Max-Level Celestial Master, Famous for Metaphysics

As Qiu Li flicked away the ash left by the burning talisman after sealing the female ghost between his fingers, he answered the viewers who had mocked him for pretending to perform supernatural rituals: "Keep your heart kind, and never take a life."

Viewers: "..."

The female ghost leaned right up to his face. "Do I look alive to you?"

In his previous life, after earning all the merit he needed, Qiu Li retired to the mountains and spent every day being waited on by the demons and ghosts he had subdued and refined.

A spirit adept at beguiling hearts fed him grapes.

A bloodthirsty, murderous ghost put on an apron and cooked for him.

He could have gone on living in comfort like that forever, but then he transmigrated into the frail, sickly pretty boy of an idol group.

The young idol had such a strong yin energy that he was naturally prone to evil influences, leaving him plagued by illness and weak as a kitten.

Fine. If he wanted to afford his next meal, Qiu Li had no choice but to return to his old line of work.

In a gloomy corridor, a disoriented hanged ghost whimpered softly.

Beyond the darkness, a corpse that had died with its eyes open was devoured until nothing remained...

The other guests were almost scared out of their minds.

Only Qiu Li, once looked down on by everyone, snapped out a talisman and sneered, "Lost? I'll show you the way."

Not long after the show aired, Qiu Li became famous across the internet.

At first, he was famous for all the wrong reasons.

The survival show was about to become a live-streamed ghost-hunting solo act, and their own idol had been reduced to a useless sidekick!

Haters: Changing the script is one thing, but now you're playing favorites too? What a trash show! What a trash group! Forget watching!

Later,

all the ghosts in the live stream bowed in worship.

Their voices echoed through the forest: "We welcome our master... Qiu Li."

Viewers/haters: "Holy crap?! He's the real deal!"

Viewers started posting photos of their purchases.

"A thousand talismans arrived! Nothing's wrong, I've just been having trouble sleeping lately :)"

*Master Li's reputation spread far and wide. One big shot after another tried to recruit him, but Qiu Li turned them all down. His fans were furious, saying he was throwing away his chance at love.

Qiu Li: I can't go. If I do, I'll end up chained to a rich guy, getting cuddles three times a day :(

Because he had realized that those so-called big shots were the ghost bosses who had been forced to wait on him hand and foot in his previous life. Before he transmigrated, they had already broken free of their seals.

One night, as black mist crept up Master Li's trouser leg, he thought: I regret this now. I really, really regret it.

Coming soon!

"Coasting to Victory in an Infinite Live-Stream Game"

Ye Shiwei was the manager of a haunted apartment building.

His dream was to be a lazy fish who slept until he woke naturally every day and lived off free food and drink.

In reality, all kinds of noise woke him before five every morning.

Sometimes the tenant upstairs tore off someone's arm; other times, the neighbor next door had a leg broken.

By day, he broke up fights and settled disputes. At night, he had to fend off lustful ghosts who coveted his good looks.

Ye Shiwei: I'm so done...

One quiet evening, Ye Shiwei finally lost consciousness from exhaustion.

When he woke up, he found himself inside an infinite live-stream game...

Ye Shiwei, after four days and three nights without sleep: Annoyed.jpg

The four walls were peeling, white bones were piled in a corner, and a gray face pressed against the window with a hideous grin. In the middle of the room stood the only clean thing... a bed??!

Ye Shiwei's eyes lit up. Without a second thought, he flopped down on it: ^Do whatever you want, Dad only cares about the bed^

The mechanical voice that had been explaining the rules abruptly fell silent: ...?

Tens of thousands of players were streaming the game. They schemed against one another and outsmarted NPCs to hold on to their hard-won clues.

But when they passed a certain room, they found Ye Shiwei sitting around a table with two ghosts who looked less than friendly, holding a deck of cards and inviting the players passing by: "We're one short. Want to join?"

"..."

But here, the only way to survive was to fight with everything you had, then fight even harder.

Everyone, including the viewers, thought a good-for-nothing, shortcut-taking lazy fish like Ye Shiwei wouldn't last more than a few days.

That was until fewer than a hundred players cleared the final instance and arrived at the luxurious apartment suite the game had prepared to celebrate their victory.

At the same time, the door opened.

Ye Shiwei appeared, polite and friendly. "Hello, I'm the manager here. You can redeem points for a room. There are no subsidies."

Players/viewers: "???"

[This story is entirely fictional. Please don't read it as real.]

Theme: Do what you can, and live with a clear conscience.