Peninsula: I'm being supported by a top idol.

Ever since parting ways with Yoo Ji-min yesterday, Choi Si-an has been feeling listless all day.

The only lead had been cut off, and he was very worried about his future.

Or... should we just let things fizzle out like this?

Who cares about messengers of hell or golden messengers? At worst, I'll be dragged back and boiled in oil. Just endure it, and I'll be a hero again in eighteen years!

Uh… I think Hara said she wouldn’t have a next life, right?

Xiba shake!

Cui Shi'an stopped, his eyes fixed on the sky with a sinister glint in them, and in front of many nearby classmates, he uttered the most vicious curse:

"Ugh, what do you want me to do?! Can't you just give me a straight answer?!"

The sky, of course, remained silent, but instead garnered a lot of whispers as if looking at someone as an idiot.

Several kind-hearted classmates came over with compassionate expressions to comfort him:

"Is your classmate facing any difficulties?"

"Please don't do anything rash."

"Why don't you join our One Holy Spirit Society? Not only will it bring you spiritual comfort, but you can also win cultural merchandise vouchers every month..."

"Get out of here!" Cui Shi'an waved his textbook, wishing he could turn into a brick and smash these campus missionaries to death.

Just then, a sudden and sweet voice exploded in my ear:

"Oh dear, who made you angry again? Why are you taking it out on innocent passersby?"

Choi Si-an turned around and saw that Hera had one leg up and was sitting on the high climbing bar, looking down at him with a mocking expression.

"Did that guy send you?" Cui Shi'an's attitude was very bad.

"Who?"

The girl was momentarily confused, but then followed his gaze and looked up at the sky.

"Haha, why would someone like Him bother with you?"

She leaped down from the height with a smile, her body light as a flower petal: "I just happened to be passing by~"

"Just passing by?" Cui Shi'an didn't believe it. A messenger of hell just passing by here? He looked around, puzzled and resentful.

"Has someone died at our school again? Damn it, I shouldn't have come to this awful school, people keep dying like this!"

"Hey, why are you insulting yourself too?" The girl glanced at him with a smile, a hint of curiosity immediately playing at the corners of her lips.

"Judging from your exasperated state, it seems there's been little progress on that matter?"

"She knows nothing, and I can't leave the North District. What am I supposed to do? You might as well just take me in; it'll save you from living in constant fear!"

In the past, Choi Si-an felt that speaking in this tone would definitely have gotten him a beating, but today the sun rose in the west, and Hara not only wasn't angry, but even had a kind smile on her lips.

But that "kindness" made Cui Shi'an inexplicably wary, as if she always had that same smile when she was blackmailing him.

"What do you want?" Cui Shi'an subconsciously took two steps back.

"Since you don't have anything to do anyway, why don't you just do me a favor?"

"I have no money!"

"I'm not asking you for money."

"No card either!"

"Ah!" With a soft exclamation, the surrounding air rapidly decreased, and Cui Shi'an could even see the hot breath he exhaled.

"Is there really no way to communicate anymore?" Her pupils turned red again.

"No!" Cui Shi'an retorted, his neck stiff. "Since you're not going to help me, you might as well just take me in this time!"

"Since you're so eager to die..." Hara narrowed her eyes, and with a flick of her hand, a small glass bottle emerged from Choi Si-an's pocket, floating in her palm:

"Then why bother carrying something like that around?"

Gollum—

Cui Shi'an nervously swallowed. The glass bottle contained rice, which he had filled with in case a messenger from hell came to capture him, so he could use it as a weapon for self-defense.

However, Hora actually opened the lid right in front of him, and even deliberately poured a stack of rice into her palm and smelled it:

"Hmm, the quality is good."

"You...you...didn't you say we couldn't touch rice?"

"You are you, and I am me."

She chuckled and pretended to throw rice at Cui Shi'an's head: "So? Do you want to help me with this? I'll give you three seconds to think it over."

Cui Shi'an covered his head with his textbook, exasperated: "You haven't even said what you want, how am I supposed to help you?"

"Huh?" The girl paused, muttering, "Didn't I say that?"

Cui Shi'an nearly choked to death. Please, sister, what else did you say besides threatening people right off the bat?

"It's nothing much, just want to help me with some part-time work."

Cui Shi'an stared blankly. Working part-time as a messenger of hell? What for? Part-time to guide the dead?

"You're not even qualified to do that kind of thing, even if you wanted to."

The girl rolled her eyes haughtily: "I have a few earthbound spirits in my jurisdiction. Go and deal with them for me."

"A bound spirit? You mean... you want me to catch something dirty for you??" Cui Shi'an's voice suddenly rose, sounding somewhat frightened.

"What do you mean by 'filthy thing'? You have no manners at all! They're called earthbound spirits! If other regional envoys heard you like that, they'd say you're discriminating!" Hera corrected her, as if upholding her professional ethics.

Cui Shi'an was extremely unwilling: "Why don't you go yourself?"

"I'm busy? Do you even know how many people live in the North District?" Hera spread her hands and started presenting data, her face showing the weariness and self-righteousness typical of a working person.

"...Uh...maybe...several hundred thousand?" Cui Shi'an was a little confused by her sudden "complaint".

"It's 435873 people! Oh, no, one just died, so it's 435872 now."

"Think about it, the North City District is a relatively wealthy area, and its mortality rate is relatively low compared to other areas on the peninsula. After all, some districts even have to send an envoy to a major hospital to be stationed there. Even so, our North City District still reached 0.54% last year!"

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke: "Do you know what this means? Two thousand four hundred people die every year! That means I have to handle an average of six or seven cases a day. How am I supposed to have time to do those extra jobs?"

"But you're not very..." Cui Shi'an weakly pointed out the fact that she was currently strolling around.

She abruptly interrupted me: "One word: are you going to do it or not?"

"I don't know how..." Cui Shi'an's voice was filled with a desperate lament.

"There's an instruction manual. As long as you follow the manual, you'll have absolutely no problems," Hara said confidently, as if she were selling a point-and-shoot camera.

"I…"

"There's a salary." Knowing that he was struggling financially, the girl changed her approach to hiring.

"But..." Cui Shi'an hesitated, thinking of the danger involved.

"No buts." Hera's face hardened, and she unleashed her ultimate weapon:

"You're one of the other overlooked individuals. The Jin envoy from Zhonglu District is going to report you and have you arrested, you know? Rather than that, I'd rather recruit you. That way, if they cause you trouble next time, I'll have a reason to refuse, right?"

"...Then...can I leave the North District?" Cui Shi'an asked with a sliver of hope. If the part-time job could bring him freedom, the danger seemed bearable.

"No!" Hera refused outright. "My authority also has its limits."

"..." Cui Shi'an was completely speechless, his face filled with despair, as if asking, "What's the point of this part-time job?"

"Hey, I won't keep ordering you around forever." The girl's tone softened a bit, and she offered a glimmer of hope: "Once the interns come next year, you won't have to do this anymore."

"So I'm just a temporary worker?" Cui Shi'an pointed to himself, his expression complicated.

"You can get a permanent position if you do well," Hera said, looking at him encouragingly before adding cruelly, "but the higher-ups probably won't want someone like you."

Why?

"Your soul is unclean."

Seeing his confusion, she added, "It's just that you have too much murderous aura."