Returning to his apartment that evening was like returning to a cave. The four familiar walls were his only refuge from two worlds that were demanding so much from him. The world of work, which required him to wear the mask of a quiet employee, and the world of the chat, which required him to wear the mask of a demon lord.
Only here, in the silence of his small apartment, could he take off both masks and be just... nothing. Just an exhausted Yuan Lin.
He threw his keys on the small table near the door and collapsed onto his old sofa. He didn't bother to turn on the lights. He let the evening shadows swallow the room, just as they were swallowing his soul.
The echo of his lunch with Su Ling still resonated in his mind. Their simple conversation, her easy laugh, her sincere concern... it all seemed like it was from another life, from a bright world he no longer belonged to. He felt a sharp pang of loneliness, the realization that he had become an island, isolated from the human shore by the sea of secrets that surrounded him.
Was this what he wanted? To live like a ghost, watching normal life from afar without ever truly participating?
He sighed, feeling the weight of the decision on his chest. No. This wasn't what he wanted.
What he wanted was to never again feel the fear and humiliation he had felt in that alley. The memory of that moment, the memory of his absolute weakness, was what drove him forward.
With a conscious act of will, he summoned the System's interface in the darkness. The transparent blue screen lit up his face, casting long, dancing shadows on the silent walls of his room.
[Current Balance: 25 Chaos Points.]
Five points from fixing a computer, and twenty from deceiving a demon king. The fruits of his lies were displayed before him.
He opened the [Skills] list again. He ignored the epic and expensive names, heading straight for the humble options he had studied before. His eyes settled on the choice his heart wanted, the one that represented the most direct solution to his pain.
`[Lesser Body Fortification - Stage 1]: Slightly strengthens bones and skin. Cost: 10 Chaos Points.`
He hesitated for a moment. There was a faint voice in the back of his head, the voice of the old Yuan Lin, whispering to him that this was a mistake. That this was demonic power, a power not his own, and that using it meant crossing a line of no return. This was the price of a deal with the devil, even if he himself was playing the part of the devil.
But another voice, louder and angrier, drowned it out. A voice that was born in that alley. A voice that screamed: "And what did your morals do for you? Did they protect you? Did they stop that thief? The world doesn't care about good and evil, only about the strong and the weak. And I will not be weak again."
This was the internal conflict. It wasn't an easy decision. It wasn't just a click of a button in a game. It was an acceptance. An acceptance that in order to survive and change, he had to use the tools that had been given to him, regardless of their dark origin. He was no longer just an actor playing a role; he was becoming a hungry user, exploiting the system for his own personal gain.
"So be it," he whispered into the darkness of the room, his voice resolute.
In his mind, he pressed the purchase button.
[Do you confirm the purchase of "Lesser Body Fortification - Stage 1" for 10 Chaos Points?]
"Yes."
The moment he confirmed the command, something flowed from the interface into his consciousness, and then into his entire body.
It was not a pleasant sensation. It started as a deep heat in the marrow of his bones, a heat that grew and grew until he felt as if his skeleton was slowly boiling from the inside.
He fell to his knees on the cold wooden floor, gasping.
His muscles contracted, and he felt a dry, burning pain, as if his muscle fibers were being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time.
It wasn't a sharp pain like a knife stab, but a deep, all-encompassing pain—the pain of forced change. He shut his eyes tightly, biting his lip to keep from screaming.
This was the price of power. It was never free.
The pain lasted for what felt like an eternity, but in reality, it was only about a minute. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it faded, leaving behind a pleasant warmth flowing through his veins.
He remained on the floor for several minutes, breathing deeply, his body covered in a cold sweat. Then, he slowly pushed himself up and got to his feet.
He felt... different. The faint ache in his shoulder was gone. The exhaustion that had weighed him down had evaporated. He felt a new sense of solidity, of being grounded, as if his body had become denser and more compact.
He looked at his hand. It didn't look different, but it felt different. He slowly clenched it into a fist, feeling the quiet strength in its muscles. Without thinking, almost unconsciously, he turned and threw a medium-strength punch at the plaster wall beside him.
In the past, this move would have resulted in sharp pain in his knuckles. But now, he heard a solid, muffled sound.
THUD.
He felt a faint shock, but the pain was surprisingly minimal. He pulled his hand back and looked at the wall. A web of small cracks had formed in the plaster around the point of impact.
He stared at the cracks, then at his own intact knuckles.
It wasn't a smile of joy. It was a different smile, a cold and dangerously satisfied one. It was a primitive, intoxicating feeling. The feeling of real, tangible power. The power to leave a mark on the physical world.
A quiet system notification appeared in his vision.
[Skill Acquired: Lesser Body Fortification - Stage 1. Physical Durability +5%. Pain Resistance +10%.]
He ignored the notification. He was focused on the sensation in his hand, and on those small cracks in the wall.
The image of the thief shoving him in the alley returned to his mind. But this time, it wasn't accompanied by fear or shame.
It was accompanied by a single, cold, decisive thought.
"If I met you now, it would be a very different story."
Yuan Lin was no longer just a victim seeking safety. He was now a person who had tasted power, and he was already thinking about how to use it.
---
It was past midnight. The city lights were just a distant glow from the window of Yuan Lin's small, dark apartment. There was no sound but the hum of the old refrigerator and the heavy silence that fills the late hours of the night.
Yuan Lin was sitting on the edge of his bed, not staring at anything in particular in the physical world.
His eyes were focused on the space in front of him, where the transparent blue interface of the System floated quietly.
He was Browse the [Skills] list again, not out of need now, but out of curiosity. He had scrolled past the basic and intermediate skills and was reviewing the legendary abilities at the very bottom, the ones with astronomical costs.
His focus settled on one skill, its name so majestic it was almost absurd:
[Shatter the Heavens, Devour the Stars].
He didn't bother to read its description; his eyes were drawn directly to the line below.
[Requirement: Offer one (1) immortal soul as a sacrifice.]
He read it once, then again. They weren't just words on a screen; they felt as if they had weight, a coldness. The term "sacrifice" alone was enough to send a shiver through him. But "immortal soul"? The concept was alien, from another world entirely.
His throat felt dry. Hesitation, fear, and an irrepressible scientific curiosity battled within him. After a moment of silence, he gathered his courage and formed the question in his mind, directing it at the silent entity that shared his consciousness.
"System... what exactly is meant by 'an immortal soul as a sacrifice?"
There was no delay. The text appeared on the screen with a cold, mechanical smoothness, devoid of any emotion.
[For clarification, an analogy will be used. A mortal human soul is like a candle flame: transient, fragile, its energy dissipates upon extinguishment.]
[An immortal soul, in contrast, is like a compressed star core: a stable, hyper-dense artifact composed of pure energy and a will refined over eons through the absorption of energy (cultivation) and the transcendence of existential trials tribulations.]
Yuan Lin felt a coldness creep down his spine. A star core.
`[When used as a "sacrifice," its primary value is not "life," but its "calorific value" on a cosmic scale. Its essence is consumed as pure, high-grade fuel to activate reality-altering abilities, which are impossible without this immense amount of energy.]`
His breath caught in his chest. "Calorific value"? What a terrifying description.
Then came the final line, the line that froze the blood in his veins.
[Common acquisition method: Terminate the existence of a being who has reached a high level of cultivation (e.g., Soul Formation stage or above), and then "harvest" their spiritual essence before it dissipates. This is considered a supreme predatory act at the top of the food chain in most cultivation-based realities.]
The words vanished, leaving Yuan Lin staring into the void. "Harvest." The word echoed in his skull. It wasn't "kill" or "defeat." It was "harvest," like a farmer reaps his crop.
He thought of the members of his group. Of Wu Tian, who was ready to grind an entire world to dust. Of Xue, who had offered him the tears of a captive nymph. Was this their world? Were these the rules of the game he was now playing?
He looked down at his hands in the darkness. The hands in which he had felt a new strength just a few hours ago. The power he had acquired...