Chapter 151: Ghost story hunter (1)

Since I couldn’t maintain Holy Conversion for long, I promptly turned it off after incapacitating the ghost. Blood pooled under the ghost's body and drenched the floor in red. The place where the ghost lay currently was the thirteenth stair. A terrifying phenomenon fueled by ‘spiritual’ power to create a new space altogether. It even successfully deceived me, an S rank superhuman, who had extensive knowledge of magic and martial arts.

(For those who forgot, Holy Conversion is the skill from the Saintess)

‘What the hell is this?’

And soon enough, the thirteenth stair disappeared, perhaps because I recognized it as an illusion.

On the floor, there was nothing but a ghost whose body writhed even more intensely because it had been struck by the ether blade. The ghost had a very terrifying appearance: Black hair, white skin, and ripped lips. I'm afraid it will visit me in my dream tonight.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….

Pang!!

“This bastard…. Be quiet!!!”

It only closed its loud mouth after I struck its head with the side of my ether blade covered with holy power. It’s still alive though, I’m pretty sure by the looks of its eyes, if it had its chance, it would lunge at me.

‘What should I do with this now?’

It was possible for me to attack and injure the ghost with holy power. The ghost indeed had the ability to manipulate reality, however, as a trade-off, its combat power was awfully poor. Well, to be fair, all ghosts had poor combat ability.

However, the ghost, which had weak defense and trashy attack power, and looked like nothing but a mob at first glance, had a very troublesome characteristic. It had an infinite amount of physical strength, which means, ghost could not be killed because its HP would not decrease.

I could choose to cut the ghost in front of me into a million pieces right here right now, but in the end, it would be nothing but extra work. Because tomorrow, it will return to its perfect condition and hunt the students all over again.

While I was pondering about what I should do, I could feel someone climbing through the stairs.

After a few moments passed, I could see a girl with a gloomy atmosphere around her and deep dark circles underneath her eyes. It was Ahinal.

With a voice devoid of strength, she asked, “Are you not afraid of seeing ghosts? Are you thinking of attacking it?”

I shook my head at her question.

“It just somehow happened.”

“And, it looks like you have quite a lot of ‘spiritual power’…”

Ahinal slowly climbed the stairs and looked at the ghost of the thirteenth stair. She bit her lip. It seems like she was unable to properly maintain her composure, unlike the time when we had met the other day.

“But… you don’t seem to know how to seal it. There is no point in attacking it.”

She opened her diary. It was an old diary with a strange character on its cover. Does that really belong to her? It was hard to imagine that a middle school student had such an old diary.

“It was written here….”

"What was written there?"

“A way to seal that ghost.”

–

Z Month XX Year.

The non-existent thirteenth stair appeared. It was rumoured that anyone who witnessed the phenomenon would surely die. Students have disappeared every now and then. Just where did they go?

The keyword for this ghost is the thirteenth stair. The thirteenth stair was added to the original twelve stairs to stimulate fear and gain strength. So, I decided to take advantage of that.

I made the 14th stair by building an X-shaped footrest on the stair, then I went up there and tapped the floor three times with my foot. After that, I put my hands together and chanted the spell. ‘I am afraid of you, my sweetheart, I am afraid of you.’ Then the ghost was sealed in the diary.

It should never wake up again…

–

After a while, Ahinal put an X-shaped stool on the stairs as it was written in his diary and chanted the spell.

“I am afraid of you, my sweetheart, I am afraid of you.”

Then, a white light flashed. The ghost began to scream once again. Before it could deafen my ears once again, I shoved my ether blade right into its mouth, and it went silent. Eventually, the ghost turned into light particles and flowed into the diary.

It lingered around the diary for a few moments before dissipating altogether.

[Protagonist ‘Ahinal’ has acquired ‘nonexistent manual’ ability from a ghost.]

[The stat of the protagonist ‘Ahinal’ has slightly increased.]

“….”

Ahinal complexion turned slightly better. It seems like she fell into some kind of trance as the ghost energy flowed into the diary. As I stared at her without a word, she slowly opened her eyes.

“You… you are more courageous than I thought, would you like to join the Psychic Research Club and do some ghost hunting with me?”

“Ghost hunting?”

"Yeah. We hunt ghosts that wander around the school and protect our school.”

I had no intention of protecting the school, but I did not hesitate to nod my head as I had no intention of kicking the opportunity that had appeared in front of me.

* * *

“Ahinal, 10th grade student. She is the head of the Psychic Research Club and a 1st circle Wizard. She transferred to this school in 5th grade, her grades aren’t noteworthy per say. She doesn't have a particularly flamboyant personality and has very few friends, so I don't know much about her personality or characteristics."

The very next day at lunch, Aracelli, as usual, ate in front of me and briefed me about what she had discovered.

“One peculiar thing about her is… Her transfer timing coincided with the time when the ghosts started appearing again as well as when the Principal’s diary disappeared.”

“I thought so.”

I was aware that the information Aracelli shared with me, gave me, the [Protagonist Hunter], a glimpse into the plot. Of course, at first what I knew was beyond vague, but as time passed, I poked here and there, and I could find all the answers I wanted.

Perhaps, the ghosts of this school were originally sealed in the ‘diary’ Ahinal held. However, due to some kind of incident involving Ahinal, the seals were undone and all the ghosts poured out in this school. From that day on, Ahinal's goal was to seal all the ghosts that had spread across this school!

At first glance, it seems like she was protecting the school by catching all the ghosts that wandered the school…..but the truth is way far from it. She was only cleaning up her own mess. It had nothing to do with school peace. Moreover, when there is a victim, kneeling down and apologizing is far from enough… Well, it doesn't matter anymore, from now on, the problem is how to kill Ahinal.

"Simply killing her won’t do right, Professor?" Aracelli's question snapped me back from my train of thoughts.

“It seems so. Ahinal has already merged with the ghosts. And there’s a chance she can be resurrected as a ghost when she dies. Even if she doesn’t want to, she could avoid death.”

The resurrection would be different from "Time Loop" or "Return To The Past" kind of cliché. In this case, the problem was a ghost…

‘A way to kill her…'

I had found a few clues. First, the diary in which the ghosts were sealed.

Why were ghosts and ghost stories sealed in that diary, and why were they released? And who sealed those ghosts in the past?

And the second one, Ahinal's ability. It seems like her magic level was on the level as mine if I did not get any assistance from the flowerpot. However, her spiritual power is quite powerful, it could even absorb the powers of ghosts.

My level was higher than her, but… there’s a problem with compatibility. I had no means to attack the soul. The best I could do was clad the ether blade with holy power, but in the end it is still a physical attack. My chances of winning against Ahinal with only that are tragically slim.

Aracelli had told me that the ghost I encountered last night had a weak ability so it couldn’t affect me. But if I met another ghost with better ability, say, it could use a ‘mental attack' to make people go crazy, I’ll be damned.

In fact, Aracelli also told me about a story from her home world where a 7th circle wizard committed suicide after being possessed by a single ghost, so we should not look down at ghosts.

‘However….'

Just because someone was a magician who deals with demons, there was no law that said demons couldn’t strike them back. As a monster hunter myself, I had almost died countless times while hunting them. In other words, Ahinal was not omnipotent when it came to ghosts. If there’s a stronger ghost, it could attack Ahinal.

"…it seems there's only one way."

Using the story in reverse.

Aracelli, who was busy munching her sandwich, tilted her head.

“Doesn’t that student know how to deal with all the ghost stories?”

"No, not all ghost stories, she just knows how to deal with ‘ghosts’.”

"Hmmm? Isn't that the same thing?"

"It’s different. A ghost is just a ghost. Ghost story is a story.” I paused briefly. “The word ‘ghost’ exists as a specific keyword in the first place. But, with the keyword ‘ghost of thirteenth stair' we could exercise the ghost by creating the fourteenth stair. The rule in the manual didn’t have anything to do with the ghost.”

"I see…."

“The story itself is important. Because the very word ‘horror story’ gives power to the ghost.”

From now on, I will use that ghost story to my advantage.

“Right now, there are countless ghosts in this school which have been released from their seals. But they haven’t shown themselves yet, as they didn’t have any story related to them yet. From now on, I will make up that ghost story and cover the keywords. It will hinder Ahinal from identifying the ghost.”

“Is it possible to make a ghost story in one day?”

"It’s possible."

Because I had the knowledge of countless ghost stories from another world called Earth.

“So, please spread the word as I write it down.”

Unlike me, who has no friends, Aracelli was a popular star in this school.

“Since you don’t smoke, you could just talk about it while having a chat over a cup of coffee. Or take some time, say, for 5 minutes after class to talk to the students, or chat with other teachers while having some lun-”

“Not at lunch!”

"-ch… Huh?"

Aracelli said in protest.

“I can’t do it during lunch…”

"Why?"

“Because it’s the only time I can spend with Professor in the entire day.”

“….”

The average meal time was about 10 to 15 minutes. Aracelli came to this world chasing after me, but the time she spends with me is only 15 minutes out of 24 hours. And yet, she never complained. Even though it was only 15 minutes, she was happy with it.

And yet, I ordered her to do something in those 15 minutes and deprived her from her happy time. 

"…sorry. Let's keep eating together."

Then Aracelli smiled again.

“Yes, Professor!!”

* * *

Psychic Research Club. Although from its name it sounds like a flashy club, in reality it only had a few members. It wasn’t a stretch to call it a club that was on the brink of disbandment.

“So… I was just looking for a member. I wish there were more members who are brave and smart… and ummm, and have courage to stand against ghosts like you…"

“….”

Tonight was the night of the full moon. Even when the sun had long gone to the other side of the planet, the world was still bright as the moonlight showered the darkness with its brilliance.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard a story like this…dance room ghost story.”

Late at night, I was heading to an abandoned building with Ahinal. It was because there was a ghost story about the dance room in the building that had been abandoned for 10 years.

‘When the full moon was at its highest point, if you go to the dance room and dance, a ghost will appear!’

It's an old-fashioned ghost story that was common on Earth. But, perhaps here, it was uncommon. That’s why Ahinal showed interest.

“Ahinal. Are you not afraid of ghosts?”

"Well…."

I asked her as we were walking slowly towards the abandoned building while relying on Ahinal’s 1 circle magic ‘sphere of light’.

“It takes some courage. But I have to hunt ghosts.”

“….”

I concluded that Ahinal was also afraid of ghosts. It wasn’t mere conjecture, it was a conclusion I drew after observing her body language, her expression and her overall atmosphere.

It was such a cliché. The cliché of the protagonist who shook even with the tiniest flickering of light around them. They also almost make a mistake at an important moment, but in the end, they overcome it with courage.

The courage to fight against ghosts. You can't help but be afraid of ghosts. Unless you are a psychopath who has lost your fear. And Ahinal, in my eyes, was not a psychopath.

"…it's here. In this spooky building.”

The abandoned building was old and worn out, it was a wonder itself that it hadn’t collapsed yet. There were a lot of cracks on its wall, and from the cracks, vines grew and enveloped the building. It added to the eeriness of the building.

The roof was also covered with green plants that were difficult to tell whether it was moss or weeds because it was dark, and most of the windows were barren of glass, leaving huge gaps here and there.

The door creaked as I pushed it. Step by step we walked through the building.

‘Weren’t there many ghost stories that were made because someone mistook the sound of the wind for the cry of a ghost?’

Now I find those notions not so laughable, because they were true. The cry of the wind coupled with the eeriness of the building really sounds like a cry of a ghost.

Honestly, I was scared. The experience from the ghost of the thirteenth stair made me clench my ether blade unknowingly.

I was very familiar with intuitive fear. A hunter who lost their fear would eventually lose his life sooner or later. Fear of monsters stronger than me, fear of protagonists stronger than me. Using that endless fear as a driving force, I tried harder to overcome every situation.

But…

I couldn’t simply overcome it right now. Because in the first place, it was fear of something unknown that does not exist in my world. I wasn’t used to it.

“Here it is. The dance room… It’s more ordinary than I thought.”

“….”

The size of the dance room was around 50 pyeong. The floor, which was supposed to be smooth, was filled with cracks. Ahinal opened the door slightly and said to me, “You wait here. The dance room ghosts will only show up if I was alone.”

"Okay."

The way to summon the dance room ghost was simple. You just had to dance at midnight. Based on the story, the ghost would appear and dance together with you.

Eventually, Ahinal went into the dance room alone and closed the door.

Now it's time to summon the ghost.

* * *

‘This place is older than I thought…'

Ahinal walked slowly through the dance room. When she threw the crystal ball she had prepared in advance to the ceiling, lights permeated across the room. Then, when she put another crystal ball down on the floor and touched it, soft music came out. It was a dance song that she learned in arts and physical education class.

‘Mirror.'

Standing in front of a mirror that occupied one side of the dance room wall, Ahinal stood in form. Then, her reflection in the mirror did the exact same thing as her.

Dancing wasn’t difficult, one just needed to surrender their body to the music.

One of her feet stepped forwards, then she raised her arms to the air before spinning her body.

She peeked at herself in the mirror to see if her dance was a mess. Anyway, the festival is coming up soon, so she danced with the thought that she would practice in advance.

Time passed, and even though it was already past midnight, Ahinal kept dancing.

‘The ghost hasn’t appeared yet?’

Another minute passed. Ahinal looked around her while dancing. But nothing had changed. Old hardwood floors, two crystal balls and a mirror.

‘…was it just a rumour?’

Not all ghost stories were true. When the dawn approached, Ahinal finally stopped dancing. She sighed heavily as sweat ran profusely on her body. She picked up the crystal which had run out of magical powers and left the dance room without strength.

‘Where’s Yoo Seodam?’

He’s gone.

The thought of her being here alone made her shiver, but she bit her mouth shut. She told herself that she was not intimidated by this.

As she slowly walked out the front door, she saw Yoo Seodam standing there. Oddly enough, he seemed like he was still brimming with strength. There was no trace of exhaustion on his face.

"How was it?"

“…there’s no ghost.”

"Really? Were you really dancing all night long?"

"Yeah, I danced while looking in the mirror.”

Ahinal spat without much thought. She was slightly annoyed at Yoo Seodam who looked like he was ignoring her words. However, after hearing Ahinal’s words, Yoo Seodam’s expression turned several tones paler.

“Let’s go back soon…”

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

Yoo Seodam grabbed Ahinal's arm. For her, it was rude. She tried to yank her arms free, but she stopped as Yoo Seodam words flew to her ears.

“…you danced all night looking at the mirror?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Impossible.”

Yoo Seodam was still looking ahead, not even looking at Ahinal.

“In the dance room… there are no mirrors.”

Huh?