Doom-Bringing Raven

July in Kyoto was unbearably hot. Pedestrians on the street were all complaining that Hou Yi should have shot down the tenth sun, too.

In his rented apartment, Yang Qizhou lounged comfortably on the sofa with one leg dangling off, playing games in the air conditioning. Having just quit his job, he was so bored he could scream.

Suddenly, his phone flickered and opened a download screen.

[World of Weirdness] Loading.

Loading complete.

Brave explorer, would you like to enter this mysterious and perilous unknown world?

Yes/No.

"Is my phone infected? What kind of garbage app is this?" Yang Qizhou casually tried to uninstall it.

This app cannot be uninstalled.

???

So it really was going to play dirty. Yang Qizhou tried a few other methods, but they all failed. He simply tapped Confirm to see what this was all about.

The background was filled with bizarre, twisted, indescribable patterns. There was no grand cinematic opening, only lines of text appearing before him.

"You are a daring explorer."

"You are exploring an ancient ruin. Legend says it once housed a god who commanded fate. In the ruin, you find a statue of a deity. Thinking it must be worth a fortune, you ignore your companions' protests and try to take it. Your vision goes black, and you lose consciousness."

"When you wake, you find yourself in the Wilderness, and a strange understanding forms in your mind."

"You know you have left your original world and arrived in a land called the Ancient Earth. Here, evil gods lurk, the uncanny runs rampant, the bizarre multiplies, and terror reigns. The unknown and the mysterious coexist; the twisted and the wicked thrive together."

"You are eroded by the aura of the Ancient Earth. In a daze, you see countless souls wailing in a gray river, filth and corruption flowing across the land, and indescribable shadows behind the endless curtain of the sky."

"The power of fate on the statue accompanies you. It senses your plight and is about to bestow a blessing."

"Generating blessing..."

"You may choose one of the following blessings."

"Giant God Bloodline: The blood of the Giant Gods flows through your body. They are an ancient race of Dominators who command the authority of decay. Blessing effect: You will awaken a faint power of decay and have a high chance of being accepted by the Giant God Race."

"Doom-Bringing Raven: The dark raven that blasphemes against fate. Before fate, neither gods nor Ancient Dominators can take back a choice once made—but you can. Blessing effect: You may make your previous choice again, while retaining the fate of your original choice. Each choice can only benefit from Doom-Bringing Raven once. Daily limit: 5 uses."

"Ancient God Affinitor: Your traits will earn the favor of the Ancient Gods, making it easier for you to receive divine protection and travel farther across the perilous Ancient Earth. Blessing effect: You will find it easier to earn the favor of the Ancient Gods."

"Special reminder: Each blessing is unique and will not be generated again until its current owner dies. Explorer, choose carefully."

This was a text-based adventure game.

From the text, Yang Qizhou could sense the uncanny terror of the Ancient Earth and the vast scope of the [World of Weirdness] setting. Still, he felt a pang of disdain. What era was this? Why were they bringing back this old-fashioned style? Didn't they know that even many famous game companies' AAA titles were starting to lose their appeal?

Since he was playing anyway,

he might as well take it a little seriously.

Yang Qizhou thought it over. "This should be the character creation stage. Fate Blessing is the starting talent, and it determines the character's growth and how the story unfolds."

"Giant God Bloodline seems like a good choice. I'd be accepted by the Giant God Race and gain the power of 'decay.' Those are concrete benefits."

"Ancient God Affinitor seems pretty risky. First, I don't know what level the 'Ancient Gods' occupy in this game's world. If they're powerful, that's great. But if they're weaklings, the game won't be much fun."

"But this Doom-Bringing Raven is interesting..."

A blessing from fate actually included the power to blaspheme against fate. Yang Qizhou guessed that, unless the text had a bug, this blessing had to be something special.

"Five chances each day to make a choice again—that's basically reloading a save. The difference is... when other people reload, their progress is wiped, but I can keep whatever benefits I got from the story."

"So when the story branches, other players can only choose one path. But I'm different."

"I can choose them all."

Yang Qizhou had never been particularly invested in the game, so he felt no pressure about his choice. Doom-Bringing Raven seemed interesting, so he picked it.

There was still no sweeping cinematic scene, just pale text scrolling across the screen.

"The blessing of fate flows into your body. Arrogant and conceited, you believe that with Doom-Bringing Raven, you can conquer the terrifying, uncanny Ancient Earth. You completely forget the horrifying vision you just saw."

"You see gray-white mist ahead, with the faint glow of candlelight within it. You decide it must be a village. But, showing no reverence at all, you look around and spot a statue in the woods to your left."

"Will you ignore the statue and head for the village beyond the gray-white mist?"

"Or will you visit the statue first?"

"Arrogant explorer, make your choice."

As a keyboard warrior who knew a little about everything, Yang Qizhou knew enough about cosmic horror settings to understand that staying alive meant avoiding too much curiosity. He should keep away from buildings that looked suspicious and avoid getting involved with strange people.

Logically, heading to the village first and interacting with the NPCs to trigger the next part of the story was obviously the better choice.

"You decide to head for the village shrouded in gray-white mist. Recklessly, you look up at the sun."

"You find it strange, completely different from the sun in your original world. It is twisted, purplish-black, unspeakable, indescribable. You are utterly enthralled."

"You turn into a puddle of blood."

"You die."

???

Yang Qizhou was dumbfounded. He could accept being killed by a monster, hacked to death, or even tripping and dying on the way. But he'd died just from glancing at the sun? What kind of ridiculous plot was this?

And another thing—

Could the narrator speak like a normal person? What was with that contemptuous, disdainful tone between the lines?

"Garbage game. Damn it."

The text continued scrolling.

"Your soul leaves your body."

"You see a raging gray-black river. Countless dead lie sleeping beneath its surface. This is the River of Death, where all the dead belong."

"Your soul is sinking. Your consciousness slips into chaos, when mysterious whispers suddenly sound in your ear."

"You learn that the power of fate did not vanish when the blessing ended. It still watches over you, and the outcome of your death is being rewritten. You can return to the living world, but the flame of protection is limited. Each time your death is rewritten, it dims by one-third. It will only blaze again after midnight."

"Will you rely on the power of fate to rewrite your death and cling to life,"

"or will you act like a coward and let your soul sink into the River of Death, escaping the uncanny and bizarre Ancient Earth through death?"

In other words, you got three chances to revive each day, refreshed at midnight. If you exceeded that limit, your character would die for real.

Yang Qizhou quickly figured out what the game was telling him and prepared to choose revival.

"Doom-Bringing Raven takes effect."

"Fortune-favored Otherworldly Explorer, you now have another choice. You can use Doom-Bringing Raven's power to retain this fate and return to the moment of your previous choice."

"So, will you go back?"

What a stupid question. Of course he would. Yang Qizhou chose to use Doom-Bringing Raven.

"You return to the moment of your previous choice. Will you first head for the village shrouded in gray-white mist, or go see the strange statue in the woods to the left?"

"Let's hope you don't make a foolish decision this time."

This time, Yang Qizhou chose to check out the strange statue in the woods to the left.

"You retain the fate of your previous choice and know that looking at the sun will kill you. You resolve not to look at the sky."

"You arrive near the strange statue."

"You..."

Yang Qizhou's heart jumped. Well, going by the wording, whether he chose the village or the statue, he was going to look up at the sun either way. He really was doomed—like a long-lived old man eating arsenic.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. "Knock, knock, knock." The pounding was pretty loud.

"Who is it?"

"It's—it's me, Brother Qizhou. Hurry up and open the door. I bought a bunch of snacks and brought some over to share with you."

"Little Bean, you're a real pal. Brother Qizhou didn't spoil you for nothing. Hang on, I'm coming."

Yang Qizhou had just put down his phone and was about to open the door when he suddenly froze, his eyes wide with shock... Because, at some point, a black raven tattoo had appeared on the back of his right hand.