Lu Ci, 28, is a product manager at Fubao Tech. At dawn, after staying late to revise a PowerPoint deck for the seventh time, an ad for a knockoff app popped up on his phone: “Want to experience controlling life and death?” He downloaded it without thinking.
Then he couldn’t uninstall it.
The uninstall button was grayed out. The customer service avatars were Black and White Impermanence. The agent’s ID was 007. The onboarding notice read: Congratulations on becoming a part-time King of Hell. Three-month probation. Zero complaints required for a permanent position.
His first ticket: Zhang San choked to death while drinking water. Guide his soul to the Underworld’s registration office.
Lu Ci didn’t believe it. But the deductions came out of his salary in the world of the living.
By day, Shen Nian scolded him for being late. At night, Zhong Lidu reported him for “noncompliance.” At midnight, he still had to process ghosts’ reincarnation applications. And the most ridiculous part was that the Book of Life and Death was linked to the company’s office system. He accidentally clicked “Mark All as Read” once and nearly left the whole city unable to die.
And then there was his boss, who was always dressed in bespoke suits
