Chapter 30: The Devious Shopkeeper
Miles spent a sleepless night at home, his eyes heavy and bloodshot from the strain of vigilance. He kept the front door slightly ajar, eager to notice the ghost’s arrival at the earliest moment. But things didn’t unfold as he had imagined.
“I can’t afford to waste my time waiting for a ghost that might never return. Time has become a luxury to me now,” he reflected, trying to soothe his fatigue-riddled eyes and still his escalating anxiety. The tension of an entire sleepless night had pushed his mind to the edge of sanity.
“Should the ghost fail to show up soon, I must consider alternative options,” Miles decided, standing up from the couch. He then bathed, gathered his belongings, and prepared to venture out.
His first plan was to find a means of survival, if at all possible. If he was bound to meet his end, however, his secondary plan was to secure some financial support for his parents’ future.
With a backpack draped over his shoulder, Miles departed his old apartment building. The sunlight outside was blinding and left him momentarily disoriented.
“It seems ghosts aren’t deterred by daylight,” he mused, feeling the back of his hand. The eye embedded there didn’t react unusually.
This suggested that the ghost could manifest itself during the day, effectively debunking the popular belief that ghosts only materialized at night. Perhaps daylight offered some solace, mitigating the fear their presence could instill.
“Sir, do you buy used phones?” Miles asked, approaching a small mobile phone repair shop along the street.
The shop owner looked up, “I only buy recent models, those released within the last two years.”