Early to Bed

Mu Bai is a little ghost who specializes in sleep paralysis—the kind that gets to eat as long as he successfully scares someone. Lately, he’s been assigned to haunt a recently graduated manga artist. But after three months, Mu Bai hasn’t had a single meal. He doesn’t understand how someone can outlast a ghost. So, Mu Bai switches targets. His new target is the manga artist’s uncle. Rumor has it that this new target is a CEO of a major corporation—calm, composed, extremely disciplined, and always goes to bed early and wakes up early. Mu Bai is thrilled and sneaks in every night to haunt the big CEO. Worried that the CEO might stop his early-to-bed routine if haunted for too long, Mu Bai considerately only stays for half the night. After a while, well-fed and content, Mu Bai starts slacking off. Yet, the CEO begins going to bed earlier and earlier, sleeping longer and longer—until eventually, he spends entire days in bed. Later, he even starts sleeping day and night. Mu Bai finds it all very strange. ———— Every night, the CEO sees a little ghost haunting his bed. Tiny in stature, the ghost mumbles while lying on him, "I'll just haunt for a bit, just a bit..." Once, the CEO turns over, sending the little ghost tumbling off in confusion. The CEO: "..." He thinks this ghost isn’t very good at his job. So, he buys a bigger bed. But soon, the ghost starts visiting less and less—until he stops coming altogether. No matter how early the CEO sleeps, even if he stays in bed all day or reverses his schedule, or even bathes and burns incense—the little ghost never returns. Eventually, the CEO spends a fortune to hire a mystic. After the little ghost is caught, the CEO’s first words to him are, "Who’ve you been haunting instead?" His second question: "The grass is always greener, huh?" Mu Bai, held by the scruff of his neck: "????"