I paced back and forth within a manageable stretch of space, moving in restless loops as though the ground itself could provide answers if I walked over it enough times. My thoughts churned violently, refusing to settle, and the only thing keeping me anchored was the sound of my own voice muttering under my breath.
"Why… how… why?"
The questions repeated themselves like a broken record, laced with equal parts frustration and agitation. It wasn't as though I hadn't gotten what I wanted. In fact, if I were being honest, I had achieved something beyond what most people could even dream of.
Reincarnation. It had worked. So why was I so irritated?
I stopped mid-step, clenching my jaw as the thought resurfaced once more.
"Why a ghost?"
Out of everything I could have become, this was what I got. Of all the fantasy races that existed—creatures I had spent years reading about, watching, and imagining—I ended up as this.
Not a goblin. Not an undead warrior. Not even something as basic as a human.
Elves, dwarves, beastkin, demons—there were countless possibilities, each with their own strengths and advantages. Yet somehow, out of all of them, I had drawn the shortest straw.
A freaking ghost.
"Seriously," I muttered, dragging a hand through my head out of habit, even though I wasn't entirely sure I could feel it properly. "I'd have picked a skeleton over this."
At least a skeleton had bones. Structure. Something tangible. Something that could interact with the world without phasing through it like it didn't exist.
I let out a long sigh and tilted my head upward, my gaze drifting toward the sky above.
It was clear. Bright.
A deep, endless blue stretched across the heavens, with the sun shining down in what should have been a comforting warmth. I could see it clearly, feel its presence in a distant, almost conceptual sense, but that was all.
I couldn't truly feel it. No heat. No warmth. No nothing.
"Right," I muttered dryly. "Ghost."
Still, just looking at it seemed to calm me down a little. The frustration didn't disappear completely, but it dulled enough for me to think more clearly.
And when I did, a realization surfaced.
"…Maybe it's not that bad."
I paused, folding my arms as I considered the idea more seriously.
If there was one thing I had learned from years of consuming fantasy media—novels, manga, anime, manhwa, and everything in between—it was this:
There was no such thing as a bad option. Only a bad way to use it.
Power, abilities, even entire races—none of them were inherently useless. It all depended on how they were utilized. Even something seemingly weak could become overpowered in the right hands.
"…Yeah," I nodded slowly, convincing myself. "That's true."
So what if I was a ghost?
That didn't automatically mean I was at a disadvantage. It just meant I needed to figure things out in a different setting that i was used to.
"As a ghost," I began, pacing again, though this time with a more focused expression, "I need to understand what I can do. Advantages, disadvantages… then I build from there."
A plan. A simple one, but a plan nonetheless.
I stopped again, tapping my chin thoughtfully.
"…What are my advantages?"
Silence. I waited. Nothing came. My expression twitched slightly.
"…Right. That's not good."
I looked down at myself, or rather, at the faint, almost translucent form that represented my current existence. There was nothing particularly impressive about it. No aura or any overwhelming presence. Just… me, but less.
"…I've got nothing," I admitted flatly.
I have no strength to rely on, no physical interaction to look forward to. And clearly no abilities either.
Just one disadvantages after the other is all i have to work with.
And as if to emphasize that point, my body suddenly gave way.
Without warning, my form lost cohesion, collapsing into itself like melting wax. My limbs dissolved, my shape crumpled, and in an instant, I was nothing more than a puddle-like mass spread across the ground.
"…Wait."
There was a brief pause. Then, just as suddenly, I reformed.
My body snapped back into shape, reconstructing itself seamlessly until I stood upright once more, exactly as I had been before.
I blinked. "…Oh." I raised a hand, staring at it intently. "I can do that." A slow grin spread across my face.
"Well, that's something."
It wasn't much, but it was definitely something.
I flexed my fingers experimentally, watching as they maintained their form without any sign of instability. If I could dissolve and reconstruct at will, that meant I had at least one unique trait.
And if I had one… "Then there should be more."
I straightened, my earlier frustration giving way to curiosity.
Ghosts, as far as I knew, weren't completely useless. In fact, they were often depicted as having some rather interesting abilities.
Possession, for one.
The ability to take over a body, to control a physical vessel and interact with the world through it. That alone could make up for a lot of my current limitations.
Then there was fear.
Ghosts were known for being able to terrify people, to instill dread and panic with their very presence. It wasn't exactly a combat ability, but it had its uses.
"…Not that I've tried it before," I muttered.
Shaking my head, I began to move again, this time with a clear objective in mind.
"If I'm going to figure this out, I need a test subject."
Preferably something alive.
An animal would do. A human would be better, but I wasn't about to be picky. As long as it was a living organism, it should be enough to test whether I could actually use possession.
I wandered through the forest, searching.
Moving as a ghost was… convenient.
I didn't have to worry about obstacles. Trees, bushes, uneven terrain—none of it mattered. I simply walked forward, passing through anything in my way as though it didn't exist.
"I feel nothing. The trees feel nothing. Everybody's happy," I muttered with a small nod. "That's a win-win."
It didn't take long before I found something. A rabbit.
"…Finally." But as I got closer, my excitement faded. It was dead.
Lying motionless on the ground, its body showed no signs of life. From the looks of it, it hadn't been dead for too long. A few hours, maybe less than a day.
Still, dead was dead.
"…That's inconvenient."
I needed something alive. At least, that's what I thought.
Then an idea struck me. I froze, my eyes widening slightly as the thought took shape.
"I'm a ghost."
I was dead but not entirely, nor was i alive. You could argue i was somewhere in between.
So why should it matter whether my target was alive or not?
"If anything," I murmured, stepping closer to the rabbit, "it shouldn't make a difference."
Possession, as an ability, was tied to the idea of taking over something else. Whether that something was living or dead shouldn't matter—at least, not from my perspective.
"…What's the worst that could happen?" I chuckled softly. "I die?"
The irony wasn't lost on me.
With that, I crouched down beside the rabbit, reaching out.
"Alright… let's try this."
As my hand moved closer, something suddenly appeared in my vision.
A translucent interface, hovering in front of me.
[Notice! Would you like to use Possession on the dead Organism]
[Yes / No]
I jerked back in surprise.
"…Okay." A grin spread across my face. "Now we're talking."
A status screen. A system. I had one.
"As a ghost, I didn't expect this," I admitted, a hint of excitement creeping into my voice. "But I'll take it."
I focused on the text again. Possession. So it was a skill.
"…Perfect."
I didn't hesitate. "Yes."
[Attempting possession on the dead organism, random rabbit]
[Rank of the targeted organism: G]
[Calibrating success rate… 100%]
[Enacting Possession…]
For a moment, everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Then—
[Error! Possession failed!]
The interface flickered violently, glitching in and out as fragments of broken text flashed across the screen. The display distorted, lines overlapping and disappearing before reappearing again.
"…What?"
I stared at it, confused. After a few seconds, the screen stabilized.
[Requirement for the skill, Possession, has not been fulfilled]
[User is advised to pick a racial pathway]
"…Excuse me?"
My eye twitched.
"Not fulfilled? What do you mean not fulfilled?"
And what was this about a pathway?
Before I could question it further, the interface updated.
[Displaying current racial pathway options]
Two options appeared before me.
The first:
[WISP]
Weakest of the Ghost race. Appears as a small floating blue orb.
Traits:
Cold Drift – affects the temperature of the physical realm.
Flicker – short-range teleportation (1–2 meters).
Spiritual Sense – detects living creatures within a four-meter range.
Phase Touch – passes through objects without obstruction.
[Proceed with Ghost Pathway – Yes / No]
I read through it carefully.
"…So that's one option."
Then the second appeared.
[WANDERING GHOST]
Maintains its living form without retaining the qualities of life.
Traits:
Possession – temporarily control a living body (Spirit Essence Consumption).
Memory Hijack – steal fragments of memory during possession.
Fear Pulse – emit energy that disrupts nearby beings (5-meter range).
Ghost Glide – fast floating movement without walking.
[Proceed with Ghost Pathway – Yes / No]
I stared at both options in silence. I laughed. Loudly. Freely.
"Ridiculous," I said, shaking my head.
Here I was, panicking over being reincarnated as a ghost. Complaining. Regretting. Acting like I had drawn the worst possible outcome after sacrificing fifty years of my life.
And yet—
"…I didn't know anything."
Not really. Because looking at this now, it was obvious.
"There's indeed no such thing as a bad option."
Only a bad application.
I wiped a tear from my eye, still chuckling. "Seriously…"
My gaze shifted between the two choices, excitement bubbling up within me.
"So I'm a ghost." I grinned. "So what?"