"Hey, Atlas, the weirdest thing happened to me last night, I think I saw a ghost."
Atlas couldn't help but sigh for the fifteenth time since this conversation started.
This was the result of having a friend who liked to talk a lot, a chubby friend who liked to talk a lot, to be precise.
He was silently praying in his mind for the lecturer to show up soon so that this guy would shut up.
This guy had been doing nothing but talking about all kinds of nonsense, his ears seriously needed a break.
His saviour soon arrived in the form of the lecturer, and because of that, the fat trumpet had to stop disturbing him, albeit temporarily.
As soon as the lecture ended, Atlas quickly slipped out of the class in an attempt to avoid the fat trumpet.
Unfortunately, his plan came to naught because as soon as he stepped outside, the fat trumpet was suddenly behind him.
He just couldn't understand how this guy could move so fast with all that weight.
This fat trumpet was Atlas' closest friend, who had been by his side since the first week he got enrolled into Lanon, Choi Sana.
Choi wasn't actually as fat as Atlas would usually make him out to be; he was just a bit chubby, but he had a clean appearance with a neat buzz cut.
However, since he was always standing beside Atlas, who many believed was the hunk of the law department, the value of his appearance was greatly affected, negatively, of course.
"Hey, Atlas. What do you think of what I told you inside just now?" Choi asked excitedly as he struggled to keep up with Atlas.
It couldn't, with Atlas' long legs, keeping up with him was always a hassle.
Atlas couldn't help but sigh as the slightly chilly autumn wind blew several leaves past him.
"What?" He mouthed, trying to conceal the fact that he was annoyed.
"The story I told you, the one about the family that suddenly disappeared one day, they said they were all dragged away by a ghost that came for revenge." Choi kindly summarised the story for his friend.
This time, Atlas didn't even bother hiding the expression of exasperation on his face as he shook his head.
"And you believe that?"
"Why won't I?" Choi responded, looking a bit confused.
"Haven't you ever considered the fact that they just moved away quietly?"
"Do you think they would leave everything in the house as it is and move away?"
In terms of intellect, Choi had always known that Atlas was far ahead of him, but at this moment, he couldn't help but look at his friend like he was lacking a few brain cells.
It really wasn't Atlas' fault, though; he just seemed to have forgotten about the part where Choi mentioned everything in the house being left as it is.
Seeing Choi looking at him like that, Atlas couldn't help getting the urge to punch him.
"Okay, maybe something did happen to the family but it doesn't mean it has anything to do with ghosts. You're a law student, how can you blindly believe all of that nonsense."
Choi opened his mouth to argue back but before he could say anything, a soft and gentle voice came from behind.
"There's nothing saying the supernatural and the law contradict each other."
Atlas quickly turned around at that moment to see a coin flying toward him.
Raising his right hand, he quickly grabbed the coin before quickly shifting his gaze to the person who threw it.
As law students, this was a face both he and Choi were quite familiar with.
The belle of the law department freshman class who was currently making waves in the school and was also on top of the search list in the school forum.
Freya Stores was a natural, innocent-looking beauty with long flowing dark hair and a pair of emerald green eyes.
While she was astonishing to look at, what drew most people to her was her innocent-looking face, which made those around her want to protect her.
However, that wasn't the case for Atlas; he had come into contact with Freya a few times, and each time he made eye contact with her, he always felt a chill down his spine.
He had a very deep feeling that this girl wasn't really as innocent as she looked, and getting close to her would only bring trouble for him, so he naturally steered clear of her.
Even as he was looking at her now, he couldn't help but get goosebumps. This was really strange because someone's mere presence alone was making him feel like this.
Still, he wasn't going to back down from refuting what she just said.
"There might be no contradiction between the two, but it still doesn't mean ghosts exist; why? Because there's nothing to prove they do."
It was just a simple reply, but for some reason, Atlas felt like he was fighting for his life, and his breathing couldn't help but accelerate a little.
'What the heck is this? Is my body really that afraid of her?' Atlas expressed inwardly.
Yes, it was his body that was afraid, not him.
Seeing his expression, Freya's lips curved into a smile.
To Choi, that looked like a very warm and charming smile, but to Atlas, it looked like a very sinister and creepy smile.
He couldn't help but shudder a little.
"How about we make a bet then, senior?" Freya said after putting away her smile.
"A bet?"
"Hm." Freya nodded. "One day, you'll find the proof that ghosts do exist, and when that day comes, you'll owe me one."
Atlas' expression suddenly turned serious as he took a step closer.
"And what if I don't see any proof?" He asked.
"Then I'll do whatever you ask me to do."
"Fine." Atlas agreed.
Choi, who was standing by the side totally ignored, didn't even know what to say.
"One week, I'll give it one week and if I don't see anything you'll have to do whatever I ask you to do."
'By then I can just tell you to make sure not to appear in front of me.' He added in his mind.
If Choi heard what his friend wanted to do with a chance like this, he might just beat him up in anger.
"Alright." Freya nodded with a smile.
After saying that, she quickly moved toward him.
Seeing her coming toward him, Atlas couldn't help but stumble back.
"I don't think we will have to wait for a week though, senior," Freya whispered into his ear with a low chuckle before happily skipping away.
Atlas would be lying if he didn't feel his heart drop into his stomach for those few seconds she was that close to him.
You could point a gun at him and he wouldn't be scared, yet his body always reacted like this whenever this girl was around.
With Freya gone, he finally heaved a sigh of relief but then he suddenly remembered something and quickly opened his hand to reveal the coin she had thrown earlier.
"Hey, your…."
He wanted to call out to her but she was already gone.
"Eh, forget it, it's just a cent." He shrugged.
"Can I have it then?" Choi asked as he leaned closer to him.
Atlas rolled his eyes and slipped the coin into his pocket before walking away. He didn't want to deal with this fat trumpet anymore.
_______ _______
A few hours later Atlas' day was finally over.
Checking his watch, he could see that the time was 5:30 PM and the sun seemed to have already started setting.
He took a taxi home as usual and by the time he arrived at his neighbourhood, the sky was almost completely dark.
He had to walk for about seven minutes to get to his house from the main street, it wasn't a long walk.
The problem was that this neighbourhood was always eerily quiet by this time of the day with no soul in sight.
It was creepy but since he always passed here to get home, he was used to it.
Other than the eerie quietness there was really nothing strange about the neighbourhood, that was until today.
At first, Atlas thought it was his eyes playing a trick on him, but the further he walked, the more obvious it became.
The sky was now completely red like it was going to start raining blood anytime soon.
"What the hell?"
Atlas halted his steps before raising his gaze to take a proper look at the sky.
"Is that supposed to be normal?"
Atlas felt a chill run down his spine at that moment as he shook his head.
"Whatever."
He was about to resume his journey home when he spotted a man walking toward him.
He was wearing a brown trench coat with a brown hat.
Normally, Atlas wouldn't pay any attention to a random passerby, but this was just too strange not to pay attention to.
How can someone wear a hat if there is no head for the hat to be on top?
This strange person was about to walk past Atlas when he noticed that Atlas was staring at him with his mouth agape.
"What? Are you making fun of me too? Do I really look that funny to you?"
That was clearly someone's voice but where did it come from? There was no mouth there.
Before Atlas could process what was going on, the man threw out a punch, hitting Atlas right in the chest to send him flying back with a very powerful force.
Atlas felt one of his ribs almost snapping as he tumbled backwards.
His ribs might not have snapped but he did feel something snap inside of him right at that very moment.
"What the hell is going on today?" Atlas grumbled as he slowly pulled himself up.
He looked ahead to see the strange person who just punched him heading toward him.
He was headless the last time he saw him, but now there was a head there, albeit one he would rather not see.
The man's face was grotesque and unrecognisable with one half being completely covered in blood and the other half looked even worse as the eye there seemed to have been taken out.
Another thing Atlas noticed was that the man had some sort of dark aura encircling his body.
Seeing Atlas struggling to get up on his feet, the man suddenly charged toward him.
Seeing this, Atlas couldn't help but grit his teeth.
"Fine, you want to fight, let's fight!"
Most people would choose to run in a situation like this, and it wasn't like Atlas didn't consider that option, but that thought went out the window the moment he started running.
If he couldn't fight, then he could only fight.
'I should have brought the gun with me.'
The man quickly closed up on Atlas in no time, a large amount of the dark force shifting to his right arm as he threw a punch at Atlas.
His arm moved so fast that Atlas didn't even have the time to dodge.
Atlas felt his life flash before his eyes at that moment, but just before the fists could hit him, a fiery ring blade flew in from the side, slicing through the man's hand and allowing it to drop with a thud.
Before the man could react to that, a slender figure dropped from above, slamming him into the ground.
At that moment, Atlas caught sight of that face with that smile that always sent chills down his spine.
"Trying to fight a spirit with just your fists, you're quite the daring one, senior."