Mature Fantasy Power Invasion

Chapter 15

"Home sweet home, Meow-chan."

"Meow~"

At the doorway of an east-facing room on the sixth floor of an old apartment in the neon-lit southern district, Yan Huan unlocked the door with his key.

The door opened to reveal a 40-square-meter one-bedroom apartment.

He flipped on the hallway light, illuminating a slightly cramped but tidy space.

On one side near the entrance was a compact stove, while the other side featured a bathroom with separated wet and dry areas.

It was already around ten o’clock. The bus route didn’t go directly to the apartment, so Yan Huan had to transfer to the subway midway, which delayed him.

Meow-chan, tail raised high, darted around the living room, inspecting what it seemed to consider Yan Huan’s own little Mickey Mouse house.

Meanwhile, Yan Huan unpacked his backpack, hung up the clean clothes, and tossed his dirty shirt into the laundry basket.

He took out his phone. Ye Lan had just sent a message asking,

"Are you home, Xiaohuan?"

Yan Huan smiled helplessly at the chat bubble with a banana milk avatar and typed back,

"Home now, Aunt."

"Good, then get some rest early."

"You too, Aunt."

Putting down his phone, Yan Huan headed to the bedroom with Meow-chan in tow to pack tomorrow’s books, laptop, and other supplies into his bag.

After tidying up, taking a shower, drying his hair, and changing into pajamas, he finally lay on his bed with a sigh of relief.

By the time he finished everything, it was already past eleven.

*Creak creak*

Compared to the high-end mattress at Ye Lan’s place, the bed in this rental apartment felt stiff and awkward.

Even the slightest movement caused the frame to creak—as if any intense activity might turn it into a musical instrument.

Fortunately, the apartment had decent soundproofing.

"A golden nest or silver nest still isn’t as good as my own little doghouse."

Lying back on his bed, Yan Huan sighed, spaced out, then plugged in his phone and opened a video streaming site.

After patrolling its new territory, Meow-chan walked to the edge of the bed and leaped up onto it.

Yan Huan rubbed its furry head and asked,

"So, Meow-chan, how’s the new place?"

"Meow~"

Meow-chan wasn’t picky. It lifted its head and tail, gazing at Yan Huan excitedly.

"Yan Huan, you really are the best candidate to fight against those modifiers."

Yan Huan blinked, scrolling through his phone, confused by the sudden compliment.

"What’s going on? Why the sudden flattery?"

"I just swallowed a fragment from Ye Shiyu’s dropped modifier."

"Fragment?"

Intrigued, Yan Huan put down his phone and quickly asked,

"What’s that all about?"

"Remember what I told you on Friday?"

Yan Huan thought for a moment and replied,

"The modifier from another world was searching for a Host, and you gave it to me. You said the rewards would get stronger as I dealt with other modifiers?"

"Exactly. The way to strengthen the rewards is by letting me eat the fragments dropped from other modifiers. And since midnight marks the start of a new week, we’ll soon see what power-up we got. Excited?"

Yan Huan looked at Meow-chan. Instead of excitement, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Rather than the reward, tell me the principle behind this. Why would Ye Shiyu’s modifier drop fragments? And why does mine get stronger when you eat them?"

Meow-chan gave him an approving look, sat upright like a lucky cat, and explained seriously,

"I told you before—the way to resolve a modifier is to make the Host voluntarily give it up. The Host’s strong desire to use the modifier is the pillar holding up this castle in the sky."

"Just now, because you made Ye Shiyu feel regret, she began to question whether using the modifier was right. That kind of doubt weakens her desire to use it, shaking the castle in the sky, and causing fragments to fall."

"Those fragments, imbued with power from the other world, fall within my divine influence. Through divine conversion, I can turn them into fertilizer for your modifier, making it stronger!"

So basically, Meow-chan had evolved, huh!

Gazing at Meow-chan’s now sleek and shiny fur, Yan Huan couldn’t help but feel like he was leveling up a Pokémon.

He straightened up, rubbing his hands together in anticipation like a fly.

"All right, all right—let’s see what surprise the Meow-Empress has brought me."

But since there was still some time before midnight, a question popped into Yan Huan’s mind.

"Wait, if you eat their fragments and my modifier gets stronger, does that mean theirs gets weaker after dropping fragments?"

"Mmm, unfortunately, it doesn’t, meow."

"Why? Doesn’t that violate the law of energy conservation?"

Meow-chan gave him an exasperated look but still explained,

"Don’t forget, their modifiers come from the erotic alternate world—totally different mechanics from mine, meow! Their effects are closely tied to the Host’s desires. As long as the desire remains strong, their power won’t weaken."

"So even if they drop a bunch of fragments, the modifier stays just as strong?"

"Exactly, meow."

"Then never mind."

Yan Huan fell back onto the bed with a groan, but Meow-chan meowed and nudged him with its paw pads, saying,

"Don’t be discouraged, meow! Dropping a lot of fragments means the Host is seriously doubting their modifier. That means they’re not far from giving it up!"

'That’s true.'

After all, it was only the second day—not even the end of the first week—and Meow-chan had already obtained its first fragment. Definitely promising progress.

No wonder it praised Yan Huan as the chosen one to resolve the modifier crisis.

But Yan Huan didn’t care much about lofty titles. He was far more interested in the upgraded rewards.

Originally, he planned to just watch some videos and sleep since he had to get up early for school the next day. But now, curiosity won out, and he decided to stay up until midnight to check the reward.

Watching videos while petting the cat, time passed quickly.

When the phone clock hit twelve, he sat up and looked at Meow-chan, who was also sitting beside him.

"Time’s up. Come on, let me see."

"Meow~"

Meow-chan let out a meow and suddenly spat out a golden stream of phantom light.

The stream expanded in front of Yan Huan, gradually forming lines of glowing text.

[Modifier Level Change: 1 → 2]

[Reward Pool Level increased to 2. You will now randomly unlock stronger rewards.]

[Modifier Evolution Count +1, Random Attribute Fragment +1]

[Please choose your preferred evolution path from the following two options]

'What’s going on?'

'This modifier can evolve along different paths?'

Yan Huan raised an eyebrow and kept reading.

[Evolution Path One: Mass Giveaway]

[Gain one extra reward selection per week, but two out of three rewards will come from a lower-level reward pool.]

[Evolution Path Two: Demon Contract]

[In the weekly set of three rewards, one will come from a lower-level pool and one from a higher-level pool. Choosing a higher-level reward will trigger a temporary minor curse.]

Yan Huan blinked, grabbed Meow-chan’s chubby cheeks, and asked with a dark expression,

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me this is a gacha now? What the heck is a reward pool? And what’s with these evolution paths?"

"Once the modifier is born, I can’t directly interfere anymore, meow! No matter how it looks, it’ll still help you, nyahaha!"

Getting no useful answers from Meow-chan, Yan Huan had no choice but to focus on the two choices in front of him.

It was clear that the three rewards he received on Friday all came from the level-one reward pool.

Two were junk, and one was somewhat useful.

So the level-one pool was very hit-or-miss—he was basically just choosing the least bad option.

The main issue was that he had no clear idea of what kind of rewards might come from level-two or higher pools, so it was hard to make a decision on the spot.

But even if they were high-level, they probably wouldn’t be too overpowered—no Superman or Doctor Strange-type abilities. After all, Meow-chan’s goal was to maintain the rational operation of the worldlines. The rewards were meant to help complete the mission and improve life, not create superheroes.

Thinking it through, Yan Huan felt more grounded.

He decided to go for dessert before the main course.

So instead of selecting an evolution path first, he turned his attention to the [Random Attribute Fragment].

As the name suggested, no further explanation needed.

'Let’s roll the dice!'

[Charm Fragment – Slightly increases your attractiveness to others of the same kind]

[Young man, in this world, looks are everything.]

(*) Note: "Fragment" refers to a piece of the "modifier" system from another world, which grants powers based on desire. "Gacha" is a gaming term for a random draw mechanic.

[Reproduction Fragment – slightly increases your abilities related to reproduction.]

[There was once a gentleman who used it as an excuse.]

[Stamina Fragment – slightly increases your stamina.]

'Hmm, maybe just quitting late nights would work faster.'

Yan Huan pursed his lips and decided to choose the first one.

The third one needed no explanation—anything that could be improved through regular training wasn’t worth wasting a modifier on.

As for the second one...

'How should I put it? In this current situation, walking a tightrope against these modifiers—where failure unlocks R-rated defeat CGs—picking that one feels like paying to go to work.'

The first and second were somewhat similar, but in terms of overall usefulness, the Charm Fragment seemed more suitable.

The golden light emitted from the Charm Fragment gradually faded, merging completely into Yan Huan’s body. He picked up the front camera and checked his reflection, but saw no noticeable changes.

'Slightly.'

Yan Huan recalled the description of the Charm Fragment.

'That was way too slight, wasn’t it?!'

'So slight it felt like it had no effect at all!'

Shaking his head, Yan Huan turned his focus back to the more critical decision—the high-stakes evolution path.

In the end, he chose the latter.

He had no idea what the high-level rewards might be, but the low-level ones had been underwhelming. No matter how many he collected, they never felt useful. So, he figured he might as well take a gamble.

'Take a chance, and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.'

*Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz!*

As Yan Huan made his selection, golden light surged rapidly, and three glowing orbs of varying sizes burst out from Meow-chan’s body.

From left to right, the orbs increased in size, corresponding to the level of the reward pool they came from.

The last and slightly larger orb was also shrouded in a faint black mist.

[Skill: Oral Technique. Literal meaning.]

[There was someone skilled in oral technique in the capital.]

[Ability: Unrestrained Vitality – Your stamina, energy, and other metrics will recover faster, but your appetite will greatly increase.]

[With great power comes great appetite.]

[Ability: Learning Conqueror – When doing anything related to learning, for every 30 minutes of focus, you gain one stack (up to 10). If focus is broken for 10 minutes, all stacks reset. Each stack increases learning efficiency by 15%. At maximum stacks, you also receive a large intelligence boost.]

[I shall conquer all unknowns, until I am reduced to bones.]

[Curse: When not focused, you will inevitably feel mildly drowsy for 5 days.]

Seeing the text emerge from the third orb, Yan Huan couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

Although not unexpected, the abilities weren't exactly earth-shattering. Still, the effect of the level-three reward pool was undeniably impressive.

At full stacks, it would provide a 250% learning efficiency increase, plus a significant intelligence boost—all within just five hours of focus.

And a little drowsiness...

'Doesn’t sound too hard to deal with.'

Nodding repeatedly at the rewards, Yan Huan decided to choose the Learning Conqueror ability along with its attached curse.

For daily life, this ability would drastically boost his learning efficiency—very useful for his future development.

In terms of dealing with the modifier, it would also save him time on schoolwork, letting him focus more energy on modifier-related matters.

Overall, it was a highly practical reward.

The golden orb burst open, and both the golden light and black mist surged into Yan Huan's body.

Yan Huan blinked. Before he could even test out the Learning Conqueror’s effects, drowsiness had already begun to creep up on him.

His eyelids grew heavier. If he relaxed even slightly, he would probably nod off in minutes.

'I could call this the anti-insomnia artifact.'

Letting out a yawn, Yan Huan, having wrapped everything up, was finally ready to sleep.

But it felt a bit like staying up late to watch a BO3 esports match, only for the team he supported to lose 1–2 after putting up a good fight.

(*) BO3 stands for "Best of Three," a common match format in esports.

The match was exciting, but he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

He set an alarm to wake up early for school the next morning, turned off the bedside lamp, and pulled Meow-chan into his arms.

"Meow~"

Meow-chan obediently curled its little paws and lay on his chest. Yan Huan even pulled the blanket over them both. In the darkness, only its wide green eyes remained visible, staring at him.

"Meow-chan, I thought you were going to go all out, sweep away everything, and return to your true form. But after super evolution, it still feels way weaker than those other modifiers."

Yan Huan squinted, sighed, and voiced his frustration.

Bai Yi’s No Concern, Ye Shiyu’s Hypnosis, and that golden-haired girl’s unknown superpower...

Just thinking about them gave him a headache.

"Meow?"

Meow-chan tilted its head.

Staring at the lying Yan Huan, Meow-chan suddenly spoke to him telepathically,

"Yan Huan, do you really think those modifiers came here to fulfill the host’s wishes?"

"…I know they came to invade and destroy worldlines. But those modifiers are so powerful—helping fulfill wishes is probably just something they do along the way, right? Even if some of those wishes are kind of... dirty."

Meow-chan shook its head and said seriously,

"I’ve always called those things modifiers instead of golden fingers, cheats, or systems, because they’re not harmless tools. On the contrary, they’re tumors that will destroy the host along with everything else."

(*) "Golden finger" is a Chinese web novel trope referring to a protagonist’s cheat-like ability or advantage.

In the darkness, its crystal-clear green eyes stared at Yan Huan as it emphasized each word:

"Using those modifiers comes at a heavy price, Yan Huan."

"…"

Petting Meow-chan’s warm body, Yan Huan replied thoughtfully,

"Don’t tell me the so-called price is divine punishment, karmic reincarnation, or moral judgment—I don’t buy that."

"No, Yan Huan. The price I’m talking about is something real. I may not know exactly what it is yet, but I know—it definitely exists."

Staring into the darkness at Meow-chan, Yan Huan blinked, exhaled deeply, and finally closed his eyes.

Then he smiled slightly and said,

"Mm, well, either way, I feel more at peace now."

"Meow~"

Meow-chan snuggled into his arms with a soft, contented hum.

The bedroom fell into silence—it felt like the prelude to sleep.

However, just as he was about to drift off, Yan Huan suddenly remembered something. He opened his eyes and looked at Meow-chan in front of him.

"So, is there a price for using your modifier too? Even if it’s not as serious as theirs?"

"Meow~"

Meow-chan looked up at him, as if to say, 'I’m a cat—how could I speak human language?'

"So is there, or isn’t there?!"

"Meow~"

Meow-chan blinked adorably, practically the most lovable kitten in the world.

But Yan Huan saw right through it—this little thing was sulking because he’d said earlier that it wasn’t as good as the other modifiers. Now it was refusing to talk.

Yan Huan’s face darkened. He grabbed Meow-chan’s chubby cheeks and started shaking them.

"Meow-chan!"

"Okay okay! There isn’t! Don’t pinch my face, meow!"

(End of this chapter)