Travelers of All Heavens, Fate Dice

Cataclysm Calendar, Year 198.

Shanghai City, Eighteenth Ring, a shantytown by the city wall. Wisps of cooking smoke slowly rose.

Inside a dilapidated shack at one corner of the shantytown, Xiao Miao stuffed a rifle into his backpack, tucked a pistol into his waistband, and finished gearing up.

"Fifteen minutes until I become a Traveler of All Heavens. I'm a little nervous."

His reincarnation luck really sucked. He had been an orphan before transmigrating, and after transmigrating into this perilous world, he still began as an orphan.

Fortunately, on the day they turned eighteen, every human had one chance to defy fate. Whether they rose to prominence overnight or faded into obscurity depended on this gamble.

He connected to the interface with his thoughts, and a pale blue screen appeared on Xiao Miao's retina.

The screen was completely blank for now, with only [Fate Points: 925] in the lower-right corner standing out conspicuously.

Twenty-five Fate Points had been painstakingly saved through frugality, while the other nine hundred had been forcibly loaned by the government, repayable at thirteen for every nine borrowed.

If he failed to awaken a powerful talent and could not earn enough Fate Points while traveling through the heavens, the debt would only grow larger, turning him into part of the most solid foundation of the lower class.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Faint gunshots came from the direction of the city wall. The soldiers guarding the city were dealing with contaminated monsters that had slipped through gaps in the shield.

Jade Emperor, Rulai Buddha, Jesus, Cthulhu, Horus, bless me. Let me awaken an awesome talent!

Xiao Miao prayed silently, checked his equipment once more, and after confirming everything was in order, immediately opened the virtual interface the moment the clock struck twelve.

A pop-up window automatically appeared on it.

[Travelers of All Heavens, please note: dimensional traversal is about to begin]

[Countdown: 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1!]

[Traversal begins!]

As the words "Traversal begins" appeared, Xiao Miao's vision went black. He instantly lost consciousness, and his entire body vanished completely in a flash of white light.

The intense sensation of weightlessness made Xiao Miao instinctively crouch halfway down to steady himself.

A wave of heat swept in from all directions. Sour, stale, sweltering air invaded his nostrils. Xiao Miao forced himself to focus and immediately drew the pistol from his chest, warily preparing for any danger that might appear.

Although first-time travel through the heavens was highly safe, accidents had happened before. It was best to be cautious.

Fortunately, misfortune did not strike. Xiao Miao looked around and found himself in a dark alley. A garbage bin stood nearby, with filthy water flowing beneath it. That was where the sour stench came from.

Seeing obvious human-made objects put Xiao Miao somewhat at ease. After confirming that no one was nearby, he summoned his personal interface with a thought.

In an instant, orange light bloomed across his retina, making Xiao Miao unconsciously hold his breath.

Orange? Why was it orange?

Talent grades, from low to high, were white, green, blue, purple, and gold. Xiao Miao had never heard of an orange talent.

Had the transmigrator's cheat finally come online?!

Xiao Miao opened his personal interface with his thoughts, and a flood of information immediately appeared before him.

[Name: Xiao Miao]

[Age: 18]

[Physical Strength: 4]

[Soul Strength: 7]

[Energy Strength: 0]

[Status: Full, Mild Dizziness]

[Fate Points: 925]

[Skills: Japanese Lv. 3, English Lv. 3, Chinese Lv. 7, Cooking Lv. 5, Combat Lv. 5...]

[Talent (Unique): Fate Dice]

[Ability: Form a bond with a person of fate, consume Fate Power, and draw one possibility from among countless destinies.]

The description of the ability was far too abstract. It was impossible to understand from the words alone, but the instant he awakened the talent, its usage had already been imprinted in Xiao Miao's mind.

It was like how, once boys reached a certain age, they naturally understood that certain organs had uses beyond urination.

His innate talent was like Xiao Miao's third hand. His bodily instincts let him understand its general use.

"Looks like I'm about to take off!" Xiao Miao's eyes lit up.

His talent allowed him to draw prizes from a certain type of special person, drawing abilities, items, or even exclusive character cards from among the countless futures across their countless timelines.

The deeper his relationship with the other person, the greater the weight of the [possibility] he could draw, and the higher the odds. Every draw consumed Fate Power, which was the Fate Points in his account.

It was an ability with both an extremely high ceiling and an extremely low floor!

Xiao Miao was now desperate to find someone to test it on.

At that moment, the interface also displayed the mission information for this traversal:

[Traversal mission triggered: Obtain 200 Fate Points (1/200). If the mission fails, connection will be permanently severed!]

[Optional investigation mission triggered: Explore the fate trajectory of the current world 0/1. Mission reward: 1,000 Fate Points. Failure penalty: None!]

[Optional cover identities: High school student (50 Fate Points), reporter (70 Fate Points), homeless person (20 Fate Points)]

Traversal missions were mandatory. Having the connection severed meant the interface would disappear and he would completely lose the ability to return to the main world.

As invaders, Travelers of All Heavens earned Fate Points through every action they took in this world. That was why the interface displayed 1/200. Looking at it this way, the difficulty of the first traversal really was low.

Xiao Miao focused on the cover identities, glancing toward the entrance of the alley from the corner of his eye.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians and traffic, presenting a scene of prosperity.

In modern society, having a cover identity was absolutely necessary. An undocumented person could barely get anywhere and could easily be harassed by the locals at critical moments. There was no need to save that money.

Xiao Miao eliminated the homeless person option. His gaze lingered between high school student and reporter before he finally chose reporter.

As a reporter, it was perfectly normal to wander around the world investigating things, right?

Once he made his choice, seventy Fate Points instantly vanished. Xiao Miao felt his pockets bulging, reached inside, and pulled out a press card, a driver's license, and a mobile phone.

"Tsk, creating things from nothing!" Xiao Miao marveled at how awesome the interface was again.

The phone was a flip phone with a distinctly retro feel. His driver's license bore his ID photo. Xiao Miao examined the press card and slowly read out his current identity.

"Raccoon City Daily intern reporter: Xiao Miao Smith?!"

"!!!"

"Holy shit, Raccoon City!"

In an instant, images of zombies besieging the city and a nuclear explosion flooded his mind, along with Ashley's cuteness, Jill's heroic bearing, and Ada Wong's countless outfit mods...

Was this really the Resident Evil world?

If so, Xiao Miao suddenly understood who the [person of fate] in his talent description referred to.

Could they be the protagonists of the story?

Drawing one possibility from the protagonists' countless destinies... Did fanfiction and derivative works count?

A barrage of wild ideas raced through Xiao Miao's mind.

"Ring-ring-ring~~~"

The phone suddenly rang. He flipped it open and answered. An excited man's voice came through. "Xiao, where did you run off to? A huge story just broke in the suburbs. Our chance to get rich is here! Where are you? I'll come pick you up!"

Xiao Miao: "..."

This was probably his partner during his internship as a reporter, perhaps a cameraman or something, but...

What kind of major story could make him so excited? Had they discovered zombies?

Was it still possible to leave the city now?

Xiao Miao glanced at the interface. The status bar did not contain the words [Virus Infection].

Thank goodness...

At least the T-virus in this world could not spread through the air.