Troublemaker

"Sibyl, how come there wasn't a preconfigured warning whether I could cast a curse model or not?"

A young man grumbled to a black sphere hovering behind his head as he walked through Jingdou's INDIGO mall. His voice was neither loud nor soft and was hardly inconspicuous, but the rivers of people streaming along either side of him paid no attention. Du Lang had just departed from the bedding and home decoration sector with a successful purchase, and had enough time to preach to the all-knowing Sibyl.

"<Lesser>, <moderate>, and <master> thresholds of priority. You restored my privilege to the <master> threshold after I received my predecessor's 'legacy', so why couldn't I cast a single curse?"

[The host's privilege threshold was elevated to the <master> threshold. The privilege threshold determines the extent of which the curse or spell models utilized by the host can affect the environment or its specified target. The ability of the host to utilize and activate curse models depends on the host's <Freeform> curse model Privilege.]

"<Freeform> curse model Privilege?" Du Lang muttered in bemusement, and clapped his forehead with a sigh.

"If I recall correctly, I only had Beginner Privilege for that category. So that's why…"

[The host's current <Freeform> curse model Privilege is at the Beginner threshold. To improve to the Intermediate threshold, the host must create five <Freeform> curse models by himself.]

The cold female secretary's voice boxed him directly behind the ears, and Du Lang felt the beginnings of a roaring headache sprout its roots. He shook his head and stood before a luxurious display table of Louis Vuitton's newest fashion designer bags stored behind a thick layer of reinforced glass.

"Then, what curse models can I use now?"

[The host can freely utilize all <Basic> curse models without limit. With Beginner <Freeform> Privilege, the host can activate a single <Improved> curse model with a maximum applied duration of a month per day. Variation and Evolution curse models are categorized as <Improved> curse models.]

Of the splendid 'gifts' his predecessor had left behind for him, he could only use one at a time each day, and the curse could only be active for a maximum timeframe of a month. The mere thought that Sibyl had now added 'cooldowns' and progression limiters after a single inheritance of legacy left Du Lang utterly baffled.

This… predecessor of his, how did Er Gouming even guess the development of the modern MMORPG playstyle more than a hundred years before the concept even existed?

No, no – he wasn't dissatisfied that he could quite literally catapult someone's life and future into a miserable hell with a single careless statement. It was just that Sibyl adding a daily cooldown on all of the predecessor's legacy and making him, the successor, micromanage curse models to their maximum efficiency…

…it was kind of cute?

No, no, not cute! He did not want to experience the life of a video game protagonist – mindlessly exploited by the system until their death!

(ノ_・.)

Du Lang eagerly shook his head, tossing from his mind the miserable stories and novels that recorded the ultimate fall of the so-called 'protagonist' persona. He picked up a pastel canvas bag to admire it from all angles, whilst sneaking an arbitrary question towards the black sphere hovering directly above his head.

"So I can only utilize a single <Improved> curse model per day. What happens if I exceed that limit?"

[Activation of curse models beyond the applied limit will trigger an overdraft of the host's spiritual essence reserves. At the host's Beginner <Freeform> Privilege, Sibyl will only mitigate 15% overdraft spiritual essence consumption.]

"What happens to my body, then?" Du Lang pressed as he retrieved his phone from his pocket.

"Will I fall asleep for a third of the day again?"

[Following mitigation of overdraft spiritual essence consumption, 50% depletion will cause the host to fall into a comatose state for a variate duration between 8-10 hours. Exceeding this threshold is not recommended and can cause temporary to permanent neural paralysis and potentially death. Activating curse models with an indefinite duration will automatically consume 50% of the host's spiritual essence reserves.]

The curses he could activate had to either conform to the one-month duration, otherwise he would fall asleep like he had earlier? Certainly, he didn't remember defining a limit when he cursed Fan Ruyan's 'great-aunt' to double her monthly fury.

(-＿- )ノ

Du Lang tossed his next thoughts out of his memory as well, and returned to his original task of visiting the luxury clothing and accessory sector of the INDIGO mall.

This small, three hundred square meter section of the multi-story goliath of a shopping centre was infamous for ripping away the financial hopes and dreams of many males in Jingdou and even Quanzhou as they sought to appease the vanity of their lovers. Du Lang himself didn't have a girlfriend or lover, but he still stood directly in the gaping maw of flashy colors, expensive brands, and sharp, sharp female teeth.

Instead, he had a rather scary and terrifying sister to satiate.

A loving, terrifying devil of an elder twin sister.

"Hello? Langlang, so you finally got to the store?"

She was the most splendid specimen of a sibling that could be found anywhere on the surface of the earth. When they were children, she had taken up both roles of parenting to substitute their father and mother who had abandoned them at birth, and had accomplished a spectacular deed at that. She was the perfect sibling anyone could ask for, one that people would literally draw blades to obtain.

Charismatic, gentle, and unconditionally caring. Furthermore, those qualities were fused with the astonishing achievements as from the tender age of seven, she juggled the impossible burdens of education, employment, household care and parenting with ease.

An early graduation at Tsinghua University with the dominating position as twice valedictorian for both her undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as a nearly completed PhD thesis by the tender age of twenty-four years old. Compared to the monstrous genius in the family, the twin brother who had only managed to complete his undergraduate studies at the normal, ordinary pace and quit university directly afterwards was a shame mocked by many who knew her.

Of course, this twin brother who wasn't a genius had transformed himself into Jingdou's most feared aggressive journalist "Dalang" with the same time. But Jingdou was a grain of sand in the great ocean that was Hua, so it wasn't much of an achievement.

But… but… Langlang!?

What kind of nickname… he was a grown male who had made a good career for himself, alright!

(¬_¬)

"Langlang, are you trying the 'ignoring your elder sister' strategy? Elder Sister doesn't like it when you do that, mm…"

The voice was still considerably gentle and warming to the ear, but the impertinent and deadly threat concealed within was easily recognized by Du Lang. With the conditioned sweat and shivers coursing through his body, the proud journalist immediately snapped into attention.

"Elder Sister, I'm standing before the summer coast-themed Louis Vuitton bags," Du Lang cautiously tread on the thread-thin ice.

"However, the bag that you mentioned doesn't seem to be here. Which one were you exactly looking for – they are all made of canvas with threaded gold embroidery?"

There was a brief pause, and Du Lang fervently swore that he heard a slight cluck of the tongue. A wave of shivers flung itself down his back, and his posture straightened a bit further.

"Check carefully, then. There isn't a tote bag with black and white checkers? The hardware should be made of platinum, not gold."

Du Lang obediently strutted around the display table, observing the small but lavish array of unnecessary money stored behind a reinforced glass cover. After a thirty second stroll, he replied with a short and concise reply.

"None. But there is one with gold hardware?"

"That's a shame, then" his elderly sister revealed a light sigh.

"Langlang, get the bag with gold hardware then. Sister Tang has set up a meeting for you, so make sure to give it to her as a present, alright?"

"Meeting? Another blind date – Elder Sister, did I tell you that I am swamped in a busy perio –"

The smartphone cruelly interrupted his tirade with a cool and merciless beep, and Du Lang placed it back into his pocket with a rueful smile. As he picked up the appropriate checking tag assigned to the chosen bag and made his way towards the counter, he couldn't help but muse that not telling his Elder Sister regarding his early retirement was a good thing.

Well… good until she found out. Then he would find the depths of Hell rather appealing and comfortable.

People knew of her as the angel of all siblings. Only Du Lang knew the terror that lay within his Elder Sister's divine persona…

"Sir, would you like to have the bag directly, or stored in a dust bag?"

The female cashier respectfully blinked her eyes downwards as she received the checking tag from Du Lang. She ran the scanner over the tag, and when the details of the designer bag were displayed on the monitor directly besides her, the naïve young girl couldn't resist a brief swoon.

That unearthly handsome countenance and body figure! The tempting charisma oozing with an addictive, tantalizing charm…

If only she could receive a Louis Vuitton bag from him as a gift…

(///∇///✿)

"Ahem, sir, that will be 19,700 RMB in total," the cashier lowered her head to cover her blush.

"Will you be paying by cash or card…?"

Du Lang stood in silence and blinked, confused as to why the cashier's voice continued to decrease in volume until it was no more than a mouse's squeak, and her countenance had flushed into that of a ripe tomato. As he noticed other female customers and staff members displaying similar expressions of infatuation with flushed cheeks, he clucked his tongue in annoyance.

This damned pretty boy countenance!

"I'll be paying by card."

Du Lang grumbled to himself at the disadvantages of the exuberant countenance that was lethal to females, but maintained a neutral expression as he handed over a black card inlaid with eloquent golden symbols and an olive branch adorned with wings. He didn't think too much about the situation, but the cashier's movements become increasingly jerky and flushed as she noticed the constant stare at the back of her neck…

Eventually, after three failed attempts to insert the plastic card into the receiver of the machine, Du Lang received a receipt confirming his purchase and a complementary dust bag. The moment he raised his hand towards the nylon bag, a small lithe figure barreled towards the counter before him and snatched it with great haste and gusto before he could even close it.

Du Lang blinked in surprise as the small figure dashed from the mall with the Louis Vuitton bag in hand, leaving him with an empty dust bag…

"Hey!"

The retired journalist quickly snatched his trustworthy Xiaomi from its secluded pocket, and triggered the speedial for the security team assigned to Jingdou's INDIGO mall. The antique of a phone compared to the fresh suit and divine appearance caused many of the shoppers to gawk at the sight as the man calmly spoke into the microphone.

"Hello, I would like to report theft of a bag at Sector 5S-E – yes, the CHARM ME store. The bag's serial is 2938x-119A2, and the tracker has yet to be taken out…"