Using one's head as a ball to obtain ghostly power

"What a coincidence, I'm back again," Nick said as he returned to the second-floor corridor.

The walls trembled, and a furious voice echoed through the entire corridor, "Take out that nail!"

"Don't worry, I haven't finished my business yet," Nick replied. "Do you know where the grandson of that ghost granny from the first floor ran off to in this building?"

"I don't know!!"

"Goodbye then," Nick turned and left.

"That kid went to the third floor. Can you take out the nail now?" the voice asked.

"Just wait patiently. I'll definitely help you take it out after I finish my business," Nick assured. "I'm a human, I keep my promises, unlike you ghosts."

"Get out of here!"

Nick didn't have time to argue and hurried up to the third floor.

The third floor was even darker, and even with windows, the light from outside seemed to be blocked by something, unable to penetrate.

The only sound in the entire corridor was Nick's footsteps echoing clearly.

Nick wanted to call out, but the eerie atmosphere seemed to choke his words in his throat.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the ground echoed from ahead, getting closer and closer.

Nick's hand tightly gripped the handle of his bone-crushing hammer.

A dirty ball rolled over.

Then it was picked up by a boy of about four or five years old.

The boy looked up, his big black eyes without any whites, looking terrifying.

"Big brother, did you come to play ball with me?" the boy asked.

 "What's your name?" Nick asked, crouching down and putting on a friendly face, even though the boy looked scary.

"My name is New," the boy replied.

"New, your grandma is looking for you everywhere. Let me take you downstairs, and we can play games together, okay?" Nick suggested.

The boy pouted and shook his head. "No, I want to play games."

After a pause, he added, "Unless you get me a new ball. This one is too dirty!"

With that, he threw the ball into the darkness.

Nick looked around the empty surroundings and thought, where could I find a ball for you now?

He tried to stall, "Let's go downstairs first, and Big Brother will find a new ball for you."

"No, I don't want to! I want a new ball now!!" The boy started to cry and suddenly pointed at Nick's head, innocently saying, "Big brother, can you take off your head and let me kick it? Grandma used to take other people's heads to play with New!"

Nick's hair stood on end. Not only was this a mischievous child, but he also had such a dangerous idea! If it weren't for fearing the old lady, Nick really wanted to give him a hammer right there.

"Big brother's head isn't fun to play with. How about you stay here and don't move, and Big Brother will go downstairs to find a ball for you, okay?" Nick suggested.

"No, I want a new ball now! If I don't get a new ball, New will take Big Brother's head to kick!"

Nick felt like strangling the mischievous child.

The boy reached out with his hands, seemingly determined to take Nick's head off.

Nick's face darkened, but suddenly his eyes lit up as he saw something. "New, Big Brother found a ball for you," he said.

"Really? Where is it?" the boy asked excitedly.

"Turn around and see," Nick said. As the boy turned his head, Nick quickly grabbed an axe from the nearby fire extinguisher and swung it hard at the boy's neck.

His head separated from his body.

There was no gushing blood as Nick had imagined.

The boy's head rolled on the ground, his eyes wide open, curiously looking at Nick.

Nick smiled and said, "See, now you have a ball to kick."

With that, he took a step forward and kicked the head into the darkness.

The headless body suddenly started dancing and ran into the darkness. Soon, happy laughter echoed from the darkness.

The headless body came back holding its own head. The boy's head had a satisfied smile on it. "Yay, New has a new ball to kick!" he exclaimed.

"It's convenient, right? Whenever you want to kick a ball, just take off your head. When you're tired, just put it back on. You don't have to worry about it getting dirty or lost," Nick said.

"Thank you, Big Brother!" the boy said, happily kicking his head again.

Seeing the boy having fun, Nick felt sweat trickling down his back.

"I hope this innocent child doesn't realize the seriousness of what just happened," he thought.

After the boy played enough, Nick took him downstairs and reminded him to put his head back on his neck, only taking it off when he wanted to play.

Downstairs, the meat grinder was gone.

The ghost granny seemed to have just finished something and was stretching her back.

The boy happily ran into her arms when he saw her. "Grandma, this Big Brother is so nice. He let New take off his head and play ball together!" the boy said, pointing at Nick as if praising him.

But these words made Nick's back soak with sweat. Children speak without filters...

Fortunately, the ghost granny didn't ask any further questions. She looked up at Nick, and he held out his hand.

"I found your grandson, and here's your eyeball," he said, putting the eyeball back into its socket.

The ghost granny's mouth curved into a smile.

"Good job. Remember to put the key back on the table," she said.

"Angel's Kiss: You have gained +3 favor with the ghost granny and received 10 points of ghost power!"

Ghost power was equivalent to strength in the ghost world, with higher numbers indicating greater terror.

Nick didn't expect that as a human, he could also have ghost power.

He looked at the detailed panel of his ghost power and saw that it was matched with human physical ability. This meant that as his ghost power increased, so would his strength, speed, and other aspects.

Furthermore, the higher his ghost power, the more terrifying the power of ghostly objects he could wield would be!

"Thank you, Madam," Nick said, picking up the key and hurrying back upstairs.

Once upstairs, he quickly made his way to the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

Free time was almost over. He had to hurry!

However, Nick soon realized that the corridor seemed to never end, with a misty black fog that didn't dissipate.

He stopped and coldly snapped, "What, do you want me to give you another nail?"

It was obviously the wall ghost causing trouble. "You want to go into that bathroom?" the wall ghost asked.

"Is there a problem?" Nick asked, hesitating.

"There's a ghost in there that's trapping your friend, and it's not easy to deal with!"

"Is it more powerful than you?" Nick inquired, looking uncertain.

 He still had four human bone nails, but if he encountered a powerful ghost, they would be as fragile as toys. Like that half-ghost little girl.

"It's not much stronger than me," the wall ghost said.

"That's a relief," Nick replied. "???" The wall ghost felt a mix of shame and anger, sensing it had been insulted.

"He died by hanging himself in that bathroom, it's his territory. The ghost item you have can hurt him, but it's not enough to make him afraid."

"Relying on just a hammer and a few nails won't save your friend; you'll only end up in trouble yourself!"

Nick asked, "So, do you have a way to deal with it?"

"Just lure it out into the corridor, and I'll help you take care of it!" the wall ghost said.

Nick's eyes narrowed, and he smiled. "What are you scheming, little buddy?"

Helping from a ghost is like a weasel paying a visit to the chickens; it's definitely up to no good.

The wall ghost wasn't surprised by Nick's reaction and calmly said, "My purpose for existing... is to kill that guy!"