This...

  Stirling was speechless at the prompt before him. It was like a splash of cold water that quenched his excitement before it could even burst forth.

  This lump of mud he'd kneaded weighed only a little over four grams at best. According to the current market price, one gold coin is worth five silver coins of the same weight. He would have to give up four years of his life just to pay the registration fee if he enhanced. That's a steep price!

  No, no, try again.

  Stirling rubbed the mud in his hands, erasing the inscription. He then reshaped it into the shape of a coin and engraved the words Silver Coin on it.

  [Current enhancement requires a lifespan of three months and seven days. Enhance?]

  Damn! It takes three months to enhance a single silver coin of the same weight. Might as well enhance it into gold! Stirling cursed within, threw the mud out of the door, and stood up, somewhat distraught. Then he paced the room. After circling the table a few times, Stirling had another idea. He sat back down at the table, pulled a silver coin from his belt, his eyes burning.

  [Current enhancement requires 30 days of life. Do you want to enhance it?]

  One month? It sounds better. This time, Stirling didn't hesitate and chose yes.

  [One Groschen Gold Coin]

  Enhanced from a Groshen silver coin, value equal to 5 silver coins. You can use it to buy something delicious or a fierce physical fight with a beautiful stripper, you know.

  Feeling the glittering coin in his hand, Stirling raised an eyebrow.

  Although the weight remained the same, the value increased fivefold.

  Not bad, not bad. I can handle it. Stirling let out a sigh of relief and enhanced all the remaining silver coins one by one. In the end, after expending three months of life, he gained three gold coins. It's a shame that enhanced items can't be enhanced again. But anyway, gold coins are easy to exchange.

  Stirling looked at the three gold coins on the table, then packed them up and placed them in a cloth bag. He took a few sips of water and hurried out the door. It was almost evening when Stirling returned to the courtyard. Only after he had closed the door and sat back in his chair did a hint of joy appear on his face. He pulled out a few cloth bags from his chest and emptied them onto the table.

  Clatter...

  Silver coins landed on the tabletop with a crisp clatter as Stirling poured them. These silver coins were Stirling traded for the enhanced gold coins in the afternoon. He dealt at three different locations.

  On the exchanges that were spread out, they were quite safe. Plus, the small amounts used did not draw attention. Thus, new silver coins after trade had gone from second-hand to first-hand. And I could enhance them again! I am a Genuis!

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Thinking about this, Stirling rubbed his hands with excitement. Then, he picked up a coin and strengthened it. After some time, ten of the fifteen silver coins on the table were swapped for gold coins. The value amounts to fifty silver coins. This enhancement had cost him almost a year of life. So now he had only fifteen years left.

  Too hard! My lifespan isn't enough. Stirling sighed inside. He knew this was the quickest way to earn money. So, he stopped complaining, gathered the silver coins from the table, and put them in a fabric bag.

  Everything is ready except for my coming. A mere martial arts entrance fee can be a problem for me? No way! Stirling hummed a little tune. He stood up, stretched, and walked to his bedroom, yawning. He had been traveling for the past few days, so he needed to rest well tonight. Tomorrow's registration is a big deal, and Stirling knows he cannot make light of it.

  Night fell. In a small hut in the Three River District, a family of three lay fast asleep on two beds joined side by side. Before bed, they mixed a tranquilizer pill with water and took it each by each. Even though the dosage was lower, it still blocked most of the Yearning Malice. This is a common tactic among the poor residents of the outer city.

  At midnight, the three residents of the bed sensed something. Their brows furrowed, revealing the impact of the Yearning Malice in their dreams. The boy was fine; at such a young age, he was still naive about sexual relations between men and women. He simply rolled over, muttered a few words, and fell back into a deep sleep. The couple next to them had sweat on their foreheads. Their skin was flushed, and they clasped their hands tightly. They were clearly in extreme distress.

  To lessen the impact on their son, they gave most of the potion to the child each day. They shared the rest among themselves. This weakened their resistance to the Yearning Malice. It's hard to imagine how the residents of the outer city lived under the influence of the Yearning Malice. After all, a man and a woman in the same room were even more vulnerable.

  A man, unless he is impotent, will usually evoke the urge for sexual activity when sharing a bed with a woman. It is human instinct. The yearning malice only added fuel to the fire, intensifying the desire.

  But the couple was well aware of the situation. They assumed they could endure it. After all, the potion, even if insufficient, at least alleviated the pain, a pain they got used to. When life was walking on thin ice; this pain was nothing.

  But tonight, they gradually noticed that something was amiss. The Yearning Malice, usually lasting only two hours, flared up tonight and didn't seem to fade. Even more frightening, the warm room felt icy in an instant, causing the couple to shiver.

  "Darling!" The woman was the first to awaken from her dream. She couldn't help but sit up in bed and call out to the man beside her. The man, half asleep, also woke up, tightening the surrounding quilt. Then, curiously, he asked, "Huh? Why is it so cold?"

  "Don't sleep! Hurry to cover son. It's strange; are we still dreaming?" The woman snatched the quilt from the man's hand, muttering as she prepared to cover the boy next to her. As she turned her head, her pupils enlarged rapidly, and a sharp scream broke free.

  "What's wrong?" Her husband sat up right away at the woman's scream and asked.

  "Son!" The woman, her face filled with panic, pointed at the boy in the crib next to her; her voice was shaking.

  Her man followed her finger in the moonlight and saw a scene that made his scalp tingle. A pitch-black substance enveloped the boy's entire head, which was constantly wriggling out of his mouth like a living thing.

  "My boy!!" The man lunged forward, trying to grab the black substance from the boy's head and pull it free. Yet, he found it impossible to rip it off; it seemed to have taken root.

  "Is this... hair?" The man's voice trembled, feeling the smooth texture in his hand. Next, he felt an itch at the back of his head, as if something was growing wildly under his scalp.

  "Ah ..." A shrill cry came from the hut, but strangely, no one nearby noticed it, as if the entire county were falling into a deep sleep.