As if preventing himself to process everything first, the system messages continued to flash in his optical implant's overlay.
[Initializing Startup Package…]
[Startup Balance Granted: 1 (One) Spiritual Coin.]
Before him, a faint, golden shimmer coalesced in the air.
It looked like an old-world pre-Collapse coin, intricately carved with symbols he couldn't recognize. It radiated pure warmth, one that could bring comfort.
It hovered in front of him for a moment, then phased into his closed fist, settling against his skin like a tangible object.
[Passive Income Stream Activated: +0.00001 Qi/second. Linked directly to Host's nascent financial aura.]
Financial aura? Does he have it?
Li Fang felt a minuscule trickle of energy, infinitesimally small, flow into him. It wasn't enough to cultivate, not even enough to soothe the ache in his sealed dantian, but it was there.
Real Qi. Unaffiliated. Untaxed.
[Warning: System Core Directive - MAXIMIZE PROFIT.]
[System does not tolerate financial cowardice.]
[Stagnation leads to… penalties.]
The cheerful tone dipped slightly on the word 'penalties', acquiring a razor's edge before bouncing back, which made Li Fang's hair stand on end.
[Current Net Worth Analysis: 1 Spiritual Coin, -912.38 Karmic Equity, Outstanding Debt: 8,450 Qi-Credits. 15 Qi-credits chit and a handful of memory fragments]
[Probability of Imminent Financial Failure: 99.98%.]
[Probability of avoiding Soul Liquidation via Conventional Means: 0.01%.]
Li Fang stared at the coin that had turned solid in his palm, then at the probe in Old Man Ji's stall, then back at the blinking red foreclosure notice in his vision.
The numbers were stark and remained present. He wasn't hallucinating.
His situation was beyond desperate. This… thing, whatever it was, was insane.
Is it really asking him to build an empire out of nothing? What are Spiritual Coins? What is this Passive Qi income? It sounded like a scam, a fever dream born of toxic data fumes and hopelessness.
However, the coin felt real. The trickle of Qi felt real. And that 0.01% chance… it was fractionally better than the 0.00% he'd had a few minutes ago.
He looked at Old Man Ji, then back at the probe. The memory fragments in his pouch felt suddenly heavier. Selling them felt like cutting off another finger but he might have to do so now.
He took a breath, the damp, polluted air doing little to calm the sudden, frantic thrumming in his chest.
"Old Man Ji," Li Fang said with a shaky voice. "Forget the probe for now."
He held up the 15 Qi-Credit chit and his bag of memory crystals. "Give me fifteen Credits worth of your cheapest, functional data-scramblers. And ten Credits worth of those unstable Qi capacitors you were complaining about last week."
Old Man Ji raised a cybernetic eyebrow. "Huh. Did you just decide to switch careers to bomb-making, Li Fang?"
Li Fang offered a thin, humourless smile as the ghostly image of the golden coin warmed his palm.
"Something like that," He shrugged as he turned his gaze to the bustling, indifferent street. "Call it… disruptive finance."
He pocketed the cheap components Ji handed over. He still had the single Spiritual Coin. He had a trickle of free Qi. He had 69 hours left. And he had a ridiculously named system warning him not to be a coward.
He turned away from the stall and let the rain plaster strands of hair to his forehead.
Alright, Quantum Fortune System, he thought. The snark was a familiar shield against the sudden change of events and a terrifying flicker of hope that was handed to him.
You cost me a probe. You better be worth more than a pile of dumpster-fire salvage!
It was an unbelievable encounter but nothing changed. He had negative equity, a sealed future, and a system that demanded him an empire. Yet, he was still three days away from deletion.
'You're lucky I'm desperate', he transmitted mentally towards the cheerful voice in his skull.
The reply was instantaneous, and somehow, it was chipper as ever.
[Desperation is the crucible of innovation, Host! Excellent! Initial risk assessment: ACCEPTABLE.]
[Proceed with maximizing assets! Failure is not an option (for System integrity)!]
Reading all that, Li Fang almost tripped over a discarded cleaning bot. Yeah. No pressure.
---
As he left Sector Delta-7, Li Fang returned to his dwelling. The single Spiritual Coin was still pulsing faintly in hs pocket. A tiny spark of impossible warmth against the damp chill within.
He's living in a repurposed storage container wedged precariously between two towering, dilapidated hab-blocks in Sector Theta-12.
He was welcomed with the sight of rusted corrugated metal walls, a flickering lumen strip overhead and the constant thrum of the city vibrating through the floor. His only furniture was a sleeping mat and a crate overflowing with scavenged tech components.
Dropping his tools pouch on the side, Li Fang sat cross-legged on the mat, the cheap data-scramblers and unstable capacitors laid out before him. The Quantum Fortune System interface now hovered in his vision. A sleek, golden overlay that sharply contrasted the grime.
[Host Status: Li Fang]
[Karmic Equity: -912.379 (Fluctuating)]
[Qi-Credit Balance: 0]
[Spiritual Coin Balance: 1]
[Passive Qi Income: +0.00001 Qi/sec]
[Current Task: Build an Interdimensional Spiritual Finance Empire]
[Immediate Objective: Survive Impending Divine Foreclosure (68 Hours Remaining)]
[System Recommendation: Analyze available assets and market inefficiencies. Leverage startup capital. Avoid financial cowardice.]
"Right, I can't be a coward, huh? Great a piece of advice to someone who had 0 Qi-Credit balance, thousands of debt, and -900 Karmic Equity!" Li Fang muttered as he rubbed his temples.
The passive Qi income was a cruel joke. At this rate, it would take him roughly 12 days to earn a single Qi-Credit. Multiply that to 8450, it would take him close to 280 years to clear his debt. He had a timer of less than three days.
And that wasn't even counting the daily compounding interest on his debt and karmic equity, which the QFS helpfully displayed as a small, constantly ticking drain on his already abysmal score.
At this point, apart from the unluckiness, it manifested as a low-grade headache and a higher chance of his lumen strip shorting out.
He pulled the coin out of his pocket and focused on it for further inspection. It felt… dense.
It's packed with a pure, refined energy unlike the raw, chaotic Qi residue he usually scavenged. What could it do?
"System," He called out, feeling slightly foolish talking to the air. "What's the exchange rate for this Spiritual Coin into standard Qi-Credits?"
[Analyzing Neo-Tian Financial Network…]
[Cross-referencing Spiritual Currency Exchange Protocols…]
[Error: Spiritual Coin is not recognized by local municipal or Sect-Corp exchanges.]
[Direct Conversion Value: Undefined.]
Li Fang slumped. Of course. It couldn't be that easy. "So, it's worthless?"
As if it got offended by his remark, it answered swiftly and with a colder, mechanical voice.
[Incorrect. Spiritual Coin represents True Spiritual Value, untethered from localized inflationary/deflationary cycles. Its intrinsic value is significant. However, realizing this value requires interaction with compatible systems or agents.]
[Current Market Liquidity: Low.]
"I see. So, it's like owning a priceless artifact in the middle of a toxic waste dump. Theoretically valuable, practically useless for buying noodles." He poked at the coin, which shimmered slightly. "Can I use its energy directly? Cultivate with it?"
This time, its tone changed. Almost mocking him for even thinking about it.
[Affirmative. Host can absorb the Spiritual Coin's energy.
[Estimated Qi Yield: Sufficient to potentially unseal Host's Dantian partially and advance one minor realm.]
[WARNING: Such action constitutes consumption of Startup Capital. System strongly advises against liquidating primary assets for short-term biological enhancement. This is considered financially primitive behavior!]