Chapter 01: The Aftermath Begins

Bump, Rattle. Bump, Rattle.

Inside the carriage returning to my hometown, as I gazed upon the uneventful scenery passing by, I looked back on my somewhat regretful life.

My current name was Deus Verdi, the second son of a noble family that rules the North Whedon region of the North.

However, if you were to ask for my original name…

It would be Kim Shin-woo; I was a 25-year-old young man living in South Korea. I graduated from university, completed my military service, and worked for a company, all the while being able to see ghosts.

I may have seemed ordinary, but in reality, I was not.

Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers were shamans. My grandmother, who was particularly revered and powerful, left me with these words:

-Your spiritual power is too strong. If you're not going to walk the shaman's path, it'll ruin you.

My mother, who had always been tormented by her own mother's shamanism, naturally didn't believe it, but that was a mistake.

Could a boy who had spent his entire life seeing dead people really have normal emotions?

Can you be sane when your classmate, who died in an accident the day before, strangles you when you return to school, asking why you’re ignoring her?

Will you not be traumatized if you see a person who died after falling from his apartment just a few days ago, climb up your room’s window every night and says he wants to live?

Thanks to that, my emotions faded, as if worn out. No, to be precise, my emotions didn't fade because I lived like this, instead, they became like this in order for me to continue living.

Why did someone like me become Deus Verdi, whose name only appeared in the game 'Retry'?

I didn't know. 

I thought it was just some ghost's prank as usual, but after living here for about six months, it seemed like it wasn't.

During those six months, a lot happened; I learned aristocratic speech and manners, and even the understanding of magic became essential.

Though not everything that Deus had achieved disappeared; The understanding and application of his magic remained within me, so it didn't take long to adapt.

If you ask whether Deus was a genius, the answer was absolutely not. He was not dull, but he was not exceptional either.

Just… he had enough to remain as the second son of a Count; Even though he was a man with a lot of gossips, the so-called bad deeds.

Anyway, I'd hoped I would become more ordinary now that I had become Deus. I thought my damn eyes that could see ghosts would disappear… but they didn't.

Also, funnily enough, the game was set in a medieval fantasy world of swords and magic. The number of ghosts in sight here was far more than in the Republic of Korea.

["Hehe, the scenery is beautiful, isn't it?"]

For example, I was the only person riding in the personal carriage sent by my family. But before I knew it, a ghost of a lady sitting on the other side was talking to me with a smile.

“…….”

[Oh my, can't you at least answer me?]

I didn't bother to answer.

My grandmother told me countless times that it's not good behavior to talk to the dead.

In reality, it was also rare for me to have a good experience after being involved with them.

[You see me, don't you?]

The ghost lady suddenly stood up and came towards me.

'Damn it.'

Earlier, I could only see her right side from where I sat, but as she approached me, I could see the side which had burns all over it, as if she had been burned alive.

I almost closed my eyes at the ghastly sight, but I was able to keep some composure in the end... 

Perhaps because even though it was a gruesome sight even among ghosts, I was already somewhat used to such things.

[Look at me.]

I slowly made eye contact with the ghost who stuck her face close to mine, and her lips stretched wide in delight.

I spoke in a low voice so that the coachman my family sent to drive me back home wouldn't hear me.

"Please have a seat."

[Oh my, now you're showing courtesy after ignoring me?]

"I wasn't ignoring you."

[You weren't ignoring me?]

"I was being considerate."

[...Are you saying you were being considerate?]

The lady ghost who sat across from me at my request, tilted her head, and asked. 

I saw her left half again, which was of a beautiful middle-aged woman, but on the opposite side, her eyes were twisted due to burns, her skin was taut and pus was oozing out of it.

“I thought you wanted to be invisible.”

[....]

“Because I also don’t want anyone to see my ugly side.”

[Oh.]

"But you have a beauty that goes beyond that. It's a beauty that doesn't feel ashamed of its weaknesses. A beauty worth being proud of."

"[Are you flirting with me?]"

"I'm just saying what I feel."

"[...Thank you.]"

The blushing ghost disappeared. It wasn't because she was angry. Anger was not that easy to come by.

She probably left because she was satisfied with the conversation.

"Huh."

And this was my way of dealing with ghosts. Not hitting and fighting for no reason.

I say what they want to hear; I have the conversations they want to have and give them the comfort they want to feel.

"Life is really funny."

I stared blankly at the spot where the ghost lady previously sat with my tongue tingling like I was chewing on bitter herbs;

I was living with dulled emotions because of them.

But here I was, soothing their wounds and empty hearts.

.

.

.

.

.

.  

“Wow.”

As she looked around her newly acquired laboratory, Professor Perr couldn't help but smile. 

Why wouldn't she? The spacious laboratory was clean and tidy, with furniture arranged harmoniously.

"Is it really okay for me to use this place?"

Professor Perr, who was hired due to a sudden staff vacancy, assumed she would be given a small and cramped room as her workplace.

But Erica Bright smiled kindly and nodded her head at Professor Perr's seemingly surprised reaction.

"Of course. We have to provide this much for Professor Perr who came to us at such short notice."

"No, thank you for accepting me as I am."

Perr was, in fact, a professor at another academy. She was also quite capable, and when it came to human body magic, she was a genius unrivaled in the current era. The reason why she suddenly came to the Robern Academy was because of a power struggle within the previous academy she worked at; Perr had no interest in the professor politics within the academy, so she hadn't joined any faction as a result and solely focused on her research, but she suddenly found herself unemployed during the critical time when new students were coming in.

Feeling frustrated with no place to continue her research and no support, Perr was immediately attracted to Erica Bright's offer and joined the Robern Academy.

"There may still be belongings left by the previous professor."

"Ah, I'll take care of that! I don't really like it when anyone touches things in my lab."

“Yes, in that case, you can just fill out the lecture plan and send it to us. Since time is tight, you can refer to what you used at the previous academy.”

"Sure! Thank you!"

Erica left with a gracious smile. 

Watching her leave, Perr let out a deep sigh.

"She's really pretty."

Erica had well-managed, beautiful blonde hair and a figure no less than that of a model. Her smile was as bright as sunshine and she behaved in restrained manners. On top of that she even had a considerate personality.

Perr looked at herself in the full-length mirror in the lab, thinking she wanted to be just like Erica.

But what greeted her was a short girl with messy pink hair not properly managed, poking out here and there. And pale skin that lacked sunlight because of always being stuck in the lab with overly plump breasts which distorted her body's proportions even further.

The mirror reflected her tongue sticking out at herself, looking like she had brought in a homeless person from the street.

Perr had always disliked herself. She didn't have any intention of hiding it:

"The worst."

[The worst.]

"Huh?"

Something was strange. She felt like she heard her own voice again… that too from the mirror.

"I'm the worst."

She tried again just in case, but as expected, it was just her imagination and she didn't hear any sound.

"Am I not sleeping enough?"

Perr stretched and looked at her dark circles. She decided to just tidy up and get some rest today.

And the lecture plan?

'I could just use the one I'd planned to teach in the last academy.'

"At least I'll just need to transfer it to this format."

She thought she could finish it quickly and turned her body to tidy up, but...

"Hmm?"

She quickly turned back to the mirror.

"Something was strange just now?"

Since she showed her back, her back should have been reflected in the mirror, but strangely, she felt like the mirror was still showing her front.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

She moved around but the reflection in the mirror remained the same.

"Did the previous professor cast some kind of magic spell?"

She heard that the previous professor was dismissed. If a professor who was fired had done such a thing, then their character must have been quite questionable.

Perr reached out her hand and checked it carefully.

"It's not magic, is it?"

There was no magic, just an ordinary mirror that didn't even have a hint of mana.

"Hmm."

As Perr was pondering this strange situation and crossing her arms, a small girl's voice whispered in her ear.

[Where did you go?]

"Kyaa!!"

Startled, Perr quickly turned her head, but she was still alone.

"What, what is it?"

But the moment she wondered what the hell it was, this time, she heard the words clearly:

[Where are you!]

This time, a thunderous male shout was heard.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Startled, Perr immediately sat down and instinctively unleashed protective magic around her. 

[Where are you!] [Where are you!]

[Don’t throw us away! Don’t abandon us!] [Come here!] [Come back to me!] [I was wrong!] [I’ll kill you!] [No! I was wrong!] [Come, come to me!] [That's enough! ][Mommy!] [This is our land! My room!] 

[It's my room!] [You!] [You smelly bi*ch! Go away! Get out of here!] [Should I eat you?] [You can’t replace him.] [JUST GO AWAY!] [Why did you come here? Why? Why? Why? Why?]

No matter what magic she used, the voices didn't stop and continued to echo in her head.

[ Excuse me… umm… miss. ]

"Ah, ah!"

Perr with tears streaming down her face, slowly raised her head at the voice calling her.

A young girl with long black hair that covered the entire floor of the laboratory smiled at her.

As the young girl's hair gradually climbed up the wall and reached the ceiling, it began to envelop the entire room.

[Where did that person go?]

-Thud.

But with her eyes suddenly rolling and losing focus, Perr fainted with a dull 'thud' sound.

[TL: If you liked my translation, consider supporting me on Buymeacoffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/george.tl ]

Support Author

Join Discord