"What did you think of last night?" Belle asks Liz. It is the next morning and Belle is lying over the top of the couch and talking to Liz, who is taking up the whole thing.
"It was fun, but I'm completely exhausted, this body was not made for fighting so I'll leave the work to you." She states. Belle just shrugs his shoulders, his phone beeps as he gets a text.
"Oh, it's some of the guys from college, they're asking if we want to go out for drinks tonight," Belle says, reading out the text.
"You can go, I'm not in the mood for drinks today," Liz responds.
"Okay, I'll tell them that." He says, replying to the text. Later that night, Belle leaves the bar. It was fun, but the friends from college had grown apart leaving an awkward tension in the air after a while. Belle had enough of it so he decided to leave, only slightly tipsy. The house was only thirty minutes away from the bar so he had walked there. The night air was cool and Belle could see his breath curl in the air as he walked. Goosebumps rose on his skin as a breeze brushed past him. The street lamps and moonlight were the only things illuminating the empty streets, not even a car rushed past. A dense fog rolled through out of nowhere, and Belle felt himself tensing.
[Warning, you are about to encounter a ghost, would you like to start a stream?]
[Yes] [No]
If Belle's heightened awareness of the supernatural gave him a hint as to what was going on, the system solidified his feelings. Belle clicks yes, if he's going to run into a ghost then he might as well stream it. He doesn't have the old handheld camera on him, but the system apparently has no problem with that as his phone flies out of his pocket and floats behind him.
Tak Tak Tak
Belle hears the sound of footsteps approaching him and the fog clears a bit to reveal a tall woman walking up to him. She has long black hair, a white dress, and a white facial mask. She grinds to a halt directly in front of Belle. He knew exactly what kind of ghost he happened to encounter. As a connoisseur of ghosts he has, of course, heard of the Slit Mouthed Woman.
"Am I beautiful?" She asks. Belle knew exactly how to survive the story, but a grim sense of curiosity kept him from taking the easy route.
"Yes." He replied. The woman lifted her hand and removed the facial mask revealing a gruesome sight, her mouth was completely split from one ear to the other, making it appear as if she was grinning maniacally.
"Even now?" She questions.
"I have to admit, it's not a pretty sight, but something is fascinating about it." Belle breathes, leaning into the woman to grab her face and inspect the wound. The Slit Mouth Woman was one of the first urban legends Belle had ever heard, seeing her face to face was like meeting an idol. The woman seems stunned for a second before she recovers herself, pulling out a pair of scissors.
"If you don't think I am beautiful, then why don't I give you the same wounds as me!" She shrieks, slicing at Belle with the scissors.
"Oh no, we can't have that." Belle says, jumping backward to dodge, "I need my pretty face, it lets me get free stuff." He jokes. The woman doesn't seem to find it funny as she leans in to attack again. Miasma curls around her legs and she suddenly speeds up, fast enough that Belle can't keep track of her with his eyes. He hears her before he sees her, the sound of scissors snapping together, just before his face. 'It's now or never I guess.' Belle uses the new ability he got from the side mission. [Ghosts are beings that can easily disappear, reappearing in another room before your very eyes. You might be asking 'How do they do this?' The answer is simpler than one might think. Gives the user the ability to walk through the Ghost Realm unharmed for five seconds. If the user stays in the Ghost Realm any longer than that they are liable to an attack, or may even potentially lose their humanity.] Belle activates the ability, and the world suddenly turns gray and muted. Time appears to slow down and the woman is moving at a speed visible to the naked eye. Belle glances around in wonder and spots many ghosts just hanging around. The system set up a timer and Belle now has three seconds left. In those seconds he grabs out the axe, dodges out of the woman's way, and positions himself behind her. He then uses the ability to step out of the Ghost Real, the colors come back and the world speeds up and Belle slices at her legs with the axe, only chopping one off as she dodges the strike. She backs up a bit, stopping in place and examining Belle. She tilts her head and stares at the leg that had been chopped off, then stares at the axe in his hand. The miasma curls around her one remaining leg, and she disappears. The fog clears away, the street lamps brighten, and Belle can hear the sound of muted chatter from the restaurants and stores surrounding him.
"Huh, guess she ran away." Belle murmurs. He puts the axe away so nobody calls the police on him and faces the phone.
"Sorry I couldn't explain what was going on, I seem to have randomly encountered a ghost. I'm on the street now though so I will be ending the stream here, goodbye!" He says, ending the stream. Only about 300 people caught the stream, earning Belle 33 Ghost Points. He seemed to be quite rich in Ghost Points and would have to figure out a way to use them when he got home.
"I wonder if I'll encounter any other ghosts like that?" He mumbles, continuing his walk back home.
[Ghost Index]
[Name: Kuchisake-Onna. Spirit Type: Third Level. A woman who lived a long time ago, she was obsessed with beauty and was called the most beautiful woman in the land. She eventually married a handsome and wealthy husband, but he was not faithful despite having the most beautiful woman. This gave the woman anxiety and she could only think it was because she was not beautiful enough. She started taking drastic measures to increase her beauty, but all of it failed and she instead looked uglier and more haggard by the day. When her husband expressed his disgust she went mad and grabbed a pair of scissors, mutilating her face into a 'beautiful' smile. Ability: How Fast Can I Run.]