Chapter 1: Prologue

*Sigh*

"I guess I should be honest with you..."

"My name is Vulcan Joseph, 20. I'm 184 cm (6' 0"), but I sometimes lie and say 195 (6' 4''). I am also an engineer and blacksmith. I weigh around 72 kg (159 lbs) and have blood B, hmmm..."

"Oh yeah. The love of my life died two years ago to a ghost called Finger Bearer which eats gross red fingers, according to a white-haired weirdo. Since then I have been looking for fingers that look gross enough for that guy to come home for a snack."

After stopping, the old man in a blue uniform next to Vulcan spoke, "You do realize... you know what, never mind." The policeman gave up on his thoughts as he looked at the young man while sweating.

"Officer, please. Just because I ask my neighbors if they've seen a ghost does not mean I mean anything negative to them. I swear on my beautiful racecar, her name is Sapphire by the way." Vulcan responded after the officer with a big smile.

The old officer felt his veins were about to burst and yelled out, "Shut up already! Damn. My body can't take this... Just go home and don't let me hear about this bullshit about ghosts again! You hear me!!"

Picking up his black jacket, Vulcan replied, "Yes sir, you won't hear nonsense from me..."

After a pause, he continued.

"Maybe the ghosts will say it instead. Hahaha!"

After picking up his jacket, Vulcan sprinted to the station doors which lead to the exit.

"DAMN YOU!" That was all Vulcan heard after he opened the door and felt the sunshine on his skin.

The sun was still up despite it being 7:30 PM on Vulcan's phone.

"Damn, what a cranky old man, his poor wife has to deal with him daily." Shaking his head with fake sadness, Vulcan started heading home while scratching his head of short red hair.

Waiting for the pedestrian light to change from red, Vulcan started thinking back to the night his lover died.

He knows he sounds crazy when talking about ghosts, but at the time, that was all there was as an explanation.

Vulcan remembered clearly that the ghost was shaped like a humanoid with completely white skin and black lines on its ugly head. It looked like something from a nightmare.

That night she was murdered, Vulcan realized people barely noticed since they were both considered nobodies in society. She was marked off as a missing person since there was no body, blood, or anything left behind.

*Sigh*

After a long sigh, Vulcan started talking to himself while crossing the road, "I wish I could fix my mistakes..."

"Even if I can't save her, I wish I could've at least taken her place or died with her."

"This world has no joy for me except forging weapons that will never be stronger than government-issued weapons since we live in a modern world where swords are useless."

"Maybe I should just see if ending it all could help me reach her in the afterlife, if there is one..."

*Sigh*

"No. I can't do something like that, it's worse than cursing myself."

Feeling his conviction strengthen, Vulcan yells, "The reason I am still here is...!"

"Revenge!"

For the last couple of years, Vulcan has been researching ghosts and the supernatural, to try and find a connection, but he failed to find anything.

Focusing back on the present, he noticed the sun already set and it was nighttime.

Walking past an alleyway, Vulcan hears something unusual.

*Bzzzzz* *Bzzzzz* *Bzzzzz* *Bzzzzz*

Turning his head, Vulcan saw something shocking.

On the floor was a dark red finger with a disgusting wrinkling pattern covering it, leading to a sharp, long black fingernail.

"What the hell? Can that thing really be..?" Vulcan could not help but reach his hand and pick up the disturbing finger.

"...A gross red ringer?"

Vulcan started to prick his index finger on the black fingernail, causing his own finger to bleed.

"Whew, this is either some crazy prank or something else."

Seeing the blood dripping down his finger, Vulcan started to feel dizzy, "What's happeni-"

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*Bleghh*

Vulcan threw up in the alleyway, instantly noticing a change in his body.

Putting his hand to his chest, he said, "My heartbeat is going crazy fast. What is happening..."

Trying to calm down, Vulcan took deep breaths.

However, he started to hear steps, which interrupted his thoughts.

...

"Hihihihi"

Vulcan felt something strange, a feeling of dread coming from that unknown voice, Vulcan quickly asked:

"Who's there?"

Looking behind him, Vulcan was shocked to see a white face with black lines on its head. The face was instantaneously a few centimeters away from Vulcan's own, causing him to yell reflexively:

"AH! YOU! IT'S YOU!"

His face started becoming filled with rage and his hands were shaking in fury. Vulcan was pissed, this was the face of the person, or rather thing, who murdered his lover. It was the thing that made his life hell for the last two years.

It was the thing Vulcan was waiting for. This time, he wasn't planning on standing still.

"TAKE THIS!" Swinging his fist at the head of the ghost, Vulcan noticed something wrong quickly.

His fist did not connect. Or rather, it was gone...

Again, the thing laughed, "Hihihihi"

Then, intense pain hit Vulcan's brain.

"AHHH! SHIT! DAMN YOU! FUCK! THAT HURTS WAY TOO MUCH!"

Blood was spurting everywhere on the ground, and Vulcan fell to the ground clutching his right shoulder, the place where his arm was previously connected to.

Gritting his teeth, he stared at the creature with hatred. He was feeling all the pain he previously went through, and started crying. The pain of the past was far worse than losing his arm.

Other than the feeling of pain, adrenaline, and anger Vulcan was feeling, there was something else bubbling. Something dark inside of him, which was completely foreign, like energy that corrupts someone, it was waiting to come out.

Still, only tears of rage and regret were all that showed on Vulcan's face.

This time, the thing smiled while laughing, "Hihihihi!"

Hearing the laugh, Vulcan tried to calm his thoughts, he realized the creature was playing with him.

"I should've brought a gun, no wait, police would have arrested me for that. Doubt it would have worked anyway against you."

The creature seemed to understand what Vulcan was saying and smiled, showing its giant yellow teeth, screaming with pleasure, "Hehahihohihihiha!"

...

"Laugh all you want, but I am not letting you live longer than me without making you suffer a little, clown bastard..." Vulcan then released his left hand from his right shoulder, picking up the dark red finger once more.

The thing was not focusing on Vulcan, so he tried to get its attention by yelling at it, "BASTARD! THIS IS FOR HER!"

At that moment, Vulcan shoved the gross red finger down his throat and swallowed without resistance.

The creature was not laughing anymore, and instead had a look of surprise, then anger.

"Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm. Tasty! Sorry little buddy I couldn't save any for yo-"

Vulcan couldn't finish his sentence...

He felt like the time around him completely stopped and the world became gray.

It was at this moment Vulcan could instantly tell, his heart had stopped beating.

...

This is where Vulcan Joseph died, and also where the strongest Cursed Forging Technique was awakened.