Who Says There Are No Ghosts in a Haunted House

"Whoever says there are no ghosts in a haunted house, step out! I guarantee I'll only send you to the critical care ward, not beat you to death!"

Dian forced a smile, but it turned into such a deer-in-the-headlights—no, cardiac-arrest-inducing eerie grin that it instantly drew a wave of cheers... and screams of terror.

"This guy is trying so hard!"

A young man wearing tortoiseshell glasses evaluated him with a straight face. "Being able to smile like that is genuinely a talent of some sort."

The tall, thin man next to him immediately retorted, "I think he just entered the wrong reincarnation cycle. What a shame that a Ghost-type big shot died in the womb before even being born."

"..."

An edible loli holding a Pikachu-shaped cotton candy stood there with a blank expression.

A surge of joy welled up in Dian's heart. Lolis have three merits, but I still need to add one more.

He immediately smiled even harder.

Sudden silence... a deathly stillness...

The little loli's eyes widened, a mist of water visibly welling up in them. Then the corners of her mouth began to pout; she was already preparing to unleash her ultimate move—if she didn't cry you to death, she'd annoy you to death!!

"Waaaaahhhh!!"

A heart-wrenching wail resounded at the entrance of the haunted house.

"Pervert!!"

A twin-tailed girl wearing a sailor suit covered her flat chest and flashed backward in an instant retreat.

"No... you dead pervert, I think adding the word 'dead' makes it rhyme better!"

The tortoiseshell-wearing youth adjusted his glasses, and a flash of sharp insight immediately appeared in his eyes. "Indeed, a dead pervert... yep, it rhymes."

The tall, thin man fell silent for a moment, giving up on retorting. He felt like he should go back to retorting school for further education; his skills were a bit rusty.

True to what the master of retorting said, the hardest thing in this world was seeing the world through retorts.

A wild Ursaring mother—ah no, a housewife with delicate features—came over to take the little loli's hand, saying gently, "Don't cry, Mengmeng. This big brother didn't mean it either. It's just... sigh... he just lacks public morality."

She glanced sideways at Dian, the cold light in her eyes even more intense than an Ice Beam. "It's one thing to look terrifying, but to run out like this... honestly!"

Though that was what she thought in her heart, she still maintained a gentle expression, her tone carrying an apologetic air as she said, "Sorry for the trouble our Mengmeng has caused you. Truly, I am so sorry!"

Dian's face twitched. He felt as though he could already see a black aura of resentment rising to cover the sky, preparing to ferry him to the afterlife.

He immediately put away his smile... and pointed to the sign beside him.

The sign read:

"Annual Mega-Spectacle, Handsome Youth Horror Facial Expression Show—Dubaki Haunted House."

"What is this? It's just facial expressions, how disappointing."

The twin-tailed girl looked displeased. "I originally thought he was really a pervert."

The tortoiseshell-wearing youth gave a light cough. "My lady, perverts are so rare, only one a year. If you don't mind, how about we talk through the night by candlelight?"

"Darling, are you going to abandon me?!"

The tall, thin man suddenly said in a trembling voice, "Have you forgotten our previous sworn oaths to the heavens, our passionate trysts?!"

"Uh..."

The twin-tailed girl used her flash-step once more, retreated a dozen steps, and then walked away briskly.

The tortoiseshell-wearing youth stiffened for two or three seconds before casually withdrawing his hand and walking off to the side.

"Hmph hmph!"

The tall, thin man said smugly, "Retorting against me, no way; breaking up couples, I excel. Twenty years specializing in it, unmatched to this day."

Seeing the group of morons in front of him, Dian suddenly felt a bit of despair. Had the Pokémon World already been invaded by a moron virus? If so, wouldn't all his goddesses...

In an instant, he came to his senses. Morons existed, but the world was at least still normal.

For floating right in front of him was a Misdreavus, staring at him coldly with a pair of dead fish eyes.

Dian wore a bitter expression, unsure of how to wait upon this Misdreavus lady.

"Misdreavus!"

After flying a circle around Dian, Misdreavus headed back into the haunted house.

Dian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. If Normal-type Pokémon tortured your body, then Ghost-type ones ravaged your spirit.

He looked expressionlessly at the pitch-black interior of the haunted house behind him, mentally retorting, Who says there are no ghosts in a haunted house? Isn't this one right here... and an insomnia-ridden ghost at that.

That's right, Lady Misdreavus had recently been in an explosive phase where whoever provoked her died, all because she had insomnia!!

Dian looked at the surrounding scenery, still feeling a somewhat dreamlike sense of unreality. Yet, without a doubt, this truly was the Pokémon World, a Dream Land he had longed for.

"Gurgle..."

Clutching his stomach, Dian continued his great undertaking of earning extra cash.

That's right, the world was beautiful, lacking money was cruel, and starving to death was too tragic.

A line of small print was also written at the bottom right of the sign beside him.

"Showcasing talent but not selling out, welcome to Dubaki Haunted House, bringing you supreme surprises and excitement."

He had already been in this world for three months. Going from a mere unregistered person depending on his innate talent and flair, he had transformed overnight into an employee at Dubaki Amusement Park. Not only did he possess a legal identity, but he was also one step closer to his grand goal of getting promoted, getting a raise, and marrying a wealthy beauty.

Originally, he had also wanted to capture a Pokémon and begin his own journey from then on. Unfortunately, ever since he witnessed a harmless-looking Rattata bite a millstone-sized boulder into powder, he had decisively turned around and fled... no, made a strategic retreat.

Relying on his looks to win the Recognition of the Haunted House contractor, he became a junior staff member at the Haunted House.

Dian looked around and found that the foot traffic for the entire amusement park was clearly a lot lower. He sighed. There was no help for it; right now was the annual day for Trainers to set out, as well as the time for new students to enroll, so naturally the amusement park's days had started to become difficult.

"Misdreavus..."

Dian began his daily dazing with a blank expression, anyway other people couldn't tell.

He had already scrimped and saved to scrape together a sum of money, and even bought the most ordinary Poké Ball. The reason he still chose to stay here was precisely because of that Misdreavus.

Originally there were only some Items in the Haunted House, but half a month ago a Misdreavus suddenly ran in. At the time Dian was so excited he could hardly control himself, but afterwards Lady Misdreavus taught him what it meant to be unable to take care of oneself in daily life.

Treating teasing him as her daily joy, suddenly pulling his hair from behind, and making spine-chilling weeping sounds in the middle of the night were everyday occurrences. What was even more terrifying was that one time she dragged him straight into an Illusion, letting him thoroughly experience what it meant to have fierce ghosts attack a person.

However, after being scared and scared, Dian actually started to enjoy it, and then Lady Misdreavus began to worry because she discovered that her food supply was decreasing.

As a result, she spent all day thinking about how to scare this freak.

Little did she know, all of this was within Dian's expectations.

He knew that Pokémon like Misdreavus surely mostly had deep curiosity, and certainly wouldn't think much of ordinary people. Therefore, if he wanted to gain Lady Misdreavus's favor and become her Trainer, he had to win by extraordinary means and go against the grain.

Every time night arrived, Dian would start telling ghost stories as if no one else was around, one every single day, with the styles never repeating. The result existed: Lady Misdreavus suffered from insomnia.

He swept a glance over and, after finding that there were fewer and fewer people, turned around and walked back.