Chapter 206

Leaving the admiration of the users and NPCs behind him, Seonghyun entered the castle and found himself quite impressed by the interior.

‘Wow.’

Hadn’t Seonghyun already experienced visiting the lord’s castle in Pentagrid, one of the actual five major cities?

To be frank, compared to this place, Pentagrid's castle wasn't even a castle.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it just a large mansion; this castle's grandeur and magnificence were on another level.

As Seonghyun was busy being impressed, the sound of footsteps echoed through the vast lobby.

Clack, clack.

It sounded like the steps of a single person.

However, the presence he felt was not singular.

Startled, Seonghyun turned his head.

As the footsteps echoing through the wide lobby drew closer, he could see a woman and those following her.

The woman leading the group had dark, navy-blue hair that shimmered with a gentle luster.

Various silver ornaments adorned her hair, creating an elegant and beautiful appearance reminiscent of a galaxy in the cosmos.

However, in contrast to her hair and the glimpses of her pale skin, she wore a grotesquely distorted doll mask, giving her a somewhat unsettling aura.

Seonghyun gulped, recognizing at a glance that this was no ordinary person.

‘She’s even more than Branch Manager Belmore or Branch Manager Penelope……’

Her extraordinary presence seemed several tiers above them.

An atmosphere so overwhelming just from her appearance alone was similar to that of the crow-man, Karls.

‘She’s a step below Karls, though.’

Even though she was the master of a city this grand, she seemed to fall short of Karls, the emissary of Over Palace.

In fact, she even seemed a bit weaker than the two who accompanied him.

If this were still just a game, analyzing their auras like this would have been difficult.

But thanks to the memories and experiences of the ghosts, he could make such an assessment.

In any case, there was no doubt that the woman was an immensely powerful individual.

Perhaps—no, it was certain—she was the master of the undead circling the castle.

It wasn't a guess or an assumption, but a certainty.

The aura he felt from her was similar to the one he had sensed controlling the undead outside.

As Seonghyun observed her, the woman promptly removed her grotesquely distorted doll mask.

He was momentarily surprised by the beautiful and youthful features revealed underneath, but even the stoic Seonghyun flinched when the woman with such a face suddenly dropped into a deep bow.

"I greet the true successor of Over Palace, our Lord!"

““We greet our Lord!!!””

To hear such lines spoken in such a graceful and clear voice...

Even for the unflappable Seonghyun, it was a bit much to handle.

To think she would suddenly bow like that.

Following her lead, the countless black mages behind her also dropped into a deep bow before Seonghyun.

As Seonghyun gulped in the immensely burdensome situation, the woman continued to speak, still in her bowed position.

"My name is Karina de Knockshail. Though I am lacking, I am the branch manager of Over Palace's Hexia branch. I will faithfully assist you, the successor, during your stay here."

Although Seonghyun was momentarily flustered by her loyal tone, he had seen his fair share of people from Over Palace by now.

He responded with what had become a familiar, practiced air.

"I understand. Rise."

He kept his words as brief as possible.

As if on cue, the branch manager who had introduced herself as Karina rose to her feet. Seeing the youthful Karina act this way, looking to be about his own age, added to his sense of burden, but he did his best to ignore it.

In any case, there was a reason he had come here.

Just as he was about to get to the main point, she spoke.

"Would it be alright if I gave you a tour of the castle where you will be staying?"

‘…?’

Staying here? he thought. Leaving aside whether that was even allowed, he had no desire to do so.

As if reading his thoughts, Karina explained.

"This place was renovated from the living quarters of the previous Lord, and no one is permitted to trespass. Considering what is to come, I believe it would be best for you to stay here for the time being. If you find it uncomfortable, visiting occasionally is also perfectly fine!"

Hearing Karina’s explanation, Seonghyun slowly nodded. If that was the case, it seemed he might need to stay for a while.

‘My class-exclusive quests or the main story might continue from here.’

He hadn't thought that far ahead.

When Seonghyun gave a nod of understanding, Karina continued the introduction.

"Then, I shall guide you."

Seonghyun nodded in agreement.

The figures who appeared to be other black mages bowed their heads in farewell before disappearing in an instant.

Seonghyun found their swift departure rather fascinating as he followed Karina's lead.

The tour was quite long due to the castle's immense size, but there weren't many places he needed to know about.

The important locations were narrowed down to three: the dining hall, the bedroom where he would be staying, and finally, the basement, a place Helena was said to have used.

The basement door, in particular, was firmly shut.

Karina mentioned that it was kept closed unless there was specific business to attend to.

‘Hmm. This is tricky.’

He was intrigued since it was related to Helena, but the thick darkness seeping through the cracks of the firmly shut door was unsettlingly sinister.

Even if they were both Overlords, Helena's tenure as one had been incredibly long.

There was no telling what lay in that basement.

‘Considering it's Helena, I doubt there's anything dangerous, but a lot of time has passed. You never know.’

He mulled it over.

‘It might have turned evil, even without Helena intending it to.’

He couldn't shake the feeling that they wouldn't have built an Over Palace branch right on top of it for no reason.

For some reason, he had a hunch this wasn't going to be easy.

As Seonghyun grew slightly tense with that thought, Karina approached him.

She carefully took out something she had been treasuring from within her robes.

Then, looking at Seonghyun, she handed the precious item to him.

"Black Star said this is an item related to the previous Lord, which was discovered here."

He accepted the object she offered. Seonghyun looked down at it with a slightly baffled expression.

The object... should he call it a book?

Or a notebook?

No, to be more precise, it seemed to be a notebook that resembled a sketchbook.

The moment he saw the writing on its cover, a message flashed before his eyes.

[You have acquired the Overlord-exclusive quest item, 『Helena's Diary!』.]

[Reading the Overlord-exclusive quest item, 『Helena's Diary!』, will generate a class-exclusive quest.]

The system messages appeared, but Seonghyun was more focused on the diary itself.

『Helena's Diary!』 was written in what looked like a child's handwriting.

And right below the word 'Diary,' in a very cute script, were the words:『Nobody read this!』

Seeing it, Seonghyun scratched his head, recalling what Helena had said earlier.

So this is why she said she couldn't come out for a while.

She must have known exactly what this was.

Helena's diary.

It made perfect sense why she wouldn't want to show her face.

‘Judging by the handwriting, is this from her childhood?’

Considering Helena was at least a thousand years old, this item was practically an ancient relic.

However.

"Hmm."

‘Should I really open and read it?’

He couldn't help but wonder.

If he treated it as a simple class quest in a game, he would have opened it without a second thought.

But Seonghyun was currently traveling with Helena, wasn't he?

That made things awkward.

Reading someone's diary, especially when the person was around...

It just felt wrong.

Still…

‘Well, if she really didn't want me to, she would have told me not to read it herself.’

Considering she was holed up in the Netherworld out of sheer embarrassment, and knowing Helena's personality, it was safe to assume this was her way of giving permission.

Besides, the quest was designed to trigger upon reading.

He didn't really have a choice.

And so, as Seonghyun opened the diary.

[Opening the Overlord-exclusive quest item, 『Helena's Diary!』.]

As the system message appeared, Seonghyun's body froze as if in a cutscene.

In front of the immobilized Seonghyun, the words from the diary popped out like something from a fairy tale, and a voice could be heard from somewhere, like a small narration.

It was the voice of a child, but it was somehow familiar, filled with happiness and mischief.

And this was the diary entry being read by the young girl:

『Today, I drew a cat and a dog! The cat went "Meow!" The dog went "Woof!" They started running around! I said, "Let's play together!" but the cat and dog said, "Heeheehee! Let's play hide-and-seek!" and left the drawing!

Ugh, where are they? Where are they?

"You can find us if you come into the darkness!" the cat said! The dog laughed too! I'm good at hide-and-seek, too!

Cat, dog, wait for me! I'll definitely find you! I'm good at this, right?!』

The diary, read in a child's voice, contained the kind of things a child would write. But for some reason…

‘This is scary, isn't it?’

The part about them leaving the drawing and the line about finding them in the darkness felt quite eerie.

On top of that, as the young girl's voice was accompanied by the sound of giggling laughter, the atmosphere inevitably became genuinely frightening.

As Seonghyun processed the diary's contents and pondered their meaning, he was able to see the page within the picture diary.

It was clearly drawn by a child, yet the drawing somehow exuded a terrifying mood.

In the middle of the page was a drawing of a girl with red hair.

‘It’s torn?’

He could see that the spaces on either side of the red-haired girl, where something should have been, were torn away.

‘Could this be what it meant by them leaving the drawing?’

As soon as Seonghyun grasped the situation, the message he had been waiting for appeared.

[The Overlord Story Quest, 『The Lost Cat and Dog』, has been generated.]

『The Lost Cat and Dog』

→ Find the lost cat and dog.

The quest, in summary, was this.

Seonghyun looked up and saw that the firmly shut basement door he had checked earlier was now, for some reason, open.

‘When did that open?’

He should have noticed a large door like that opening.

Karina, too, was looking at it, tilting her head in wonder.

"When could that have opened?"

"...Who knows."

He wanted to ask, "How should I know if you, the master of this castle, don't?" but in this atmosphere, Seonghyun couldn't bring himself to say it.

From the eerie darkness that seeped from the opening, he could hear something from somewhere within.

Woof.

Meow.

It sounded like a dog barking and a cat meowing.

Is it really okay to go in there?

The genre of Eternal World felt like it had changed in an instant. It was a distinctly horrifying atmosphere.

However, Seonghyun had spent his entire life seeing ghosts.

He paid it no mind and walked towards the basement door.

As Karina watched Seonghyun enter, she spoke.

"Please be careful."

With her words, the moment Seonghyun stepped into the basement, the door slammed shut behind him in an instant.