In the Ghost Realm, time bent around grief like light through shattered glass.
Jang Li Shen, the Ghost King, stood before the fractured portal mirror, Yunli's fading aura still humming softly in the shards. But he needed no relic, no star void, no summoning rite.
He was the first king.
The laws of realms bowed to him.
He stepped forward.
Reality did not resist.
It tore open like silk, peeling away the veil between worlds, and he passed through — weightless, silent, absolute. The winds screamed and the stars flickered as he vanished from the Ghost Realm.
...
And arrived in the mortal world.
The king did not walk.
He drifted — like a shadow that had remembered its body.
No door was opened, yet the air parted for him. One moment he was in the Ghost Realm. The next, he was standing beneath a mortal sky, breathing in the faint, tainted scent of city life.
It was unfamiliar. Loud. Too bright.
His long black hair stirred with the breeze as his dark robes fluttered against his ankles. His crimson eyes swept the modest neighborhood. No realm gates. No spells. Just... this house. Plain. Small. Full of life's clutter.
He looked at the doormat.
Welcome, it read.
He stepped through the door.
Literally.
The wood turned to mist around him as he passed into the living room, elegant, and absolutely silent.
The house was empty.
He explored, slowly. Not out of caution — but curiosity. His fingers slid across the back of a chair. He leaned toward a framed photograph of a woman and a smiling girl. He sniffed once at the faint, sour-sweet scent of human detergent.
Then he sat.
He didn't sigh. He didn't blink. He simply folded himself onto the couch like a panther claiming its den, and waited.
Ten minutes passed.
Then—
The doorknob rattled.
He turned his head as footsteps echoed through the hallway.
A woman appeared — tall, sharp-browed, carrying a folder and looking very much like someone halfway between tired and victorious.
Miss Ji Ha.
She paused the moment she stepped into the living room.
Their eyes met.
She blinked once.
He didn't.
"…What," she said flatly, "is this?"
The man didn't move.
"I am here for my daughter."
Ji Ha set down her folder very carefully.
"Okay. Let's back up a bit. Who are you, and why are you sitting on my couch dressed like you're auditioning for a historical drama?"
He rose slowly, head high, voice like a slow-burning fire.
"I am Jang Li Shen."
She frowned. "Should that mean something to me?"
"It will," he said coldly. "Now tell me where she is."
"Where who is?"
He took a single step forward. "Do not mock me, mortal. You know who I speak of."
"Okay, first off, don't call me 'mortal' like this is some online RPG," she said, holding up a hand. "Second, you're the one trespassing here. You answer me. How did you get in"
"I walked in." He replied firmly.
"Through the locked door?" She asked.
"Yes of course." He said proudly.
"…Did you climb through the window?"
"No, a King doesn'tdo such things, how insulting, how insolent, little mortal"
"Teleportation, then, you old beast?" She replied insult with insult.
"If you like." He scoffed.
She pressed two fingers to her temple and inhaled through her nose.
"This is why I hate my job sometimes. You guys always find me after hours."
He ignored her sarcasm.
"I traced her soul here."
"Oh great, now you're tracing souls. Let me guess — you also talk to trees and command ravens?"
He blinked. "Only during the blood moons. You mortals wouldn't understanda thing"
Ji Ha pointed at him. "Okay! Okay! That's it."
He hands went straight to her pocket, pulling out a sleek white card with a smiley face logo on it.
"This is the name of my clinic. If you're hearing voices, feeling chased, or cosplaying aristocratic ghosts, I can help you. We offer full psychiatric assessments, no judgment."
He looked at the card.
Then at her.
Then sat down again like she'd just handed him a dead leaf.
"I am not delusional. You are simply blind."
"Sir, I'm not blind. I'm sleep-deprived. Big difference."
He looked around again, then back at her, eyes narrowed.
"This place reeks of her. She was here. My daughter."
"You're not making sense—who's your daughter?"
"The girl with the eyes like storms. The girl who died but did not fade."
"eyes like storm?" She laughed. "I only have one daughter, her name is Yona, Ji Yona"
His gaze sharpened.
"I do not know her mortal name."
Ji Ha folded her arms.
"Well, thats your business, i do not know your daughter, seemsyou are at the wrong place, hmm, actually, you are at the right place, just take my card, ok? ." She gives him the card again.
He let out a low sigh, the air shivering faintly.
"Fine, give it." He grabbed the card from her hand.
"See? It wasn't that bed wasn't." Her voice was sweet and gentle this time.
Desperately controlling the insult he just received.
She turned and started pacing. "Okay, let me just call someone—maybe the police, or a hospital, or an exorcist—"
He snapped his fingers.
Her phone flew from her hand, hit the wall, and fell to the floor.
Ji Ha turned slowly.
He was already lounging back against the couch, arms crossed, completely unapologetic.
She stared at him.
"…Okay. That was kind of impressive. Still illegal. But impressive."
"I do not intend to harm you," he said simply. "I came for her. That is all."
"Then you should've sent a polite letter."
"I am not polite."
"No kidding."
They stared at each other in silence. Ji Ha walked over, picked up the phone, muttered "Cracked screen. Thanks, your majesty," and sat across from him, rubbing her temples.
"Alright. Since you're clearly not leaving until you're done being creepy, at least answer me one thing."
"Speak."
"are you married?"
He hesitated.
Then: " sigh, my wife died a long time ago, why do you ask?."
Ji Ha's brow furrowed. "That's sad. the shock of loosing your wife, might be the cause of you crazy delusions. Well, do you have siblings, if you could please give me their numbers."
What is this mortal woman's problem. He thought angrily.
She could only see the anger in his face. She was used to this. She has treated many patients, many are still insane.
They were both silent for some time, till he broke it.
"I had siblings, we were four. Two died, Only only I and my brother remains, yet we are sworn enemies. Regardless, this has nothing to to with you, I need my daughter now!"
"What a sad story, how sad" She rolled her eyes mockingly. "If you want her that bad, go look for her"
"That's the reason I am here, here sent lingers within this house"
That silenced her.
Just for a moment.
Then she stood up again. "Alright, King of the Lonely. Enough of this."
"Your daughter, where is she". I hope her soul didn't get trapped in a mortals's body. He thought, with a worrisome expression.
She checked her watch.
And froze.
"…Wait. She's not back.:
The man's head rose sharply. "Yun li?"
"She's usually back by now," Miss Ji Ha murmured. "She to school.I told her to come back by four. It's 5:30."
The king stood.
The room darkened.
"Find her."
"I'm trying—"
"No more delays. I will find her myself."
"And if you scare her, I will hit you, I promise." She turned pointing at him.
He paused. And for the first time… almost smiled.