Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My luggage wasn't much, just a suitcase and a laptop. This place was so run-down that I thought I had been sent to the middle of nowhere. Among the low houses, the eighteen-story building stood out conspicuously. From about the seventh floor upwards, it hadn't been renovated. It looked like an unfinished sketch.

There wasn't even a security guard downstairs. An old beggar sat at the entrance, shaking his head. When he saw me, he was shocked. "This place is haunted, young lady. You shouldn't live here."

"It's fine. I'm so poor, even ghosts would pity me. If I move in, it'll be the ghosts who'll be disturbed," I replied with a kind smile and then carried my luggage into the rusty elevator.

The elevator doors closed heavily, like a coffin lid closing, making me shudder. The apartment was on the fourth floor. Although the exterior was dilapidated, the interior was surprisingly new, with some basic furniture. There was even a faint chemical smell.

Looking at the empty apartment, I felt a mix of bitterness and amusement. How had I ended up like this? I tossed my luggage aside and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, it was already evening. The sky was darkening, and I felt a sense of abandonment, as if the whole world had left me behind. My stomach growled. I picked up my phone to order takeout, only to be greeted by angry messages from my ex-boyfriend.

"It's just ten thousand dollars. Do you have to make such a fuss? You're even threatening to sue me. People like you deserve to get hit by a car!"

"Anyway, I don't have the money. At worst, I'll kill you and go down with you."

"Not replying, huh? Have you already called the police?"

I had a headache. I didn't desperately need the money, but my uncle was critically ill and needed it urgently. Since my parents passed away, he was my only family left. I set the messages to "Do Not Disturb" and went to look for instant noodles, only to find there was no hot water. It never rains but it pours.

No problem, I could eat them dry. As I chewed, I suddenly felt something was off. There was a rustling sound above me, and I froze. The already dim light flickered a few times before going out completely. The air filled with a strong smell of blood, and thick blood oozed from the gaps in the floor tiles.

I hadn't even swallowed the dry noodles when I felt a cold touch on my hand. Looking up, I saw a woman's head hanging from the old ceiling fan, spinning slowly with a thin line of blood trailing down. There was an eerie silence for a few seconds, then the sound of flesh squirming came from all directions.

I grabbed the dry noodles and jumped onto the sofa. Most of the flesh came from the kitchen and bathroom, forming a roughly human shape in front of me. The head from the ceiling fan jumped down to complete the final piece of the puzzle.

I stared in shock, mechanically chewing the dry noodles in my mouth. "Ma'am, do you need help?" I tried to break the silence.

She didn't speak, perhaps a bit shy. I felt it was my responsibility to explain the situation to her. "I'm not a normal person. No, I mean, I am a normal person, but I've seen many like you. You don't need to scare me on purpose. I guess you could say I'm half a friend of the Ghost Realm."

I sensed a bit of confusion from her broken body. The light came back on, revealing a beautiful woman in her thirties with long hair down to her waist, wearing a white nightgown.

"I don't welcome you," she said in a strange voice, hissing slightly.

"There's nothing I can do. I've paid the rent. If you really can't stand it, you could talk to the agent," I suggested kindly.

She couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears. "You're not human. You have no sympathy. Do you know how miserable I am?"

And so, she began pouring out her sorrows for three hours. To be honest, I didn't catch much of it except that she was from my hometown. I couldn't get a word in edgewise.

I've heard many ghost stories, and I had to work tomorrow. Realizing this, I decided to interrupt her. "Lady Ghost, as a ghost, you should be more carefree. God once said..."