Lin Xun had done a lot of dumb things for views.
But streaming a "real ghost summoning ritual" on a rainy Friday night probably topped the list.
His room smelled like instant noodles, candle wax, and bad life choices. A plastic skull sat on the desk beside a half-charged phone, while his live chat filled with messages like:
> "Bro this looks fake as hell."
"Where's the ghost? My grandma's faster than this."
Lin Xun forced a grin and lifted a handmade talisman he'd copied off a sketchy website. "Don't blink, viewers. If this works, I'll be trending by morning."
The thunder cracked just as he finished the chant.
The screen flickered. His heart skipped.
Then something cold and invisible brushed against his neck.
"Wait—what the hell—"
The chat went wild. The candles blew out. His phone camera caught a faint shadow crawling behind him—
—and the stream cut off.
That was the last anyone ever saw of Lin Xun alive.
---
When he woke up again, everything was wrong.
He was lying on a hard floor that smelled like dust and smoke. His head pounded like someone had dropped a drum inside it.
A female voice shouted from somewhere nearby, "Master Lin! Master Lin! Please wake up! The ghost hasn't left yet!"
He opened his eyes.
He wasn't in his apartment.
He was inside a wooden hall, lit by oil lamps, with old scrolls hanging from the ceiling and a massive altar right beside him.
And there was a woman kneeling in front of him—holding three burning joss sticks—crying like she'd just lost her last hope.
"What—what master?" he croaked.
The woman gasped. "You're awake! Thank the heavens! Please, you must drive out the spirit from my husband! You said it would be gone before dawn!"
Lin Xun blinked. His brain lagged like bad Wi-Fi.
What husband? What spirit? Why was she talking like they were in some historical drama?
Then he looked down at his hands—pale, thin, with a faint tattoo of some strange sigil on the wrist.
Not his body.
"Oh hell no," he muttered.
The door burst open, and two men rushed in wearing dark blue robes with gold edges.
One of them shouted, "So the famous Spirit Exorcist Apprentice finally woke up, huh? You owe our sect payment for last month's fake talismans!"
Lin Xun froze. "Fake what now?"
They ignored him and slammed a wooden bill onto the floor.
"Two hundred spirit coins. Due before sunset. Or we tell everyone in the city that you've been scamming clients again."
The woman gasped. "You—you're a fraud?!"
Lin Xun's mind spun. He barely processed the words spirit coins before his new body decided it had enough stress and sent him collapsing backward.
---
When he opened his eyes again, it was night.
He lay inside a small, broken room that smelled like burnt incense and disappointment.
There was an old bronze mirror on the wall, cracked down the center. His reflection showed a young man with sharp eyes, black hair tied messily, and a look of eternal regret.
"Okay," Lin Xun whispered, staring at himself. "I either died and respawned in a low-budget drama, or this is one really vivid nightmare."
Then, a sound echoed in his mind—metallic, cold, yet strangely casual.
> [System Activated.]
[Spirit Command Interface Loading...]
Lin Xun flinched. "What—who's talking?"
> [Welcome, Host. Detected compatible spiritual vessel: Lin Xun (Deceased Exorcist Apprentice, Profession: Con Artist).]
[Error: Spirit Energy levels critically low.]
[Recommendation: Summon first ghost immediately to stabilize soul link.]
"Summon what?!"
> [Tutorial Initiating. Do not panic.]
The room temperature dropped ten degrees. His breath turned visible. The mirror flickered, and a faint silhouette appeared inside it—a thin shadow, its head tilted at a sharp angle.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
> [First Summon Detected: Wandering Soul (Rank—Low).]
[Do you wish to command or free?]
Lin Xun swallowed. The ghost twitched, its pale eyes glowing like dying coals.
His instinct screamed run.
But something deep inside his chest—maybe the system—pushed him to speak.
"Command."
The mirror pulsed once.
The shadow straightened, bowed slightly, and whispered in a hollow tone, "Master."
Lin Xun's mind went blank.
"Wait—wait—so it actually works?!"
> [Congratulations. Host has successfully formed first Spirit Contract.]
[Reward: 100 Spirit Points. Warning: Target ghost displays unstable emotion patterns.]
Before he could ask what that meant, the ghost suddenly floated forward—its face now clear. It was an old man, still clutching a broom.
The spirit's voice trembled. "You promised to help me sweep my courtyard before I died. Why didn't you come back, Lin Xun?"
"...Oh great," Lin Xun muttered. "My first ghost is a janitor with emotional baggage."
---
By dawn, the "exorcist" of the city had officially returned from the dead.
Except now, his scams actually worked.
The rumors spread faster than fire—
> "Lin Xun came back!"
"He controls real ghosts!"
"He's the Ghost Summoner!"
Meanwhile, Lin Xun sat on the floor with a broom ghost floating beside him, thinking about how the hell to pay two hundred spirit coins before sunset.
> [New Mission: Repay Sect Debt — Reward: System Upgrade, Spirit Summoning Slot +1.]
[Failure: Host's limbs will experience involuntary spiritual disassembly.]
Lin Xun groaned.
"Guess even the afterlife wants me broke."