Drip... drip... drip...

A leaky kitchen faucet tapped at her ear. Nana Toki snapped her eyes open as the System slung her into a new plane; her thoughts swam like mist over a river.

Is this the new plane?

Unease first, then motion. She touched her cheek, still hovering in empty air, and figured she’d use the quiet to import the new body’s memories.

Then the wrongness bit like cold iron. I’m... floating?

She went blank, like a lantern blown out.

And she had reason. She was truly suspended midair, white robes drifting like night fog, waist-length black hair spilling down her back like ink, a white triangular kerchief knotted on her head. One glance, and she was that white-clad TV ghost stepping out of the screen.

Damn. The last plane was a string of game data, but at least I had a body. This time I’m not even a person. Can this mission even continue? —table flip—

Forget it. Whatever. Take the plot first.

After so many jumps, she’d learned the flavor of her trash System, bitter as old tea leaves.

...

This one’s an urban fantasy.

The male lead, Lu Ming, is a Spirit Exorcist who’s lived deep in the mountains, untouched by dust and city lights. By logic, he should’ve stayed there for life, like pine roots gripping stone. But fate threw a stone in the stream; because of a sudden accident, our Protagonist Lord had to leave the mountain to fulfill his master’s dying wish and cleanse spirits.

Nana Toki sifted the memories like sifting sand for gold. The gist: his master died in an accident. To honor the last wish, Lu Ming came down the mountain to do good and build virtue. First step on the road, he ran into the heroine, whose body was extreme yin, a cold moon that drew ghosts like moths. His own constitution was pure yang, a noon sun that exactly complemented her.

So they set out together, cutting demons and breaking curses, leaning on each other as fellow travelers. Love and friendship braided like twin rivers, and finally they ended up together.

The framework was standard fare; Nana had no complaints about the bones.

It was the original host’s setup that made her sigh like wind through shutters.

The original host was named Ling Jiang, a female ghost. As a minor spirit, she had little power. Since memory began, she’d been bound to this manor, sleeping like a bat by day and, by night, spooking the owner for kicks.

A mischievous ghost, more cat than tiger.

Until the day the freshly descended male and female leads came to exorcise the place; the original host had to end her cannon-fodder life right there.

Yeah. Bad luck written in soot.

Because the brainless heroine pulled a string of dumb stunts, the male lead let the real evil ghost slip the net. The original host happened to drift by; the heroine pointed a shaking finger and called her the villain. Lu Ming cut her down, and she took the evil ghost’s death in her stead.

The heroine did reap plenty of karma later, but the wronged ghost wasn’t satisfied. She wanted revenge, to let the heroine taste the despair of being slandered.

Of course, if possible, the original host would rather avoid their mess, and keep living her small, quiet unlife.

That’s it?

Nana opened her eyes after the plot import and froze like a deer in a lantern’s glare. Where’s the main quest?

Going by the System’s usual temper, the main quest pops the moment the plot loads.

Why not this time?

“Uh... so, the System doesn’t quite know what main quest to issue yet. How about you wander around first? When I find one that suits you, I’ll post it.” The System’s voice in her head came sheepish, like a dog with a stolen bun.

Nana Toki: ...

This System got more ridiculous by the day.

She was still speechless when a tiny stir rose from downstairs, like mice rustling rice. Listen closely, and it sounded like someone choking back laughter.

With no quest in sight, Nana leaned toward curiosity. She reached for the doorknob, then remembered—she was a ghost. Walls were just pond surfaces to her.

Nana Toki: ...

So.

She drifted through the floor and went down from the manor’s second story like fog sinking.

In the room below, easing her head through the ceiling, Nana spotted a girl of seventeen or eighteen. The girl lay on her side by the bed, one hand playing with her phone, a few silly giggles bubbling like soda.

Ah... this one...

Nana knew her.

The original host’s memories held a few pages on this girl. Name: Xiaoxiao Ji. Owner of the manor. A high schooler. Back when the original host hadn’t died, she loved to prank this one whenever boredom bit.

Let’s see what this airhead’s giggling at...

Emmm...

“One Hundred Ways to Exorcise a Ghost?”

“How should a silver cross be arranged?”

“Garlic I picked from Auntie’s field—good against ghosts?”

“House might be haunted, what do I do?”

Nana ghosted behind her and peeked at the screen. The girl’s brain seemed like a sieve—what even was this list?

Are you exorcising ghosts or chasing vampires?

Silver crosses and garlic, seriously?

“Achoo! So cold...”

Because Nana was a ghost, the moment she drifted within half a meter, Xiaoxiao Ji felt a knife-cold chill crawl over her skin. She tucked the blanket tighter like a turtle into its shell, eyes sliding to the phone screen. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but she swore a blurred half of a woman’s face reflected back.

Don’t tell me I’m actually seeing a ghost.

Her heart stuttered like a drumstick on skin. That S-shaped lounge-crawl became a tight little ball. Cold sweat traced her spine.

Nana watched the stiffness flood the girl’s limbs and felt mischief bloom like frost flowers on glass.

Boredom was a long night. Might as well find some fun to pass the hours.

With that thought, she gathered the scraps of spiritual power in her, and flicked them into the girl’s phone.

Ding—dong.

Xiaoxiao’s phone chimed. She nearly sprang up and yeeted it, nerves strung like bowwire. A second look—just a text.

“Don’t use your phone on your side. Lie flat.”

Huh? Xiaoxiao blinked, puzzled fogging her gaze. How did this person know I’m on my side? Is someone peeping?

She muttered under her breath, rolled over to lie flat, and aimed to keep searching exorcism tips—only to lock eyes with Nana drifting along the ceiling like a cloud.

“Hi~”

Nana copied the TV ghosts and peeled her lips into a chilling smile.

...

Holy crap, a ghost!

Xiaoxiao’s eyes rolled white. She jerked like a fish on a dock, head tipping, and fainted clean away.

Almost foamed at the mouth.

At that instant, the System chimed in Nana’s skull: “Ding! Hidden Quest triggered: [Stand On Your Own].”

“Quest: Help Xiaoxiao Ji train her courage so she won’t fear ghosts.”

Nana’s smile froze like ice. Her mood went flat as a pond.

This is the hidden quest?

Weren’t hidden quests supposed to sound grand, like thunder on the horizon?

“Temper the mind, train the guts” counts as hidden?

She was shook.

And of course it waited until she scared the girl senseless. This crappy System did it on purpose.

“Meh! Host, I swear I didn’t! The quest popped up by itself—I didn’t touch anything!” The System refused the pot like a cat rejecting a bath.

Then explain why it appeared the second I knocked her out.

“...”

Maybe it’s a coincidence?

Coincidence, my ass.

...

Still.

If a hidden quest showed, it also meant this one was a Nesting Phoenix, right?

After so many planes, Nana had teased out a pattern like threads from silk. When a hidden quest appears, a character with the Nesting Phoenix subconscious surfaces too.

Like the woman she’d just spooked onto the mattress. Like Ling’er Long and Qingyu Si in the last few worlds, each with their own bitter tea to drink.

Every time, same story.

“...”

I nailed it, didn’t I? Nana narrowed her eyes and asked the silent System.

Silence is an answer. It was as good as yes.

“Given this mess, you tell me—what now?”

She floated to the unconscious Xiaoxiao and tapped the girl’s cheek with two cool fingers.

Then surprise struck like a spark—she could touch her.

So much for humans and ghosts walking different roads.

What even is going on?

The System stayed quiet, like a server pulled from the wall. No help, no hint.

Left to drift alone, Nana felt a small ache, like rain behind the eyes.

Sigh. I hope I didn’t just plant a shadow in her heart with that scare.

Sure enough, the moment a Nesting Phoenix shows up, my plate fills to the brim.