Pay-to-Win = Power?

“If someone wants to get stronger, they’ve gotta pay to win.

That’s a universal truth—unchanging since the dawn of time, am I right?”

“Money… is cold.

It’s heartless.

It’s meaningless—unless it’s used on yourself.

That’s when it truly gains value.”

The logic sounded airtight, but Sui Ming still felt something was off.

He just couldn’t figure out how to refute it.

“So—if you spend, you get strong.

If you don’t, you’re stuck at the same table as the F2P peasants.

If you wanna squeeze in with the high-spending whales…

You’re still not spending enough—”

“And that’s why I bought this.”

The crow pointed with its wing toward a pale blue bottle on the table.

Sui Ming picked up the bottle with one hand, eyeing the shimmering liquid inside with deep suspicion.

“…What is this stuff?”

“This baby’s the Dew of Azure Spring from [Linmoon],” the crow declared, voice full of pain.

“It cost me a fortune to get my claws on it.

My poor, poor money—!”

“Correction: my money.”

Sui Ming had heard of [Linmoon] before—it was where the spiritfolk lived.

Famous for producing mana-enhancing goods, and this Dew of Azure Spring was one of their hottest items.

Its effect?

It could grant [Soul Invocation] to someone still at [Mortal Dust] level—

And unlike Black-One’s method, it had no dangerous side effects.

In simple terms, it allowed someone to awaken early—

A power-up before even leaving the beginner village.

For someone like Sui Ming, who only had a flaming dagger to his name, it couldn’t be more ideal.

Then again…

That price tag was outrageous.

It was the first time Sui Ming had truly felt the absurd cost of this world.

Most items were tolerable.

But anything tied to [Soul Invocation] skyrocketed in value instantly.

What the crow didn’t mention?

It had only used half the bottle.

The other half was used to swindle some newborn dragon horn shavings and essence from Bai Ling.

After all, those materials were near-impossible to find in the wild.

Buying them the “normal” way would’ve cost even more.

“So… how do I use it?

Just drink it straight?”

Without waiting for an answer, Sui Ming raised the entire bottle and downed it.

“HEY!

WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!

YOU’RE GONNA EXPLODE!”

The crow actually looked panicked—a rare sight.

“…Hm?”

Sui Ming didn’t feel anything wrong at all.

He stood calmly in place, eyes blinking.

“…Feels… fine?”

“You idiot!

Spit it out!”

The crow frantically smacked his back like the sky was falling.

Suddenly—

Sui Ming’s heart slammed violently in his chest.

A wave of agony exploded through his body.

He dropped to one knee, cold sweat pouring from his face.

His entire body trembled uncontrollably.

Even Sui Ming—who’d once trained himself to ignore pain—was now grimacing in sheer torment.

“Hey!

What did he drink?!” Bai Ling asked anxiously.

“That stuff was supposed to be used in a bath!

How would I know he’d chug the whole damn bottle?!”

“Is there any way to fix it?!”

“Nope.

He either awakens [Soul Invocation] today—

…or he dies.”

Oddly, as soon as the word “death” was mentioned, the crow’s face turned calm again.

As if it were no big deal.

“Normally, someone who takes the Dew of Azure Spring has to bathe in it for seven days straight.

On the seventh day, they’d awaken and become a rare [Mortal Dust] level Soul Invoker.”

“The talented ones?

Some start showing effects by day five.”

“But drinking the whole bottle on day one?

Ha. What’s that if not suicide?”

Sui Ming’s consciousness drifted beyond the sky.

Golden light flooded everything.

He could no longer feel his limbs.

The world around him blurred into swirling chaos—

Like time itself had reversed.

Rivers flowed backward.

Mountains collapsed into plains.

Clouds turned to dew.

The blazing sun fell in reverse into dusk.

And finally, everything dissolved into void.

Despair.

Grief.

Loneliness.

Rage.

Regret.

Emotions he couldn’t name filled his heart.

Thoughts tangled into a storm—until the turning stopped, and light returned.

Two silhouettes stood in the void.

One golden. One black.

The golden figure smiled serenely, hands clasped behind his back.

The black figure held a pitch-black scythe, plunged straight into the golden one’s chest.

Gold blood sprayed like molten metal, pouring uncontrollably.

For some reason, Sui Ming felt a strange sense of familiarity.

He’d seen that golden figure… somewhere before.

The black figure’s face twisted in fury, eyes burning like wildfire.

Despair blanketed everything.

Even Sui Ming, merely watching, felt a chill seep into his bones.

“Why?”

The black figure roared.

“Xi—why did you do it?!”

“Cough…”

“For this world’s future, I had no choice.”

“Life is too fragile in this coming catastrophe.

There’s no ending where everyone survives.”

“Someone had to be sacrificed.

Isn’t that right?”

“Even so—it shouldn’t have been you!

It should’ve been me!”

The golden silhouette smiled faintly, voice weakening.

“Then, before I go…

Can I ask you a favor?”

“Take care of this world for me.”

“…Even if you hadn’t asked, I would’ve.”

The black figure turned his face away.

He didn’t want to witness the final moment.

“…That’s good… that’s good…”

Then, the golden figure turned—

And looked straight at Sui Ming.

His divine gaze held a gentle smile.

He raised a finger—pointed at him.

A golden beam shot from the void—

And pierced straight into Sui Ming’s body.

“The future…

It’s yours now.

I’ve laid the foundation with the past—

All that remains is for you to harvest the fruit.”

“LIKE HELL I WILL!”

Sui Ming slapped the beam off his chest with a backhand,

Then grabbed it and chucked it into the endless void.

The golden figure’s expression shifted in shock.

The once calm, divine face contorted in disbelief.

Even the black figure looked surprised—

Though he quickly returned to his emotionless posture.

“I came here to RETIRE!

Not to get assigned some grand destiny, okay?!”

“Goodbye, sir!

HELLOOOO peaceful retirement!”

If he just played dead—

No one would bother with him.

So what if his past self was some legendary playboy hero?

He didn’t even look the same now!

What did that have to do with him, Sui Ming?

Perfect strategy!

Genius plan!

Hahahahahaha!

“And for all of you trying to make me work overtime?”

“DREAM ON!”