Fate Is Fucking Unfair

Fate was actually unfair.

This was another truth Fang Ran had come to understand in life.

Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths, while others were born in impoverished mountain villages. Then there were all sorts of things, like some people being born good-looking, some being born smart, and others being born losers~~

But!

Looking at the transparent interface floating before him, Fang Ran felt for the first time just how unfair Fate truly was.

"No. Way. Right!?"

Half an hour earlier.

Boom!

With a deafening crash, the entire station collapsed without warning—cleanly, decisively, and without hesitation.

Crash!!!

A tremendous roar came from above as huge chunks of concrete and rebar came crashing down. There was nowhere to hide in the open station hall.

Fang Ran was stunned!

His mind went blank for a second before instinct made him turn and run toward the station entrance!

At that moment, his mind was completely filled with overwhelming shock and confusion!

What the hell was going on?

Hey, I'd just been sitting in the station, and then the perfectly fine station collapsed?

Huh?

Wasn't I in one of the country's top cities?

How had this huge station, newly built last year and even featured on TV, turned into some shitty tofu-dreg project?

I hadn't done anything horribly evil today, had I?

Could it be that I'd pulled the plug on an internet café in my past life?

Fang Ran ran for his life, all kinds of fucked-up thoughts racing through his mind.

Then, just as he started wondering whether he had murdered someone or committed arson in his previous life—

His vision went black, and he was buried alive.

So those near-death flashes and slowed-down perceptions were all bullshit after all.

That was Fang Ran's final thought.

"Wait!!"

With a violent jolt, Fang Ran suddenly woke up in his chair!

He was drenched in cold sweat, his entire body still remembering the icy sensation of being crushed to death.

"What the... how?"

Fang Ran looked at himself, sitting safely in the station chair as though nothing had happened. There was not a single wound on his body. He swallowed nervously before finally realizing the fact that pulled him out of that lingering coldness.

I'm not dead.

"Ha... ha."

The moment he understood that, Fang Ran went limp in the chair and gasped for breath. Then, after calming down enough to look around, he noticed two things and immediately collapsed onto the floor.

It was dark, and there was no one around.

An unnatural silence seemed to hang over the surroundings—or rather, over the entire world.

The instant he saw this, his palms went cold and his pupils shrank. Fang Ran's whole body stiffened.

Hey, hey, no way. Don't mess with me. Wasn't this supposed to be the hottest part of the afternoon? Why was it suddenly nighttime?

And there was nobody here?

"No! Stay calm! Calm down! Fang Ran, twenty years old, no criminal record, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, virgin, single for approximately his entire life."

Fang Ran muttered nonsense he did not even understand because of how nervous he was, telling himself to calm down and first figure out his surroundings.

Then he stood up and looked around.

No one ahead. Okay.

No one on the right. Great.

No one on the left. Nice.

Fang Ran sat back down. There was no one around. It was terrifying, but at least no one was threatening his safety. That was what he told himself.

Then, just to be safe, he casually glanced behind him.

And saw a Zombie standing there.

"Phew, it's just a Zombie."

Fang Ran sighed in relief. At least it wasn't a person. No danger there.

Then he ran for his life!

"Fate, fuck your ancestors!!!!"

"AOOO!!!"

Fang Ran's furious cursing and the Zombie's howl rang through the station together.

Bang!

Fang Ran slammed the glass door shut, grabbed a broom from nearby, and jammed it through the handles as a bolt. Without even having time to choose a route, he fled, thinking that movies had not been useless after all. That calm move amid the chaos should at least buy him some time. Then he looked back.

The Zombie smashed straight through the glass door and charged out.

I fucking knew movies were all lies!

Seeing that the Zombie had not been stopped at all and was still charging at him, Fang Ran gritted his teeth and cursed as he sprinted at full speed!

His breathing grew heavier, his throat burned like fire, and the aching exhaustion of the final stretch of a long-distance run hit him. Only then did Fang Ran truly regret all the things he had failed to do in the past.

I'm sorry, PE teacher. I was wrong. I shouldn't have thought your classes were completely useless and that taking attendance all the time made you insane. Next time, I'll definitely run the thousand meters seriously.

"So bless me!"

Fang Ran shouted as though he were about to cry, fleeing wildly while chaotic thoughts surged through his mind.

What was going on!?

Where did this Zombie come from!?

And come to think of it.

Why was there even a Zombie!?

Was this the first instance dungeon for the protagonist of some infinite-flow webnovel!?

A Zombie? Why not just throw me into an overused Raccoon City while you were at it?

I'm telling you, Resident Evil was already over, Umbrella Corporation had gone bankrupt, and Zombies were outdated! Do you even understand that?

Please provide the text you would like me to translate. I am ready to process it according to your instructions.

If you do, then make this thing that's about to bite my ass go away!

As he gritted his teeth and ran madly, Fang Ran desperately screamed these nonsensical thoughts in his heart. Memories rose in his mind like a tide, seawater washing over fragments of thoughts from his ordinary life, the ebb and flow dredging things from the depths and throwing them toward the shore.

Then, as he ran, dodged, turned, and looked back, something buried deep in his eyes—some emotion he had long laid to rest—was about to surge forth.

Ding! An unexpected entity has been detected. Survival time has exceeded 60 seconds. Primordial Qualification granted.

Ding! Welcome to Night Battle.

Something that made him freeze appeared before his eyes.

The pale blue transparent screen hovered in front of him. Watching the Zombie that was about to catch him, Fang Ran, with nowhere left to run, could only shout at the screen!

"Anything is fine! Hurry up and stop that thing behind me!"

Fang Ran twisted his head to look at the Zombie chasing him. It moved at roughly an ordinary person's speed, but it did not seem to get tired. If this continued, he would definitely be the first to collapse.

Ding! Request received. Would you like to draw an ability?

"Draw, draw, draw!!! Hurry the hell up!"

His breathing sounded like a bellows as he gasped desperately, still looking back at the Zombie while shouting at the interface that had suddenly appeared before him!

Ding! Please touch the interface or make a sound at will. Depict or speak of the deepest thing in your heart. Good luck.

With a hum, the pale blue square interface transformed into a disc, covered in intricate and exquisite patterns. But Fang Ran had no time to care about any of that. He kept looking back at the Zombie drawing closer and closer, his eyelids twitching. After barely understanding the instructions amid the shaking of his run, he shouted without thinking!

"I want SSR!!!"

The pale blue disc seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then all the patterns converged, the disc shrank, and a new page formed.

Congratulations, you have obtained an SSS-rank ability (smile)

An incredibly peculiar page appeared, but Fang Ran was too busy looking back at the Zombie to notice.

Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained a new ability.

Hummm!!!

The previous, somewhat unusual system notification seemed to be quietly covered up. In its place came another interface prompt—and the entire space instantly froze.

Bang!

It felt as though he had run into a wall. Fang Ran fell flat on the ground, his heart turning cold before he realized that the Zombie behind him seemed to have been paused, completely motionless.

Then he looked blankly at the interface informing him that he had gained a new ability.

Damn, was this really some infinite-flow webnovel cliché?

He hesitated, but in the end Fang Ran fell silent for a moment, then let out a helpless, self-mocking sigh and gently tapped the ability interface before him.

Then a locked book dropped into his hands.

His first thought, which made him pause slightly, was—

Hey, why did this book look kind of familiar??

Beginner Guide

Night Battle — A hidden urban scenario trial.

Fulfill unknown conditions to make a wish. Fulfill victory conditions to obtain this round's reward.

You have obtained an ability.

The Time Stop effect will last until this beginner guide ends.

Looking at the string of pale blue message panels, Fang Ran opened his mouth slightly. Finally sorting one thread out of the utter chaos in his mind, he swallowed and asked blankly,

"So I have an ability now, right? I can kill that thing behind me?"

Yes.

Night Battle abilities change according to the user's state of mind. They are broadly divided into the Tech Side and the Mystic Side. There are cultivation arts, battle qi, ancient martial arts, Abilities, magic, witchcraft, and many other forms of manifestation, born from what the world acknowledges and what the participant personally longs for.

"Cultivation... Abilities! Really?"

Fang Ran froze in disbelief. The moment he heard those words—

Something in his heart seemed to rise from dead ashes.

Wielding Qing Feng in hand, soaring freely through heaven and earth; or hiding among ordinary people, strange arts and supernatural powers curling into a smile amid the bustle. Unshackled and free—or on the other side of technology, in forgotten corners of a forgotten age, draped in archaic mage robes as unknowable power lit up from a staff and spread into a magic circle that shattered reality!

Living in this world, perhaps everyone had once looked forward to it amid the repetitive ordinariness of tomorrow.

Looked forward to a power that could shatter the mundane.

Remembering certain distant memories, remembering the days when that child had believed without doubt, Fang Ran picked up the book with difficulty. Then, the instant he sensed something was wrong, every thought in his mind snapped apart.

Wait, this seemed a little different from what I imagined!

Why did it look familiar—

Looking at the object in his hands, something that should have been a Magic Book of some sort, Fang Ran felt something was off. He watched it slowly overlap with something he had seen on television many years ago.

"No. Way. Right!?"

The moment he recognized what it was, Fang Ran suddenly raised his face expressionlessly. All the emotion from before retreated deep into his mind as he asked the pale blue system,

"Didn't you say abilities were things like cultivation arts, battle qi, ancient martial arts, Abilities, magic, and witchcraft?"

Ding! Correct.

"Then explain to me why the hell you gave me something exactly like the cards from Cardcaptor Sakura!!!"

With a frantic roar, Fang Ran raised the Magic Book in his hand as though he were holding a brick, his hair standing on end as he furiously wanted to smash it.

God.

Why this!?

Where was my cool, badass ability? Even if it wasn't some high-class power like cultivation, Abilities, magic, or alchemy, you could have at least given me something strange and unique!

Fang Ran felt the expectation that had revived for that one second die completely.

Why was it that, even though we were both chosen, I knew the protagonist's abilities were always so cool and overpowered?

Ding! Repeating: ability manifestations differ according to the user.

Fate really was unfair!

For some reason, those words popped into his mind. Fang Ran gritted his teeth until he trembled, then viciously threw the book in his hand down and cursed!

"Fuck your Clow Cards! I'm not a Magical Girl!!"