"Hoo-hoo-ha-ha-I...I, I'm not dead?"
As if awakened from a nightmare, Surya opened his eyes again.
Gasping for air he could smell it literally scented with gulmohar blossoms flowing freely into his lungs.
Each breath was precious, sweet, life-affirming.
The simple act of breathing had never felt so good. His throat was sore, as if he really had been strangled, but at least he could breathe.
At least he was alive.
He was now lying on the ground in a twisted posture. The white shirt on his body was soaked with cold sweat, sticky and uncomfortable to the core.
His limbs felt heavy, uncoordinated, as if he'd just run a marathon. His heart was still racing, pounding against his ribs like it was trying to escape his chest.
The warm evening light bathed the gulmohar forest that were still in full bloom.
The sun hadn't gone down the mountain yet.
It was still hanging there in the western sky, exactly where it had been before the game started.
The warm golden glow painted everything in cheerful colors, a stark contrast to the dim, filtered twilight of the game world.
The transformation was jarring, like stepping from a horror movie back into everyday life.
Looking around, that mysterious small clay diya and the terrifying headless student were nowhere to be seen too.
Not far away, there were two high school students, one boy and one girl walking home together who were standing there looking at Surya with surprise and bewilderment.
The boy had his arm around the girl's shoulders, and both of them were staring at him with expressions that mixed concern with the desire to not get involved. They probably thought he was having some kind of episode.
They whispered a few words to each other, then held hands and left quickly.
The girl kept glancing back over her shoulder, her eyebrows drawn towards him.
The boy tugged her along more insistently, clearly wanting to put distance between them and the weird student lying on the ground.
"That was weird. But then again, a student with a brain is much better than a student without a brain."
Surya pretended to be calm and got up from the ground, remain expressionless as he patted the dust and gulmohar petals off his clothes.
His hands were still shaking slightly, a tremor he couldn't quite control.
The memory of those cold fingers around his throat was still too fresh, too vivid. He could still feel the phantom pressure, the crushing grip that had slowly squeezed the life out of him.
Compared to before entering the game world from this checkpoint, he now had a scroll in his hands.
It look very ancient and dilapidated.
It was the companion starter item he had just selected in the game the incomplete manuscript of "Panchmukhi Art."
The palm leaves felt real and solid in his grip, their weight and texture unmistakable.
This wasn't some hallucination or dream.
Something had genuinely happened, and this scroll was proof of it.
Seeing that the two high school students who had just passed by had already walked away far from him, and there was no one around, Surya tried to form the Vajra hand seal.
His fingers moved through the positions, each gesture flowing naturally despite his nervous energy.
The seal formed perfectly on his first try, muscle memory guiding his hands without conscious thought.
Crackling...crackling...
Blue arcs like static electricity gathered around his fingertips flickering continuously in his hand.
The lightning art manifested again!
Although it was a severely weakened version.
But this alone was enough to prove that the game was not simple.
Not only could the knowledge gained in the game can be used in reality, even the skills learned could be used in real life.
This changed everything. If he could bring game abilities into the real world, then every hour spent playing "Bhoot Katha" was an investment in actual power.
Real, tangible power that could be wielded in the physical world.
"Perhaps this 'Bhoot Katha' game truly is a blessing for me as a Transmigrator."
Surya stopped the lightning technique and once again felt mental exhaustion and fatigue beginning to put a toll on him.
The dizziness returned immediately, making his head swim. His knees felt weak, threatening to buckle.
Whatever energy source powered these techniques, it was clearly finite and deeply tied to his mental stamina. He would need to be careful about overusing it.
Shaking his head, he carefully put the torn scroll of "Panchmukhi Art" into his bag, intending to study it again when he got home that evening.
He then picked up his phone and saw the bright red word "DEAD" on the screen.
"What kind of garbage game design is this? Placing a completely unbeatable monster right next to the newbie spawn point. I don't know who designed this, it's just plain stupid."
Surya tapped the phone screen with an unhappy expression while cursing.
Seriously, what kind of tutorial was that? Most games eased you in with weak enemies, taught you the mechanics gradually.
This one just threw you directly into a death scenario with no warning, no preparation, nothing. If he hadn't had some kind of safety net, he'd be genuinely dead right now.
A popup appeared suddenly appeared on his screen.
[The Substitute Doll has been consumed. Current stock of paper dolls: 0. Refresh time: 12 hours.]
"Substitute Doll?"
Surya looked down and found there was an extra palm-sized white little paper figure.
The paper doll was crude, clearly handmade from simple white paper with minimal details.
Just basic cuts and folds to suggest a human shape. But something about it felt wrong now, corrupted.
The paper figure's head was drooping low it looked so fragile that it seemed as if it was about to separate from the torso.
Dark stains marked its neck area, as if something had tried to tear the head from the body.
The symbolism wasn't lost on him.
The headless student had strangled this paper figure instead of him, transferring her attack to the substitute.
"Did this thing die for me once?"
"Thanks, brother."
Surya picked up the paper figure, looked at it for a while with clear gratitude, and then silently put it in his pocket.
It felt like the least he could do.
This little paper figure had taken a supernatural strangling meant for him.
That deserved some respect, even if it was just an item in a game.
Afterwards, he clicked on the phone screen again, and the text prompt disappeared, and then he began to navigate to his [Personal Information] status page.
[Name: Surya]
[Strength: 3]
[Agility: 4]
[Physique: 3]
[Charm: 8]
[Spirit: 0]
[Passive Skills: None]
[Active Skills: Panchmukhi Art (Incomplete)]
"Besides being good-looking, I am seem to be nothing special." Surya shook his head helplessly.
"But, what's the use of high charisma in this game? Charming and fucking ghosts?"
His physical stats were thoroughly mediocre.
A three in strength meant he was basically average, maybe even slightly below.
His agility was marginally better, but not by much. At least his charm was high, though what good that did in a supernatural horror game was anyone's guess.
Maybe ghosts would be more willing to listen to him before killing him?
After closing [Personal Information], the [Start Game] button reappeared again.
It seems that "Bhoot Katha" allows you to start the game without a substitute doll.
But Surya naturally would not press the start button naturally and immediately quit the game:
"I would better wait patiently for now. I will be a brave man again in 12 hours."
This game is so weird. If I die in the game without a Substitute doll, would I really die in it? If so who can I complain to then?
The question haunted him as he walked.
Would a death in the game translate to a real death? He'd already died once before transmigrating.
The thought of dying again, for real this time, made his stomach clench with anxiety. Better to be cautious, to wait for the substitute doll to refresh before attempting another run.
Surya thinking about this put his cell phone in his pocket and left the campus along the school road covered with fallen gulmohar petals.
The evening air had cooled considerably, carrying with it the scent of street food from nearby vendors and the distant hum of traffic. Normal sounds, normal smells, normal life.
It was comforting after the eerie silence of the game world.
--------------
As the sun sank below the horizon, the streetlights lit up dimly slowly.
At around 6:40, Surya arrived at a convenience store near the school.
On one side of the counter, a sausage grill spun quietly, and samosas bubbled in hot oil.
On the other side, chewing gum and magazines were neatly stacked.
This is where Surya works part-time for now.
The fluorescent lights inside cast a harsh white glow over everything, making the products look slightly washed out.
The familiar smell of processed food and cleaning chemicals greeted him as he pushed through the door, the bell above jingling to announce his arrival.
The store manager is not here today.
There is only a young and sturdy male clerk in the store who is counting the inventory of items.
Surya remembers this male clerk from his memory of his predecessor it seem to be ... Sharma ...something?
What is Sharma's first name though?
Never mind, it does not matter anyway.
The original Surya had worked here for about three months before he'd taken over this body.
The memories were there, but they felt distant, like watching someone else's life through a foggy window.
He could recall the shifts, the routine, the coworkers, but none of it felt truly personal.
"Hey, Surya, you are just on time." Sharma greeted enthusiastically and very naturally patted Surya's shoulder.
Bang!
The moment Sharma's hand was about to reach Surya, a faint blue electric arc exploded violently from his body startling him.
The discharge was brighter than the previous static-like sparks, crackling audibly in the quiet store.
The sharp scent of ozone filled the air, and for a brief moment, the fluorescent lights flickered in response to the electrical discharge.
The sturdy shop assistant was so frightened that he trembled and hurriedly stepped back: "What...what was that?"
His eyes were wide, one hand clutching his chest as if checking to make sure his heart was still beating.
He stared at Surya like he'd suddenly sprouted horns.
"It's just static electricity." Surya glanced at his shoulder.
He didn't consciously form the Vajra hand seal. The charge was probably just residual energy from the previous lightning technique.
Apparently the power lingered in his body longer than he had expected. He would need to be more careful about that, especially around other people.
"Can static electricity be this bright..." Sharma scratched his head. "Besides, it's spring now, right?"
"Oh, then it's not static electricity it is a divine power of mine that transcends natural laws of the universe, and your mortal mind."
Sharma stared him for a second.
His expression cycled through confusion, concern, and then finally settled on amusement as he processed what Surya had just said.
For a moment, it looked like he was genuinely trying to decide if Surya was serious.
"Haha, Surya, you're really funny."
"Indeed." Surya smiled casually at Sharma, then went to the staff room to change into his work uniform.
The small room smelled of detergent and stale coffee. He pulled his work vest from the locker, still thinking about the electric discharge.
He would have to figure out how to control these residual effects better, or risk exposing himself as something more than human.
The last thing he needed was people asking questions he couldn't answer.