"Amitabha, God bless... Mr. Phantom, please rest in peace today, and return to where you belong..."
Otilia Shelley is a third-year student at the Holy Dance Academy middle school.
Her boring student life was just the same as always, but Otilia had her own unique way to pass the time.
She liked manga, anime, and games.
In simple terms, she was a homebody.
However, something happened recently that completely changed Otilia's life.
She had been haunted!
And not just anywhere—the ghost stayed in her room.
That was the strangest thing of all: the ghost wouldn't leave!
One night, Otilia suddenly felt a chill as she got up to go to the bathroom. Under the moonlight, she saw a transparent figure floating in the air.
Otilia fainted immediately.
When she woke up the next day, she wondered aloud, "Huh? Why am I lying on the floor...? Haha, maybe I just imagined the ghost last night. It couldn't possibly be real these days…"
Then, to her shock, she saw the ghost again—floating in the air!
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Naturally, Otilia didn't want to live in a haunted room, but curiously, no matter which teacher came to check, none of them saw the ghost she saw.
"It's right there in front of you—*that one!*" Otilia insisted, but nobody else could see it.
It seemed only she could.
The teachers thought Otilia was hallucinating and offered to have her change dorms. However, due to a shortage of beds, there were no available rooms in the high-end dorm area. The only option was four-person rooms.
Otilia didn't want to move to those crowded dorms, so after thinking it over for a few days, she decided to stay in the haunted room.
Of course, she was still a little scared of the ghost, but she noticed it never spoke, moved, or caused any supernatural disturbances. Life continued mostly as normal.
Still, waking up in the middle of the night to see a translucent ghost was unsettling—especially since the ghost's face was always blurry.
Otilia bought some items and surrounded the ghost's usual spot with curtains, offering daily prayers.
Since only she could see the ghost, Otilia sometimes wondered if she was truly hallucinating and nearly considered seeing a psychiatrist!
Later, she brought a stray cat into her room and placed it near the curtains. The cat hissed, its fur standing on end, pawing frantically before running away, meowing loudly.
That convinced her this was no hallucination.
Unfortunately, Otilia never found anyone else who could see the ghost.
People's habits can be cruel sometimes, just like Otilia's.
Over time, Otilia completely got used to the "ghost zone" in her room.
Perhaps because she had few friends, she sometimes even chatted with the ghost, mostly sharing funny stories from anime, rarely complaining.
Evan Walker once overheard Otilia asking the ghost about her breasts.
One day, after finally finishing two days' worth of homework, Otilia felt a little tired and lay down on her bed.
Unnoticed, the ghost silently approached her and gently placed a hand on her forehead.
"Place the Nightmare Mark on her. This way, she won't have to worry anymore."
"As long as she sleeps, she will automatically enter the Nightmare Realm. If she grows strong enough, she might even be pulled in while awake," the Nightmare Lord's voice echoed in Evan Walker's mind.
Evan breathed a sigh of relief, then touched Otilia's forehead. Immediately, a mysterious rune glowing with purple light appeared on his fingertips, then sank into Otilia's head.
"Then I'll go to the Nightmare Realm to check on this little one," Evan said.
He activated his nightmare power and entered the nightmare realm they had created—**"Monster Hunter: World."**
Otilia opened her eyes and found herself in an eerie place shrouded in endless fog.
Suddenly, a strange, mechanical voice echoed from all directions:
["Welcome to the Nightmare World!"]
["Here, you will face an unprecedented experience."]
["Feel fear! Struggle!"]
["Nightmares will eventually become reality!"]
The voice's terrifying laughter faded away.
"Eh? Nightmare world?" Otilia whispered fearfully, her face pale.
Evan, watching her reaction, sighed. He had originally planned a friendly welcome—maybe a beautiful female elf greeting new players and saying, "Welcome to the virtual game world, enjoy your adventure~"
But this was all about strength and intimidation.
Look at this frightened little girl!
The Nightmare Lord insisted on a harsher approach.
"What? A pretty elf welcoming players? This is the Land of Nightmares! I am the Lord of Nightmares! The lord feared by all worlds! Want another round of [Painful Torment]?!"
"This is so more players dare to come in."
"This is no game! This is a nightmare! Painful torture!!"
"Ahhhhhh—!"
The souls of Evan and the Nightmare Lord screamed in pain.