Episode 39: Observation

Ding-dong!

<You have entered Morgue’s Magical Warehouse, ‘Observation’ Zone.>

“So this is the Observation Zone.”

I looked around.

Stone ceiling and walls. Green lanterns illuminating the interior. 

Passages branching out in hundreds of directions.

On the surface, it looked no different from the Safe Zone.

However.

“Ugh…”

Ever since stepping into the Observation Zone, breathing became difficult.

Along with a crushing pressure squeezing my entire body, it felt like all my nerve cells were being shredded.

Like being thrown naked into the deep sea or a high-altitude mountain range.

Sweat poured down my back like rain.

My survival instincts inside were screaming to get out of here immediately.

My vision gradually darkened, and my hands and feet began trembling.

At that moment, a system window appeared.

Ding-dong!

<Your Mental Power stat as Warehouse Keeper is too low to explore the Observation Zone.>

……Mental Power too low?

What I was feeling was pure terror.

Resentment and hatred, curses and deathly energy.

My mind was on the verge of collapse from the yin energy filling the Observation Zone.

Ding-dong!

<Raise your Mental Power to explore the Observation Zone.>

I calmed my trembling body and activated the status window.

<Stats>

– Strength: 102

– Stamina: 102

– Agility: 102

– Intelligence: 102

– Mental Power: 102

Thanks to steadily completing warehouse quests, all my stats had risen evenly.

My Mental Power was 102.

In simple terms, that meant I had the mental strength of 102 ordinary people.

Yet I couldn’t withstand the thick, murky energy of the Observation Zone.

I quickly opened my inventory.

No choice but to use this.

I took out the ‘Growth Potion’ I received as a promotion reward.

Then I uncorked the vial and chugged it down immediately.

Gulp—

“……!?”

I almost spat it out.

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent, spicy—all at once.

The unpleasant taste filling my mouth made me want to vomit.

But now wasn’t the time to be picky about food.

Gulp gulp gulp—

I held my breath and downed the rest of the potion.

The thick, muddy liquid like mixed clay slid down my throat.

Soon, a new system window appeared.

Ding-dong!

<Select the stat to grow.>

-1. 【Strength +100】

-2. 【Stamina +100】

-3. 【Agility +100】

-4. 【Intelligence +100】

-5. 【Mental Power +100】

I immediately touched the Mental Power option.

Then.

Dududududududu—

Dark red aura flowing from around my navel began enveloping my entire body.

Ding-dong!

<Warehouse Keeper’s Mental Power has increased by 100!>

<Stats>

– Strength: 102

– Stamina: 102

– Agility: 102

– Intelligence: 102

– Mental Power: 202 <+100↑>

I panted heavily and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“Huuu…”

The choking pressure around my throat disappeared, and the spasms throughout my body stopped as if by magic.

The inescapable fear vanished clean away.

It seemed I had barely crossed the Observation Zone’s Mental Power threshold.

Ordinary people might go into shock the moment they enter here.

At that moment, ragged breathing came from beside me.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Jeanne was frowning with a pale face.

Even she, a Death Knight, was affected by the Observation Zone’s intense yin energy.

But it was only for a moment.

Jeanne returned to her calm expression.

She looked at me and said.

“To affect even the body of an undead to this extent. It’s quite powerful yin energy. Are you alright, Master?”

“Yeah, I seem fine.”

“As expected of Master!”

Jeanne looked at me with an admiring face.

It seems she didn’t see me struggling.

Well, anyway.

I opened Featherback’s log.

This time, the Observation Zone page turned smoothly.

“Let’s see.”

The updated stored items in the Observation Zone section of Featherback’s log totaled 16.

“‘Unlucky Latsha’s Totem’. Using it transfers the misfortune of 100 nearby people to yourself? What is this? Not luck, but bringing misfortune? Rozchild’s upgraded self-torture device? Get lost. Next… ‘High Demon’s Massive Antenna’? What’s this, why’s the name like that. Usage: ‘Insert the antenna…’ Okay. Pass. Next…”

I began examining them one by one.

And then.

“Oh? This one…”

I found an intriguing stored item.

Flap—

<Archlich’s Finger>

– Storage Number: MRG-175

– Storage Grade: Observation

“Then let’s start from here.”

Conveniently, the storage location wasn’t far.

Soon, I stepped toward the dark passage.

***

I need to correct my earlier thought.

It looks similar to the Safe Zone on the surface?

That’s no different from thinking ‘the military’s no big deal’ after watching a military variety show on TV.

“Who the hell designed this warehouse like this?”

The words slipped out involuntarily.

After walking for a full hour through passages twisting like ramen noodles, how could I not curse.

A bit of walking and it splits into two paths, a bit more and three paths, just when you think it’s the end, four paths appear.

There were even crawlspaces you had to crawl through, and steep declines like cliffs.

If Featherback’s log hadn’t guided me, I would’ve gotten lost in minutes after setting out.

At that moment, Jeanne pointed ahead and said.

“Master. I see light over there.”

As she said, faint light leaked from the end of the passage.

When we emerged from the passage, a vast space welcomed us.

No, more precisely than a space…

This isn’t inside the warehouse, is it?

A wasteland covered in pitch-black sand.

The black desert stretched endlessly beyond the horizon.

It gave the illusion of having escaped outside the warehouse.

But Featherback’s log was still guiding to the stored item’s location.

At that moment.

Flutter flutter flutter—

The sound of something flapping in the wind came.

Torn cloth was billowing over the sand dune.

……A flag?

It couldn’t be a flag planted by Zom…

I’ve never encountered Zom using tools so far.

Seeing is believing.

We headed toward the sand dune where the flag was flapping.

Soon.

“…!”

“……!”

We were speechless at the sight beyond the sand dune.

Half-collapsed watchtower. Corroded wooden barricades. Crumbling shacks, etc.

Unmistakable traces of civilization.

It looked like a village where multiple people had lived together.

However, this was Morgue’s Magical Warehouse, overflowing with all sorts of monstrosities.

It might be a village made by non-human beings.

Soon, Jeanne and I began examining the ruined village.

Traces of battle remained intact throughout the village.

Zom corpses scattered everywhere.

Next to them, broken weapons and armor fragments lay around.

I don’t know who the residents here were, but they were clearly hostile to the Zom.

At that moment, Jeanne, who was investigating a shack, shouted loudly.

“Master, I found something.”

What she discovered was a square wooden box.

Even buried in the burnt and destroyed debris, the wooden box’s surface didn’t have a single scratch.

And not only that.

Wuuung— wuuung— wuuung— wuuung—

Purple aura was flowing out from inside.

When I opened the wooden box, a piercing corpse stench assaulted my nose.

Soon, what revealed itself was a pitch-black, decayed finger.

Flap—

<Archlich’s Finger>

– Storage Number: MRG-175

– Storage Grade: Observation

666 years ago, a black mage named ‘Andergang de Pernua’ existed.

Pernua was particularly skilled in necromancy, able to summon the souls of the dead from the underworld with just a snap of his fingers.

Afterward, he turned himself into an Archlich and proclaimed himself the ‘King of the Underworld.’

Then, leading millions of undead soldiers, he invaded the Sorcerer Emperor’s homeland, Morgue.

Arrogant and insolent Andergang de Pernua.

His end was miserable.

The power he prided himself on as mighty was nothing more than a mere fly before the Sorcerer Emperor.

His lowly soul was torn to shreds, and his wretched body scattered as a handful of ash.

Only one thing remained. 

The finger that summoned souls of the dead from the underworld.

Oh.

So it was here.

It was exactly the stored item I’d seen in the guidebook.

Still, this place hardly looked like a storage location no matter how you sliced it.

Well, anyway.

What caught my interest in this stored item was the description in the guidebook.

He could summon the souls of the dead from the underworld with just a snap of his fingers.

I stared at the finger in the wooden box.

……With this, I can call the souls of the dead, huh.

It was an artifact that could be used in various ways depending on the method.

Soon, a new notification window appeared.

Ding-dong!

<Archlich’s Finger – Manual>

1. Prepare an item deeply related to the soul you wish to summon.

2. Set up an altar in a pitch-black room with no light, and place the Archlich’s Finger and the memento on it.

3. Blink your eyes ten times out of sync while exhaling three times through your mouth and four times through your nose.

4. After completing all actions, bend the Archlich’s Finger inward.

5. Touch the body or object to inject the summoned soul with the Archlich’s Finger.

6. If soul injection succeeds, straighten the Archlich’s Finger back to normal.

※Warnings※

– Do not take your eyes off the Archlich’s Finger until the ritual ends.

– If you hear the laughter of numerous people during the ritual, stop the ritual immediately.

– After the ritual ends, brush your shoulders and back four times each with your left hand.

– If an unintended soul is summoned, straighten the Archlich’s Finger back to normal.

– The vessel for soul injection connects more firmly the deeper its relation to the summoned soul. The most effective is the corpse of that soul.

Like with the Coffin of the Dead, the ritual process was detailed.

……Complete with creepy warnings too.

I put the Archlich’s Finger into my inventory.

Then, I looked at the two artifacts lined up side by side in my inventory.

[Inventory]

– Coffin of the Dead <NEW>

– Archlich’s Finger <NEW>

I smiled and said.

“With these, maybe… I can make something really useful?”