"Done, Shiyu," Yan Huan said as he picked up the small, intricately crafted fabric pouch from the table and handed it to Ye Shiyu for inspection.
Ye Shiyu carefully examined the pouch before nodding.
Her silence left Yan Huan waiting expectantly, so after a brief pause, she added,
"It’s... beautiful."
Relieved, Yan Huan smiled and asked,
"Not writing your name on it, Shiyu?"
“......”
Ye Shiyu didn’t look at the pouch. Instead, her gaze lingered on Yan Huan’s profile, drifting to his exposed neck and Adam’s apple as if contemplating something.
When Yan Huan turned to meet her eyes, she quickly averted her gaze, shaking her head.
"No, it’s something we made together."
"Then it’s fine for you to keep it?"
"Mm."
The pouch would be submitted to the teacher for grading later, but glancing around the classroom, Yan Huan noted that most of the other students’ projects were unimpressive.
Ye Shiyu’s skills, however, were unmatched in this class. After completing the pouch, she even had time to make Yan Huan a yellow scarf for his pet at his request. With her help, there was no doubt Yan Huan would ace this elective.
Unlike his core academic subjects, which he excelled in, elective courses with vague grading criteria were always trickier for him.
"Alright, class is almost over," the teacher announced. "No matter how your projects turned out, stop working now. I’ll inspect everything, and then you can leave."
"Okay!"
Yan Huan sat back and snapped a picture of their completed pouch with his phone.
Just then, a message notification popped up:
"Something came up tonight. The pub’s closed, so you have the day off."
It was from Tong Yingying.
Yan Huan replied with a cheerful emoji, then hesitated before opening her chat again. He typed:
"Is it family business again, Tong? Another matchmaking ambush?"
The typing indicator appeared immediately.
"Adults’ business isn’t for kids to pry into. Be good~"
He sighed. As expected, her reply was cryptic as ever.
Tong Yingying was always a bit of an enigma. She often disappeared and closed the pub, claiming she was busy. Yan Huan suspected it was more about her not wanting to get out of bed.
What he did know about her was intriguing. Tong had moved to Linmen from the Dragon Empire to study, even graduating from Linmen University—a top-tier school. Despite her current laid-back lifestyle of smoking, drinking, and dodging her parents’ marriage demands, she was surprisingly wealthy.
The pub’s prime location, even in the South District, wasn’t cheap real estate. And she didn’t rent it; she owned it outright.
Tong was also generous with wages, holiday bonuses, and even red envelopes during festivals. She claimed her wealth came from stock trading during her early years.
How someone with her seemingly legendary intuition thrived in such a volatile market was a mystery to Yan Huan.
Maybe only someone like Tong could dominate a world full of “stock market leeks.”
He shook his head. No matter. Tonight would be a good chance to focus on studying. He hadn’t even fully utilized his new study planner yet, and he had an idea he wanted to test.
"Well done, this group," the teacher said as she inspected their project. Her praise was mostly directed at Ye Shiyu.
"Shiyu, are you in any clubs?" Yan Huan asked as they packed up their things to leave.
Ye Shiyu shook her head, her face expressionless.
"Joining a club... is it useful?"
"Not exactly. On a personal level, it’s a way to bond with classmates who share your interests." As Yan Huan folded the yellow scarf Ye Shiyu made, he continued,
"From a practical standpoint, it gives you a faction for the club competition. If your club wins, you get rewards."
"Rewards?"
Ye Shiyu’s eyes lit up momentarily, recalling competitions in the Dragon Empire. Rewards usually meant certificates, and that was about it.
Her interest waned, but she listened as Yan Huan explained,
"First place gets a chance to make a wish to the school board. Second place wins a lot of club funding and the rights to host all-school events. Third place just gets funding."
A wish?
Ye Shiyu considered it and found herself intrigued. She asked,
"Does the Student Council fall under the school board?"
"Not exactly. We’re mostly independent. We organize events like the club competition and sports festivals."
Disappointed, Ye Shiyu lost interest in the topic but didn’t let it show, replying,
"I’ll... think about it."
"Alright, Shiyu."
After learning she’d be taking a bus home, Yan Huan decided to head to the South District by school bus.
The bus wasn’t too crowded, so he found a quiet seat in the back where no one would bother him.
"Meow-chan..."
"Meow~"
At his call, a chubby black cat appeared out of nowhere, leaping onto the seat beside him.
Yan Huan took out the yellow scarf.
"Look, Meow-chan, a scarf for you."
The cat tilted its head, touching the scarf with a soft paw.
"What’s the point of this, meow?"
"You’re all black. At night, it’s hard to see you. A yellow scarf makes you easier to spot—and cuter."
"Meow?"
The cat looked unimpressed as Yan Huan tied the scarf around its neck, finishing with a neat knot on the side.
Magically, the scarf became semi-transparent once worn. Unless Meow-chan wanted it seen, no one else would notice it.
Hmm. Not bad, little cat.
Holding Meow-chan in his lap, Yan Huan gazed out the window as the bus engine roared to life.
"By the way, Yan Huan, I found this in your part-time job’s pub yesterday," Meow-chan said, breaking the silence.
Before Yan Huan could ask, Meow-chan bent down, retching like a cat coughing up a hairball.
"What’s that about?" Yan Huan instinctively moved to place the cat on the seat beside him, worried it might throw up something nasty.
Instead, Meow-chan spat out a faintly glowing, milk-white scale. It appeared entirely ethereal, untouchable.
"This is..."
"A Modifier fragment, meow. The same kind that fell off Ye Shiyu’s Modifier before," Meow-chan explained.
"What?!" Yan Huan was stunned.
He tried to pick up the scale, but his hand passed right through it.
"Like I said, meow. I can interact with these fragments because they belong to my domain. But you can’t touch them."
"I see..." Yan Huan frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Wait, could this have come from Bai Yi’s Modifier yesterday? I did help her, but it didn’t feel impactful enough to cause this."
"I’m not sure, meow. But this fragment is larger than the last one I swallowed. It likely resulted from significant damage to the Modifier."
Meow-chan circled the fragment, then looked up at Yan Huan with wide, admiring eyes.
"You’re really something, meow."
No, no, no. I don’t remember doing anything that amazing!
Yan Huan was genuinely baffled. His actions with Bai Yi had been more about damage control than any grand intervention.
"Why does this fragment look like an animal scale? A lizard or snake, maybe? Was Ye Shiyu’s fragment the same?"
"A scale?" Meow-chan tilted its head before nodding in realization.
"Ah, that’s because Modifiers are fragments of deities from another world. You can’t perceive their true forms, so they manifest as something comprehensible to you."
Meow-chan retched again, this time producing a faint, cobweb-like substance.
"Here, this is Ye Shiyu’s fragment from before. See the difference?"
"Yeah. This one looks like spider silk, while this one’s a snake scale."
Yan Huan stared at the fragments, a thought forming.
"Meow-chan, you said Modifiers can’t be detected, right?"
"Correct, meow."
"Then is it possible someone did something to a Modifier or its host, causing these fragments to fall off?"
"In theory, yes. But for someone to do that without knowing anything about Modifiers..."
Hiss... That would be a real expert.
Still, Bai Yi hadn’t seemed any better when she left the pub yesterday. That meant this fragment likely came from another Modifier present at the pub.
Was it the fourth Modifier, or the still-unknown fifth one?
And who else could possibly have shown up at the pub?
Tong Yingying?
Just the thought sent a chill down Yan Huan’s spine.
If someone like Tong Yingying, with her terrifying knack for ingenuity, got her hands on a Modifier… wouldn’t that mean chaos with no end in sight?
Panicked, Yan Huan quickly opened Plane and sent her a message:
"Tong, are you there?"
He attached a cat emoji for good measure.
However, the status remained static, with no indication of a reply even after a long wait.
Ugh, so annoying.
Plane, like the messaging app WeChat from his previous life, didn’t let users see if their messages had been read. Not that it was a bad design, especially when your boss messaged you late at night asking if you were asleep...
Yan Huan set his phone aside and rubbed his temples, trying to organize his thoughts.
No rush.
Three Modifiers were confirmed so far:
Spencer’s Plunder System.
Extremely powerful—it could alter consciousness and create strange enclosed spaces. The downside? Its host was a complete airhead.
Ye Shiyu’s Hypnosis App.
Also very strong, with sudden and hard-to-evade control abilities. But thanks to his efforts, her obsessive tendencies were under control (more or less).
Bai Yi’s Indifference.
The weakest so far, providing plenty of room for Yan Huan to manipulate. He was starting to understand Bai Yi better, and the future looked promising.
Then there were two others:
The Modifier that attacked him at noon, seemingly capable of inducing overwhelming pleasure.
The unknown entity linked to the snake scale fragment found at the pub, possibly involving Tong Yingying.
Tong, please just respond! It’s not about the Modifier—I just miss you, honestly!
"Forget it..."
With Tong Yingying unresponsive and even a phone call going unanswered, she was probably napping. Yan Huan sighed and turned to Meow-chan.
"So, this fragment can enhance my Modifier, right?"
Meow-chan nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! And this one’s bigger than the last, so the boost will be even stronger. You’ll see the effects by the weekend. I’ll keep it safe for now."
"Good. Honestly, I didn’t even fully utilize the last upgrade. That study-enhancing ability is impressive, but I’ve only dabbled with it. I’ll use the extra time this afternoon to test its full potential."
"Meow~"
Yan Huan gave Meow-chan a quick pat before pulling out his phone to browse videos.
Suddenly, the school bus came to an abrupt stop.
"Beep! Beep!"
Not only the school bus, but all the surrounding vehicles had halted, with impatient drivers honking their horns.
"What’s going on?"
"Looks like the road ahead is closed," someone nearby speculated.
Yan Huan frowned, peering out the window. The bus had stopped at an intersection, where traffic police were redirecting vehicles.
"Emergency traffic control ahead. Please detour around the intersection. Thank you for your cooperation!"
He craned his neck to get a better look. A building by the roadside was ablaze on one of its floors, with firefighters battling the flames.
It wasn’t just firefighters—ambulances, criminal investigators, and more officers were on the scene.
What happened?
Yan Huan watched as stretchers carried out bloodied individuals, some clutching knives or other weapons.
"A gang fight?"
His brow furrowed at the thought.
Linmen’s South District had a history of gang activity, mostly due to its geographic and historical context. Being a coastal area, many illegal immigrants had settled there when Linmen was first established, bringing diverse groups with conflicting interests.
It was reminiscent of pre-handover Hong Kong, with gangs dominating the region for a long time.
The situation had improved significantly thanks to strict government crackdowns. Gang leaders were executed en masse, and their dens were dismantled. Today, while petty criminals still existed, organized gangs were nearly extinct.
Still, seeing such a large-scale conflict now was unexpected.
"Guess the massage parlors near Tong’s pub won’t see much business for a while," Yan Huan muttered, shaking his head as the bus rerouted.
When he finally got home, it was twenty minutes later than usual. Too lazy to cook, he grabbed some fried rice downstairs, eating while watching the news with his headphones on.
"Breaking news from Linmen: At 3:23 PM today, a fire broke out on the third floor of the Sterling Building on Longyang Road in the South District.
"Witnesses report violent clashes preceding the fire. According to sources, the incident may be linked to the Yu Gang, a gang composed of Dragon Empire immigrants. Authorities are treating this matter with utmost priority..."
Yan Huan stopped watching, paid his bill, and bought some juice, cat snacks, and canned food before heading upstairs.
Seated at his computer, he flexed his fingers before opening Plane’s desktop version.
Typing "Freelance—Changsun Studio (Ghostwriting)," he opened a chat window and typed:
"Are you there?"
A cat emoji.
The response came quickly:
"I’m here."
After a moment, another message followed:
"But there’s no work right now. We’ve stopped taking easy essays for electives—they’re all done with AI now."
Yan Huan sipped his juice as he replied:
"Not here for work. Do you have any electronic copies of advanced math textbooks or lecture materials?"
"Sure, I’ve got courseware from a few top universities. As for textbooks, I’ve got calculus, linear algebra, and statistics, though they’re not all from the same country. Linmen-specific ones are rare, but you can make do."
"Thanks."
He sent a cat emoji of gratitude.
Shortly after, several files arrived, along with a mischievous emoji from the other party:
"You’re really going all out. Isn’t your part-time job keeping you busy enough?"
"Not too bad," Yan Huan replied casually.
"Alright, let me know when you’ve gone through them. There’s plenty of demand for math. In Juguo, we’ve got people outsourcing entire semesters—exams, assignments, quizzes, the works. Do you know how much you can make in one term?"
"They outsource exams too?"
"If there’s a market, there’s a way. With all the online courses now, people just want the degree. We rake in cash while they save time. Who cares about academic integrity?"
The studio owner, evidently in a chatty mood, continued:
"Knowledge is power, my friend. Once you’re up to speed, I’ll start giving you assignments. It’ll make things easier for you."
"Alright, let me review these first."
"No rush. When you’re ready, I’ll give you a test to gauge your level."
"Got it."
Yan Huan downloaded the files, neatly organizing them into folders.
As he sipped his juice, the cold glow from his computer screen illuminated his face. His eyes reflected the scrolling lines of text, symbols, and theories.
Unseen, an otherworldly power activated, sharpening his focus and accelerating his thought processes.
Ability Activated: Study Conqueror!