"Stockings, underwear, hair ties, and barrettes! Cheap, cheap! The Bastard Factory Director ran off with his sister-in-law! Selling everything at a loss!"
Jiang Nan wore a white short-sleeved shirt.
A Hello Kitty cartoon was printed on the front.
In baggy shorts and little slippers, he sat on a folding stool, shouting with fiery enthusiasm.
He was really giving it his all!
"Hey, miss! Want to buy some underwear? Super cheap—two pairs for ten yuan!"
The girl passing by hesitated and looked toward his stall.
2
She glanced at Jiang Nan again. He looked seventeen or eighteen, handsome and sunny, the very picture of a fresh-faced heartthrob. He gazed at her expectantly.
Her face turned even redder...
"Ugh! What a creep!"
Jiang Nan was dumbfounded. He hurriedly called after her, "Miss, don't go! If you don't want underwear, take a look at the hair ties and barrettes!"
How was I a creep?
I was just selling underwear!
Did selling underwear mean I couldn't be a respectable businessman?
Jiang Nan was practically ready to cry. He'd been hawking his wares for over an hour, and his voice was hoarse!
He still hadn't made a single sale!
If he didn't sell anything soon, his family wouldn't even have food on the table. Rent was due again soon, too.
Jiang Nan was nearly driven mad with worry.
"Well, well! If it isn't South God from Jiangcheng No. 1 High School!"
"The great genius who awakened a Space ability! What are you doing setting up a stall at Jiangcheng Night Market?"
Jiang Nan looked up. A girl in a crop top with a bob haircut was clinging to the arm of a tall boy, smiling as she teased him.
He couldn't help frowning.
Li Muyan?
Damn, he'd run into a classmate!
"Holy crap! Space Element? Babe, you're not joking, right? I remember one of the only three Dao Tian Level experts in all of China has a Space ability! Him?"
Li Muyan curled her lip. "That's right. When he awakened his Space ability in his first year of high school, the whole city was buzzing!"
"That Dao Tian Level expert with a Space ability came to see him in person and even wanted to take him as a disciple!"
Wang Lin was astonished. "So why's he running a stall here?"
"Heh, you don't know? South God awakened the rarest Space ability, but his talent test came back at the lowest rank: E-class!"
"That Dao Tian Level expert was dumbfounded and left in disgust on the spot. With talent that trash, he'll never even reach Bronze level!"
Wang Lin's expression was priceless. "What the hell? What a freak!"
Jiang Nan rolled his eyes, fed up with them. "Are you two buying anything or not? If not, hurry up and leave! You're getting in the way of my business!"
Wang Lin sneered and kicked a pair of socks on the stall, leaving a clear shoe print.
"What? We never said we weren't buying. That's no way to treat customers!"
Jiang Nan stared at the shoe print on the socks, his brow furrowing even deeper. Then he broke into a radiant smile. "Why not get your girlfriend a pair of sheer silk stockings? They'll come in handy tonight!"
Li Muyan's face flushed. She stepped forward and kicked the goods on the stall into disarray.
"Watch your mouth! Do you even know who Brother Wang is? He's a Strength-Type Awakener from Jiangcheng Spiritual Martial University!"
Jiang Nan snorted. "You scared me! I thought his dad was Wang Gang!"
Wang Lin said coldly, "What gives you the right to act so tough, you filthy street peddler? You're a useless nobody!"
"So what if I run a stall? I earn my living with my own two hands!" Jiang Nan wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
"Earning a living? Today, I'm going to make sure you can't eat!"
He let out a vicious laugh as he spoke.
He swung a fist at Jiang Nan's head with such force that it stirred up a gust of wind.
Spatial Fluctuation rippled around Jiang Nan. He suddenly shifted half a meter backward, as if by magic!
He barely dodged the punch.
But his strength gave out completely. Sweat poured down his face, and he looked as if every last bit of energy had been drained from him.
Wang Lin was startled.
Holy crap, he really did awaken a Space ability?
So what?
"You still think you can dodge?"
He threw another punch, smashing it into Jiang Nan's jaw. Drained by the teleportation, Jiang Nan was too weak to fight back and crumpled to the ground, his head spinning.
"Ptooey!"
A mouthful of bloody spit landed on the stall cloth.
[bui! Blood detected. The Strongest Stall System is beginning fusion!] [Fusion successful. Stall Owner awarded one stall cloth, one folding stool, and one Ten Consecutive Draws!] [Would you like to draw?]
What the hell?
Jiang Nan's head was still buzzing from being knocked down with one punch!
Since when did running a stall come with a system?
Ten consecutive draws? Was this gonna get him an SSR Onmyoji girl or something?
[Would you like to draw?] ... [Asking again: would you like to draw?] ... [Are you gonna draw or not, damn it?]
Jiang Nan: "???"
Why was it getting impatient? Fine! I'll draw, all right?
[The Lucky Roulette's Ten Consecutive Draws are beginning!] [Better luck next time!] Consolation prize: one Beginner Great Strength Potion! [Better luck next time!] Consolation prize: one Beginner Great Strength Potion! ...
After a full nine "Better luck next time"s, Jiang Nan's face had gone dark. Just as he thought, ten-pulls were all a scam!
[Congratulations! You've won!] One Marrow Cleansing Spirit Fruit. [System Inventory unlocked!]
Jiang Nan saw nine Great Strength Potions and one Marrow Cleansing Spirit Fruit in the System Inventory.
[Great Strength Potion] Effect: Increases the user's physical attributes tenfold for three days and three nights! [Marrow Cleansing Spirit Fruit] Effect: Cleanses and purifies the user's body, improving their talent and aptitude.
Jiang Nan's eyes lit up. That consolation prize, the Great Strength Potion, sounded pretty powerful!
He took a bottle directly from the inventory.
"Duang!"
A water cooler jug filled with water suddenly appeared on the stall.
Jiang Nan froze.
Holy crap! It was a bottle this big?
Did the system not understand what the word "bottle" meant?
Now that was a strength potion that really delivered!
"Hmph! Space Element? So what? You can't even withstand one punch from me, you useless piece of trash. And you call yourself South God? What a joke!"
Wang Lin was standing over Jiang Nan, who was sprawled across the stall, shouting smugly and savoring the thrill of crushing him!
The sudden appearance of the "bottle" startled him, too.
"Quit yapping for a minute!"
Jiang Nan unscrewed the "bottle" cap, hefted the jug with swagger, and gulped straight from it.
Wang Lin: "???"
What was going on? They were in the middle of a fight...
What, little bro? Did getting beaten make you thirsty?
You were drinking straight from a water jug?
As the Great Strength Potion went down, Jiang Nan felt a coolness at the top of his head. A surging force erupted from deep within him.
His physical attributes increased tenfold!
Jiang Nan set the jug down, threw a punch like a dragon, sprang to his feet, and hit Wang Lin square in the stomach!
The force was so great that it produced a series of sonic booms.
Wang Lin hadn't seen it coming.
"Bang!"
Wang Lin's face twisted, his eyes bulged, and he felt as if he'd been hit by a truck. He threw up a mouthful of stomach acid!
Jiang Nan's punch doubled him over like a shrimp.
"Σ_(???"∠) Ugh! Wh-what kind of freakish strength is this?"
Li Muyan was completely stunned. She couldn't even spare a glance for Wang Lin, doubled over like a shrimp.
Because what had just happened right before her eyes was so... so... unheard of.
"J-Jiang Nan, you! Why are you bald?"
Jiang Nan froze and instinctively reached up to touch his head.
Smooth as glass...
Holy crap!
Where was his hair?
Where the hell was my hair?!
He was bald? Not a single strand left!
"System! Where's my hair?"
[Please, Stall Owner, don't worry about the little details!]
Details?
Damn it! How did the system consider my flowing locks a little detail?
What kind of scam Great Strength Potion was this? It really was powerful, but drinking it made you go bald?
So...
I went bald! And got stronger?
Before you continue