[Congratulations to the host for successfully awakening your ability!]
On the system interface before Chu Yi, two celebratory firecrackers appeared, showering down countless petals and colorful paper scraps as if to commemorate his stepping onto a brand-new tier.
The moment the broadcast sounded, he felt the changes coursing through his body.
Outwardly, there was not the slightest change, but inwardly, a mighty torrent of surging power poured out from his chest, remaking his entire physique.
Chu Yi had spent more than ten spring and autumn seasons confined to hospital rooms. Even the slightest speck of dust in the air outside could trigger endless bouts of coughing, ultimately leading to breathing difficulties and emergency treatment in the ICU.
He knew what illness felt like better than anyone.
That fragile existence where he couldn’t lift a hand or shoulder a weight, where even opening a bottle of water required the help of a bodyguard—he never wanted to return to days like that again.
Growing strong… truly felt wonderful.
Chu Yi wasn’t surprised that the system had chosen him.
Because he was intelligent enough.
Even though out of three hundred and sixty-five days a year, at least three hundred and sixty were spent in a hospital room, he had still completed his junior high school coursework by the age of ten.
The most frequent comment teachers made about him was “heaven is jealous of brilliant talents.”
Everyone looked at him with a mixture of pity and sorrow, as if he wouldn’t live past twenty.
Yet Chu Yi had survived anyway.
“…Ha.” He opened his personal interface, looked at the ability displayed upon it, and chuckled softly.
[Ability: Greed’s Dominion]
[Description: You greedily covet everything—not just health or life, but money and power. You always attempt to rival the gods with mortal strength, presuming even to usurp the divine throne. One whose soul is thus inscribed with the original sin of “Greed.”]
[Skill 1: Mine, Mine, It’s All Mine!]
[Capability: [What’s yours and what’s his? If I’ve set my sights on it, it’s mine.] Consume a certain amount of mental energy to engrave the “Sin Mark of Greed” onto an enemy’s body or soul. The abilities possessed by the target marked with the sin mark will, to a certain percentage, be placed at your disposal. The proportion is calculated based on the mental energy you invest; the more you invest, the more abilities you acquire. (Note: The target’s mental energy must be lower than yours, otherwise the attempt will likely fail)]
[Skill 2: If I Can’t Have It, Destroy It!]
[Capability: [Since it cannot be obtained, might as well utterly destroy it!] Detonate the “Sin Mark of Greed” on the enemy’s body, turning them into a flesh bomb and causing severe damage within the blast radius.]
[Skill 3: We Are All Slaves to Desire]
[Capability: [Greed is cultivated in the hearts of all living creatures, and you are its sole master.] Using the “Sin Mark of Greed” as a scale, you can freely trade items belonging to creatures bearing the mark—even their abilities and injuries.]
[Final Note: Ability level is calculated based on personal level, every ten levels constituting a tier. You are currently at LV.10, making your ability Tier 1. This ability is your soul’s innate gift and will persist no matter which world you travel to.]
It was indeed an exceptional talent.
Just as Chu Yi had remarked earlier, it was a talent formed directly from his soul; how could it possibly be mediocre?
Though… did he really look that greedy?
He had always considered himself quite kind-hearted.
System: […]
‘A Tier-1 crystal core every ten minutes’, ‘fresh air breathing fee’, ‘protective barrier daily maintenance and usage fee’…
Recalling Chu Yi’s various outrageous stunts thus far, the fresh-faced little system could only spit out six dots to express its helplessness.
Paying it no mind, Chu Yi walked over to the entrance of the shop, turned around, and looked inside.
With all the first-floor rooms relocated to the second floor, the original hallway had vanished, replaced entirely by a staircase.
On the wall farthest to the right, public restrooms segregated by gender had materialized.
“Help me update the notice,” Chu Yi pointed to the sign on the restroom wall that read 1 point per person per day, stating, “Every time someone uses the public restroom, points need to be deducted—1 point per use.”
System: […] Why is the price going up again?
“Look at you talking like that. I’m doing it for the guests who come to the hotel without checking in. If someone is bursting for the restroom and just wants to borrow one, a per-use fee is much more standardized.”
Though astonished, the system still complied and modified the text on the notice.
Once finished, it cautiously chimed in: [I actually thought…]
Halfway through, it caught itself and fell silent.
Chu Yi frowned and spoke up, “If you have something to say, say it. What’s the point of choking halfway? Do you think I’m going to eat you or something?”
[…I thought,] the system organized its thoughts before offering a low reply, [the host would charge based on whether it’s a number one or number two—for instance, charging more for number two, like three or four points.]
Chu Yi let out a sigh.
“You thought I hadn’t considered that?”
[?] The system produced a slow question mark.
He actually did think about it?
“Whether it’s number one or number two, the amount of water used to flush the toilet is exactly the same. Besides, what if someone has to do both? You know how it is, some people end up going number one multiple times while doing number two…”
“Am I supposed to stake out inside the restroom, counting one by one how many times a guest went number two or number one?”
[…Well, that’s true.]
He sighed with emotion, “Anyway, charging a fee is meant to cultivate their habit of spending money, paving the way for fees on other facilities later on. Saves them from getting too used to freebies and starting to nitpick my hotel.”
[I see.] Truly an eye-opening perspective.
Leaving the system utterly speechless, Chu Yi didn’t seem to realize how outrageous his operation was, instead beginning to fret over a new detail.
“Tell me, won’t there be some blockhead who thinks charging the same standard for both number one and number two means they’re getting ripped off if they only go number one?”
[Surely not…]
“Hard to say. You know, humanity’s bottom line is always sinking.” At this point, Chu Yi’s gaze landed on the all-purpose robot Xiao Yi. “How about…”
[HOST!!! Xiao Yi’s purpose is not to stand guard in the restroom and count how many times people go! Aaaah!] The system’s code scrambled in a panic, grasping at straws. [A-and! There’s only one Xiao Yi, and the restrooms are split by gender; it can’t possibly manage both!]
Chu Yi looked slightly disappointed.
“Since that’s the case, let’s revert to a daily flat rate. If they need to use the restroom, they pay 3 points for unlimited daily access.”
Having settled on that, he quickly tossed the matter aside and turned his gaze toward the exterior of the hotel.
Xue Xiaobai and Zhu Bei had finished slaughtering all the mutants in the surrounding area.
Sensible as they were, they even knew to use a truck to haul the mutants’ corpses further away before burning them.
With that done, the two companions returned together to the hotel, walked up to the automated charging machine, inserted their cards, and converted all their crystal cores into points.
Xue Xiaobai had seventeen Tier-1 crystal cores on hand, which converted into 170 points, bringing his remaining balance to 430 points.
Zhu Bei possessed twenty-two Tier-1 crystal cores and two Tier-2 crystal cores, totaling 320 points, leaving his card balance at 7,626 points.
Sensing Chu Yi’s gaze, Xue Xiaobai looked back, smiled, and rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment as he explained, “Keeping these crystal cores on hand always feels unsafe—what if I get waylaid and robbed? But the hotel cards can only be used by me.”
“Once converted into points, though, they can’t be turned back into crystal cores,” Chu Yi raised an eyebrow. “That rule is clearly stated on the machine.”
“Yeah, I know. But I think the hotel is wonderful, and I want to keep living here,” Xue Xiaobai said with a resolute gaze.
“Manager, don’t worry, we both understand,” Zhu Bei chimed in at that moment. “Being able to stay here is simply my good fortune.”
Seeing this, Chu Yi nodded, unsurprised.
He understood the true value of such a hotel in the wasteland much better than these natives did.
“Then let me give you a heads-up in advance: the hotel will be opening a restaurant later on, and the food currently inside the vending machine… will be available for individual purchase inside the restaurant.”
“It’s not expensive; you’ll be able to afford it.”
Sure enough, upon hearing these words, both of their eyes lit up.
Judging by the hotel’s standards—clean air, clean water, and tidy rooms—the restaurant definitely wouldn’t disappoint either!
Xue Xiaobai thought back to the boxed meal he had eaten.
Those plump-grained grains of white rice, alongside the fragrant crispy pork strips and oil-braised eggplant…
These were delicacies he had never tasted in his entire life!
Even if a freshly made one cost 30 points a meal, it was an absolute steal!
One had to remember that back in the Panlong Base, outer-city residents could only buy bug biscuits, and the absolute best grain available was hard, dark-brown dry bread that felt as hard as a brick when chewed.
Eating that boxed meal almost made Xue Xiaobai feel like he was going to pass away the next day.
Was it truly not just a dying hallucination?
Recalling the crispy texture and the saliva-inducing aroma from his memories, he could hardly wait any longer!
“Thank you, manager!” Xue Xiaobai didn’t even know what words to use to express his gratitude. For the manager to sell such precious food so cheaply made him practically a savior!
“Once the restaurant opens, I’m definitely going inside to splurge!”
As the two spoke, exchanging glances, their determination to hunt mutants and earn points grew even firmer.
Without a moment of hesitation, they climbed into Liu Dao’s abandoned truck and headed out toward the deeper wastes.
As they faded into the distance, Chu Yi stretched his muscles and stepped outside the hotel.
Lacking any vehicle of his own, he planned to take a stroll around the immediate vicinity to test out his ability.
Fortunately, out in the wasteland, mutants were the one thing in inexhaustible supply.
Their sense of smell was exceptionally sharp, capable of catching the scent of a human body from a great distance.
Sure enough, a healthy human like Chu Yi was no different from a tender, fragrant little cake in their eyes.
They immediately tracked the scent and closed in.
Three Tier-1 mutants.
Chu Yi calmly observed them.
These mutants bore a close resemblance to humans, save for the lack of hair, topped only with sparse downy fluff.
Their arms and legs were elongated, somewhat resembling stick insects; they ran on all fours at a speed comparable to a normal human sprinting, or perhaps even faster.
Encountering a single one might not be cause for fear, but being swarmed—even if all of them were merely Tier-1 mutants—would still make it extremely difficult for an ordinary human without abilities to escape.
Watching the three monsters lunging toward him, Chu Yi showed not a shred of panic.
It was as if he had already practiced utilizing this ability thousands of times over; the execution methods were deeply carved into his mind, requiring no tedious trial-and-error. With a lift of his hand, it flowed as naturally as water.
Sin Mark of Greed, crystallize!
Hum.
The mutant running at the very front shuddered, freezing completely in its tracks like a rigid corpse.
One, two, three.
Following that, it whipped its head around and lunged savagely at its companions!