Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Ghost

In the dim forest, animals were running away in fear. The deer-like creature was running to escape from the hunters. However, a large number of arrows flying from the back pierced its body, causing it to lose its strength and fall.

A humanoid creature about the size of a human child emerged with a rustling sound. It had small horns on its head and a very ugly face. It was a demon called a goblin.

The goblin whispered something to each other and approached the fallen deer.

Probably, it would become their dinner tonight.

Right beside such a scene, an amorphous object that faintly glowed was trembling.

(What is this...?)

That object had consciousness. The translucent amorphous object, like a ghost, did not look like a living creature at first glance. However, intelligence was undoubtedly present there.

(Did I... die?)

Since childhood, he had a weak heart and spent most of his life in hospitals. He had memories of that. He had learned a reasonable amount of knowledge while studying in his spare time. However, he passed away without making use of that knowledge.

(Come to think of it, I can't remember my family, friends, doctors, or nurses at the hospital.)

He only remembered a few memories and knowledge.

Perhaps due to the shock of his death or some other reason, some memories were missing.

(No, is this a dream? If this is a dream where goblins are hunting deer, it makes sense even with vague memories. Was it called a lucid dream?)

It was rare to be aware of being in a dream within a dream. He thought such a thing.

No, he wanted to believe that he was not dead yet.

If it was a dream, he would wake up in a little while.

If this wasn't the afterlife, he would be back in his usual hospital room the next moment.

With that in mind, he decided to enjoy the dream world for a while.

◆◆◆

(Conclusion: This is the world after death)

When the sun had set and risen seven times, he came to that conclusion.

He had experienced long periods of sleep, as well as sudden seizures that led to a state of unconsciousness. However, he had never had such a long dream before. Therefore, it was better to think that he had come to the world after death.

In addition, his body was in the form of an amorphous floating spirit.

It was a little convincing.

And he realized several things during the seven days.

(Unable to speak, no need for food or sleep, able to float freely, unbothered by the sun, and above all...)

He lowered his consciousness inward.

(When I tilt my consciousness, my own information floats up.)

It seemed that he had become a ghost. He somehow understood that it referred to the current species.

Furthermore, he had the ability to "absorb life force."

He thought it was a rather ominous ability.

(Shall I try it?)

He focused "Life Absorption" towards a nearby large tree. Something squirmed inside his body, trying to suck something up from the tree.

However, it dispersed without being able to suck anything out.

(Why?)

He tried it on other trees, grass, and flowers, but "Life Absorption" dispersed without any effect.

Puzzled, he then activated "Life Absorption" on a butterfly flying nearby. Surprisingly, he sucked something out of the butterfly and absorbed it, something so small that it could barely be felt, even with a drop of water.

And the butterfly fell powerless to the ground.

He understood that he had sucked out its life force.

(I see. Can it only be used on animals and insects?)

If that were the case, the next thing he wanted to try it on was a bigger animal.

(I want to try it on that little goblin-like creature.)

Once he decided, he moved immediately. He knew where the goblin village was located within the past seven days. He floated towards the goblin village, thanks to the ghost race, which allowed him to pass through trees and other objects. While submerged in matter, the sight becomes pitch black, causing anxiety at first, but he grew used to it and stopped worrying.

He moved straight through the forest and discovered the goblin village after several tens of minutes.

(Come to think of it, can goblins see me? I'm a ghost, so can't they not see me?)

Feeling a new doubt, he approached the goblins' side. As a result, he was spotted by three goblins, who followed him with their eyes. They didn't attack, but it was evident that he was being observed.

(Oh well, it's okay. I know I can pass through things, and there's no need to worry about counterattacks.)

He thought that way and activated "Life Absorption". In front of him were seven small goblin demons, including three that found their own figure. He simultaneously started using "Life Absorption" on them. The other goblin demons were probably out hunting, as he couldn't find any others besides these ten. It would be troublesome if there were too many, so he started sucking their life force from this group for now.

Then, he felt a significant amount of life force flow into him. At the same time, the seven goblin demons began to suffer.

Perhaps noticing the suffering of the seven, other goblin demons came over.

Without hesitation, he used "Life Absorption" on them and took their life force as well. This "Life Absorption" seemed to have a slow absorption rate, but simultaneous activation was easy. However, he realized that the absorption rate decreased as he repeated simultaneous activations.

(Did the absorption rate decrease? Some goblin demons can still move.)

A slightly larger goblin demon stood up and tried to attack him. However, the club swung by the goblin demon just passed through him. Arrows passed through him, too. Even punches and cuts from knives didn't affect him.

(Physical attacks don't work. Magic attacks might work, like in a game. Well, I don't know if there is magic or anything.)

Since there was a magic-like power such as "Life Absorption", there was probably magic as well. Although the goblin demons couldn't use it, it seemed unwise to assume he was invincible.

After about thirty minutes of absorption, the goblin demons finally seemed to have died. They took their last breaths in their sleep-like state.

Then, something flowed into him.

It was similar to something wriggling when he activated "Life Absorption".

(The vitality is different. It's not like experience points. Is this...what is commonly known as magic?) 

Magic, MP, mana, prana, chakra, ki...it's probably something like that. It feels like a source of power, something that makes up oneself. 

He felt this strange sensation. 

(Huh? Has my race changed?) 

When he focused his consciousness inward, he realized that he had evolved from a low-level spirit ghost to a high-level spirit ghost. Additionally, he had taken on a humanoid form, whereas before he had been a semi-transparent and amorphous floating object. 

There was a pond nearby, so he observed his appearance by looking at his reflection on the water's surface. 

Since he was originally semi-transparent, it was difficult to observe himself, but he was able to confirm his appearance to some extent. 

He was about 170 centimeters tall with black hair, black eyes, and a Japanese face. His features were slender, androgynous, and somewhat ghostly. He was wearing a shroud, a belt, and a tattered black cloth. It was a slightly eerie appearance. 

(I can't remember my past life, but...do I have the same face as before?) 

He pondered this thought. 

He was trying his best to remember, but the memories wouldn't come back. He still had knowledge, but he had forgotten most of his memories. 

Emotionally, he felt relieved that he didn't have any sadness about his death or any regrets towards his parents or friends. 

(All I remember is my name...) 

Takamitsu Osamu. 

That was definitely his name. Therefore, he predicted that his parents' surname was Takamitsu. However, he couldn't remember his first name at all. There was a possibility that he had siblings, but he couldn't remember them either. 

(For now, should I call myself as Osamu...no, but...)

He was a bit resistant to use the name of a past life that he couldn't remember well.

Even though it was the afterlife, he understood that this was still one world. Rather, it was more accurate to say that he was reborn. After all, not only small demons and goblins, but also animals such as birds and deer were plentiful there. It was hard to imagine a simple heaven or hell.

Although it was strange to say that he was reborn as a high-level spirit, a "High Ghost," it was certain that he had lived that new life.

He had decided to start fresh and take on a new name.

(However, it had been a hassle to come up with a name from scratch. Maybe I would just change my original name a little bit...)

First, he tried changing it to English.

(What would "Osamu" be in English? If I translated it directly, it would be something like "learn" or "master"? No, that wasn't it. Maybe I would just use the sound of "Shu" instead.)

If he had had knowledge of French, Italian, German, or other languages, he might have come up with a different conversion. However, he hadn't studied any language other than English, so unfortunately, he had to give up.

(Besides, "Shu" sounded good too.)

He was also pleased with that choice.

(The next one is Takamitsu Takamitsu. If we read it in onyomi... Kōkō? That doesn't work either. Then how about converting it to English... high, light, tall, ray, expensive, optical, etc.?)

Shu tried various combinations, but nothing seemed to fit quite right. He felt that there was a certain uncoolness permeating the names.

Since it was a new name he was going to use, it had to be something that he could be satisfied with. With that in mind, he came up with the next candidate.

(Using "..." as "best" or "top" is also not quite right, what should I do?)

It was no good after all. Shu thought that it was probably because of the uncoolness of the character "...". So he desperately tried to remember if there was any good conversion.

And after thirty minutes of thinking, a good idea came to him.

(Come to think of it, "arch" also means "top". If I combine it with "light", "Archlight" might work... From now on, I'll call myself Shu Archlight.)

With a satisfying name in mind, he began his contemplation again.

This time, he was contemplating about evolution.

(He probably evolved from a ghost to a high-level spirit because he defeated a goblin. Something flowed into him at the moment he defeated it, and that's probably how he evolved... Assuming that what flowed into him was magic, did he evolve by absorbing a large amount of magic?)

It's not confirmed yet, but it's worth a try.

First, he needs to investigate what state he is in now, what magic is, and what the conditions for evolution are.

Shu Archlight was looking for the next goblin to test his theories.