I Rule the Underworld

Evan Ye thought, even if he died in the next minute he would have no regrets.

He had just achieved another goal. He had earned 10 billion last month.

And just a few days earlier, a group of senior officers from the Banking Union had invited him for dinner, begging him not to initiate another worldwide economic crisis.

A few minutes before, he had dumped his girlfriend, the girl he grew up with and had been dating for years. He did not just dump her. He had insulted her viciously before telling her he never wanted to see her again.

"Dude! Hey! Come on, wake up! We are closing. Here is your bill."

In a greasy store by the roadside, the owner poked Evan on his arm a few times, trying to wake him. Judging from the shells of crayfish on the table, Evan Ye, seemed to have either been starving for months or did not intend to waste even a single drop of the sauce.

Evan didn't feel well at all. Why was there always such a huge a gap between dreams and reality? All he wanted was to take a nap after dinner and have a nice dream without being disturbed. People didn't usually get what they wanted, that's just what happened in the real world

"Well, here's your bill. That will be 101 in total. I saw you get dumped by your girlfriend. I'm really sorry. How about I make it an even 100?."

The owner said as he placed the bill before Evan. Evan, however, still seemed tipsy. 'He doesn't look like a cheeky man, ' the owner thought to himself, 'Dumped and drunk at midnight. What a poor soul.'

"Right. Hmm. I...er...I think I need something to help me sober up. Do you have anything? If none, coke will do."

Evan managed to sit up and grumble. The owner vaguely saw Evan's tear stains in the dim light before he wiped his face bitterly.

"Right, we do have coke. Here you are."

The owner's wife had already started cleaning the restaurant. Evan was the only customer left. She fetched a bottle of coke from the freezer and handed it to Evan. Standing near the table, she glanced over and muttered, "Such a handsome lad. Could've been quite a catch with just a little more money. That girl was such a snob. Come on, young man. Girls these days are all the same. They don't care who you are. They just care whether you are rich or not."

"What are you blubbering? Go back inside."

The man glared at his wife. Then he looked at the bottle on the table and sighed. 'What a waste!'

The woman smiled embarrassingly back at him. The owner turned to Evan, "Young man, it is 100. The coke is on the house."

After taking a gulp of the free coke, Evan took a note out of his wallet and placed it on the table. He grabbed his new briefcase and the bottle with shaky hands and staggered out of the restaurant.

"Come on. Let's clean this up and go home."

The man urged his wife hastily as soon as Evan left. There were hardly any customers at this hour. The street lamps gleamed dimly. Still a little drunk, Evan tottered along the street like a ghost.

"Promises, relationships. That's all bullshit!"

Normally, Evan was a reserved man. He barely cursed, let alone act violently. But drunk and angry, he was emotionally unstable. Growling loudly at the empty street, he raised his hand high in the air and tried to smash the bottle to the ground when he suddenly realized it was still half full. Hesitantly, he sighed and dropped his arm weakly.

"It's true, I'm neither rich nor eminent. So what? Blame my dad for not leaving me a fortune! I just graduated a few months ago, I'm starting from scratch on my own. What else do you expect? Tell you what. My day will come. You just wait and see."

"We can be only friends with benefits, huh? And you never felt a thing for me? You told me to be more realistic, didn't you? Damn it! Am I not realistic enough?"

"I've spent every penny I have on you. I pinched and scraped. I took as many part-time jobs as I could. For what? I just wanted to buy you an iPhone as a gift! And what did you say to me in the end? You said no one uses iPhone 6 anymore and you wanted a 7! Oh, you also told me to keep the antique for my grandmother. What the hell!"

"You'd rather cry in a BMW than laugh on my bike. Well, good luck crying your eyes out!"

Having hiccuped all his grievance, Evan finally felt better. Meanwhile, he felt pathetic for holding on too tightly to a relationship. 'She's worthless.' Evan tried to console himself.

But his brain clearly thought otherwise. Each and every scrap of their sweet memories were lurking around every corner of his mind. All the moments they had spent together were flashing through his mind, repeating over and over again. He knew he should stop thinking about her, but he just couldn't.

"How did I become so sentimental. Am I crying again?"

Evan sighed bitterly. They had after all, been together for years. He couldn't just break up with Celia Xin and move on like nothing happened. He was not as cold-blooded as she was.

When Evan approached a crossroad, a figure came from no where suddenly dashed forward and ran into him.

Crack--

Evan heard the sound as they bumped into each other. He stepped back and looked down at the ground in front of him. There was a small broken statue.

"Good heavens! That's my heirloom! It has been passed down in my family for generations! You evil bastard! How dare you break it! You have to pay me, or I swear my ancestors will haunt you until your last breath!"

The man cried out loudly. Startled by the dramatic turn, Evan shivered and immediately sobered up. Glancing between the bawling man and the broken statue, Evan was still trying to figure out what had happened. His mouth opened but he failed to say a word.

The man dragged Evan's arm while shouting at him. Ignoring the pain from his arm, Evan once again looked down at the statue. It was a black Yama. The pedestal had fallen off and broken into pieces. Though it was a lifelike sculpture, it seemed more of a small trinket from the flea market than an invaluable heirloom.

"Come on, mate. Don't mess with me. I just got dumped by my girlfriend. Apparently I'm far more miserable than you are."

Noticing the man had no intentions of letting go of him, Evan explained again, "You are the one who bumped into me. It's clearly not my fault."

"I bumped into you? Nonsense! I was walking and you, a shameless drunk, ran into me. Don't try to deny it. Ah, I know what's going on here. Are you trying to bully me because I'm on my own and have no witnesses?"

'I'm bullying you?'

Evan stared at the man before him. He was at least 6 ft tall and strong as a horse. Evan, on the other hand was a skinny man barely 5.5 ft tall. 'Who the hell was more likely to be a bully?' Evan thought to himself.

The man had hardly stopped talking when the empty street was suddenly crowded with people, whispering and pointing at Evan with contempt.

"Look at him. He broke an heirloom. And he's drunk. What a disgrace."

"Right. Perhaps the man was counting on his family heirloom."

"I thought he looked like a honorable young man. But he's such a deadbeat. Look, he's trying to get away."

"No wonder he got dumped. I'd say he deserved it."

"Phew!"

What was going on?

Looking blankly at the crowd, Evan suddenly realized that it could be a con.

He knew of people who tried to con the drivers by feigning a traffic accident. But these group of people were obviously playing something more brilliant. They were trying to con him with a fake heirloom. That was too much.

"How about I call the police?"

Hesitantly, Evan asked and took his age-old cellphone out of his pocket. He thought, by seeing his phone they would realize he was poor and let him go.

"No need to trouble them at this hour. How about you just pay me. It's not just a statue, it's my family heirloom. I can tell that you are not a rich person, so I won't ask for much. How about this? You give me 5000 and we are even."

The man offered a solution. Then he, along with the people encircling him and Evan, fixed their eyes on Evan's cellphone in both surprise and disgust. They didn't believe that someone would still use such a shabby phone when almost everyone was using smartphones.

He looked quite agreeable. Yet how could he be so poor?

"5, 5000?"

Evan was shocked. He stammered and unconsciously clenched his briefcase. Inside his bag was 5000 in cash, his two-month internship wages. He was planning to pay the rent and send the rest to his parents.

How would he survive until he found another job if he handed the money over?

A man from the crowd observed Evan's hand and winked at his partner, pointing at Evan's bag.

"Young man, I'm telling you. This is my family heirloom, " the man threatened Evan as he reached for his bag.

"What are you doing? Stop this or I'll scream! I'll call the police."

"I told you. There's no need to bother the police. Am I right?"

"He's right, mate. Just give him the money and get it over with!"

"You! Are you threatening me! I won't give you anything!"

"Well? Are you trying to fight me now?"

"Got a problem? That's my money. You are the one hitting me--Ouch--You robbers--What the heck--"

Weak and drunk, Evan could not fight off of a group of stout men. He might have superpowers in his dream, but this was clearly not his dream. Humiliated, Evan could only watch as they grabbed the briefcase from him and took every penny away.

The gangsters threw the empty bag aside and knocked him down. Lying limply, Evan felt blood was dribbling down his chin.

"Fine, the heirloom is yours. Come on, let's go have some fun. Hahaha!"

"Let's go to Becky's. I heard she recently brought in a new chick, who is lovely and juicy!"

"Let's go!"

Evan could only see them leaving with his money gloomily. He was outraged, but there was nothing he could do.

Calling the police? Was that going to work?

Evan noticed his phone was smashed. 'Now that's brilliant, ' Evan thought. How could he contact the police without a phone?

Struggling to get up, Evan wiped his face and cracked a bitter smile. He picked up his bag and was about to leave. Suddenly, he glanced at the broken Yama statue on the ground.

Evan bent over to pick it up. The lamps were so dim that he had to lean close in order to have a better look at the statue. He hadn't notice that, once again, his blood dripped down his chin, and this time, fell right onto the statue.

"You cost me 5000! Damn it!"

Furiously, Evan threw the Yama statue away. He stopped, motionlessly for a moment before he sighed heavily and walked towards his apartment.

Whoosh--

The Yama statue turned up out of blue right above Evan's head and fell on him. All of a sudden, Evan, along with the statue, vanished into thin air.

"The underworld rebuilding system activated.."

"Successfully detected the host, Evan. Binding now... "The binding identity is Yama."

"Successfully bound."

"Generating the underworld... "Generation completed... Please check."

"Who! ?"

In a daze, Evan struggled to his feet, feeling a little dizzy. He heard the weird sounds and felt depressed.

What happened? Did I black out due to excessive blood loss or am I dreaming?

But he remembered something had hit his head before he blacked out!

"The system is created personally by the greatest natural law. Since the universe was in chaos, there was no underworld. To fix it, the system emerged and now is presented to you."

The impersonal electronic sound rang in his head. Evan did a somersault, "Whoops, my waist..."

Rising from the floor, Evan listened to the voice in his head while holding his sore waist. He was confused.

"The host will be the lifetime governor of the underworld. Please work hard to become a qualified Yama."

How silly are these lines!

"Wait, you are saying I am Yama?"

Evan felt terrible. Am I dead?

"Mom, I can't look after you anymore. Please forgive me. Sister, I can't be with you on the day you get married. Dad, drink less. It's bad for your health." He thought

"The real body of the host is not dead. The host has the power to walk freely between the two worlds. Since you are the first Yama in the history, your responsibility is greater than anyone elses."

The voice of the system rang again, full of pride.

"Are you kidding me? You think I am a three-year-old baby? It is said that there are already ten Yamas."

Evan showed his scorn to the self-dramatizing system.

"They're all legends. There are ghosts in the legend. Have you ever seen a ghost?"

The system asked.

"Well...Not really."

Evan suddenly felt a cool breeze. He shivered and started to look around.

"This is the underworld? WTF! Stop playing with me!"

Evan looked at the world in front of him with astonishment.

Shit!

How could this be called a "world"?

This place didn't seem to cover ten square meters!

There was a crooked tree that looked like it might fall at any time, and a long noose attached to it.

What made Evan speechless was that he didn't find the Yama Palace that was said to be magnificent.

Is this mud temple with three rotten apples in it in front of me, which is not much bigger than the Temple of the Local God of the Land my future territory? ?

I don't want to be Yama. I want to go home. Mom, the underworld is horrible!

"As the creator, the only host of the new underworld and the newborn Yama, please create the underworld attentively and revive it to its glory. "

Looking at the big golden characters floating in the air, Evan came up with three words: "Nothing really matters."

"No!"

He refused without thinking.

He was at the turning point of his life.

"I have trouble at work, and I was dumped by my girlfriend.I got mugged by a high-end antique at night. Now I don't have much money and in my future food and clothing remain a problem. I am in no mood to talk to a strange system that is probably just a dream." He thought.

"Since the host does not desire to become a great Yama, the host will be obliterated. The system will select a new host to bind. The obliteration countdown begins: 10..."

"Hold on!"

Evan stopped the countdown hurriedly. Even though he didn't believe much of what was happening, what if it was true?

When he was in college, he'd paid good money on reading novels in which the protagonists all reached the pinnacle of life after they got a system. They would marry beautiful rich girls, became CEOs and gained immeasurable fame.

"Do you want to change your mind?"

The system asked again.

"Yes. I change my mind. But you have to tell me how to develop the underworld."

Evan finally conceded. It would be over if he was obliterated. He was still young, and nobody wanted to die young.

"To develop the underworld, the system will release tasks for different levels. The host will fulfil the tasks and will be given a variety of rewards, such as cultivation, magic arts, weapon, panacea and so on, according to the degree of completion. If the host fails, he will receive punishments as well."

"In addition, the system will examine and distinguish the degree of completion and the host might be given the power to use the Book of Life and Death."

"The Book possesses the power to grant life and death. It can erase anyone in the world regardless of time and space, and pull his/her soul into the underworld to be your loyal subordinate."

"It can be someone who masters technology, someone who cooks well, a legendary painting master with magic skills..."

Hearing this, Evan felt ecstatic.

Man, I will get rid of bad luck and reach the pinnacle of my life.

Evan finally yielded to the persuasive temptation of the system and made the most important decision: "I'll do it. Who cares!"

"However, How on earth can I expand this place?"

Looking at the place, it was smaller than ten square meters and he felt pressured. He was worried about his palace, which seemed to be made of mud. He was afraid that wind could blow it down.

"The primary task has been released: to establish a strong and prosperous co-existence circle in the underworld, the host needs to catch a wild ghost. The time limit is three days, i.e. 72 hours.

"If the host finishes the task, he will obtain the ghost manipulation spell. Also, the host will get one chance to use the Book of Life and Death."

"If the host fails, he will be obliterated."

"Solemn statement: There are not many chances to use the Book of Life and Death. Please treasure it because it allows you to get whatever you want."

Obliterate...

Wild ghost...

When he was still in a trance, darkness fell over his eyes. He stumbled and nearly fell.

What happened?

He looked up and saw the same crossroads. His shadow was long under the dim streetlight.

What?

He reached out to touch his head and found his wound had healed. It wasn't a dream?

Whir-

A cool breeze blew over. Evan felt cold and tightened his clothes.

"I, I really became Yama?"

Feeling as though everything was surreal, he tapped his head and thought about getting some rest first. However, after a few steps, he stopped subconsciously and stared closely at a garbage can not too far away from him.

What was that?

Under the dim streetlight, a garbage can stood in front of a small restaurant with dark yellow light. A figure was rummaging with its hands in the garbage can, as if looking for something to eat.

"Hungry ghost, suffered from hunger and cold before death and became a ghost because of unappeasable resentment. Quality: inferior."

While he was staring at that figure, an explanatory note showed up in his mind, and scared him.

There, are really ghosts?

He swallowed. Everybody, including Evan, would be afraid of fictitious things like ghosts.

Especially at the moment when everything was dark. If the hungry ghost turned around, he could be scared to death.

What should he do?

Run!

Yes, run home first!

Evan was about to run but he suddenly stopped. He tapped his head and said eccentrically: "Hold on. In the folklores, Yama has the power to determine who lives and who dies at any time. I am Yama now! It was shameful for a Yama to be scared of an inferior hungry ghost.

What shall I do then? Should I talk to the ghost about life?

"The primary task is: to establish a strong and prosperous co-existence circle in the underworld, the host needs to catch a wild ghost. The time limit is three days, which is 72 hours."

The voice of the system in his head reminded him again.

"It looks real. Wild ghost. This hungry ghost must be one of them."

Considering that he could die if he failed to fulfill the task, he decided to fight.

Whether it was the fact that he had lost face when he got dumped by his girlfriend, or that he was unsuccessful in his career, or he had been mugged by someone tonight, or he suddenly became Yama, Evan knew that if he didn't fight for it, he would die, but if he did, he might have a chance of survival.

"Whatever. Beautiful rich girls and the pinnacle of life, I am coming!"

Still in a state of intoxication, he mustered up his courage and walked towards the garbage can.

"Cough, cough--"

Standing behind the hungry ghost, that could easily scare you to death by just a turning of its face, Evan somehow found the courage to utter a dry cough. His legs were trembling, tense: "Hey, I'll introduce myself. I'm Yama's..."

Evan didn't have the chance to finish his sentence. The hungry ghost stopped searching for food, and turned towards him slowly.

Sluggishly, the hungry ghost seemed to be that of an old person who had been a beggar before his death. His clothes were tattered and his eyes were sunken deep into the sockets. He looked like he had been starving for days.

Evan thought ghosts should appear like ghosts. If they couldn't frighten people to death, they should at least scare people away.

Somehow, after Evan saw the miserable hungry ghost before him, his heart trembled a little: Man, how long have you been starving? You're looking at me as if I am roast chicken legs.

It seemed that there was nothing to be afraid of if all ghosts were like this.

Evan wasn't sure, at least they could not scare him out of his senses. All things considered, he could still stand here at ease.

"Uh, hungry, eat."

This ghost was about the same size as Evan, but right now he appeared to be much shorter, and his cold face almost stuck close to Evan's chin.

So icy, so cold!

Evan goosebumps on his skin, and he couldn't help but retreat a few steps.

The ghost didn't seem scary but deep down Evan still found him repulsive.

Even if he was the legendary Yama.

To Evan's dismay, the ghost clung to him. He stuck tightly onto Evan body and Evan couldn't get rid of him.

It terrified Evan. Cold sweat ran from his forehead. What terrified Evan the most was the fear he felt coming from the bottom of his heart. In the TV shows he'd watched--at first these ghosts seemed harmless, but then in the blink of an eye they became horrifying.

If the thing stuck to him tried to pull something like that at this moment, Evan would do something seriously unbecoming.

"Uh, hungry, eat."

The ghost opened his dead eyes, staring straight at Evan as though he was his new discovery.

Having felt Evan's heavy breath again and again, the ghost widened his eyes in excitement. His facial expressions went from dull to somewhat ferocious.

"Uh, hungry, eat. Uh, hungry, eat. Uh--"

Maybe it was the carbon dioxide that Evan exhaled that was a great supplement to him. The ghost spared no time in absorbing it. He seemed eager to suck up the man in front of him.

The ghost became more and more excited. His cold hands grasped at Evan's shoulders, and his ugly and ferocious face was about to touch Evan's already sunken face.

"Uh, all you know is uh. Uh uh uh, can't you say something else? Nothing but uh and oh. Keep doing it. Just keep doing it. Uh uh the hell out of here. Keep doing your uhs. I am King Yama. Make no mistake. The one and only King Yama. And you are still moaning on my face. Just stop it already!"

People behave in two different ways after being frightened or scared.

The first one: One would be at a loss, and let fear strike then silently bear everything until death.

The second: what Evan did, become fearless and fight for your life.

If someone with yin-yang eyes passed by, the person would be able to see a wild young man doing all he could, practicing all the martial arts or playground fighting moves that he had studied his whole life, to stagger a miserable, helpless, silly hungry ghost who could fall into pieces at any moment. (*TN Yin-yang eyes are eyes that can see both the human world and the underworld.)

Evan exerted himself for his own delight. Suddenly he felt his thigh had been clutched by something cold and icy. Looking down, Evan raised his eyebrows. What the hell! He looked terrible!

At first, the hungry ghost was pretty pathetic in Evan's eyes. Now his condition was worse. He had two black eyes and bruises all over his body. Revealed through his already tattered shirt was a huge purple bump on his chest. Apparently the result of a certain young man's dragon palm.

Evan's conscience was troubled. He was distressed. Holding the tottering shoulders of the hungry ghost in both hands, he solemnly and earnestly said, "My friend, who beat you so hard, do you want me to help you make him pay?"

Feeling wronged, the hungry ghost stared at Evan with his dead eyes, trembling, and said with difficulty, "Oh, hungry--"

"Oh, again, you damn gho-oh-st. Still moaning--"

It was fine when the hungry ghost was silent, but now he'd uttered the sound again and stoked Evan's anger. He thought about the fact that this was the first time he'd beat up a ghost. And it was a good, oh no, brutal beating.

But Evan didn't know why every time the hungry ghost talked, he wanted to beat him up.

Now that Evan had dished out a beating, he felt relaxed from head to toe. The sensation was indescribable, just like when he'd fool around with his girlfriend in the college dorm back in the day.

Exciting and pleasant.

"I'm sorry, buddy. It felt great to beat you up. Don't blame me. I have had the worst day of my life, I can't help but take it out on you. Just put up with it.

Looking at the hungry ghost literally fall apart and into the void, Evan deliberated for a moment before deciding to apologize. He offered his apology as sincerely as possible.

Your misfortune is none of my business!

If the hungry ghost could talk, he would probably spit water all over Evan's face. He had just been looking for food in the middle of the night. What had he done wrong in his past life? He had suffered from hunger and starvation when he lived, and he couldn't get fed even after death. Now this guy got to bully him however he wanted. It was hard being human, it now seemed harder to be a ghost.

"Fainted already?"

Evan was still somewhat rattled. He couldn't tell if the hungry ghost before him had been beaten into a coma or just too angry, or maybe both.

At that moment, a feeling suddenly came over Evan. It seemed like that all the ghosts he feared in the past were not actually terrifying. In fact they were a kind of adorable.

At least after he had beaten one up, it couldn't start an argument or spew curse words, let alone call the police. It turned out Evan got to release all of the day's repressed anger.

"Congratulations to the host for completing the elementary mission of capturing one wild ghost. The host shall learn the Ghost Manipulation Spell. Furthermore, the host shall receive a chance to use the Book of Life and Death."

Just as Evan was thinking about waking the poor hungry ghost and actually apologizing, the voices was back in his head and had startled him a little.

"Don't just ring up without notice. It's scary, okay?"

Evan muttered to himself, thinking if the system could appear in front of him like the hungry ghost, he would definitely make sure that it got a taste of all of life's wonders.

"The Ghost Manipulation Spell has been delivered. Host, please accept."

Before Evan could say anything, a dazzling ball of light appeared in front of him. It exploded in an instant, turning into flickering light spots which shot through the center of his forehead and straight into his brain.

It hurts!

He was frowning, hard. Evan threw away the poor hungry ghost and knelt on the ground. In his head was the mysterious explanations of Ghostly Possession and how to use it.

Ghost Manipulation Spell instructions: can be used to manipulate any ghost that has been defeated by the host to do anything as long as it fits the ghost's natural characteristics. The function of this magic is to possess the opponent or to utilize the host's own body to accomplish tasks deemed impossible by regular people. Limitations: can only be used at nights.

Additional information: the host must maintain a certain level of integrity and not violate the moral code. It would be damaging to the world's harmony.

It was two o'clock in the morning somewhere near Becky's nightclub situated at the Northwest of Linhai City's third ring.

A young man dressed quite conservatively was standing outside the glamorous nightclub. His eyes were sharp, bright even in the dark of night.

That man was none other than the newly promoted King Yama, although this King Yama was a little pitiful, he was still the true King Yama: Evan Ye.

"People say that a gentleman's revenge is a dish best served cold, and an imbecile's revenge can't wait the night. I, Evan Ye, is neither a gentleman nor an imbecile. I'm just a regular guy. These people took my hard earned money to have fun here..."

As he spoke to himself, Evan clenched his fists.

Regardless, he was still just a regular person seeking vengeance. If he could stomach it, he certainly would. But now that he had just learned the Ghost Manipulation Spell, he no longer had the need to stomach the anger whatsoever.

Besides, he had a sidekick with him, even though the sidekick was somewhat malnourished and silly.

The sidekick was a ghost, despite not looking very good right now with all the bruises, Evan would absolutely deny that they were by his doing.

He was such a good boss. How could he take his anger out on his underling?

Just as he was standing in front of the nightclub door and thinking about how he should enter, a young woman with heavy makeup lit up at the sight of this hesitant man. She said: "Boy, what are you afraid of? I won't bite. Come in and have some fun with me."

Eh?

Evan stuttered for a moment. A strong gust of fragrance assaulted his nose. In a split second, he was being dragged into Becky's nightclub.