1 System
In a middle of unknown dark hallway, there's a man lying without knowing his situation for unknown time.
He is a teen for the matter of fact, a baseball cap that loosen under his head, wearing a university black jacket that had scratches, with pants that so dirty, a rubber shoes that it's color white seems to be forgotten, and a cracked, opened black smartphone between his head and right hand.
This time, his fingers twitched and his eyes started to tremble before opening slowly but groggily.
Maybe, with the little lights of his smartphone, he seems to be more dizzied and confused.
For a couple of seconds, he tried to get up, but subconsciously grabbed his head and felt a pain on it's lower right side.
"Ugh..."
He groaned while trying to resist the pain and waited for it to subside.
Time seems too slow for him, but the pain started to be in his limit of endurance and began to look around.
Seeing the dark ruined hallway, dusty air that floating silently in the phone's little light, shattered glasses in the window sills and floor that reflecting the little light from his phone, made his heart beats furiously.
Fear.
Yes, it is the fear of the human towards the unknown, plus his confusion for the current situation.
Confusion for he can't remember everything nor anything that related to him.
Address, date of birth, for where he is currently, for what happened to him, for why he is lying down on this cold dark creepy hallway.
Three W's after the 'w' of, '... Who am I?...'
He caress his head, trying to feel if there's a bleeding and fortunately, he sighed.
'It's good that there's only a bump... But any way... I need to get out of here first...'
He stands up slowly and supported his body with his hands on the window sill, carefully not getting any cuts from the shards, till he got his good-self for walking around.
'But...'
He thought in a trance and looked back slowly.
'What way?...'
His heart started to beat from slow to fast. But he keep himself to calm down and not to panic.
'I'll know later about things about me after getting away from this... Creepy place... But before that...'
He looked down on the floor for where he was lying down then reach out to get his cracked phone and dusty cap, before choosing to walk back.
'According to my body's position while passed out. This way where I came from...'
For a couple of minutes of walking straight, he saw the first multiple choices of this current journey.
'An hallway with four ways...'
He was stunned for a second and started to check his phone to turned on it's flashlight and shown his way front.
'... I'm calm, but still... My mind is still passive, eh?...'
He thought and shook his head lightly then breathe out slowly.
'Huu... Now, let's think for why I have a bump on my head...'
After slowly thinking for the reason, his pupils started to contracted and fear is slowly creeping on his heart.
'Someone knocked me out!'
And looked back hurriedly, steps back once and focused his hearing sense for trying to probe any presence in front him or beside himself in this place.
But he realized something and then slowly looked down on his phone, seeing the brightest light on this place like a shining star on the cosmos.
He cursed while fear is piling up in his heart.
'Shit! Is this the feeling of being hunted in the dark forest story!?'
He began to operate his phone to turn off the flashlight.
But before he can do that successfully, his back started to feel so cold.
Not the cold of the wind but the cold that cannot be explained.
Tap, tap... Tap...
His hairs on his body from legs to his neck stands up frantically. Like screaming to his mind to run away fast. Now!
But likely of those idiots, he slowly looked back with his phone.
His flashlight is shining on the dark silhouette inside of the floating dark mist, it is kind of transparent but not, and of course he can still recognized it.
'... A female teacher...'
"Are you... Not a student here?..."
Then he heard a soft voice on his mind but sounded like a saw teeth sawing metals on his ear, feels like came from hell, trying to pull his mind from rationality, making his mind to focus on answering her question.
"I'm..."
His mind is trying to answer softly and cautiously like a person that was caught like a naughty student.
"Not?..."
But his body is sweating profusely and broke the state of his mind and he answered the opposite of agreeing, that trying to force him to say in the first place.
Then tried to ran back and get away from her as fast as he can.
The ghost was stunned for a couple of seconds like she didn't expect the teen to break free from her clutches so fast but she smiled and started to laugh heartily, even though she doesn't have one.
Then chased him confidently and casually, based on the sound of stepping on the glass shards on the floor.
"Ha, ha, haha! Run, boy, run! It's been a while that I can savour an extraordinary soul like yours, much more delicious than normal soul!"
The teen wipe his sweats on his forehead while running but still hearing her voice, loud and clear.
Weird, because her voice is not a shout, just like a lady stating a fact beside him, like she is running with him all this time.
But he was looking back, left and right but he can't see her.
While checking his surrounding, he began to think too, with his best as calmly as possible for how to get away from her, even temporarily.
Because he doesn't know how the ghost's skills works!
All he can do is try to lessen his presence by slow breathing, but he knows it's impossible for now because he is running.
Then turned off his phone's flashlight before try his best to reduce his noises that like a bastard shouting in the dark place, "I'm fucking here!"
He attempts all the opposite of things that a prey will do, and now he suddenly thought how to be the hunter, reverse the situation, which is a much more crazier idea.
'Am I that crazy!?... But how I can do that?...'
Fear, anxiety, anger, confusion are possessing his heart but calmly thinking with his mind.
Thinking that his current idea, spur of the moment, is not that bad.
At least five minutes of running away while looking around to see where her creepy voice in his ears coming from.
Time tell tale, he got tired soon but with grinding teeth, he furiously turned left and was stunned for seeing the stairs that leading downwards.
Instead of feeling joy, he thinks that death feels like closer to him now.
'... Not good! I'm on the top floor!'
But he got no choice for the time being.
'I don't even know if I'm really on the top floor... Or that stair leading to basement or much more worse... Hell... But, go! Go! Go-!'
Before he can step down, he stops again.
Because he saw the ghost teacher was crawling so fast on the ceiling and he realized why her voices seems so close.
That realization made his blood gone cold, and he subconsciously grabs his neck. Thinking that all this time, she can slash and grab his head like a fly if she got tired of following him.
'She's playing with me like I'm a fool!'
Bang!
And then he saw her fall down on the middle of the stairs, her body became mangled, a meat paste.
The visual before him almost puke his intestine out of his mouth.
But before he can do that, the ghost teacher stands up slowly and then smiled viciously towards him, like nothing happened.
But that smiled shocked him again thinking.
'I'm the craziest person! Shit! My mind is still affected! Thinking that her smile is so beautiful and so intimate to me!'
He steps back and at the same time turn his whole body 180 degrees with that step to run away again but unexpectedly the ghost teleported in front of him.
Now, the scent of death, stink of rotten flesh fly into his nostrils, stunning him and start to make him feel, telling him that the ghost teacher in front of him is a very fierce and a kind of ghost expert of hunting human's soul, even those people with extraordinary abilities.
His body became so stiff, but his legs are shaking and his arms are trembling.
The ghost teacher is still smiling and looking at the teen from his head to toes.
But became confused and tilted her head.
"Hmm?... You broke my spell earlier thinking that you're an extraordinary person, but now... How come you became so timid? I can see well now that your mind is much weaker than I thought... But there's something in you that I can't perceive... I thought it was your mind earlier... Well never mind that. After all you will be added into my strength later and I will know what's that secret of yours. Ha, ha, haha!"
She stretched her right hand to grabs his neck and slowly pulls him towards her face.
Opened her small mouth and became wider and wider until the teen's head can fit so perfectly.
The teen peed his pants because he can't never see her throat, it was like an abyss, so black, like a black hole.
Then he felt a tug on his head but he is sure it's not about physically but this tug became so painful in a blink of an eye.
'Soul.'
For the first time, he realized and felt that his soul is so weak before this ghost teacher and now ripping off from his body.
In the middle of this abandoned building, a shout with unwillingness, feeling the worse pain that the human can feel, fear of death that eating him slowly in front of his two fully wide eyes, is can be hear, loud and clear.
That waking up other entities other than the ghost teacher.
He can feel himself dying so slowly.
'... Why?... Why!? I don't remember anything at all! And will die so suddenly!? What did I fucking done to face this shit!?'
His hands are trying to grab her arm, wrist, and hand that clutching his neck, but he cannot. It only passing through it, but he didn't care.
"Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!!!"
'I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!...'
"Arh!!!"
'I don't want to die!!!'
Then teen swung his fist fiercely unto her unrecognizable cheek with burning hatred on his heart and strong wish to punch, just once, unto her deceitful beautiful face.
"Roar!!!"
'SO FUCK OFF!!!'
Roaring with all his emotion.
while glaring at the ghost teacher's eyes in that flicker of seconds, only to see her smiled smugly and that looking down on him, like he is a dead person that a food for her too.
But he didn't know that for a millisecond before the fist pass through her face, and the millisecond before he can be officially announced dead.
The ghost teacher's eyes tells her current emotion that became so shocked!
Shocked, that she can feel a certain force, a force that opposite of hers!
'How can he!?'
Bang!
The ghost teacher meet the teen's fist hardly on her cheek that make her forcefully released his neck before flying through the broken windows and she was gone after passing through the walls.
The teen didn't have a time to think over about the ghost teacher, because he is on the stairs.
After being released from her hands, his body didn't have a force to stand up and end up tumbling down.
"Agh!... Shit!"
On the middle of the stairs, without knowing what's the four directions, stretches his right hand then followed by his left hand to grab something, anything!
That can stop his fall, or else he will die of broken neck or bones, or things that can penetrate his heart or skull in anytime within this abandoned building.
Fortunately, he stops himself. But he released his hands slowly and decided to slide down carefully.
'I need to hide before she got back again... Ugh!'
He clutches his head again because of unheard sound for the first time.
He knows, weirdly again, that he cannot hear it with his ears but it's directly ringing inside his mind.
Ding... Ding... Ding... Ding...
After reaching the floor, he hurriedly snatched the cracked phone but miraculously still intact but with some blood from his wounds, that laying on the ground beside him.
He didn't bother to check his wounds for it's too dark and the phone's light is too dim.
Then he crawls away before slowly crouching while trying to support his body against the wall...
With unknown time of moving forward without knowing the directions.
He found a closet under the sink of who god knows where and thought that this might be his hiding place for the time being.
After making sure that there's no danger inside, he grind his teeth and forcefully stuff his pained and bruised body then closed the closet's door.
'Huff... Huff... Huff... One rib bone... One finger on... left hand... Huff... Right knees... Dislocated... And right ankle were broken after... The fall on that stairs... Shit! Why do I cling so much to live!!!... Huu... Idiot! I've an amnesia... But... Fuck...'
Trying his best to lessen his presence by slowly breathing, before focusing on himself.
About his soul.
'Does my soul still intact?... Or... What's the much worst?...' Goddammit! I-...′
Ding.
[The receiver has only 1 minute left for the chance of binding this System.]
Unexpectedly, a calm electronic voice resounded on his mind, breaking his thoughts.
He is confused for this one, the only thing that he can't remember is himself, not the way of communication and meaning behind the words.
This electronic voice seems affected his state of mind and he started to calm down, even with his current situation.
Then he asked after releasing a hard breathe.
′Huu... System?... Chance... Of binding?′
[Yes.]
'... Who are you?'
[System.]
'... I mean... Huuff... What are you?'
[System of Live Stream Adventures. 30 seconds left.]
'I... Accept?'
He choose to accept this unknown thing after a couple of seconds for thinking that he doesn't have any leeway anymore to get away from this dangerous place at all.
[Initiating...
System Requirements:
> Play with the Ghost for at least five minutes and survived while maintaining closeness to almost ten meters away from the Ghost for the first time. (Done)
> Get to feel how to die slowly for the first time. (Done)
> Punch the Ghost for the first time. (Done)
Requirements are met...
Examining Host's Blood on System's Bounded Phone... Finished.
System of Live Stream Adventures activated and successfully bound to the Host, The Horror Seeker.]
Then the phone on his hand that he is unknowingly gripping so hard, slowly disintegrated before slowly forming into rubik's cube of 6x6 and then divided into eight cubes of 3x3s.
He blinks and realized that these cubes are a little transparent and floating beside him.
Then one of them begins to light up towards him.
'Huu... What an unusual thing...'
Then he hears the electronic voice again.
[System is scanning the Host...
Host's body is in the Orange Status...
System is scanning the place where the Host is...
Location is in the Red Zone...
System is proposing to Host to exchange 1 of 3 chances to draw Random Gatchas for Full Heal.]
'... Ahh... Eh? Location is Red Zone!?'
[Yes.]
'Err... What's the meaning of that?... I'm sorry, I mean do you know where I am?... And what's the meaning of what you said earlier?'
[Location is unknown. System is requesting to Host to specify his questions.]
'... The Orange Status, Red Zone... Chance to draw Gatcha?... I know what is Gatcha but... What it's related to this?...'
After asking this, one of the cubes that floating up and down, like it was trying to get his attention, begins to change it's color into blue transparent one then heard the System's explanation.
[This Blue Cube is your Personal Information Cube (PIC).
Contains and shows your Title, Name, Level, Experience, Stats, including the Host's body's current Status, and Rating.
Host's body's Status is leveled in Four Danger:
> Lower Danger is Green Status, meaning that even if your body is full of cuts, bruises and wounds, it is not restricting your action while facing dangers.
> Intermediate Danger is Orange Status, meaning that couple of cuts, bruises and wounds are making you little restricted while facing dangers.
> Higher Danger is Red Status, meaning that with your current cuts, bruises and wounds are absolutely restricting you anytime while facing danger, without or within your body.
> Death is Black Status.
All things that you can see are virtual only to you.]
[Location is leveled into Five Zones and based on your current Level:
> White Zone is Neutral Zone for every entity.
> Blue Zone is Absolute Safe Zone for the Host.
> Green Zone is Safe Zone but can hurt the Host without facing mortal danger.
> Red Zone is Danger Zone can hurt the Host with facing mortal danger.
> Black Zone is Absolute Death Zone for the Host once meet an entity within.]
[Gatcha is a rewarding system for the Host. Every Horror Quests have corresponding rewards.
Gatcha is divided into Five Designations:
> Experience Gatcha
> Stats Gatcha
> Item Gatcha
> Skill Gatcha
> Title Gatcha
Quest is leveled to Four Specifications:
> Normal Quest
> Rare Quest
> Epic Quest
> Myth Quest
After meeting and initiating of binding the System, you are rewarded with the three draw for Random Gatchas.]
[Now, System is requesting again for the Host to exchange 1 of 3 chances to draw Random Gatchas to Full Heal for the Host's current Status.]
The teen didn't know what to say because of the information that has been thrown into his mind.
And became speechless but thankful for the System's... EQ?...
