Chapter 12: Are These Things Teaching Me a Tutorial? (1)

I plugged in the power cord.

Ricecooker Man activated.

“Hey, rice cooker man.”

[Yes! I’ve been waiting!]

“That… that wraith thing. What exactly is it?”

[As you can see from me, a spirit’s soul can inhabit an object! The reverse is also true.]

From what I’ve gathered, spirits, fairies, and similar beings leave behind their souls after death.

And if that soul can find a vessel, it becomes something like this Ricecooker Man.

[Wraiths are resentful human souls that remain on earth after being tempted by monsters, but fail to secure a proper medium to inhabit.]

“So then, how do I catch one?”

The problem is their level’s high. Even finding a way to deal with it is a challenge.

It doesn’t seem like it attacks first on its own, but it’s definitely hanging near that spiderweb behind the fridge.

[As you can see with me, a dungeon tool can be attacked and destroyed! So if you possess it into something and then destroy it, wouldn’t that work?]

“Possess… into who?”

[I don’t know!]

Yeah, of course.

“So, can it slip across dimensions and escape?”

[Yes, it can! Since it has no real body.]

I understood now.

What it meant was: a ghost came out of the Gate.

Because it’s a ghost, no one noticed.

Because it’s a ghost, Ricecooker Man couldn’t block it.

Still, at least it didn’t wander too far. That’s something.

“Seriously, anything can pop out, huh. What, succubi too?”

I muttered, then smacked myself for saying something so dumb.

Even if one appeared, it’d be no bigger than an eraser crumb.

[Ah, of course, there are succubi too. No need to be embarrassed!]

“…Really?”

Never imagined I’d be comforted by a rice cooker.

[Yes. I like being plugged in too. Makes me feel alive!]

“…Next time, just say ‘power cord,’ alright?”

Plug it in, and sure—you come alive.

I went back out to the balcony.

Couldn’t see anything with my eyes, but when I pointed my phone camera near the spiderweb, the wraith was still there.

It had no form at all. Couldn’t even tell what it looked like.

Took a shot, but nothing showed up. Maybe just a trick of the lens.

Even the status window’s monster/item explanation menu didn’t bring anything up.

“Well, guess I’ll have to do it this way.”

I’d figured out how to use “telephone punch” without wrecking walls, windows, or the boiler.

If I spread my palm like fanning air, invisible energy shot out like a gust, knocking back the target and dealing damage.

So I aimed at the LV44 Wraith.

One clean strike.

[Attack ineffective!]
[Only magic attacks or attacks that seize its essence can harm it.]

“…Tch.”

Knew it wouldn’t work.

For that kind of thing, you’d need ghost-on-ghost combat, or magical effects. That kind of rule.

Either that, or charms, talismans… the traditional exorcist’s toolkit.

I grabbed a jar of table salt from the cupboard, then put it back. Felt too much like a lunatic move.

“No way that’d work.”

Instead, I tried sound attacks.

Plenty of hymn videos online.

♪ “Walking with the Lord, anywhere is heaven. Hallelujah, praise Him~ all my sins are washed away.”

I let hymns play for an hour.

[Resists holy power.]
[Resists holy power.]

The messages kept popping up.

“Wait, so hymns do count as holy power?”

[Yes! Since they are songs that praise a god.]

Great. So the invaders from the other world didn’t just send brute-force smashers. They came in all sorts of elemental affinities, like they were teaching me game mechanics.

So hymns are a sonic holy-element attack… problem is, they had zero effect.

“At least now I know where you are.”

The messages marked the wraith’s position: near the spiderweb behind the fridge, on the painted exterior wall of the balcony.

Maybe if I focus my attacks there…

I carried over my upgraded fan.

It had become a hybrid weapon, capable of summoning blizzards. But I hadn’t used it after seeing the warning:

[Consumes additional energy.]

More electricity bills? No thanks.

[Ah, will you use the fan?]

“Why? Can you catch it too? Like, if I turn on the cooking function and open your lid?”

[Yes! If you open my lid, I can do it!]

So, ice-element from the fan or steam-element from the rice cooker.

I was at a crossroads.

“…But wait.”

Why is it just sitting there?

Until now, everything that crossed the Gate had either tried to deliver something, or outright destroy my room.

But this wraith… was just clinging to the wall, doing nothing with the spider.

Wasn’t trying to escape.

Wasn’t trying to possess someone and turn them into a spy.

Was it targeting me?

I went back to the balcony, tried talking to it.

“What are you?”

[….]

“I said, answer. I know you’re there.”

[Dungeon Keeper, I cannot harm you. Unless I am a soul unable to endure its own existence, leaving only the body behind, I cannot remain.]

So it could talk.

“Then why’d you cross over if you can’t harm anyone?”

[First, thank you for defeating the Red Wizard. I wished to express my gratitude.]

“You could’ve said that sooner.”

[I could not. Not outside the dungeon.]

Right… I did go outside to mail a package.

“You the one who scared the girl next door?”

[She likely heard me. That is not entirely wrong.]

So 202 really did hear something. Not just her imagination.

Of course, she also thought my “I love you” muttering at potted plants was suspicious…

“What’s your goal?”

[I was one of the owners of the hearts stolen by the Red Wizard. He used us as material for a technique that burns souls into an Inextinguishable Flame.]

“And that means what?”

[Exactly as it sounds. A technique that sustains fire by consuming souls.]

I did have that “Inextinguishable Flame” skill from killing the Red Wizard.

Problem: it requires mana, and I have a mana stat of 0.

If I could use it, maybe I could’ve destroyed this wraith too.

“…So that’s it. And now?”

[Yes. Our world’s humans are all dead. We lost our home. We drift without bodies. I remain here.]

So basically, this ghostly being was trying to possess someone.

If it possessed a neighbor and attacked me… I’d have to smash a living human.

“So you were targeting people, weren’t you? I was too strong, so you didn’t try me.”

[That’s not true. I merely—]

“If it were ‘merely,’ you wouldn’t be hiding.”

[Please believe me. I’ve committed no harm. I’m not strong enough.]

True, so far it hadn’t done anything.

If it kept my neighbor distracted with its noises, maybe I could even tolerate it.

“Fine. If what you say is true, tell me how to destroy you yourself. Then I’ll believe you.”

[With magic, someone of your level could defeat me easily.]

“Other than that?”

[I… don’t know. Who goes around planning how to self-destruct?]

“What nonsense. Humans fall, drown, fear death—and train skills to avoid it. You’re telling me you’ve got a human heart but no survival planning?”

[…..]

“Well, if I just beat you down until you vanish, something will work. You can’t run anyway.”

I decided to try F-Killer’s flame attack.

Risky—it’d be like setting fire to my own home. But living with an unknown shapeless being was creepier.

At least Ricecooker Man and Sprout Fairy were kind of endearing.

[That’s right. I can’t escape. Doesn’t that make me a prisoner already?]

“Really? You can’t run?”

It clung to the spiderweb, so I thought maybe it was caught.

[Because it’s a dungeon, I have nowhere to go.]

“Dungeon?”

[Look.]

I couldn’t see anything. But when I pointed my phone at the wall—

< Cannot leave the dungeon. >
< Cannot leave the dungeon. >

“…Huh.”

[See? I can’t run.]

Why did it sound proud about that?

“Then that means you tried to escape before. Either you feared me, or you had a mission outside. Which is it?”

[Of course I was afraid! Isn’t there a level 69 giant warrior?]

So it was scared. That meant I really could kill it, even without mana.

Maybe the strategy was simpler than I thought—like singing hymns out loud, or even holding a funeral ritual.

“Level 69 is that strong? Only that much?”

If level 100 was the cap, then maybe.

But from my experience, it’d take thousands of levels to really make sense.

[Our god was said to have millions of levels. Though I’ve never seen Him.]

“The Mutant King and Red Wizard were only level 50 and 69? That strong?”

[Strong, yes, but unable to grow stronger. That is why they came here.]

“I see. So your world has tons of low-levels, a few mid-levels who act as rulers, and then unreachable super-high-levels above them.”

[Yes, exactly.]

So their world was a pyramid structure.

Like money here—most of it concentrated at the very top, the rest fighting over scraps.

The mid-tiers came invading other worlds to level up… only to die by my hands.

Made sense.

Ricecooker Man had told me before—he was from a world where humans, spirits, and fairies all perished, their souls drifting.

But hearing it laid out this way was useful.

Not that I intended to let the wraith live.

“…So. How do I kill you? You’ve given me plenty of useful answers. That’s why I’ll let you live—for now. But I still need your weakness.”

[How cruel you are.]

After saying that, the wraith fell silent.

Instead, I saw messages flashing:

< Cannot leave the dungeon. >

So it was desperately trying to escape.

I was just about to search online for “how to hold a funeral offering” when:

< Found dungeon exit. >

The message popped up—at the spot where my idol boy-band posters were.

<LV44 Ghost> has disappeared.

…As if fate wanted to make me look like some creep who sneaks into a woman’s room next door.