The Ghost's Desperate Flight
The official designation given by the Bureau of Bizarre Management for the anomaly in Tutorial (7) is <The Ghost That Laughs While Fleeing>. Before death, while still in the state of a vengeful spirit and before fusing with Essence to become an anomaly, its name was □■■. Upon becoming an anomaly, □■■ regained a portion of the consciousness and reason that had grown faint. Though it had been a vengeful spirit, it ultimately failed to resolve its grudge. The overflowing resentment and desire twisted upon becoming an anomaly, giving rise to its peculiar behavior: endlessly extending staircases and creating the anomaly phenomenon known as the Staircase Maze.
□□■ spent its days happily observing and mocking the people trapped in the anomaly phenomenon. That continued until it produced at least thirty-four missing persons and was finally captured by the Bureau. But on the day the Bureau collapsed so helplessly—
“Kihihihihit!!!”
—it managed to escape through the distorted isolation chamber door. The moment it was freed from the cramped cell, □■■ slipped into an abandoned building with few people around. Just like before, it created the Staircase Maze and waited for visitors, but—
“Kihiiing…”
No one came for a long while, and it was on the verge of going out of business. Still, craving attention, □■■ waited and waited until it finally received a guest.
“Yes, I’ll take care of it cleanly.”
“Mm-hmm! I trust our junior~”
Excited at the prospect of playing with someone after so long, it went to greet them at the door with a fluttering heart. But then—
“Let’s start with one good hit!”
—Whoosh!
This crazy human was swinging a terrifying bat right out in the open. Judging by the familiar clothing and equipment, it seemed they had come to drag it back to the isolation chamber. □■■ had no desire to relive that horrific time. So it tried to grab their arm and pull them into its advantageous space, but—
“K-Kihik?!”
“Life… no, ghost-life doesn’t always go the way you want, anomaly~”
Instead of being pulled, it nearly got dragged outside the emergency stairs.
“K-Kihiiiiit!!!”
Fortunately, the sweat from its tension let it barely slip free. For the first time in its anomalous existence, it felt genuine terror toward a living person. Yet the human didn’t stop there. Fearlessly stepping into its space, they began chasing after it with long strides.
□□■ observed the intruder cautiously. The opponent was slow enough that it could escape if it decided to run. Once it realized it held the advantage, its fear vanished and the desire to toy with them rose instead. So □■■ deliberately narrowed the distance and showed an opening.
—Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The human immediately took the bait. It fled at once, and the human panted helplessly.
“Kihihihihihit!!!”
It was fun. Convinced of its safety, it provoked them more boldly. After all, at that speed they would never catch it even if they chased forever. If things got a little dangerous, it could just turn its body and clothes into a spiritual form. With that thought, it approached dangerously close—
“Got you!”
“?!”
But nothing was caught. Was it trying to confuse it with a lie? The moment it put enough distance between them—
—Rip-rip-rip-rip!!!
“!!!”
Its clothes were torn off.
“…You said you wouldn’t let me off if I got caught, right?”
“Try running away if you can.”
“K-Kihihihit?!!!”
It tried to flee, but—
—Riiip!!!
Every time it tried, its skirt grew shorter and shorter. Yet if it didn’t run—
—Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
—that madman charging up the stairs would catch it.
“Kihiiiiiiing!!!”
Overwhelmed by extreme terror, □■■ was forced to make a drastic decision.
“Villain, my ass. If I’d messed up, that thing would’ve killed me.”
“I know.”
Until it was fully captured, complacency was forbidden. The moment it drew close—
—Whoosh!
“What?!”
The ghost had made its drastic decision.
“Huh? White—”
“Kihihihihihit!!!!!”
The instant it threw off its skirt and regained freedom, the ghost executed the legendary panty-run.
“What do you take me for?”
Even if my solo experience matched my age, I wasn’t starved enough to get excited over an ugly-looking anomaly. Still—
“Agh, you damn female-lover.”
You again?
“Um…”
Poor guy. Well, fair enough.
Since it was clothing, spiritualization was relatively slow, which was why the thread could still catch it. The question was how to catch it once both top and bottom were gone. My thoughts, however, were slightly different.
“Why would the clothes be gone? It still has underwear left, doesn’t it?”
While the gallery members were snickering—
—Peek.
“Wait right there.”
I headed straight toward the ghost that had appeared on the upper floor.
In the end—
“Kihiiiiing…”
After six more attempts, I succeeded in snatching the thread connected to its top as well. The lower half of the gray T-shirt had already vanished, and beneath the fluttering fabric, a white bra was faintly visible.
“Shut it. I’ll turn off vision sharing if you keep that up.”
Recognizing the pain in that comment, I didn’t press further. I needed to focus on the situation anyway.
“Let’s stop here and go nicely.”
“K-Kihit!”
“I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
But the ghost kept adjusting the distance and backing away.
—Riiip!
Each time, the T-shirt grew shorter, and the ghost desperately covered its underboob with its arms.
“What high school girl?”
“What?”
“But why did you guys give such a tough job to a high school girl? I heard community admins are like cyber janitors or something.”
In short—
“So all of you got wrecked by a high school girl?”
After lightly scratching the gallery members—
—Riiip!!!
“Kihit?!!!”
I kept pulling the ghost. As the thread unwound, the slight tugging force gradually dragged it closer. We drew nearer and nearer until finally—
—Whoosh!
“Wow, really?”
The ghost bit its lower lip and threw off its top as well.
It really didn’t want to get caught that badly. But—
“I’m not planning to let you go either!”
I reached out immediately. Even as I fell forward, something landed in my hand. What was this sensation? Hair? An arm? Or maybe an ankle? When I looked up—
“K-Kihiiiiit!!!”
There was the embarrassed ghost, and my hand—passing straight through its body—gripping its panties.
The underwear looked fragile, as if it would tear if I pulled any harder. Letting go now would mean releasing an anomaly I had already caught. But holding on—
The gallery members were spouting nonsense. In that moment of utter confusion, the ghost seemed to lack the courage to strip even that and flee. It collapsed on the spot.
“Kihiiiiing…”
Was it… crying? I grabbed its ankle with my other hand and activated the ‘Possibility’ ability in my mind. What I wished for was ‘to firmly hold the ghost’s ankle so it cannot escape.’
> [User’s earnest desire has been confirmed.]
> [Ability ‘Possibility’ is activating.]
Unlike before, there was no slipping. Then I carefully released my grip on the underwear.
“S-Sorry.”
Three seconds passed.
> [You have subdued the anomaly <The Ghost That Laughs While Fleeing>.]
> [The anomaly phenomenon <Staircase Maze> has been dispelled.]
Immediately after—
—Click!
“Juniorrr~!!!”
Senior opened the door and came in.
“Oh~? Why are you in that position~?”
Come to think of it, I was in a rather strange posture, holding the ghost’s ankle while pressed close to it.
“I’ve dispelled the anomaly phenomenon. Can I let go now?”
“No, not yet.”
“Huh?”
“The anomaly is still lively, right? If you let it go now, it might run away~”
The moment Senior finished speaking—
“Kihit! Kihitkihit!”
The ghost shook its head vigorously side to side. Then—
“K-Kihiii…”
With trembling hands, it removed its necklace and offered it to me.
“Oh my, that’s a core~?”
“This is the core?”
“Yep! Looks like it’s trying to surrender, just like the mimic earlier.”
Just like the mimic that had offered its core—its weakness—while begging to be finished off. So—
“Should I hit this like the mimic too?”
At that—
“Kihiiing!!!”
The ghost wailed as if pleading for mercy on that one thing. Well, no being would be happy about having its weakness smashed right in front of its eyes.
“Hmm~ For aggressive anomalies that don’t understand words, striking the core is important, buuut~ This one doesn’t seem to need that~?”
Nod nod.
“Hoo.”
It seemed to understand speech.
“Just keep it with you, junior~ It probably won’t rebel once it knows its weakness is in our hands~”
So I tried to put it in my pocket, but—
‘No, it might secretly take it back.’
I wore it around my neck instead. Fortunately, the length wasn’t too short. Then—
> [User has equipped ‘Vengeful Spirit’s Silver Necklace’.]
> [Effect: Agility +50 / Evasion Rate +10%]
‘Oh?’
The status window explained the additional effects as an item. Was it reflecting the ghost’s characteristics? Agility and evasion rate had increased.
‘Against monsters that can one-shot you, agility and evasion boosts are good.’
Suddenly, our anomaly seemed quite useful.
“Here.”
“Kihit?!”
Feeling sorry for the naked ghost, I took off my jacket and draped it over its shoulders.
“Well, Senior’s preparing the cage, so just wait wearing this.”
“K-Kihiiii…”
The ghost kept bowing its head as if grateful.
‘Why are you being so sorry.’
Even if it was an anomaly, I felt a bit guilty for doing something so awful, half willingly and half unwillingly. The vision-sharing comment section was also pointing out similar things while snickering. While Senior prepared the cage, I opened the gallery to turn off vision sharing. But at that moment, a strangely dark and murky energy spread up from the lower floor—
—Hoo-hoo-hoong~
A distorted humming echoed. And then—
The gallery members began sighing one after another.