Chapter 328

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The room beyond the black liquid was a dead-end chamber with no further doors.

Unlike the other sections of the white-walled building, this area featured beige-colored walls.

In the corner of the square-shaped room were piles of picture frames that seemed to have been originally on display.

Instead, the walls were adorned with various images of hungry ghosts in all sorts of colors—red, blue, green, and more.

These depictions exaggerated even the tiniest differences between the ghosts in cartoonish ways.

Inside this bizarre space stood a uniformed hungry ghost clutching a white orb in one hand as it turned toward the pink girl and the blue reaper.

[At last, I can carry out my final mission.]

With a slightly anxious tone, the uniformed ghost fired off some magic energy.

Though trying to appear calm, its face began to contort from growing unease.

“Mission? What’s that?”

The pink girl wore an innocently curious expression, completely oblivious to the ghost’s tension.

Meanwhile, sensing something off, the blue reaper gripped their staff tightly.

[My final mission is to show visitors certain records.]

[Would you like to see them?]

“Yeah. Let me see.”

Approaching the blocked wall, the ghost tapped it in a peculiar rhythm.

Gruuuh.

Suddenly, the massive wall slid open, revealing a hidden room filled with moving mirrors like an academy exhibition hall.

“There are so many mirrors here too.”

Following the ghost inside, the pink girl looked around curiously.

From the mirrors, serious-looking people shouted and lamented about various issues.

[It’s been two years since any life has been born in the tower. Why?]

[Alchemy isn’t eternal. Neither is the tower. If only the evolution liquid had worked…]

[Seeds won’t sprout in the fields despite sufficient light, nutrients, and water!]

[Still, we must ensure the students have enough to eat…]

[The tower has lost its self-sustaining ability. We need to find a way outside.]

[Daytime. The sun is cursing us.]

[What went wrong? Are we no longer human?]

[Spider, devour the sun.]

[The tower is breaking down.]

[The spider is broken too.]

[Why?!]

[We must bring in materials from other spaces.]

[The experiment succeeded. Barely—a single piece of metal, but still success.]

[Gather all alchemists in the tower. This steel structure will lead us to hope.]

The voices overlapped chaotically, making comprehension difficult.

Yet one thing was clear:

The desperate emotions of humans striving to survive.

The blue reaper tried to memorize the sorrowful faces of those reflected in the mirrors.

But the pink girl couldn’t distinguish the jumbled sounds, simply following the ghost while treating the noise as background hum.

Finally, the ghost stopped beside a mirror at the farthest end of the room.

Within it played what appeared to be a distant view of the tower.

At first, the footage showed a vast disc-like structure slowly collapsing and compressing itself.

A chilling sound accompanied the sight.

The towering but precarious “Tower at the End” seemed to scream.

As it endlessly crumpled, the upper levels merged into a giant steel rod.

Flash.

Then, a blinding flash originating from the tower’s peak whitewashed the screen.

When the light faded, the remaining image was of the tower halved, its crushed sections vanished.

[This concludes my explanation. Do you have any questions?]

While saying this, the ghost trembled noticeably, holding the orb in its hand.

‘Something’s strange…’

The blue reaper felt an ominous vibe emanating from the ghost.

“What do these mirrors mean? Can you explain?”

[My task ends with guiding humans to the mirrors.]

“How many people are there on the higher floors?”

The ghost appeared both anxious and anticipatory.

[I don’t know anything about other floors.]

Its face started resembling the surface of a walnut, wrinkling grotesquely.

The hand gripping the orb shook even more violently.

“What about the statues with long arms and no legs?”

[That would be an impossible statue. I’m unaware of such things.]

Unconsciously opening and closing its mouth repeatedly, as if chewing.

“What about the numerous hungry ghost corpses outside the building?”

[Hungry ghosts? Ah, you mean guardians like myself. Interesting phrasing.]

[They’ve all consumed cores. And I’ve dealt with them accordingly.]

[Handling core-consuming hungry ghosts is also part of my ‘mission’.]

Though the pink girl didn’t notice, the ghost’s muscles were bulging unnaturally.

“And who wrote the messages in that room? Also, what is the black liquid?”

Pointing toward the rear door,

[It concerns a subject whose name must never be spoken.]

By now, the ghost’s face had distorted completely, becoming hideously rugged like a walnut shell.

But the pink girl, lacking much experience with humans, failed to sense anything unusual and continued asking questions.

“Lastly, what’s a ‘tall black hungry ghost’?”

The blue reaper nudged the pink girl’s cheek warningly, sensing an increasingly ominous atmosphere, but it was too late—the question had already been asked.

[That too is unanswerable.]

With a reddening face, the ghost brought the orb closer to its mouth.

[There are no ‘black guardians’ in this tower.]

After swallowing the white orb,

[My mission is complete.]

[Finally!]

The ghost’s body began twisting uncontrollably.

Crunch. Crunch.

Despite appearing to be in immense pain, it emitted a relieved magical pulse.

[I was truly starving.]

Smiling eerily while tilting its head upward,

Inside its mouth lay countless rows of sharp white teeth.

***

Outskirts of Songpa District, James Tower.

I spent my time stacking golden reapers made of ‘