Kai ripped the headset off, leaving Anya suspended in her stunned silence. The sheer exhilaration of the battle—the rush of Qi, the speed of the Foundation Establishment breakthrough—was replaced by a singular, immediate purpose: his family.
He still had the 1,000 V-CR reward and the 15,000 V-CR (half of Anya's fortune, he suspected) that had been silently transferred to his virtual account, as per her grudging agreement. This was more money than he had seen in two years.
[FINANCIAL STATUS: TEMPORARILY STABLE]
New V-CR Balance: 16,000 (Equivalent to ~$320 USD at the current exchange rate).
It was enough. Not enough to pay off the debt, but enough for immediate relief.
He slipped out of the apartment before the children stirred. The [STELLAR LEAP] core skill was still grayed out, pending activation, but his physical speed and strength had surged by 40%. The walk to the market—a painful, hour-long trek yesterday—took him less than fifteen minutes of brisk, effortless walking.
The market was a chaotic, beautiful mess of noise and smells. Kai ignored the cheap synth-foods and walked straight to a stall selling genuinely fresh produce. He bought milk that was milk, not nutrient paste, real eggs, and fresh, sun-dried protein bars.
His final destination was the dingy tech supply store. He slapped down a roll of digital credits and bought the highest-grade filtration unit the store carried—a Tier-2 model that was silent and highly efficient.
He returned to Apartment 7-D just as the morning chaos peaked. Jax and Maya were engaged in a low-level diplomatic dispute over a plastic toy; Elara was trying to climb the counter; and Finn was still using Kai's discarded shoe as a teething implement.
"Papa is back!" Maya announced, instantly running to him. She stopped short, smelling the bag. "Is that… real citrus?"
Kai knelt down, pulling out the fresh goods. "It is. And a special delivery for the air quality team."
He immediately set about installing the new filter. It was supposed to take a technician thirty minutes, but Kai's enhanced [DATA] and [INT] stats made the instructions seem like a kindergarten coloring book. His Qi-enhanced physical strength allowed him to perfectly align the heavy filtration unit in seconds.
Click. The old rattling stopped. The new unit hummed, the air in the small room immediately feeling cleaner, sharper, and noticeably colder.
Ellie watched, tears welling in her eyes. "Kai… that's a Tier-2 filter. How did you get the credits?"
"I took a risk, love," Kai said, putting his arm around her. "A calculated, data-driven risk. And it paid off. Today, we eat fresh. And we breathe clean."
He saw the relief flood her face—a relief far more profound than any virtual gold.
He looked over at the children. Jax stopped running; the cleaner air seemed to calm him. Elara looked around, her tiny nose twitching. Maya inhaled deeply, a delighted look spreading across her face.
[SLICE OF LIFE: FAMILY NOURISHMENT SUCCESSFUL]
Child Well-being Index (Average): 42% -> 75% (Sufficient Air Quality, Improved Nutrition.)
Reward: HOST QI REFINEMENT BOOST (MINOR) – Emotional validation translates to faster Qi circulation.
The System confirmation of his family's health improvement was the most rewarding notification Kai had ever received. His cultivation wasn't just about personal power; it was about their measurable well-being.
The System rewards me for protecting them.
The rest of the morning was pure, unadulterated slice of life.
Maya's Perspective:
Maya wasn't a baby like Elara, or a noisy drone like Jax. She was a planner. She knew the bills were late. She knew Papa often looked like a ghost. But today, Papa's hands were steady, and his eyes were clear, like the screens at the corporate data centers.
She watched him fix the filter. He didn't use a diagram; he just knew where the wires went. And the milk! It tasted rich and cold, nothing like the powdered stuff.
Later, while Elara and Finn were napping, Maya brought Kai her most precious possession: a cracked data-slate containing all the blueprints of Nexus Corp's old drone models.
"Papa," she whispered, clutching the slate. "I know you need to buy things. This is rare. You can sell it."
Kai smiled, a real smile that creased the corners of his eyes. He didn't take the slate. Instead, he pulled up a simplified version of his own System interface onto his virtual pad and showed her the [DATA] stat.
"This is your power, Maya," he said. "You track the blueprints. You know how things work. Don't sell your knowledge; refine it. That slate is worth more to us as information than as scrap."
He then used his own improved focus to quickly show her a flaw in the Nexus drone design—a thermal venting weakness. Maya's eyes widened. She wasn't just cleaning his shoes; she was now part of the fight.
Jax's Perspective:
Jax loved speed. He loved the idea of flying between buildings on a data stream. He kept bumping into the walls because the small apartment was too slow.
But when Papa came back, everything changed. Papa's hands were so fast when he put the new filter up, Jax couldn't even follow them.
Later, Kai taught Jax a new 'game.' "Jax, this is a Qi exercise. Close your eyes. Count your breaths. Feel the air moving in and out, like a river," Kai instructed.
It was boring at first, but then Jax felt it—a cool, tingling feeling in his stomach. It made his head stop buzzing.
[NOTIFICATION: YOUNG HOST JAX'S QI PATHWAY STIMULATED. INT +1.]
When Jax opened his eyes, he was slightly disappointed that he wasn't flying, but he felt ready. He felt strong. He felt like a real data drone.
Slice of Life: Back to the Grind
That evening, after his family was fed and resting comfortably in the clean air, Kai faced the VR headset again. The emotional refill from his family was immense, but the core debt remained. He had only bought a twenty-four-hour reprieve from Boris.
He had to check in with Anya. He had promised her the truth.
He logged into Aethelion. The first thing he saw was an encrypted communication pinging his inbox from IRON ROSE (ANYA).
Message (Encrypted – Tier 3):
"Vance. You are either a fool or a genius. You leveraged a debt collector against Nexus Corp's interests. I have initiated the protection protocol; your dwelling is shielded from corporate harassment for 30 days. Now, you owe me the truth. Meet me at the Grand Exchange Data Repository – Physical location, tonight. I need to see if your Qi Punch is real, or just a sophisticated hack. If you fail to appear, I will assume the latter, and your protection expires."
Anya wasn't just interested; she was testing him. The Grand Exchange was in the heart of the Mid-Sector, a dangerous location far outside the protection of the slums, a place crawling with low-level cultivators and corporate spies.
Kai looked at the blue pill he had forged—the Qi Pill (Minor). He had consumed one. He could forge another, but the [FORGE] was still on a long internal cooldown and required another [Data Shard].
He looked at his new Core Skill:
[CORE SKILL: STELLAR LEAP (TIER 1)]
Description: A flash movement technique derived from ancient stellar navigation codes. Allows the Host to instantly jump a short, calculated distance, leaving minimal Qi trace.
Cost: 5 E-PT per use.
Kai had zero E-PTs remaining. He had used them all to forge the first Qi Pill.
"I need to find a way to earn virtual credits and convert them to Essence without exposing myself to Nexus Corp's data-crawlers," Kai muttered.
His attention immediately fell to Maya's gift—the cracked data-slate with the Nexus Corp drone blueprints.
[NOTIFICATION: DATA-SLATE ANALYZED. POTENTIAL VIRTUAL ASSET DETECTED.]
Asset Value: Tier-3 Drone Design Flaw.
Recommendation: Do not sell. Forge this data into a Weapon Blueprint using the [FORGE] function for a massive [DATA] stat boost.
Kai smiled. The path was clear: he had to use his family's information to gain the power he needed to protect them. Anya was waiting, and the next big leap in his strength was just one [FORGE] away.