Chapter Sixteen: The Grand Opening of the Shopping Mall

“What a pity it was only a dream,” Kuroha sighed softly, somewhat regretfully. Memories of the dream were already fading away.

At that moment, the lights in the hall were dim, the curtains drawn tightly, shutting out any outside light. It seemed the smart home system had detected he was asleep and adjusted the lighting accordingly.

Kuroha didn’t bother to get up. The sofa was enormous; Genkai was two centimeters taller than him, about one meter seventy-seven, yet his figure was not much better than Kuroha’s own two-hundred-pound frame. Lying flat on the sofa, there was not the slightest sense of crowding.

Still half-asleep, Kuroha squinted at the chandelier overhead.

He suddenly remembered he wasn’t at Uncle Liu’s house.

His memories began to rearrange themselves.

Uncle Liu was gone...

He had acquired a system...

He was now using Genkai’s identity...

The police station had provided him with a job...

None of these things were worth celebrating.

All these years, he thought he had grown accustomed to being battered by fate, but Uncle Liu had given him a happiness that he had long since considered an unattainable luxury.

Yet now, all of it was gone.

In this world, perhaps he no longer had any hope to depend on.

As for his parents in the countryside, his older brother took care of them. His brother was a successful businessman in the village and very filial; just a few days ago Kuroha had browsed his brother’s online store selling agricultural products, noticed he had hired two minor celebrities as spokespeople. They were doing well enough.

Kuroha needn’t worry about his family’s livelihood.

After so many years of lost contact, he had no face to return and see them.

A store-like icon floated before his eyes.

Kuroha pressed it, and soon a dazzling array of goods appeared: giant swords, alchemy cauldrons, shields—weaponry of every kind.

There were also Marrow-cleansing Fruit drinks, Celestial Origin Fruit jellies, Heaven and Earth Power capsules...

He recalled that the invisibility skill required Celestial Origin Fruits. He wasn’t sure if the jelly counted, but instinctively, he tapped the button to redeem a Celestial Origin Fruit jelly.

[Confirm use of ten thousand Resentment Points to redeem? Confirm/Cancel]

“So Resentment Points are exchanged here?” The gloom that had clouded Kuroha dissipated.

Though ten thousand seemed a lot, he had a hundred million!

He pressed confirm.

The numbers before him whirled rapidly, and when they settled, Kuroha looked closely.

Remaining Resentment Points: 100,070,088

It seemed he’d earned quite a bit lately!

If he could sell these items outside, he’d probably make a fortune.

The problem was he couldn’t explain where they came from!

If Fang Bei asked, he’d probably spill everything.

Would the system really shield him from the other’s questions?

No, too many uncertainties.

This kind of money was hard to earn, and even if he did, he might not live to enjoy it.

Forget it, better not to think about it.

As the numbers faded, another screen appeared.

[One Celestial Origin Fruit jelly stored in Inventory]

Kuroha searched and found the inventory in the upper right corner.

He opened it.

In the vast inventory, there was only one Celestial Origin Fruit jelly.

After selecting extract, a jelly materialized in his hand, without any packaging—just a soft, slippery, red thing about the size of an egg.

Kuroha looked at it for a while. Suddenly his stomach rumbled.

“Hungry? Makes sense, I haven’t eaten all day.” Carefully, he brought the jelly to his mouth and took a tentative bite. The taste was mild and it melted instantly, fusing into his mouth—a rather magical eating experience.

He tried another bite, savoring the faint sweetness.

The rest, he swallowed in one go.

[Acquired five Celestial Origin Fruits, five more required to unlock invisibility skill]

Kuroha was delighted. This jelly seemed to be a concentrated version of the fruit—ten thousand for one, not a bad deal, though the taste was unimpressive.

But it could unlock the invisibility skill!

He redeemed another jelly.

This time, without hesitation, he swallowed it whole.

[Invisibility skill unlocked five times, each duration thirty minutes. Skill can be deactivated mid-use; if reactivated within the effective period, one usage is deducted]

Kuroha was speechless. So it wasn’t permanent after all. But that made sense—living as an invisible man forever wouldn’t be much of a life.

But still... two thousand Resentment Points for only five uses? What a rip-off!

No matter, he had money. If necessary, he could just provoke some people and let them generate Resentment Points for him.

He scrolled back and tapped the giant sword. The info showed it would cost five million Resentment Points to redeem.

That was expensive!

He browsed other weapon items; surprisingly, the cheapest was the giant sword at the top.

So perhaps the giant sword was the most worthless weapon? Good thing he hadn’t bought it just now.

Kuroha silently gave himself two thumbs up.

After fussing around for ages, he still found nothing he wanted. The store had nine pages.

Having finished the first page, he tried to open the second.

[Lacking Blessing Points. Ten thousand Blessing Points required to unlock the next page]

This reminded Kuroha of the brief Blessing Points he’d received from Chen Yang. So that’s what they were for?

Blessing Points were hard to come by.

He remembered they could be wiped out by newly generated Resentment Points, which left him speechless.

Earning Blessing Points was much harder than earning Resentment Points.

He’d thought he’d end up as a universally detested villain, but perhaps now he’d have to switch gears and become a crowd-pleasing jester?

If the police station sent him out to catch criminals and he did well, perhaps he’d earn Blessing Points from everyone.

Well, what was the point in pondering all this? Right now, he just wanted to make money.

If Liu Dali’s memory was accurate, he should have a chance to acquire that box of jewels.

He really wanted to check it out now, but it was a bit far. He still had to report to the police station later, better wait for a holiday.

Kuroha glanced at the clock on the wall—12:35.

It was lunchtime.

After eating two Celestial Origin Fruit jellies, he no longer felt hungry.

But he still wanted to go out for a walk.

He was actually curious about the taste of the Marrow-cleansing Fruit drink and the Heaven and Earth Power capsule. All these food items were priced at ten thousand Resentment Points each, much cheaper than the weapons.

He could afford them, but wanted to save a bit of surprise for later. After all, most of life was dull, and now that the system offered something he liked, he should save some fun for the future.

He stood up, only then noticing a neatly ironed white shirt and trousers laid out on the coffee table.

This was odd—there had been nothing on the table before, so how had a set of clothes suddenly appeared?

Kuroha’s hair stood on end in fright.

Was there someone else in the house?