Let’s play together at the haunted mansion

Self Development

Episode 6

This is too much.

Why did you break it?

Why did you torment me?

This is too much.

I will take revenge.

It was a multitude of wooden statues with angry faces.

“Shit, shit.”

Some statues were missing heads, while others were missing one arm. All of them were bleeding from their broken parts—those without heads bled from their necks, those without arms bled from their shoulders, and the ones split in half bled from the gap…

Though they were small, palm-sized statues, seeing hundreds or thousands of them bleeding in the darkness made it impossible for any sane person to remain composed.

“AAAH!!!”

I began to scream and ran in the opposite direction.

A fight? Sure. They were just small wooden statues. With a sturdy club made from oak in hand, it might be possible to win against them using human strength and agility. But that would only mean I could “win.” The thought of winning “without getting hurt” was utterly impossible.

In a hurry, I spotted the end of the corridor. There was a relatively intact door.

Bang!

“Quick, quick!”

Screech!

Thud!

As soon as I opened the door and entered, I started dragging heavy objects to block it. Fortunately, there were many heavy pieces of furniture in this room, and although most were broken or decayed, they were enough to serve as a barricade.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

bren, who had successfully blocked the door, was breathing heavily.

This was the past.

After finishing his recollection, bren began to tear at his hair.

“No. Why. Shit. Why is this happening to me? That bastard! I will kill him!”

The curses escaped his lips without knowing who they were directed at. They could be aimed at his comrades who had led him here or at the unknown monster causing the current chaos. But one thing was clear:

Right now, bren was trapped here.

“Haah! Haha! Calm down. Calm down. It’s okay. I can get out.”

Fortunately, no strange sounds were coming from outside the door. Moreover, the door seemed neither broken nor to have holes in it. No matter how small those wooden statues were, they wouldn’t be able to break through a barricaded door like this.

After stabilizing his breath, bren began to survey the room.

The room he had entered was filled with furniture. Including the wardrobes used for the barricade, there were numerous wardrobes. In the center of the room stood remnants of clothing racks, while one side had the remnants of a broken and dirty mirror.

Overall, it appeared to be a storage place for many clothes.

“Could this have been a noble’s wardrobe? Good grief.”

Suddenly feeling a sense of inferiority, he quickly brushed it off. He had heard of the luxurious lives of nobles before; this was nothing special.

First, bren began to look for another exit.

The door leading to the corridor was currently blocked by a barricade, so he couldn’t go back. Even if he removed the barricade, he would only face the terrifying group of statues he had seen earlier.

The problem was that there was only one door in this room.

Perhaps because it was designed for storing clothes, there weren’t any windows, which were common in other rooms or corridors. There were also no visible broken spots.

As he knocked on the walls, wondering if there might be a secret passage, bren’s face suddenly crumpled.

“No. They say nobles always have one or two secret passages! Where are they?!”

Fuming, bren swung his club. The furniture that was still somewhat intact shattered under the impact.

As he looked at the broken pieces of furniture, his gaze shifted to a large, broken mirror occupying one side of the wall.

It was a very expensive mirror made of glass, large enough for an adult man to spread his arms wide. Although it was cracked and covered in dust and grime, it was undoubtedly an eye-catching object.

“Ha! Nobles are different. Not only do they have windows, but they also have glass mirrors.”

Feeling a bit irritated, bren approached the mirror.

As he wiped a clean spot on the mirror’s surface with his sleeve, a pockmarked man’s face appeared.

No surprise—it was Bren himself.

He had seen his reflection in water before, but he had never seen his face in such a clean mirror. Thus, he felt a wave of discomfort wash over him.

No, everything felt wrong.

Outside, there was an unknown monster; he had no idea about the fate of his comrades, and he felt that his face was incredibly ugly…

“Damn it. What’s the point of all this? I need to find a way out.”

Knock, knock, knock.

bren’s body froze.

He quickly grasped his club and raised it toward the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Eek!”

As the knocking sound came again, bren’s face turned pale.

Knock, knock, knock.

Shaking…

The club in his hand trembled. Sweat dripped down his cold hands as he tried to grip the club tightly.

Taking shallow breaths, he slowly… slowly approached the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“……??”

Suddenly, bren realized.

The knocking sound was coming from behind him.

bren’s head slowly… very slowly turned back.

Behind him was the broken mirror. And in the clean part of the mirror, bren’s face was reflected.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone resembling bren was gently tapping on the mirror’s surface, smiling brightly.

If there is income, there must be expenses.

Again, I emphasize that I am a ‘ghost.’ I am a’spirit.’ I am a being with only a soul left.

Generally, living beings obtain energy to survive through actions like ‘eating’ and gathering’mana’ to become stronger. However, I cannot perform such actions at all.

If I were just an ordinary noblelady, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

As long as there were no major issues like arranged marriages, I would have servants to prepare meals for me and knights to ensure my safety, and if I played my cards right, I could blend into high society.

But I am neither an ordinary noble lady nor a human right now.

In the end, I had to find a way to become stronger as a ghost, and I eventually found it. That is ‘spiritual power.’

I’m not entirely sure if’spiritual power’ is the official term; it’s just a name I arbitrarily assigned based on my memories from my previous life. After all, I’ve never seen anyone among the living use spiritual power, so it probably doesn’t matter.

In any case, this spiritual power…

To explain it simply, it’s akin to ‘experience points’ in a game.

There are methods to use it similar to the game MP, but in my view, spiritual power is closer to experience points.

By consuming spiritual power, I can elevate my status as a soul, develop new skills, and even remodel the mansion.

I’ll provide a more detailed explanation later if the opportunity arises, but how do I obtain this crucial spiritual power?

Since I used a game analogy earlier, let’s explain it again using a game reference. Ahem!

Bubbling…

– …

I sighed as I looked down at the man who had fainted and was foaming at the mouth.

Kids these days have such poor mental strength…

Back in my day, we used to watch legendary tales in succession 3-4 times, you know? Sigh~ Tsk tsk.

Well, it is indeed convenient that he fainted quickly. I don’t have to go through the troublesome process anymore. I mean, it’s easier for me.

However, it’s somewhat disappointing that he passed out before the real show even began…

– Tsk.

As I lamented this unexplainable regret, something pale emerged from the foam of the fainted man.

It danced for a moment like a balloon doll fluttering in the wind above the man, then left something behind before slipping back into his mouth.

Anyway, I’ve done something today. Hehehe…

I smiled as I collected the soul fragments floating in the air.

You might have guessed by now, but what just popped out of the man’s mouth was his soul.

Haven’t you heard the phrases ‘his soul has escaped’ or ‘he’s lost his mind’? Those kinds of stories.

Originally, the meaning behind those words was a metaphor for someone who cannot regain their senses.

However, based on my experience as a ghost, I can tell you that, surprisingly, they’re all true.

When a person faints or is in a daze, their soul genuinely escapes from their body.

Of course, it doesn’t fully escape. Depending on the degree of fainting or daze, it’s about the equivalent of one arm’s worth of soul escaping.

Even then, it’s not a complete escape; it just briefly slips out before returning.

So, one might wonder, what’s the point of scaring someone into fainting and making their soul briefly escape?

Generally speaking, it’s a rather meaningless action. However, for a ghost like me, this is almost my only source of spiritual power.

To explain this, I need one premise.

Souls are made of spiritual power.

By the way, this is also something I’ve roughly made up based on my experiences. It’s not definitively proven.

However, from my experience of absorbing the soul fragments left behind by ghosts slaughtered by paladins, I think it’s probably accurate.

In any case, souls are made of spiritual power, and I need that spiritual power.

And when a soul forcibly escapes, it inevitably drops a certain amount of soul fragments.

This is also something I learned through experience, so I can’t be entirely sure.

In short, I scare people into fainting and take a portion of their soul.

‘…Thinking about it, this is quite a hassle.’

I muttered as I placed the soul fragment in my pocket.

It’s a very cumbersome task. The preparation process for scaring someone is tedious, the act of scaring them is cumbersome, and attracting people is also a hassle… In short, it’s full of annoyance.