"Huff... huff... huff..."
"Hey, Sister Tong, do you know an old tale from the Dragon Empire?"
On Wednesday night, inside the VIP gym of the South District, Yan Huan was shirtless, sweating profusely as he sprinted on the treadmill. Keeping perfect form, he maintained his rapid pace while panting and speaking at the sa ti.
"They say that Erlang Shen's Howling Celestial Dog descended to the mortal world and wreaked havoc… So the heavens… sent Lü Dongbin with a treasure called 'Canvas' to subdue it...
“Huff… Once the Howling Celestial Dog was trapped in the treasure… huff… Lü Dongbin felt pity, worried that the poor dog would turn to ashes inside...
"So, he secretly released it... but unexpectedly, the dog, instead of being grateful… huff… bit Lü Dongbin, the very man who saved it.”
“This is the origin of the saying, ‘A dog bites Lü Dongbin, failing to recognize kindness.’”
Behind him, Tong Yingying, dressed in workout gear, let out a cold chuckle and countered,
"Oh? I see what you're getting at. You're taking a jab at , aren't you?"
Yan Huan shook his head and replied,
"No, Sister Tong, I'm not saying you're the dog. I just think... Brother Li and I were kind enough to help you improve your pub’s business, yet you're still mad. And tonight, you're going extra hard on
during training…
"Isn't that a little ungrateful—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly tore through the air. A mont later, sothing slamd into the ground with a loud SMACK!
Turning his head, Yan Huan saw Tong Yingying grinning wickedly, holding a soft whip in her hand. Her fierce gaze traced over his back as if searching for a good target.
"Ungrateful what? Say it again, and I swear I'll whip your ass!"
"...Why do I feel like you’re channeling so weird translation gag?"
Whether it was because he was running too fast or because he was genuinely afraid that Tong Yingying would actually use the whip on him, Yan Huan quickly reached out and hit the stop button on the treadmill.
Stepping off the machine, he took a deep breath, bracing his hands on his knees.
"I'm done, I'm done... I’m completely done for today. Break ti. Truce."
"Tch, look at you..."
Tong Yingying clicked her tongue and leaned in close, lifting Yan Huan’s chin with the coiled whip.
"Your dedication to training is comndable—I’ll give you that. But don’t overdo it and end up with stiff, lifeless muscles. Strength and endurance have to be balanced. Otherwise, you’ll end up looking like a bloated bullfrog. Ugly as hell."
"......"
Yan Huan raised his eyes to et Tong Yingying’s gaze. She stood over him, whip in hand, scrutinizing him from head to toe with a disturbingly heated expression.
"Bzzzz~"
Just then, a familiar ringing sound ca from Tong Yingying’s pocket. She imdiately retracted her whip but didn't take out her phone—she only glanced at the ti.
"Alright, that’s enough for today. I’ve got sothing to do, so I’m heading out."
"...Sister Tong, you’re not about to go shank soone, are you?"
Tong Yingying waved him off without responding, gripping the whip as she strode out of the gym.
Through the glass door, Yan Huan watched as she finally pulled out her phone and answered the call.
"......"
After a mont of silence, a ghostly presence materialized on Yan Huan’s shoulder—a small, adorable black cat.
"ow~ Call it a hunch, but that Tong Yingying really seems to enjoy watching you suffer."
"It’s just playful banter. She wasn’t actually mad. Sister Tong is usually pretty nice to ."
That was the truth.
But ow-chan had a different take on things.
The little cat turned its gaze toward the direction Tong Yingying had left but didn’t comnt further. It simply perched on Yan Huan’s shoulder and followed him into the gym’s VIP shower room.
Inside, no one else was present—just Yan Huan and ow-chan.
"Ssssshhh~"
Soon, thick steam began to rise from one of the stalls.
Sitting obediently outside the curtain, ow-chan spoke to Yan Huan telepathically.
"So far, there are still only four Modifiers, ow. The fifth one hasn't shown up yet."
"Are you sure there are really five, ow-chan?"
ow-chan nodded confidently.
"These Modifiers forcefully broke through the world’s outer layer when they invaded. There were exactly five impact holes left behind.
"Three of the holes were about the sa size, one was significantly bigger, and one was especially small. And each hole produced different amounts of Modifier fragnts.
"That’s how I confird that five Modifiers invaded this world."
Yan Huan, lathering his hair with shampoo, paused for a mont and muttered to himself before drawing a conclusion.
"Five holes... three similar-sized ones, one really big, and one really small... That ans the Modifiers have different power levels?"
"That seems to be the case, ow. When they breached this world, the biggest hole barely lost any fragnts, while the smallest hole shed a ton."
Still washing his hair, Yan Huan imagined the scenario ow-chan had described. Then, a realization struck him. He turned and asked,
"Wait a second—where did all those fragnts go? Did you pocket them?"
ow-chan let out an innocent "ow~" and explained,
"They were used to craft your Modifier, ow. Those fragnts are the raw materials.
"I’ve done everything I could to modify your Modifier, but it still retains similar properties to the other ones."
As the water rinsed the last bit of foam from his hair, Yan Huan opened his eyes and spoke suspiciously,
"You’re telling
that ‘similar properties’ aren’t the reason I keep pulling out useless junk all the ti?"
"Of course not, ow! Actually, I just discovered sothing new..."
ow-chan licked its paw pads before continuing,
"Yan Huan, at first, I thought all the Modifiers had the sa fundantal nature, just with different ways of manifesting their effects.
"But now, I’ve realized that’s not the case. Each Modifier’s fragnts have unique effects. That ans consuming different Modifiers will actually enhance yours with distinctive abilities."
As ow-chan spoke, its small mouth suddenly opened, releasing golden wisps of light that ford a translucent interface in front of Yan Huan.
【The types and quantities of collected fragnts will now be recorded here. Each type of fragnt grants a unique effect.】
[Sequence 1: Spider Silk ×2]
Effect: When your sanity drops to 0, there is a chance you will experience a prophetic "life-flashing-before-your-eyes" mont. However, once this happens, your sanity will instantly recover to a safe level.
Collection Bonus: Each additional Spider Silk fragnt slightly increases the probability of this effect. Additionally, any collected fragnt can be converted into a Spider Silk fragnt.
[Sequence 2: Snake Scale ×1]
Effect: The Modifier's avatar can now move within a 15-ter radius around the host, allowing a limited degree of direct influence on reality.
Collection Bonus: Each additional Snake Scale fragnt slightly enhances the Modifier avatar’s attributes.
[Sequence 3: ???]
[Sequence 4: ???]
[Sequence 5: ???]
Seeing the newly unlocked system interface, Yan Huan's face imdiately lit up. He yanked open the curtain and turned to ow-chan, whose fur was now sleek and glossy.
"ow-chan, you’ve evolved again! Isn’t this an upgrade?"
ow-chan tilted its head and replied,
"These properties actually existed from the beginning, ow. It's not an enhancent. I just hadn’t figured it out before, so I couldn’t tell you earlier."
Hearing this, Yan Huan suddenly rembered sothing.
After consuming the Snake Scale, ow-chan’s fur had indeed beco shinier, and it had even gained the strength to lock a door for him during the doujin convention.
And that night, when he was affected by Ye Shiyu’s aphrodisiac, he had nearly lost control and triggered a defeat CG (cutscene).
At the ti, he thought he was just hallucinating because of the drug. But now, he realized it was actually ow-chan’s ability in action.
No wonder that CG had barely appeared before he instantly regained his sanity.
Thinking about this, Yan Huan—despite his newfound power—didn't let it go to his head.
Instead, he imdiately thought of a critical question.
"ow-chan, based on what you're saying, these enhancents co from absorbing the fragnts of other Modifiers. So... does that an their Modifiers also gain similar enhancents?"
"These are just fragnt effects, ow. Logically speaking, their original Modifiers should have even stronger versions of these abilities."
"......"
Great.
The good news: I got stronger.
The bad news: They are even stronger.
So what’s the point of getting stronger?!
But this was ow-chan’s “discovery”, not a power-up. It was like Columbus discovering Arica—whether he found it or not, Arica was always there.
Think rationally.
First, Yan Huan was sure that Spider Silk ca from Ye Shiyu. The Snake Scale's owner was still unknown.
Which ant... Ye Shiyu probably also had the ability to trigger a defeat CG.
Yan Huan recalled that night—he had been completely overwheld by Ye Shiyu’s hypnosis and persuasive words, to the point of nearly surrendering to her and the Modifier.
So, what about Ye Shiyu?
Could it be that she, too, had triggered a CG when she was regretting using her Modifier—perhaps even contemplating whether to abandon it?
And then... she instantly blackened (turned yandere)?
Yan Huan swallowed hard. No matter how he looked at it, these abilities were way more terrifying in their hands.
But still, this "prophetic warning cutscene"… isn’t that just another form of precognition?
Beyond analyzing Ye Shiyu, Yan Huan realized sothing else:
If he could deduce the abilities of other Modifiers, he could also figure out the owner of the Snake Scale.
In other words, there was another Modifier user out there—one with a Modifier similar to ow-chan, capable of directly influencing reality.
"Hiss..."
Outside, ow-chan sat on the ground, watching Yan Huan’s shadow behind the curtain as he clutched his head in thought.
"ow~ So, what’s next?"
"Hmm... Ye Shiyu should calm down for now. Losing two fragnts already is quite the progress."
Yan Huan opened his eyes and began counting on his fingers.
"But my energy is limited. I can't deal with multiple Modifiers at once—I need to prioritize. Whichever one makes a move first, or whichever one I get an opening on, that’s the one I’ll handle first.
"Bai Yi and An Le are both stable for now. They seem like normal people—at least for now...
"The only problem is Spencer."
Even as he enjoyed the warm shower, the re thought of Spencer made Yan Huan’s head ache.
"Spencer, ow... Didn’t you say she was an idiot?"
"Yeah, she’s dumb. But even a monkey with a bomb button can blow up a whole crowd, you know?"
After spending so ti around her, Yan Huan had finally gained a general understanding of Spencer’s Modifier abilities.
And all he could say was—terrifying.
"Her Modifier is entirely passive, has no cooldown, covers a huge range, and its effects not only influence minds but also reality... Oh, and here’s the kicker—yesterday, she even affected a character in Yaqiao Mu’s mobile ga."
"On top of that, she’s insanely strong. Unless she grew up drinking contaminated milk, that strength is definitely the Modifier’s doing."
Yan Huan rattled off the list of effects like an encyclopedia. Even just listing them out felt overpowered as hell.
Compared to Bai Yi's Modifier, which was basically "ostrich head-in-the-sand mode
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