chapter 132

The lobby of Building C was full of ghosts coming and going.

Lu Li carefully sidestepped a ghost that nearly crashed into him and whispered to Bosi, “Paopao is here?”

With just the Collar, Bosi had already confirmed Paopao’s location-and even let Lu Li experience a return-trip teleport.

Bosi looked at him. “You don’t need to talk that quietly. There are magic circles on the Black Robe. The ghosts nearby can’t see you or hear you.”

Lu Li nodded. He watched with curiosity as each ghost held paper and a pen.

“What’s everyone doing?”

Bosi had briefly explained earlier: this was one of the River Styx Office Building’s buildings, where ghosts qualified for Reincarnation could choose where they’d go next and what method they’d use.

“Reincarnation has a daily quota and a time limit. You can choose your Appearance, but describing it out loud and communicating takes time. They can draw the exact look on paper ahead of time to save time.”

Bosi produced a sheet of paper and a pen from somewhere and handed them to Lu Li.

“Paopao is in this building too, but he doesn’t have money to pick an Appearance. He can only choose the free random option.”

Bosi said, “What do you want him to look like in his next life?”

Lu Li accepted the paper with great seriousness. “If I draw it, he can randomly get it? Isn’t it supposed to be the system here that assigns it randomly?”

“I’m the Underworld King.”

Lu Li nodded along. “Right. You’re the boss.”

Then he grew a little nervous. “Isn’t that… not so great?”

Bosi said, “It’s fine.”

Lu Li wasn’t comforted in the slightest. If anything, he looked up and begged Bosi to dock his pay. “Then how about you deduct part of my wages from this Instance?”

Bosi lowered his gaze and, without meaning to, looked straight into those clear gray eyes. His line of sight felt caught, unable to pull away. He agreed on instinct. “Okay.

“I’ll deduct an appropriate amount.”

Lu Li was satisfied-and perfectly at ease about it. Hugging the paper and pen, he squatted down and started drawing with utter focus.

“Same as this life, so his mom can recognize him. But also a tiny bit different from this life…” Lu Li drew a simple little kitten, then added one extra stroke in the corner. “This needs to be included.”

After he finished, he asked Bosi, “Who do I submit it to?”

Bosi opened his palm. “Me.”

–

The Underworld King’s aura descended upon the entire River Styx Office Building.

From the innermost single-person office, an Evil God with dog ears came rushing out in a panic. The moment he saw Bosi, his legs went weak and he nearly dropped to his knees. He hurried over to greet him.

“King! Why are you here in person? You didn’t even have a ghost notify us beforehand! I’ll pour you a coffee!”

“No need,” Bosi said. “I need to talk to you alone about something.”

From Building B and Building C, two more Evil Gods who looked exactly like “Carlo” came sprinting over. The instant they stood in the same place, their bodies went whoosh and merged into one.

Three heads sprouted from the neck.

“Wait a second!”

Carlo reached up and pressed the left and right heads hard toward the middle.

Bang.

They became a single head.

Carlo bowed with a respectful smile. “We’re all here. Please, tell us.”

Bosi continued, “Today’s Reincarnation Permit, number 10.”

Carlo reacted like his tail had been stepped on. Cold sweat beaded across his forehead in an instant, and his mind screamed, It’s over.

He knew it-there was no way the King would come strolling around here for fun. If the King showed up, it meant a massive problem.

Worse, Carlo had only just discovered the issue himself and hadn’t even had time to fix it.

“O-oh, him!” Carlo blurted out, forcing a laugh that sounded like he was choking. “I’ve been tearing my hair out over that one! All three heads are about to explode from stress. When he entered Building A, he only had 700 bucks on him, but he still managed to clear all nine zones and even got the permit in the end! I’m in the middle of hunting him down right now!

“We have to find out which gutsy idiots dared to run a relay and help a broke ghost clear the whole thing. There’s definitely someone behind it pulling strings! Who is messing with the Underworld’s always-orderly system?!”

Carlo had never had a screw-up of this magnitude under his watch. The more he spoke, the more frantic he became. “I’m going to arrest the employees who ruined discipline first. Once I find them, I’ll definitely-”

Bosi said, “Give them a raise.”

“Right, right,” Carlo agreed rapidly without thinking. “We absolutely have to severely-give them a raise?”

A head full of confusion popped out of his neck, followed by a head full of shock. Carlo immediately mashed the two heads back in.

“A raise?”

Bosi gave him a cool glance.

Carlo nodded so hard his neck looked like it might snap, frantically pressing the other two heads back into place. “Ha-ha, of course, of course! I heard you loud and clear. What’s there to question!”

“Permit number 10 has no issues. You will personally escort him to Reincarnation. His looks must be exactly the same as they are now.” Bosi gave a slight nod, took out the paper Lu Li had drawn earlier, studied it for a moment, then put it away and added,

“Number 10 currently has three legs.

“After Reincarnation, he needs to have four legs.”
“Alright, four points.” Carlo was terrified he’d forget, so he hurriedly wrote the key items down. “I’ll go handle it right away.”

—

Paopao arrived at the final step of Reincarnation.

He stared at the screen showing what he would look like in his next life, his mouth falling open in shock. “I…”

“I can really become like this?”

“But I clearly chose random. They said if you choose random, the face you get can’t possibly be the same as the one you have now.” Paopao reluctantly tore his gaze from the screen and stopped walking toward Reincarnation. “Could this be someone else’s result? Did you hand me the wrong one by mistake?”

Carlo had no choice but to grab this distinguished guest and keep tugging him forward.

“There was no mistake.”

He repeated what the King had left behind before departing, reciting it word for word. “In our Underworld, random Reincarnation has a 0.0001% probability of giving you the exact same appearance you have now.”

“That’s how lucky you are! That’s why you ended up drawing this result.”

—

Two days earlier.

The area around the overturned freight truck was a mess.

The driver’s side door had been kicked open. The driver, bitten until he was drenched in blood, scrambled out in a panic. “Insane! That crazy dog!”

A uniformed officer stopped him. “Is this your truck?”

“You have to catch him! Put him in jail! He steals dogs!” A woman charged over, shrieking hysterically, trying to swing at him.

“I’ve seen that jacket before! You’re the one who’s always lurking downstairs in our complex with a hat and a mask on, wandering around! And you’re always holding a bag of meat! You’re the one who tricked Anan into following you!” She screamed until her voice cracked. “Why did you trick him? He’s so dumb-he believes every human is friendly. The moment someone lies to him, he falls for it!”

The uniformed officer blocked her. “Calm down. There will be an appropriate punishment.”

“Punishment? It’ll just be a fine!” The driver argued shamelessly. “How was I supposed to know that dog was yours? When I saw it, it wasn’t on a leash and there was nobody with it. I thought it was a stray.”

He grew more and more brazen. “It’s just a dog! Do you have to go this far? I didn’t kill anyone! If you’ve got so much time and money to come after me over a dog, you’d be better off spending it on your parents!”

He pointed at the large dog circling restlessly around the woman’s feet. “Isn’t it living just fine? It’s not even dead…”

“This time, it’s not as simple as paying a fine.” The uniformed officer seized him by the arm and dragged him to the side. “You’re coming back with us.”

The woman remained where she was, her hands shaking with rage.

Something warm and damp licked the back of her hand.

In her tightly clenched fist was a Collar.

A round head pushed into it on its own.

The Collar hadn’t been unfastened yet, and it was smaller than Anan’s head.

So Anan ended up wearing it over his head.

It made him look like he was wearing a hat.

Or like he was wearing a Crown.

“Anan…” The woman sank to one knee, crying as she spoke. “That bad person cut your Collar. Mommy brought you a new one. We’ll use the new one.”

She sobbed as she loosened it and put it on him properly.

“I finally found you.”

—-

[Why the true Crown of Happiness is the Collar Paopao gave to Lu Li]

[Notes on the Instance name and some personal settings. I put half of this in the author’s notes, but it got squeezed out and blew up, so I’m putting it here _(:з”∠)_]

A Crown-if you strip away its political meaning-is a kind of symbol.

It symbolizes identity and status.

It is used on important occasions.

[Form]There are multiple words used to describe different types of Crown (stemma, corona, diadema, tiara). Their origins are all decorative: flower crowns, wreaths, ornamental bands, cloth, and so on.

[Meaning]There are many kinds of Crown, and over time they’ve become less and less restricted to the Royal Family. Nowadays, at weddings, banquets, and other important occasions, people will choose to wear one as an accessory.

A Crown bears witness to moments of happiness.

It is a symbol of love and beauty.

It makes a fitting gift.

—

[The real Crown of Happiness inside the Instance]

A Collar given to a pet.

A Neck Collar-or a necklace-given to a person.

Maybe they should carry the same meaning.

That meaning is defined by the one who bestows it, and the one who receives it.

I give it to you.

I fasten it around you.

From this day onward,

You will be cherished beyond measure.

You will be doted on by countless hearts.

—

[The fake Crown of Happiness]

Those who traffic animals sometimes lure them with food laced with anesthetics, or by other means.

After lowering their guard,

they use a Net Bag,

pulling it down from above,

covering the head in one swift motion.

Temptation is surrounded by danger.

So it turns out that,

in darkness and hallucination,

the deadly circular net that fell from the sky

was mistaken for the Crown of Happiness.

—

A Collar is not a restraint.

It is protection made of love.

Outsiders may not empathize.

They may not understand why someone would treat a pet like family.

But every time you go out,

put the Collar on properly,

and remember to use the leash.

Protect the innocent pet who will always trust humans.

And protect yourself, too,

so that after the one-in-ten-thousand chance of an accident happens,

you won’t be left with nothing but regret.

Not every vehicle racing toward money and sin

will stop in time.