NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 66
Kashian: Check out this cute bear doll. Day 325.
Not having the uncle around, I can’t post the video. Bummer.
┗ Hao: That’s not a bear doll, just some pale face!
┗ Kashian: Are you insulting our bear doll right now?
┗ Hao: No, for real, it was a person… Oh wait, it vanished. Was it a ghost?
┗ Kashian: Come out to the main hall on the first floor. If you don’t, I’ll come find you.
┗ Hao: It’s a misunderstanding! A total misunderstanding!
“The warehouse keeper.”
I fiddled with the key in my hand. It felt peculiar, like a direct connection to my wood.
Maybe that’s why holding it felt like touching a part of my own body. Since receiving this, I’ve unconsciously started to stroke the key whenever I got lost in thought.
The treasure vault I had to protect extended from the 6th to the 9th floor. I heard the treasures on the 9th were even stronger. I had visited above the 6th floor just once, and that memory was still vividly clear.
It was my first time in the tower, during the cleaning. I climbed to the 5th floor without too much trouble. Then met the trembling wall on the 6th floor.
At first, I thought it was just a regular floor. But then it started writhing, threatening to swallow me whole.
So, I fled without looking back, barely escaping. At the end of that encounter, I came face to face with an eye on the 7th floor.
I chuckled bleakly. The professor said it was an accident that the eye was there. Apparently, it had escaped from the treasure vault.
Usually, such accidents don’t happen just once. This meant that as long as I was tasked with guarding the vault, I would likely encounter some of those escaped beings someday.
Could I face them now? Not a chance. Even if I were to improve my skills, I wouldn’t gain the confidence to face them.
In fact, as I grew stronger, I only realized how powerful the eye I faced back then really was.
That bizarre sensation crept up on me again. I swiftly pushed those thoughts aside. After all, thinking too much would just give me a headache.
Shall I move now?
Even if I didn’t want to, I had to. That was the contract. A strange sense of pressure began to flow through my wood. Chains started from my wrist, wrapping around me.
This was a feeling I hadn’t sensed in a while. That was because the professor hadn’t assigned any specific tasks recently. I brushed my left wrist lightly. As magic flowed out, two contracts appeared in my mind.
The upper one was the professor’s, and the lower one belonged to Maira and Miryeong. I examined the contract beneath. After making this contract, I had received my passing notification from the professor. Thus, I became the warehouse keeper.
The score was 60, the grade I received from the professor back then. I’d been thinking a lot about how I could score higher. I never found a clear answer, just some rough guesses.
It felt like ages ago that the auction house incidents occurred. Now, my concerns about the vault overshadowed that. Of course, a month had passed, so it was indeed a past event.
I stood up. I carefully brushed my hand over the space pouch hanging from my waist. Not knowing what might happen in the treasure vault, I stuffed almost everything I had into it.
The key in my hand once again melted into my body. Along with it, a strong vitality began to swirl around me. It was the power contained within the key.
The key held various magics and powers that I couldn’t comprehend. The boost I felt now was just one of the minor functions I recognized. Perhaps this alone could be considered a treasure.
Of course, it didn’t seem like it would help solve my current predicament.
I sighed. I needed to fetch some treasure before the next lecture. That was the order.
Yesterday, the professor spoke up. It was after lunch.
“How’s the key?”
“It’s excellent. Thank you for entrusting me with such a precious item.”
I bowed my head as I said this. After all, it was truly powerful. I had learned so much while trying to tame it.
The professor looked quite pleased with my flattery. She spooned some of the rainbow pudding that had come out as dessert into her mouth. After savoring it for a moment, she spoke.
“Then it’s settled. You’ll fetch the next treasure.”
“Huh?”
“It’s almost time to prepare for the lecture, so go get a necessary treasure from the vault.”
I blinked in surprise. Then I looked down at the key that had appeared in my hand. It seemed to glow, as if it knew it was being mentioned.
Was being a warehouse keeper really like this?
In reality, I had never been to the floor with the treasure vault since receiving the key. I had only sent dolls up there a few times. There hadn’t been a need for me to go.
That eye I’d seen back then only managed to escape after about a hundred years of the professor being absent. The professor once mentioned she had cast even stronger magics to prepare for such escapes.
This meant I likely wouldn’t have any tasks for another hundred years. So, I was feeling somewhat relieved. But I never anticipated this situation. Though I expected it, I never thought she’d make me do it.
She said I could just pick up one treasure, but how could I even get up there? It was clear that the place would be overflowing with things I couldn’t handle.
“Am I doing this alone?”
At my question, she nodded.
“You’d just run away if you met the treasure anyway; how can I…”
“It’s because of that mindset I’m making you do this. How long are you going to keep running? Well, you won’t die, so just give it your all.”
She lifted her teacup, seemingly indicating the conversation was over. I tried to say something, but her magic held me still.
Then, it pushed me out of the room. I tumbled right down the stairs. As I lay there dazed, a piece of paper fluttered down toward me.
“That’s a necessary item. Check it and bring it without mistakes.”
Thus, I received this mission.
Standing where I had fallen yesterday, I looked up the stairs.
At least I was lucky to know that my destination was the 6th floor. Compared to the 7th, the treasures on the 6th floor would be much easier to handle. Yet, it didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t hope to take them on.
The space above was lightly swaying. It hadn’t yet set a destination. I selected the 6th floor and waited for the space to stabilize.
Soon, the stairs began connecting to a different floor. I slowly climbed them. With each step up, the tension mounted. And at the end, I could see a very familiar scene.
It looked nearly identical to the various floors below. The peaceful view eased my tension. A long corridor and a wide hall at the end, exactly like I’d seen through the dolls.
As I walked down the corridor, I looked around. The 6th floor was also used for lectures. It changed scenery every time. I was always curious how they did that every single time.
Arriving at the hall, a captivating sight unfolded before me. It felt completely different from when I saw it through the dolls. Watching it, I began to truly feel this was the treasure vault.
Doors were everywhere in all sorts of places. Some were on the floor, some on the wall, and there were even those floating in midair.
The doors brimmed with powerful magic. The layered magical circles were so complex they gave me a headache just staring at them. They were spells to seal what lay inside.
I headed towards the nearest door. I slowly admired the magic around the door. The strange circuits flowing somewhere were arranged in a form I couldn’t comprehend.
But I felt I could touch it. The key in my hand resurfaced. If I simply inserted it, the door would open.
But this door didn’t need my touch. Because what the professor commanded me to bring wasn’t inside.
As I stood close, I quickly recalled what was contained within.
Room 13 – Random sturdy stuff
– Stones picked up from the ocean floor, connected to other continents
– Head bone of a sheep that ate mountains, unchewed
– Meteor armor? Some weird thing inside
– A peculiar ball taken from a mountain tribe, pretty sturdy
– …
A list I couldn’t make sense of continued on. It seemed my professor had roughly organized the treasures according to their characteristics. There seemed to be about ten treasures beyond this point.
What about other rooms, I wondered. I walked towards the door next to me. The same list appeared in my mind again. It contained seven items. Still filled with scribbles I couldn’t decipher.
I scanned my surroundings. There were easily dozens of doors, so there were likely over a hundred treasures in this place alone.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Now I understood why most of the treasures the professor had shown in lectures didn’t have clear names. With so many items, it was clearly a hassle to name each one.
So, which door was I supposed to enter? I pulled out the paper the professor had given me.
– 6th floor, the eye from the star.
That was what was written. It must be inside one of these numerous doors.
Looking at the paper, I recalled the professor’s mischievous smile. Being an eye, it reminded me of the one I faced on the 7th floor. She definitely knew I was still scared of it.
So, she intentionally asked me to bring something similar. I felt a hint of malice in her request. But it was clear it would be weaker. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be on the 6th floor.
Slowly, I examined the doors. I found a few treasures with slightly familiar explanations. They must have been things mentioned in past lectures.
After checking the doors, I was finally able to find the one containing the item I was looking for. I compared the list on the paper to what was displayed on the door. The contents matched exactly. This door was the right one.
I swallowed nervously. The description listed on this door was slightly more intense than those on the other doors.
Room 2 – Random stuff that eats people
– A lump of fingers, only eats magician’s fingers
– The eye from the star, didn’t like it so I brought it here
– A heart that eats minds, still somewhat alive
– A tongue whose taste improves when cooked
– …
So, this door held items that ate people. About ten super ominous things sat behind this door. But the professor said nothing would kill me. So, I had to believe her.
I took a deep breath and brought the key to the door. The magic within the key began to gradually unravel the seals on the door.
The entire process unfolded naturally. The powerful magical circles that I couldn’t even recognize faded in an instant, and the door opened smoothly to reveal its contents.
However, the warehouse I envisioned didn’t exist. No wide room neatly organized with treasures. Instead, there was only a crack leading to another space.
This indicated there was treasure inside. I stared for a moment. I had no clue what lay beyond that rift.
But hesitating here was pointless. I could feel the door’s magic gradually returning. I needed to enter before it closed again.
I shut my eyes tight and hurled myself towards the rift. I felt my body flow somewhere. I heard the door slam shut behind me.
And thus, three days passed.
The warehouse was vast.
I was still wandering through this place.
I had discovered a few treasures, but they weren’t the ones I sought. Something beside me tapped my shoulder.
“Looks like this isn’t it. Which way next?”
“If you have a place in mind, I’ll follow.”
“Then let’s try this way.”
Should I call her “she”? No, “it” is more accurate. It slowly walked ahead. I carefully stepped forward, trailing behind it.
I gazed at it intently. It was a doll shaped like a woman. A very familiar object indeed.
Of course, it was, since I had invested the last month creating it. A masterpiece made by pouring everything I had from the items I bought at the auction house and what I already owned.
Of course, it hadn’t completely stabilized yet, so I couldn’t give it a shadow.
Had it sensed my gaze, it turned to me and smiled. I returned the smile and took a step forward, cold sweat trickling down my back.
Yesterday, it had suddenly lost connection with me. Then it started moving on its own, carrying something new within its chest.
A wry smile formed on my lips. I never expected this turn of events.