It was nearly nine o'clock at night. Yuan Lin returned to his apartment and threw his body onto the sofa, feeling as if every cell in his being was screaming from exhaustion.
It wasn't physical exhaustion, but an exhaustion of the soul. He had spent his day wearing two masks: the mask of the competent employee in front of Su Ling, and the mask of the wise demon lord in front of his followers. The weight of these two masks was heavier than any physical labor.
He forced himself to get up. His stomach was growling, demanding its simple right to exist. He opened the refrigerator door, only to be met by a dim yellow light and a near-total void. There was a lone half-onion and a bottle of expired hot sauce.
He sighed a deep sigh. This was his life. The great demon master, the Lord of Eternal Chaos, didn't even have enough food to make a decent meal.
He searched the kitchen cabinet and, among piles of unwashed dishes, found his treasure: a packet of beef-flavored instant noodles.
It was the dinner of champions, or at least, the dinner of broke employees.
As he filled a small pot with water and waited for it to boil on the rusty stove, he felt that strange calm that precedes a storm.
Here, in his own small, humble kingdom, he was just Yuan Lin. No System, no demons, just him and the water that was taking forever to boil.
And of course, the moment he thought that, the blue screen flashed in his vision.
He groaned audibly. "Can't I get five minutes of peace?"
The chat was active. It wasn't Wu Tian or Xue this time, but a new name he hadn't seen speak before.
[Grand Treasurer Mo of the Nine Hells]: "Quarterly resource report for the Supreme Lord."
Yuan Lin froze, the wooden spoon in his hand. "Grand Treasurer?" he whispered to himself. He imagined an ugly, goblin-like creature wearing thick glasses and using a calculator made of bones.
[Grand Treasurer Mo]:"My Lord, our current inventory of shadow crystals stands at three million, two hundred thousand. The River of Blood reserves are stable."
"However, the Gray Bone sect is offering to trade mining rights to the Obsidian Vein. in the Fifth Hell for one hundred thousand tortured souls"
"The deal seems profitable, but it could disrupt the balance of power in that region. We await your divine guidance."
Yuan Lin stared at the message, his mind blank." Shadow crystals? Tortured souls?" It was like listening to a financial report from another planet.
Meanwhile, the water in his pot began to boil.
He tore open the noodle packet and dropped the dry block into the water. Then he grabbed the small seasoning packet and tried to open it.
The packet was stubborn, stuck together. He tore at it with his teeth, ripped it in frustration, and some of the orange powder scattered onto the stove.
"Damn it!" he muttered, feeling frustrated by the most trivial of things.
In the chat, another message appeared from the treasurer.
[Grand Treasurer Mo]:"My Lord? Is their strategy too convoluted and lacking in efficiency? Do you have some economic wisdom to share?"
Yuan Lin looked at the pot of noodles, then at the printed instructions on the empty packet. "1. Boil water. 2. Add noodles and seasoning. 3. Add dried vegetables for extra flavor."
A crazy idea, born from the smell of artificial beef broth, sparked in his mind. He was tired, hungry, and frustrated. He didn't care anymore.
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:"Stop. Mo. Your strategies are overly complex. You focus on petty trades and forget the essence of creation."
Silence in the chat. Lin felt his heart pound. He'd started now, he had to finish.
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:"The path to true power begins with the fundamentals. First, one must prepare the Cauldron of Boiling Souls." (He looked at the pot of water).
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:" Then, you add the Primordial Foundation Block" (He looked at the noodles softening in the water)
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:" After that, comes the essence. The Quintessence of a Thousand Sorrows." (He emptied the entire seasoning packet into the pot)
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]:"And only when the omens are right, you add the final touch. The "Herbs of the Forgotten Gray Worlds." He tossed in the small packet of dried vegetables"
He sent the last message, feeling like the dumbest being in the universe. He was definitely done for this time. He had just turned instant noodle instructions into an ancient magic recipe.
But the reaction in the chat was... unexpected.
[Grand Treasurer Mo]:" ...My... my god. The Cauldron of Souls... the Foundation Block... the Quintessence of a Thousand Sorrows... My Lord!
This isn't an economic strategy, this is... this is a primordial alchemical recipe! A recipe for creating a legendary elixir! Oh, the ignorance! We were drowning in the muck of numbers while you were guiding us to the secrets of creation itself! I am unworthy of my position!"
Then came a reply from Xue, who had been watching silently.
[Dark Fairy Queen Xue]:"A recipe... from the Lord himself. Quintessence of a Thousand Sorrows... My Lord, you've piqued my curiosity. I wonder what it tastes like."
A bright blue system notification appeared in his vision.
[You have revealed a legendary "Primordial Alchemical Formula." The group's veneration for you has increased significantly. Cohesion +10. You have been rewarded with 50 Chaos Points.]
[Current Balance: 75 Chaos Points.]
Fifty points? For a noodle recipe?
Yuan Lin looked at the pot, which was now emitting a fragrant steam, then at his new point balance on his mental screen.
He couldn't hold it back this time.
A laugh escaped him. It wasn't a muffled or sarcastic laugh. It was a real, loud, and honest laugh. A laugh born from the absolute surrealism of the situation. The laugh of someone who realized he was living in the strangest, dumbest, and most dangerous sitcom in the universe.
He poured the noodles into a bowl, sat on his worn-out sofa, and began to devour his "Soup of the Quintessence of a Thousand Sorrows" with gusto.
It tasted salty and cheap.
And it was the most wonderful thing he had ever tasted in his life.