3-star Iron rank is not that high.
As a matter of fact, iron-rank Ghosts in general aren't supposed to be powerful.
In an ascending manner, the ranks of Exorcists and Ghosts in this world are Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Ruby, and lastly Grand Exorcist—or Demon. Or at least, that's what the previous Deklan knew.
Being the first rank of power, Iron-rank Ghosts are supposed to be generic.
All of the Ghosts in this rank have nothing but their physical strength.
Unlike Humans, who needed Mana Veins to utilize mana and utilize it to their advantage, Ghosts are beings naturally born where mana originated from—the metaphysical realm. So, instead of needing a metaphysical tool like Mana Veins, Ghosts' bodies naturally absorbed mana.
Because of that, their physical strength has always been a lot superior compared to humans.
Even Exorcists in the same rank would not be a match in terms of raw strength.
If compared to the games he played late at night when he was bored guarding the cemetery, iron-rank Ghosts should be akin to the slimes in a novice area. It should be the starting, easy-to-kill monster for new players to familiarize themselves with the game mechanics.
But this pumpkin head, it's anything but garbage!
Deklan fell backward, but the deeper he went, the slower it got.
Around him, the color was being drained away—the walls that were supposed to be bright red were now a dull white, and the wooden planks that were earthy brown turned black. But throughout all of that, only the Red Pumpkin Head's color remained vibrant.
Its red color was now brighter and more vigorous than ever.
[Notice: the host has been inflicted by the Small Prankster skill]
[Status Effect Applied: Unique Stun.]
So, it's not that time was being slowed down, but because I'm stunned?
In that case, what can I even do?
Swiftly, the Red Pumpkin Head bounced in a zigzag and threw itself straight at Deklan's stomach.
His body folded like wet paper as the impact was akin to being hit by a boulder.
Crash!
Deklan crashed away, stumbling across the wooden floor until he slammed against the wall.
Saliva burst from his mouth as the air in his lungs was forced out.
Knowing that danger hadn't come to pass, he grabbed his lasso and climbed to his feet again.
But the Red Pumpkin Head was already gone.
As soon as he realized that it was gone, Deklan slumped to the floor again, leaning against the wall in utter shock, "Yo, System, you've got to be kidding me, right? How am I supposed to capture that thing when I can't even take one move? And how is that an Iron-rank Ghost?"
Deklan lifted up his clothes to check and saw a nasty bruise on his stomach.
It was bigger than the size of his head.
[You can do it, host! Unless you wanted to be spanked, you have to capture it!]
Firework effect appeared around the notification panel as if that would make Deklan feel better.
It didn't.
Recalling the Red Pumpkin Head's status window, Deklan crossed his legs and rubbed his chin.
"Its potential is at B-grade, and it's very rare. Four stars of rarity means very rare, right? I assume the maximum is five stars. Is that why it's so strong, even though it's nothing but a 3-star Iron rank Ghost? Must be."
Gritting his teeth, Deklan stood up and ran to the front yard.
No sign of the Red Pumpkin Head, that's good.
Earlier, when the Red Pumpkin Head's status window appeared, there was a flickering drop-down arrow that should show him the stats, but Deklan doesn't need to do that. Just from the attack earlier, he already knew its stats were way higher.
Besides, his physical stats right now are a joke.
It wasn't his intention to keep pursuing that Red Pumpkin Head.
Since the quest only specified to capture my first Ghost, there's no need to insist on that abomination.
Considering that the Red Pumpkin Head has a rarity section, Deklan assumed that there should be other Pumpkin Heads out there. One that's normal, not a unique one like that. Instead of fixating on the Red Pumpkin Head, he ought to capture the others.
Starting slow but steady is the best way to grow.
Deklan looked out to the woods.
I'm sure the weaker Pumpkin Heads are somewhere nearby. Maybe there's a spawn point for them.
His lips curled as he power-walked out of the fence, eyes fixated on the woods to the side.
Brak!
"Fuck, my nose!" Deklan covered his nose as tears welled up in his eyes.
He spewed all curse vocabulary inside his head.
Once he was able to open one of his eyes to look ahead, he realized there was a barrier surrounding the small hut area. Slowly, he reached out his hand, and the barrier became visible when his hand was near, sturdy like an iron shield.
"System, what is this?! Why can't I go out?!"
[Host needs Ward level 5 to go out. You can break it right now, but for your own good, don't.]
As soon as Deklan read that, a chilling wind brushed against his body.
He looked at the woods and suddenly felt an inexplicable chill down his spine, forcing him to swallow harshly. At that moment, he realized he had almost made—a big mistake. No sign of settlements around.
No lights. No commotion. No nothing.
The small hut was likely remote, away from settlements.
And the woods might inhabit Ghosts beyond his strength right now.
"I'm being too hasty. Good thing this barrier is here, or else I'd be walking straight to my death."
Deklan turned around and regulated his breathing.
Being sent into this new world made his mind messy; he needed to focus.
"I should focus on repairing my body first," Deklan nodded, mentally setting his priority as that should surely raise his stats higher. "System, how do I repair my body?"
[It will cost 5 Spooky Dollars to repair the host's body, and this can be accessed in the Shop menu.]
"And how do I gain Spooky Dollars?"
[Completing Quests, income from Ghost Residents, leveling up the Ward, and Achievement.]
[More paths will be unlocked as the host grows stronger.]
Quests and Achievements are easy to understand, as Deklan had played games with those kinds of mechanics in his previous world, but Ward and Ghost Residents are new mechanics. He could guess Ghost Residents must be tied to capturing Ghosts, so that left him with one thing.
"What's this, Ward? Where can I find it?"
[Ward is located in the backyard, and host can access its menu from there.]
"Alright," He nodded and headed to the backyard.
Deklan came to the backyard without thinking much, but the moment he arrived, he paused.
His eyes, which were focused earlier, turned vacant and blank.
Before him stretched a muddy square of grass, no larger than half an acre, hemmed in by leaning wooden fences. The ground was filthy—soaked, uneven, and strewn with a few corpses, and at the center stood one polished tombstone before a sprawling banyan tree whose gnarled roots clutched the earth like ancient fingers, older than civilization.
Its trunk was the size of ten grown men, and it was taller than a two-story house.
"Really…?" Deklan sighed. "I'm also a Cemetery Warden here? Who? Why? Fuck."
Even though he was sick—and tired of eerie places like this, especially after that floating eyeballs incident before he died, he swallowed back his complaints. At least this was within his elements.
He approached the banyan tree, which was supposed to be the Ward.
He walked past the nameless tombstone and frowned.
It's too squeaky clean when everything around is worn down and dirty.
Something was odd about this tombstone, but his focus was still on the Ward.
Upon reaching the Ward, a panel appeared.
…
[Ward — Ancient Dimensional Tree]
Level: 1
Class: Sprout
Ghost Residents: 0/1
Prison: 0/1
Income: 1 Spooky Dollar/Day
Current Spooky Dollars: 0
Fruit Bearing: 23 hours and 42 minutes.
…
"Hmm… 1 SD per day? It'll take five days for me to gain enough SD to repair my body. I guess all I can do is wait," Deklan shrugged his shoulders. He had been studying nonstop before his death, so he was not in a hurry to try. "But first, these people are a sore to my eyes…"
Deklan placed both hands on his waist, staring at the corpses scattered around.
He had been trying to ignore them, but he couldn't.
As a proper Cemetery Warden, this just won't do.
No matter who these people are when they were alive, be it bad or good—people who were trying to kill the previous Deklan or not, the dead have to be respected. Letting them rot like this without being cared for is troubling him.
"I guess being a cemetery warden for a few months already changed me."
Deklan began to work.
Firstly, he wanted to burn these bodies to make it simple.
But there was nothing he could use to make fire, and it doesn't help when the entire place is muddy and wet.
He already checked the hut and also around it, but could only find several working tools.
One of them is a hoe.
"Guess there's no other choice…"
In the next hour, Deklan went around his lawn and gathered all the corpses into one space.
Even though it was hard work, especially with the bruise on his stomach that ached every time he bent down, he gritted through the entire process. Dead people have to be taken care of, and though this world is not the same as his world, the dead could still create a disease.
For now, he's going to bury them, and then burn them later if he has the tools.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
I can't believe even in this world, I'm dealing with graves, too. I thought if this is another world, I'd have more interesting work than digging—and maintaining graves. Since I'm a young master, isn't this too much?
Will my occupation here be the exact same?
Deklan sobbed silently as he dug a big grave in his front yard that could fit about twenty people.
It took him hours to finish.
And he needed to take a break every half an hour or so, since this ghostly body is very weak.
From burying the corpses, he noted that one side was wearing identical clothes and bearing the crest of a shield with a dragon coiling around a spear. It was safe to assume this coiling dragon crest was the crest of his house, the House of Tiernan.
Once he shoved the last corpse into the grave, he immediately collapsed.
He panted in exhaustion, lying on the ground to catch his breath.
Deklan crossed his arm over his face, closing his eyes for a moment, "Man—this body is so damn weak. It took two more hours than expected to finish this thing. Even so, it's worth it. Rest in peace, you damn poor souls."
[Ding!]
[Loyal Occupation achievement has been completed!]
[5 Spooky Dollars has been awarded!]
[Nice work, host. For a bully, deadbeat, and thief, you're quite honorable.]
Hearing the dinging sound, Deklan peeked from under his arm.
He read the notifications and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, "Fuck you. At least spare me the insults if you want to compliment me genuinely."
Even though it wasn't planned, it turned out better than expected.
Deklan was now covered in mud, dirt, and even blood, but at least he got a peace of mind and money.
5 Spooky Dollars meant he could repair his body right now.
Above, the sky was already turning bright.
Deklan had been working for hours on-end, and with the exhaustion wearing him down, he fell asleep.