Die, Replay, Repeat

Chapter 12: Spooky Stuff

"What the heck?"

"Where's the Specter?"

Everyone started to frantically look around but saw nothing. 

"Fang Xiu, what are you blabbing about? Where's this Specter?" One of his friends, shaking in his boots, glared at Fang Xiu.

"Seriously, now's not the time for jokes, Fang Xiu. Quit freaking us out."

Fang Xiu just stood there, looking at everyone calmly. His pale, handsome face looked somewhat eerie in the dark. With his emotionless face, he looked like a life-size doll. His icy, blank stare was unsettling, and those berating him started to calm down.

Suddenly, Fang Xiu broke the silence. "Wang Xiaoli is gone."

"No way, Xiao Li is right here. Xiaoli, say something," his friend called out.

But Wang Xiaoli didn't say a thing. 

The guy felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly turned on his phone flashlight, only to find that Wang Xiaoli, who had been right next to him, was indeed gone. 

"Wang Xiaoli! Wang Xiaoli!" he shouted her name, but there was no response. 

That set everyone off.

"Wang Xiaoli is really gone!"

"Is it really the Specter?"

"Fang Xiu, did you see the Specter?" Wang Ziteng asked out of nowhere.

Even though Wang Ziteng and Fang Xiu didn't really get along, they knew that now wasn't the time to fight when they might be facing a serious threat. 

Fang Xiu calmly replied, "I couldn't see the Specter in the dark. I just saw Wang Xiaoli disappear."

His nonchalant tone made it sound like it wasn't a big deal, as if it wasn't a person who had vanished but a bug. 

Any normal person would have freaked out if they saw a Specter, maybe even screamed, but Fang Xiu talked about Wang Xiaoli's disappearance as if it were nothing. 

The people in the room were no fools. They'd been around the block a few times and could tell something was amiss with Fang Xiu's unusual composure. 

Wang Ziteng looked at him suspiciously. "Fang Xiu, you're not scared of the Specter at all. Are you a psychic or something?"

Fang Xiu shook his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

Wang Ziteng looked even more confused and explained, "A psychic can control their mind or spirit. I don't really get it, but I think it's like having mental power. My cousin told me we all have this big power inside us, but it's always covered up, like a pearl in the dirt. And a psychic can clear away the dirt and let their spirit shine."

Wang Ziteng was about to say more, but Wu Dahai cut him off, "Mr. Wang, we don't have time for this! People are disappearing. We need to get out of here."

"Shut up!" Wang Ziteng shouted back, "Get out? Where to? Only three people are missing so far. If we start running around and get the Specter's attention, we're all toast! Plus, what I'm telling you now could save our lives! Do you think psychics are born with their powers? Nope. They develop them. Right now, the best thing we can do is have one of us become a psychic!"

"So, you're saying a psychic is made in the Specter Zone?" Fang Xiu suddenly asked.

Wang Ziteng nodded, looking surprised that Fang Xiu could still think so clearly in this crazy situation.

"That's right, to become a psychic, you gotta tap into the power of the Specter! As I said before, everyone's spirit is hidden, like a pearl in the dirt. To make the spirit shine, two things have to happen. First, you need to face a big scare, the kind you get when your life's on the line. This can shake the dust free from your spirit. A huge shock could do the same thing. Second, you have to meet a Specter. The power of the Specter can reach into your spirit, wiping off the dust like a cloth cleaning dirt." 

He continued, "But remember, while the Specter's power can clean the dust off your spirit, it also leaves a mark. It can darken your spirit even while it makes it shine. If you think of your spirit like a dirty pearl, the Specter's power is like a bloody cloth. It cleans the dirt yet stains the pearl with blood. The light we talk about when we talk about the spirit is really just the spirit's shine being distorted by the Specter." 

Upon hearing all this, Fang Xiu's mind raced with thoughts. 

It looked like this was a world run by mentalism, where a psychic's power comes from mixing their own spirit and the Specter's power. Being on the edge of life and death starts the reaction like a chemical reaction needs heat; a life or death situation provides that heat.

It got Fang Xiu wondering. 

*'I've been at death's door and met a Specter. Why isn't my spirit shining? Or is it shining, but I just didn't notice?'*

Then Wang Ziteng said, "So, anyone here could become a psychic. If someone does, we might have a chance of getting out of the Specter Zone!"

"What happens when your spirit starts to shine?" Fang Xiu asked.

"First, they'll be stronger than a normal person, their senses will be super sharp, and when their spirit shines, they'll get a special power. This power is a sign of their spirit. Just like no two spirits are the same, no two powers are the same."

*'Power? Sign of the spirit?'*

Fang Xiu's mind raced, and he couldn't help but consider his unique ability to reset after dying.

*'Is that my power? Wait, that can't be right. I'm just as strong, and my senses are just as good as anyone else's. They're not better.'*

Plus, he felt like his power to reset after dying was something he got after coming to this world, not because his spirit started to shine.

*'Based on what I know, it seems like my spirit hasn't started shining yet. So, the question is, if my power to reset after dying isn't because my spirit started shining, why haven't I become a psychic even though I've met the two conditions?'*

Then, Fang Xiu realized he hadn't actually met all the conditions because of his power. 

He'd been in the limbo between life and death, and that state, like his thoughts and memories, hadn't changed every time he "reset." However, his way of thinking changed after experiencing multiple deaths. Nevertheless, he hadn't met the condition of getting in touch with a Specter, as he died every time he could touch his wife. This time, he only survived because he deliberately avoided interacting with her. 

And those Specters he'd seen wandering the streets didn't count either. Fang Xiu figured it was because if they weren't "seen," they were basically not there for humans.

However, this situation now was different. The Specter lurking in the shadows, like it had stepped from make-believe into the real world, could kill even if it wasn't "seen."

The mental hospital disappearing, a Specter that could kill without being "seen," the psychic... These clues were all tangled up in Fang Xiu's mind.

There had to be a connection between them, but he hadn't figured it out yet. Even though he was in a really bad spot, Fang Xiu felt a surge of excitement. He saw a chance for payback, and that was to become a psychic.

Suddenly, Fang Xiu saw something out of the corner of his eye. 

"Another one's gone," he said coldly."