onto his seat. He flicked the reins with a sharp snap, and his horse bolted into the darkness, the sound of the carriage fading into the distance until there was nothing left but the eerie silence of the estate.
Haruto stood there, watching the dust settle.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)Goodbye, Kobi. You were a good 'Quest Guide.' Now... let's see what kind of 'Legacy Code' is hidden behind these rusted gates.
The three Goddesses moved closer to Haruto, their eyes locked on the dark, towering silhouette of the mansion. The iron gates began to vibrate, a low, ominous hum echoing through the air as if the house itself was sensing a 'New Admin' had arrived.
Haruto stood at the entrance, the heavy iron key cold and heavy in his palm. The mansion loomed over them, a gothic giant of grey stone. But as they pushed the gates open and walked toward the front doors, the silence was absolute—too absolute.
Haruto inserted the key.
—Click—
The lock turned with a smooth, oiled sound. He pushed the heavy oak doors open, and the group stepped inside.
They were met with a sight that defied logic. According to every legend in Allesta, this manor should have been a ruin—a graveyard of dust, rotting wood, and thick, choking cobwebs. Instead, the foyer was impeccable.
The marble floors gleamed under the moonlight as if they had been polished only minutes ago. There wasn't a single spiderweb in the corners. The grand chandeliers were crystal clear, without a speck of dust on a single glass pendant. Even the air felt different—it didn't smell like a musty, old house; it smelled crisp, clean, and strangely like the air after a lightning strike.
"This is impossible,"
Ivory whispered. She reached out and touched a mahogany side table. She pulled her hand back—it was perfectly clean.
"A house left empty for centuries shouldn't be this... pure. It feels like time hasn't touched this place."
Bellona and Lustra looked around, their senses on high alert. "Haruto," Bellona muttered,
"The mana in here isn't flowing. It's sitting still, like a frozen lake. This isn't just a clean house. It's a house that refuses to age."
Haruto walked into the center of the hall. He looked at a large grandfather clock in the corner. The pendulum wasn't moving. The hands were stuck at exactly midnight. Yet, as he leaned closer, he could hear a faint, rhythmic thumping coming from inside the wood—not a tick-tock, but a heartbeat.
"It's not clean because someone lives here,"
Haruto said, his bored voice dropping to a serious tone.
"It's clean because the world forgot to let this place decay. It's stuck."
Haruto walked into the middle of the entrance hall. The floor didn't just look clean; it looked like no one had ever stepped on it. He looked at the high ceilings and the dark wood paneling, then back at the three girls who were standing close together, looking around nervously.
"Haruto" Bellona whispered, her voice low as she looked at the stairs.
"Look at the red carpet. It's perfect. Not a single footprint or a speck of mud, even though we just walked in.... I definitely saw a light moving. If the place is empty, who's walking around?"
Haruto didn't look spooked. He looked like he was finally finding something interesting.
"Maybe it's a squatter. Or maybe the house just hasn't realized it's supposed to be old yet."
He walked toward the big grandfather clock in the corner. The thump-thump was heavy, vibrating through the floorboards. It wasn't the sound of gears; it sounded like someone was hitting the inside of the wood with a muffled hammer, steady and slow.
"The air feels heavy," Lustra muttered, her eyes fixed on the shadows of the second floor.
"Like it's been trapped in here for a long time."
"Then let's open some windows," Haruto said, starting to walk up the stairs.
"I didn't pay for a ghost story. I paid for a place to sleep. If someone's upstairs, they better have a good reason for being in our house."
They reached the first landing, and the warm candlelight from before suddenly winked out. In the pitch blackness of the hallway, a soft, small giggle echoed from behind a heavy, velvet-draped door at the very end.
It sounded like a girl.
–hehhehehehehe…–
The high-pitched giggle cut through the heavy silence like a cold blade. Haruto didn't flinch; instead, his eyes sharpened. For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt a spark of genuine interest. To him, this wasn't a horror movie—it was a puzzle that needed solving.
He turned his gaze toward the dark staircase leading to the second floor, where the sound had originated.
"It came from up there,"
Haruto said, his voice actually carrying a hint of energy.
"Let's go. I want to see who's playing hide-and-seek."
The three Goddesses, however, didn't share his excitement. They were frozen on the landing, their faces pale in the moonlight.
"No, no, no, no way!"
Lustra whispered frantically, shaking her head so hard her hair blurred in the shadows.
"Haruto, that was a laugh. Everyone knows that's a bad sign. We should go back to the hotel and deal with the high-level mages instead!"
"I agree," Ivory muttered, her hands trembling as she gripped her own arms.
"Our level 99 ranking doesn't mean anything against... whatever that was right now and you are only level 2 our magic is not that strong. It feels wrong here."
Bellona, usually the most stoic, looked like she wanted to melt into the shadows.
"Haruto, please. We can sleep right here in the hall. We don't need to go up there."
Haruto looked at them, a small, teasing smirk playing on his lips. He knew that back in their world, these three were Level 99 powerhouses, but right now, they were just terrified girls in a dark house.
"Fine," Haruto said calmly, turning his back on them and placing his foot on the first step of the second floor.
"If you three want to stay down here in the hall, go ahead. But just remember—the 'heartbeat' is coming from that clock right behind you, and the 'giggle' is coming from up here. If it were me, I'd choose the side that's actually moving."
He started walking up, his footsteps steady and rhythmic.
"Wait! Haruto! You can't just leave us!" Ivory hissed, her voice cracking.
"I'm going up," Haruto called back without looking over his shoulder.
"If you three want to be 'brave' Goddesses standing alone, that's your choice. But I'm going to go see who's laughing in my house. Stay if you want."
The girls looked at the dark corners of the foyer, then at the "thumping" clock, then at each other. The thought of being left alone in the silent, pulsing hall was much scarier than following him.
"Wait for us!" they whispered in unison, scrambling up the stairs. They crowded so close to his back that Haruto could barely move his arms.
They reached the second-floor corridor. It wasn't pitch black anymore—the hallway was bathed in the faint, orange glow of dim candles lining the walls, their flames flickering weakly, casting long, wavering shadows against the wallpaper. At the very end of the hall, one door was slightly ajar. A tiny, pale hand reached out from the warmth of the room inside, slowly and silently pulling the door shut.
As they reached the second floor, the atmosphere shifted instantly. If the ground floor was a pristine museum, this floor felt like a forgotten prison. The air was colder, and the flickering candlelight from the stairs didn't reach here, leaving the hallway draped in heavy, oppressive shadows.
The three Goddesses were practically trembling, their hearts beating so loud Haruto could hear the dhak-dhak echoing in the narrow space.
"Haruto, stop,"Ivory whispered, her voice trembling as she gripped his sleeve.
"This floor... it's not right. The ground floor was just weirdly clean, but this feels like it's holding its breath. We shouldn't be here."
Lustra nodded frantically.
"She's right. Look at the shadows on the floor—they aren't moving with the candles. It's like they're painted on. Please, let's just go back down and sleep in the foyer. I'll even sleep on the floor!"
Bellona stepped in front of Haruto, her eyes darting toward the dark corners.
"Haruto, as someone who has spent her life training for combat, my instincts are screaming. This isn't a haunting. It's a trap. That door at the end... it feels heavy, like there's a mountain pressing against the other side."
Haruto ignored the shiver crawling up his spine. His eyes were locked on a heavy wooden door halfway down the hall. On it hung a massive iron padlock—the exact same design as the one on the front gates of the estate.
He pulled the heavy key from his pocket. The metal felt ice-cold.
"No, no, no!" the three girls hissed in unison, backing away.
"If it's my house, I own everything inside the locks too," Haruto muttered. He stepped forward and slid the key into the hole.
–Clack.--
The girls immediately squeezed their eyes shut, turning their heads away as if expecting a blast of fire or a screaming phantom. But as the door creaked open, the only thing that hit them was a scent—rich sandalwood, expensive leather, and the faint, sharp aroma of a freshly poured glass of scotch.
Haruto stepped inside, and the girls slowly opened their eyes, blinking in confusion.
The room was a masterpiece of classic luxury. A fire was crackling softly in the hearth, casting a warm, orange glow over gold-leafed books and a plush velvet armchair. On the desk sat a fountain pen, its nib still glistening with wet ink.
"It's... it's beautiful,"
Ivory breathed, her fear replaced by total bewilderment. She walked over and touched the edge of the mahogany desk.
"But how? This house has been sealed for a century."
"It's more than beautiful,"
Lustra added, sniffing the air.
"It smells like someone just stepped out of the room. It's too fresh. There's no way this has been sitting here since the 'Great war'."
Bellona walked toward the fireplace and held her hand out.
"The coals are still red. Haruto, someone was sitting here five minutes ago. Maybe even less."
Haruto walked to the center of the rug, his eyes landing on a half-filled glass of amber liquid sitting on the side table. He touched the glass. It was cool, but there was a faint condensation ring on the wood.
The temperature didn't just drop; it crystallized. Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona began rubbing their arms frantically, their breath turning into thick mist that swirled around their faces.
"Why... Why is it so cold?" Ivory stammered, her teeth chattering so loud it echoed.
"It feels like the walls are turning into ice!"
Haruto, however, didn't move. A rare, genuine spark of excitement lit up his usually bored eyes. In the center of the room, the air rippled like a reflection in a pond. A translucent figure drifted into the light—a girl draped in royal, vintage silk and lace that looked impossibly expensive. She held a long, ornate cigarette pipe between her fingers, a ghostly trail of jasmine-scented smoke curling from her lips.
As they watched, her transparent form began to solidify. The ghostly haze turned into real, shimmering fabric; her pale skin took on a porcelain glow. She looked less like a ghost and more like a queen who had just stepped out of a masterpiece painting.
"GHOST!!" Lustra screamed, her voice cracking as she tried to hide behind Haruto's back.
The girl took a slow, incredibly calm drag from her pipe. She didn't scream, she didn't vanish, and she didn't attack. Instead, she looked at Lustra with an expression of deep, regal boredom—a look so calm it was chilling.
"I am not a 'ghost,' you noisy little thing," she said, her voice smooth and echoing with a strange, ancient depth. She gestured lazily with her pipe at the gold-leafed books and the velvet armchair around them.
"My name is Asobi," she continued, her eyes flickering with a cold, elegant light.
"This is my home. And currently... you are standing in my bedroom."