Forced to Fall in Love in a Nonhuman Story

[Story One: At midnight, ghosts trade souls.]

"1L: Asking sincerely: The girl I like has been spending a lot of time with my useless roommate lately. How can I mess with my roommate, who's always been so annoying?"

"2L: For context, that guy is afraid of ghosts. Someone once scared him so badly he wet himself, and he won't even sleep with the lights off. I've put up with him for ages."

"26L: I suggest locking him outside at midnight. Let him get good and scared, then open the door. Ghost Festival is only two days away, so the prank is guaranteed to work even better."

"44L: Thanks, brother from 26L. That's what I'm going to do."

"45L: You'd better be careful. An upperclassman in our department did something that cruel once, and bad luck followed him from then on. Don't try it lightly!"

"144L: I saw everyone's replies. I'm back safe and sound, and nothing supernatural happened. Everyone should still believe in science. My useless roommate really was terrified, and lately he hasn't been hanging around the girl I like anymore. I don't know if it's because I scared him, but ever since that night, he's been clinging to me instead. Tsk."

"145L: By the way, has anyone seen a red cord like this? It feels like it's made of a special material, and I can't find one anywhere. My roommate's been wearing it ever since Ghost Festival. I don't think I'd seen it before, but it looks pretty nice. I want to buy one for my grandma. It should go well with the jade amulet for safety I got at a temple, right? [Image]"

"175L (deleted): Are all the people in this thread freshmen? You probably don't know, but your roommate's red cord looks exactly like the keepsake worn by the graduate student who jumped to his death from the roof of the dorm a few years ago, right? [Image] The graduate student's cord was originally white. Need I explain how this one got so vividly colored?"

[Story Two: Darling, I've come back for you.]

He Liu was a heartless playboy.

With a beautiful face more refined than a woman's, he'd dated countless people, more than the stars in the sky.

Qin Ke was He Liu's latest boyfriend.

He was exactly what He Liu wanted: handsome, rich, and devoted.

Just like every boyfriend before him, once He Liu had pretty much trained him to his liking, he dusted off his hands and prepared to leave.

Qin Ke, who'd always been so meek around him that he never dared say no, agreed this time too.

The next day, He Liu woke up at home. The man beside him, who'd been watching him for a long time, leaned over and gently kissed him. "What would you like to eat today?"

He answered without thinking, then felt a chill at the back of his neck.

How did Qin Ke know the password to his front door?

The man chuckled. "You don't think I'm a stalker, do you, baby? I've loved you for so many years. How could I bring myself to do something like that to you?"

Cold fingertips touched his trembling lips. "Baby, you still don't recognize me? I'm Qin Ke."

Qin Ke, He Liu's first boyfriend.

The day after the college entrance exam ended, he was found dead by suicide from charcoal burning in his bedroom.

[Story Three: It's easy to invite an immortal, but hard to send one away.]

Qu Si had a secret: he was jealous of his best friend.

He envied him for being more handsome and clever, and for having anything that was better than what he had.

But his friend had no idea, and foolishly stayed up late just to play the pen spirit game with him at four in the morning.

The black pen moved on its own between their intertwined hands. Qu Si silently prayed:

Dear Pen Immortal, if you truly exist, please bring the cruelest punishment in the world down upon the person sitting across from me.

He opened his eyes. At some point, the pen had fallen from their hands and rolled aside.

The invisible presence had marked the word "Yes" on the white paper beneath their hands, where the red words "Yes" and "No" were printed.

The ritual was complete. The Pen Immortal they had failed to send away had come to claim its payment.

[Story Four: You stepped on my gravestone. How will you make it up to me?]

A love story about a money-grubbing recipient who tramples a dead person's gravestone for money, then, to his delight, gets a visit from the owner of the grave.

[Story Five: I raised you, so don't even think about leaving me.]

A love story about a young star who raises a little ghost for good luck, suffers the consequences when it turns on him, and becomes pregnant with a ghost child, all while his ghost husband feeds on his yang energy during the pregnancy.

[Story Six: The hungry ghost in the mirror, hungry and wicked.]

A love story about stealing a ghost mirror from a haunted house, then being too afraid to look in any mirror again, and wearing a padded jacket and scarf at home even in summer to keep strawberries from growing on his body.

*Cover art by the artist Tang Jiuxi, with thanks.

*An author who is too scared to watch ghost movies writes a romance with nonhumans.

*Anthology of unrelated stories, each with its own protagonists.

Theme: Prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony!