TWO

~~~~~~~~~~

Kazuko continued to walk through the endless darkness, searching for anything that looked like an exit.

"I thought that people could get insane if they get isolated like this, guess I'm special, huh." The boy laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere by amusing himself.

'Sigh... who am I kidding, although I feel... comfortable? I still want to know just where this place is.' Kazuko sat down on the ground and tried to brainstorm any ideas on how to get out.

He remained silent for a long while until...

"Oh! If I base this situation on those Mangas I read then this must be... my Mindscape?" Kazuko pondered out loud.

'One thing's for sure, I don't feel insane but rather comfortable here. Not to mention that this happened just a few moments after I thought I got crushed by that truck and died!' The boy thought so.

Indeed, if this were to be one of those Isekai Reincarnation stories then this was surely the place were a God gives a person some wishes.

'I thought about that too, but no matter how much of a bastard ROB is, I'm sure he won't make a young genius like me wait this long.' This left Kazuko with one idea.

It was a Manhwa he recently read. It showed the story of a man who could revive after 3 days, and within those 3 days he would be all alone in a vast white expanse before waking up alive and well in the last place he slept in.

These were Kazuko's 2 ideas, but if these were wrong then...

"Come on! Come on! Be my Mindscape! Be my Mindscape!" He proclaimed his desire upon the endless darkness, hoping for an answer.

And what he got in reply was something he never would've expected.

Puff~!

"A Human Doll?"

What appeared infront of Kazuko was a faceless humanoid figure. It had everything a Human had, 1 head, 2 arms, and 2 legs. The only thing it was missing were its features like a nose, eyes, ears, etc.

'Just what the hell? It looks like those green guys operating behind the scenes in movies... except this one is pure white.' Rather than being scared, Kazuko was intrigued.

"Hey!" He tried to call for the Humanoid's attention, but all he got was nothing. "Ok then, I'll just call you ghost since I like it that way." Kazuko shrugged.

And unexpectedly, this so called Ghost charged towards him, its intent to headbutt him on the gut was obvious.

"Woah!?" Surprised by its sudden movement, Kazuko was narrowly able to dodge the attack.

And like a homing missile owned by North Korea, the Ghost just turned its body and started to charge towards Kazuko once again.

Seeing the incoming enemy, the red eyed boy laughed lightly. "Haha, to think that I would test my Taekwondo against something like this."

And so, just like an elite athlete, Kazuko dodged the incoming headbutt before throwing a vicious knee towards the side of its body.

Puff~!

"Oh?"

And unlike a normal creature, the white humanoid burst into gray smoke the moment it was hit.

"Its really like a ghost." Kazuko commented lightly.

"Is it over now? Can I get out?" He scanned his surroundings, only to find not only 2, but 5 humanoid Ghosts charging towards him.

'If this is the only way to get out then...' Kazuko readied himself as he clenched his fists and took his stance. "Come!"

----- -- -----

Back in the Physical World, Kanae was regularly checking on her cousin's condition, not knowing that he was actually fighting numerous amounts of white Ghosts inside his mind.

"Just when will you wake up, Kazuko." She muttered worriedly.

It has already been 6 months since the Incident that led Kazuko into entering a coma.

'The Doctor already said he was ok, that his life wasn't in danger. So why a coma of all things.' For Kanae, it would be fine even if one of his limbs were amputated, she could just bring him to her Guild's S-Rank Healer and it could all be better.

But a coma? All she could do was wait and hope that this wasn't the rumored Eternal Sleep that some people died from.

"Please wake up soon, Kazuko."

----- -- -----

"Just how long have I been here..." He didn't know anymore, the amount of Ghosts he fought seemed to have made him so tired that he was starting to forget things.

'Still, this place doesn't have a clock, so I guess I'm still sane?' Kazuko wondered.

"Haa... now that I think about it, my body got bigger, and this place... it's starting to become brighter?" Indeed, the 15 year old boy was now replaced with a young adult full of raging testosterone. And yes, the once dark void was now light gray.

'Hopefully, my body returns to normal when I get back, I wanna grow naturally, not by force.' Kazuko was about to fantasize about enjoying his youth, but all of his imaginations were interrupted by the loud stomping getting louder and louder.

"Is this the boss?" He had fought maybe more than a thousand Ghosts, with each of them getting stronger bit by bit. So if he judges this Giant Ghost Boss on how much his enemies got stronger then...

'This bastard's probably near the peak of what a Human could be.' Kazuko thought so.

"Hahaha, so this is the last obstacle? Guess I gotta thank Kanae for teaching me some moves, I'm alive thanks to her." Reminiscing about his caring yet strict cousin, Kazuko couldn't prevent a smile from appearing on his face.

"Wait for me, I'll definitely beat this bitch!"

Unbeknownst to Kazuko, this was just a preparation for what he would soon encounter.

~~~~~~~~~~