Chapter 1 – A Taste of Curses
In a half-finished construction site.
The silver-white moon hung high over the city, but heavy clouds rolled across the sky, smothering its light. The ground below was shrouded in shadow.
On the ruined site stood a grotesque figure: a humanoid monster, nearly three meters tall, its body covered in lidless brown eyes. A jagged mouth split its face, dripping corrosive pus that hissed against the concrete.
Zzzzt—zzzt—zzzt.
Every drop burned pits into the ground, filling the night air with a stench like rotting worms clawing out of a sewer.
Across from it stood a boy.
He was tall for his age, black hair spilling loosely over his shoulders. Dressed casually with his hands in his pockets, he gazed up without a flicker of fear. The silver light in his pupils mirrored the monster looming over him.
Compared to the cursed giant, the teenager—barely over a meter and a half—looked almost fragile.
"Grade 4 Cursed Spirit?" Ryuichi tilted his head, voice calm, almost bored. "What a disappointment."
A scarlet gleam flashed across his narrow, foxlike eyes.
The Spirit's countless brown eyes swiveled toward him, hunger replacing hesitation. Its voice broke into an unnatural chorus—dozens of middle-aged men's voices overlapping like a warped recording:
"Fix the pipe! It must be fixed today!
Can't fix it? Don't even think about going home!"
BOOM!
The monster lunged, each step making the ground shudder like a quake.
"The pipes must be fixed! Fixed!!" it shrieked.
It charged like a tank, the reek of decay billowing around it. Any ordinary person would have been crushed into paste.
Ryuichi only smirked. "Heh."
The silver cross on his chest glowed faintly. His figure blurred—an afterimage—and in the blink of an eye he was gone.
The Spirit plowed straight through a half-built wall, pulverizing concrete and sending dust into the air.
The creature scratched its head in confusion. It had sensed no Cursed Energy from the boy, yet he had dodged as easily as a trained sorcerer. Humans without cursed energy were supposed to be food. Prey.
And yet the boy had vanished.
"Looking for me?"
The taunting voice slithered into its ear like a whisper from Hell itself. The Grade 4 Spirit actually trembled.
"Fix… fix it! Can't… fix…" it muttered, clinging to its obsession.
Ryuichi now stood casually atop the monster's head, fingers folded, speaking as though to himself.
"So this Spirit was born from some foreman's nagging? Hm. I wonder what that tastes like."
The creature roared, swinging a massive palm down with hurricane force. Wind howled, tossing Ryuichi's hair—but he didn't move an inch.
"Fix it! Fix it!" the Spirit wailed.
Ryuichi's eyes narrowed. "Six Immortal Thief Treasury—Devour."
His fingers snapped open. His lips parted.
A vortex of suction burst from his mouth, a gale so strong it ripped through the construction site like a storm.
The monster shrieked, its voice breaking apart.
"Fi…x—!"
Its body shriveled in an instant, collapsing like a punctured balloon. The countless eyes covering it dimmed, dropping to the ground like brittle glass marbles.
The Cursed Energy packed inside it was wrenched out, consumed by Ryuichi in a single breath.
And then—ashes. The Spirit dissolved into nothing, scattering like burnt paper.
Ryuichi licked his lips, silver eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
"Chocolate. Not bad."
To him, the terrifying monster was no more than a snack. No—a buffet spread, waiting for him to choose the flavor.
"Six Immortal Thief Treasury never disappoints."
He exhaled and whispered: "Open panel."
A glowing screen flickered into view.
Divine Armament Hundred Refinements: (Satisfactory) Progress 100%
Six Immortal Thief Treasury: (Beginner) Progress 9%
Fenghou Qimen: Unlocked
Dispatch of Detained Spirits: Unlocked
Full Hand: Locked
Tongtian Talisman: Unlocked
Daluo Cave Temple: Unlocked
Origin of Qi: Locked