Doom-Bringing Raven

July in Kyoto was truly sweltering, and pedestrians on the streets were all complaining, wondering why Houyi hadn't shot down the tenth sun as well.

In his rental apartment, Yang Qizhou was sprawled comfortably on the sofa with his legs dangling, playing games with the air conditioning on. Having just fired his boss, he was bored to the point of stagnation.

Suddenly, his phone screen flickered and entered a download interface.

[World of Weirdness] is loading.

Loading complete.

Brave explorer, will you enter this unknown world filled with mystery and weirdness?

Yes/No.

"Did my phone get a virus? What kind of trash software is this?" Yang Qizhou went to uninstall it immediately.

This software cannot be uninstalled.

???

So it was going to play the rogue, was it? Yang Qizhou tried a few more methods, but they all failed, so he simply clicked confirm to see what kind of trick this was.

The background interface consisted of strange, grotesque, and indescribable patterns. There was no grand CG opening, only rows of text appearing before his eyes.

"You are a daring explorer."

"You are exploring an ancient ruin. Legend has it that a deity who held dominion over fate was once worshipped here. You found a statue in the ruins and, thinking it would be very valuable, ignored your companions' warnings and tried to take it. Your vision went black, and you lost consciousness."

"When you wake up, you find yourself in the wilderness, and a strange realization emerges in your mind."

"You know that you have left your original world and arrived at this land known as the Ancient Earth. Here, evil gods lurk, weirdness runs rampant, grotesqueries multiply, terror rages, and the unknown coexists with mystery, while distortion and evil grow together."

"You are eroded by the aura of the Ancient Earth. In a trance, you see countless wandering souls wailing in a gray river, the land flowing with filthy and unclean corruption, and indescribable shadows behind the endless veil of the sky."

"The power of fate upon the statue accompanies you. It senses your predicament and is bestowing a blessing."

"Blessing generating..."

"You may choose one of the following blessings."

"Giant God Bloodline: The blood of the Giant God Race flows through your body. They are a clan of Ancient Dominators who hold the authority of decay. Blessing effect: You will awaken a faint power of decay and have a high probability of being accepted by the Giant God Race."

"Doom-Bringing Raven: A raven that commits Blasphemy against fate. Before fate, whether it be gods or Ancient Dominators, one cannot regret a choice once made—but you can. Blessing effect: You can remake your last choice, while the fate of the original choice is still retained. Each choice can only use the 'Doom-Bringing Raven' blessing once. Daily usage limit: 5."

"Ancient God Affinitor: Your traits will gain the favor of the Ancient Gods, making it easier for you to receive the protection of deities and travel further in this Ancient Earth filled with weirdness and terror. Blessing effect: You will find it easier to gain the favor of the Ancient Gods."

"Special reminder: Each blessing is unique and will not be generated again until the original owner dies. Please choose carefully, explorer."

It was a text-based adventure game.

Yang Qizhou could see the weirdness and terror of the Ancient Earth and the vastness of the [World of Weirdness] game background between the lines, but he felt a wave of disdain in his heart. What era was this? Still doing this kind of retro revival? He didn't know that even many 3A masterpieces from well-known game companies were starting to fall out of favor.

Since he was already playing, he might as well take it a little seriously.

Yang Qizhou analyzed it carefully. "This should be the character creation stage. The fate blessing is the initial talent, which determines the character's development and the direction of the plot."

"The Giant God Bloodline is a decent choice. Not only can you get accepted by the Giant God Race, but you can also acquire the power of 'decay.' The benefits are tangible."

"The risk of the Ancient God Affinitor fate blessing is quite high. First of all, it's unclear what level the 'Ancient Gods' are in the game's worldview. If they are very strong, that's fine, but if they are weaklings, the subsequent gaming experience certainly won't be very pleasant."

"This Doom-Bringing Raven, however, is a bit interesting..."

Among the blessings from fate, a power that committed Blasphemy against fate had actually appeared. Yang Qizhou guessed that if the text wasn't bugged, this blessing was definitely extraordinary.

"Five chances a day to remake a choice—isn't this just save-scumming? The only difference is... when others save-scum, the data is cleared, but I can still retain the benefits obtained from the plot."

"So when the plot reaches a fork in the road, other players can only choose one path, but I am different."

"I can choose them all."

Yang Qizhou's attitude toward this game was casual from the start, and he felt no psychological burden in making choices. Feeling that this "Doom-Bringing Raven" was interesting, he chose it.

There was still no grand CG scene, only pale text sliding by.

"The blessing of fate is infused into your body. Arrogant and conceited, you believe that possessing the Doom-Bringing Raven allows you to conquer this Ancient Earth filled with weirdness and terror, completely forgetting the terrifying hallucinations you saw just moments ago."

"You see gray-white mist ahead, with candlelight faintly lit, and judge it to be a village. But having no reverence at all, you look around and find a statue in the woods to your left."

"Do you decide to ignore the statue and choose to head to the village behind the gray-white mist?"

"Or do you want to go to the statue first to take a look?"

"Self-important explorer, please make your choice."

As a keyboard warrior who knew a little bit about everything, Yang Qizhou was relatively familiar with Lovecraftian settings. He knew that in such a worldview, if you wanted to save your life, it was best not to have too much curiosity, to stay away from buildings that looked problematic at first glance, and to avoid getting involved with strange people.

And heading to the village first to make contact with NPCs and trigger subsequent plot points was clearly the logical choice.

"You decide to head to the village in the gray-white mist. You look at the sun in the sky, courting death."

"You think the sun is very strange, completely different from the sun in your original world—twisted, purple-black, unspeakable, indescribable. You are completely captivated by it."

"You turn into a puddle of blood."

"You have died."

???

Yang Qizhou was stunned. Being killed by monsters, hacked to death by people, or even tripping and dying while walking—he could accept any of those. But dying just from looking at the sun? What kind of ridiculous plot was this?

And another thing, could the narrator please speak like a human being? What was with this tone of disdain, contempt, and mockery between the lines?

"Trash game, damn it."

The text continued to scroll:

"Your soul has left your body."

"You see a surging, grey-black river where countless undead slumber in the depths. That is the River of Death, the final destination for all who perish."

"Your soul is sinking, your consciousness falling into chaos, when suddenly, mysterious whispers echo in your ears."

"You realize that the power of fate did not vanish with the end of the blessing; it still favors you. Your death is being rewritten. You can return to the living world, but the light of protection is limited. Each time your death is rewritten, it dims by one-third, only reigniting after midnight."

"Will you rely on the power of fate to rewrite your death and continue to linger on in this world,"

"Or will you act like a coward, letting your soul sink into the River of Death, using death as a way to escape the treacherous and grotesque Ancient Earth?"

It meant there were three resurrection chances per day, resetting at midnight. If he exceeded this limit, the character would truly die.

Yang Qizhou quickly decoded the game information and prepared to choose resurrection.

"The Doom-Bringing Raven has taken effect."

"As an Otherworldly Explorer who relies on good luck, you now have an additional choice. You can use the ability of the Doom-Bringing Raven to retain this fate and return to the moment before your last choice."

"So, will you go back?"

What a stupid question. Of course he was going back. Yang Qizhou chose to use the effect of the Doom-Bringing Raven.

"You have returned to the moment before your last choice. Will you head to the village shrouded in grey-white mist, or go to the woods on the left to examine the strange statue?"

"I hope you won't make a foolish decision this time."

This time, Yang Qizhou chose to head to the woods on the left to examine the strange statue.

"You possess the fate of your previous choice and know that looking at the sun will kill you, so you are determined not to look at the sky."

"You have arrived near the strange statue."

"You..."

Yang Qizhou's heart skipped a beat. Good grief, judging by the literal meaning, no matter if he chose to go to the village first or come to examine the statue, he would end up looking at the sun. It was like an old man eating arsenic—he was dead for sure.

Just then, a knocking sound rang out—"Bang, bang, bang"—and it was quite loud.

"Who is it?"

"It's, it's me, Brother Qizhou. Open the door quickly! I bought a lot of snacks and came specifically to share some with you."

"Little Bean, you're a loyal one. Brother Qizhou didn't spoil you for nothing. Wait there, I'm coming."

Yang Qizhou had just put down his phone and was about to open the door when he suddenly froze, his eyes filled with immense horror... because on the back of his right hand, a tattoo of a pitch-black raven had appeared out of nowhere.