Lu Yao successfully completed all the holiday tasks for the Labor Day Golden Week! Lu Yao felt the tension in his heart snap and unravel all at once!

A tremendous sense of accomplishment filled Lu Yao, and for a moment, he felt incredibly happy. Although he wanted to chat with the system right away, Lu Yao knew when to hold back.

He was still playing rock-paper-scissors with Li Yu, and it wouldn’t be very polite to just stop and do something else. At that moment, Li Yu’s expression was quite animated—a complete contrast to his usual lazy demeanor.

Lu Yao felt that playing the game together had really perked Li Yu up.

Lu Yao could vaguely sense that Li Yu’s former laid-back demeanor wasn’t his true nature; it was as if he’d been severely worn down by something, leaving him with a certain touch of lifelessness.

“I’ll breathe new life into him! It’ll also be a way to repay the Torch Dragon.”

So he played with him for another half hour.

Finally, Lu Yao couldn’t hold out any longer—after all, always winning was no fun: “Hey, Li Yu, do you want to keep playing? If you do, I’ll stick around a little longer, but I have to warn you, I can’t play for much longer. I’ve got things I need to take care of…”

Li Yu:“……”

Lu Yao could have sworn he saw a hint of disbelief in Li Yu’s eyes.

Li Yu’s eyes were more lively than they had been just a moment ago!

Could it be… that he’d be able to restore Li Yu’s eyesight without using any items in the future!

If the system’s interface for Lu Yao had been detailed enough, it would have shown his “Beast Value” skyrocketing to unprecedented heights at that very moment. Silence spread through the room.

After a few seconds, Lu Yao heard Li Yu ask slowly, “…The side effects of the ability—have they been resolved?”

Lu Yao: “Oh, oh, oh, I almost forgot about that. I got so carried away.” 

Li Yu: “……”

Lu Yao saw Li Yu’s fist clench tighter, and the muscles in his forearm bulged slightly.

Lu Yao:!

Hmph, he must have noticed—Li Yu is definitely going to throw “rock” next time! But Li Yu didn’t throw anything.

Lu Yao realized this meant the game had ended. “It was a pleasure playing with you,” Lu Yao said politely.

Then, addressing the system: “System! Settle up! We can settle up now, right?”

【Labor Day Golden Week successfully completed! Congratulations to the Host on achieving maximum happiness!】 Hahahaha, it’s done! He’s completed all the holiday quests!

【The joy of the Labor Day Golden Week lies in pushing through the crowds (zombie hordes), in showing off delicious food, and in playing rock-paper-scissors with friends at midnight… Holy crap?】

What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with playing Rock-Paper-Scissors with Li Yu in the middle of the night? By the way, System, aren’t you a little too human-like? Should I start addressing you with “please” from now on—please treat me better after the “Intelligent Machine Crisis”?

【Zzzzt… System malfunctioning…】

【System performing self-maintenance…】

【System cognitive correction complete: From now on, playing rock-paper-scissors with friends at midnight is a joyful experience!】

【No matter what kind of joy it is, it’s all the Host’s own exclusive joy! Time to get back to reality—don’t forget to pack up that great vacation mood and take it with you!】

【The host has completed the holiday quest in full for the first time—reward critical hit!】 

Give it a good critical hit! Lu Yao clenched his fist.

I can handle it!

【Processing rewards…】

【Please select a reward from the following three options】

【1. 1,000 bottles of Premium Zombie Potion】

【High-Grade Zombie Potion: Drinking this allows you to disguise yourself as a zombie for 24 hours; zombies below the level of a Zombie King cannot detect you.】 

Huh?

【2. Type 6 (Jinjiang) 9 Medium Tank】 Huh??

More than the tank that suddenly appeared, Lu Yao was shocked by the system’s anti-harmonic separator.

【3. Top-Tier Supernatural Ability Fragment】

……

Upon seeing the third option, Lu Yao’s eyes went wide.

Top-tier Superpower Shards! What are you waiting for?

I’ll take number three. Give it to me right now—just shove it right into my mouth.

Lu Yao felt something ice-cold take shape on his tongue. He immediately crunched it to pieces and swallowed it, afraid that if he waited even a second, the reward would vanish.

The moment Lu Yao absorbed the shard’s power, Li Yu, across from him, jerked his head up.

That powerful aura—though it lasted only an instant—had been picked up by Li Yu’s keen senses.

This power…

Li Yu’s eyes changed; it was as if a tangible flame had ignited within his eye sockets. The languid aura surrounding him also shifted, giving way to a searing, wild energy brimming with a thirst for battle that spread out, causing the temperature in the room to rise noticeably.

“So…” A near-ripping smile slowly curled at the corners of Li Yu’s lips, tinged with a chilling excitement. “You’re this strong.”

Clearly, Li Yu interpreted the power of the top-tier ability fragment from moments ago as Lu Yao’s true strength erupting after the side effects of his ability had been adjusted.

Lu Yao, however, was in a state of shock and hadn’t heard what Li Yu had said.

…So this is how you can actually use a superpower?

【Congratulations, Host, on awakening the ability “Writer (Incomplete)”】

【Congratulations, Host. Your physical abilities have improved moderately.】

【Congratulations to the Host on acquiring the ability “Decipher (Incomplete)”】

【Congratulations, Host, on acquiring the ability “Modify (Incomplete)”】 The system provided a concise description:

【Deciphering (Incomplete): The Host can view the text descriptions of any object (with a certain probability of deciphering failure); this ability is triggered passively】

【Modify (Incomplete): The Host possesses the power to modify this world; however, since the ability is currently incomplete, the Host can only modify a single character】

Lu Yao was dazzled by the display, his heart racing.

When he read the final description, Lu Yao slapped his thigh.

“This is exactly the ‘character-editing’ style—something he’s very familiar with.”

As expected of a top-tier ability fragment—the ability it grants is truly formidable.

Lost in the joy of acquiring a top-tier ability, Lu Yao failed to notice the changes happening around him.

Over on Li Yu’s side, after saying, “So you’re actually this strong,” he didn’t hear a verbal response from Lu Yao—only the crisp sound of a slap.

Was that a slap?

Is he challenging me to a fight?

The smile on Li Yu’s lips grew even more wild; his long-suppressed fighting spirit found an outlet, and crimson flames erupted with a roar!

Lu Yao finally snapped out of his daze over the talk of supernatural abilities, and then he saw the incredibly hot Li Yu. 

Lu Yao was stunned.

Huh? What’s this?

【Decipher (Incomplete) passive ability triggered!】

【The powerful aura Lu Yao emitted excited Li Yu; having been suppressed for so long, Li Yu craved a thrilling, all-out battle】

【So, before Lu Yao could say “No,” Li Yu took a step forward. He misjudged Lu Yao’s abilities and accidentally blasted him to smithereens.】

Lu Yao:……!!!

Huh? Huh?? No, Li…

Li Yu took a step forward, and a scorching blast of air hit him in the face. He actually stepped forward! He really did!

I can edit this—but how?! How do I do it?!

Lu Yao’s mind began racing.

【Modify “one” to “one hundred.”】

【Li Yu takes a hundred steps forward】

In a flash of fire, Li Yu vanished from where he stood. It was so fast that Lu Yao was stunned.

Lu Yao ran to the window and watched as Li Yu charged straight into the darkness outside. 

Lu Yao: “……”

I’m sorry, Da Li. I really didn’t mean to. Please forgive me.

Lu Yao, overcome with grief, crouched down where he stood, buried his face in his knees, and sobbed quietly.

It’s over—my dream of joining the Torch Dragon has been shattered.

Meanwhile, as Lu Yao wept bitterly in Li Yu’s room, Li Yu stood in front of the main gate of Nanshan Nursing Home, lost in thought.

Just moments ago, the Torch Dragon members on the observation deck by the entrance had been terrified to see their leader charging toward them, radiating flames and looking fiercely menacing. Had enemies attacked?

Or had their boss’s devastating superpower finally spiraled out of control? Or had he been caught slacking off and yawning just now?

The Torch Dragon member on the lookout platform clung to the railing, trembling with fear, and peered out, his voice quivering: “B-boss… is… is there something you need?”

Li Yu stood at the doorway, thinking to himself.

Yeah, what do I want? Why did I come here? The flames on his body had gone out.

He was a bit confused.

A few minutes earlier.

He Junwen decided to call it a day and head back to rest.

He quickly tidied up his cluttered desk, picked up the walkie-talkie, and called Yan Xiangyin, who was still on surveillance duty. “How’s the situation?” He Junwen asked.

On the other end of the walkie-talkie, Yan Xiangyin replied flatly, “The target is still in the boss’s room, playing rock-paper-scissors with him.” 

He Junwen asked, “…Has the boss ever won?”

“He’s won a few times, but the target, Lu Yao, is lying every single time.”

He Junwen: “All right. You stand down for now—stop the surveillance. I’ll go take a look myself.”

As the organization’s second-in-command and the person actually in charge of all its affairs, He Junwen felt the pressure on him was greater than ever before.

Resigned to his fate, he walked toward Li Yu’s residence.

But when he pushed open the door to Li Yu’s room, he found only Lu Yao inside. To be precise, Lu Yao was crouched on the floor, crying alone.

What a bizarre scene.

For a moment, He Junwen felt as if he were dreaming.

He walked over and pinched Lu Yao; he screamed in pain, “What are you doing?!”

He Junwen: “Let’s check if this is a dream.” 

Lu Yao’s eyes widened: “You…”

He Junwen looked around the room.

The air was thick with the smell of burning, and there were charred marks on the floor that stretched all the way to the door. Li Yu rarely left the room alone, especially not while he was blind.

“Where’s Brother Yu?” He Junwen asked. “Where did you stick him?”

Lu Yao sniffed and let out a long sigh: “It’s a long story… Dr. Wen, I mean, I think we should go out and look for Da Li first…” 

He Junwen was truly at a loss.

He didn’t know where to start asking—should he ask why they had to weed the yard? Why did they come to play rock-paper-scissors with Li Yu? Or why Li Yu had gone out in the first place?

These were all questions that needed answers, but He Junwen didn’t want to ask a single one.

Finding Li Yu wasn’t difficult; after all, he’d practically barreled his way out, leaving scorch marks all along the path. Lu Yao and Junwen helped right a clothes rack that had been knocked over.

Lu Yao silently covered his face, wanting to belt out Black Panther’s song “Heaven and Earth Embrace.” Junwen’s mind was a complete fog.

The two followed the trail all the way to the main gate, where they happened to run into Li Yu on his way back.

Lu Yao quickly hid behind He Junwen and peeked out, noticing that Li Yu seemed relatively calm—he hadn’t lost his temper. Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

“Brother Yu?” He Junwen stepped forward, his gaze quickly sweeping over Li Yu to confirm he was unharmed. “What happened here?”

Li Yu replied matter-of-factly, “Nothing much. I just lost a sparring match to Lu Yao.”

He took it in stride. Although the process had been baffling, he knew it was because Lu Yao had activated a special ability. He suspected Lu Yao might possess a ability.

He Junwen was startled; he whipped his head around to look at Lu Yao so abruptly that his neck nearly cracked. Lu Yao covered his face in shame: “No, I used a dirty trick—it doesn’t count…”

Li Yu shook his head: “In combat, only the result matters. Since you managed to get that far, how can you call it a dirty trick?”

Lu Yao stammered, “T-thank you so much.” He felt even more ashamed.

Li Yu’s straightforwardness made all of Lu Yao’s actions today seem all the more shameful.

Li Yu’s unfocused golden eyes turned back toward Lu Yao, and the fighting spirit that had just subsided began to rise again: “In that case, let’s fight fair and square.”

Lu Yao:“……”

Lu Yao asked tentatively, “Could you do it without using fire?” He knew this was an unreasonable request.

To his surprise, Li Yu actually nodded right away: “Sure.”

Lu Yao was also eager to test just how far his physical abilities had improved.

If Li Yu didn’t use his flame ability and they fought hand-to-hand, they were both just flesh-and-blood humans—he surely wouldn’t be able to knock him out with a single punch, would he?

Lu Yao began to feel more confident…

【Decipher (Incomplete): Passive triggered!】

The familiar text flashed through his mind once more.

【Li Yu miscalculated Lu Yao’s strength, bypassed He Junwen, stepped forward, and forcibly killed (强杀 / qiáng shā) Lu Yao】

Lu Yao:“……”

Huh? Wait, Li Yu?

What is wrong with you? Isn’t this getting ridiculously, excessively overpowered?! Is that actually a brain sitting on your shoulders? You’re this strong even without using any supernatural abilities?!

Change the character! How do I rewrite it this time?! Da Li didn’t ‘step forward’ this time!

He’s trying to forcibly kill me (强杀 / qiáng shā)… Forcibly (强 / qiáng)… what other words can I combine with qiáng (强 )?! Useless brain, hurry up and think!

【Modifying “kill” (杀 / shā) to “kiss” (吻 / wěn)】

【Li Yu miscalculated Lu Yao’s strength, bypassed He Junwen, stepped forward, and forcefully kissed (强吻 / qiáng wěn) Lu Yao.】

Modification takes effect.

He Junwen slowly widened his eyes.

He felt that the single most wrong thing he had done today—no, this entire month—was that right after finishing that surgery, he hadn’t immediately, instantly, and without looking back, sprinted straight to his room to sleep.

……

He Junwen’s eyes slowly widened.

He felt that the biggest mistake he’d made today—no, this month—was not rushing straight to his room to sleep immediately, without delay, and without looking back after finishing that surgery.