Yuan Lin woke up to the gray sunlight filtering through his long-uncleaned apartment window.
The first thing he felt wasn't the warmth of his bed, but a faint, persistent ache in his shoulder—a physical souvenir from last night. Every muscle in his body screamed in silent protest.
It had been a long and restless night, filled with strange dreams of endless blue threads and transparent screens floating in the dark.
He got out of bed, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. It wasn't just the usual morning blues. Now, there was... noise.
Thanks to his new skill, his world had become much louder.
As he washed his face, he saw the faint gray threads of anxiety and drowsiness hanging off him. He saw the cold blue threads of water flowing from the tap, and the warm red threads joining them when he turned the hot water handle.
The whole thing gave him a slight headache, as if someone had turned up the world's brightness and contrast to an unbearable degree.
"This is going to take some getting used to," he muttered to himself, looking at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes looked tired, but beneath the exhaustion, there was something else. A sharp focus that hadn't been there before.
The idea of going to work today seemed incredibly absurd.
How could he go back to sitting in his cubicle and dealing with printer problems when his mind was now connected to a mysterious cosmic system and he could see the very fabric of reality?
It was like asking an astronaut who had just returned from Mars to go back to his job selling hamburgers.
As he was putting on his wrinkled shirt, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden blue flash in his field of vision. He hadn't summoned the System. It had appeared on its own.
[Urgent Notification: You have (17) unread messages in the chat group.]
[Notification: Demon Monarch Wu Tian has mentioned you in a message.]
[Notification: Dark Fairy Queen Xue is attempting to contact you privately.]
Yuan Lin felt his heart drop into his stomach. Oh, god. He had forgotten.
He had been so engrossed in his shock and his newfound power that he had completely forgotten the most dangerous part of all this: the actual demons waiting for his orders.
With trembling hands, he summoned the full interface and opened the [Group] tab, feeling the dread of an employee checking his email after a long vacation.
The chat log had exploded with messages.
[Demon Monarch Wu Tian]:(12 hours ago) "My Lord, we have meditated on your wisdom. The armies await your word."
>[Demon Monarch Wu Tian]:(8 hours ago) "My Lord, your silence is deep and frightening. Is this a test of our faith?"
[Dark Fairy Queen Xue]: (7 hours ago)" Sire, such a long silence... it makes a girl worry. I hope you are just... enjoying yourself."
[Demon Monarch Wu Tian]:(3 hours ago) "@Lord of Eternal Chaos Has some lowly Ruler dared to disturb you? Just give me the word, and I will grind their realm to dust!"
[Dark Fairy Queen Xue]:(1 hour ago) "The other lords in the neighboring realms are growing restless, Sire. Your silence makes them bold. Your humble servant has prepared a tribute befitting your return. A word from you is all I need to send it"
Lin felt cold sweat trickling down his back. They were losing patience. Xue was testing him, trying to bait him into a response. Wu Tian was about to declare a world war out of boredom.
As he was reading, a new message appeared in real-time, glowing with a blood-red aura.
[Demon Monarch Wu Tian]: @Lord of Eternal Chaos" I can't wait any longer! The honor of our lineage is at stake! Give me a target! Anyone! Anything! And I will bring you their skull to drink from in a toast to your return!"
Yuan Lin froze. The situation was critical. What would he do? What could he say? He didn't know any "enemies" or "realms" to offer as a target for Wu Tian.
He looked around his small, shabby apartment for any inspiration. His eyes fell on the thing that caused him most of his daily suffering. The thing he was fixing just yesterday.
His old, slow computer.
A crazy idea, born of desperation, sparked in his mind. An idea so stupid it just might work.
His fingers, which were as cold as ice, flew across the virtual keyboard that had appeared in his vision.
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:"Patience, Wu Tian. Your ferocity is a double-edged sword. Use it wisely.
He sent the first message to calm him down a bit, then quickly followed up before the bloodthirsty warrior could reply.
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:"There is a plague... a hidden pestilence seeping into the lesser realms. It is a formless entity, a pure corruption. It is known in the ancient texts as... the "Dark Web Trojan Horse."
He paused for a moment, enjoying the absurdity of what he had just written. Then he added a touch of fake depth to make it sound wiser.
"[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:"It cannot be fought with swords or brute force. It is a battle of will. Your task is not to destroy it, but to... contemplate it. Understand its nature, find its weaknesses in the fabric of chaos. I will deal with it myself in due time.
He closed his eyes after sending the message, bracing for the catastrophic reaction.
But what happened was astonishing.
[Demon Monarch Wu Tian]:" ...A formless plague? A battle of will? I understand! I understand now, My Lord! This is wisdom beyond my comprehension! You are not testing my strength, but my discipline! I will enter meditative seclusion at once to contemplate the nature of this "Dark Web Trojan Horse"!
Wu Tian's name vanished from the list of active members. He had taken it completely seriously.
Then came Xue's reply, which carried a hint of both suspicion and admiration.
[Dark Fairy Queen Xue]:What an... interesting command, Sire. An enemy that cannot be touched. Your ways are as mysterious and profound as ever. I shall be waiting to see how you deal with this plague.
Before Lin could feel relieved, a blue system notification appeared.
[New quest issued: "Contemplation of the Dark Web Trojan Horse".]
[Quest accepted by: Demon Monarch Wu Tian.]
`[The Lord's prestige has been maintained through a cunning strategic command. +20 Chaos Points.]
[Current Balance: 20 Chaos Points.]
Yuan Lin collapsed onto the nearest chair, laughing in muffled hysterics.
It worked. It had actually worked.
He had just turned an annoying computer virus into a spiritual meditation quest for a demon king.
He looked at his old computer with a newfound appreciation. His mortal enemy in his office job had just saved his life in his role as a demon lord.
He was learning. Learning how to merge his two worlds, how to use the trivial to solve the epic.
But he wondered, how long could he keep this play up before his cover was blown?