Inescapable Misfortune

Luck, a mysterious and elusive attribute.

It is difficult to describe and difficult to measure, but it actually exists.

Li Qing has always had bad luck.

For example, in mobile games, a character that a seal can get in one draw for 28, he often has to spend 2800 to get through the pity system.

Such terrible luck made him a spendthrift and wasteful "pay-to-win" pig in the old world, and after transmigrating, he became a target of hatred, even being assassinated twice while eating a meal.

And now, in the dead of night in Rome, his luck has finally plummeted to its lowest point, just like the A-shares he once bought, reaching the absolute limit of how bad it could possibly be—

Remote face-to-face empty Q.

Close-quarters combat involving kowtowing and offering New Year's greetings.

"As expected, the enemy's Stand ability is making my luck worse!"

"When someone's luck is down, even a takeout restaurant might forget to include chopsticks."

"If it's just bad luck, then nothing is surprising."

Li Qing confirmed this with such certainty.

He would rather believe that a Stand could launch an attack from a mystical perspective than believe that his own skills were so bad that he could miss a close-range Q.

"Since that's the case..."

An unsolvable problem soon confronted Li Qing:

How do you fight a bizarre Stand that can make your luck worse?

Instead, how should we resist misfortune, defy fate, and break free from that invisible yet undeniably real destiny?

"Then that's the only way."

A glint of light flashed in Li Qing's cloudy pupils.

His muscles tensed, his legs gripping the ground like a plowshare, and then...

Turn around, take a step, and walk quickly.

"Run!"

Without saying a word, Li Qing sprinted towards the construction site gate in the opposite direction.

He fled at an incredible speed, like a cheetah frantically chasing an antelope on the African savanna.

This is indeed not a simple escape, but a tactic, a practical tactic that works against most unsolvable abilities:

Stand abilities are generally limited in scope.

As long as you maintain a sufficient distance from the enemy and escape outside the influence range of the enemy's Stand, even the most powerful abilities will become ineffective.

Really

The moment Li Qing turned to run away, Sandro finally reacted.

He no longer stood there calmly as before, but subconsciously followed behind Li Qing.

As Sandro chased after them, he continued to bluff, saying:

"It's useless!"

"You can't escape, give up the struggle!"

"Hehe."

Li Qing dismissed this with disdain:

"If you're really useless, why did you pursue me in the first place?"

"Ha, believe it or not."

Sandro smiled noncommittally and continued his pursuit.

What he didn't say was that his mysterious and inexplicable ability could indeed make someone's luck so bad that they couldn't even escape.

But this doesn't mean that Sandro himself could just stand still and wait for God to help him:

He must do his best to attack, pursue, and stop his target from resisting—God helps those who help themselves; only when human effort reaches its limit will divine intervention follow.

Therefore, Sandro did his best to chase after Li Qing, who was trying to escape.

Li Qing thought this was Sandro's helpless move after his weakness was exposed.

"Trying to keep me here? How could you possibly catch me!"

A sense of relief washed over Li Qing.

Luck is just luck; this indescribable thing cannot change the fact that his physical abilities completely overwhelmed Sandro's.

In just a moment, he had already turned around and run into the factory gate.

Sandro had only taken two steps when Li Qing pulled ahead by a full five meters.

Five meters, six meters, seven meters, eight meters, nine meters

The distance between the two sides was closing at an astonishing speed.

However, just as Li Qing was about to pull away from Sandro by ten meters, he suddenly slipped.

I slipped again.

This time, however, it wasn't a banana peel that was stepped on, but a scaffolding steel pipe that someone had carelessly tossed onto the construction site.

Li Qing, who was able to sense everything around him, somehow managed to miss the steel pipe due to his distraction.

The steel pipe seemed to appear out of thin air beneath his feet. By the time Li Qing realized it, this seemingly ordinary steel pipe had completely disrupted his balance.

Li Qing lost his footing and fell forward abruptly.

This time the situation is even worse.

Last time, Li Qing only kowtowed to offer New Year's greetings, but this time, there was a broken piece of cement on the ground where he fell.

Embedded within the broken cement block was a thick steel bar, which stood straight up towards the sky, like a spearhead growing from the ground.

When Li Qing fell, the steel bar was aimed directly at his eye.

Sizzle—

In this brightly lit but deathly silent deserted site, a strange sound of flesh tearing apart suddenly rang out.

The steel bar pierced straight into Li Qing's eye socket, penetrated his brain, and turned his brain tissue into a paste.

Fortunately, Li Qing "doesn't need to use his brain" in the Digitization Mode.

What would be a fatal injury to an ordinary person would only result in a loss of less than 20% of Li Qing's life points.

"A really useful ability."

"Such a deadly misfortune is nothing to you."

Sandro stopped not far behind Li Qing.

He said it in a rather joking tone, as if to say, "I told you so":

"Misfortune cannot be escaped by human effort. If you don't die, it means you will experience more bad things and suffer more pain."

Is this luck or misfortune? Heh.

"."

Li Qing did not answer.

He silently pulled his head out of that damned steel bar, and the injuries to his brain and eyes instantly healed.

Then, Li Qing turned around and looked at Sandro with utmost seriousness:

"That's certainly lucky."

"The most precious asset a person has is life." "As long as I am alive, my future holds infinite possibilities."

"Don't joke around."

Sandro's tone remained as flat as ever, a flatness that was infuriating.

His tone made it sound as if he were a god who controlled destiny, a prophet who could see the future:

"You can't attack now, you can't escape, and even calling for help might result in power outages or internet disruptions."

"That so-called future, there's only one possibility right now:"

"That is to walk step by step toward death in an endless cycle of misfortune!"

"I don't believe it!"

Li Qing's gaze remained firm.

He suddenly took a step forward, bringing Sandro closer to him.

Sandro did not stop him; he was not afraid of Li Qing's approach at all, but only worried about Li Qing's escape.

In this way, Li Qing approached Sandro to within two meters.

"Bad luck, is it?"

"Ordinary people might succumb to the clutches of misfortune, but I absolutely will not—"

Li Qing always believed that she was special.

And he is indeed special.

His data processing ability is, in a sense, a higher law that transcends the world. This law cannot be changed by any force, even the so-called "fate".

"The Sonically Enhanced Wave will miss, and normal attacks will cause the target to stumble, so..."

What about this move?

Li Qing mustered all his strength and slammed his palm down on the ground with the force of a head of state slamming a table.

A sudden burst of light emanated from his palm, and this light intensified rapidly as his palm struck downwards:

"Heavenly Thunder Break!"

This is Li Qing's E skill, Heavenly Thunder Break.

He would slam his palm into the ground, releasing a shockwave that could cover an area of two meters in all directions.

The shockwave wasn't particularly powerful, but it was still enough to cause real harm.

Of course, Li Qing did not intend to defeat his enemy with this move.

He simply wanted to prove that, as a "player," he was an existence detached from the world's rules, and that even misfortune could not bind him:

Just like this move, Heavenly Thunder Break.

This is an area-of-effect damage skill supported by systemic laws.

While Sonically Enhanced Wave might miss at point-blank range, a powerful, area-of-effect Heavenly Thunder Break is almost guaranteed to hit its target.

So what if it's bad luck?

"Could it possibly disregard the system's rules and alter the effects of my skills?"

Li Qing thought this with such certainty.

At this moment, Heavenly Thunder Break was not just a skill for him, but a symbol proving that he could break free from the shackles of misfortune.

And so, under Sandro's bewildered gaze and Li Qing's unwavering eyes...

He slammed his palm heavily onto the ground.

Bang!

The mountains collapsed and the earth cracked.

This is not a metaphor, nor an exaggeration.

The ground truly cracked the moment Li Qing's palm struck.

Possibly due to improper construction, the load-bearing capacity of the underground parking garage ceiling is severely substandard.

In that instant, the ground collapsed.

Li Qing stumbled and fell downwards along with the ground beneath his feet.

At the same time, the shockwave of the Heavenly Thunder Break was also released from his palm—clearly, as Li Qing himself fell downwards, the starting point of this shockwave also changed.

Rumble.

Li Qing fell into the underground garage, which was more than three meters deep, amidst the rubble.

The shockwave from that Heavenly Thunder Break only spread underground and did not reach Sandro himself at all.

"You can actually do that?!"

Li Qing's face turned extremely pale:

Indeed, misfortune cannot change the system's skill effects.

But this mysterious misfortune, in such an exaggerated way, changed his "positioning" when releasing his skill.

"I told you."

"Misfortune is also 'luck,' and no one can escape fate."

Sandro stood on the edge of the collapsed crater.

He and the creepy "doll" on his shoulder looked down at Li Qing, who was now covered in dust and dirt.

"So."

"Are you still going to resist, Li Qing?"