The Beloved Darling of the Eccentric World

Su Jiu was born in Yun Gui Village.

Everyone in the village was a weak supernatural being like him.

In a world overrun by ghost stories and ruled by underworld currency, they couldn't attract players or earn any ghost money. And as the only newborn supernatural being in the village, Su Jiu had poor health, so the villagers spent nearly all their money on him.

Su Jiu never had to worry about food or drink, but everyone else in the village lived on a tight budget.

To stop being a burden to them,

Su Jiu thought it over and decided to sneak off and join the older brothers and sisters from his village who worked themselves to the bone in other haunted realms. Once he'd learned how those other realms operated, he'd come back and rebuild Yun Gui Village.

But as soon as he arrived in the city,

a passing human mistook him for one of their own because he was so weak.

They heard Su Jiu was short on money and looking for work, so they happily shoved a large sum of cash at him and strong-armed him into taking the place of a human player who'd accidentally touched a haunted-realm invitation. They sent him into the S-rank haunted realm Bone Tower, where the survival rate was just 2%.

Su Jiu: 0v0!

Isn't this where Brother Yun Du works?

They gave me money and even found me a haunted realm to work in!

Humans are just the best!

*

Su Jiu had never seen the world beyond his village.

He'd only heard that working in the human world was hard, so he assumed his older brothers and sisters must have it rough, too.

They were so weak.

Maybe humans bullied them all the time.

But when Su Jiu entered a haunted realm full of worry, he saw the older boy from next door, who used to hold him in his arms and gently soothe him to sleep, wearing a handsome, icy expression as he casually trampled the veteran player who had broken the rules and tricked Su Jiu into coming there.

Then he ripped the man's arm clean off.

The neighbor girl, who had a gentle smile and used to love dressing him up, now held a giant pair of scissors. With a wave of her hand, players' heads fell like chives being harvested.

Even the boy next door, who used to trail timidly behind Su Jiu, clutching his clothes and afraid of everything, had grown taller than him and become an S-rank supernatural being players were terrified to even mention.

Su Jiu: O.0

Was he really the only useless one?

Su Jiu decided to get along with his older brothers and sisters.

Late at night, he went to his brother's room with a pillow in his arms and knocked on the door. He brought his sister the pretty dresses she liked in the dressing room, and told stories to the neighbor boy, who was too scared to sleep alone after watching a horror movie...

But the players seemed to misunderstand something. They kept shouting all sorts of strange words as they frantically stuffed ghost money into his hands.

Su Jiu: 0.o

But I didn't call myself some big shot.

*

When they learned that S-rank haunted realms were resurging on a massive scale,

the surviving players fell into utter despair.

That is, until a pretty boy with round eyes and dimples when he smiled appeared. First, the players watched as he fearlessly knocked on the door of an S-rank supernatural being in the middle of the night.

No one knew what he did, but the S-rank, who liked to kill at random after dark, was so frightened that he didn't show up all night.

Then they watched as he gave an S-rank haunted realm, obsessed with beauty in a uniquely deranged way and devoted to turning people into monsters, a red-and-green dress so hideous it was a disaster by any standard.

The towering S-rank was so furious his face turned red, yet for some reason, he didn't dare say a word.

Even the S-rank supernatural being who had risen to power at a young age, with the most vicious temper and cruelest methods, and who tormented players until they wished they were dead in every school scenario,

was as docile as a lamb around the pretty player.

The players: !

Is this how the big shots do it?!

Meanwhile, Su Jiu was counting the ghost money players had nervously forced on him, an even bigger question mark floating above his head: Why are they giving me money again?

*

Much later, Su Jiu still had one question.

Why were his older brothers and sisters so powerful, yet never willing to return to Yun Gui Village?

The S-rank beings exchanged glances.

They were too embarrassed to admit that their true form was so possessive. After luring them away back then, it had stayed in Yun Gui Village and done everything it could to stop them from returning to see the little treasure.

So they told him they wanted to make a fortune before going back.

Su Jiu believed them, his eyes shining.

He decided that once he made a fortune, he'd go back and buy lots and lots of things for his aunt and uncle and the older brother who'd looked after him. But before he could return, his brother came looking for him.

The man pinched his cheek, his voice gentle.

“Had enough fun?”

“Shouldn't Xiao Jiu come home now?”

*

Theme: Strive to live a wonderful life.