A New Tale of the Six-Faced World

Preface:

"This is my first novel, dedicated to myself and to every reader who opens this book."

"My writing may be immature, and the plot may still have its flaws, but I can at least say that I wrote it with sincerity."

"May this journey bring you a moment of joy."

The story begins:

The night was as black as ink, dyeing the entire sky.

A cold rain, fine as icy silk, washed every corner of the city.

The cold rain and the colorful neon lights fell upon the slick asphalt road, forming a picture of an urban night in the rain.

A twenty-four-hour convenience store glowed brightly.

Inside, the oden pot gave off the mingled aroma of soy sauce and fish paste.

Beneath the narrow eaves outside the store entrance,

a tall, slightly thin figure sat quietly in a crouch.

He was a young man named Cui Ciyou.

His black hoodie had been thoroughly soaked by the rain, clinging to his body.

Several strands of long black hair hung loosely around his face, giving him a thoroughly downcast air.

Even so, his face still drew attention.

It was an exceptionally delicate face, even refined enough to resemble that of a doll.

His gentle features and pale skin stood in stark contrast to his unusually tall frame.

At that moment, Cui Ciyou had just finished a day of work.

He had intended to buy a late-night snack before going home, but the sudden downpour had trapped him here.

Cui Ciyou held a can of cold beer in his left hand and a phone in his right.

On its screen played a classic scene from Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.

Onscreen was the petite magician—Roxy Migurdia.

Roxy gently embraced the despondent protagonist—Rudeus Greyrat—with her frail arms.

"If one person's sorrow is shared by two people,"

"then that sorrow surely won't be quite so painful anymore!"

"Though I may not be strong enough, and my personality may still be somewhat immature,"

"I have lived longer than Rudeus, after all, and experienced more things."

"So at times like this, I can still be relied upon."

Roxy's gentle voice came through the phone's speaker.

Watching the scene, Cui Ciyou's lips curled into a cold smile.

It was a strange sort of smile—one where you knew he was smiling, yet could not feel the slightest trace of amusement in his eyes.

"How nice... a life where someone saves you." Cui Ciyou murmured, his voice full of undisguised self-mockery.

"Heh... but reality isn't as gentle as a light novel."

"Because in reality, no beautiful girl or hero will ever fall from the sky to save you."

"After all, the world we live in is neither beautiful nor gentle, let alone kind."

Irritably, Cui Ciyou brushed his wet hair back.

His fingertips accidentally touched the faint scar behind his left ear.

In an instant, countless images that made his nerves ache flooded into his mind:

His father's swollen face from gambling and drinking;

The piercing clatter of mahjong and the constant noise of people coming and going at home;

The abuse hurled by debt collectors, and his mother's frail figure working tirelessly to placate them;

And his younger self, curled up on the cold floor, trembling before the shattered furniture...

Those painful memories clung to his heart like maggots on a bone.

"Suffering isn't worth praising," Cui Ciyou snorted, filled with exhaustion and ridicule.

"We only praise suffering because we have no way to avoid it!"

"But if suffering can't be avoided, why do we have to go through it?"

"But if someone truly can be saved, then don't save me. Save my mom!"

"Beep... beep..."

At that moment, an ear-splitting car horn suddenly tore through the dead silence of the rainy night, sharp and urgent.

Cui Ciyou abruptly looked up and saw, in the middle of the road not far away,

a little girl who looked no older than five or six standing there.

The girl wore a pink children's raincoat and stared blankly at the ground in front of her.

Lying there was a butterfly hair clip that had probably been blown down by the wind.

The little girl remained completely unaware of the approaching danger.

Damn it, this is such a standard death-flag scenario.

I don't want to see someone turned into a pile of mangled flesh right in front of me.

The thought flashed through Cui Ciyou's mind like lightning.

Yet even as he thought it, his body reacted before his consciousness could.

Cui Ciyou sprang from his crouch, shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow and plunging headfirst into the cold curtain of rain.

Adrenaline surged wildly through his body as he ran with all his strength, moving at an astonishing speed.

In only a few seconds, he reached the girl, grabbed her frail shoulder, and

using the immense momentum of his charge, shoved her with all his strength toward the roadside greenery!

Then, in the next instant—

Bang...!!!

A deep, thunderous crash echoed through the silent rainy night.

Cui Ciyou felt an overwhelming, irresistible force strike his entire body in an instant.

At that moment, he felt as if some brutal power had torn him completely apart, intense pain sweeping through every nerve.

One final trace of self-mockery flashed through Cui Ciyou's heart.

Am I going to die?

Well!... I really am... a hopelessly self-righteous idiot!

At least Mom's retirement insurance has all been paid up, and she's reached retirement age too.

But from now on, she'll have to run the shop alone... Mom.

So, Mom, I love you! Maybe... see you tomorrow!...

Cui Ciyou's vision gradually blurred.

The world before him rapidly faded and spun...

Until it finally turned into a chaotic blankness.

His consciousness sank completely into boundless darkness...

At the same time—Void Space

Within an empty, pure white space,

at the center of that space stood a vague, mosaic-like figure with an eerie presence—Human God.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Human God tilted his head slightly.

[Future Sight - Activated]

A strange violet light suddenly flared in Human God's originally indistinct eyes.

The entire pure white space began to tremble faintly as invisible ripples spread outward.

A moment later, a smile mingling surprise and amusement appeared on Human God's face.

From his mouth came a murmur only he himself could hear:

"Oh... oh... how interesting!"

"What... a powerful force of fate."

"No, perhaps... 'luck' would be a more fitting description now?"

Human God's amused voice echoed through the empty space:

"The resilience and vastness of this 'luck'..."

"Tsk tsk!... It is actually far stronger than that 'Rudeus Greyrat' I have always kept my eye on!"

"Has a new protagonist appeared?"

"Unbelievable... without any intervention from me, the course of fate... has actually begun to shift so violently on its own?"

Human God slowly stopped using Future Sight, and the violet glow in his eyes gradually faded.

His vague eyes seemed to see through the future.

Then, in a tone that seemed to know everything, he slowly said:

"Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation... is it?"

"So you are the 'variable' that disturbed the flow of this world's fate?"

"A visitor from 'beyond another world'? You are this Six-Faced World's... 'BUG.'"

"So it was you!"

"Cui—Ci—You."

Human God pronounced the name one syllable at a time.

The unsettling smile on his face seemed to deepen further.