Yuan Lin woke up the next morning feeling like the richest man in the world.
It wasn't about the money, but about the 75 Chaos Points shimmering in his balance on the mental interface. It was like a secret bank account that no thief could ever steal. It gave him a sense of comfort, a safety cushion in this insane reality.
For the first time in days, he didn't wake up feeling panicked. Instead, he felt something strange... something like confidence.
"Okay," he told himself as he sipped an instant coffee that tasted better than usual. "I tricked a demon king with a noodle recipe. Maybe... maybe I'm good at this."
This small, dangerous thought sparked a sarcastic smile. He was starting to accept the absurdity of his situation. He was no longer just a victim; he was becoming a cosmic con artist, and he was starting to like the idea.
He had to send some work emails before he left. He sighed as he headed toward his mortal enemy in this apartment: his old desktop computer. It was a device from the dinosaur age, making sounds like it was about to launch into space, only to decide at the last minute that death was a better option.
He pressed the power button.
Whirrrrrrr... click. Silence.
He pressed it again.
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr... a high-pitched hum... then a sharp beep.
"Oh, come on!" Yuan Lin yelled at the black screen. "Please, not today. I have Chaos Points to dream about spending, I don't have time to convince you of the meaning of life."
After several desperate attempts, the machine finally responded, and the operating system's boot screen began to appear with painful slowness. Every icon that appeared on the desktop was a small miracle.
While he waited, he decided to take a look at his skills. He now had [Perception of Chaos Threads]
and [Lesser Body Fortification]. A skill for seeing, and a skill for toughness. Nothing truly "active." Nothing he could use effectively.
He opened the [Skills] store again, this time Browse with curiosity rather than desperation. Maybe he could buy something simple and useful...
CRASH!
The screen froze, then turned that ominous, bright blue. The real Blue Screen of Death.
Yuan Lin stared at the screen, feeling a mixture of anger and frustration. This was his routine. This was his life. Even after becoming a demon lord by name, he still had to deal with this pile of junk.
Then, an idea sparked in his mind. A stupid, brilliant, and completely insane idea.
"Wait a minute..." he thought, a slow smile forming on his face. "I saw the virus on Su Ling's computer as a spiky black 'thread.' The computer runs on electricity and data... and these are all forms of energy. What if...?"
He felt a rush of excitement. This was an opportunity. A chance to test his limits in a safe, low-risk way.
"System," he said in his mind. "Is there a skill that allows me to influence these threads I see?"
[Searching for "Energy Manipulation" skills for beginners...]
[One result found compatible with the host's current level.]
[Minor Chaos Grip - Level 1]: Allows the user to interact with and slightly influence non-living energy threads. Requires high concentration. Cost: 50 Chaos Points.
Fifty points! It was a huge amount, more than two-thirds of his fortune. But the temptation was greater. The idea of being able to "fix" his computer with demonic magic was irresistibly comedic and alluring. This was the dream of every IT support employee.
"Buy it!" he said without hesitation.
[Purchase confirmed. Remaining balance: 25 Chaos Points.]
He felt another prick of cold information flow into his mind. He now understood, innately, how to "grip" the threads.
He restarted the computer and focused his eyes on the metal tower. He activated his [Perception] skill and saw the chaos inside once again. The blue threads of the operating system were tangled and frayed. Gray threads of junk data were clogging the pathways like cosmic dust. And he saw small patches of spiky red threads from minor malware.
"Alright, you piece of junk," he whispered. "Time for some demonic maintenance."
He reached out his hand, not physically, but mentally. He felt an invisible "hand" of will extend from him. The movement was clumsy and unrefined at first. He grabbed one of the gray threads and tried to pull it, but it slipped from his grasp. He tried again, and this time he caught it. He pulled hard, and it felt like clearing old spiderwebs from a forgotten corner. The thread vanished.
He was astonished. It worked!
With growing confidence, he got to work. The process was like performing a manual, magical "disk defragmentation." He would grab the tangled blue threads and gently untangle them. He would gather the scattered gray threads and wipe them away like trash. Then, carefully, he picked up the spiky red threads one by one and crushed them with his will.
The process took ten minutes of intense concentration, and his forehead was dripping with sweat by the end.
When he was finished, the internal "energy picture" of the computer looked clean, organized, and flowed smoothly.
With bated breath, he restarted the computer one last time.
A quiet click.
And within three seconds, the full desktop appeared, bright and clear. He opened the internet browser instantly. He opened ten tabs without any lag. The machine was faster than when he had first bought it.
Yuan Lin sat back in his chair, staring at the screen in amazement. Then, a laugh began to rise from his chest. A laugh of pure triumph. He had done it. He had fixed his computer using the power of chaos.
As he was enjoying his moment of victory, the mental interface flashed again. But it wasn't a chat message. It was a new tab on his system's toolbar. It had been gray and inactive before, but now it flickered with a faint white light once before returning to its gray state.
The label on it was clear: [Dimensional Gate]
An immediate system notification followed.
[Basic requirements for "Dimensional Travel" partially met (Energy Manipulation).]
[Remaining requirements: Lord Authority Level: 5 (Current: 1). World Anchor: Not established.]
His mind, filled with countless web novels, immediately understood the implications.
Yuan Lin's eyes widened. "A dimensional gate? Traveling to my followers' world? Summoning them here?" This was the true power of a Supreme Lord. It was still far out of reach, just a glimpse of a locked function, but now it was... possible.
He looked at his perfectly running computer, then at the tantalizing gray tab in his vision. He had started the day by fixing a PC, but he was ending it by dreaming of conquering worlds.
His normal life and his demonic life had completely merged, and the possibilities that had just opened up before him were suddenly infinite and dangerously funny.