Three months later.
Noon, bedroom.
Su Qi lay on the bed, staring blankly at the not-so-high ceiling.
So, how did things end up like this?
He had already uncovered the true name of that engraving knife. According to how the story should unfold, three months should’ve been more than enough for him to "punch the nursing home and kick the kindergarten," so to speak.
Su Qi stared at the translucent screen before him, lost in thought.
[Radiance: 12]
[Brilliance: 0]
[Delight: 421]
...
To anyone else, these three strings of numbers would probably seem utterly baffling.
But in reality, they corresponded to the skill: ["For all that the 'Bearer' desires, I shall grant one by one."]
Translated into plain language: As long as he collected enough points, he could turn any desired thing or outcome into reality.
After three months of trial and error, Su Qi had easily figured out the mechanics of the skill.
1. The methods for obtaining the three types of energy:
- [Radiance] came from altering "the unchanging tracks of someone's life"—but it had to be someone else's. He himself seemed to have no "fixed life track" anymore.
- [Delight] was earned by witnessing or creating something entertaining enough—whether good or bad, comedy or tragedy, as long as it was interesting.
- As for [Brilliance], he still had no clue.
2. The energy gained only depended on the state at the moment of acquisition. Even if the person whose life was altered returned to their original path, or whether they lived or died afterward, it didn’t matter—the points couldn’t be deducted.
3. [Radiance], [Brilliance], and [Delight] were three independent currencies, incapable of being exchanged for one another.
Among them, [Radiance] was the standard currency, [Brilliance] the rare currency, and [Delight] the inferior one. As for why they were classified this way... he’d find out soon enough.
Bang!
A sudden, though not particularly loud, door-slamming sound interrupted Su Qi’s train of thought.
It was probably Liu Yuan going out.
Come to think of it...
The two of them lived under the same roof, yet ever since the "house-selling incident," they hadn’t had a proper conversation in three whole months.
He didn’t know how other siblings interacted.
But between them, the most frequently exchanged phrases were "Food’s ready" and "I’m full."
Or perhaps, this was just her default attitude toward everyone—cold and distant.
There wasn’t a trace of the liveliness one would expect from someone her age.
...
After closing the front door, Liu Yuan took a deep breath and tilted her head back.
Her striking eyes fixed on the skyscraper across the street for about four or five seconds before she finally put on her mask.
This wasn’t some cliché scenario where she was too beautiful to go out without covering up.
She was simply heading to one of Jiangxia City’s two major black markets—the underground Cardholder market on Ping'an Street, colloquially known as the West Market.
No matter how down-and-out she seemed, living in the city’s slums, Cardholders were still a privileged class.
And for the sake of so-called "social stability," many of these privileges and details couldn’t be disclosed to ordinary people.
Hence, the black market thrived.
...
Masked, Liu Yuan pushed open the door of a shop in the black market and stepped inside.
This shop was the territory of one of the market’s big shots, offering a wide range of services—from custom Card enhancements and intelligence gathering to hiring Cardholder teams for expeditions into restricted zones.
It claimed to operate outside the oversight of the Cardholder Association.
At least, that was the official line.
But who really knew?
Maybe every shop here had some high-ranking Cardholder Association figure pulling strings behind the scenes.
Liu Yuan glanced around. The shop was dimly lit, the air tinged with a faint musty smell.
Behind the counter, a middle-aged man wearing a monocle was polishing a faintly glowing Card. Hearing footsteps, he looked up.
"What do you need?"
No pleasantries, no small talk.
Liu Yuan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she walked to the counter, pulled a folded slip of paper from her pocket, and slid it over.
The man took the note, unfolded it, and frowned slightly after reading.
He studied Liu Yuan again, his expression unreadable, then spoke.
"Sorry, the requirements are too strict. No one’s taking the order. I suggest raising the price."
Liu Yuan shook her head.
If she had the money, wouldn’t it be better to just buy from official channels?
Silently, she took back the note. On it was written:
[Wanted: Tier-4 Rare Card. Must provide substantial base attributes, preferably with additional efficiency in refining Source Essence. Budget: 50,000–60,000.]
The man gave her another two-second once-over, his face now tinged with disdain.
"Goodbye, then."
Just another martial arts examinee hoping to get lucky. The black market wasn’t some standardized service industry—this request was a waste of his time, not worth another word.
Put simply: Only a fool would craft that Card for her.
A Tier-4 Rare Card’s market price did fall within 50,000–60,000, but with those requirements?
Any attribute that boosted Source Essence refinement efficiency was sky-high in price. You couldn’t even get one for 500,000, let alone 50,000!
After all, no matter which world you were in, there was no shortage of parents hoping their children would "stand out from the crowd."
Who didn’t want their kid to have a head start?
Pushing their children was always easier than pushing themselves.
Even in a world with supernatural systems, some things never changed.
...
On her way back, Liu Yuan had removed her mask. Clutched in her hand was the now crumpled note.
Just then, three young men in their early twenties approached from the opposite direction.
The two on either side started whistling and egging the middle one on, shoving him forward until he stumbled awkwardly in front of Liu Yuan.
Flushing red, the boy stammered, "H-Hi... can I... add you on SourceChat?"
Liu Yuan gave him a cool glance.
"I don’t add strangers."
The boy pressed on, undeterred.
"Do you... have a boyfriend?"
"None of your business."
Without another word, she walked past him.
Just another passerby in life, unworthy of her time.
Yet, after this encounter, her thoughts involuntarily drifted to someone else.
Almost unconsciously, she pulled out her phone and opened SourceChat.
Her eyes landed on the pinned contact—his profile picture and status.
[I want to sleep.]
[Should your life be an endless wilderness? Or the same old tracks?]
A radiant smile broke through her usual icy expression.
Even though... they were just online friends... even though she didn’t even know his real name...
She felt... it was about time they took things a step further, right?
But she didn’t dare ask for confirmation...
The more you cared, the more you feared losing it.
What if he didn’t feel the same? What if they couldn’t even stay friends afterward?
...
Meanwhile.
Su Qi stared at his suddenly doubled—no, more than doubled—"inferior currency," deep in thought.
[Delight +500]
Huh?
What funny thing happened?
Where?
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
