Mysterious Awakening

Miles found himself tentatively retracing his steps, his heart pounding with the realization that the spectral figure that had been haunting him had seemingly vanished. Relief washed over him, serving as a marker of his continued existence and a tribute to the streak of fortune he had encountered in the aftermath of an almost disastrous situation.

As he gently nudged the door open, a sense of shock enveloped him. He was standing in a hallway that he knew all too well. He quickly spun around, perplexed by the sight of his own classroom, which was situated right behind him. In an inexplicable twist of fate, he had somehow ended up at the entrance of the classroom on the fifth floor.

Confusion overwhelmed his senses. “Wasn’t this the restroom door?” he questioned himself, his heartbeat escalating.

Suddenly, a weak cough resonating with discomfort echoed through the hallway. Swiveling around, Miles discovered a pallid, emaciated man propped against the wall. He was adorned in a windbreaker, his bloodshot eyes revealing a hint of wariness as they met Miles’s gaze.

“Miles?” questioned Right, taken aback by the unexpected sight of a student emerging from the classroom.

“I… I’m not entirely sure what happened,” Miles admitted. “I was trying to make an exit along with the others when a ghost attacked me. It pulled me into the restroom. After a grueling struggle, I found myself exiting through this door.”

Right, rapidly comprehending the information, responded, “That must be the work of the ghost domain. It appears it’s reluctant to let you go.” His nod was marked by an underlying tone of uncertainty. “Typically, there is only one ghost in each ghost domain. The old man in the black robe has already departed, meaning you must’ve encountered a servant of the ghost.”

Confusion flashed across Miles’s face. “What is a ghost servant?”

“When a malevolent ghost ends a person’s life within the ghost domain, a servant of the ghost is created,” Right expounded. “These entities are under the ghost’s control and execute its commands without question. Hence, they’re referred to as ghost servants. Although they’re not as horrifying as the malevolent ghost itself, they pose a significant risk to regular people like you. The recent appearance of the ghost domain and its associated servants is remarkable. You’re lucky to have come out alive.”

“But we cannot afford to dwell on this,” he added, extracting a device that looked like a satellite positioning phone from his pocket. “You need to take this and leave immediately. If you manage to make an escape, someone will reach out to you. Simply recount what occurred here.” Right then winced, his face marred with the unmistakable signs of pain.

“What about you, though?” Miles asked, concern lacing his voice.

“I’ve exhausted too much of my ghost power while battling the old man,” Right confessed. “Although it will replenish over time, I am presently drained. Individuals like me, who wield the power of malevolent ghosts, are known as ghost tamers. The power we control gradually eats away at us, transforming us into entities that hover between human and ghost. The experience is agonizing. Ah~!”

His words were abruptly cut off as an anguished cry escaped from his lips. Right’s body convulsed before he crumpled to the ground, seized by crippling pain. His windbreaker fell open in the process, unveiling a grotesquely swollen belly comparable in size to a pregnant woman’s. Semi-transparent skin revealed a dark blue creature housed within, resembling a toddler of about three years. The entity had sharp claws for hands, which seemed to be scratching at its confinements, and its eyes, devoid of pupils, were an unsettling shade of black. As it wriggled, seemingly trying to escape, Miles could only stare back in abject terror.

“What… what exactly is this?” Miles questioned, a quiver lacing his words as fear gripped him.

Right, in the throes of pain, bit down on his teeth and explained, “This is what the ancient texts refer to as a ghost baby. When it first nested within me, it was no larger than a thumbnail. Every time I harnessed the ghost’s power, it grew just a bit more. Even when I abstained from drawing upon this power, it never ceased to grow, gnawing away at my internal organs. Every waking moment was fraught with the excruciating pain of being consumed from the inside. Slumber has long eluded me due to the relentless agony.”

“My physical form has been steadily eroded by this ghost baby, leaving behind a mere hollow husk. An ordinary individual would’ve succumbed long before this point, yet death continues to be elusive. In my current condition, life is a prolonged ordeal of pain and torment. Death, ironically, would be a form of liberation.”

With a sense of urgency permeating his voice, Right instructed, “Take this phone and leave.” He tossed the device towards Miles, continuing, “If you don’t flee now, the ghost baby will break free, and your path of escape will be obstructed by two malicious entities.”

Miles clutched the phone, his gaze straying to Right’s form wracked with pain. A sense of familiarity stirred within him, evoking memories of his own past anguish.

A ghost tamer?

Was he predestined to be subjected to a plight akin to Right’s?

“I am sorry to have let you down. The power wielded by the old man was immense, overwhelming my own. I was unable to contain him or guide you students to safety. You must fend for yourselves now,” Right conceded.

Seeing Miles secure the phone elicited a melancholic smile from Right.

“But why did you choose to remain here?” Miles retorted, “If you had made your exit sooner, you could’ve escaped this ordeal unharmed. There was no reason for you to share our fate.”

“I am tied to Dachang City. Only those of us who can battle these haunted entities can keep this city safe. If the dread of death stopped us, the world would plunge into chaos. I chose this path not solely for the city’s well-being, but also for my own,” Right justified.

As the waves of pain escalated, he found himself losing patience, hollering, “What are you waiting for? Leave, now!”

Miles seized this opportunity with his heart pounding fiercely against his chest, bolting away with the phone tightly held in his hand.

“Be cautious around Jing, one of your classmates. Our paths intersected earlier. Something about him doesn’t sit right. He doesn’t entirely appear to be human, but I can’t confirm anything definitively. It would be prudent to maintain a safe distance. I’ve meticulously documented everything, and a comprehensive investigation will be launched later. Do not lend credence to his prophetic stories. It’s impossible to return from the future. Experiments conducted by the research institute have substantiated this claim.” Despite his crippling pain, Right mustered enough strength to issue a final warning.

Miles swung around in surprise, “What did you say?”

“Ah~!”

Just as Miles turned to ask, a blood-curdling scream rocked the air. His eyes widened in horror as he witnessed Right’s stomach rupture, a grotesque, dark blue arm of an infant protruding from the torn flesh. The wound continued to expand, revealing the head of the ghost baby, eerily similar in size to a human toddler. The infant ghost observed its new surroundings with the curiosity typical of a newborn, yet its jet-black, vacant eyes exuded an unnerving, ominous aura.

Flee!

The singular thought spurred Miles into action, causing him to pivot sharply and dash away, the shrill echo of another scream haunting his retreat.

As Miles reached the stairwell, the spectral cries reverberating through the corridor signaled the fully emerged ghost baby’s presence.

The paranormal infant slowly disengaged itself from Right’s body. Concurrently, Right’s previously distended abdomen rapidly deflated, much like a balloon losing its air.

There was no sign of blood or any discernible internal organs, only darkened, hollowed flesh. This sight validated Right’s dire revelation – his insides had been utterly devoured by the ghost baby.

“Dad, Mom… I apologize,” Right whispered, his eyes slowly losing their spark of life. His body slumped over, the light of existence snuffed out, even as his gaze remained fixated on the spectral infant as it began to crawl in the direction Miles had vanished.

“I’ve reached the fourth floor, now the third floor. Good, I haven’t lost my way,” Miles reassured himself with a sigh of relief as he continued his rapid descent down the staircase, a flicker of surprise arising within him.

He noted that the staircase was no longer shrouded in darkness. The illumination was weak, but it allowed him to clearly perceive his surroundings. The strange happenings like the spectral walls had ceased to manifest.

The absence of darkness and confounding pathways signified that under normal circumstances, exiting the school would take only a handful of minutes.

However, as he arrived on the second floor, he spotted his classmates, William and Grace, pacing anxiously up and down the corridor. In their hands, they held their phones, their screens serving as makeshift flashlights. They would traverse from one end of the corridor to the other, pivot, and retrace their steps.

This cycle had been repeated several times, suggesting their entrapment and inability to find an exit.

“No, it’s not that the ghost domain has dissolved or the darkness has retreated. It’s just that I now possess the ability to see through it all,” Miles mused aloud, his expression subtly shifting as his gaze fell upon the crimson eye emblazoned on the back of his hand.

Could this be the power of a ghost tamer?

If that were the case, this eye must represent a ghostly entity as well.

A memory of Right’s earlier disclosure crept into his thoughts. The ghost infant residing within his abdomen had initially been as minuscule as a thumbnail and had grown to its current monstrous size.

So, what would this spectral eye on his hand eventually transform into?

Would it follow the same path and evolve into a wrathful ghost, in turn consuming him from the inside?

Recalling Right’s previous plight, Miles felt an icy shiver travel down his spine. The sight of the eye on his hand now evoked only fear. Any elation he had initially experienced upon being able to perceive through the ghost domain had completely evaporated.

“Even if this eye is destined to bring about my end, that’s a concern for another day. The immediate priority is to escape from here,” Miles muttered to himself. Gritting his teeth to keep his rampant thoughts at bay, he advanced towards William and his fellow students.

However, for William and the others, their surroundings were enveloped in impenetrable darkness.

The light cast by their phones only reached a radius of about a meter, leaving everything beyond that shrouded in obscurity.

“William, we’ve been wandering for over half an hour and still can’t find an exit. Are we destined to be trapped here forever?” Grace, a fellow classmate, voiced her anxiety.

“Right referred to this place as a ‘ghost domain.’ Does anyone know what that implies? Are there actual ghosts here? Was what transpired in the classroom a paranormal phenomenon? If there are truly ghosts, we may never escape,” another classmate whispered in dread.

With an earnest tone, William responded, “Don’t panic. It’s improbable that we’ll remain trapped here indefinitely. Trust me, worst case scenario, we’ll perish of starvation in a few days. It certainly won’t be a lifelong ordeal.” His grim jest was met with an eerie silence.

Soon, however, the silence was interrupted by the echoing sound of footsteps from the murky darkness.

“Who’s there?” William asked, his voice tense, causing the others to shudder in trepidation.

“Don’t fret, it’s me, Miles,” responded a voice from the dark.

“Halt! Don’t approach any further! You claim to be Miles, but can you prove it? What if you’re a ghost in disguise?” William questioned suspiciously.

Miles retorted, “William, can’t you refrain from incessant chatter in such a critical situation? This place poses a serious danger. I can lead you out. Follow me, and you won’t lose your way.”

His sole intention in approaching them was to ensure their safety. If he failed to intervene, their survival was highly doubtful. Even though he harbored a grudge against Jing, he held no ill will towards his other classmates.

Moreover, with the presence of two wrathful ghosts within the ghost domain, the magnitude of terror they could potentially face was beyond comprehension.