Chapter 77 76. A Ghost!

The next day.

All the students gathered on the open ground as they all chattered while waiting for their invigilator. They still remembered the mishap that had occurred during the first test. The mission was specifically twisted to make sure that the systems were against one another.

Since it was an official exam, it should be something simple yet concrete to help the systems get hold of their jobs. But the exam yesterday only made all the systems feel devastated and depressed. Since the exam didn't do its job properly, Echo was the one to be punished because she had originally designed that exam.

At this time, Ed walked over with Dirt following behind him. He still had an expressionless face as he walked to the center and stood in front of the students. Both Shane and Tess had also managed to arrive as they stood next to one another, waiting for their next exam to start.

All the students were still slightly disturbed from the first exam. They were mentally and emotionally exhausted, and in no mood to continue going on.

Ed knew this well. So he opened his mouth and said, "Well, this exam will be fairly easy. Everyone will be given the same storyline and a similar world, but you guys will be acting individually. It'll be your last virtual world, and this exam will teach you how you should act professionally. Of course, your missions will be different according to your attributes.

"Consequently, the next exam will be equally difficult since it will be your first real world. I can't do anything about the exams that Echo had set up for you guys. It's too late for us to devise and create new worlds for you. So you guys will have to go with your arrangement despite being unfair."

Murmurs spread across the ground as everyone had frightened expressions on their faces. Shane also frowned as he stared at his master.

Ed raised his hand to silence everyone else and opened his mouth, "We have eliminated everything that should be eliminated. So don't worry about any dangers. My assistant here will help me keep an eye on you guys individually. Any questions?"

One of the students raised his hand, "Can we see or contact one another?"

"No," Ed still had an expressionless face, "You will be acting individually. Do you know what it means? If your host is A, your friend's host will also be A. It'll be like several parallel worlds. We will record who does the best performance and give him a rating accordingly. Oh, that reminds me," Ed paused and glanced at Shane, "The results of yesterday's exams are out.

"Because of the mishap, all of you will be given full marks as compensation for the emotional and mental trauma. Now, after this, remember not to turn on sense sharing brazenly. We have also sent you ten experience points for yesterday's mistake."

Everyone's eyes lit up at that. Shane opened his stats.

[Level: 3

Exp: 150

Job: Null

MaxHP: 100/100

MaxCE: ???/100 (Cosmic Energy)

Attribute: Darkness

Strength: 50

Agility: 50

Stamina: 50

Intelligence: 45

Vitality: 45

Attack: 47

Skill: 1

Weapons: 1

Physical Resistance: 49

CE Resistance: 50

Luck: 40

Overall status: A Beginner.]

Shane raised his brows after seeing his stats. No wonder he felt that his strength had increased. It turned out, his stats had increased, even his level had enhanced. He nodded in satisfaction and closed the stats. He might be able to climb higher with the help of these exams.

Ed raised his hand again and said, "Let's get ready for the exam. I'll call your names one by one, and you're all going to enter the portal one after another."

One by one, everyone went inside the portal as they silently waited for their opportunity. It was finally Shane's turn as he glanced at the expressionless Ed and entered the portal without any delay.

As soon as he entered, he was again taken into a dark space as he saw the initializing process. Soon enough, his vision blurred, and the next moment he opened his eyes, he found himself in the same mind space. He opened his system job window and looked at the screen that showed the host's perspective.

Wait, what the heck was this?

All he could see fog like things surrounding the host's vision. There was no sky and no ground.

Where was he?

Before he could continue to think, his host spoke: "Where am I? Wasn't I on my way home?"

Shane immediately opened the world information only to be even more surprised.

This world was a ghost world with the host being a ghost as expected. The host was originally a human being in the original world, a regular employee with a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. He became unlucky enough to fall into the pit and die just like that.

The mission was to destroy the world.

As usual. Shane sneered as he continued to read through the details of the mission. His host was supposed to enter the bodies of the monsters and wreak havoc throughout the world, and once he passed the mission, the host would get an opportunity to be reborn as himself.

The only issue was to convince his host to do this job. Shane frowned. This world was filled with monsters and demons. There was no sign of any human being. So it shouldn't be too difficult.

He had forgotten the fact that his host this time was a normal human being who would even feel compassionate after seeing a small animal being tortured. How could the ghost easily agree to destroy the world just like that?

Shane saw that his host's mental state was going unstable as time passed, and he opened his mouth and said, "Host, I'm system 12254801, and I'm here to help you get back to your original world."

The ghost was unusually silent as he muttered under his breath, "Did I just imagine myself hearing a strange voice in my head? I guess I was doing too much work lately. This should be a dream."

Shane chuckled and said, "This isn't a dream, host. I'm a real system, and I'm here to help you return to your life."

"Return? What do you mean?"

"Oh, you don't even know how you died," Shane sighed as he spoke, "Do you want to see your death video, Mr. Norman Carlson?"

"What the f*ck are you talking about?" Norman was particularly angry. "You get out of my head!"

"I can't, sadly. I'm bound to you until you either fail or win this mission," Shane paused and spoke again, "As you can see, there's nothing around you, and without me, you might stay in this situation for a long, long time. Do you still want me to leave?"

Norman hesitated for a while before he opened his mouth, "Fine, what do you have to say…. No first tell me, how did I die?"

"You fell in a pit."

The host thought for a while and went unnaturally silent. It seemed as if he remembered that he did fall somewhere and hit his head. He rubbed his head, the exact part that had been injured and led to his death, and sighed, "Fine, I guess you're right. What do I do now?"

"Don't worry host," Shane opened his mouth and tried to act like an official while speaking, "You can become Norman Carlson once again and return to your home planet without any issue if you finish this mission."

If it were a normal teenager, he would have agreed in an instant, but this was an employee who had seen the world's ups and downs clearly with his own eyes. He didn't believe that there was such a good thing in the world free of cost.

He narrowed his eyes as he opened his mouth and said, "What's the catch?"

Sure enough. There was a difference between dealing with a teenager and a mature person. Shane sighed and said, "You have to fulfill the mission, as I said."

"What's the mission?" The host wasn't buying it.

So Shane obediently told him about it, "You have to destroy this world," he paused for a while and continued to give out an explanation, "Don't worry about it though. This world was full of monsters and demons who had already killed humans long back. Now, they're starving animals, killing one another brutally. It's mandatory to destroy this world before they destroy themselves."

Norman went silent again as if he was contemplating his situation. After a while, he finally opened his mouth and asked, "Is there no other mission?"

"No, I only have this one mission."

"So, if I do what I told you to, I can go back?"

Shane was silent for a while. For some reason, he could feel a trace of a trap. If he answered that the host could go back, he could tell what answer he would receive.

The host had already seen the ups and downs of life, and since this person had gotten an opportunity to leave that job and world, he would definitely be happy in this fog. What a pain!

Shane sighed as he thought that it was equally difficult to handle a completely mature and smart person. So he thought about his answer and opened his mouth, "You will not have to face this fog for eternity as you might if you don't finish this task."

Normal chuckled all of a sudden, "So this is a do-or-die situation. F*ck you, system. I agree. Give me the world setting."