My house was in a different location so I had to take a different turn from my friends. As I was walking away from them, I could hear their voices as they were saying goodbye to me.

"Alright Hiroki, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya Hiroki!"

"See ya bro."

Since I didn't want to act like a tragic character separating from their friends, I turned around and waved at them.

"Oh, hold on Hiroki!!" One of my friends said as he was coming towards me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Where is my goodbye kiss?" He got near my face and tried kissing me in the lips. What the hell is this guy doing?!

"Pffffftt Dude that's gross!!" I immediately backed away from him as I shoved his face away from mine. But even after acting like that, he had a weird expression on his face.

"No homo." He winked at me as he went back with the other guys. If he suddenly told us that he was gay, I wouldn't be surprised. He's always like that! Making jokes like that. But I didn't mind it since that's how we spent our time at school. Doing stupid stuff and laughing at almost everything. Sometimes we would get in trouble for making noises during class periods or getting caught playing mobile games. I won't lie... I actually enjoy spending my time at school. My grades are pretty good, and I don't have any problems with any subjects.

While I was walking on my way home, I took my smartphone out of my pocket and started looking at the pictures I had in my gallery. I like taking pictures of stupid moments I do with my friends. I'm not that popular, but all of my classmates seem to enjoy spending time with me. From the popular girls to the quiet guys, I always try to have a conversation with all of them. I always have a specific topic I could talk about since I like doing different stuff.

...

After arriving home, I noticed that no one was there beside me. I took this as a chance to spend some time on my computer since my mother hates the idea of me playing video games instead of studying. Each time she finds me playing on my computer, a vein would pop on her head, and in the end, she would start yelling at me. My grades aren't that bad, so why is she always like that?

I think my mother said she would be late from work today, so she won't be coming home anytime soon. My brother mentioned that he was spending the night over with his friend. And my father is on a business trip for a week. That means I get to spend a lot of time on my computer! There are a lot of games I haven't played yet. I wonder which one I should play first. I'm so excited! I also have bought some snacks for cases like this!

...

I opened my computer and decided to play the first game I had in mind! There were a lot of mangas I haven't read yet. But I decided on putting them on hold for the moment. For now, I will play this game!!

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For many hours I spent my time playing video games in front of my computer. My eyes were throbbing from the light my monitor was releasing. And my stomach was aching really bad from all of the junk food I just ate...

This is really bad...

I tried calming down by laying my head over the desk while holding my stomach with my hands. My eyes were getting heavy...

But suddenly, I could feel the pain was going away... Is it finally over? But somehow I couldn't raise my head back up.

I feel sleepy… Maybe taking a rest might be a good idea...

I thought as I continued staying in that position.

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All of the pain and sensation of my body were going away as if I was flying.

Hm? What's happening?

Everything was dark, and I couldn't see anything.

Am I dreaming? Am I inside my dream?

I remember playing videogames and now...? Maybe I should try and wake myself up!

"…" But no matter what I tried my voice didn't come out.

Huh? My voice? It won't come out!!

No, I need to try harder!

I tried concentrating even more in order to let out my voice, but suddenly...

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Hollow voice acquired!

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A window game-like appeared in front of me.

Hollow voice? Am I dreaming about a game?

That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw that. Anyway, I should be able to talk now. But why am I having this kind of dream? Also, what should I say? Can I even talk in my dream?

"GgGg-G-aAaAammMme!!!!!" But the moment I spoke, a hollow like sound was heard.

What the ****!? That my voice? I don't sound like that at all!!

"IiIiIiiiii a-A-amM h-HiiiiiiiiiiirRrok-k-ki!!!" I couldn't talk properly! My voice was cracking, and I couldn't pronounce anything correctly. It was as if I was some kind of zombie character!

..

I shouldn't worry about that right now! If I am dreaming, then that means I can change the place where I'm located. I started thinking about seeing something else instead of a dark place.

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Night vision acquired!

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Oh, another skill from this game-like window! I was in a creepy old room. There were scratches everywhere. Blood splattered everywhere, and broken things were lying around. I also could see spider webs everywhere.

Wait, I thought about going to the beach. Why am I in this place? I never thought about going into a scary-looking room!? Am I having a nightmare right now? But I wasn't scared! I was calm while I was looking around. ...Actually, I don't feel anything at all! I know that in dreams, you could taste and experience touching things. That's why I tried going down and touched a piece of wood that was lying around. But I couldn't touch it even though I could clearly see it.

Huh? My hand is going through? What's going on!? I want to touch that!!! That is what I kept telling myself in order to change my dream. I already am aware that this is a dream, so why can't I touch anything!? Can't I touch things in my dream?! It was as if I didn't have control over my dream! What's going on?

The more I looked around, the more I started thinking that I wasn't in a dream! Maybe if I go into another room… I started going towards the first door I could find. I tried opening the door, but my hand went through it again.

What?!

If my hand goes through like that, maybe my whole body can!! I tried going through the door, but…

*Thump*

I crashed against the door. I must have looked like an idiot...

I didn't feel pain or any kind of pressure from the crash.Why is this happening? When I looked down, I noticed that my legs were barely visible!

W-wha?!?!

"W-WwaK-k-ke UuUuUu-uU-u-uPpP!!" I wanted to yell so that I could wake up from this dream! But nothing happened!

What happened to me?

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I was freaking out. I couldn't touch anything! I couldn't get out of this room! I was seeing too many details in this room, making me realise that this wasn't a dream.

What happened to me?

The more I was looking around, the more I realized that this wasn't a dream! Where is my computer? My house? My family? This isn't my house! I've never been to a place like this before! And I don't watch horror movies! I was freaking out, but at the same time, I wasn't! It's hard for me to explain this complex feeling I was having!

I need to calm down first! Let's breathe in!

"…" Huh? I can't breathe at all?! Am I going to die from suffocating? No, wait! It doesn't hurt! I'm not breathing, and it doesn't hurt at all! Why am I not breathing?!

Calm down 'me'! First, look at your surroundings and find anything that might help me get out of the situation! Cobwebs, pieces of broken things, dust, burned bed… Alright... it seems like I am in an abandoned room, I don't know what the whole house looks like. It seems I am not able to get out of this room… What about the window? I rushed towards the broken window, but in the end, the results were the same. I couldn't even get my head out of the window.

This confirms it… I have been trapped in this room by a particular thing. Now next is this… I looked down at my own hands and body... My hands and whole body were transparent. What happened to my body? I can't touch anything… My body is almost transparent… I can't get out of this room… I can't talk properly...

Did I become a...ghost?

Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! It's impossible! I don't believe in ghosts, and I never will… That's what I have been telling myself this whole time.

Did I...die? Am I dead?

I kept yelling inside my head to wake up, but nothing was happening! It was real! I died, and now I have been turned into a ghost!

What do I do now? I can't get out of this room. Does that mean I am a bounded ghost? What am I supposed to do? Do I scare people now?! Are there any people around here? There don't seem to be any signs of people here… Is this a curse? Will I have to spend eternity as a bounded ghost? ...Alone?

...

As I kept wandering around the room, I finally accepted reality. I was a ghost! I couldn't touch anything, and I wasn't able to get out of this room. This was the first time in my entire life where I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I don't have a physical body anymore. I won't have the feeling of eating something delicious anymore! The feeling of having a good night's sleep. The feeling of having an actual body. I no longer could feel anything physically. There was nothing left other than my spiritual form and my own memories...

"Aa-ghb aah-hg #@$#@" I couldn't even talk properly anymore! My voice sounds as if I was trying to curse someone!

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Curse acquired!

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Huh?! This window again?! What is this thing? I tried touching that game-like window, but my hand went through… So I can't touch this either… I tried reading the words on the window.

Curse acquired? Is this a skill? Usually, in a game, when a window pops up like this, it means something related to gaining or losing a skill. Does that mean I can curse someone now? Maybe If I try this skill now, something might happen!!

"Cc-cC-uuUurRrr-s-S-ssSeeeeEe!!!" Since I didn't know how to use the skill, I tried calling it out.

...

But in the end nothing happened… I don't even want to know what my voice sounds like from another person's perspective. I even tried sounding like a real ghost. Do ghosts even talk? I've never seen one, so I'm not sure… If I had my computer now, I would have g*ogled something about this kind of situation! But there was one thing I was curious about… How did I die?

The last thing I remember was me falling asleep after having a stomach ache. Did I die from that? Is that even possible?

...

I can't even find something in this room that could help me!! Just what kind of people used to live here?! I'm sure it must have been some old people!

This place seemed like it hasn't used for many years.

...

Haaa… I'm bored. There is nothing I can do here. Is this how the other ghosts feel when they are alone? Maybe if there was another ghost here with me, it would have been great. It would be even better if that ghost was a girl. Wait, why am I asking for a ghost friend and not a human? Is the fact that I'm a ghost influencing my mind?! But even so, at this point, I wouldn't mind if she was a ghost… Even though I wouldn't be able to touch her, I would be happy to have someone I could spend time with. Or at least, I wish I could have had a computer to kill some time. There were a lot of games and mangas I haven't finished yet!

...

I can't even sleep in this form.

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* * * *

From the outside of this house, a certain person was coming inside without Hiroki noticing it. Her whole body was trembling as she was walking to the main door of this house. A small white glowing ball was on the palm of her hand, lighting her way around.

"hnnnngh!!" She pushed the main door with a bit of trouble since it had been too long since that door was used. Some part of that wooden door fell apart as she opened it. She entered inside of that place and started looking around. Cold sweat was running down her face while looking around this old house.

"Gulp" A gulping sound was heard from her. On each of her steps, creaking sounds were coming out. Her eyes were looking around at high speed in fear that something might be around this place.

The house was completely dark, and the only way for the girl to see around was by using the glowing white ball which was floating above the palm on her hand. She was taking light and small steps since she didn't want to trip on anything. Broken objects were all over the floor, and a slight mistake would make anyone fall down. The floor was made of rotten wood, and it could break anytime from heavy objects. This was another thing the girl feared when taking her steps. The cracking noises created by that kind of wood weren't that loud, but to that girl, it was the opposite. She was looking around for something. Directing the glowing ball towards the walls, she noticed different creepy paintings, which were spattered mainly by something red.

"EeEe..hh—" She covered her mouth the moment she noticed that those red things on this painting were blood. The eyes of that picture felt as if it was staring at that girl. Even though she knew this was an abandoned house, she didn't want to scream or make any sounds. Her mind was filled with an uneasy feeling like something was here. Something was watching her! But she knew that her mind was playing tricks on her. That was the only reason why she kept walking forward until she found the staircase to the second floor. While being careful with her steps, she went to the second floor of this house. As she continued walking, she found four different doors in the hallway. The whole floor was filled with dust and broken glasses. She directed her sight a bit further and saw clothes stained with blood lying around.

"Eeek!" She couldn't control her voice but let it out in fear.

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* * * *

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Hiroki's POV

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Eeeeh… I'm bored… I'm really bored! I have nothing to do!! If I stay like this for any longer, I might go crazy!! I have tried everything! There is nothing I can do around here except float around. I've always wished that someday I could fly like those characters in manga, but this feels weird. Even though I can't feel my body, me floating just doesn't feel alright at all. In fact, it feels mentally uncomfortable!

...

What am I supposed to do here? Do I just float around this room forever?! Am I supposed to die here alone? Wait! Do ghosts even have a lifespan?

I looked at my own hands once again. I could see through them without a problem! Even if I tried touching my hands together, they would just go through as if I never had hands. The same result goes for my body. I can't touch any part of my body at all! At any moment, I still hoped for this to be a dream, and I would wake up in my room. I already miss my family! My friends! And everyone else! I wish at least I had a girlfriend before dying like this! I also hope that my family won't be sad about me dying! I hope they are happy even without me.

...

It's so painful! I can't even cry in this kind of form, no matter how sad I am.

"…" The only thing I can do now is to stare blankly forever.

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Hearing acquired!

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Hearing? Another skill? Wait, does that mean I couldn't hear anything until now?!

*Creak* *Creak* *Creak*

From the outside of the door, I could hear creaking noises from a distance. What is that?! Is someone here?! Will I finally meet someone?! But what if they aren't friendly? Or maybe it's just a stray animal?!

No! No! Don't be so negative! If someone comes here, I will greet him just like my friends and everyone in my class! I have confidence in my communication skills, and I'm sure that person wouldn't be upset with me.

"Eeek!"

Huh? A high-pitched voice was heard near the door here! It must be a girl! Okay! Okay! There is no need for me to be nervous!

The creaking noises were getting closer as each second was passing by! From the small gap underneath the door, a white light was coming through. That must be her flashlight she is using to look around. I hope she comes inside this room first!

Wait! What if this room is locked and she decides to go to another room, or even worse...leave this place! The white light was getting closer until the creaking sounds stopped in front of the door.

She's here! She chose the room I'm staying in! I noticed the door's handle moving down until the door was slowly opening!

*Creeeaaak!*

A long creaking sound came from the door opening slowly. Inside the room came a young girl. She had long brown hair and a small body. Her clothes were kind of weird, but I didn't pay too much attention to that. Floating above the palm of her hand was a glowing white ball. That's a weird flashlight.

She seems to be looking around while trying to avoid all of the objects on the floor. Once she noticed the burned bed, she started smiling in excitement.

"I-its here!" Her voice was so soft and sweet! It made me want to protect her!

Okay! Since she didn't notice me, I should approach her and say Hello. There's nothing wrong with saying hello! I came towards her and with a smile on my face-

"HeEeE-EeL-l-ooO!!" She turned towards me with a terrified look on her face and her mouth open as if she was trying to say something.

"Eh?! A-a a G-g-g-gHoost!! N-n-nOOO!!" Her reaction was way different from what I was expecting. Her voice was trembling, and she was looking at me as if I was a terrifying monster!

"I-iii Wo-OooOn't HhH-hUr-t Yyou!" I tried telling her that I wouldn't hurt her, but her terrified face became even more terrified! Her face became ashen!

"Eeeek!" She fell down unconscious...

What did I do wrong?