I Took a Summer Job, So How Did I Become the Bane of Evil Spirits?

The old folks always say: if someone calls your name in the dead of night, don’t answer.

Don’t step on paper money left by the roadside.

Don’t gawk at weddings or funerals.

If an extra pair of shoes appears at your door, never put them on.

I never believed any of it.

Not until Wang Fatty and I took a side job catching a cheating spouse and stumbled upon a man changing his skin in a rented apartment.

The person who saved us told me these weren’t superstitions. They were rules.

Some people survive by following the rules.

Some use the rules to harm others.

And some want to use the rules to bring people from the old era back into the world.

That day, I joined the Institute of Folk Customs.

I saw human skin that could find its way home, old debts that could borrow someone’s life, and nameless seats no one was allowed to take.

Only then did I understand: the scariest thing isn’t a ghost.

It’s being alive while someone else has already taken your place.