A Reader's Grimoire In A Novel World

The piano in front of him was black and covered with webs and dust, aging here.

Julius removed his shirt and used it to wipe the top, revealing polished black wood with golden runes on the edges.

"I couldn't feel it before, but now that I have awakened essence... I can feel the chills. It's dark essence," Julius thought to himself as he looked at the piano.

He summoned the grimoire and used the omniscient perspective on it, just to be sure.

[Class: Item

Name: The Midnight Sonata

Rank: Demon grade

Description: An item known to be able to channel the absolute power of sound magic. Created by a musician in search of the ultimate instrument, Maestro Nocturne.

The Midnight Sonata's two faces represent life and death, and if not careful enough, the wielder can become possessed by a dormant spirit residing within the instrument.]

Julius was a bit surprised, as he had never heard of the creator of the instrument in the novel, but at least he confirmed the grimoire's omniscient perspective's validity.

"So I can indeed check information on anything. This can help big time," Julius thought to himself and then approached the piano.

There was a seat attached to the bottom of the piano by two rods, and he sat on it. He put his legs on the pedals below, and his brows raised.

It was nothing like the electric pianos from where he came from, so it would take quite some time to get the hang of.

Three pedals. He had heard of pianos like this before, but he had never actually tried one.

He used his shirt to clean the remaining part of the piano, revealing its beauty. The stool was nothing special; a soft material within, covered with a layer of leather.

Julius sat on the seat, brushing his fingers against the keys of the piano. He lifted the lid a bit and held it open with an extendable stick, then took a deep breath.

It was a bit different from what he was used to, so he started by checking if the sounds were all correct, touching them one by one.

"Hm... I can say it sounds even better than a normal piano," Julius thought to himself before sitting up straight and beginning to play.

The sounds from the piano alone were pleasing to his ears, and he couldn't help but conclude that this was the cleanest sound he had ever heard from a piano.

The sounds seemed to calm his body and spirit, and his fingers suddenly began to move faster.

His left hand slowed down while the right hand sped up, forming a compelling melody that echoed around the nearly empty room.

A person peeked into the door that led to the room, and there she was.

A girl that looked around the same age as Julius, wearing a brown singlet and black combat pants. She was barefoot and held a dagger in her hand.

However, she seemed to be mesmerized by what she was witnessing.

The melodies and compelling sounds were like a magical drug to her, preventing her from moving forward with her plan.

A white mist suddenly began to fill the room, and the girl felt even more drawn to the sounds coming from the piano.

Julius was already lost by now. He couldn't help but close his eyes as he played a classic melody, which he used to learn how to play the piano in the first place, and he indeed felt at peace as he played this musical masterpiece.

Unbeknownst to him, he had avoided death seconds ago because of this.

As Julius approached the final parts of the melody, his tone slowed down, and as he finished, he breathed out and let out a deep breath.

A smile crept onto his lips, and he couldn't help but be captivated by the sounds coming from it.

"It wouldn't be a demon grade artifact if it wasn't this good at doing its job," Julius thought with a slight smile.

The ranking of items in this world was pretty simple.

Starting from: Knight grade, Magic grade, Epic grade, Super grade, Legendary grade, Demon grade, Mythic grade, and finally the unseen Celestial grade items.

Being a demon grade item, the Midnight Sonata had a curse on it that didn't allow its past user to rest. Julius looked at the white notes on the board.

Placing his hands underneath the white notes, he raised them up and flipped them to reveal another face of the piano, which had purple notes with a few black ones.

"The death notes," he thought, gently rubbing the notes.

Just by being close to the piano right now, he could feel an ominous chill around the room.

He soon began to see musical patterns in the air that suddenly appeared in purple glowing colors before him, and he couldn't help but frown at this.

"These are... musical notes." Julius took note of each of them, then looked at the board again.

He really wanted to play it right now, but he didn't know the outcome and didn't want to risk it today.

"At least... just one." He pressed on a single key, and the sound spread around the room. Glass vases in the corners shattered into pieces at the sound of it.

"Damn. That was just a single key and not a combination," he marveled at the item before him.

This was the power of the Midnight Sonata. One side represented life and peace, while the other represented chaos, destruction, and death.

[You have been chosen by the cursed artifact, the Midnight Sonata. You are now its chosen owner.]

"..."

Julius blinked in confusion.

The room was currently empty, and the entire place fell into an eerie silence as this happened.

The piano, and even the seat attached to it, suddenly vanished, and he raised his arm to see a curvy text that looked like a tattoo with the word "Sonata."

"What the fuck? Is this... I didn't expect it to choose me," Julius thought as he looked at the symbol with a calm face.

"My original plan was to move it to my room so the villain wouldn't be able to find it here when the time comes..." He put a hand on his chin.

"But now that it chose me, I should use it to my advantage," Julius thought and left the room.

As he stepped out, he saw footsteps of a barefoot person going up and down the stairs leading to the normal ground, and he frowned as the Eye of Providence activated.