Lysander slammed shut his apartment door, flicking on the lights and placing his damp boots on the shoe rack to dry. He had just returned from the police station after being discharged from the hospital.

  And although he gathered some curious looks for his reddishly-painted appearance, because many costumed figures were roaming the streets during this Halloween night, luckily, none had been concerned enough to call the police.

  Although he had sustained some quite serious burns, because none of his vital areas were affected, and under the pressure of his stingy insurance, he was only wrapped in bandages and prescribed a lineup of several antibiotics.

  Afterwards, he went to the police station to file a report, which would serve as additional evidence against However, to his chagrin, the police officers began ridiculing him as he retold the night’s events. They insisted that didn’t exist, and Lysander failed to pinpoint the building on the maps app of the officer’s phone.

  However, even though he didn’t manage to file a police report, there was still ample evidence, such as his hospital records and the malware that was installed on his phone. Thus, to take screenshots of said malware, he beelined to the nearest charger beside his bed and hooked up his phone.

  As it was charging, he glanced at his digital alarm clock. It was already past midnight. His beloved Halloween ritual to take turns handing out candy and watching horror movies, slumped across the couch while munching on popcorn, was ruined.

  Lysander sighed as he attempted to cheer himself up.

  When his phone finished booting up, he unlocked it immediately and searched for the newly installed app, hoping the developers hadn’t implemented a backdoor that allowed them to tamper with the evidence.

  When he spotted the app, he was overjoyed. He’d been pessimistic, pinning his hopes on the system logs. However, now that he knew the app was still there, it was likely the developers had considered this course of events.

  However, although many of his worries were alleviated, he would only be able to relax fully once everything was documented meticulously and backed up on a flash drive. He wasn’t particularly tech-savvy; he would try transferring every bit of evidence he found to his laptop and visit the local phone repair shop to deal with the rest, next thing in the morning.

  Just as he was about to click on the app to take screenshots of the mission , the stage of the supposed prank and subsequent injury, his phone vibrated, and another notification popped up.

  Lysander was startled, but gripped his phone firmly to avoid dropping it once more. Staring at the notification, he was at a loss.

  Warily, he grabbed a piece of tape from one of the drawers and covered up the front- and back camera.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  When he calmed down, he clicked on the app, documenting everything. However, to his misfortune, the daily missions had already been updated.

  Disheartened, he sighed and navigated back to the front page. He certainly wouldn’t take on another mission, lest he be involved in their schemes again.

  Besides the daily missions, there was another section that was currently unlocked. He clicked on it.

  [ Arcade ]

  His bedside lamps flickered, just for a fleeting moment, before the section rendered fully. This was a common occurrence, so he didn’t think much of it.

  Lysander’s eyes dilated as he laid his eyes on the screen. He found himself in a first-person perspective, looking at a dark arcade. The graphics were on par with Triple-A games. Because of his workload, he hadn’t been able to keep up with the latest updates, but considering his phone was basically a pile of scrap, the technology sector must have had a significant breakthrough.

  Although there was no overhead lighting, the games’ colorful neon lights offered just enough illumination to explore the arcade. Some of the machines appeared to be faulty, beeping, buzzing, and flashing in the distance, prompting his gaze to dart all around nervously.

  He walked across the tiled floor, covered in grime, dust, and remnants of a more lively past, ensuring he wouldn’t be caught in those thick cobwebs dangling from the ceiling, until arriving at a lucky wheel which caught his attention. The neon lights were flickering with purpose.

  Curiously, he clicked to interact with it.

  Lysander was already fully immersed in the game, having forgotten his original purpose of documenting the app. He checked his balance, which amounted to 35 tickets.

  As the wheel spun, he analyzed the price wedges. Grey was the most common, followed by blue, purple, red, and a single black wedge. It slowed down steadily.

  Lysander gulped as the hand reached the end of the red price wedge, lingering on the edge to a blue wedge.

  The hand passed the threshold.

  Lysander stared at the wriggling letters of the notification, his left eye twitching uncontrollably. His immersion was broken immediately, and he quickly took a few more screenshots before throwing his phone onto his bed.

  In his kitchen corner, he mixed himself a cocktail to unwind from the eventful day. By now, the rain and wind had picked up, with droplets pattering against his window.

  As thunder roared outside, the doorbell of his apartment rang.

  He placed the old-fashioned glass on the counter, approaching the front door on tiptoes.

  He peeked through the peephole. The corridor was empty. However, his neighbor’s door was ajar.

  The woman who lived there became extremely fussy after her husband died, always complaining about the most minute details. Since she seemed to be awake at this hour, Lysander could only imagine she had found a new reason to complain.

  He unlocked his door, glancing to the staircase on the left, but she was nowhere to be seen. A draft of cool air wafted from inside the apartment, and he shivered.

  His eyebrows furrowed. He had enough of her antics.

  A low mechanical hum resounded from below. There lay a cardboard box. He wanted to check the sender, but didn’t find any tag.

  He grabbed it, locking the door and placing it on the counter.

  He shook his head. Once he accepted such thoughts, it wouldn’t be long until he would end up locked up in a psychiatric hospital. It would be too absurd.

  He removed the tape, opening the box with anticipation. Inside, there was an unblemished and unbranded circular vacuum.

  Lysander was unimpressed. Soon, he noticed a chilling incongruity.

  It seemed rather unbelievable. The judge would definitely dismiss his concerns as the ravings of an insane person.

  A mechanical voice cut him off, startling him.

  "At your service, my lord."

  “… Eh?”

  My Ghost Conglomerate. If you enjoyed it so far, feel free to follow this novel.