A massive tree bathed in a red halo stood before him, its withered, gnarled branches twisting as they clawed toward the sky.
Beneath the tree was a man-sized monster, pinned to the trunk by six black iron spikes that pierced its body.
It was a monster that could loosely be called humanoid—it had hands, feet, a head, and even facial features!
Except its hands were octopus-like tentacles, studded with countless scarlet eyes...
Its feet seemed normal enough—if one ignored the four stout toes on each.
Its head was enormous, but possessed only a single cavernous maw lined with sharp fangs. A long, slender, barbed tongue lolled out, reaching all the way down to its chest.
Yes, right above a face on its chest that looked strikingly like his own.
That face opened its eyes, and upon seeing him, it actually gave a devious smile.
"Apu, Luno, Rexi..." (Chaos, despair, death...)
Wei'en stared blankly at the scene before him.
'It's just a simple meditation. Is all this spectacle really necessary?'
"What the hell are you?"
The smile on the face froze. It stared at Wei'en in astonishment, as if puzzled why this person hadn't passed out yet.
"Apu, Luno, Rexi..." (Chaos, despair, death...)
"What does that mean?"
Seeing the expression on the face, Wei'en glanced warily at the strange tentacles and asked the question.
"Rexi!" (Death!)
The face, in disbelief, repeated itself. But when it saw Wei'en still standing ramrod straight, its expression faltered. "A..."
"Can't you speak like a normal person?"
Mustering his courage, Wei'en stepped forward and slapped the face.
He had already figured it out. This bizarre thing couldn't actually hurt him.
If there were any real danger, a monster this large would make escape impossible anyway.
It was just like the most common saying in this world: there's no need to dodge a minor disaster, and no way to escape a great one.
The face, realizing his intent, opened its mouth wide in terror. "Aagh!" (No!)
CRACK!
The slap didn't connect with flesh and blood. Instead, there was a sharp sound, like shattering glass.
'It shattered?'
It wasn't the monster that shattered, but the entire space around him.
Black fissures spiderwebbed across the monster and the giant tree behind it, accompanied by a sharp cracking sound.
Then, the entire space crumbled apart, like a completed puzzle being scattered, its pieces dissipating into the void like motes of starlight.
Wei'en's vision blurred, and when it cleared, he was back in his familiar room.
'This is... Meditation?'
'How could this possibly be Meditation?'
"Rexi."
Just then, a voice sounded next to his ear.
Wei'en leaped back in fright, spinning around. "Who? Who's there?"
'No one?'
He spun around, scanning the room carefully, but found nothing.
'Am I hallucinating again?'
"Apu."
"It's not a hallucination! Bastard, where are you? Show yourself!"
"Rexi."
Hearing the voice again, Wei'en felt like he was going crazy. He was certain it was the monster with the face on its chest.
But no matter how he searched, he found nothing. Not until he looked up...
"Fuck!"
Wei'en recoiled, his eyes widening as he stared at the face floating in mid-air.
No, to be precise, it was a head that looked exactly like his own.
What was even stranger was that it was only a head, like a ball, with no neck to speak of.
"What the hell are you? Why are you haunting me like this?"
"Luno."
"Luno my ass!"
This time, Wei'en couldn't take it anymore. He leaped up and swung a slap at it.
But,
his hand passed through empty air, and he nearly lost his balance.
'An illusion? A ghost? Or...' Wei'en scrambled up from the floor, staring blankly at it.
"Apu."
The head shot him a glance, its eyes seemingly filled with contempt.
Wei'en was incensed. 'You think I can't handle you?'
Ever since he'd read that Meditation Technique scroll, this damned thing had latched onto him and wouldn't let go.
Besides, the bastard's expression was just infuriating.
"You bastard—huh?"
Just then, he noticed the head... seemed to be eating something?
He set down the chair he had just picked up and watched for a moment, confirming that it was, in fact, eating something.
Whenever the head spoke a word, its mouth would open wide, and it would chew and swallow nonstop, as if biting off a piece of meat...
And when the chewing stopped, it would speak again.
It just repeated the same three sounds over and over: Rexi, Apu, Luno.
'What on earth is going on?'
After observing for a while longer and determining that the head posed no threat, Wei'en called up the attribute panel in his mind, wanting to see if anything had changed.
Sure enough, there was a notification!
[Meditated for one hour. Reward: Spirit Level +0.01.]
'I meditated... for an hour?'
Wei'en looked up at the head, feeling like his brain was about to short-circuit.
'Was that really fucking Meditation?'
'What kind of Meditation is like this?'
CLANG!
Just then, a sound came from the blue-and-white "Auto-Exchanger" box, louder than ever before.
'Hm? A letter from the school?'
Wei'en shot the head another glare before turning to open the box and take out its contents.
A letter and a Crystal Ball?
He opened the letter in confusion and began to read.
"Congratulations on becoming the 10,038,234th Wizard Apprentice of the Ghost Soul School. We hope you don't mind the entrance test; everything is for the peace and stability of the Ghost Soul School!"
"The Ghost Meditation Technique has another name—the Soul-Devouring Technique. It is our school's greatest secret. We apologize for not informing you of this in advance."
"As a reward for your discretion in keeping this secret, all future knowledge exchanges within the school will be offered to you at a 10% discount. We have also included a complimentary Crystal Ball. (Press your head against it to view your Spirit Level.)"
"Note 1: Any abnormalities that occur when you meditate are normal. The school advises you to get used to it and embrace its existence. It will not affect your daily life in any way.
To be precise, no one besides the Wizards of the Ghost Soul School can detect its existence!"
"Note 2: Try not to beat it up, as this will interrupt your Meditation. Of course, you *can* hit it using Spiritual Power! (Consider this a friendly reminder from me, since the other apprentices in the school...)"
"Note 3: It possesses a certain degree of intelligence, but not much!"
"Finally, let us remember our motto: On the path of seeking knowledge, death is not the end. —The Ghost Soul School Apprentice Management Office!"
After finishing the letter, Wei'en couldn't help but read it again, paying special attention to the friendly reminder from the Apprentice Management Office...
'So, it turns out I was just hitting it the wrong way!'
Wei'en carefully folded the letter, placed it on the table, and turned toward the floating head with a malicious grin. He clenched one hand into a fist, gathering Spiritual Power around it.
The head noticed his movement and blankly uttered a sound: "Rexi?"
Wei'en swung his fist. "Rexi this, you son of a bitch! Call me Daddy!"