Far beyond the Phantom Bazaar—
in the deepest part of the ghost city—
Arin slowly opened his glowing eyes.
The gray sky above him did not move. It never did. The world of the dead was quiet, frozen in its endless twilight.
Around him, fragments of broken souls drifted in the air like dying fireflies.
Arin lifted one of them slowly.
The weak spirit trembled.
"Please…" it whispered.
Arin looked at it with empty eyes.
Then he closed his hand.
The fragment dissolved into dark energy and flowed into his chest.
Power surged through him.
He exhaled slowly.
Far away across the city, something had awakened.
A rare presence.
A strange soul.
Arin smiled faintly.
"Rive…"
His voice echoed quietly in the dead city.
"I can feel you."
And somewhere deep within his mind—
A new hunger awakened.
Back in the Phantom Bazaar, life continued like nothing had happened.
Ghost merchants shouted offers from their stalls.
Strange glowing objects floated above wooden counters.
Some spirits traded fragments of memories in small crystal jars.
Others bargained over broken weapons forged from condensed soul energy.
Rive walked slowly through the crowd, staring at everything around him.
"This place is insane," he muttered.
Vikram walked beside him calmly.
"Focus."
"I am focusing," Rive replied. "I'm focusing on the floating skull selling bottled nightmares."
"That's normal here."
"That sentence should not exist."
Rive scratched his head and looked around again.
Ghosts of all shapes wandered through the market.
Some looked human.
Others were barely recognizable.
One spirit walked past carrying a cage filled with tiny glowing souls.
Rive blinked.
"…I'm not asking."
"Good decision," Vikram said.
They moved deeper into the market.
Lanterns hanging above the stalls glowed with pale blue light, casting long shadows across the plaza.
For a moment, everything felt calm.
Then suddenly—
Rive stopped walking.
"…Wait."
Vikram looked at him.
"What?"
Rive frowned slightly.
"Do you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"Like… someone's staring at us."
Vikram's expression sharpened instantly.
He slowly turned his head and scanned the market.
Lysara leaned casually against her stall nearby.
"Relax," she said. "Everyone in the Bazaar stares at everyone."
"No," Rive replied quietly.
"This feels different."
The wind suddenly stopped.
The lantern flames flickered.
And across the plaza—
Something moved.
Rive's heart skipped.
And he suddenly wished he had stayed average and alive.
At the far edge of the market, a tall shadow stood between two broken stalls.
At first it looked like a normal ghost.
Then its body stretched.
Longer.
Thinner.
Wrong.
The figure slowly tilted its head.
Its face slid into the lantern light.
Blank.
Smooth.
Like someone had erased every feature.
Rive whispered, "Okay… that is definitely not normal."
Vikram's eyes narrowed.
"…Watcher."
The creature suddenly slid forward.
It did not run.
It glided across the ground like spilled ink.
And when it screamed—
The sound wasn't loud.
But it vibrated through the air like shattered glass scraping across stone.
Every ghost in the Bazaar froze.
Then chaos exploded.
Spirits began running in every direction.
Merchants grabbed their goods and disappeared into the shadows.
One powerful ghost stepped forward from the crowd.
His body glowed with deep blue energy.
Without hesitation, he attacked the creature.
A wave of spiritual force shot from his hands toward the Watcher.
The impact struck the monster directly.
For a moment, the creature staggered.
Then its arm stretched across the plaza.
Longer.
Longer.
Like a rope of living shadow.
The ghost who attacked it didn't even have time to react.
The shadow wrapped around him.
Pulled.
And the spirit vanished into the creature's body.
Rive stared in horror.
"…It just ate him."
"Run," Vikram said immediately.
"Excellent idea."
They dashed through the collapsing market.
Behind them the Watcher slammed into the ground, cracking the stone tiles of the plaza.
More shadows began forming in nearby alleys.
Rive glanced back.
"WHY ARE THERE MORE OF THEM?!"
"Because the first one found us!" Vikram shouted.
"That is extremely unfair!"
They turned sharply down a narrow street filled with broken stalls.
The Watchers followed.
Sliding.
Glitching across the ground like nightmares.
Rive pushed harder.
"I thought the Bazaar was safe!"
"It usually is!"
"USUALLY?!"
The ground suddenly cracked behind them as one of the monsters smashed through a wall.
Rive felt his energy fading.
The familiar exhaustion returned.
"Vikram!" he gasped.
"I'm slowing down!"
"That's your spiritual stamina draining!"
"Why does being dead still require stamina?!"
Vikram grabbed his arm and pulled him toward a small shrine standing between two collapsed buildings.
"Inside!"
They crossed the shrine gate.
The moment they entered—
The Watchers slammed into an invisible barrier.
A flash of pale light pushed them back.
The creatures screeched in frustration.
Rive collapsed against the shrine wall.
"…Please tell me this is a safe zone."
Vikram nodded.
"Spiritual buildings exist in both worlds."
"They repel weaker monsters."
Rive peeked outside.
Three Watchers waited beyond the barrier.
Their long arms scraped across the stone ground.
"…They look very patient."
"They are."
CRACK.
A thin fracture appeared in the air.
The creatures struck the barrier again.
CRACK.
The light flickered.
Rive pointed nervously.
"That barrier looks extremely fragile."
"That's because it is."
Another hit.
The barrier shattered.
The Watchers lunged forward.
And Vikram finally stepped ahead of Rive.
He raised his hand calmly.
The air twisted around him.
Cracks spread across the shrine floor.
"Nature Authority," he murmured.
Wind roared through the ruined market.
Rive whispered, "Okay… that looks powerful."
Vikram snapped his fingers.
"Stamina Destruction."
The world exploded.
A violent shockwave burst outward like invisible lightning.
The first Watcher shattered instantly.
The second creature slammed into a wall and dissolved into black smoke.
The third screeched as another wave of energy crushed it into fragments.
Silence returned to the plaza.
Rive stared in disbelief.
"…Okay."
Vikram brushed dust from his jacket.
"Problem solved."
Rive pointed at him.
"YOU COULD DO THAT THIS ENTIRE TIME?!"
Vikram shrugged.
"Maybe."
"VIKRAM!"
"What?"
"WE RAN THROUGH AN ENTIRE MARKET!"
"Cardio is important."
Rive stared at him.
"You are the most stressful mentor I have ever met."
"I'm also the reason you're still alive."
"…Fair point."
Behind them, Lysara slowly walked out from behind a fallen stall.
Her eyes were sharp.
"Those weren't ordinary Watchers."
Vikram nodded slowly.
"I know."
Rive blinked.
"…There are ordinary ones?"
Lysara crossed her arms.
"Something sent them."
The wind moved through the ruined market.
Far away across the rooftops—
Arin stood watching.
And he was smiling.