"Boss, one pack of braised beef noodles." Covered in blood, William Clark handed over a five-yuan bill. The middle-aged supermarket owner, David Bolton, looked at William Clark with suspicion and uncertainty...

William Clark picked up two packs of braised beef noodles from the shelf and left; he knew he looked far too frightening.

The snow was still falling. As the snowflakes drifted past the dim yellow streetlights, the scene looked like a familiar movie clip.

William Clark walked on the thin layer of snow, leaving a long trail of footprints. The white snow and the black ground, the dim yellow light and the deep, dark sky—abrupt yet harmonious.

Suddenly, he turned back to glance at everything he had just passed, as if something in his life was starting to change from this moment on.

……

"William Clark! What happened to you!" The moment William Clark opened the door, Little Clark asked in a panic.

He really was covered in too much blood. Earlier, William Clark had even run into two pedestrians on the road, who were so frightened they kept their distance.

"It's nothing, I got hit by a car, but I'm not hurt," William Clark explained.

Little Clark looked at William Clark as if she were looking at an idiot. Covered in blood like that, and he says he's not hurt?! "So you mean you killed the car, right?! It bled this much?!"

William Clark's face instantly darkened. "What do you mean I killed the car? Can you even talk properly! I'm going to take a shower. Cook the instant noodles yourself... and make a bowl for me too!"

He didn't bother explaining anything else to Little Clark, because he knew there was no way to make her understand.

Hot water washed over William Clark's body as he stood under the shower, examining himself. The steam fogged up the bathroom mirror.

"Nothing's really different," William Clark muttered quietly. At this moment, his body looked the same as before, at least on the outside.

If it weren't for the new sapling pattern in his palm, he might really have thought everything that just happened was just a daydream.

William Clark stared at the pale sapling mark in his palm. Suddenly, a new interface opened in his mind: Main Menu.

Below the main menu were two more options: Shop, Lottery Center, and Income Record.

William Clark mentally clicked on the shop to take a look. Only one item in the list was lit up; the rest were all grayed out, so blurry he couldn't even tell what they were.

And this one item available for purchase was a bit strange.

Stellar Fruit, price: 1000.

Then, below the shop, there was a line of small text: Balance, 697.

William Clark was a bit puzzled. What was this 697 about? What kind of currency did the shop use? And how did he have a balance in there?

Just then, the 697 suddenly jumped and became 701!

William Clark remembered there was an Income Record option on the main menu outside the shop, so he quickly clicked into it to take a look. Inside were detailed records of his income.

Negative emotions from David Bolton, +131, +27, +5, +1, +1.

This thing seemed to be ongoing. But what was with these negative emotions from David Bolton? Wasn't David Bolton the chubby supermarket owner? Could it be that he was so scared by William Clark's bloody appearance that his negative emotions became William Clark's income?

Isn't this just like the legendary villain who grows stronger the more others fear him? Except those guys get stronger right away, while I have to buy things to level up?

Chapter 5: Negative Emotions

William Clark looked further up. There were more than ten points from Brian Cooper, and more than ten from John Thompson. Those must be the two pedestrians he ran into earlier?

There were several hundred points from Henry Bolton. Was that the truck driver who hit him? Otherwise, why would someone else contribute so much? William Clark was starting to understand what was going on.

There were over a hundred points from Little Clark, probably because he scared her just now.

At this moment, William Clark scrolled the record list back to the bottom and suddenly saw a new line of small text appear out of nowhere: Negative emotions from Grace, +1.

William Clark's face darkened immediately. Wasn't Grace that young guy from this afternoon? All he did was snap at him once, and he's still holding a grudge now? How petty can you get?!

But looking at it this way, it's not just fear that increases his income—any negative emotion works, even resentment!

Thinking of this, William Clark suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He'd just been worried he'd have to go out and scare people like a ghost, but now it seemed unnecessary. The world seemed to be getting chaotic all of a sudden. If he really dressed up as a ghost and jumped out, what if some righteous powerhouse came along and struck him with lightning? That would be bad.

Now that there are superpowers, people who fight evil will probably show up sooner or later too.

As for making people resent him... that's something William Clark is good at...

After finally figuring out where his income came from, William Clark went back and clicked on the last option, the Lottery Center. Inside was a spinning wheel, with a pointer and a button. Next to the button was a line of small text: Each spin costs 100.

This made William Clark happy—at least he could try it out now. He clicked start, and the wheel began to spin. In his mind, William Clark shouted "stop," and the wheel began to slow down.

"Thank you for participating!"