It was the year 4040, and a full year had passed since the National Fortune Game appeared.
In a single-occupancy apartment, Lin Xiaoran lay sprawled on the couch. A screen floated in the air before her, showing a man wielding a square-bladed halberd fighting a burly, bear-headed humanoid over two meters tall. The bear-headed humanoid held a battle-axe in each hand, forcing Lü Bu back again and again.
"This is bad! Lü Bu can't beat that bear-headed guy!"
"What do we do?! Someone, save him!"
"Who's going to save him? Even if someone comes, they'll be an enemy. There's no way they'll help!"
"Damn it, how did E Country's challenger get so lucky? He actually summoned such a powerful Heroic Spirit!"
The densely packed barrage of comments almost completely obscured the picture.
Lin Xiaoran was getting anxious too. She involuntarily sat up straight and hurriedly turned off the comments. But the moment she did, a line of scarlet text popped up on the screen:
[The Heroic Spirit summoned by Country L's challenger, Master Pang Yun: Lü Bu, has died. Challenge failed. Eliminated!] [Penalties: 1. The lifespan of every resident of Country L will be reduced by 3 years! 2. Ten thousand E-rank ferocious beasts, Burst Bears, will be deployed at random locations across the country!]
"Aaaah! The ferocious beasts are coming!"
"Everyone, go home! Don't run around outside!"
"Rest assured, everyone! The military is ready. We'll protect you all!"
"Thank you, soldiers! Thank you, our country!"
The moment the penalties appeared, the entire country fell into panic. Although they had already experienced this several times, no one could get used to it. After all, nobody could grow accustomed to living in a world where they might die at any moment.
"Three years off our lives..."
A silvery-white mark resembling a bracelet flashed on Lin Xiaoran's wrist, indicating that her lifespan had been deducted.
Lin Xiaoran sighed. "Good thing I'm only eighteen. I don't feel anything even after losing some lifespan."
Although she was fine, those who were elderly, nearing the end of their lives, or seriously ill would die outright when their lifespan was reduced, shrinking Country L's population.
Then there was the second penalty: ten thousand E-rank ferocious beasts would be released into reality.
Judging by past experience, E-rank ferocious beasts were relatively easy to deal with. Firearms could kill them.
If they were A-rank ferocious beasts instead, forget ten thousand-even one could easily destroy an ordinary-sized city, killing millions of people or more!
In the year since the National Fortune Game appeared, some countries had already perished in the jaws of ferocious beasts, disappearing from the map entirely!
Never in her wildest dreams had Lin Xiaoran imagined that her rebirth and transmigration would bring her to such a dangerous parallel world!
Yes, Lin Xiaoran had only transmigrated yesterday.
From the memories of her predecessor that she had absorbed, she learned that she was an orphan, eighteen years old, and in her final year of high school.
Fortunately, her parents had left behind an inheritance, sparing her predecessor any financial pressure.
That was not even the most important part. The most important part was that Lin Xiaoran had been a male science and engineering student in her previous life. After dying in an accident, she had woken up as the JK girl she was now, Lin Xiaoran!
Granted, Lin Xiaoran's only hobby in her previous life had been watching anime, and she had quite liked those pretty, adorable girls. But! She had never said she wanted to become a beautiful girl herself!
Still, to be fair, this beautiful JK girl's looks and figure really were like something straight out of an anime!
Black twintails, a white shirt, a pleated skirt, knee-high socks, and little leather shoes!
Exactly to Lin Xiaoran's taste!
And so, while watching the National Fortune livestream all night, Lin Xiaoran had quietly accepted (admired) her current state.
"This round of the National Fortune Game will end in a few hours. I hope I don't get picked then."
Lin Xiaoran sighed, lamenting how hard life was.
Because the start of every round meant that someone's fate-whether they lived or died-would be decided.
From her memories, she learned that the National Fortune Game had appeared because humanity had excessively consumed and harvested Sky Blue Star's resources without any thought of conservation, while also producing vast amounts of waste and garbage. In the end, this had caused abnormalities throughout Sky Blue Star's ecosystem.
These manifested as increasingly frequent natural and man-made disasters, such as droughts, hurricanes, torrential rain, tsunamis, earthquakes, and so on.
All these disasters had drastically reduced humanity's population. If things continued like this, human extinction would only be a matter of time.
Then the National Fortune Game appeared. Each round, one person from each of 200 countries would be randomly selected to become a Master, enter the game, and summon a Heroic Spirit to fight.
As long as the selected challenger kept winning, the environmental degradation within that challenger's country could be slowed, or even reversed. They would also be rewarded with various resources, energy sources, technological blueprints, and more. They could even gain lifespan and have their health restored!
Furthermore, supplies obtained in the game and penalties for failure would all be returned to the country ten-thousandfold.
To Lin Xiaoran, this felt like a game of raising venomous creatures in a jar to devour one another. By the end, there would probably only be one country left.
Of course, this method could also restore all of Sky Blue Star and extend its lifespan.
But Lin Xiaoran did not want to be chosen!
For no other reason than that the National Fortune Survival Game was far too dangerous!
Just look at the challenger who had died moments ago. That Master named Pang Yun had been killed after his Heroic Spirit died, slain by his opponent-the man from E Country who had summoned the bear-headed Heroic Spirit!
Ultimately, the danger depended on the strength of the Heroic Spirit a challenger summoned.
Although Lü Bu was a renowned figure, he was merely a relatively powerful ordinary person. He had not transcended the limits of humanity.
The bear-headed humanoid, on the other hand, not only possessed strength and defense far surpassing those of a large black bear, but also had skills resembling superpowers!
Ordinary Heroic Spirits stood no chance!
Unless this Lü Bu was the [Demon God Lü Bu] version, capable of slaying any god or Buddha that stood in his way!
Unfortunately, he was not, so Pang Yun lost.
In addition, at the start of each round, the winner who survived to the end would summon a new Heroic Spirit. And the National Fortune Game guaranteed that the newly summoned Heroic Spirit would be stronger than the one from the previous round! This greatly increased the winner's chances of continuing to win!
Soon, several hours passed, and sure enough, the man from E Country claimed the final victory.
[Congratulations to E Country's challenger, Master Andrei, for surviving to the end and winning this round!] [National Fortune Rewards: 1. The physique of every resident of E Country will increase by 10 points! 2. E Country's extreme cold weather will decrease by 5%, and the temperature will rise to -50 degrees!]
"Yes! We won!"
"Our great hero, Andrei! Andrei!"
"The temperature is finally back to normal! Heaven knows how we survived minus a hundred degrees!"
All of E Country erupted in celebration!
Andrei also received the support and praise of the entire nation. At that moment, he was unquestionably E Country's great hero, worthy of the title!
His victory alone had brought all of E Country out of its harsh, bitterly cold conditions and back to normal!
If he kept winning, their national fortune would improve even further!
And this was what everyone in the more than two hundred countries around the world hoped for!
The National Fortune Game had also brought national unity to an unprecedented level!
Watching the comments continually flash across the screen, Lin Xiaoran's emotions rose and fell with them. If Pang Yun had been the one to win today, she would probably have jumped for joy too!
"It's okay! We'll keep at it!"
"So what if we lost one round? What's there to fear? It's not like we've never won before!"
"Pang Yun was a hero too! Every challenger is our great hero! Keep fighting!"
"That's right! Whoever the next challenger is, don't be afraid! Go for it!"
[The roster for the next round of the National Fortune Survival Game is now announced!] [1. E Country's Master, Andrei!] [2. Country A's Master, Mohammed!] [3. Country B's Master, Asif!] [4. ...] [12. Country L's Master, Lin Xiaoran!]