’Wait, wait, wait…’
Staring at the notification in front of me, I was left stunned for the briefest of moments.
However, I quickly snapped out of it and pressed [yes].
Ding—
[Requirements for haunting not met. Please try again.]
The ball reappeared in my hand again.
“….???”
What sort of bullshit was this? It had clearly asked me just a moment ago if I wanted to haunt or not.
And yet, it was now telling me that the requirements hadn’t been met?
I quickly opened the chat box and typed.
’What are the requirements for haunting someone?’
Pressing enter, I waited for an answer. I really hoped for a response. Each passing second stretched on endlessly, dragging for what felt like forever.
But then…
[You must have direct contact with the target.]
Direct contact with the target?
“Wait, does that mean that I have to meet them directly and interact with them in order to haunt them?”
My heart sank.
How in the world was I going to interact with the CEO of Nova Studios?
’…No, it’s not entirely impossible. I could just approach them directly, ask for a meeting, and say I’m interested in working with them. But before committing, I’d like a tour of the studio and a look at how things operate there.’
This seemed like an appropriate approach. But at the same time, it also felt a little troublesome.
It would mean that I’d have to travel again.
Musing over the situation for the next few minutes, I had a sudden thought and typed it in the chat box.
’Are interactions through video call acceptable?’
Pressing enter, I waited yet again for an answer.
This time, I received my answer not too long after.
[Yes, it is acceptable.]
“Yes!”
I clenched my fist and pumped it in the air.
This made things so much easier for me.
Taking out my phone, I scrolled through my emails and found the email from Nova Studios. I tapped on their address and started a new email.
This time, I explained that after doing some research, I’d decided to give them a chance. I expressed my interest in having an interview with the CEO to discuss my potential future at the company, and that I wanted a direct call to talk things through in more detail.
“This shouldn’t be too bad, right?”
I looked at the mail. It looked pretty formal.
’It does look a little desperate, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not really planning on entering a studio like that. I’ve already suffered too much at my old studios.’
In fact, thinking about them, I wondered how they were doing.
Nonetheless, this was something for me to check out later. I was already wasting too much time on this stuff.
It was time that I got my seven hours of sleep.
I thought about doing eight, but that was simply too much.
“Alright.”
Standing up from my desk, I packed up my stuff and left the office.
***
The next day.
A strange scene occurred at the Guild early in the morning.
Going to the gym early in the morning was a normal routine for Guild members. They didn’t just do it to build stamina. The higher their rank, the more essential it became to strengthen their bodies.
The stronger the body, the more power one could extract from a node.
Kyle, Zoey, Rowan, Myles, and several others arrived early that morning, as usual, ready for their daily workout.
But today, an odd figure appeared.
“…Am I seeing things?”
“Most likely a ghost.”
“It is a ghost.”
Kyle and the others had to double-check to see if they were seeing things. However, even when they rubbed their eyes and saw him still standing before them, they realised that they were really not seeing things.
“What?”
Pausing at the entrance of the gym and staring at the others, Seth frowned. Why was everyone looking at him so weirdly?
In the end, it was Kyle who approached him.
“What are you doing here? Are you looking for me?”
“…No?”
Seth shook his head. He didn’t really need anything from him.
Kyle’s expression faltered for a moment as he looked around before pausing his gaze on Zoey.
“Then do you need something from her?”
“No?”
“Rowan?”
“…No?”
“My—”
“I’m here to exercise. I’m not here to look for anyon—”
“….!”
“….!?”
“Impossible!”
Seth paused upon seeing the expressions that everyone was giving him. Kyle in particular looked as though he had seen a ghost as he moved forward, trying to reach for his forehead.
“Stay still for a moment, Seth. I’m trying to see if you’ve got a fever.”
“No, stop. I’m fine. Just stop.”
Moving away from Kyle, Seth looked at everyone strangely.
“What’s so weird about me wanting to exercise? I just thought it was good for my health.”
“That’s….”
Kyle covered his mouth, mumbling things to himself, ’This doesn’t make sense? Seth caring about his health? Is the world ending?’
He spoke in a voice loud enough for Seth to hear.
In the end, Seth turned his gaze away from Kyle and moved toward the nearest machine.
Taking out his phone, he checked it.
’This should be a bench press machine, right?’
He wasn’t really sure.
This was the first time he had seen it. However, looking at the bar and the weights by the side, he felt that this was what he was looking for.
“Wait, you’re seriously not lying when you said you wanted to exercise?”
“Why would I be?”
Seth sat down on the bench and leaned back, pressing his palms against the metal bar.
As he did, Kyle’s head popped up from above.
“What are you doing?”
“…I’m spotting you. As a first timer, it can be pretty dangerous if you do this without someone supervising you.”
“Oh.”
Seth nodded and pulled the bar up before bringing it down.
“Try doing ten repetitions. If it doesn’t feel heavy, we can increase the weights.”
“Sure…”
Seth brought the bar down and followed Kyle’s instructions. In a matter of twenty seconds, he was already done with ten and put the bar back.
“So? How was it?”
“…Kind of light.”
No, more than light, he didn’t feel anything at all.
“Not bad. Then we can add a bit more weight. Let’s add five kilos on each side.”
“…Okay.”
Kyle grabbed the 5kg weights and put them on each side. He then positioned himself behind the bar like before.
“Try again. If it’s too much, we can stop here.”
“…Mhm.”
Seth tried again.
But…
Nothing.
He didn’t feel anything at all.
It was almost as if he were lifting air.
“Nothing? Not bad. You’re stronger than I thought. Let’s try adding 10kg on each side.”
“Okay.”
Kyle added 5kg on each side again, and Seth started again.
Even then…
He felt nothing.
It was still incredibly light.
“The hell?”
It had gotten that even Kyle was surprised.
“You’re stronger than you look.”
It wasn’t like what Seth was lifting was heavy, but for someone who had never exercised before, this was impressive.
“Should I increase it?”
“…Yes.”
15kg on each side.
“Still nothing?”
“…Nothing.”
20kg on each side.
“Now?”
“….”
25kg on each side.
“….?”
“….”
30kg on each side.
“….”
“….”
Before Kyle and Seth knew it, the bar now had 40kg on each side. Neither of the two said a word while the others in the gym had also stopped to stare in their direction.
None of them could believe what they were seeing.
This included Seth as he stared at the bar in front of him.
’I’m feeling it a little bit more now, but since when did I become so strong?’
He may have been a newbie, but he wasn’t stupid enough to not see that the weights he was benching were ridiculous for someone who had just started.
Was this because he had reached the Second Order?
Did reaching the Second Order make his body stronger?
…Or was it something else?
Something like…
’Could it be related to my Decree?’
Was it possible that the Shephard Decree didn’t just stop at allowing one to collect anomalies, but also absorb their properties?