Book of Ages

Yang Qizhou first clicked on the "Fate Shop," and the list immediately appeared before his eyes.

Fate Fire Bottle (Consumable item): Can restore consumed Fate Power and grant the game character one extra chance to resurrect. Price: 100 Old Offerings.

Error Signpost (Consumable item): After the game character dies, they can resurrect in a different location. Price: 100 Old Offerings.

Fellow Countryman's Communication (Consumable item): The game character can establish contact with the nearest player on the map. Price: 200 Old Offerings.

Fate Chain (Consumable item): Can form a party with a designated player to explore the current map together. Price: 500 Old Offerings.

Fragment of the Book of Eras (Special item): You can randomly obtain a fragment of the Book of Eras and learn about major events that once occurred in the Ancient Earth. Note: The Book of Eras consists of 99 pages; when all are collected, you can obtain the quasi-mythical item "Book of Eras." Price: 2000 Old Offerings.

[Fate Fire Bottle], [Error Signpost], and [Fellow Countryman's Communication] were all items Yang Qizhou had heard about from "Cheetah," so he was somewhat familiar with them, but the effect of [Fate Chain] caught him by surprise.

It turned out that players could not only interact through the plot but also form parties to explore the current map together.

As for this "Fragment of the Book of Eras"...

"Damn, this is insane. Does this mean that as long as I spend 200,000 Old Offerings, I can buy a 'quasi-mythical' level item?"

Make money, make money, I want to make money right now.

Seeing the words "quasi-mythical," Yang Qizhou's eyes turned red, and a desperate craving for "Old Offerings" surged within him.

After a long while, he calmed his slightly agitated heart and continued scrolling down the list, only to be met with this prompt...

"Your current status is insufficient; the Level 2 Fate Shop is not yet open for sales."

It was basically saying his game character's strength was too trashy to be qualified to see better goods.

Just you wait, when I strike it rich one day and have billions of Old Offerings in my hands, I'll buy out your entire crappy shop just to spite you for looking down on me.

Damn it.

Yang Qizhou angrily closed the "Fate Shop" and clicked on the "Fate Exchange," but to his surprise, it was completely empty—not a single thing to be found.

So deserted?

Yang Qizhou was stunned, but he quickly realized why.

The [World of Weirdness] game hadn't been out for long, and everyone was still fumbling in the dark. Even obtaining a "common" item was incredibly difficult, so they treated them like precious treasures; who would have spare items to put up for auction in the "Fate Exchange"?

Take Yang Qizhou, for example.

He was definitely a tycoon now, possessing quasi-legendary items like the [Garment of the Hidden World] and the [Law Book of Windbell Town], epic items like the [Holy Redemption] and the [Silver Relic], the super-excellent [Key to the Shepherd's Field], the excellent [Ancient God Fire Lamp], the quasi-excellent [Stone of Truth], and the common [Kanrui's Wizard Ring].

However, despite having many treasures, each had its own purpose and specific effects for specific situations. Even the lowest-tier [Kanrui's Wizard Ring], which could strengthen his physique and grant night vision, was something Yang Qizhou couldn't bear to sell.

Not to mention the other players.

But as time passed, once players acquired more treasures and had items they could replace, they might start putting them up for auction, and that was when the "Fate Exchange" would become lively.

Closing the "Fate Exchange," Yang Qizhou stretched his back hard, his face filled with annoyance as he thought of something.

"Damn it, that accursed 'Old God of the Abyss' forced me to end the game early today."

It was no wonder Yang Qizhou was in such a foul mood.

He still had three uses of the [Doom-Bringing Raven] left. According to his original plan, that would have been enough to support his character in obtaining [Fate Redemption] and returning to the Fire-Stealing Village. But that damned "Old God of the Abyss" not only returned evil for good, but after killing him once, it even camped his corpse and hunted him down, leaving him no room to reload his save, thus exhausting all three resurrection chances.

If it weren't for the decent harvest of two epic-level items, Yang Qizhou would have cursed the god's ancestors for eighteen generations.

The game text continued to refresh.

"Unable to use the 'Doom-Bringing Raven' to cheat, you chose to rely on the power of fate to rewrite the outcome of your death."

"You opened your eyes once again on the wilderness where mystery and the unknown coexist."

"You..."

Done for now, time to sleep.

Yang Qizhou stretched again, once more thanking the ancestors of the "Old God of the Abyss" in his heart; if not for its ingratitude and corpse-camping, he wouldn't have saved those three uses of the [Doom-Bringing Raven].

That night, Yang Qizhou had a dream where he ground the "Old God of the Abyss" into dust, stabbing it with awls, burning it with fire, drowning it in water, and slicing its flesh off piece by piece with a small knife. He used all ten major tortures, and only then did the resentment in his heart dissipate slightly.

Early the next morning.

Yang Qizhou—a veteran player of [World of Weirdness], a Lamp Bearer given an A+ rating by the Bureau of Occult Investigation, holder of two "quasi-legendary" treasures and two "epic" items, and possessor of the "Enemy of Gods" fate achievement—had to go out to work again.

There was no helping it.

He had worked part-time for three days and earned nine hundred yuan, which was enough to cover food and drink, but what about the rent? He hadn't paid last month's, and now this month's was due. It was only because Ding Xiaolan's mother was kind-hearted that he hadn't been kicked out already.

As for using the strange, occult methods he'd acquired in [World of Weirdness] to make money through crooked means?

Yang Qizhou had never considered it.

There were many reasons: it might attract the attention of the Bureau of Occult Investigation, or he might be targeted by other [World of Weirdness] players, and so on and so forth...

But the main reason was... he did not want to sink into the twisted worldview of "resorting to violence to achieve one's goals."

Although life was a bit ordinary now, at least it was peaceful.

"Oh, Sister Xin, what a coincidence, are you heading out too?"

As soon as Yang Qizhou stepped out of his room, he saw his landlady walking out of her home with her daughter, Little Bean.

The landlady's full name was Zhao Xin, a very charming and beautiful woman. Even though she had already given birth, her grace remained undiminished; there wasn't an ounce of fat on her stomach, and she was dressed fashionably and appropriately, with every glance back full of allure.

The two of them had a decent relationship. Seeing that Yang Qizhou was struggling to make a living alone in Kyoto, Zhao Xin would have Little Bean bring him a portion whenever she made dumplings or something delicious. When he couldn't pay the rent last month, she hadn't pressed him for it either. It could be said that if it weren't for Sister Xin's extra care, Yang Qizhou might not have been able to stay in Kyoto for this long.

Seeing that it was Yang Qizhou, a smile appeared on Zhao Xin's face. "Oh, it's Qizhou. There's an animation exhibition at Diamond Plaza today, so I'm planning to take Little Bean to see it."

Going to an animation exhibition—is she really just a kid?

I still remember when I was seven, I was already running around the village fighting with other kids...

"Brother Qizhou, why don't you skip work and come play with me?" Little Bean chirped as he hopped around, his eyes sparkling with mischievous light.

Yang Qizhou shook his head. "I can't, Little Bean. I didn't pay last month's rent, I haven't figured out this month's, and next month's is nowhere in sight. If I don't go to work, I'll be kicked out by your mom."

Kicked out?

This seemed to touch a nerve for Little Bean, and he couldn't help but shout.

"Ah, no, that won't do! Brother Qizhou still has to play with me. Fine, go to work then, hmph! But as compensation, you have to buy me potato chips when you get back."

"No problem, thank you very much."

Seeing her daughter getting along so well with Yang Qizhou, Zhao Xin laughed. "Little Bean just likes to mess around. Work is important, don't spoil him too much."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Zhao Xin left with Little Bean.

Yang Qizhou also left the house to head to work.

On the way, Yang Qizhou raised the back of his hand, and a pitch-black crow manifested, while a strange realization echoed in his mind.

Whether or not to go play with Little Bean—the fact that this choice would actually overwrite the save point is truly bizarre.