"Hoo-hoo-ha-ha-I...I, I'm not dead?"
As if awakened from a nightmare, Surya opened his eyes again.
Gasping for air he could smell it literally scented with gulmohar blossoms flowing freely into his lungs.
He was now lying on the ground in a twisted posture. The white shirt on his body was soaked with cold sweat, sticky and uncomfortable to the core.
The warm evening light bathed the gulmohar forest that were still in full bloom.
The sun hadn't gone down the mountain yet.
Looking around, that mysterious small clay diya and the terrifying headless student were nowhere to be seen too.
Not far away, there were two high school students, one boy and one girl walking home together who were standing there looking at Surya with surprise and bewilderment.
They whispered a few words to each other, then held hands and left quickly.
"That was weird. But then again, a student with a brain is much better than a student without a brain."
Surya pretended to be calm and got up from the ground, remain expressionless as he patted the dust and gulmohar petals off his clothes.
Compared to before entering the game world from this checkpoint, he now had a scroll in his hands.
It look very ancient and dilapidated.
It was the companion starter item he had just selected in the game the incomplete manuscript of "Panchmukhi Art."
Seeing that the two high school students who had just passed by had already walked away far from him, and there was no one around, Surya tried to form the Vajra hand seal.
Crackling...crackling...
Blue arcs like static electricity gathered around his fingertips flickering continuously in his hand.
The lightning art manifested again!
Although it was a severely weakened version.
But this alone was enough to prove that the game was not simple.
Not only could the knowledge gained in the game can be used in reality, even the skills learned could be used in real life.
"Perhaps this 'Bhoot Katha' game truly is a blessing for me as a Transmigrator."
Surya stopped the lightning technique and once again felt mental exhaustion and fatigue beginning to put a toll on him.
Shaking his head, he carefully put the torn scroll of "Panchmukhi Art" into his bag, intending to study it again when he got home that evening.
He then picked up his phone and saw the bright red word "DEAD" on the screen.
"What kind of garbage game design is this? Placing a completely unbeatable monster right next to the newbie spawn point. I don't know who designed this, it's just plain stupid."
Surya tapped the phone screen with an unhappy expression while cursing.
A popup appeared suddenly appeared on his screen.
[The Substitute Doll has been consumed. Current stock of paper dolls: 0. Refresh time: 12 hours.]
"Substitute Doll?"
Surya looked down and found there was an extra palm-sized white little paper figure.
The paper figure's head was drooping low it looked so fragile that it seemed as if it was about to separate from the torso.
"Did this thing die for me once?"
"Thanks, brother."
Surya picked up the paper figure, looked at it for a while with clear gratitude, and then silently put it in his pocket.
Afterwards, he clicked on the phone screen again, and the text prompt disappeared, and then he began to navigate to his [Personal Information] status page.
[Name: Surya]
[Strength: 3]
[Agility: 4]
[Physique: 3]
[Charm: 8]
[Spirit: 0]
[Passive Skills: None]
[Active Skills: Panchmukhi Art (Incomplete)]
"Besides being good-looking, I am seem to be nothing special." Surya shook his head helplessly. "But, what's the use of high charisma in this game? Charming and fucking ghosts?"
After closing [Personal Information], the [Start Game] button reappeared again.
It seems that "Bhoot Katha" allows you to start the game without a substitute doll.
But Surya naturally would not press the start button naturally and immediately quit the game: "I would better wait patiently for now. I will be a brave man again in 12 hours."
This game is so weird. If I die in the game without a Substitute doll, would I really die in it? If so who can I complain to then?
Surya thinking about this put his cell phone in his pocket and left the campus along the school road covered with fallen gulmohar petals.
…
As the sun sank below the horizon, the streetlights lit up dimly slowly.
At around 6:40, Surya arrived at a convenience store near the school.
On one side of the counter, a sausage grill spun quietly, and samosas bubbled in hot oil.
On the other side, chewing gum and magazines were neatly stacked.
This is where Surya works part-time for now.
The store manager is not here today.
There is only a young and sturdy male clerk in the store who is counting the inventory of items.
Surya remembers this male clerk from his memory of his predecessor it seem to be ... Sharma ...something?
What is Sharma's first name though?
Never mind, it does not matter anyway.
"Hey, Surya, you are just on time." Sharma greeted enthusiastically and very naturally patted Surya's shoulder.
Bang!
The moment Sharma's hand was about to reach Surya, a faint blue electric arc exploded violently from his body startling him.
The sturdy shop assistant was so frightened that he trembled and hurriedly stepped back: "What...what was that?"
"It's just static electricity." Surya glanced at his shoulder.
He didn't consciously form the Vajra hand seal. The charge was probably just residual energy from the previous lightning technique.
"Can static electricity be this bright..." Sharma scratched his head. "Besides, it's spring now, right?"
"Oh, then it's not static electricity it is a divine power of mine that transcends natural laws of the universe, and your mortal mind."
Sharma stared him for a second.
"Haha, Surya, you're really funny."
"Indeed." Surya smiled casually at Sharma, then went to the staff room to change into his work uniform.