Frank Newman. Many would describe him as a thug, but he always wanted more. He wanted to the be one of the big shots who got to make decisions.
So he had went behind his boss's back, and stole a portion of the income from his territory's profits. He used the money to expand his own forces and influence.
Directly contacting suppliers, setting up new trade routes, and gathering subordinates.
He thought things were going well when suddenly his compound was attacked. They tried to defend but the attackers had much better equipment than his forces. It didn't take long for all of Frank's men to be on the ground dead and Frank found himself being forced onto his knees.
Knowing that whatever was going on was out of his control he simply stayed still. Maybe he could convince them to let him live because of how smart he was, but he wasn't hopeful.
"Tsk tsk tsk.. Frank you always were like a wild dog."
Frank frowned. He recognized the voice. He raised his head and locked eyes with the man who spoke.
"Sigh... How long have you known, Gene?"
A large fat man in a suit walked towards Frank with a cigar in his mouth. Exhaling a cloud of smoke into Frank's face he let out a hollow laugh.
"Since the beginning."
It was then that another man slowly stepped into the room. When Frank saw him his pupils shook.
"Ethan? Don't tell me... You used the money I stole to take care of your siblings, but you were still going to betray me while reaping the benefits?"
Ethan had a blank expression on his face.
"I have to take care of my family. You know you can't go against Gene."
*spit*
Frank spit landed directly on Ethan's face.
"Fuck you. You think Gene gives a fuck about the people who have nothing? Pfft. He is going to turn this community into a slum and pump it full of drugs. Your younger siblings will be sleeping in alleys and collecting cans so they can afford another hit."
A man slammed the butt of his rifle into Frank's jaw, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.
Then a gun barrel raised Frank's chin.
"You got too greedy. You should have just stayed as the frog in your little well, instead you stepped past your territory. I hope you realize, this is nothing personal, it's just business."
It was then that Freddy Newman died at the end of a gun barrel.
*BANG*
However the next moment Frank wondered why it hadn't ended.
'I can still think.'
Opening his eyes he found a bright green forest in front of him. Wondering if it was an illusion he turned his head and saw several other children lined up next to him.
"The entrance ceremony will now begin."
[You are destined to be the King of Ghosts.]
[You must save this world from demons, the bane of spirits, and create a world where spirits can live in peace.]
While Frank was still confused the children alongside him sprinted forwards. That was when Frank noticed that some of the children were incredibly fast. Much faster than adults that Frank had seen before.
Then Frank was assaulted with a splitting headache that caused him to fall to the floor in pain.
Several adults in different suits looked on with curious expressions.
"What's wrong with that examinee?"
A short woman with long blonde hair asked. A flustered man with a tablet operated it before speaking.
"That examinee is Griffin Sloan. Orphan, no sponsors and paid to take the exam. No listed talents or skills..."
The group of people didn't show anymore interest in him, turning their attention back towards the other students who's appearances were being broadcast on holographic screens in the sky.
Back to Frank he was slowly steadying his breathing and propped himself up to a sitting position.
'Griffin Sloan... That's who I am now. He saved up money and managed to pay for the opportunity to take the entrance exam to a prestigious learning institute.'
Taking a deep breath Griffin stood up and looked towards the forest. After a moment his eyes became determined and he walked forward.
'So I have to get a certain amount of points to be allowed to enter, and depending on the amount of points I get I can be placed into a higher ranked class that has better privileges.'
To make it into the academy one had to get at least five points. Defeating any creature in the forest would award one point. Finding a hidden gem was worth five points. The last way to get points was by an examiner to awarding them directly.
The last one essentially meant that you showed promise and an examiner wanted to take a gamble. Each examiner could only give one point so that meant you had to show your worth and convince five examiners that you should be allowed in. Which was unlikely to happen because if you were really talented you would be able to kill five creatures easily.
The gems that were hidden around were a test to find people who were gifted at sensing mana. The amount of mana the gems produced was incredibly miniscule, and being able to sense them would mean you had a decent talent.
Killing monsters was the most simple way however, and was how most people would enter the school. This was what the original Griffin was hoping to be able to accomplish, since he showed no gift in using magic or had any special talents to speak of. He had learned swordsmanship on his own, so his skill wasn't even worthy to be called basic, but at least he had a weapon.
Griffin touched the handle of the sword for a moment before turning his attention back to the thing he heard when he first arrived.
'That was definitely one of those transmigrator messages that people would get when they woke up in another world.'
Griffin didn't read many novels but some of the kids he visited would tell him about it. Eventually he read a couple in his spare time.
Never did he think it would happen to him, but he knew what to say at this moment.
'System.'
[You are the King of Ghosts!]
[Spectral Senses (EX-Rank) gained.]
[Ghost Walk (F-Rank) gained.]
[Ghost Slash (F-Rank) gained.]
'Not bad. Spectral Sight just lets me see ghosts of all ranks. A movement ability that makes me intangible for a few seconds is good, and the ability to slash while ignoring someone's defense is actually pretty strong.'
Happy with his starting abilities Griffin summoned his status.
[Griffin Sloan]
[Strength: F-Rank]
[Vitality: F-Rank]
[Agility: F-Rank]
[Dexterity: F-Rank]
[Magic: F-Rank]
[Charm: F-Rank]
'Really pathetic. The lowest my stats could be, and all of them are terrible. I have a lot of work to do.'
Finished with inspecting his body's condition, Griffin was ready to start taking the exam more seriously. He had been walking forward without veering in any other direction, but because of that he didn't find any monsters.
He had however walked past signs of combat, so he must be getting close.
Right?
Right when Griffin was starting to feel anxious that he might not find any enemies to kill he heard the sounds of fighting nearby.
Walking quietly he pushed past a large bush and in a small clearing he saw a young girl fighting two monsters.
She had scratches all along her arms. There were a lot of them, but from the looks of it they were just superficial scratches.
The monsters she was fighting looked just like regular wolves. The girl, noticing Griffin's presence, turned her head to look at him.
"Hey! Help me out here! I'll pay you!"
Griffin didn't immediately move forwards. He wasn't cold hearted but he also wasn't a saint.
"How much?"
He asked. The girl grit her teeth and dodged an attack. She didn't want to have to ask for help but it was better than getting eliminated here.
"Ugh! H-How about $100?"
Griffin started to turn around.
"SHIT! Fine! $300!"
At this he stopped walking.
'$300 in this world should be enough to make sure my daily cost of living is taken care of for a couple weeks.'
Turning around he quickly unsheathed his sword. It was a a regular sword from medieval Europe, sporting the traditional dual bladed sides and the traditional hand guard.
With the memories of the past Griffin's training, he walked forward and immediately drew the attention of the wolves.
One of them stayed to finish off the injured prey, while the other one turned to face Griffin head on.
Facing the wolf Griffin wasn't phased, and stayed calm.
'This is nothing compared to the freaks I met before.'
He dashed forward to meet the wolf. The wolf opened it's mouth, ready to devour the scrawny boy before it.
The examiners all had a look of disdain as they watched the boy rush the wolf.
"He's too weak, doesn't even have his sword ready, and he's slower than the wolf. He doesn't understand that it takes a lot of strength to be able to cut through a wolf."
The other examiners agreed with what the man said. He was one of the only melee fighters in the group, and he was also a veteran so his opinion held a lot of weight.
However the next moment they were all speechless.
Right as the wolf was about to bite Griffin he activated his skill.
The wolf's jaw bit down but passed harmlessly through Griffin's head. Turning quickly Griffin swung at the wolf as it passed through him. The next moment the wolf's body split in two and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Turning his expression away from the dead wolf Griffin ran forwards and helped the girl finish the wolf she was dealing with. The only reason he rushed to finish the second wolf was because he wanted the points.
The girl however didn't seem to know that.
"Phew... Thanks for the help! My name is Anna Holt, you?"
Griffin looked down at her hand before shaking it slowly.
"Griffin Sloan. I'm going to head out. Don't forget my money."
Griffin then turned and left the clearing. Working together was something to consider but in the end he decided to just leave since he liked working alone better.
'After what happened with Ethan, I don't know if I can trust anyone so easily, it's more peaceful to be alone.'
Anna furrowed her eyebrows but shrugged it off.
'If he doesn't want to group up there is no helping it.'
She thought before resting against a tree. She already had enough points to enter the S-Class so she didn't have to do anything more.
She was annoyed though that she showed such a performance in front of Griffin just now, but she was tired because she had just fought the entire pack. This was what Griffin didn't see. She had killed 20 wolves but spent all of her mana to do that.
'But the way he cut through those wolves like butter was surprising.'
She looked at the departing figure making sure to remember his name.
"If he actually makes it into the school I'll give him the money in person. If not I just won't give him any ahaha!"
****
The examiners watching the test were busy writing evaluations. The test only lasted for an hour and it was coming up on the last few minutes. They were writing notes for the examinees they had recommended, while watching the people who were still in the test site.
Most people had achieved the results they set out to achieve, while those still inside were desperately struggling to qualify.
The examiners were looking at the last few examinees, but they were only really watching one person.
"That Griffin kid still hasn't fought anything in the past hour? What is he doing?"
The examiner who was a retired swordsman initially wrote off Griffin as useless, but when he saw the way Griffin cut through the wolves as if they were air interested him. However since then Griffin wasn't seen fighting anything. Instead he was constantly wandering around and talking to himself.
If only the examiners could hear through the drones that were broadcasting the examinees.
****
"Look, I thought I remembered it being around here, I'm sure if you keep walking around we'll come to an area I recognize."
Griffin looked at the ghost floating beside him. He had ran into this funny little ghost over half an hour ago. The ghost happened to walk by Griffin, talking to itself, and when it realized Griffin could see it it stuck to him like glue.
The only reason Griffin allowed it to stay near him was because it said it knew where a special gem was, and if Griffin found it then he was sure to get into the S-Class.
However the ghost couldn't clearly remember where it was hidden so they had been wandering for the entire time.
"You're so useless..."
"Hey now! I'll find it okay? It was a gem hidden by my sister. She told me it was hidden in the trunk of a tree that looked like-"
"Like a rabbit ear?"
Griffin pointed at a tree that looked like a rabbit ear.
"Rabbit ear? No that's a... Never mind.. That is the tree."
The ghost seemed like it was blushing but Griffin couldn't understand why.
"You'll understand when you're older... And more experienced with women."
Griffin looked at the ghost for a moment before rolling his eyes. Walking forward he slowly checked the trunk of the tree before he found a hidden crevice. Reaching inside he felt his fingers touch a smooth stone.
He removed his hand, opening it to reveal a shiny blue gem, that caught the attention of a certain examiner.
The ghost smiled sadly while looking at the gem in Griffin's hand.
"Yeah... That's the one..."
Griffin look at the ghost for a moment before asking something.
"What happened to you? Why are you a ghost?"
The ghost looked up from the gem and looked towards the area where the examiners were.
"My name is Ryan Jules. My sister and I were commoners who grew up in the slums. We had no one but each other. Then we took this test together, hoping to get into the school, but things went wrong. We were surrounded by wolves and to save my sister I sacrificed myself."
He took a deep breath to look back at me.
"She never forgave herself. I have watched her for the last 20 years and I have seen her become a cold person. She is afraid to open her heart and I don't want to be the reason she can't connect with others. I thought I would never get the chance to help her, but then I realized you could see me."
Griffin stayed silent while listening to the ghost's story.
"I want to help you, since you helped me, but I don't know how."
The ghost smiled lightly.
"You're a lot kinder than you look... If you're willing, I hope you can just tell my sister that I am happy of who she has become and that if she doesn't forgive herself I can't move on."
Griffin looked at the ghost and sympathized with the pain it showed.
"I'll try, but I don't know if she will believe that I can talk to ghosts. Is there something I can say to prove to her that I spoke to you?"
The ghost thought for a moment before it smiled brightly and whispered something into Griffin's ear. Griffin had a questioning look but shrugged.
He then made his way back to the entrance.