Huh? Do I Have to Use My Looks to Serve People Even as a Ghost?!

[Manuscript in progress, posting begins November 5]

A paranoid, work-weary underworld reaper who has given up trying

X

An optimistic, sunny puppeteer who nobody pays attention to

A major incident recently struck the underworld. With the divine hierarchy in turmoil, all the vengeful spirits and unclaimed souls imprisoned there poured out of the spirit prison.

Afraid the incident would come to light and reach the ears of the Great Emperor, who would hold him responsible, the official in charge of records sent his subordinate reapers into action, ordering them to recapture every escaped soul as quickly as possible.

As an overworked wage slave, Chu Yushi leads a double life. By day, he is a smiling male attendant at a butler café, where he serves customers with a pretty face (not really).

At night, he roams the bustling city as a reaper traveling between the realms of the living and the dead. The butler café is actually a paranormal investigation bureau established by the underworld as a cover.

He may be an attendant or a reaper, but no matter what, he is still a wage slave!

He does the work of a host (crossed out) and gets paid a low-ranking reaper’s salary in the underworld!

Ah... I just want to slack off.

As an utterly ordinary reaper in the underworld, his daily work is to go undercover at the butler café in the human world, listen for strange happenings, and recover unclaimed souls. Naturally, tracking down the souls that escaped from the spirit prison becomes another task for Chu Yushi.

Then one day, he met someone. No! Strictly speaking, he wasn’t human.

Fu Tiao only looked human, but he had none of the life force of a living person.

Strangest of all, there was no record of Fu Tiao anywhere in the underworld.

Chu Yushi thought it sounded like a hassle and planned to pretend he knew nothing. But somehow, every strange incident was connected to Fu Tiao...

[Bonus Scene]

One day, after working overtime to recover souls until the early hours of the morning

Chu Yushi hurried home in the middle of the night and found that Fu Tiao, who had been freeloading at his place, had made three life-sized puppets in his likeness to wait on him.

Every puppet looked as if it had been carved from the same mold as Chu Yushi.

Puppet Chu Yushi No. 1, massaging his shoulders: “Are you satisfied, Young Master Fu?”

Puppet Chu Yushi No. 2, bringing him tea and water: “Why are you so glum today, Master?”

Puppet Chu Yushi No. 3, pounding his legs: “Tiao Tiao, is this the right amount of pressure?”

When Fu Tiao saw him come back, he panicked and immediately restored all the puppets to their original forms, standing stiffly in place with a bright, innocent fake smile.

Chu Yushi sneered. “It’s bad enough that the underworld exploits me. Now you’re exploiting me too? Make three puppets of yourself so I can enjoy being waited on for once.”

Fu Tiao: ...

#First version of the blurb finalized on 2024/3/7, screen recording saved#

A few tips before reading:

① This story has plenty of original worldbuilding and is mildly frightening.

② The couple are mutually devoted, body and soul, and have eyes only for each other. ★ No breaking them up, reversing the pairing, or shipping them with anyone else.

Theme: You have to break things down before you can build them up again. Only after a great upheaval can there be a new beginning.