On January 1, 2028, dark energy ran rampant, all kinds of supernatural phenomena returned, and Earth stood on the brink of the apocalypse.
The good news was, it was still 2027.
...New Year's Day was just a week away.
Reborn with this news, An Jibai promptly reported himself to the state and was appointed head of a new department tasked with advancing the strategic integration of nonhuman talent.
That's because he'd bound himself to an utterly absurd System:
[Use a hard-core set of values to reform vengeful ghosts!]
Faced with an incorrigible, antisocial boss who was conducting human experiments, he called on the state and used heavy weaponry to blow the entire facility to smithereens.
System: ...
An Jibai: Is that hard-core enough?
When he encountered a ghost child who delighted in scaring people, he gave the ghost a taste of its own medicine, successfully giving it PTSD and getting it to study hard and improve itself from then on.
System: …
An Jibai: Does that count as reforming it?
In an old, isolated village shrouded in darkness, he raised the banner of rural revitalization. The ghosts were so tempted that they stayed up all night cramming for civil service exams and polishing their resumes, sobbing as they did.
System: …
An Jibai: The founding of the country may have made it impossible to become a spirit, but nobody said a vengeful ghost couldn't take the civil service exam.
When night fell and shadows descended,
people fled in panic, only to suddenly realize:
A force had long been making preparations, quietly putting everything in place before disaster had fully arrived, all to protect its people.
A red-clad ghost wrapped her long hair around a murderer's wrist. A ghost infant perched beside a newborn's bed and chased away its nightmares. A mummified forest ranger formed a hand seal and turned back a devastating flood.
An Jibai held a satellite map and smiled. "The cross-border evil dragon is locked on. Prepare the Dongfeng exorcism missiles. Let's show them what it means to defend our homeland."
Every inch of flesh and blood in this body is the last wall standing between China and the dawn.
*
After they perished together, An Jibai's nemesis was reborn.
The other party hid their identity, pretended to surrender, and infiltrated his side, waiting for the day they could reveal their mask and openly savor the look on his face when he was betrayed.
Working day and night, diligently and conscientiously?
No matter. It's all part of the plan.
Every single one of his former subordinates poached away?
No matter. That's part of the plan too.
Then the day finally came.
The other party followed their painstakingly crafted plan and knocked on their boss's door in the dead of night.
"Teacher An, do I need to submit a report on my ideological progress... before I can pursue you?"
Reader's guide:
1. A sharp-tongued top who infiltrates his target only to fall for him, x a hard-core, mischievous bottom. One-on-one romance.
2. Entirely fictional setting. Please don't conflate it with reality.
Blurb archived on May 22, 2025.
Theme: Five stars rise in the East, bringing fortune to China
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