“This is the main gate for the top floor, Young Master.” Trembling with memories of being treated like a toy, the cloaked figure bent low before him. His legs shook as he descended the stairs, brushing past Ryuk, who stood rooted in place, staring at the grand gate. The gate was crafted from green gemstone, shimmering with a faint glow.
Krieeek
Without hesitation, Ryuk extended his hand as the gate began to swirl open, unveiling a spacious area that, despite its size, contained only a handful of books arranged on the shelves along the walls. In the center, two or three books were placed, seemingly cherished like treasured family relics.
[Host, there is a ghost in this place (ꏿ﹏ꏿ;)]
‘A soul?’ Ryuk inquired after hearing system’s words, not taking it as a lie, as he himself couldn’t feel the ominous energy filling the place.
His ability, which passively protected him from outside interference, also allowed him to sense if something of a different kind of energy touched his skin, making him easily recognize its type.
[No Host, it’s a ghost. Shouldn’t we run?]
‘Where is it?’ Ryuk lifted his feet as he moved forward, circling and going through the bookshelves near the walls while brushing his hands against all the books in the section, inquiring about the location of the ghost the System mentioned.
( ฯ໐น คrē… ຖ໐t ຟēl¢໐๓ē… )
Out of nowhere, like a chilly breeze bearing the trace of a secret, the temperature within the room began to drop as the windows sealed themselves, blocking all external light. Then, the candles mounted on the walls ignited on their own, casting a dim light that formed the shadow of a few books.
There was a chill in the air as Ryuk turned towards the direction of a corner, sensing the source of the voice projected from that place due to the concentration of energy there.
At that moment, a shadow materialized like a wisp of dark smoke, spiraling into a humanoid form, cloaked in a tattered, flowing robe that seemed to blend with the shadows, moving as though stirred by a wind that wasn’t there.
The fabric of its hood was deep black, concealing its face in utter darkness, save for two faint, glowing pinpricks of cold amethyst light where its eyes should be—burning like distant stars in a void.
Its skeletal hands, bone-white and unnaturally long, clutched a jagged, ancient scythe. The blade shimmered with an otherworldly gleam, as though it had carved through more than just flesh—through souls themselves. The bony fingers tightened around the handle, each knuckle creaking with age as if the weight of time pressed down on every joint.
Beneath its cloak, the ghost’s form seemed incomplete—more a shadow than a solid being. It floated inches above the ground, never fully touching it, as though bound to some unseen plane between life and death.
[That’s an ancient ghost, Host.]
The cold mist that clung to that figure sent waves of dread through the room, like a palpable presence that chilled the air with each slow, deliberate movement.
( Ş໐ຖ ໐f rนkēຖ คຖ໓ คliŞiค…. lēคงē thiŞ plค¢ē คt ໐ຖ¢ē. )
The voice once again referred as it started to hover around the place slowly, moving with its scythe shining in the dim light.
‘How does it know those details?’ Ryuk inquired, seeing an unknown figure that seemed to know about him without him saying anything, not believing that it could read his mind given his ability was still working.
So either it was that the thing in front of him could see into his mind or was able to obtain information about him from some source.
[Host, its information is mostly from the time after your death in your past world and before your birth in this world.]
[Analyzing…]
DING
━─━───────༺༻───────━─━
Entity: Ancient Ghost
Type: Soul-bound Specter
Energy Level: High (Undead Aura)
Attributes:
– Form: Semi-physical (Shadow-like, incomplete)
– Weapon: Ancient Scythe (Soul-bound, capable of affecting the living and the dead)
– Presence: Cold, oppressing (Lowers temperature, blocks external light)
– Eyes: Amethyst glow (Detects life essence)
Abilities:
– Soul Gaze: can derive information from the life pool of reincarnation.
– Aura of Dread: Induces fear and cold in the surroundings, decreases vitality by 1 every 2 minutes.
Threat Level: Very High
━─━───────༺༻───────━─━
‘Hm.’ He observed the status of the foreign unknown being in front of him, feeling no fear, for if this were his old world, he would have shown some reaction. The unknown often terrifies humans. There was no fear, but more of a curiosity to know exactly how much information this ghost had about him.
( lēคงē thiŞ plค¢ē คຖ໓ rētนrຖ…. ฯ໐นr fคtē iŞ ๖lค¢k… it iŞ iຖēงitค๖lē thคt ฯ໐น ຟill ໓iē. )
“Why is my fate black?” Ryuk inquired, though he somewhat already had the answer but wanted to hear from this unknown being about the reason for his fate being black.
( …lēคงē thiŞ plค¢ē คt ໐ຖ¢ē… it’Ş rēŞērงē໓ f໐r thē ໓ēŞtiຖē໓ ¢hil໓ ໐f fคtē… ຖ໐t Ş໐๓ē໐ຖē likē ฯ໐น. )
[…]
Not getting an answer, the entity instead told him to leave this place at once. Ryuk at least understood that there wasn’t much information he could get from this ghost, which only knew about his birth, such as the names of his parents or his fate as an unborn soul, nothing else.
“What about my death?” Ryuk for a moment thought that since this thing had given him information about his birth, then why not about his death?
( นp໐ຖ rēค¢hiຖງ thē คງē ໐f 26, thē ໐ຖē ๓คrkē໓ ๖ฯ ค ๖lค¢k fคtē ຟill ēຖ¢໐นຖtēr ໓iงiຖē rētri๖นti໐ຖ….)
In a haunting voice, the ghost advanced, its half-translucent form gliding toward Ryuk, who stood at the center of the room. His eyes flickered like the dim flames that barely illuminated the space. As the ghost extended its skeletal hand, it pressed a bony finger against the center of Ryuk’s forehead above his black masquerade mask.
“And what about your death?” Ryuk once again inquired as his eyes remained impassive, composed yet unhindered by the ominous energy surrounding him while the ghost pressed a finger on his forehead.
( i ค๓ ¢คนງht iຖ thē li๓iຖคl Şpค¢ē ๖ētຟēēຖ lifē คຖ໓ ໓ēคth. i ค๓ ໐ຖ thē งērງē ໐f riŞiຖງ นp t໐ ๖ē¢໐๓ē ค li¢h. i p໐ŞŞēŞŞ i๓๓໐rtคlitฯ, นຖค๖lē t໐ ๖ē Şlคiຖ, คŞ ēຖērງฯ ¢คຖຖ໐t ๖ē ¢rēคtē໓ ໐r ໓ēŞtr໐ฯē໓; it ๓ērēlฯ ŞhiftŞ thr໐นງh ti๓ē. )
The ghost whispered as its voice filled the chilling sensation across the room. Before pressing its bony finger more tightly against Ryuk’s forehead, it increased its ominous energy, filling the whole room with darkness like a void.
( i ค๓ ค ᎶᎧᎴ )
“And?” Ryuk tilted his head as he looked into the dark void-like face toward the eye which shone amethyst as if reflecting all his past before the flames burned intensely, covering the surroundings as if the whole world suddenly isolated into a single place, where Ryuk stood at the center in a black river with ghost maintaining its position while flames of amethyst burned around as it declared.
( ๖ēf໐rē ໓ēคth….๓ēēt ຟith thē Ş໐นlŞ ฯ໐น hคงē hนrt คຖ໓ rēpēຖt f໐r ฯ໐นr ¢ri๓ēŞ iຖ hēll…)
As those words were declared, several hands suddenly began to emerge from the ground, rising out of the black liquid that covered the entire floor, as if providing a way for the dead souls to express their pain and resentment toward Ryuk, who had killed them.
A cacophony of voices filled the space, each one dripping with anguish and fury. The souls clawing their way out of the black river writhed in torment, their skeletal hands reaching desperately toward Ryuk, who observed everything with a calm gaze.
