The living room door burst open with a thud, and in trotted the infamous Ghost Dog—well, more like floated, if you ignored the occasional wet patch on the floor. The spectral canine shook itself like it just stepped out of a shower, sending ghostly droplets flying.
Yui grimaced. "Oh great. The ghost dog again. And it looks like it just marked territory… on Baek's favorite robe."
Baek, kneeling nearby, inspected the robe with a scowl. "This is a limited-edition underworld issue. You know how hard it is to get one in my size?"
Ghost Dog let out a mischievous howl and trotted over to Yui, wagging its translucent tail with innocent eyes that screamed, I did nothing wrong.
Suddenly, the faint sound of papers fluttering like a windstorm echoed from the hallway.
"Ugh, not again," Yui groaned as Mr. Lee appeared, his spectral form dragging behind him a comically large stack of paperwork.
"Miss Yui," he said, voice as dry as ancient parchment, "you are currently in violation of Afterlife Regulation 37-B. Unauthorized interference with spirit property and disturbance of the peace. You have exactly 24 hours to rectify these infractions or face administrative sanctions."
Jae-min, still recovering from the previous night's weirdness, squinted. "Wait — there's a whole Afterlife rulebook? And who's in charge of enforcing it? Like a ghost police?"
Mr. Lee's eyes narrowed. "The Ghost Council. And I am their finest paperwork demon. Your antics complicate their bureaucratic processes."
Obaa-chan snorted from her corner. "More like their nightmare."
Yui folded her arms. "Look, Mr. Lee, if it's paperwork you want, maybe you can help us with the vending machine spirit? Because that thing just bit Jae-min's leg."
Baek nodded. "And the Ghost Dog keeps turning our operations into a mess."
Mr. Lee adjusted his glasses, flipping open an enormous ledger. "Very well. I will issue a temporary exemption, provided you submit form 12-C for spirit interaction incidents, and form 44-B for supernatural canine disturbances."
Jae-min groaned. "Forms? Can't we just, I don't know, catch the spirits and be done with it?"
Obaa-chan winked. "In this world? Nothing is that simple, kid."
Yui sighed, glancing at the ghost dog wagging its tail in the background and Mr. Lee's mountain of paperwork. "Yeah, welcome to my life."