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Chapter 4 Is He a Reincarnator?

Michael clutched his phone like it was a lifeline, staring at the pic of the old man on the screen. It was the same creepy guy standing outside the window, but in real life, he looked even scarier.

Out of nowhere, Michael jumped up, knocking his chair over with a loud crash.

Everyone in class turned to look at him.

"Michael, what the heck are you doing? Sit down and quit messing around," the teacher barked from the back.

But Michael was in his own world, eyes glued to the old man outside.

The old man moved.

His body creaked like an old door, his empty, freaky eyes just following his head.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, faint but getting closer.

'Is he leaving?' Michael thought, sweating bullets, praying the old man would just go away.

But nope, the old man didn't leave. He shuffled a few steps and stopped right in front of the classroom door.

"Michael, sit down now! Didn't you hear me? How dare you disrupt the safety lecture?" The teacher's voice was getting angrier.

Just then, a girl screamed, pointing at her book, too freaked out to say anything.

Everyone watched as her book turned yellow, then moldy, then rotted into a pile of black gunk.

"Gross, Sarah Barnes, why is there a pile of crap on your desk?" David said, pinching his nose.

"No way, how could there be a Ghost Realm in school right now?"

A guy nearby suddenly jumped up and backed away.

The teacher quickly said, "Henrik Johansson, why are you shouting?"

The teacher was losing it. What was up with these usually well-behaved kids tonight?

Nikolai, standing at the front, narrowed his eyes, suddenly alert. He looked like a caged beast, ready to pounce. He stared at Henrik and said, "You know about Ghost Realms?"

Henrik stayed calm. "Nikolai, you know what a Ghost Realm means. At least one dangerous ghost is here. If we don't handle this, no one's getting out alive, including you."

"Seems like you know a lot. Are you a ghost handler too?" Nikolai asked.

"Nikolai, it's none of your business."

Henrik then shot a deadly glare at Michael. "I was planning to kill you in a few days, but things have changed. Michael, I can't let you grow any stronger. You're too dangerous in the future."

Michael looked at Henrik, totally confused, but he was more worried about the old man at the door.

The other students were stunned by Henrik's words.

"Holy crap, Henrik, that's a lot to take in. What happened to you? The future, ghosts, are you from the future?"

"Definitely. The protagonists in novels are always like this. They wake up and find themselves back in the past. Henrik, are you the legendary protagonist? Something big must be happening in the future."

"If Henrik's the hero, then Michael's gotta be the big bad. In the future, Henrik must've been offed by Michael and now he's back for payback. Everyone, steer clear of Michael. Don't hang with him anymore."

The students, instead of freaking out, were buzzing with curiosity and excitement over the weirdness.

A dull, rhythmic knocking, like a creepy heartbeat, suddenly echoed through the classroom.

Everyone felt like their souls were being squeezed, like they were drowning.

"It's that sound, exactly the same," Michael's heart pounded.

It was the same sound from the forum's audio file, but way clearer in person.

Nikolai's face turned serious. He grabbed a special phone and hit a button. The call connected instantly.

"Nikolai? What's the situation?" A woman's voice came through.

"I'm at Maplewood High. Emergency. A dangerous ghost is here," Nikolai said quickly.

The voice on the other end was urgent, "I've got it. Can you handle it?"

Nikolai replied, "The ghost's created a Ghost Realm and it's affecting my area. The lights outside are gone, so the Ghost Realm's bigger than I thought."

"A Ghost Realm? This is serious. It's beyond your capability. Get out now."

"No, it's too late. There are too many students. I need to get as many out alive as I can," Nikolai insisted.

"Using the ghost's power in your state is risky. There might be more than one ghost. I suggest you retreat. Even if you push yourself, you might not save anyone. A ghost that can create a Ghost Realm is disaster-level," the voice warned.

Nikolai said, "No time. I'm less than 16 feet from the ghost. It's right outside the door and might already be targeting me. I'll keep the line open. If it cuts off, I'm dead. Please pass my will to my parents. That's it. I gotta move."

The eerie knocking continued, steady and relentless, on the classroom door.

"Sir, someone's knocking," an oblivious student shouted.

The teacher hesitated, but seeing Nikolai's serious face, he knew something was up. Still, curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the back door to see who was knocking.

"Don't go out," Nikolai yelled urgently.

But it was too late. The teacher stepped out and vanished instantly.

Gone. Just like that.

Outside was pitch black. The teacher stepped out and there was no sound, like he just disappeared.

As the door opened, the darkness outside, like thick black fog, started creeping in, taking over the classroom.

Even the slowest students realized something was seriously wrong.

Eyes wide with fear, some girls screamed and bolted from their seats, backing away.

Had they really run into a ghost?

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