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Li Xun

Personal History

At an unknown point in time, Xun was born sickly and raised in Chujiang, Hunan before succumbing to illness later in life. He was then recruited as a minor god of the underworld, where he quickly gained a reputation as a fast worker. He, however, frequently ditched his clerical station in the underworld to go ghost hunting. (This did not decrease the quality of his work at all, which is likely the only reason he wasn't dropped in one of the Small Hells himself when management caught wind of his truancy.)

Xun moved to Japan for university. After spending most of his life sick, he quickly found a calling in immunology. After obtaining his master's, he settled into his current lab in Nagoya, where Lin Luoxia, upon taking one look at him, immediately entered hyper auntie mode and adopted him in all but on paper.

Upon Luoxia's announcing her engagement and plans to move, he was overcome by filial piety and planned to move with her. He suddenly receives a message that she'd left for Osaka early due to an incident landing her stepdaughters in the ER, leaving him to catch a train to Osaka later that day...

Name Etymology

曛 is pronounced Xūn in Mandarin (Pinyin romanization) and speculatively Hiûn in Hakka (PFS romanization).

• 曛 means "sunset."
• Behind the scenes, 曛 ("sunset") was specifically chosen to contrast with Daichi's 㬃 ("sunrise").

Xun's surname 歷, pronounced Lì in Mandarin (Pinyin romanization) and Li̍t in Hakka, is an uncommon surname.

• 歷 means "experience."
• 歷 is also the surname of Chujiang Wang, one of the kings of the underworld (namely the one Xun works under).

Behind the Scenes

• This project is heavily based on Clock Tower: Ghost Head. Xun is the counterpart of Fujika/Shannon Lewis. To compare:
• Both have (something along the lines of) a parent-child relationship with the protagonist's lab technician parent.
• Fujika is specifically targeting the protagonists as revenge for her childhood trauma with the intent to kill them. Xun is similarly obsessed with Rie and Daichi for unknown, but less murderous reasons.
• Fujika is the protagonist's older sister via adoption. Xun is Rie's older brother by workplace auntie adoption.
• Xun and Rie are technically biologically related due to Daichi being Rie's half-brother and Xun stealing his body.
• Fujika is specifically targeting the protagonist as revenge for her childhood trauma with the intent to kill them. Xun is only interested in dragging Daichi to the underworld.
• Fujika's obsession with the protagonist leads to her helping the protagonist escape from death (albeit with the intent to be the one to kill her). Xun similarly helps Rie, as he has no direct business with the living (and can't do anything to auntie's kid, come on), but helps Daichi specifically with the intent of expediting his departure to the underworld.
• As revealed in the Japanese character notes, Fujika was at one point early in development drafted to be a major antagonist with Saidou Fushihito/George Maxwell acting as her murderous alter ego. Xun shares her final release's lack of direct connection to Soejima Daisuke, but does eventually interact with him more seriously. I haven't written that far yet, so there will likely be more direct confrontations before the ending, but the current plan is the underworld (and, by extension, Xun) has been watching Daisuke closely due to his constant impossible escapes from death and general terrible behavior.