The numbers on the banking app's screen glowed with a light more sacred than any religious icon Yuan Lin had ever seen.
103,452.81 Yuan.
Ten minutes ago, that number was just a distant dream. Now, it was his reality.
A reality he had bought with ten Chaos Points and a vague promise of ruling over realms. A bargain, by any measure.
He closed and reopened the app four consecutive times. It wasn't a trick. It wasn't a system glitch. The money was there.
A muffled laugh escaped him, a mixture of euphoria and pure panic.
He leaned back in his office chair, which let out its usual creak, but this time the sound seemed like shy applause.
He looked around at his gray office-cell. The partition walls, the old monitor, the wilting plant... everything suddenly seemed small and insignificant.
He was like a prisoner sentenced to life who had suddenly found the key to his cell in his pocket. He hadn't escaped yet, but just knowing the key was there changed everything.
"Lin! The quarterly performance report! I want it on my desk before you leave!"
The voice of his manager, Mr. Zhao, cut through his bliss like an ice pick.
On any other day, this demand would have caused another sigh of despair. But today, Yuan Lin smiled a calm smile. He looked at Mr. Zhao's portly figure as he walked away and thought, "You yell for a trivial report, while I receive messages from demon monarchs. We are not the same."
He finished the report in half an hour, his hands working automatically while his mind sailed on an ocean of possibilities.
Should he buy a new apartment? A car? Or just quit tomorrow and laugh in Mr. Zhao's face?
No, that was too soon. He had a hundred thousand Yuan now, not a hundred million. He had spent all his Chaos Points. If he wanted more, he had to get back to "work" in the chat group.
At the end of the day, he picked up his cheap bag and left the office.
For the first time since he started working here, he didn't feel that soul-crushing exhaustion. He walked lightly, his shoulders held back.
He was no longer just Yuan Lin, the IT support guy. He was... the Lord of Eternal Chaos (in training).
He was so lost in his daydreams that he didn't pay attention to the path he was taking.
Instead of walking down the busy, well-lit main street, he turned into a narrow side alley he sometimes used as a shortcut to the subway station.
The alley was dimly lit, its walls covered in graffiti, and the smell of damp garbage hung in the air.
He didn't feel any danger. He felt invincible, as if the good fortune he had just received had created an invisible shield around him.
That shield, as it turned out, was made of stupidity.
Two shadows emerged from the entrance of an abandoned building in front of him.
Two men, bigger than him, wearing hoodies that covered their faces. They stopped in front of him, blocking the path.
"Good evening, friend," one of them said, his voice hoarse. "You seem to be in a hurry."
Yuan Lin froze. The daydreams instantly evaporated, replaced by cold adrenaline. "I... I just want to pass."
The other man laughed, a laugh devoid of humor. "Of course, you can pass. But there's a small toll." He took a step forward, holding out his hand. "Your phone, and your wallet. Quietly."
Lin felt his heart drop into his stomach. This was the first time he had ever been in a situation like this. His mind, which moments ago was planning stock market investments, was now a blank page of terror.
"O-okay," he stammered, slowly starting to pull out his wallet. It contained a few hundred Yuan and his bank card. They could have it.
Then he reached into his pocket to get his phone. And here, he hesitated.
This wasn't just a phone. This was the "Artifact Tool." It was the bridge to his new wealth and power. It was his golden cage.
Could he really just hand it over to these thugs? The thought of losing that connection, of losing the chat group, was more terrifying than the two men standing in front of him.
One of the men noticed his hesitation. "What are you waiting for? You think we're joking?"
The man shoved him hard in the chest. Yuan Lin lost his balance, stumbling back a step.
And in that catastrophic moment, the phone slipped from his trembling hand.
Time seemed to slow down. He saw the phone spinning in the air, its glossy black screen reflecting the dim lamplight of the alley.
Then, it hit the concrete floor.
CRACK!
The sound was sharp, heartbreaking, and final. The sound of shattering glass.
The two muggers looked at the broken phone with disdain. "Useless now," one said. He snatched the wallet from Lin's stunned hand, and the other slammed him hard on the shoulder as he passed. "Have a nice day."
They ran off and disappeared into the darkness of the alley.
But Yuan Lin didn't care about them. He didn't care about the wallet or the shove he had received. All his senses were focused on that dead piece of plastic and metal on the ground.
He fell to his dirty knees and picked up the phone.
The screen was a spiderweb of sharp cracks, with a black hole in the center where the impact had been strongest. He pressed the power button. Nothing. He pressed it again, and a third time, with growing desperation.
The screen remained black. Dead.
"No..." he gasped. "No, no, no!"
It was gone. Everything was gone. The chat group, the Chaos Points, the Demon Monarch, the tempting Queen, the money... everything was tied to this device, and this device was now just a piece of junk. The 100,000 Yuan in his account now felt like a bitter severance package. He had tasted power, only to have it brutally snatched away.
He burst into a desperate laugh. Fate was mocking him. It had given him the key to the universe, then let him stumble and drop it down a sewer drain.
He bent forward, resting his forehead on his knees, and felt hot tears burn his eyes. It was all over.
And as he was drowning in his despair, he noticed something strange.
A faint flicker of blue light.
He lifted his head, thinking it was coming from the broken phone. But no, the phone's screen was still black as coal.
The flicker appeared again, this time closer and clearer. It wasn't coming from any external source. It was... in his field of vision.
His eyes widened in confusion. The world around him froze. The distant street sounds faded, the dull colors of the alley walls desaturated, and everything turned to shades of gray.
Directly in front of his eyes, in mid-air, a transparent blue screen began to form out of nothing, just like the one he had seen in the initial guidance, but this time it wasn't on a screen. It was part of his reality. It floated before him, glowing with a calm, ethereal light.
Lines of silver-white text appeared on it.
`[System integrity threat detected due to physical device damage.]`
`[Initiating emergency protocol: Activating Direct Neural Interface.]`
`[Transferring core system data to host's consciousness...]`
`[...10%...45%...80%...100%]`
`[Re-initializing... Scanning current environment: Primal World C-73.]`
`[Ambient spiritual energy levels: Extremely low (0.01% of standard realms).]`
`[Analyzing for rare energy signatures...]`
`[...Traces of practitioners detected. Classification: "Martial Artists," "Internal Force Users."]`
`[System Note: Practitioners in this world follow primitive and fragmented paths. They have not developed complete internal power realms or comprehensive cultivation systems. They currently pose a low-level opportunity/threat to the host.]`
`[Transfer complete. The System is now permanently bonded to the host's consciousness.]`
Yuan Lin felt a strange tingle at the back of his head, a cold but harmless sensation. He stared at the floating screen, his mouth agape in shock.
The info screen vanished, replaced by the main system interface, which now floated calmly in his field of vision. At the bottom were several tabs: `[Group]`, `[Store]`, `[Skills]`, `[Status]`.
A final line of text appeared, seeming to carry a touch of cold, electronic sarcasm.
`[Note: Physical device is no longer required. Congratulations on the "upgrade," host.]`
The blue screen vanished suddenly, and the world returned to normal. The colors and sounds rushed back. He was still kneeling in a filthy alley, holding a broken phone.
He felt a brief moment of relief, followed by a wave of terror more intense than anything he had ever felt before.
He was trapped. And this time, there was no phone to break to escape.