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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: I Was Supposed to Get Possessed, But I Possessed Instead (2)
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It's a common trope in web novels.
Getting hit by a truck and sent to another world, or reincarnating into the novel you were reading.
I thought those were just stories from books.
Until it happened to me.
"Why did this work?"
It had been about two hours since I woke up, maybe?
No clock, so I couldn't tell how much time had passed.
Let me calmly recap what happened...
"I shook the rattle, and then lightning struck..."
A bolt from a clear sky, no less.
When I first woke up, I thought I'd been fried to a crisp.
But the pain surging through my entire body vehemently proved I was alive.
Surviving a lightning strike was a stroke of luck.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my head throbbed like it was splitting open.
That was the real problem.
Unknown memories kept flooding in, making my head pound relentlessly.
"So... I'm Chris now, right?"
Why trust these sudden memories?
Because the face reflected in the nearby water was blatantly not mine.
Snow-white hair and blue eyes.
A face as pale as the hair.
Distinct features.
Other than my brown hair turning white, it matched the face of Chris from the memories exactly.
I lowered my head, and pain shot through my body again.
The lightning hadn't just hit my original body.
This Chris guy in the mountains had been struck too.
It wasn't my body, but the pain was the same.
"...This sucks."
I groaned as pain wracked my whole body.
Crack...
Stretching and loosening up, I pulled out the item tucked into my waistband and gripped it.
"This must be the rattle, huh?"
A thin rod about forearm-length, tinged blue—whatever it was made of.
Three blue bells of the same material dangled from it.
Probably the source of the sound I'd heard before the lightning.
"Some kind of isekai perk?"
Well, they gave a shaman a rattle instead of a status window, I guess.
Seeing ghosts, waking up in another world—it wasn't that surprising anymore. A mysterious-looking rattle suited my tastes perfectly.
Casually flicking my wrist to shake it, I froze stiff before the sound even rang out.
Flinch.
"Not another lightning bolt, right?"
One shake had already zapped me. Totally possible.
I glanced up.
The sky was ridiculously clear.
Not a single cloud.
Yeah, just like when the lightning hit.
"..."
One more strike, and maybe I'd go back to my original world?
Cautiously shaking the rattle once...
Ting...
I looked up immediately, but nothing happened.
"Yeah, lightning doesn't strike twice that easily."
Okay, fine. But damn, what a clear, beautiful sound.
Ting...
Ting...
Mysterious resonance.
Crystalline and pure—perfect words for it.
Ting...
Three bells, but one unified sound.
The tingling vibration in my hand was exquisite.
Ting...
Ting...
Ting...
Lost in it, shaking away, a mystical sensation washed over me.
"Holy shit..."
I was in the midst of receiving a spirit to become a proper shaman.
And the god connected to me didn't seem ordinary.
Ting...
Vast, gentle, warm.
Its presence swelled, making my mind reel.
I was sinking deeper into it.
My consciousness fading—
I abruptly stopped shaking the rattle.
That was as far as I could go for now.
"Hoo..."
Trying to receive a god and ending up with an isekai deity instead.
I knew I had a weird fate, but this?
"First... gotta head home."
Luckily, Chris's memories were intact.
Orphan who lost parents in the war.
Now an adult commoner making a living as a hunter.
No hero, no novel protagonist—just an ordinary guy.
That was Chris. Now me.
"Water first... Hm?"
Unlike my old world, the water was crystal clear.
My face reflected sharply, but something else was there too.
A monster with green skin and huge teeth.
"Fuck... you scared me..."
I whipped around, instinctively raising the rattle, but lowered my arm soon after.
"An orc...?"
Not a living one.
A ghost orc, precisely.
"What the hell... First ghost I meet in isekai is an orc spirit?"
Up close, it had strong spiritual energy.
Probably an orc who'd piled up serious karma.
"What're you staring at?"
Already stressed, and now an orc ghost on top of regular ghosts? Infuriating.
Do I see spirits even after possessing in isekai?
"Scram, will ya?"
No reaction despite several tries.
Just staring curiously.
Didn't even know it was visible.
Most ghosts were like that.
Humans not seeing them was normal.
I kindly pointed right at it.
"I said scram?"
- .....?
Finally realizing, the orc's eyes widened, pointing at itself dumbly.
Mumbling something, but no way it could communicate.
Not enough soul power to speak to the living.
"Quit screwing around and go. You can't talk anyway."
- ...
It gestured frantically, like it had some story.
"Ugh..."
A monster ghost—what could I even do to help?
"Tch... this damn fate..."
As I turned to ignore it, the orc slid right in front.
"Hey now?"
- .....
"Wanna taste the rattle?"
- .....
Raising it made the orc shrink back, sensing it wasn't ordinary.
"Beat it before I swing."
Truth was, I couldn't exorcise with the rattle yet.
If I could, why bother with rituals and talismans?
Wouldn't just smack ghosts with rattle and knife.
- @%$@%#&@
The orc followed anyway.
Facing me, sliding backward as I walked.
"Eww... Get lost! Hey, shoo!"
I swung the rattle like swatting a stray ghost.
Whoosh—
"I said scram!"
Whoosh—
Pain everywhere, just wanted to get home fast—unexpected result.
Smack!
Ting—
- &%$#@# !!!
"Whoa? Why'd it hit you?"
Clutching its head in agony—hurt like hell, apparently.
"Not an ordinary item after all... Anyway..."
Hit by the rattle, huh?
"Should've gone when I told you."
As I approached fiddling with it, the orc's eyes darted nervously.
"You're done for. Wait... you already are."
That was the start.
My first time beating a ghost.
Smack!!
Ting—
Thwack!
Ting—
"Hah! Begone, foul spirit!"
Years of shaman training paid off—looked pretty pro.
"Hah!"
Smack!!
"Nice!"
Smack!
- %@# !!!
Ting—
"Begone!! What, still not going?"
Rattle smashed into the orc's head repeatedly.
No holding back on arms or legs—a barrage, bells ringing.
Orc rolled on the ground, but refused to leave despite the beating.
"Haa... haa... whew... tiring."
23 years of my life.
Plus Chris's—47 years total.
Rarely this exhausted fighting a ghost.
"Stubborn bastard... Got a tenacious spirit..."
Exorcism like this, and it wouldn't detach.
"Haa..."
The orc looked even more desperate now.
What could a monster want so badly from a human?
"Ugh... fine, lead the way."
Looked like it'd follow until resolved.
Ghost obsessions weren't to be trifled with.
Popping up during sleep.
During bathroom breaks.
Constant staring—annoyingly persistent.
Finally permitted, the orc hurried off.
Step.
Step.
"Going pretty far."
Impatient with my slow pace, it slid around urging me.
"I'm even escorting you—move it or not?"
Bickering, we went deep into the mountains before I knew it.
Suddenly, the orc's face hardened, shooting toward one spot.
"Hey!!!"
Something urgent.
Ghosts reacting like that usually meant one thing.
Running after it, we reached an open clearing.
A cliff at the end, mountains visible beyond.
The orc pointed down from the cliff edge.
"Hah... Never thought I'd do this."
I rushed over, peered down.
Sure enough, the expected scene.
About half my size?
A young orc clung to a nearly snapping branch, dangling in midair.
"Kweeiiiik!!!!"