As someone in sequence 001, I also want to give up today.

We finished eating hot pot, and it was already past nine o'clock at night.

When Chen Zhe tried to argue about the bill, Li Xian shut him down with a simple, "Didn't we agree that you'd treat?"

The two parted ways at the store entrance. Chen Zhe said he had to go back to the company to work overtime. Li Xian now knew that this "overtime" was probably nonsense, but he didn't call him out on it.

Take care, don't stay up too late.

Li Xian waved lazily.

"I know! You should get some rest too, Brother Xian!"

Chen Zhe got into a taxi and drove off.

Li Xian strolled slowly home alone.

The autumn night breeze was a bit chilly. He unconsciously rubbed a small cluster of pure white flames between his fingertips, which rolled around in his palm like a gentle little sun.

The heat from the flames dispelled the chill just right, without burning your hands.

"This ability..."

Li Xian looked at his palm.

"Does this mean I don't need to wear a down jacket when going out in winter?"

He thought for a moment and tried to spread the heat of the flames throughout his body.

It doesn't actually ignite the clothes, but rather allows a very thin layer of heat energy to evenly cover the body surface, like an invisible insulating film.

Successful.

The chill completely disappeared, and I felt warm and comfortable, like soaking in a hot spring.

"Good."

Li Xian nodded in satisfaction and extinguished the flame.

Back home, Li Yu was sitting cross-legged on the sofa watching a variety show.

Holding a bag of potato chips, he laughed so hard he almost fell over.

"Brother, you're back?"

She didn't even turn her head.

"Is the hot pot delicious?"

"good."

Li Xian changed his shoes.

"What are you looking at, laughing like that?"

"This new dating reality show is hilarious; all the male guests are incredibly straight."

Li Yu moved aside to make room for him.

Do you want some potato chips?

"No, I'm full."

Li Xian slumped on the other end of the sofa, picked up the remote and changed the channel—a military documentary about aircraft carriers.

Li Yu glanced at it:

Why do you always look at these things?

"Learn something new."

Li Xian made up something on the spot.

"In case the world ends one day, we'll know where the aircraft carrier is safest to go."

"The end of the world?"

Li Yu chuckled.

"Brother, have you been writing too many novels? Are you even hallucinating?"

"Who knows?"

Li Xian looked at the huge ship on the TV screen and said absentmindedly.

The two siblings chatted casually.

Li Yu talked about things at school—which professor was particularly strict, which cafeteria had particularly bad food, and which senior student in which club was pursuing her but she wasn't interested.

"That's right, you're not interested."

Li Xian rarely takes things seriously.

"Focus on your studies in college, don't spend all your time thinking about dating."

"So you still support me and Chen Zhe?"

Li Yu tilted her head.

"Ah Zhe is different."

Li Xian shifted to an even more slumped position.

"I watched him grow up, I know him inside and out. Who knows what those young punks in your school are up to?"

"Oh, so now you're protecting me?"

Li Yu leaned closer with a smile.

"When I received a love letter in junior high, you said, 'Handle it yourself, don't bother me.'"

"Back then I was in high school, and I couldn't even finish my own homework, let alone have time to take care of you."

Li Xian spoke with righteous indignation.

Li Yu pursed her lips and yawned:

"I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep now. You should go to sleep early too, brother."

"Um."

Li Xian responded.

"Good night."

The door closed.

Li Xian continued watching the documentary.

The aircraft carrier is conducting carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing training at sea, and the scene is stunning.

I slept without any dreams.

Li Xian was woken up by the sunshine on the weekend.

It wasn't the kind of gentle awakening.

Instead, the bright, scorching light shone directly on his eyelids, forcing him to struggle out of his dream of "all-you-can-eat sweet and sour pork ribs."

He squinted at his phone—10:07 a.m.

Great, that's the standard wake-up time for the weekend.

He slowly got up from the sofa—yes, he slept on the sofa again last night because he was too lazy to walk back to his room—and shuffled to the kitchen in his slippers.

There was a sticky note on the refrigerator door, written in Li Yujuan's neat handwriting:

哥：

The school suddenly organized a field research trip to a neighboring city, lasting two days and one night.

There are pre-made dumplings in the refrigerator, on the second shelf of the freezer.

The instant noodles are on the left side of the cupboard; don't eat them every day.

Remember to write your article! The editor messaged me again yesterday to remind me!

—Leaving this at 7:00 AM on Saturday (light rain)

Li Xian stared at the note for three seconds, then reached out, tore it off, crumpled it into a ball, and precisely threw it into the trash can.

"Research..."

He muttered something as he opened the refrigerator and, sure enough, found two boxes of dumplings in the freezer: one with chives and pork, and the other with three kinds of seafood.

"A weekend survey? You're kidding me."

But he didn't think much of it.

Li Yu has always been like this since she was a child; she has a lot of ideas.

Even in elementary school, I could go to the Children's Palace by myself to register for extracurricular classes.

In high school, I dared to argue with teachers about unreasonable assignments; in college... it's perfectly normal to have some mysterious "weekend activities."

Anyway, she's shrewd enough not to suffer any losses. Besides, he can sense any major problems that might arise, and that's the confidence the Endless Source gives him.

Li Xian took out the box of three-delicacy dumplings, counted out twelve, and threw them into the boiling water.

The pot was washed clean last night—using [Consciousness Cutting] to wash it remotely, leaving no water stains.

While waiting for the water to boil, he turned on his phone.

The editor's reminders for the manuscript came again, this time with a different tactic: instead of threats, they played the victim.

"Xian Da, my KPI this month is just one book short of yours... I need to pay rent, feed the cat, and send my kid to school (even though I don't even have a boyfriend)... Please, give me a start..."

Li Xian curled his lip and replied:

"I'm writing it."

Then close the chat window and open the novel reading app.

The dumplings were bubbling in the pot. He gently stirred them with chopsticks to prevent them from sticking while he brushed the pages of a fantasy novel he had recently been reading.

The protagonist is facing the crisis of his entire family being wiped out. He is the only one left who jumps off a cliff to escape, and he will inevitably encounter an old man or find a secret manual at the bottom of the cliff...

"The same old trick."

Li Xian commented, but still continued reading.

After all, the reason a routine is a routine is because it works.

The dumplings were cooked, so he took them out, plated them, added some vinegar and chili oil, and placed them on the coffee table in the living room.

I turned on the TV and randomly selected a variety show as background noise.

He sat cross-legged on the carpet, eating dumplings and reading a novel, occasionally glancing at the guests on TV playing those embarrassing games that made his toes dig into the ground.

When I was eating my eighth dumpling, my phone vibrated again.

This was a post from a novel forum; someone had replied to one of his previous posts.

The post title is: "Rational discussion: What do you think of the title 'Urban Superpower: The Unemployed Master'?"

Someone left a comment below:

Netizen A: The Venerable Master of Laziness? These days, authors will write anything to ride the wave of popularity. Can you even handle a supernatural theme?

Netizen B: This is obviously a light novel for beginners. It's probably another one of those trashy tropes where the system is invincible from the start.

Netizen C: The author must be a shut-in, calling himself a celestial being, is he suffering from severe chuunibyou?

Li Xian put down his chopsticks and licked the vinegar from the corner of his mouth.

Oh ho, we've got a job coming up.

He wiggled his fingers and tapped the reply box.

First, regarding user A:

"Can't handle superpower themes? What a coincidence, I just used my superpowers to cook dumplings. Want to try some? I guarantee they'll taste better than the instant noodles under your keyboard."

Next, netizen B:

"The system's invincible start is a trashy trope? Then can you recommend one that isn't trashy? Is it 'Thirty Years East of the River, Thirty Years West of the River'? Or 'The Broken Engagement'? Or 'Transmigrated into a Useless Young Master'? We're all fans of tropes, so why pretend to be high and mighty?"

Finally, netizen C:

"Late-stage chuunibyou? Thanks for the compliment. After all, who writes novels normally? Everyone's a little bit eccentric. Judging from your comments, you're quite ill yourself; I suggest you make an appointment."

Click send.

All in one go.

Li Xian picked up the ninth dumpling with satisfaction, dipped it in vinegar, and put it in his mouth.

On TV, the guests were playing "Pictionary," drawing abstract symbols that looked like scribbles, leaving the guessers completely bewildered. As Li Xian watched, he suddenly felt an urge to try it himself.

He glanced at the computer.

Or... should I write something?

Write about... what is the first thing the protagonist does after awakening his superpower?

Li Xian thought for a moment, put down his chopsticks, and moved to the computer.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard for three seconds.

Then he began revising his previous novel:

Chapter 1: After Awakening, All I Want Is to Lie Down

Lin You opened her eyes and discovered that she could control fire.

It wasn't a small flame; it was the kind of fire that could burn the entire kitchen to ashes.

He was stunned for three seconds.

Then, he opened the refrigerator.

"What should we eat for lunch...?"

As for saving the world?

Let's talk about it when the takeout arrives.

Li Xian stopped here.

He glanced at the text, then at the three dumplings remaining on the plate.

It seems... a little too real.

He deleted the last two lines and changed it to:

"What should we eat for lunch...?"

He yawned and decided to take a nap first.

superpower?

I'll study it after I wake up.

Hmm, that's better.

He continued writing, having the protagonist use his fire-controlling abilities to reheat last night's leftovers, then use his mind to control a spoon to eat, and finally collapse on the sofa to watch TV—never leaving the living room throughout the entire story.

As he wrote, Li Xian himself laughed.

Isn't this just a carbon copy of what happened yesterday? The key difference is that he has an additional consciousness splitting ability compared to the protagonist.

"Art comes from life," he remarked.

He stopped writing when he reached 1,500 words and checked it over.

The writing is fluent, the plot... is barely interesting, and the protagonist's "if the sky falls, I'll ask if it will affect my livelihood" kind of salty attitude is quite distinct.

He thought for a moment and added an ending to this chapter:

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

He turned over and went back to sleep.

All he wanted was a good dream.

Click Save.

"Done." Li Xian stretched. "Today's writing assignment is complete."

Although it's only 1,500 words, at least it's not a zero.

If the editor keeps urging him, he'll send the chapter over, at least to prove he's "writing".

He glanced at the time; it was 12:30 PM.

It's time for lunch.

But the dumplings were already gone.

Li Xian opened the food delivery app, browsed for a while, and finally ordered a braised chicken rice with extra spice, extra enoki mushrooms, and an iced cola.

Order placed successfully.

While waiting for his takeout, he slumped back onto the sofa and opened the game.

I haven't finished that dungeon from yesterday; I need to clear it today.

Log in, form a team, and enter the instance.

Everything went smoothly until we reached the final boss, when one of our teammates suddenly started slacking off and went AFK the entire time.

The team chat exploded:

Teammate A: ? ? ? What's that mage doing?

Teammate B: AFK player! Report him!

Teammate C: Bro, if you're going to AFK, can you at least not enter the dungeon?

Li Xian didn't speak.

He controlled his character, an assassin, skillfully dodging the BOSS's skills while unleashing devastating attacks.

If you want to AFK, then so be it. Four people can still play.

But the mage who was AFK suddenly moved—not to fight the BOSS, but to start randomly casting spells, attracting a bunch of mobs.

The entire team was wiped out.

Back at the respawn point, teammates started flaming each other:

Teammate A: Mage, you *******!

Teammate B: Was that on purpose?! Are you sick?

The monk typed slowly:

"Excuse me, I just received a phone call."

It's obviously an excuse.

Li Xian narrowed his eyes.

He exited the instance and opened the mage's profile—the level was quite high, the equipment was good, but the win rate was very low, and the reviews were full of comments calling him an "AFK player" or a "troll".

Row.

He copied the mage's game ID, switched to the forum, and posted a thread:

"AFK (away from keyboard) and still acting like a human? What kind of new breed is this?"

Attached are screenshots of the battle log and the mage's ID.

Within three minutes, a reply appeared below:

Netizen 1: It's this ID again! I was also tricked by him last week!

Netizen 2: Report him! He's a cancer in the gaming world!

Netizen 3: Calm down, OP. This kind of person is definitely a loser in real life and can only find a sense of existence in games.

Li Xian watched with satisfaction as the number of replies increased, then switched back to the game.

The mage seemed to have seen the post and messaged him privately:

"Are you crazy? It's just leaving your computer running, why are you publicly shamed on the forum?"

Li Xian replied:

"You have drugs? It's just your ID being used, why are you sending me private messages to hurl insults?"

Master:

"!"

Li Xian:

"Rebound."

Then block them.

comfortable.

Just then, the food delivery arrived, so he put down his phone and went to open the door.

The aroma of braised chicken wafted over him. He carried the bag back to the living room, opened the package, and found rice topped with chicken and potatoes, the red oil looking tempting.

He took a bite; it was spicy enough.

I ate while continuing to browse the forum. The post about the AFK (away from keyboard) user had dozens of replies, all of them cursing him.

Li Xian liked several particularly creative and sarcastic replies.

After finishing his meal, he cleaned up the trash, and after thinking about it, he decided to wash the dishes and utensils using [Consciousness Slicing].

A thin silver thread extends out, wrapping around the bowls, chopsticks, and plates, automatically peeling off the grease and letting it fall into the trash can.

The dishes and chopsticks were restored to their clean state and then neatly stacked back in the cupboard.

The whole process took thirty seconds, and my hands didn't even get wet.

"This ability should really be promoted to all lazy people," Li Xian commented.

In the afternoon, he watched a movie, played some games, and took a nap.

When I woke up it was already evening, and the sky was tinged with orange-red sunset.

Li Xian sat up and stared blankly for a while.

My sister isn't home, so the house is unusually quiet.

At this time of day, Li Yu should already be back, busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, or sprawled on the sofa scrolling through her phone, occasionally complaining to him, "Brother, you slept all afternoon again."

He's all alone now.

It's a bit...too quiet.

Li Xian scratched his head, got up and went to the balcony.

Outside the window, the city lights gradually come on.

The evening rush hour traffic moved slowly along the streets, like a luminous river. In the distance, neon signs on tall buildings flickered intermittently.

He suddenly remembered the energy fluctuations he had sensed last night, those moving northward.

Is my younger sister among them?

What exactly was the "research" she went to participate in?

Li Xian didn't know.

But he wasn't worried.

Li Yu was never a child who needed to be worried about.

She is intelligent, independent, and has her own opinions.

She was bullied by older students in elementary school, but she didn't tell her teacher or her parents.

I went to the other student's homeroom teacher, clearly explained what had happened, and finally had those students write self-criticisms.

In middle school, a boy pursued her all the way to her home.

She called the police directly, saying that someone was harassing her. When the police arrived, she even poured tea for the officers and chatted with them about the neighborhood's security situation.

Needless to say, in college, she managed her scholarships, clubs, part-time jobs, and so on in an orderly manner.

What could possibly happen to a sister like that if she goes out for two days?

Li Xian shook his head, trying to shake off those thoughts.

He went back to the living room, turned on the TV, and found a food documentary to watch.

In the video, a chef is processing a live fish with exquisite knife skills, slicing the fish meat into paper-thin pieces.

As Li Xian looked around, an idea suddenly came to him.

He went into the kitchen and took out half a fish left over from yesterday from the refrigerator—the sweet and sour fish that Li Yu had made, which he hadn't finished.

He used [Consciousness Cutting] to condense fine threads that wrapped around the fish's body.

Then, try to replicate the knife skills of the chefs in the documentary.

It's not about actually cutting, but rather using fine mental threads to "pre-cut" at a microscopic level, allowing the fish meat to separate naturally along the grain.

The first attempt failed. The fish was cut into a mess.

The second one was better, but the thickness was uneven.

the third time……

The silvery threads move nimbly among the fish flesh, like a living scalpel.

The fish bones were completely removed, the fish meat was cut into even thin slices, and even the fish skin was kept intact.

The whole fish was transformed into a perfect plate of sashimi.

Li Xian stared at the plate of fish slices and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he took out soy sauce and mustard, dipped them in the sauce, and ate them.

The taste... was not bad.

"New skill acquired."

He was talking to himself.

That evening, he ordered some barbecue for a late-night snack and watched the latest anime while eating.

Before going to bed, he glanced at his phone.

Li Yu posted a blurry photo of a night scene on her WeChat Moments, with the caption: "On the research trip, goodnight."

The location was a neighboring city, but Li Xian could tell at a glance that the angle of the photo was...

It doesn't resemble any school or research institute; it's more like a floor-to-ceiling window in a high-rise building, with an unfamiliar city skyline outside.

He neither liked nor commented.

I simply turned off the lights and lay back down on the bed.

The moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a silvery-white glow on the floor.

Li Xian closed his eyes.

Deep within consciousness, two forces, silver and crimson, flowed quietly, like two parallel rivers.

Deeper still, in the ocean known as the "Power of All Things," lies a calm and still expanse.

It waits.

But Li Xian wasn't in a hurry.

Let's talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow.

The weekend is still long.

He turned over and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, in the capital city, thousands of miles away, beneath a heavily guarded building, a meeting that would determine the fate of many was just beginning.

But Li Xian didn't know or care about those things.

All he knew was that he could sleep in until he naturally woke up tomorrow morning.

This is enough.