Do You Want Photos of Your Goddess?

In an uninhabited area of Lingquan City, several faint ripples appeared in the air. A figure stepped out of them. Jiu Ming rolled his neck, and a black cloak appeared on his body. But he soon shook his head. The conjured cloak was inevitably semi-transparent, and wearing it only made him look even more eerie. Perhaps he should get himself a giant scythe?

If someone shone a flashlight on him in the middle of the night and saw what he looked like, combined with his lack of a shadow, he could probably scare them into wetting themselves.

It was broad daylight now, with the sun hanging high overhead. Strange as his Soul Body was, he did not need to worry about being killed by sunlight. This was probably related to the fact that he had woken up in a crematorium after dying in his previous life. After all, even the furnace had not burned him to death. Almost... no, it had not.

It just made his abnormality even more obvious. There was no way to hide it. Anyone slow to react might ask, "Hey! Where did your shadow go, buddy?" Someone quicker would probably make Jiu Ming imagine them throwing back their head and screaming, "Ghost!"

Were there ghosts in this world? Hmm, probably? Anyway, this was a world with superpowered people. Even if ghosts existed, unless they were strong, they would have to keep their heads down. More importantly, the planet in this world—the one beneath Jiu Ming's feet—was called Earth...

Ahahaha, no need to fuss over such minor details. He would wait until nightfall for now. The Mysterious Shop was far too stingy. Since Jiu Ming was a ghost, it did not have even the slightest trace of daily necessities. Panel-kun had also informed him that he did not need such "useless" things, so the Mysterious Shop had naturally saved itself the trouble and expense of providing those extras.

Would you like to activate the Collection Function?

"..." Looking at the stone in his hand, Jiu Ming's mouth twitched slightly. The Collection Function was how the Mysterious Shop "stocked up." There was no supplier to deliver merchandise, so he, the shopkeeper, had to find and collect the goods himself. It was just that he had been in training before, so the Collection Function had not been activated. As for the process...

Name: Stone

Type: Consumable

Attributes: None

Uses: 1

Quality: Ordinary

Description: A piece of junk you can pick up anywhere. Is it useful for anything besides throwing at people?

Origin Power Cost for Collection: 1

Collection meant sealing valuable items into something like cards. As long as the collection succeeded, whether the item had an owner or not, it would become his... He could take it out whenever he wanted, making it convenient to carry around. Jiu Ming also had a Card Collection Book provided by the Mysterious Shop. This stone obviously had no value.

The minimum Origin Power cost for collection was one point. But how could this stone possibly be worth that much? The key issue was that Jiu Ming did not even have a single point of startup capital!

Of course, there was another collection method that required no consumption...

Opening for business. Never mind how effortless a shop's so-called opening might sound—Jiu Ming had not come out just for some fresh air. Panel-kun had provided him with the experiences of previous shopkeepers. In the early stages, the shopkeeper should go out and drum up business personally. As long as he did not reveal the Mysterious Shop or actively bring outsiders inside, there were not many special restrictions. Running his own business was entirely feasible...

Origin Power, its full name being Origin Power. All things possessed spirituality and therefore had their own Origin Power. The only difference was in quantity. This power was also an incredibly versatile one, able to interfere in virtually any field. Whether one could use it, however, was another matter entirely. The difficulty was countless times greater than using conscious will rather than instinct to control every part of one's body, even regulating one's endocrine organs. Yet the Mysterious Shop could use this power.

Among the information Panel-kun had given Jiu Ming, it had especially noted that if Jiu Ming could destroy a world, he could Plunder that entire world's Origin Power... Of course, the prerequisite was surviving the backlash of the destroyed world. The Mysterious Shop neither opposed nor supported such an act. If Jiu Ming did it, it would provide him no assistance whatsoever. If he survived, good for him. If he did not, then it would be time to replace the shopkeeper.

Other than Plunder, there was the fair method of trading. Since the Mysterious Shop existed in the form of a shop, Jiu Ming believed fair trade was the proper path. He was not insane enough to resort to Plunder, especially when it could only work in the event of world destruction.

"Fair trade... I'll wait until tonight." Jiu Ming casually tossed the stone aside. Was it really that hard to find a fair trade?

Jiu Ming often wandered around Lingquan City whenever he had nothing to do, so he had long figured out the local situation. This world did have Ability Users, but most humans were still ordinary people. Its schools also differed from those in Jiu Ming's previous life. They primarily taught Ability Users. Anyone in this world with potential could awaken their own superpower.

Jiu Ming had learned this by sneaking into a school in Lingquan City late at night and flipping through its textbooks. Unfortunately, the place was not meant for ordinary people, and he had nearly been discovered soon after. His first business opportunity was there. Some time ago, Jiu Ming had noticed a student at that school. His strength was mediocre, his superpower unremarkable. He was just another loser...

The guy was hopelessly infatuated with the school's Campus Belle. That was enough!

A flickering figure swiftly passed through Changhe Academy, silently arriving near the girls' dormitory area before doing something even more absurd—walking directly through a wall.

Hmm, the Campus Belle's room had been easy to find. That kid had recorded it in his diary. The only thing he needed to be careful about was her strength. She was not only the Campus Belle but also one of the academy's Top Students, and she was no weakling. But a student was still a student. Jiu Ming was confident he could handle what he needed to do. Suppressing his aura, his body gradually faded as he moved forward without a sound. There were quite a few life-detection surveillance systems here, but they were all useless against Jiu Ming...

"Du Fei, right? Aren't you awake yet?" Holding a lock of hair, Jiu Ming waved it beneath the young man's nose and waited for him to wake up. This was an ordinary four-person dormitory, worlds apart from the Campus Belle's private room. Jiu Ming touched his cheek and grinned. He definitely had not been taking advantage of her. He had merely taken a few strands of the Campus Belle's hair.

Even that had nearly gotten him discovered. He did not know who the Campus Belle was, but she actually had guards lurking around her. He was immune to physical attacks, but energy attacks could still injure him. There was now a tiny, bloodless wound on his cheek.

"!!?" The sleeping young man abruptly opened his eyes, with not a trace of drowsiness visible. "That smell, there's no mistake!!"

Although he kept his voice low for fear of waking his roommates, Du Fei's tone was still filled with barely suppressed excitement. This lingering scent... Could his goddess have been here!?

"You're overthinking it." Jiu Ming yawned and added casually. He had not chosen this kid without reason. His ability was useless in combat but somewhat useful elsewhere—an ability that recorded scents. Jiu Ming refused to believe he had not recorded the Campus Belle's scent!

"Who!?" Du Fei looked toward the source of the voice in alarm. Soon, his attention landed on the few strands of hair in Jiu Ming's hand. His expression was both alarmed and frightened. Who was this person? How had he gotten in? And why was he holding the Campus Belle's hair?

The school's security was supposed to be pretty good.

"Young man, want to make a deal?" Stepping out of the shadows, Jiu Ming smiled brightly and flicked the strands of hair toward him. Du Fei quickly caught them as though he had found money.

"What kind of deal?"

As he spoke, he kept sizing Jiu Ming up. The other man's skin was somewhat pale and translucent, his build lean and slender. He had short, messy hair and a faint smile on his pale face. After making a quick comparison, Du Fei grimaced. This guy was more handsome than him...

Most importantly, he could not smell anything from Jiu Ming!

This guy had to be strong.

"You have a crush on the Campus Belle, don't you?"

Du Fei's face immediately reddened, and he stammered without being able to say a word. Jiu Ming smiled slightly. Love and romance had been irrelevant to him in his previous life because of his sickly body, and they seemed even more irrelevant now. He could not be bothered with such troubles. If it was meant to be, it would come on its own, would it not?

"Of course, you're just a loser. You're destined to have no chance with her... But I can help you."

"A comeback?" Du Fei asked weakly. Jiu Ming's proposal had already captured his attention. He could ask about this man's identity later.

"Can you fight well? Hmm, though your ability is pretty useful in certain ways!" Jiu Ming patted his shoulder sympathetically. With Du Fei's ability, making a name for himself would not be difficult. He could certainly become an elite scout. As for anything else, this was a world where superpowers ruled. It would be hard for him to stand out in other fields with his ability. "Forget about making a comeback for now. Do you want photos of her?"

"...Huh?" Du Fei tilted his head, stunned. He had never expected Jiu Ming to be here for this kind of deal. Selling photos? Come to think of it, very few photos of the Campus Belle were circulating. If he could get her hair, taking pictures should not be a problem either.

But he was conflicted. His goddess was being secretly photographed by someone else, and the photographer was boldly standing in front of him, patting his shoulder as he discussed it with him. "Hey, buddy! I've got photos of your goddess. Want them?"

Could he take the photos and beat this guy to death afterward?

"You want money?"

"Is that all you aspire to? You measure your goddess in money?" Jiu Ming's expression did not change. Money? What did he need that stuff for?

"Uh." Du Fei looked ashamed. "Then what do you want? I don't have anything special."

"One photo for one day of your life. If not, I'll find someone else. There are plenty of losers like you."

"Huh? H-how would that work?" Du Fei's face was full of conflict, and even a trace of fear appeared. There were countless kinds of superpowers in this world, so it was not strange for some of them to be bizarre. Then this person before him...

Rubbing his eyes, Du Fei seemed to vaguely see the curtains behind Jiu Ming through his body.

Could he agree to this deal...? No, it could work. It was only one day of his life. That did not seem too heavy a price to pay.