The streets buzzed with chatter this early in the morning as Adam walked along the sidewalk.
Well, walking would be an understatement. He was running. He was already late, and he had to hurry before that one teacher came in.
Because he was late, he had already missed the bus, so running was his only option.
Even on other days, Adam intentionally didn't like taking the bus. Whenever it stopped to pick him up, he was usually among the last to get in, and the moment he entered, he got weird stares from his classmates, other students, and even the bus driver himself.
A lot of them laughed at him, whispering names and all sorts of things. It was so bad that most people didn't even want Adam to sit next to them. Whenever he was about to, they'd intentionally tell him the seat was reserved for somebody else.
Even on days when Adam got to a seat first, the person next in line still wouldn't sit beside him. To them, they'd rather stand for the entire ride than sit next to a failure like him.
It was because of situations like that that Adam never took the bus anymore. He preferred walking. Luckily, his house wasn't too far from school.
"Yes! I made it in time!" Adam declared, quickly glancing at the clock at the school entrance before bolting through the halls straight to his classroom.
Since he was late, he didn't even bother to greet the security man, who had his head buried in a newspaper.
Surprisingly, Adam had arrived at school just in the nick of time. Usually, it took him around twenty to thirty minutes to get there, even when running, but for some reason, this time was different. He'd made it in less than five minutes.
Adam gently opened the door to his classroom, and the moment he walked in, he was met with a sea of eyes that wouldn't stop staring.
"Whoa! Is that Adam? What happened to his hair?"
"Pfft, like I give a f*ck? Go ask him yourself."
"Is it just me, or does his skin look kinda pale too?"
The whispers kept coming, but Adam didn't pay attention to any of them. He just headed straight to his seat at the back of the class.
As Adam sat down, he started looking at his palms and the back of his hands, still unsure what was happening to his body.
"What the hell is going on?" he muttered.
His thoughts were immediately interrupted when Mr. Blankson, their history teacher, walked in.The atmosphere in the classroom shifted instantly, and everyone went silent.
He was a tall, slender man who wore circular glasses and had a curved mustache with no beard. Mr. Blankson hardly ever smiled. In fact, nobody in his class could remember the last time they saw him smile. He always had that grumpy look on his face, like he'd just come back from an argument with his spouse.
"All right, class. Let's get started," the man's voice echoed across the room, stern and abrupt.
Mr. Blankson went on to talk about the history of how mankind started fighting ghosts, and how Reapers did their very best to protect humanity. It was mostly general knowledge.
"All right, class. I hope you all know that the entrance exam for Reaper High is upon us. You have less than three weeks to prepare."
"Whoa, really? I thought we had a month!" one student on the left said.
"Nah, I heard they rescheduled it," another replied.
"Damn. Reaper High — the school with less than a ten percent acceptance rate," another said, panic in his voice as he placed both hands on his head.
Mr. Blankson nodded. "That's right. The prestigious Reaper High is one of the best schools in the nation, so it's understandable that the rate of acceptance is low. But still…"
He paused, then said firmly, "That's exactly why you have to work harder. You need to give it your all. I believe you're all talented, so take my advice — in the time you have left, train your asses off."
The words coming from their teacher were exactly the kind of encouragement the students needed to hear.
Then suddenly—
"Gah! Again? What the hell is this thing?!" a voice shouted.
Everyone turned to the back of the class, only to see Adam on the edge of his seat, looking slightly frightened.
The teacher frowned. "Everything okay, Adam?"
Adam couldn't even make sense of what he was seeing at that moment, because a familiar notification rang in his head, and a holographic screen appeared before him again.
**[Congratulations, host. You have been granted the Ghost System]**
_________________________
«Stats»
*Agility — 10
*Strength — 10
*Stamina — 10
*G. Points — 10
_________________________
The messages kept coming, none of which Adam could make sense of.
«Skills»
???
???
???
Adam stood frozen, staring blankly at the screen in front of him — while the entire class stared at him like he was insane.
"I called it! The boy's finally lost his sanity," one student said, turning to face the teacher.
Adam's pulse quickened. The screen was right there in front of him yet somehow no one else was seeing what he was seeing
"Guys, look! Please tell me you're seeing this too!" he said, pointing toward the screen.
But to everyone else, he was just pointing at the classroom board.
"Pfft. You think that's funny, huh, Adam?" Mr. Blankson said, voice stern as ever.
"No, no, no, you don't understand, sir! I swear I'm not hallucinating!" Adam pleaded.
He tried to demonstrate it, pointing again at the holographic text, but every time his hand came into contact with it, it simply passed through.
'Why don't they believe me?'
The more Adam tried to explain, the more foolish he looked. The class was roaring with laughter as he kept saying words like stats, skills, and system.
One student laughed so hard he began tearing up.
Mr. Blankson's patience finally snapped.
"That's ENOUGH of this nonsense!" he barked, causing the room to fall silent instantly.
"I've had enough of your games, Adam! Instead of studying, you've filled your head with those useless video games! Now, I don't want to hear another word from you until class is over! Have I made myself clear?"
Adam lowered his head, trying to hide his embarrassment "Yes sir"
Taking his seat, Adam stared at the notification in front of him and saw a small 'X' at the top right corner. A he focused on it for a while, the notification suddenly disappeared lke it was reacting to his thoughts
'What…what is this thing' Adam thought
Looking over to his left, Adam could see his classmates laughing under their breath but chose to ignore it.
He thought about what Mr. Blankson said concerning the upcoming Reaper exams. Passing that exam was a ticket to getting into the prestigious school and potentially becoming a Reaper
For a moment, Adam was excited when he heard the news of the upcoming exam, but his spirit was quickly killed when realisation dawned on him
'Who am I kidding, I don't even have a curse factor to begin with'
In that brief moment, he remembered someone, the person who had caused all of this in the first place
"That old man" Adam muttered, clenching his fist as he furrowed his eyes in anger
"That f***ing old man!" Adam said out loud,
slamming his fist on the desk. He didn't realize he was now receiving a heart-piercing glare from Mr Blankson
Realisiziing what he had done, Adam covered his mouth out of embarrassment, but he noticed something strange
The part of his desk where he had his slammed his fist was now partly dented which surprised him, because he wasn't a very strong person
'That's…odd'
At that moment, another system message appeared in front of him
[Your current state is weak, level up as soon as possible, or face the consequences]