Chapter 16

[7:00p.m.]

The same day we accepted it, it was time to begin our investigation at the castle. As everyone else waited for me on the living room couch, I was in the middle of tying my shoelaces.

I stood up once I was finished and noticed a couple of them nervously pacing around the room while others settled down, staring into thin air and nervously fumbling with their thumbs.

At the sight, I sighed quietly.

"You guys don't seem ready," I commented.

"We're dealing with a ghost; who wouldn't be scared of that?" Sujin said, apprehensive.

"We'll be fine! Plus, we have powers in this realm to protect us, don't we?" Angela comforted them, her brave demeanor surprising many.

"Aren't you afraid, Angela Noona?" Jiho inquired.

"I am, but I've dealt with paranormal stuff in the earth realm, so I'm used to this," she stated as the other males, including myself, looked at her in awe, our mouths slightly agape.

"Let's go! We can't keep the Queen waiting," she eagerly said.

The Queen dispatched three carriages to transport the sixteen of us to the castle.

It was a significant mission for us to accept; therefore, the royal highness wanted to support us and provide us with the best of the best to assist with our investigation.

Mr. Smith was waiting for us at the castle's front entrance when we arrived. We returned his greeting by bowing.

"Welcome! I'll be accompanying you all with your mission, Queen Aurora's orders," he said simply.

With that, Yejoon led us inside the castle to the floor where he had encountered the paranormal. He huffed uneasily and hesitantly as we all followed behind him.

When we told him about our goal hours before, he was taken aback and hesitated to join us. But we were all able to persuade him because he was the only member of our team who had witnessed such events.

When we arrived on the fourth floor, we searched the entire level for the ghost, but she didn't appear. We were all beginning to wonder if this ghost was real, but Yejoon protested, strongly responding that he was certain of what he saw.

"Our target is a ghost; finding one is difficult, and we can't see them with our naked eyes," Yuto argued, making a point.

So I planned a strategy. This ghost had been spotted all over the castle grounds, suggesting that the target they were looking for wasn't simply on the fourth floor.

To get the job done faster, we divided into four groups and searched for each floor of this castle.

I'm assigned to patrol the first level with Milton, Seongho, and Jiho.

Jun, Heric, Joseph, and Yuto were tasked with patrolling the second floor.

The third level was allotted to Seungjae, Jeongmin, Sujin, and Minjoon. Finally, Yejoon, Angela, Jaeseong, and Jiwoo were assigned to patrol the 4th floor with Mr. Smith's cooperation.

We were all quite paranoid and nervous, but we had no choice but to proceed with our task. We cannot let our queen and the royal family down.

[AUTHOR'S P.O.V]

The team walked through the castle floors, looking for any hints regarding the ghost. To save electricity, the castle turned off the main lights and relied on a couple of lamps and moonlight to illuminate the extensive hallways.

It was natural that the members of the investigation on the third level were shivering as they investigated the area.

As he proceeded through the dimly lit halls, Seungjae continued peering back and forth. His team decided to split up and conduct their investigations separately.

He gulped and kept moving until he reached the end of the corridor and turned. His back collided with Sujin's, who was facing the other, causing both of them to scream in horror.

"Hyung, you scared the crap out of me!" cried Seungjae. His breathing became heavy, and he placed his hand on his chest as he felt his heart beat irregularly.

"You scared the crap out of me, too!" Sujin retorted. They were both settling their fright inside when they were suddenly approached from behind by someone else.

"What are you—?" they said, causing the two to scream and startle the boy who approached them.

"What? What? Did you find the ghost?" he said, fearfully looking behind him.

With their flashlights aimed at the boy, the two noticed Jeongmin. The two terrified cats sighed in relief as they clutched their throbbing hearts.

"For goodness sake, we thought YOU were the ghost, Hyung!" cried Seungjae, terrified. Jeongmin sighed in relief and laughed as he apologized for the scare.

"Where's Minjoon? Have you guys found anything?" Sujin inquired.

"Nope, not yet. Minjoon went the other way, so he might just be over—" Jeongmin peered down the corridor at Sujin's side and saw the chef just turning to the corridor where he could see his fellow members. "There he is!" Jeongmin exclaimed, smiling.

While the crew on the third floor searched individually, the team on the first floor focused on searching in pairs because they, too, were terrified.

"I expected the castle to be creepy at night, but I never expected it to be THIS terrifying," Jiho stated while looking around anxiously.

"I've seen too many anime to believe castles are illuminated at night," Seongho groaned.

Just as they turned a corner, they saw a girl dressed in a white gown walking away from them. Both of their eyes widened, and they were frozen in place as their hearts sprang into a state of panic.

Although they didn't want to believe it was the ghost they were seeking, there was still a chance it was the real thing.

"T-that…doesn't look like a ghost…right?" Jiho asked anxiously to the member next to him, who was equally terrified.

Seongho took a nervous gulp. "Yejoon said she was wearing a white gown, and that looks like a white gown to me," the knight commented.

"Then, could it be?"

As they were about to approach the child, Milton and Yumi had turned the corner at the opposite end of the lengthy corridor. They expected them to react similarly, but were surprised by how calm they were.

Can't they see the girl? Was it just revealing itself to them? The two couldn't help but imagine the worst-case scenario.

Their inquiries, however, were answered in seconds.

"Oh, Princess Pinlet! What are you doing here so late at night?" Milton inquired.

"I need to pee," she said.

"Do you want me to come along with you, your highness?" Yumi inquired.

"Yes, please!"

Yumi lightly took the princess's hand as they walked to the restroom together, and when they were gone, Milton switched his focus to the other lads, who were sighing in relief when they realized it was the princess they saw, not the ghost kid they were looking for.

The two teams were making progress, but the team on the second decided to have some fun while looking for the ghost. They, like everyone else, were terrified, so they decided to sing and teach Heric choreography from popular K-pop songs to alleviate their fears.

While they were dancing, the team on the fourth level was searching cautiously and seriously. Mr. Smith was also assisting in the search.

As they walked around the fourth floor, they noted how much longer and broader the corridors were than the others.

Angela was boldly patrolling alone when she noticed the movement of a shadow from the corner of her vision through the window as she turned a corner.

She came to a halt as she focused on any shadows cast by the window. When Jaeseong noticed her suddenly in place and observed how serious she appeared, he approached her with concern.

"Are you alright, Angela?" he inquired.

"Yeah," she replied quickly, before returning her gaze to the window. But as soon as she returned to her window view, she noticed a black shadow.

It wasn't there before, and it immediately piqued her interest. She squinted to see better while maintaining eye contact with the window.

Jaeseong turned his head to see what she was gazing at, but there was nothing there.

Angela maintained her focus and observed that the person she was seeing was actually a mirror of someone behind them.

She gasped, then quickly turned around, shocking Jaeseong. "What? Did you find something?" he said, waiting for her response.

Angela noticed the kid's head peering at them, and her eyes widened at the sight. She took a slow step forward, and when the kid noticed, she bolted.

"She's running away!" She exclaimed as she chased after the ghost.

Jaeseong chased after her as fast as he could. The Kid chuckled as she passed Yejoon, Jiwoo, and Mr. Smith, and they paused in their tracks, horrified.

"Did you hear that?" Jiwoo inquired, checking to ensure he wasn't losing his mind.

"I certainly did," Yejoon responded.

"Is it the ghost?" Mr. Smith wondered.

Angela turned the corner, shouting and pointing at something that passed them.

"She's getting away!"

"Who?" Jiwoo inquired, perplexed.

"The ghost!" she exclaimed as she dashed past them.

With a terrified expression on their faces, the three panickily followed her as they hurried behind Jaeseong. They dashed past the third, second, and first stories, then out into the massive garden and into the village.

The ghost appeared to be exceedingly swift, making it difficult for them to keep up. Angela became fatigued in the middle of the village. She knew it would wear them out much more if they continued, so she quickly devised a solution.

"Jaeseong, give me some of your strings!"

"Why?" he inquired, surprised by the sudden command.

"Please, it's urgent!" she said, and he did as she asked. Angela hurriedly chanted a spell as she continued going after the ghost after grabbing his strings.

She then aimed and successfully flung the string a bit farther from the ghost. When the toddler stepped on it without realizing it, she immediately wrapped it around its ankle with her psychokinesis ability.

Angela came to a halt after completing the task and took a break from all of the jogging she had done. She came to a halt in the forest, but the ghost did not and continued sprinting deep into the woodland away from them.

"Did you manage to get her?" Yejoon inquired, stunned by what had just occurred. The others arrived shortly after, worn out.

"No," she huffs tiredly, "but I did manage to track her."

"How?" Jiwoo inquired.

"You'll be able to find her using Jaeseong's string and my power."

"How can that happen—?"

All of a sudden, a tremendous roar boomed from above them in the trees, which interrupted Jaeseong. Two round, large, red eyes met theirs as they raised their heads dreadfully, sending a chill down their spine.

The monster slowly moved its head, showing its beak, eyes, and entire head. They assumed they had encountered a giant chicken, but it turned out that wasn't the case.

It gradually displayed its body, legs, and tail. Each aspect sent chills down their spines. It wasn’t a large chicken; it was a basilisk.

It was their very first encounter with such a creature, and they were all transfixed and horrified.

It has the head and legs of a chicken, the wings of a dragon, the body of a spiky dinosaur, and the tail of a snake. It was, indeed, a bloody and disastrous sight.

"I'll call for help!" screamed Mr. Smith as he dashed back to the castle.

The basilisk jumped from the top of the tree and onto them. They all dodged its assault quickly. This divided the rest of the team from Jiwoo.

"Go ahead, I'll do something about it!" the gamer declared courageously, but the rest of the team was concerned about him.

Even though they know they can reincarnate if they die, death isn't fun, and they never want a team member to go through it.

"But—" Yejoon attempted to speak, but the basilisk struck again, furiously wagging its tail in their direction.

Before it could directly reach them, two dragons sprang from Jiwoo's video game board and stopped the attack, protecting everyone.

"GO!" exclaimed the gamer.

Angela quickly grabbed Jaeseong and Yejoon's arms and pulled them towards the direction where the ghost had fled.

Despite knowing Jiwoo was strong enough, the two other Arkane members were scared of leaving their beloved comrade alone.

The gamer huffed anxiously as he cautiously gazed at the basilisk after they left. The monster appeared to be enraged that the three others were fleeing. He was about to launch another attack when Jiwoo ordered one of the dragons to electrify him.

"Your target is me, not them," he stated threateningly.

This infuriated the creature, who roared angrily at him. His heart pounded timorously; it was enough to frighten him. Being alone with a massive monster was terrifying.

Despite this, he remained brave because he knew help was on the way. All he had to do was stay alive until then.