Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

When Zachary was far from the scene, he immediately activated the power of the Dog Soul Ring to identify the smell which was left by the golden statue. He had thought of using the ring earlier, but he never got the chance because he was always with Rita and Elva. Now that he was alone, he decided to take the opportunity to use it.

"It seems that all the golden statues should be placed by the same person, and this person should be a woman." Zachary reached this conclusion from the information that he gathered based on the scents that he smelled with the help of the ring.

Zachary searched for the scents that were similar to the golden statue. He ran with all his strength using Shadow Pace and avoided all the martial beasts that blocked his way. About half an hour later, he found a room with its door wide open.

Learning from his previous experience, Zachary stood in front of the doorway first and peeked into the room. There was no significant difference between this room and the other rooms aside from the eight pillars in the center of the room that formed a circle. Each pillar had a long chain as thick as a man's arm that reached all the way to the floor that made it seem like it was used to hold some monster captive.

"It doesn't look dangerous," Zachary whispered to himself. He soon laid his eyes on a piece of gold in the far corner of the room. It seemed that it was the golden statue that he was searching for.

'Why is that golden statue hidden in such an obvious place? It's not even hidden. It's just lying there, ' Zachary wondered. But he entered the room anyway when he couldn't figure out the answer. He intended to get the golden statue and leave as fast as possible.

The moment Zachary walked into the room, everything around him quickly became distorted. The long thick chains that were connected to the eight pillars in the center of the room moved. Four of them moved upward and the other four moved downward.

"What the hell is this?" Zachary said to himself as he turned to look at the door, but it was no longer there.

'Is this a trap?' Zachary wondered.

Laughter filled the room a

there were three people before me, then? They must all be as awesome as I am!" Zachary said proudly.

"The first two came here so far back in the past that I no longer remember their names. The third one, I can still remember. And it's a woman. Her name is Queenie Ying," the ghost recounted.

"So, why are you imprisoned here?" Zachary asked. His face turned serious and was etched with curiosity.

"Let bygones be bygones. Go and take your golden statue. It seems that I have to wait for another three years to get another freshman. You ruined the only entertainment I have here," the ghost said. His voice was tinged with disappointment and loneliness.

"Sir, you must have been here for a long time already, right? And since you are a ghost, can't you go out? Why do you have to stay in this damned place?" Zachary asked.

"This is a vast world, and yet there is never a place in it for me. This is how it was when I was alive, and this is how it is after I die," the ghost replied. Scorn and misery crisply reverberated in his voice.

"How pathetic!" Zachary exclaimed. He felt sorry for the ghost.

"Pathetic? You think I am pathetic? Come on! I'm the great Andrew! I suppose you will never understand how powerful I am unless I show you my strength!" Andrew's face suddenly became a twisted mass as a tremendous force of energy rushed out from his body that quickly engulfed the room in an aura of power.