Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!

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Inside a nearly empty classroom, a girl with long black hair and glasses was reading an illustrated book… In fact, upon closer inspection, this book was a comic book, not a typical one, but one written and illustrated in Japan, without colors, a manga.

That girl loved reading manga and watching anime, long before it became mainstream and widely enjoyed. Back then, reading manga or watching anime was often frowned upon. People usually laughed at you for it.

That was life, how things were, and so the girl became quite the outcast in the classroom. She had a quirky personality, perhaps too quirky for her own good.

She was usually lonely, and although she had made some friends in her early school years, they gradually drifted away, preferring to align with more popular girls.

She was left mostly alone, always suspecting they were laughing at her behind her back, which made her slightly paranoid.

During lunch break, when everyone went outside, she stayed in the classroom, reading manga while eating, finding solace in her own company.

But she couldn't deny it wasn't right… She yearned for the warmth of friendship. She didn't want to be alone.

However, she had given up on her social life, imagining she would likely never have friends and would grow up bitter and lonely… like some characters in the stories she read.

And yet…

"Hey, what are you reading? Is that a manga? No way!"

"Uwah?!"

The girl gasped in disbelief as a boy, who had returned to the classroom, approached her and peered at what she was reading.

"T-This is…! N-Not…! N-Not what…! W-What you think!"

She quickly hid the manga with her arms, but it was impossible to deny. The boy had seen everything.

She noticed he was quite handsome, with short brown hair and clear green eyes, tall and slender, a real looker.

Why would a guy like him ever talk to her?

Maybe he was playing with her or wanted to tease her and laugh with the popular girls?

Perhaps it was a game of truth or dare…?

"Hey, calm down, I won't tell anybody," he said. "I also like manga and anime… I just usually don't talk about it… I've noticed you read those sometimes."

"E-Eh? Uh… Yeah…" she muttered shyly, her face reddening. "Y-You… you like them? Uh, what do you like? I mean… what genre…?"

"I kind of like reading shonen manga…" the boy said. "Or seinen… I guess you don't like those? What do you read? About magical girls or something?"

"I-I was reading… a shounen… manga," the girl muttered, showing him the manga while giggling nervously. "E-Eheheh… I'm not… a generic g-girl…"

"Oooh? You got the new volume of Ninja Hanzo?!" The boy's eyes lit up with surprise as he grabbed the manga and started reading. "Nice! I hadn't read this one… Did you read it already?"

"I-I'm starting… we can… we can… n-no… never mind…" the girl muttered. She was too nervous to speak coherently, and the boy had a hard time understanding her.

So he shrugged, pulled up a seat, placed it close to hers, and began reading the manga with her.

"Then let's just read it together? Better that way," he said.

"A-Ahhh?!" The girl nearly screamed, overwhelmed by a handsome boy being so close. She gasped for air, as if she had had a heart attack.

"Eh? Are you okay?" he asked, looking genuinely worried.

"I-I'm fineeee…" the girl muttered, readjusting her glasses. "U-Um… Um… okay… let's… read together… eheh…"

She couldn't help but act a little awkward, but the boy already had a nerdy childhood friend who behaved similarly, so he was accustomed to shy types.

They read the manga together, and although socializing was challenging for her, she managed.

They didn't read just one manga, but a second and even a third over the days and weeks…

They continued talking about new anime, and because she enjoyed shonen and seinen like the boy, they connected better than had imagined.

"Hey Fran, have you watched the latest anime of the season?"

"A-Ah? I-I haven't… I checked them though… Um, are you interested in any, Christopher?"

"Yeah, actually, I really liked the one with robots… Mega X or something it was called… you like robots too?"

"I do! I have… robot figures."

"Really?! Can I go to your house to check them?"

"E-Eeeh? Ahhh… I… I'll think about it…. What's the anime about?"

Naturally, a popular boy like him, always surrounded by girls and guys of similar social status, drew angry glares when they saw him with her.

Fran began to suffer targeted bullying. Her desk was covered in crude drawings, some scrawling "BITCH" or even depicting penises.

Too shy to confront it, she tried to ignore the harassment, though it was painfully obvious something was wrong.

Sometimes they threw paper balls at her, and other times, girls mocked her for struggling in physical education classes.

Christopher, however, didn't like how Fran wouldn't stand up for herself and began to blame himself for her plight…

And chose to go against his friends to defend her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Leave her alone! Stop bullying her, or I'll tell your parents!" he said angrily.

"W-What?!"

"Christopher, why are you so angryyyy?"

"Why do you even get along with that ugly loser bitch anyway?"

"Fran is not an ugly loser bitch, she's my friend! Leave her alone please…"

The girls exchanged awkward glances, realizing there was no changing their mind, and walked away.

This act isolated Christopher from his previous group of friends.

And although it stopped the bullying, they completely ignored him from then on, both on social media and in real life.

They stopped inviting him to parties and everything… and he did it just for her.

"Christopher, you didn't really need to go so far for me… they aren't wrong… I'm just a loser… y-your friends…"

Fran was deeply worried he had sacrificed so much for her.

And she felt something stirring deep within.

Something she had tried to deny all this time.

Her love for him…

"Nah, it's alright. We'll make more friends once we get to college anyway. I'm tired of all these immature idiots. They all act like kids, don't they?"

"Christopher…"

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