Chapter 4: Touch

The Ghost felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar.

Even though it was the island’s dry season, with the sun blazing high in the sky and the weather bright and beautiful, the Ghost couldn’t feel even the slightest warmth from the scorching sunlight…

What?

It couldn’t sense temperature in the first place?

Never mind…

In any case, the sudden accident and changes had thrown all the Ghost’s plans into disarray, forcing it to reveal its existence and putting it in a very passive position.

The Ghost had originally planned to reveal itself only after making proper preparations, so it could take the initiative and negotiate with confidence.

The Ghost didn’t know how long it would be before it encountered another intelligent being if it missed this opportunity.

Having regained clear thoughts, it could no longer endure the lonely days and nights, so it had to seize this chance and minimize the risk of anything going wrong.

But just a little while ago, while the Ghost had been curiously spying… observing all the curious things Wen Zhi was doing, it suddenly sensed something else flowing into its body from the Diary.

But this time was different from the last.

The change hadn’t made the Ghost feel that its mind had grown clearer.

Instead, it brought an indescribable feeling of fullness and contentment.

—Something filled it, making it feel more substantial.

For as long as it could remember, the Ghost had always felt that its existence was vague and unreal.

The entire world seemed separated from it by an unbreakable barrier.

That barrier bound it and cut it off from the world, preventing it from affecting reality in any way and making it a being that didn’t exist here.

Now, as the sensation of fullness grew stronger, the Ghost somehow felt that the barrier was growing thinner and more fragile.

It even began to imagine that with just a little effort, it could tear through and escape…

—”Pop.”

With the sound of something breaking, the Ghost felt its scattered consciousness gather into a single, concrete form.

The world felt completely different to it now—more real, more colorful, and more…

—Vivid and alive.

The vivid, lively sensations made the Ghost feel as if it had been reborn.

It greedily took in everything, even imagining that it had regained a physical body…

But soon, the Ghost realized that it might not be imagining things.

It noticed Wen Zhi looking at the spot where it was with a doubtful expression.

At first, the Ghost thought it was a coincidence.

But after moving up, down, left, and right, it confirmed that Wen Zhi’s gaze followed its movements, and finally gave up.

For a moment, the Ghost felt a fear and unease unlike anything it had ever experienced.

It was afraid Wen Zhi would abandon the Diary in alarm and never come back.

It didn’t want to be alone again.

And it was so, so unwilling to accept it.

Nothing had even begun, and it had already decided what its first words would be…

If Wen Zhi hadn’t appeared, the Ghost could have endured those dull, lonely days and nights.

But now that it had seen hope and begun to expect that things would get better, being told that it all had to end abruptly would drive it completely mad.

Panic and confusion swallowed the Ghost like surging waves, scattering its thoughts and freezing its movements.

It didn’t dare move at all under Wen Zhi’s gaze, only staring at him blankly.

Fortunately, the situation the Ghost feared most didn’t come to pass.

After his initial alarm, Wen Zhi didn’t flee.

Instead, he cautiously approached the Ghost.

The Ghost could clearly sense that although Wen Zhi was anxious and wary, he didn’t seem to feel any obvious malice or hostility.

After the initial alarm and confusion, the Ghost sensed that the connection between it and Wen Zhi seemed to have changed further.

It realized that it could now sense and understand Wen Zhi’s thoughts and emotions fairly clearly.

Thanks to that, the Ghost’s remaining reason quickly recognized that its most urgent task was to show that it meant no harm and ease Wen Zhi’s wariness and hostility.

But the Ghost’s mind had already turned to mush from all the mixed-up emotions, and it had no idea what to do.

It simply stayed where it was, as if anchored by Wen Zhi’s gaze, not daring to make any unnecessary movements.

Fortunately, not long afterward, Wen Zhi, now just a step away, took the initiative and showed it kindness.

The Ghost’s pounding heart finally settled.

After a slight hesitation, the Ghost finally drifted closer and pressed itself against Wen Zhi’s palm.

—A warm, soft pulse, beating faintly and steadily without end.

That sensation belonged only to the living, and now it came through to the Ghost with startling clarity, filling it with a sense of peace it had never felt before.

Then, an unfamiliar sense of grievance welled up in its heart.

At last, after years so long they’d worn away the Ghost’s name and memories, it could once again feel another person’s warmth and heartbeat.

—But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

The Ghost forced down its surging emotions.

It knew this was only a good start.

Whether it could build a real relationship with Wen Zhi depended on what it did next.

It tried to empty its mind and look as harmless and pitiful as possible, hoping to make a nonthreatening first Impression and pave the way for what came next.

Just as the Ghost was thinking this, it suddenly felt someone pet it without warning.

The strange, unfamiliar sensation swept over the Ghost, leaving it bewildered and helpless.

Huh?

The Ghost tilted its head and looked at the man who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.

The man kept a straight face and squeezed the soft, squishy Ghost again.

This time, the Ghost knew what the sensation was.

It was an incredible softness that left it almost trembling.

A newly formed Spiritual Substance Body was extremely sensitive and fragile.

In a sense, since its essence was considered a soul, it could also be regarded as the most private and sensitive of organs.

—”Eek (>д<)! You stupid human monkey! Didn’t your Mother ever tell you that touching people without permission is rude?”

In the Ghost’s resurfacing memories, back when it wasn’t a Ghost yet, people had rarely touched it.

From the moment it was born, the elders who raised it had always harbored a subtle, profound loathing for it.

They treated it as a tool and had never shown it any affection.

And beings of lower status than it weren’t even allowed to approach.

So being touched like this was truly a first, and it made the Ghost feel completely uncomfortable and disgusted.

But both then and now, this lonely soul had still wanted to be touched by others.

This contradiction had followed the Ghost throughout its childhood, becoming almost a trauma response.

The sudden touch now stirred that trauma and brought back the Ghost’s memories.

It briefly went into a state of shock, as if it had become that proud person of the past again: high-ranking yet fragile, sensitive yet insecure.

Without thinking, it hissed at Wen Zhi.

But the Ghost quickly realized this wasn’t good.

It dropped its aggressive little expression, replaced it with a ( ﾟ∀。) look, and tried to play dumb and get away with it.

It looked up at Wen Zhi nervously and saw him watching it with an amused expression.