2 Fate was Darn Unfair

Fate was actually unfair.

This was another truth Fang Ran recently understood in his life.

'Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, some are born in poor mountainous areas with no financial support, and many more other circumstances. For example, some people are born to be good-looking, some are born to be smart, and there are some who are born to be losers~'

'However!'

Seeing the transparent interface floating in front of him at the moment, Fang Ran realised for the first time that fate was in fact, extremely unfair.

"This can't be… right…?!"

[Half an hour ago]

Boom!

A loud rumbling! The entire station collapsed without any warning. It collapsed cleanly and efficiently. It collapsed without stopping.

Crash!!!

There was a loud noise coming from overhead, and large chunks of concrete and steel bars came crumbling down. There was nothing that could act as a shield in the spacious and empty station.

Fang Ran was stupefied!

His mind was blank for a second before he instinctively ran away and fled towards the entrance of the station!

At that moment, his mind was filled with immense, stupefying horror!

'What's going on?'

'Eh, I was simply waiting in the station, and then the perfectly fine station, collapsed?'

'Eh?'

'Aren't I in one of the most renowned cities in the country?'

'Why did this enormous station that was newly built last year and even appeared on television, turn into a jerry-built building project?'

'I don't think I did anything outrageous and malicious today, right?'

'Could it be that I unplugged the internet cable of an internet cafe in my past life?'

Desperately, Fang Ran fled for his life towards the exit with a bunch of nonsensical things crossing his mind.

Then, just as Fang Ran was wondering if he had killed someone or committed arson in his previous life, he blacked out and was directly buried under the collapsing building.

'All that talk about prolonged somatosensory flashback when one is at death's door, is all a lie.'

This was Fang Ran's last thought.

…

…

"Wait!"

Fang Ran suddenly jolted awake on a bench!

His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. He could still feel the hard blocks of concrete and the razor sharp steel bars smashing and piercing his body into a pile of bloody mush.

"This… I… How?"

Seeing that he was sitting on the bench in the station perfectly fine, without any scars in his body, Fang Ran swallowed nervously. After which, Fang Ran finally realized a miracle had happened to him.

'I'm not dead.'

"Ha… ha… ha…"

Realisation suddenly dawned on him, and Fang Ran's body turned limp as he collapsed on the bench, panting heavily. After a desperate attempt of calming down his rapidly beating heart, he calmed down and looked around the station. As he looked around the station, he immediately collapsed to the ground because he realized two things…

The sky was pitch black and there was nobody around him.

No, rather, the world had an abnormal silence about it.

Seeing this scene that could make someone go mad just from the sheer silence, Fang Ran's pupils dilated as he instantly froze in place.

'Hey, hey, this can't be right? Don't mess around, shouldn't this be the hottest time in the afternoon? Why is it suddenly so dark?'

'And why is there no one around?'

"This won't do! Stay calm! Stay cool! Fang Ran, twenty years old, no bad track record, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink alcohol, is a virgin, and the time he had been single was about the same as his age."

Fang Ran murmured, not even knowing what he was saying due to nervousness. He told himself to calm down and to take a look around first to understand his situation.

Then, he stood up and looked around.

No one in front, yup.

No one on the right, very good.

No one on the left, not bad.

After surveying the place around him, Fang Ran sat back down on his bench. There was nobody around. Although he was terrified, at least there was no one around to threaten his safety. Just as he was thinking this…

Just to be safe, he nonchalantly turned back to take a look.

And, he saw a zombie standing there.

"Phew, it's just a zombie,"

Fang Ran said with a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was not a human being so it did not pose any threat to me…

The next moment, he broke into a sprint!

"Fate, f*ck you!!!"

"Aargh! Aargh! Aargh!!!"

Fang Ran's bellow and the zombie's roar simultaneously echoed out in the station.

Bang!

Fang Ran slammed through the glass door of the entrance by force. Picking up a broom conveniently on his side, he inserted it into the handle of the doors to act as a bolt. After which, without any time to decide which road to take, he hastily chose one and fled with no end goal in mind. At the back of his mind, he was praising all the directors of the horror movies he had watched and thought he didn't watch those movies in vain. Just now, he could be calm and collected amidst the turmoil, and bought some time for himself to run. Just as he turned his head back to take a look…

The zombie directly broke through the glass door and rushed out…

'I knew damn well that those movies are all lies!'

Seeing that the zombie had not been impeded at all and was still rushing towards him, Fang Ran instantly gnashed his teeth and yelled. With all his strength, he scurried off in double quick time!

His breathing grew heavier and heavier, and his throat started to burn like fire. The soreness felt at the end of a long-distance marathon wrecked his entire body. The constant mind-numbing pain only reminded him of the regrets he had in the past.

'Sorry, physical education teacher, I was wrong. I shouldn't have thought that your lessons were f*cking useless and that you were twisted for still doing roll calls. Next time, I'll definitely run the one kilometer course seriously.'

"So please bless me with your godly endurance!"

Fang Ran shouted and ran frantically as if he was about to burst into tears. Then, chaotic thoughts about his current situation rapidly flooded his mind.

'What is going on!'

'Where did this zombie come from?'

Also, that being said…

'Why are there zombies?!'

'Is this the first instance of a protagonist in an infinite-style1 novel?'

'Even bringing in zombies, why don't you just create the cliché Raccoon City?'

'Let me tell you, the biohazard crisis has been concluded, and the Umbrella Corporation has collapsed. Zombies are outdated, do you understand?'

'If you understand, get this thing that's about to bite my butt, off me!'

Clenching his teeth as he bolted away quickly, Fang Ran desperately shouted these irrelevant words in his mind. His memory was like a rising tide. The seawater at high-tide was washing up the fragments of his usual thoughts, continuously gathering these odd statements hidden deep within and charging towards the coast.

Then, the moment he looked back as he was fleeing and dodging, a buried emotion that had been deeply concealed in his eyes was about to gush out…

[Ding! Discovered the existence of an unexpected life form, survival time exceeded 60 seconds. Beginner qualification has been bestowed.]

[Ding! You're welcome to participate in the Night Battle.]

The 'thing' that had appeared before his eyes stunned him.

The transparent light blue interface was floating in front of him. With the zombie that was about to catch up to him, Fang Ran was at his wits' end and could only yell towards the interface!

"Anything is fine, just hurry up and stop that guy behind me!"

Fang Ran turned his head to look at his zombie that was hot on his heels. Although it was running at the speed of an ordinary person, it seemed to have infinite endurance. At this rate, the one who would collapse first would definitely be him.

[Ding! Request received. Do you wish to proceed with extracting your power?]

"Extract, extract, extract!!! You need to hurry up!"

His breaths sounded like bellows. Panting heavily, he turned his head to look at the zombie behind him while desperately shouting at the interface!

[Ding! Please feel free to touch or make a sound, to portray or talk about something at the bottom of your heart. Good luck!]

With a buzz, the light blue square interface turned into a round disc, with a complex and exquisite orbital pattern on it. However, Fang Ran had no time to care about superficial design. He kept turning his head to look at the zombie that was getting closer and closer to him. His eyelids kept twitching. With him on his last legs, he barely made sense of the requirement, before he shouted casually without any hesitation,

"I want SSS!!!"

The light blue disc seemed to hesitate for a moment. After which, all the orbital patterns gathered and the disc shrunk, converging into a new page.

[Congratulations on obtaining the SSS-grade power (laughs)]

An extremely special page appeared, but Fang Ran was so busy looking back at the zombie that he did not pay the page any attention.

[Ding! Congratulations on acquiring a new power]

Buzz!!!

The somewhat-special system prompt appeared to be covered up and quietly went away. In its place was another interface prompt, and the entire space instantly came to a standstill.

Bang!

Fang Ran felt like he had run into a wall. Upon impact, he fell directly on the ground. His heart froze for a moment, but he quickly realized that the zombie behind him was not moving at all, as if a pause button had been pressed.

Then, looking at the interface before him that notified him about obtaining a new power, Fang Ran was completely bewildered.

'F*ck, this can't really be some infinite-style novel plot, right?'

Fang Ran hesitated slightly, but eventually stayed silent for a while. Laughing slightly to ease the pressure on his mind, he lightly touched the power interface in front of him.

The next moment, a book with a metal lock fell into his hands.

He was slightly stunned and his first thought was…

'Eh, why does this book look a little familiar…?'

[Tips For Newbies]

[Night Battle-Trial Scenario Hidden in the City]

[Fulfill unknown conditions to realise your wish. Fulfill the conditions for victory to receive the reward for this round]

[You have acquired a power]

[The time-stop effect continues until the end of this prompt.]

Looking at the series of light blue message interfaces, Fang Ran's mouth opened slightly. Finally, he managed to realise one thing amidst the immense chaos in his head. He gulped and asked dumbfoundedly,

"In short, I have powers, is that right? So I can get rid of that thing behind me?"

[Yes]

[Night battle powers can change according to the user's frame of mind. They are roughly classified as either technical or mysterious powers, depending on the participants themselves, it could be immortal cultivation, ancient martial arts skills, special powers, magic, witchcraft… and various other ways of showcasing their powers from ways that are internationally recognised to ways that are born from the participant's own imagination.]

"Immortal cultivation… special powers! Really?"

Not quite able to believe it, Fang Ran was in a daze. The moment he heard this voice,

Something in his heart seemed to rise from the ashes.

Carrying a three-feet long sword, roaming around the universe through the skies and the earth, hidden amidst ordinary people. The moment the magical super power was channeled, liberation would be felt from one's entire body, or on the reverse side of science of technology, in a corner that had been forsaken by time - Cloaked in an ancient robe, a mysterious and unknown power illuminating from a wand, spreading into a magic circle that shattered reality!

Living in this world, where people yearned for power that would shatter their mundane repetitive daily life.

Recalling some old memories, the time when that child firmly believed in it, Fang Ran picked up the book incredulously. Then, the moment he felt like something was amiss, all his thoughts instantly shattered…

'Wait a minute, it seems to be slightly different from my imagination!'

…Why does it seem somewhat familiar…

Looking at the thing that should be something like a magic book in his hands, Fang Ran, who felt that something was amiss, looked at the book in his hand and watched as it slowly coincided with something that he remembered seeing on television many years ago.

"This can't be… right…?!"

Recognizing what it was, Fang Ran suddenly looked up expressionlessly. All the moving emotions he felt just moments ago, returned to the depths of his mind. He questioned the light blue system,

"Didn't you say powers like immortality, ancient martial abilities, magic and witchcraft are available?"

[Ding! Verified.]

"Then, can you f*cking explain to me, why did I get something that looks exactly the same as that in Cardcaptor Sakura!!!"

He roared hysterically. Holding up the magic book in his hand as if he had picked up a useless brick, Fang Ran erupted in fury as the thought of wanting to smash it surfaced in his mind.

'God…'

'Why is it this…'

What happened to the promised suave and mighty powers? Even if it was not high-end powers like immortality and magic alchemy, you can just give me some bizarre power!

Fang Ran felt that his resuscitated yearning for an exciting life that lasted for that one second, was now completely dead.

'Why did I get the short end of the stick? The protagonists in the novels I read all had super cool powers…'

[Ding! Repeat, the way powers are showcased varies according to different users]

Fate was indeed unfair!

This sentence popped up in his head for some reason. Fang Ran, who was shaking as he clenched his teeth, ferociously hurled the book in his hand and thundered,

"F*ck you and your Clow Cards! I am not a magical girl!"