Up on the rooftops
"Any luck?" Kain asked, his voice sharp and cold
"Negative." Reyna replied,holding some type of scanner if some kind. " I've scanned the entire area but still no luck. I managed to get a reading though, its definitely in this area of the city, we shouldn't have a hard time finding it"
Kain, didn't respond. He just stood there, arms folded,eyes focused on the pedestrians below
"Something wrong" Reyna asked,concerned
Kain took a deep breath,before replying
"It's nothing much but...Why do I get the feeling that something big is about to unfold"
....
Adam hastily ascended the stairs, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. He threw himself against the door to his apartment.
The moment he twisted the doorknob, it snapped with a sharp crack, and the door swung open.
"What the hell is happening to me" he thought, the door behind him.
He sat at the door, taking in deep breaths as he absorbed everything that has just happened
"Did I... Reincarnate or something?" he asked himself " I could've sworn I just got eaten alive."
He tried to recall everything that happened at the alley, how the ghost had attacked them and in the last few moments,it swallowed him whole
" Nah,that was definitely real"
Adam couldn't keep his head straight, confusion was setting in as he kept asking himself, "How is this possible?"
That was when he heard a bang at the door
"Oi, kid! Open up!" a furious voice barked from the other side of the door.
It was the landlord.
Not wanting to anger the man more than he already was, Adam cracked the door open just enough to peek his hesitant face through the narrow gap.
"Quit playing around and open the damn door!" the landlord snapped, slamming a boot into it. The door burst open, knocking Adam back a step.
"I'm not in the mood for fun and games, you got that?" he growled, looming over Adam.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"Oi, what the hell happened to you? You get mauled by a stray cat or something? Why's your skin so pale? Are you sick?"
"N-no, I'm not. It's just tha—"
"Shut it. I don't give a crap what happened. Oh, you even dyed your hair now? Looks like you've got money to waste, huh?" He scoffed, already turning away.
"I don't care. Just get me my rent before you drop dead or something. You've got until this weekend."
"B-but—"
Adam didn't even get the chance to explain.
The landlord stormed out, slamming the door so hard the frame rattled.
"Damn it" Adam cursed
He had just been through the most horrifying experience in his life and his boss comes to say this, like he didn't even care about his well-being.
It was bad enough always getting yelled at by Mr. Brook, now he had to deal with this man as well
'Why are they so damn angry all the time' he thought, getting off the floor
Rushing to the bathroom, he went to look in the mirror and couldn't believe his eyes. Rubbing his hand through his hair, he now knew why his boss thought he'd dyed it.
His once black hair was different, it was completely white, almost snow-white.
Either way, Adam decided to check on something more important. The message he had received.
Thinking about the message,it appeared in front of him
[Congratulations, you have been cursed with the ghost system]
>Host: Adam Cole
>Race: Ghost
The word echoed in his mind. He rubed his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming
"G-Ghost? What the hell?" He reread the text again, still unsure what all of this meant
The message quickly disappeared, and a new one took its place
< Stats>
*Agility—15
*Strength—10
*Stamina—10
* Ghost Sense—3
*Permeation: allows users to phase through obstacles. Excessive use depletes stamina. Duration: 0.8 seconds
'What is all this? Stats? Skills? Is this... Like a game?' he thought to himself
Adam wasn't too fond of video games,but he'd played a few every once in a while at the arcade, so he wasn't unfamiliar with such words
"Strength 10? Am I really that weak"
Given his physique,it made sense. Adam wasn't very strong and he didn't need the system to tell him that. After all,his skinny arms told the whole story
However, he still had questions he needed answers to.
Then, Adam thought back to the alley, that ghost, it didn't look like anything he'd seen or heard on the news before. Although it had the abilities of regular ghosts—being able to phase through some attacks, but something was definitely off about that particular one. Why was is constantly distorting that way? Ghosts usually have a definite form
Then there was the part it devoured Adam. First it completely consumed him,and the next thing Adam is lying there on the floor with barely a scratch on him
"The way it's limbs flickered, the way it's body was constantly shifting in space..." Adam placed his hand on his chin
He didn't know what that thing was,but it definitely had something to do with what Adam had currently become
*Ding!
A familiar ding rang in his head
>You have received your first quest<
[ You've crossed into forbidden territory. Your body is mutating . Level up quickly...or face the consequences ]
Adam had no clue what this was, but with the part that said "level up quickly", he had a brief idea what this meant.
If this system was like the video games he used to play, that meant he would gain exp after every opponent he defeated and once it reaches 100, he'd probably level up
What he didn't understand was this corruption bar that just appeared. He hadn't seen it in any of those games he played, nor had he ever heard of something like this
However,he was more intrigued by the thought of the reward he'd get after completing the quest. He tried to guess what the reward might be. Stat boosts? Items?
Whatever it was, if he was going to get punished from not completing this quest, he didn't want to sit there and wait to find out the consequences