"Boss, how do you feel right now?"
A-Qi filmed Li Pan with a tablet, while the spider-drone activated its cameras, circling him.
"I'm fucking starving…"
Li Pan opened his mouth and let out a piercing shriek, like compressed air blasting from a spray gun, blowing A-Qi's hood off.
A-Qi had to type: "…What is the boss saying?"
Spider-18: "Probably telling you to roll him back."
A-Qi: "But I already rolled him back. The company called when the alarms went off."
Li Pan shrieked: "Damn, then I'm finished…"
A-Qi: "What's he saying now?"
Spider-18: "How should I know? His chip isn't built-in, I can't interface. Maybe he's telling you to delete his save?"
Li Pan shrieked: "Eighteen!!"
Spider-18: "See? He confirmed it."
A-Qi: "Boss, don't give up! Maybe you can still be saved. Believe in yourself!"
Li Pan shrieked: "A-Qi!!"
Spider-18: "Try poking him, see how many times he yells."
Li Pan shrieked: "Fuck!"
A-Qi: "Boss, wait, I'll call HQ for instructions."
Spider-18: "Don't. The Tech Division already pinged me when you were gone. They said F58 'Bedsheet' radiation hit critical levels. They warned not to keep provoking it. If you tell them now, they'll assume a safety hazard and wipe the boss's file for real."
Li Pan shrieked: "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Spider-18: "You were busy asking about Huang Dahe."
Li Pan shrieked: "So you can understand me!"
Spider-18: "Not really—just guessing."
Li Pan shrieked: "Fuck!"
A-Qi: "Boss, why aren't you moving? Can't you?"
Li Pan turned, slowly raised his right hand, then punched the air.
BOOM!
The punch broke the sound barrier! A shockwave shook the sealed warehouse, nearly blowing A-Qi and Spider-18 off their feet.
Li Pan shrieked: "I can't move without going Mach 5! I can't stop it!"
A-Qi and Spider-18 exchanged looks.
"No choice. Let him cool off. Maybe in three days he'll reset."
Li Pan shrieked: "Fuck!"
Spider-18 added: "Boss, maybe try the Silver Key. Some things can only be solved in that world."
Li Pan: "…"
They recorded footage, filed reports, and left.
Li Pan sighed. He could puncture the sheet with a finger-thrust, but he couldn't control the force—might tear his own face open.
The Silver Key… looks like that's the only way.
He pulled out a silver key—the third one that damned bedsheet had cost him. Finding no keyhole, he just swallowed it.
The effect was instant.
He opened his eyes—and saw the bearded master.
"Teacher Xian…"
Same cell. Xian stood with hands behind his back, looking down at Li Pan sprawled on the floor.
"To observe one spear form, and yet need a month's meditation? Your soul is too frail. Still half asleep?"
A… a month?!
One day outside equals a month here?
"Dreams? Hah. Qingyun, that outer heaven you call reality—that is the illusion. That nest was chosen by your elders to help you hatch. When you awaken from the shell, that world will dissolve. Tell me—what is real, and what is but dreamlike illusion?"
Hatch? Shell? Illusion?
Li Pan instinctively touched his chest—pulled out a white handkerchief.
The bedsheet?! It followed him here?!
Xian beckoned, and the cloth floated into his fingers.
"Ah. Neither thing nor nothing. Since you brought it from the Abyss, it has fate with you. I shall refine it into a treasure for your protection."
Before Li Pan could react, Xian waved his sleeve. The world spun.
He found himself outside the prison cell.
Before him stretched a bizarre landscape:
A vast black ocean, darker and thicker than oil, perfectly still, like solid jelly. Above, a purple sky, heavy with clouds, no stars.
He stood on a gray island, a few kilometers wide, with a Taoist temple on a hill. The architecture resembled the Nine Yin Shrine of Mount Zhong. Xian's silhouette was already entering.
Inside, the entry shrine held a jade goddess statue: robe and crown finely carved, but the face left blank.
"Bow," Xian's voice commanded.
Li Pan knelt, kowtowed nine times, then entered.
Three courtyards with meditation rooms; then a lecture hall like a private academy; then the alchemy yard, with a nine-tiered black-iron furnace. Through glass vents he saw azure flames, jewels tumbling.
Suddenly a carved toad on the furnace spat out a green pill, fragrant as herbs long forgotten in smog-choked Night City.
Immortal elixir!
Xian's voice:
"This furnace refines Nine True Minor Rejuvenation Pills. They restore qi and vitality. The one now is flawed—refuse. Every three days you must clear the dregs into the sea."
Li Pan plucked it anyway, popped it into his mouth.
Oh my God!
Like a giant pop-rock candy—exploding fragrance rushing into his organs! Qi gushed through his meridians, refreshing him utterly.
Full restore!
"Heavenly treasure! Being an immortal rocks!"
Xian sighed. "…Over a flawed pill, such fuss. Come to the rear yard."
Energized, Li Pan followed.
There he saw a massive ritual array like a compass, with hundreds of circles and glyphs. At its center floated the bedsheet.
Xian sat on the altar, forming seals with one hand, pointing with the other, shifting the formation. Golden light shone. With a flick of his whisk, he lashed the cloth, tossing it through the air, glowing, never landing.
"Yes! Beat that cursed bedsheet!" Li Pan clapped.
Xian glared. "Silence. Watch and learn."
He performed 108 seals before stopping, then recalled the cloth.
"How much did you memorize?"
Li Pan sweated. "A… a little."
Xian handed him the cloth. Nine golden talismans now glowed on it.
"This treasure bears 108 seals, with nine transformations. Enough to protect you until 'Qi Refining into Spirit.' Our Dao has true teachings here. Practice."
Then he vanished, leaving libraries full of scrolls—most illegible to Li Pan.
"…Can't we start with literacy lessons, teacher?!"
Frustrated, Li Pan tried the seals himself. He found he could recall them all—perhaps Xian had made sure he could see the qi flow.
He infused the cloth with his qi. After twelve seals, one talisman shone, but he was drained to near collapse. Tossing it, the cloth expanded into bedsheet form, flying at Mach 5 under his control—before he nearly fainted.
"Not bad… but damn exhausting."
He popped another flawed pill—qi restored instantly, though the headache remained.
Clearly the treasure had a cooldown.
Sitting cross-legged, he meditated—then drifted into sleep.
When he awoke, he was back in the warehouse. The cloth was in his hand, with nine glowing talismans.
"…Was that dream—or is this?"
He stuffed it into his suit pocket. His glasses were broken, synthetic skin torn, but at least his chip survived.
Around him, four light-pillars projected a blue cube.
"What the hell is this?"
Spider-18 entered, carrying heavy weapons. She retracted them quickly.
"Oh boss! Only ten minutes and you beat the monster! We knew you could!"
"Smartass… what is this thing?"
Spider-18 deactivated the barrier.
"Tech Division's recommended containment for Bedsheet. High-polymer fields, based on non-Newtonian fluid principles—fast objects can't penetrate. Weakness: high-energy lasers can trigger chain reactions."
"Oh… Tech Division?" Li Pan asked. "You've been inside? What's it like?"
Spider-18:
"When the warehouse alarm triggered, all assets gained emergency access. I just grabbed gear. Lots of weird prototypes—probably stuff ex-employees built to control monsters.
But boss… how did you subdue it?"
Li Pan smirked.
"Easy. Solved it in a dream."
.
.
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⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
💥 High-voltage cyberpunk. Urban warfare. AI paranoia.Read 30 chapters ahead, only on Patreon.
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