57. Additional Event?
"What? Ghosts can be used as materials?"
Randy's bewildered voice echoed as Liz nodded slowly. The lively atmosphere in the clubroom fell into a brief silence.
That silence was broken by Annabelle, who exclaimed as if suddenly remembering something.
"Ah! I think there was something like that mentioned in the old documents of the Occult Research Club—"
Annabelle, saying this in a rush, left the Magical Beast Research Club and returned to the Occult Research Club next door. The clattering noises from beyond the wall suggested she was rummaging through some documents.
"How exactly it can be used?"
"Well, that's…"
Liz hesitated, making it clear that while she knew ghosts could be used, she didn't know the exact method.
Amid the awkward atmosphere, Annabelle burst back into the room while tumbling and hugging a stack of documents.
"I-I think there's something about it in these documents."
As Annabelle spread the documents on the table, everyone exchanged glances before silently picking up a piece of paper.
The documents were very old, but well-preserved, the ink was not faded and the paper wasn't damaged at all.
(Experiments and studies on ghosts…)
It seems that what Randy picked up was the cover page. The table of contents began with experiments on ghost capture and ultimately delved into philosophical questions about where ghosts come from and where they return to.
It appeared that Annabelle's current experiments were based on these documents.
Turning through the pages revealed a lot of dark and peculiar content:
Net-like devices for capturing ghosts
Containers designed to hold ghosts
Attempts to find ghosts and the likes
Effects of holy water
Experiment about sunlight
Experiment applying pressure to a ghost container which containing a ghost.
Numerous experiments have been conducted, and if we assume these involve the spirits of the deceased, many of them seem to be unethical. Especially for Randy, who used to be modern people, the idea that these spirits might be someone's ancestors makes him feel deeply apologetic and uncomfortable. Yet, there were many interesting things about the result, which outweighed his apologetic feelings.
"Applying pressure doesn't seem to change anything… but there was one instance where a ghost couldn't maintain its form and turned into a crystal?"
As Luke read aloud from the documents, Randy furrowed his brow and asked, "A crystal?"
"Yeah. But unfortunately, the rest of the records seem to have gone missing," Luke replied.
"Those are missing too? The experiment where the ghost was exposed to sunlight is also completely lost, including the analysis and conclusions," Cecilia added with surprise.
Annabelle nodded hesitantly and explained that the details of various experimental methods, along with their results, were almost entirely gone.
She also suggested that this loss of information might have resulted in the disappearance of a clear definition for the existence of ghosts, including what that crystal even was.
"This isn't some ordinary occult club—it's more like an actual research institute, isn't it?"
Randy couldn't hide his astonishment at the level of expertise reflected in the documents.
This was far beyond the scope of something students would do casually as part of a club.
But that made sense—Annabelle revealed that this all originated from a legitimate research institution.
The Royal Academy was initially an institution that not only pursued academic knowledge but also conducted cutting-edge research. In a way, it functioned similarly to a modern university.
However, due to the rise of central nobles and their involvement in securing interests, the research facilities were separated, leading to the academy's current form.
In other words, the Occult Research Club is a remnant of what was originally a legitimate "laboratory", as the name suggests.
"Then, could there be any related documents left in the national research institute?"
"If there were, I imagine the definition of ghosts would already be widely recognized…"
Annabelle responded hesitantly, looking apologetic, and Randy scratched his head.
"Yeah, that's true. I'm curious about ghost materials and their existence, but… right now, the camera takes priority."
With a heavy sigh, Randy put the documents back. However, Cecilia, who had been reading one of the documents, raised her eyes and said, "That's not necessarily the case."
"It seems one final page of the ghost research remained," she continued, handing a page to Randy
"Doesn't the last sentence catch your attention?"
The sentence Cecilia referred to was the concluding line of a passage discussing the usefulness of ghost materials:
'It may be an exaggeration to say it can preserve events or memories in the world, but it could at least enable long-term preservation of documents. I plan to test it with this material.'
Ink that hadn't faded.
Paper with minimal damage.
What Randy had assumed the documents to used a type of special materials turned out to be something far more ridiculous
(It's still debatable whether the ghosts still retain their memories… but if it can preserve the documents, then this is—-)
A material that might be used for cameras. If it could retain the state of an object at a given moment, it might even work with Varyon photosensitive paper.
"This… it's seems we really need to catch a ghost now."
Randy's lips curled into a grin, and the other members nodded in agreement. If they could solve the mystery of ghosts and advance their camera project simultaneously, it would be a breakthrough.
"Is there anywhere nearby where we could catch a ghost?"
Turning suddenly, Randy asked Annabelle, who flinched before nervously replying.
"Well, if it's nearby… th-the academy itself might have one—"
"There's a ghost at school?!"
Randy's excitement burst out, and he eagerly turned to Liz. "Did you hear that? There's one at the academy!"
"In the academy…"
Cecilia poked Liz, who had frozen in place, and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"Should we go take a look, then? We'll need to borrow the key first," Annabelle said tentatively, glancing nervously at Liz.
"Y-yeah," Randy replied, though his tone was somewhat hesitant. He knew Liz was afraid, but catching a ghost was essential to moving forward.
"I'll wait here—"
"And who's going to protect Liz if you stay behind? Let's go."
"W-Wait! I need to mentally prepare myself—"
Dragging the reluctant Liz along, the six of them headed toward the part of the academy rumored to be haunted by ghosts.
——
The group arrived at an old building located at the very edge of the academy grounds.
"This is supposed to be the old school building, right?"
"Yes, the old school building."
Randy, frowning, turned to look at Annabelle, who was fully armored.
She wore a mismatched jumpsuit, goggles, and what looked like a headset. It was as if she was pranking them
Yet, no one except Randy seemed to bother to comment.
"This is one of the rare places at the academy where you can capture ghosts," Annabelle said happily.
The old school building, along with its surrounding area, was indeed the rumored haunted location.
The building that were no longer in use was said to be over a thousand years old. Apparently it was used as research institute since before the academy was founded several hundred years ago.
It was spared from demolition due to its historical value and practical use as storage.
However,according to rumors in recent years, ghosts had begun to appear, and the building had been repurposed for… other activities.
"It's said that ghosts of female students and male students often appear here," Annabelle who had become fluent in speech, standing before the haunted building.
In contrast, Liz stood pale and silent, muttering under her breath, "Why… why would students become ghosts?"
She was having hard time to adjust herself.
"By the way, the fifth mystery of the Seven Mysteries of the Royal Academy, 'The Twilight Corridor,' also takes place here," Annabelle added confidently.
She went to explained the academy's famous Seven Mysteries.
The Infinite Twilight Corridor
On the third floor, west side, of the old school building's training hall, there is said to be a curse tied to a student who died long ago.
The story goes that a female student who was abandoned by her lover, hung herself in the building at night.
Since then, during dusk, no matter how far you walked down the corridor on the west side of the third floor where she and her lover used to spend time, you will never reach the exit.
It's said that her death wish for her lover not to leave her was what created this infinite hallway.
Annabelle's dramatic storytelling made Liz instinctively cover her ears.
Still, they had come this far, and there was no turning back. The goal was to capture a ghost after all.
"While we're here, I'd also like to explore the Seven Mysteries…" Annabelle added apologetically.
It turned out that Annabelle alone wasn't brave enough to make it to the third floor, and she had originally planned to hire a teacher or adventurer as a guard.
But now, with Randy, Luke, and other capable members present, her wish seemed about to come true.
"Perfect timing," Randy said. "It's just about dusk. We might run into something."
"I can't say for sure, but the chances are good!" Annabelle replied joyfully.
With Annabelle and Randy leading the charge, the group entered the old school building, pushing the reluctant Liz forward as they stepped into the eerie structure.
☆☆☆
From the rooftop of the academy, someone was observing Randy and the others disappearing into the old school building through a telescope.
"What are they doing at the old school building?"
Catherine furrowed her brows. Today, she was alone.
With Chris currently suspended, the other three were tied up in questioning by the principal and Chris's father. Although Catherine was usually with them, she had been released early from the questioning.
The reason was quite simple: it was suspected that the fight between Chris and the other three over Catherine might have led Chris, a (supposedly) diligent student, getting drunk.
Since she was at the center of it all, her presence made it difficult to question the others effectively.
As a result, Catherine was released with only some simple questions.
With unexpected free time on her hands, Catherine was using the telescope she had purchased back on the day she decided to keep an eye on Liz, thinking it might come in handy someday.
"The old school building? That's the one where ghosts supposedly appear, right? Isnt it locked after dusk?"
Catherine sighed heavily , muttering, "The staff should really do their jobs properly."
In games, once dusk fell, the old school building was always locked, and players could no longer enter.
In reality, access to the old school building was restricted for the sake of maintaining academy order.
However, members of the Occult Research Club, like Annabelle, could gain special permission to enter for ghost-related research. Of course, Catherine knew nothing about this.
"If they can get in at this hour… maybe it's part of a special event or something," she speculated.
Catherine's gaming brain led her to conclude that Liz and Randy's actions must be tied to some sort of event.
Catherine was well aware that the game's story was already falling apart.
Still, she had seen firsthand that some events continued to trigger as normal.
Based on that, she guessed that Liz and the others had entered the old school building for some kind of event-related purpose.
(The old school building… an event involving ghosts. Could it be the Seven Mysteries?)
Catherine recalled what she knew about the game.
The old school building wasn't particularly significant; it didn't even hold any good items, just trash-tier loot. It was essentially a tutorial-level dungeon.
The only thing that ever stirred up player interest was the rumor that it was linked to the Seven Mysteries of the Academy. Many players had hunted for information and flags tied to the Seven Mysteries but ultimately concluded it was nothing more than flavor text.
Developer negligence?
Not enough budget or time?
Whatever the reason, the Seven Mysteries and the old school building were nothing more than wasted settings and locations—something that had caused quite a stir on forums back in the day.
"If they've added an event to that wasted storage space, then it'd make sense," Catherine muttered.
She looked into the telescope once more. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw flickering ghost within the old school building.
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