The Ficool Short Stories Collection was Launched in September 2019 in Kenya and Nigeria with the aim of giving upcoming writers a platform where their short stories can be published. The call for applications resulted in 12 submissions from Kenya and Nigeria. 
The best 6 stories from the first call out were selected by the Ficool team of Content specialists and 6 stories made it to the short stories  collection. 

The short stories include: The Ghost of my friend By Ken Okumu (Kenya); A Bird in Hand is Worth Two in the Bush By Edith Macharia (Kenya); Kidnapped By Ofomah Chukwuebuka Gallant (Nigeria);Yes, I Do By Olaitan Femi Oboye(Nigeria); For Manhood's Sake By Osigwe Philip Uchenna(Nigeria); The Crow By Ofomah Rapuluchukwu Sidney (Nigeria)

A collection of spooky short stories that unfolds based on the true experience of people with ghost encounters. 

Ghost Stories For the Soul will makes you laugh nervously, while having goosebumps when the spookiness creeps in.

Every chapter in this book gets gloomier, spookier and funnier !!

School ground. day. Emma having her own time sleeping under the sun while Belle reading beside her. a novel about missing student whom been keep by her own school teacher. the novel are interesting to read. couple minute, she too take a sleep a bit before school bell rang.
"Oh i love sleep on this grass." she inhaling then exhaling. "It's makes me calm." she said, eyes close. she hear Belle humming. "Oh i wish there's no bell rang."
meanwhile at teacher office. the teacher also taking their rest before continue teaching in class. Gibson sit on his chair. prepare the question for his class. he like his student know History. there's a lot history they must learn. like Asian history. their culture are unique. Gibson had two hours with them before school ended. 
"Gibson?." he look on his right wheres the teacher rest. "Studying?."
he shake his head. said. "A quiz actually. I prepared for my class. asian history."
"Interesting. which states? you know asian is big and world wide. which you interesting I could helped if you want."
Gibson leaned back. said. "What about Indonesia?."
"Scary one or not?."
"What's the different?."
too many question between Gibson and science teacher name, Mr.Bubba. he quite interesting about spiritual and mystery especially asian ghost stories. every states had their own ghost story. Mr. Bubba love ghost story.
"You wanna hear?."
later. Gibson class begin. students take their sit. waiting. he drop his things on desk as usual. he sit the edge of desk. he scanning students face till he stop at Belle. she wasn't looked at him. she write something on her note book. cursing him, spell him. he don't know. he doesn't care what she doing, but he'll do. either not looking at his face. as long she never stayed out from his sight.
"Class." he smile. "I have a stories to tell but I don't think is unnecessary. like Mr. Bubba said, I must not. so tell me." he stare. "Do you like ghost stories?."
the students look each other. "If you like. maybe I start with mine. thanks to Mr. Bubba. he's the one who share this fascinating story to me."
"You said is unnecessary to tell."
he smirked. "I lied. let we begin shall we."
minute later. Gibson smirking. his eyes on them. exactly fear face he see after they hear the story he told. and be told by Bubba. girls student wiped their sweat, while boys? so many time swallow their own saliva. believe it or not. the truth comes first.
"So? any question?." he waited. continue. "Come one guys. relax. it's just a story. nothing will happen in here, this is america not asian."
as he waited. one of the student raise hand. "Aah. Mr. George. wanna share your thought."
"Well - I umm. well basically. maybe. I was wondering there's must be a version on that old folks story. you know."
he look around the class then back to Gibson. "Well all know this story is about a woman died on birth. some version said she died on birth but some said she been killed by someone while she pregnant. two version in one story."
"Yes. two version exactly one same stories. she can died on birth or she can died in kill. she can't choose. it depends."
"That creepy."
George's eyes on the girl in his classroom.
"Just you guys think. all of you are woman. you guys pregnant. an sudden you died. whether been kill or not. and the night you turn into a ghost. what you gonna do?"
Gibson eyes on the girl. he see Belle are stare at George's. he smirked. watch her doing.
"Ghost? you know. how hard can be. you guys must be suffer even become a ghost. you seeking. you revenge. vengeance. duh."
silent. Belle low her head down her laps. "What you gonna do, Belle?."
George asked her. she look at him back. what she gonna said about it. pregnant. dying. kill. ghost?
"Try me. kill me. we see about that."
"But you must get pregnant first. then you know. you turn into that thing." back in silent. "A monster."
Gibson clap his hand once. he smile. said. "I wonder beautiful girl like you be a ghost, Miss Belle. they won't scared of you but trying to flirt with you even you are alive. right now. someone will."
"You're right, Mr. Gibson. even me." he laugh. "I try to flirt with her but she rejected me. no way." he look at her back. "You're mine, Belle."
Belle rolled her eyes. she sank on her chair. Gibson circling around the class with smile till he stop, stand back of the class. his eyes on Belle back body. she about to look over her shoulder. he stop her.
"Okay class. we enjoyed hear the stories. this is true stories of asian ghost that we haven't know. sometimes we need to study more than that. the culture and everything. now." he then walk toward his desk. he reach his bag where he prepared card quiz for the class.
later evening. Alpaca's restaurant. "Belle!."
"Frank?."
"Order's up!."
Belle take the order and she start to rushed. happily. she love her job. she love working in restaurant.
"You. here, let me top off there, Jimmy."
she turn to another table. "I've got that sausage coming up for you, Dale." she shout. she went to another table.
"Your meal." she rushed.
minute later. she stop. staring at one of the table. there's four teenage like her age. two boys and girls. they waited to be served. Tiana notice. she tapped Belle shoulder. she jolt blinking her eyes with sigh.
"Oh. Terrific."
Tiana smile. "You want me to take it?."
"My section, I've got it."
she walk and greet them. "Hi, Amanda. hi, guys."
she smile. "You're guys here." she smile again.
they four stare Belle. one of the girl said. "Do you mind if we order?."
sighs. "Yeah. what can I get for you guys?."
whistling. later. Belle take a short break. her arm crossed on her chest. Tiana finish serving at her section. the place are quite now. she glance over the wall where the clock hang. exactly 10.00pm already. people are slow getting out from the restaurant. only left few couple and family to be done.
Tiana walk toward Belle. "Hey, you alright?."
"What can be more terrific."
"Relax. just two more days."
Belle look her. "Two more day why? are you quitting?."
"No you silly. didn't you know?." Belle shake her head. "We're going for vacation. L.A here we come."
"Why sudden? when?."
"This monday."
Belle shocked a bit. she about to jumped on top of Tiana. but why?
"I can't join you guys. school."
Tiana chuckle. she wraps her arm to Belle in smile. she said.
"Jonah already taking care everything. he need you in this trips. because of you his restaurant are most wanted and popular among people. people dine in. non stop. he thank you. you're everything. so, he decided to have this trips for us. hotel. transport. everything."
Belle snort. said. "I guess I have to tell my mother about this."
"Yeah, baby doll. long trip that you barely imagine."

Andriana Belle Decker, a sixteen years old High school student.
Perfect family.
Perfect part time job.
Perfect friends.
Perfectly everything.

Victor Gibson, a twenty six years old transfer teachers.
He found hers.
He hers teachers.
He had eyes on hers. 
He own everythings.

Lunch time.

The poem that Zhang Ye gave to the young couple was once again relished by the radio station's colleagues. One could easily hear people discussing about it at any time of the day.

"Little Zhang, you are eating instant noodles again?" The director came in.

Zhang Ye hurriedly swallowed the last mouthful and smiled. "Yeah, I just need to fill my stomach."

Zhao Guozhou asked with concern, "Eating like this isn't healthy. Is it because you are tight on your living expenses, as you haven't been paid? Hehe, if that is the case, don't worry about it. I have something to announce in while." Looking at the office, he said, "Is everyone back from lunch? Then put down what you are working on for a while. As the scene in the morning had wasted some time, well, I'll be announcing the listenership rates for yesterday."

Everyone looked over.

Zhao Guozhou found a seat to sit down, "First place, "Talk About the World". The listenership is..." He purposely dragged out his tone, "4.09%!"

"Ah?"

"Is that true?"

"Above four?"

"Our ratings have broken four?"

It was clear that Wang Xiaomei was surprised by this.

Zhao Guozhou said in a satisfactory manner, "All these years, Xiaomei's segment has been our channel's number one in ratings, but it always averaged around three percent. Everyone, you didn't hear wrongly. We have really broken four this time. And I can happily tell you that the broadcast ‘Talk About the World’ yesterday was fourth in the entire station, on average. We are only just behind the News Channel's two news segment and the Traffic Channel's ‘Safe All the Way’. This is an unprecedented result for our channel. Everyone, please congratulate Xiaomei."

There was applause and cheers!

The colleagues were also beaming. If the performance was good, the year-end bonuses would also be multiplied, so it was a joyous occasion for everyone in the Literature Channel.

Wang Xiaomei explained, "Thank you everyone. However, yesterday was a special case. There is no way that we can maintain it." She knew why they had jumped from the entire Beijing Radio Station's 8-9th place to 4th place. After a brief feeling of excitement, she did not say anything else.

She wasn't alone. Zhao Guozhou and the rest were the same. Zhao Guozhou carried on, "I recommend everyone to give Teacher Little Zhang a round of applause. Hehe. Yesterday's program was all thanks to Teacher Little Zhang; not only did he save us during a crisis, he had also pulled up the ratings for ‘Talk About the World’. Let me announce the ratings for "Late-night Ghost Stories". Last night's Little Zhang's segment had an average rating of 1.57%. It ranked third place in our channel and is higher compared to its weekend's 1.4%. Clearly, last night's event had led to this. I believe, and I have reason to believe, that under Teacher Little Zhang's hard work, "Late-night Ghost Stories" will make a new high again. Hence, I have already spoken to the Deputy Directors and Heads and plan to give the 5,000 Yuan bonus award to Teacher Little Zhang. Does anyone have any objections about this?"

"No objections."

"It is necessary!"

"Teacher Little Zhang, congratulations!"

Zhang Ye pretended to be polite, "Leader, how can I? I'm just a newcomer. And really..."

Zhao Guozhou beamed with a smile, "In a while, I'll let finance enter it into your wages. Do not be like that. It's what you deserve. Besides, this bonus is also because of another reason. From today onwards, "Late-night Ghost Stories" will have advertising sponsors. As your "Ghost Blows Out the Light" has information regarding antiques and its listenership rates have been always high, a large pawn shop business' public relations staff have contacted the station. The sponsoring negotiations have basically been done. As for the exact numbers, it is still kept under wraps and I cannot divulge it. However, I can roughly tell you that, hehe, about this "Late-night Ghost Stories" sponsorship… It is about the same as our channel's prime-time programs’ and is extremely high!" 

What?

Almost the same as prime-time programs?

When this was revealed, many were dumbfounded. After all, "Late-night Ghost Stories" was a late-night segment. It was worse than late-night programs in the 11 P.M. - 12 A.M. slot. However, the sponsorship it had obtained was nearly the at the level of fees commanded by prime-time segments? Was the advertiser mad? However, it was reasonable once one thought about it. "Late-night Ghost Stories" was no longer a late-night program hosted by Tian Bin. After Zhang Ye took it over, its ratings had an explosive increase. Also, the cohesion rate of the listeners was high. It could be seen from the figures of the listenership breakdown. The pawn shop business was using this relatively specialized and relevant program, which had greatly attracted its listeners, to gain recognition. Hence, this high advertising fee was not unreasonable!

"Teacher Little Zhang, you will need to give a treat."

"Right, you must treat. It's so enviable."

"My afternoon segment's sponsorship isn't even as high as yours. This is such a blow to me. Haha, when our salary is paid, don't be stingy and treat us all!"

The more advertising sponsorship there was, the greater the cut they would get for their salary. Zhang Ye may be still a rookie whose base salary was inferior to others, but with the addition of the cut of a sponsorship that was nearing the amount for prime-time segments, Zhang Ye's monthly income would be higher than the older comrades who had had worked in the station for decades!

Zhang Ye was also delighted, "Sure, sure."

Seeing Zhang Ye's delighted mood, Tian Bin was so envious that his intestines turned green. He had ran "Late-night Ghost Stories" for years and, on average, it had 300 days a year without sponsorships. Occasionally, there would be a short-term sponsorship, but the fees received were negligible. It was extremely low. This Zhang had only started work for a few days; how was he so lucky? Tian Bin still refused to acknowledge Zhang Ye's abilities. He was adamant that it was due to luck.

After announcing all the programs' ratings, Zhao Guozhou called Zhang Ye over. He reminded him, "The advertisers are coming soon. Today is the day we are signing the contract. They, too, want to see your recording situation in person. I have already gotten someone to reserve the recording studio for you. Once they arrive, you can begin. As for the advertisement lines, I haven't received them. They might bring it and I'll get someone to pass it to you."

Zhang Ye responded, "Recording in the afternoon?"

"Yes. Anyway, you do not need a script. Why? Is there a problem?" Zhao Guozhou asked.

Zhang Ye bit his tongue, "There's no problem, Leader. I'll begin preparing."

Zhao Guozhou nodded, "Do well later. Don't let the advertisers pick fault with it, or there will be questions for the nearly-settled contract."

"I understand. Don't worry about it." Zhang Ye guaranteed.

When the Leader left, Zhang Ye's face turned bitter. No problem, your sister! He had no way of reciting the remaining text of "Ghost Blows Out the Light". He only knew the rough direction to the plot. As he was excited about being in the papers, he had not worked out a draft. He had been planning to work out the draft in the morning, but who could have known that something would happen in the morning? Now, with the advertisers coming in the afternoon, there was definitely no time left. Even if he wanted to go off script, he couldn't. Ugh, was he going to destroy all the accumulated Reputation in one go? "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was difficult to carry on. Was he going to mess up his own program?

Bad things were about to happen!

The end is near!

Thankfully, he had still gotten 5,000 Yuan in rewards. With money, even if he messed up the program, Zhang Ye would be fine. In this world, money is...No, that's not right!

I think I previously said that I treated money like dirt?

Let me think for a while, did I say that? Forget it, I don't think I said that!


Zhang Ye was originally a mundane college graduate with aspiring dreams to become a star, but unfortunately has below average looks and height. However one day, he woke up and suddenly found himself in a parallel world! 
It’s like the same world, but wait a minute…many brands, celebrities and even famous works from his world changed and are gone in this new world! Armed with the profound literary knowledge of his previous world and a heaven-defying Game Ring that gives him magical items, stats and skills, Zhang Ye embarks on a journey to pursue his life-long dream of becoming famous!
Follow Zhang Ye as he takes the new world by storm, one plagiarized piece at a time, to hilarious reactions!

This is a work of fiction. Any connections to the real world is merely coincidence.
At least, I like to tell myself that.
My outlook on the world has always been bleak.
That is… until I met you.
I wrote...
I wrote, and wrote.
I wrote some more and then some.
Countless stories, some of which I published, many of which I didn't and only you were privy to.
All for you.
My raison d'être who died too young.
Can I keep writing without you here?
What's the point? Within the short day you've been gone I've asked myself countless times.
Can I really keep my goddess wife? Can I keep her away from the overpowered main character known as time? Of course not.
I was summoned as a hero? Hah! Don't make me laugh, I'm just a demon who'll be stabbed in the heart countless times till I fall to my knees and die a painful death in vain. At least that's how I felt when I watched your struggle. Could I ever become the hero in your world? Never, because you can't be saved. You're already gone.
My psychotic ghost girlfriend. A title where I wouldn't want you to understand how it slowly drove me to insanity watching you get weaker as you approached your death. You were my inspiration, but you were also like a ghost that constantly plagued me. As we approached the end of your life I faced the horror of our reality every day.
There was no happy ending by the end of it all. In the end I thought of countless complex multi layered layered stories that I just didn't have the time to complete while you were alive.
I didn't want you to notice what my stories hid till the very end. All I wished for was to make you laugh, but it hurts all the same.
I loved the way you lived, laughing free and unrestrained.
Despite your condition you read them to the very end.
This is the painful story of how I came to write comedy to make a single girl laugh.
A hospitalized woman who I came to love deeply will simply fade into obscurity without anyone to remember her.

 This webnovel comprises of short ghost stories. Characters in this stories don't have names, will be referred as child, child's father, researcher, librarian and such. These are tales of Ghosts. 

English wouldn't be good for this novel as I am writing this in leisure.

This webnovel consists of some short ghost stories which spans over few chapters. Characters in this novel don't have names but referred as researcher, librarian, child, child' father, pony tailed girl and such. 

I am writing this in leisure.

I was about 7 years old; my brother about 10. It was well past our bedtime when our mom woke up off the couch to put us to bed. Our dad worked construction out of town back then, so it was often just us three at the house for weeks at a time. Up the stairs and to the immediate right was our parents' bedroom. Going left put you in the middle of a hallway. Taking another left down that hallway led to my brother's room. The opposite end was my room which was also across the hall from our upstairs bathroom. At either end of the hallway are windowed doors we always kept locked and rarely used. The door on my end led to a balcony overlooking our front yard, and the door on my brother's end opened to our back porch (the house kinda leans into a small hill).

My brother and mom both had a habit of waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I only knew this because I was always a light sleeper and they just couldn't help flushing with the door wide open. This night, however, my brother stopped on his way to his room and came back towards the bathroom, "I'm gonna try to pee before I go to bed. The past few nights I've been too afraid to walk to the bathroom. I keep seeing a man wearing stripes at the end of the hallway.". I don't know if my mom wrote it off as my brother telling ghost stories to try to scare me or if she was already half asleep and didn't catch it, but she didn't react at all to my brother's confession. I, on the other hand, was terrified by it. The fear of seeing a ghost like that at the end of the hallway or through the windows is the reason I started running from the stairs to my bedroom at night.

Years later, when I was about 18, my mom and I were having a conversation in her car about a dog we had for a very short time when I was little. We were sharing stories about Max's tendency towards destroying my shoes and other unruly behaviors when my mom blurted out, "Do you remember that time I opened the front door for the cops and Max ran inside to the kitchen and started tearing open that big bag of dog food we had?". This really caught me by surprise, because in all the years I lived in that house we never once called the cops (gun owner family in a quiet, rural WV neighborhood, etc.). 

I asked her what she was talking about and she looked equally surprised as if she had just revealed something by accident. "Oh, that's right! I never told you because you were too young at the time. One night, I woke up hearing noises outside my window and when I looked I saw a man staring into my bedroom.". She went on to describe how turning on the lights caused him to take off running and how she grabbed my dad's pistol before calling the cops. "I can't remember all the details I gave them when they showed up... tall white male, wearing a striped shirt and jeans, short dark hair... something like that. They said it matched the description of a man they were looking for in the area. It turns out he had escaped from jail on a murder charge."

Now, I know it sounds so obvious hearing those two stories back to back, but it wasn't until a few years ago, in my mid-twenties, that I pieced together that my brother had unknowingly warned us about a murderer who spent multiple nights casing our home.

This is a story in every chapter is not the same horror is the main plot of the story’s but sometimes it will be a little different and don’t forgot I know what you did

Have you ever been utterly blown away by something? If so then you probably understand why I just had to intercept the webtoon called Ghost Theater by LICO after I finished it. Let's start off April with one of the most creative spotlights ever seen.


Summary


There isn't a single sane person in South Korea that doesn't know the name Rahee Ku. In such a short time the young woman has made a name for herself as a talented and expressive actress; however, like all good things, it comes to an end as Rahee got put into a car accident that not only takes her family but also her face's ability to make proper expressions. For weeks Rahee tries to find some way to restore her face, only to abandon all conventional options as she meets up with the mysterious Ghost Theater; a place where lingering spirits are given the opportunity to move on from their regrets to be properly judged in the afterlife. Realizing quickly that these spirits can give her the ability to express herself again Rahee decides to join the mysterious theater in hopes of regaining her face. All without realizing that she will gain far more than she bargained for.


Characters


Rahee Ku: Like every talented actress her age Rahee was slightly bossy and stuck up. However after her employment at the ghost theater Rahee quickly starts to mature. She starts looking back at her past relations with her family and starts becoming more introspective, kinder and respectable.


Caron: The mysterious caretaker of the Ghost Theater Caron is a wise, kind and eccentric mentor figure to Rahee. His emotional intuition grants him an innate understanding of both plays and people. However his need to protect others and his self blaming can cloud his judgement on some days.

Paddy: The unfiltered assistant of Caron, Paddy is a spirit of the underworld with a variety of supernatural abilities. Paddy is often short-tempered and snappy but his intentions are always right.


Overview


4 years of webtoon and I can confidently say that Ghost Theatre is one of the most refreshing and creative webtoons I've ever read. I've experienced Lico's style before in Reincarnation High school but it's nothing like this. If I were to generalize this is basically a combination of both Ghost Teller and Dr Frost. Every arc we get introduced to a new ghost with their own intricate stories and personalities that parallel Rahee very well. Through these ghosts we also get introduced to plays that further parallel their struggle. This creates a very interesting premise as we effectively have multi-layered comparisons and contrasts with every requiem having its own trials and tribulations. It's one thing to create a parallel with characters, but to also balance that with the plays and give the audience something to read on the side is amazing.


It's the literal definition of short and sweet as the art features heavy symbolism and some expert character designs that reflect the over dramatic and cinematic tone. Ghost Theater across its run really makes every arc truly mean something as we learn more about the supernatural world they've set up. And just when you think that the story eclipses the characters, we get hit with one of the most satisfying conclusions I've ever read with more twists than Shyamalan. Finally for the few musical tracks that we get Ghost Theater hits us with some of the best music on the site hands down. Seriously the ending of this webtoon puts everything full circle and leaves off with a message that I feel like is very important.


If Ghost Teller was supposed to reveal the flaws of humanity then Theater is the story of redemption. The story of our own mortality and we need to try and live a life without regrets. Because we only have so many years on this planet and ghost theater tells us to find peace within ourselves and live freely before it all ends. Because for better or worse we are human which means that to move on we need to forgive ourselves and others when tragedy strikes.


Epilogue


Overall I can't recommend this webtoon enough. Out of all the daily pass series I've read, this is easily one of the best and most binge-able at a short 51 chapters. I hope that you enjoy it before going up on daily pass. But with this requiem over, it's time to put the spotlight into something a little more "real".

Just a simple person is trying to shine a little light on the beautiful world of webtoon. With a splash of sarcasm, narration, and spitfire along the way.  And who knows I might have other segments just for the hell of it.

"Yep, this incident arose from the Story of One Hundred Demons game, which is based on the Night of One Hundred Demons, so maybe it's not an appropriate suggestion. Despite this, I think transforming into Blue Lantern Ghost is a way for you to confront your fears directly." Seiji rubbed his chin. "Sensei, you know about Blue Lantern Ghost, right?"
"I do," Mayuzumi replied. "It's the lantern that's used in ancient times when playing the Story of One Hundred Demons game, right?" 
"That's right. Lanterns with blue covers can transform into this type of demon. Some say that they're tiny demons who carry lanterns. Others believe they're young women who like to listen to ghost stories, or female demons who collect ghost stories; in short, there are many different views about this. At any rate, it's a demon with no set appearance."
Seiji's eyes flashed with a strange light. "I personally believe that Blue Lantern Ghost is a beautiful female demon and one of the strongest among all demons! That's because she was born from gathering a hundred ghost stories. If you think about it, isn't that equal to the Night of One Hundred Demons? Just this one demon is equal to one hundred demons, so of course she's incredibly strong!"
"Sensei is a beautiful manga author, which could be reworded as 'a beautiful woman who continually tells stories!' Although you don't tell ghost stories, modern-day fantasy manga and anime probably seem similar to ghost stories for ancient people, so it could sort of count as tales of the abnormal."
"A beautiful woman who tells tales of the abnormal receives powerful strength from the Story of One Hundred Demons ritual. If you view it like this, isn't this almost exactly like Blue Lantern Ghost!? You could definitely transform into a powerful beautiful demon!!"
Mayuzumi was rendered speechless by all this.
"Cough cough, excuse me for getting somewhat carried away." Seiji did his best to retract his excitement. "Please don't mind me and treat that as a joke. My thought process suddenly exploded on me, so I apologize."
The manga author chuckled. "Blue Lantern Ghost… a powerful female demon… Honestly, Haruta-kun?"
Technically, telling her to transform into a demon was rather rude, but she didn't dislike it.
'A beautiful and powerful female demon… If I can really transform into something like this, perhaps I'll be able to truly conquer my fear.' Mayuzumi thought of it like this.
The third day in Reo's soul.
After Reo went to school, Seiji took Mayuzumi outside to go meet with the angel-winged "Seiji" and the others.
And then everyone had fun chatting and playing cards together… whoops, Mayuzumi did as Seiji suggested and tried to influence them using her imagination.
After a while, the angel-winged "Seiji" said, "I'm your companion; I'll fight for your sake!"
Seiji decided to create a wooden target dummy with his imagination and asked Mayuzumi to imagine that it was her enemy.
Then, the angel-winged "Seiji" really took action and smashed the target dummy to pieces with a single punch!
After a few more tests, they confirmed that this indeed worked.
Seiji and Mayuzumi were both in high spirits from this.
By the end of this day, Mayuzumi successfully converted "Seiji," "Saki," "Mai," and "Hoshi," to her cause. She now had a total of four characters willing to fight for her, and she even succeeded in increasing their combat strength.
The situation was developing even better than they expected.
The fourth day.
"Chiaki," "Mika," "Kaho," and "Mayuzumi" were also converted successfully.
As planned, Mayuzumi divided them into two small teams of four.
Seiji acted as their opponent for a practice battle.
And he was almost defeated!
Together, these two small teams had excellent combat strength, and he was unprepared for their combination attacks. He had to get serious in order to gain the upper hand.
Seiji gave Mayuzumi a big thumbs-up after the practice fight. "This is great. Let's continue adding companions and creating combat teams."
The manga author revealed a delighted smile.
The fifth and sixth day passed… time marched on just like this.
Mayuzumi converted more and more NPCs every day and continued to increase the strength of her army.
On the other side, Reo grew closer and closer to Seiji and grew to like him more and more.
Every day they would do homework and play games together. Every weekend they would go out to have fun. Together they toured the streets, visited the amusement park, went camping, and explored the aquarium…
Seiji was happy to see the little girl having fun.
Disregarding the nature of their situation, it was actually pretty fun living together with Mayuzumi and Reo.
It was also an experience that gave him... some benefits.
After all, since they were living together, he saw the beautiful manga author in so many different ways. He got to see her while she was cooking, immediately after she finished showering, and when she woke up. On a few occasions, he saw her making silly mistakes, and once he even saw her when she was in the middle of changing her clothes… cough cough, at any rate, he would occasionally get lucky.
Not to mention the gentlemanly benefits such as bathing or hanging panties and bras out to dry. He was truly grateful for these opportunities.
After they felt that it would be okay, Seiji and Mayuzumi moved onto the next phase of their plan.
"I have some things to do, so I won't be coming back tonight. Reo, stay at home and watch the house together with Brother Harano."
Reo was dissatisfied with her "mother's" words, but after Seiji's gentle coaxing, she agreed.
She didn't have any particular reaction to the fact that her "mother" was absent for the entire night. With Seiji accompanying her, the next morning arrived just as normal.
This was a symbolic first step.
Afterwards, Mayuzumi continued to leave the house for extended periods, slowly getting Reo accustomed to the fact that her "mother" would not always be at home.
The next step was to increase the time that Mayuzumi remained away from the house.
At first, it was two days. Then, three days.
During this, Seiji paid close attention to Reo's condition.
Whenever she began to show obvious signs of loneliness, he would come to her room before she fell asleep and tell her stories as a way of coaxing her.
For example, the story of "The Feather Cloak Girl."
The plot was basically about how a boy found an extravagant feather cloak and later met a crying girl. When he asked what was wrong, he learned that she had lost her feather cloak.
The boy returned the feather cloak he picked up to her, causing her to become overjoyed. After she thanked him, she put on the feather cloak and turned into a bird that flew away.
Afterwards, the boy grew into an adult and met a beautiful woman. They fell in love with each other, got married, and gave birth to a cute baby girl.
Later, the husband felt that his wife was keeping a secret from him. He secretly investigated and found that his wife was hiding an extravagant familiar feather cloak, which he took and confronted his wife with. However, his wife gave a deep sigh, put on the feather cloak, turned into a bird, and flew away.
The husband greatly regretted his actions and fell ill as a result. In the end, he died of illness caused by depression.
Their daughter was left all alone and continuously cried.
Finally, their daughter saw a large bird bring a feather cloak to her, and she put it on. She also transformed into a bird and flew away with the large bird.
It was a rather tragic bedtime story, but it was Reo's favorite story. She had Mayuzumi tell it to her countless times already.
Seiji surmised that the feathered woman's ethereal figure he saw in the real world was created from Reo's image of her mother combined with the feather-cloak woman from this story.
This story probably represented one of Reo's deepest memories of her mother Hinako Haza.
He didn't know what the specific connection was. Mayuzumi had asked Reo long ago why she liked this story so much. Her only answer was that she enjoyed listening to it.
"What part of it was enjoyable?" Mayuzumi had asked.
Reo replied by saying that it was enjoyable because it was enjoyable.
This was a complete child's answer. It didn't answer the question at all.
Although Seiji knew that it was probably meaningless, he still tried asking again. "Why do you like this tragic story?"
"Because the mother came back and took her daughter to fly away with her…" Reo muttered.
Then, she blinked and revealed a confused expression.
"What did I say just now, Brother Harano?"
Seiji looked at her and blinked as well. "You said that this story was enjoyable to listen to."
'Reo Tachibana… could her true wish actually be…' He inwardly sighed.
He reached out his hand and patted the girl's head.
"Good night, Reo-chan."
The little girl didn't respond. It seemed that she had fallen asleep.
Seiji got up and left.
After he exited Reo's room and closed the door, some light green feathers quietly appeared, floating in the air for a few brief seconds. After that, they disappeared just as quietly as they had appeared.


Translator note: Apologies to the readers. This series is currently on hiatus. We ask for your understanding!
A 30-year-old Chinese NEET is reincarnated into the body of an otaku that choked to death on instant noodles. As he comes to grips with his new life, he realizes that this world is subtly different from Earth. The denizens of this world are far better looking, and this new world also possesses futuristic technology as well as mysterious Yin Yang masters! 
After reincarnating, he realized that he was endowed with a miraculous game-like system, which enables him to increase his own stats and transcend the limits of the human body. This system even has a game-breaking ability to save and load in real life!
In this new world that’s akin to a 2-D game, he just wants to enjoy life and head for a glorious future... However, he is quickly embroiled in a complex plot. Can he unlock his true potential and utilize his system to break the shackles that confine him and discover the truth about his previous body’s circumstances? 

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