1 Why the Hell am I the Only Person Who's Unlucky?

In the summer of the 18th Year of the New Calendar in River Town…

Holding the trolley handle of the luggage in his right hand and the freshman admission guide of River Town University in his left, Cloud Hao, whose last morsel of energy was practically drained by the summer heat, was feebly dragging his feet across the scalding asphalt road.

Today was the freshmen's first day in the university.

The reason why other freshmen had brilliant smiles on their faces while Cloud Hao appeared listless was actually simple.

On the one hand, it was indeed because of the scorching weather. On the other hand, it was because although this was his first time entering the gates of a university in this lifetime, it was not his first time in a university.

This might sound somewhat mind-boggling.

To put it briefly, he had been reincarnated.

Furthermore, he came from a parallel world.

In his previous life, he had completed his university education and was working as a game designer for a company. He died at his office desk at the age of thirty. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage caused by working overtime.

In this lifetime, although his father had named him Cloud Hao as in his previous life, everything else was completely different.

In the first year of the New Calendar, the People's Alliance was established. The entire world was harmonious and unified, and mankind worked together to explore a better future.

In the same year, he was born in a small city called Jiangling, located in the southern part of Country Xia. Only after bawling all night and wasting countless diapers did he grant his family peace and quiet.

Unlike his past life, Country Xia was the world's most powerful country now. It was the champion in aerospace, armaments, and science and technology competitions. It was also one of the leaders of the People's Alliance.

Due to the rapid advancement of science and technology and the speedy progress in productivity, this era had unprecedented prosperity and wealth in material goods.

The spiritual aspect paled in comparison, or at least, it was lagging behind compared to the material aspect's progress.

After all, before the first year of the New Calendar, countries had yet to reach a consensus on key issues. They were all busy racing against each other in the technological domain and military confrontations. They had no time to care about anything else other than what was necessary for survival.

It was only in recent years that the cutting-edge technologies, such as electronics and communication, as a result of the "Competitive Era", gradually accelerated in civilian usage through commercial marketing. They eventually evolved into smart home appliances, computers, and mobile phones found in every common household.

In summary, putting political factors aside, the New Calendar's first year was somewhat similar to the millennials period in his previous life.

Although the development in the next eighteen years since then varied in both lifetimes, the differences in specific details were relatively limited.

To sum it up in one sentence, the science and technology here had surpassed his previous lifetime, but the entertainment industry, which had started later, was relatively backward.

For artists, this world was practically paradise!

Originally, reincarnation was something to rejoice about, Cloud Hao's initial thoughts as well.

After all, he had read enough web novels in his past life to know that besides having a head full of winning entrepreneurial ideas, the reincarnated could also easily rise to the peak of the music industry, gain countless fans, and become life winners. It would work even if they simply plagiarized some book or sang some songs.

Cloud Hao believed that even if he was worse off than them, obtaining a small wealth to live comfortably shouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately, things were not as simple as he imagined.

When the nurse carried and placed him in his mother's arms, he was horrified to realize that his memory from his previous life seemed to be cloaked by a thin veil.

He could vaguely remember certain things, and certain scenes did flash across his mind like a filmstrip. However, when he tried to dig deeper and recall the specific details, he couldn't remember a single one of them.

It was as if all his memories had shattered into pieces.

He could remember that his favorite game in his previous life was League of Legends and that its abbreviation was three letters. However, he couldn't remember how to play the game or how many champions there were in the game. In fact, he didn't even have an inkling of a champion.

Stuff like novels and music that had no pictures were even more blurry in his mind. He only learned how to speak again about a year after he was born.

If it weren't for his maturity that surpassed his peers and the scenes that occasionally popped up in his mind, he almost began to doubt if the so-called reincarnation was just an illusion…

In short, he passed these eighteen years in a state of confusion.

Not only did the memory of his previous life not put him one step ahead of others and help him gain a small fortune, but it also did not even bring him any convenience in his daily life.

Examinations?

He had to learn how to talk from scratch, let alone languages and mathematics.

Picking up girls?

To make up for the regrets of his student days in his past life?

Stop spouting nonsense.

Putting aside the fact that his memories were already so fuzzy, it was a question mark whether the people he had met in his previous life were also in this parallel world. So, how could he have any regrets?

Useless at everything else, but awesome at eating.

The only thing Cloud Hao could be sure of was that luck was never on his side, be it in his previous life or in this one.

His father expected him to study hard and become a useful person. It would be best if he could enter Tsinghua or Peking University so that he could soar above the clouds and rapidly make his way up in the world after graduation.

This was the origin of the word "Cloud" in his name.

Unfortunately…

His life was not as lucky as his name. After doing his utmost, he was barely admitted to River Town University. Even then, he only got in because they allocated him to a course that he didn't apply for, which was software engineering.

Perhaps in the eyes of many people, his results were fairly decent. However, compared to the other reincarnated people in his imagination, Cloud Hao felt darn pathetic.

Moreover, in this world where technology was extremely advanced, programmers were the last thing they lacked.

Of course, Cloud Hao felt that his life right now was not entirely due to his luck problem. After all, that one percent of effort was also very, very important.

But this world was just that realistic…

"Dear God, I've already been unlucky for forty-eight years… It should be my turn to get lucky for once, right?"

At least…

I hope my roommates will be normal, or at least not too weird.

They had to get along with each other for the next four years.

Despite having a fuzzy memory, Cloud still remembered the drama queen in his dormitory in his previous life. He made everyone unhappy for the whole four years, to the point where they never met again after graduating…

Weaving his way through the bustling army of freshmen, Cloud Hao finally made his way to the ground floor of his dorm.

The dormitory supervisor's room was right at the bottom of the flight of stairs on the first floor. An older woman in her forties was on duty. After glancing at Cloud Hao's ID card, she simply entered his name on the name list and collected a fifty-yuan deposit before throwing the key to him.

It was said that the deposit could be refunded, but that would be four years later. Cloud Hao wasn't sure if he would still remember the fifty yuan at that time.

Just then, he spotted a big yellow dog lying lazily next to the cabinet by the door.

"Its name is Yellow. It doesn't bite."

Noticing Cloud Hao's gaze, the dorm supervisor stretched out her hand and rubbed the dog's head.

Yellow also moaned cooperatively, as if it was enjoying the attention.

Finding this dog fairly pleasing, Cloud Hao also wanted to reach out and pet it, but Yellow didn't seem to want to entertain him.

The silly dog stood up and shook off the lice. After that, it returned to the room while wagging its tail, leaving Cloud Hao, who was bending down and preparing to greet it, feeling awkward.

Forget it; humans shouldn't stoop to a dog's level.

With a sigh, Cloud Hao stood up and prepared to go upstairs with his luggage.

However, at that moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a pale blue light sweeping past the dog's tail out of the corner of his eye.

[Talent: Rat catcher]

[Hidden Potential Stat: 3]

Cloud Hao was speechless.

What the hell?

Before Cloud Hao could snap out of it and think about what just happened, a boy, who was not tall and wore black-rimmed glasses, walked down the stairs.

Cloud Hao couldn't get a clear look at his face, but in his daze, he saw the two sentences above his head clearly.

[Talent: Mathematical Genius]

[Hidden Potential Stat: 9]

Genius?

9?

What the hell?

Cloud Hao's luggage was in his way, so the young man glanced at him, who was standing there in stupefaction. His brows furrowed slightly.

"Excuse me."

"Ah… Sorry."

"Thank you."

Not interested in chit-chatting with him, the young man gave him a small polite nod before he left like the wind.

Cloud Hao stared in the direction the boy left and blinked vigorously, trying to get a clearer look.

However, just as he was trying to focus his gaze, the flickering dialog box vanished. He was confused whether he had been mistaken.

"…Am I hallucinating because of the heat?"

It's so bizarre today…

Cloud Hao muttered under his breath with a stiff expression on his face and rubbed his temples with his thumbs. He then took a deep breath, picked up his suitcase, and continued to climb the stairs.

2nd floor…

3rd floor…

4th floor… I'm finally here!

He remembered that his dorm room was 401, just around the corner of the stairs.

Initially, while he was on his way, he wondered if he should kick off with an original freestyle to impress his new roommates. Yet now, his mind was jumbled up like a tangled mass of yarn. He didn't have any spare brain capacity to think about such trivial matters.

Holding the doorknob and listening to the commotion behind the door, he yanked the door open.

Squeak!

The door opened.

A few pairs of eyes looked over.

"Oh, everyone's here."

"Haha, since it's just the four of us, we can call the person who arrived last 'Four'."

"Don't do that; it sounds so unrefined."

A young man, not tall with a slightly dark complexion, stepped forward and stretched out his right hand with a smile adorning his face.

"Yo, newcomer, welcome to the 401 dorm room… Ahem, let me introduce myself. I'm Zheng Xueqian, 19 this year. I hope that in our four years at this university, we will be able to progress together and achieve something in our studies. We will put what we learned to good use!"

Cloud Hao nodded stiffly while staring at the top of his head.

[Talent: Programmer]

[Hidden Potential Stat: 7]

Although his potential stat was two points lower than the mathematician he had met downstairs, it was still enough to thrash two dogs. He would probably be someone extraordinary in the future.

Moreover, since we're majoring in software engineering, doesn't this mean my future assignments are settled already?

"I'm Cloud Hao, and I'm 18 this year… I am from the ancient city of Jiangling." Cloud Hao briefly introduced himself in a somewhat prim and proper manner.

"Cloud Hao? That's quite an interesting name."

The person who spoke this time stood in front of the table by the door, meticulously tidying up the items there.

Although Cloud Hao couldn't see his face from the front, just from his side profile, he could tell that their dorm would have more than enough chocolate during their four years of university. They might even be able to rely on this guy's WeChat account to get some free meals and drinks.

Of course, what shocked Cloud Hao the most was not his handsome face, but…

"Liang Ziyuan, same age as you."

[Talent: Music Expert]

[Hidden Potential Stat: 8]

"…Nice to meet you."

F*ck, this guy almost has the stat of three dogs!

Come to think of it…

Am I having a heat stroke, or have I been possessed by some sort of system?

Subconsciously, Cloud Hao glanced towards the mirror embedded above the cabinet next to him.

Just a glance, and he was stunned.

[Talent: Good Luck]

[Hidden Potential Stat: 0]

Cloud Hao: ???

To hell with good luck!

Also, what the hell is a hidden potential stat of 0?!

Remembering Yellow from downstairs, Cloud Hao thought, Although I don't know why its talent is to catch mice, at least it has a hidden potential stat of 3.

Is this bullsh*t system trying to say that I'm even worse than a dog?

Not even one dog!

Cloud Hao felt that his temper was excellent, considering how he did not fly into a rage right there and then.

At this time, a young man with a squarish face walked over from the balcony with a freshly-washed rag.

His two large jug ears were rather eye-catching. Of course, the mole under his nose was even more so. His hair was combed into a square shape, probably trying to make a profound first impression on his new roommates. The amount of hair wax he used was a tad overboard, making him seem slightly greasy.

However, that was not the point.

The main point was still the two sentences hovering above his head…

Looking at Cloud Hao, the boy smiled amiably and stretched out his right hand.

"Hello, hello, you must be Brother Cloud Hao. I've seen your name on the registry. My name is Zhu Kening, and I am also a native of this province. Speaking of our hometowns, they're pretty close to each other. We can be good friends in the future."

[Talent: Prosperous career]

[Hidden Potential Stat: ?]

F*ck!

Why the hell is it just a question mark this time!

Does it mean that his combat power is off the charts?

Hopefully, it's a misunderstanding…

Holding Zhu Kening's right hand and shaking it, Cloud Hao flashed him an awkward but polite smile.

"Sorry, sorry, Zhu… Brother, you're really a fine-looking man."

Based on this guy's disposition, even if he doesn't become a mayor in the future, he'll probably at least become a director of the development office?

It doesn't hurt to suck up to him in advance.

However, the moment the words of flattery left his mouth, Cloud Hao quickly regretted it.

This was a bit too direct. Will it seem a little weird?

Fortunately, Brother Zhu didn't seem to think so. Instead, he accepted his flattery with a laugh and even merrily recited a limerick, "You're too kind. Brother Hao is the fine-looking one. Your looks are very striking. As the saying goes, only at the Yangtze River did I know, an expert is actually by my side!"

"Ahem… You-you're too polite. I don't deserve your praise. What's that… is by my side instead!" He couldn't catch his breath and nearly choked.

Oh my God!

The people I met today are all big shots?!

Cloud Hao, who was thinking this inwardly while exchanging pleasantries, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His mood was turning even more gloomy.

It's fine if my roommates are all big shots.

But why am I the only unlucky one?

Why!

F*ck!

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