Chapter 3: The Abandoned Orphanage

"What a messy sight." Mikael's eyes swept his gruesome surroundings.

His gaze landed on the sleeping child, "I'm sure you'll be surprised when you wake up so, let's get you home, Little girl." he chuckled.

Once again, Mikael activated the Psychokinesis, intending to move the child to a safer place but the system notification popped up saying,

< ERROR. 'Living beings' is not included in the skill's current limit. >

"Oh… the system is strangely strict with its words, huh?"

Mikael decided to clean up the monster's corpse as he waited for the child to wake up.

"Well, if it's already dead there shouldn't be a problem."

With his remaining MP, He used his skill to fling the corpse into the forest.

The goblin corpse levitated from the ground before flying in an arc towards the thicket, its entrails dripping out as it did. But as soon as it landed, hungry beasts pounced on and ate it thus, leaving no evidence of Mikael's murder.

Curiously, as if sensing his presence, the beasts kept their distance and so, after the job was done, he clapped his hands together and floated beside the child to protect it.

Mikael gazed at the night sky.

The clouds slowly drifted by, revealing the silver moon and the numerous twinkling stars.

A gentle breeze swayed the tree leaves, disturbing the sleeping fireflies that glowed enchantingly as they danced to the tune of the crickets.

It was a very calming sight, but Mikael was troubled.

'It really is the same as Earth… how come it's also very different? Just where am I?'

At the break of dawn, the child stirred.

Her amber eyes fluttered open and with a confused expression, she uttered "where...?"

Then her eyes lowered to her scraped hands and bleeding knees and she remembered the terrifying figure of a laughing monster.

"How?"

She saw the aftermath of Mikael's fight – the splashes of blood and the bloody axe lying casually on the ground.

She looked around to find her savior, unaware that Mikael was floating right in front of her.

"Good morning, little girl." Mikael greeted the confused kid.

The girl's reaction was exactly like the goblin's.

As her head turned side to side in search of the speaker, Mikael showed his presence by making a nearby branch float.

"I'm here," he said.

The little girl's eyes widened, and she screamed on top of her lungs "g-ghost! Waaaaahh!"

The girl ran away, and Mikael was left scratching his head.

He might not have expected a word of thanks but not freaking out at the sound of his voice would have been nice.

"Well, it's not like I don't understand where she's coming from." Mikael sighed in resignation.

As the first rays of sunlight landed on the dew-tipped grass, Mikael stood dazedly in the open, but when the sunshine touched his ghost skin, incredible pain seared his body and the system issued a warning,

<Alert! Too much exposure to sunlight may lead to the destruction of the spirit core.

A system user with a destroyed core will be stripped of its 'Player' status and will be forcefully sent back to the Underworld.

Thus, it is recommended that the player take shelter to avoid the reduction in HP.>

Wisps of black smoke rose from his burnt skin as he escaped to the forest.

He arrived at a building in the middle of the woods.

It was an abandoned three-story orphanage with grimy marble floors, shattered windows, and red brick walls filled with creeping poison ivy.

And with it standing inside a gloomy forest, the place looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Gusts of wind continuously blew dead leaves toward the building, adding a spooky flair to its already haunted appearance.

"uwaaah… this place is scary… I wonder if there are other ghosts in there. They probably won't kick me out, right?"

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Mikael's eyes darted from window to window, searching for apparitions of angry ghosts who might not welcome the idea of sharing their home with him.

As he neared the entrance, Mikael grew even more nervous.

There were obvious signs of carnage in the walls of the orphanage. Drops of dried blood and even clumps of tangled hair could be seen stuck within the crevices of the brick walls.

'Talk about violent… maybe coming to this place was not such a great idea.'

Just as Mikael was about to turn back, he heard the faint sound of crying.

"huhuhu… mama… papa… save me… huhuhu."

A chorus of eerie sobs ensued.

"hunghh… save us…"

As he listened carefully, Mikael could distinguish at least 10 different voices coming from the third floor. He held himself as goosebumps erupted on his skin.

Gulp.

"A-are they ghost children?"

Despite being a ghost himself, Mikael hated the idea of meeting other spirits. He was okay in the underworld as the spirits there were rather clean and silent. Even the Hades Hotel, aside from its nasty skeleton staff, was luxurious.

Compared to the underworld hotel, this orphanage was way creepier.

"H-Hello?"

Mikael peeked through the shattered windows.

The third floor was dark – too dark to see anything clearly from the outside so Mikael braced himself and passed through the walls while whispering, "Pardon the intrusion…"

Inside were rows of beds with dusty covers and rolled-up blankets. On top of some pillows were baby dolls with pink lips and chubby cheeks. On others were teddy bears with button eyes dangling from loose threads.

Guruggurug…

The howl of winds rattled the windows and fluttered the white curtains, creating an even more sinister aura.

"huhuhuhu…."

Again, the sound of crying echoed across the walls.

Mikael followed the sound and found another door at the end of the room. Afraid that he might trigger a territorial ghost, Mikael peeked inside the door with only half of his face passing through.

But what he saw inside was far from his expectations.

About twelve kids were cramped inside a cage meant for big animals. The children had skinny bodies full of bruises and the ones with enough energy continued to cry for help while the others laid on the floor, barely breathing.

Mikael felt anger boil inside him, 'who did such a horrible thing to these children?!'

He swooped inside and singled out the oldest of the group.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, his barely controlled anger slipping into his voice.

The boy immediately stopped crying and turned around. Of course, he couldn't see Mikael nor could others hear his voice as he could only communicate with one target at a time.

The boy asked the girl beside him, "Hey! Did you hear that?"

"What?...H-Hic.."

"That voice! Someone talked! Did you guys hear it?"

The other kids looked at him as if he had gone crazy. The youngest even bawled "UWAAAAAH!!! Don't scare me!"

"No, Seriousl—"

"Don't bother. Only you can hear me, anyway. So, tell me. Who did this to you?" Mikael asked impatiently.

He wanted to punish the one who captured the poor children and reduced them to such a state. As someone who volunteered in orphanages back when he was alive, Mikael had a soft spot for children and seeing them so miserable made him want to strangle the perpetrators.

Seeing the kid shrink in fear of his harsh tone, Mikael soothed the child "It's okay. I won't hurt you. In fact, I'm here to help so, can you tell me what happened?"

A sliver of hope glinted in the boy's eyes. If what the voice said was true then all of them could go home soon. The boy swallowed his saliva and whispered, "G-Goblins… downstairs."

"Got it." Mikael immediately dived through the floor – as a proper ghost should.

--Chapter end--

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