Zero Fate against the world (Old Version)

Hello! Author here. I just want to say some things before we start.

First, this novel doesn't and probably will never have a release schedule since this is just a "middle" novel that I am writing between my other two projects.

If I don't feel like writing them, I will write this.

This means this novel is just for fun, so please don't come to me saying that this is boring and the ideas are overused. If you want to help, then please point out grammar mistakes and inconsistencies. I would also like ideas. Much appreciated.

This chapter has a whopping 5000 words. And this will be the average I will try to maintain in other chapters.

This chapter is not edited so you might find many mistakes, including repetitive words. After all, this is only for fun, so I am not having my editor do edit this since I don't want to pay him extra... Sorry.

If you like the way I write or you don't have anything else do to. Go take a look at my other two novels. Just go on my profile and take a look at them.

The first chapter is all about the introduction and setup. You will most likely see over half of the entire cast in just this one chapter.

The second chapter is an info dump. The world system and everything else.

The third chapter is the Mc exploring his own abilities.

I didn't finish the fourth chapter yet.

I hope you enjoy it and that we can have healthy discussions in the future! Now for the content!

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Ah! What a nice day it was! Not too sunny, not too hot, just the perfect temperature for you to enter a blanket without the need for a fan.

Yet…

-And this was our university director, Mr. Stefan. Let's proceed to the next subject…

What the fuck am I doing in this place?...

My name is Philip Vinten. 22, just had my birthday a few weeks ago. Currently at the end of my fourth year of University.

As for my appearance, I am white and my hair is smooth. Although recently I have been wanting to let it grow. So my hair only goes a little bit before my shoulders.

I would say I am quite handsome. At least an 8 just on my face. I also hit the gym almost every day with my mom and brother.

Good enough to appear in the "Fre&" anime...

So I am also fit… I am in the peak of my youth, you could say… Yet. My eyes tell otherwise.

After coming to this Hellhole for 6 months straight, the only thing I want is to go home.

Even more, considering it's the last day of Uni!

But they had to make today mandatory! Come on! Why did they do this?! This was never done before…

I have already received my scores for this period and I am free! I just need to sit through this ass of a lecture.

The normal stuff, end of the year conversation where higher-ranking members of the university you never see anywhere talk about shit that is likely to never affect you in any way whatsoever.

And I don't have a single good friend to talk with right now.

Huh? Stop right there. Don't you dare think I am some sort of weirdo that doesn't have even one friend.

I have multiple in fact, the problem is that this Lecture only includes members from the same Curricular grade as me. People that are cursing Mechanical engineering.

And not just anyone, only people from the fourth year.

This amounts to barely 50 people spread over three classes…

Of which only 10 or so are girls…

And only a handful are pretty…

And even less have a good personality...

At the start, we were over a hundred, now, only half remains.

And that's where most of my uni friends are. Left behind, in a place slightly better than this.

Sigh. What a bother, they told us to turn off our phones… But some of those brats are using their phones without a care in the world…

Yep, you heard me right. "Brats".

I am of course talking about the guest students we had today.

Every once in a while, the university has visiting students from all around the city, so that they can learn and see just how "cool" uni-life is.

I just hope these little lambs aren't too scared after today… What a bad way to visit a university.

But seeing how they act, I don't think it's an impossibility their teachers programmed it so they came at this precise time.

Really. I never saw a school group as "strange" as this one.

In comparison, everyone in my own school days was "friends". No bullying, no stupidity. Just a group of cultured new seedlings, ready to be corrupted by society.

It doesn't help that they are somehow from the same school as me… I am sorry for Mr. Wilson and the other teachers…

How bad are they?! You must be asking yourself.

Let me explain.

First, they are clearly separated into groups.

This is quite normal, right? But not to this extent.

In a corner you have the "Gamers", people that look and seem quite geeky, they are quite close to me so I can hear their conversation.

Games, anime, sports here, and Such.

A very casual group overall.

But they all seemed like your stereotypical geeks!

Thick glasses, big teeth, some fat and others skinny… What is going on with these guys?

There is one pretty girl though, I am sure she will grow up to become a great beauty.

They are third-year students by the way. So some of them must be 18 already.

For the other groups…

I will go over them quickly, but I will leave them to your imagination on what they look like.

The popular guys.

The pretty and mean girls.

The Sad and depressive guys.

The muscular guys.

The edgy Chunibyo group.

The "cute" Gyarus (Gal girls).

The outcast.

Do not confuse the geeks with the outcast… They have pretty distinct personalities and looks!

And the rest… Also known as The normals

Wait! I think I detected another look! Hidden in the chairs! They might be few, but they can't escape my bored eyes! They are none other than the…

The Lolis!... Impossible… Such a thing… Should be inconceivable.

Yes, they are a big group. I think there are more school students than actually university students in this hall.

But look at these people! They look straight out of an anime for god's sake! Their fashion style, appearance, and overall personality match so perfectly that I am amazed they aren't actually paid actors.

No… Actors wouldn't be capable of reproducing such an exotic scene. After this, I need to look for an opportunity to take a photo. Else my friends aren't going to believe this.

There are also their teachers. Around 6, 2 per class I presume. Or they could be 3 per class for a total of 2 classes? But that would make over 30 people per class…

Some schools don't like this, but I guess it's possible

We also have a guard, but he went outside, probably to light up a smoke. I know him pretty well after all. It was he that allowed me and my boys back in the day to sneak into the chemistry lab to grab some stuff.

Good days…

And finally but not least. The old dudes and my teachers!

Since the three Mechanical engineering classes are here we also have 6 teachers.

Although three already left due to some reason. Probably fed up with this shit… It's been almost two hours after all.

They already said everything that was important in the first half-hour. Like the merge of the mechanical classes into a big one.

But they DON'T stop talking!

Apart from the teachers, there are the Uni executives.

Department of mechanical engineering- Mr shiny head

Department of Electrical engineering- Mr egg

Department of social engineering- Chad

The other department heads already left when they had their own speeches.

But there are still some people left!

Head of engineering!- Old master Metatron!

Regional campus head!- Swordmaster Isshin!

And the one above all!- God Emperor Avis, whose age precedes that of the Abyss.

Of course, those names were only for fun. Made by the predecessors and passed onto the next generations.

Mr shiny head is a bald black guy, he is tall and strong. But overall, he is a nice guy. His head tends to shine brightly in the sun due to the creams he likes to apply on his head.

Mr egg, is a dwarf of a man with a big round belly, his pale skin and tendency to use white clothes, tends to make people associate him with an egg. His temper is short but he gets the job done. You ask him something and give him a proper reason, you can be sure he will finish it within a week.

Chad. A "nice" guy. Simply put, he is too good with words and the law for his own good. There were rumors of him having affairs with multiple girls, but that was never confirmed. He is quite reclusive but can liven up a party on his own. He has an unmatched talent with his tongue and is knowledgeable enough to be in his position despite being only 30.

His appearance is quite the "lady killer" according to some girls. I barely talked with him though, but I did overhear several of his conversations. But as I am me. I don't care about other people's personal problems as long as it doesn't affect me.

Now for the ancient masters!

Metatron! God of all things powered by machines! His real name is Antoinoine. Making 92 this year, he has maintained his position for over 50 years! Yet he is praised for being open-minded. Someone I talked a lot with. He can be considered to be one of my most beloved tutors in this hell of an academy.

Swordmaster Isshin! God of swordsmanship! His real name is indeed Isshin! Making 84 this year. He got his title due to always carrying a long Chinese-style saber on his back. He is known for being laid back and uncaring for most things. Only caring about his sword dojo. There are rumors he will resign next year… Or was it this year?

God Emperor Avis! The one above all! A legend seen once in a lifetime! He is 110 years old this year! As the one who founded this university 80 years ago. He is a living fossil that still strives to improve this place despite his age.

And he has been doing that for 80 years… And for almost 4 generations of his family, considering that his great-grandson is working in this university. Although I forgot what he was doing.

Talk about determination.

His real name is Arthur Vista. Hence, Avis.

His son has already died, but his grandson is currently overseeing the uni branch in another part of the city.

May his light shine for another 10 years…

And this concludes my useless analyses of all of the people in this very room…

-... And I hope we…

They are still talking… Plan Z. Should I sleep?

There isn't anything to do anymore…

My gaze stopped at one of the school students who was clearly playing on a cell phone.

This is?!

The person in front of me was rather tall and with broad shoulders. Perfect to block the vision from below.

If I just lean back a little bit more, no one will notice.

The two people on my side seem to be also considering this as one of them already took out his cellphone.

Shit! If three people take out their cellphones in a line… We will become targets!

So I can't resort to reading novels on my cell phone.

And I can't sleep!... GOD! Save me!

-... Thank you all for listening to Mr. Isshin's speech. We are now going to end our lecture with Mr. Vista's speech!

/Aplause/

The students were excited to leave this damn place, so was I.

If there is one thing I know about Vista, it is that he is direct. He will go straight to the point.

Meaning, this speech will not last more than 10 Minutes!

Now I can relax…

Vista started his speech like any other, I didn't really pay attention, focusing more on the people around me.

For some reason, the Department heads didn't leave after their speeches. Are they so free?

I can understand if Metatron and Ishiin don't leave since they are old and can barely move a few feet in a minute but…

/Creek/

From behind me, I heard the classical creek of the double doors of this hall.

Obviously, I sat quite close to the top so that I could leave this place as soon as possible.

A group of around 10 kids was led inside by none other than the guard that had gone smoke.

Ah! I see… They must've bribed him somehow. Tsk! Smart. While everyone was in here suffering they were outside relaxing.

By their appearance and overall looks… I will say they are:

The delinquents And the "rich" kids.

What a rare combination.

The rich kids made their way to some people, it was none other than the outcasts that were sitting at the very top.

They didn't even talk with them, they just threw out a stack of notes and gave it to them. The outcasts received their pay and left towards another place…

The delinquents just sat on the floor without a care.

At least they didn't cause a ruckus.

-... And remember, the most important thing is to SURVIVE…

(He didn't scream when he said that, it's just that I can't tilt the words or put them black here on Webnovel.)

Survive? What a strange word to use, but I guess old people have their own vocabulary

-... Observe your surroundings, conquer your fear, FIGHT forward. That is the only way to reach the top and don't become a TOOL. It's important to not become over paranoid but always have a plan B.

-The ones at the top are always the most SUSPICIOUS. After all, they got in there somehow…

This lecture is going in a strange way huh…

… I will download this lecture and see the end later. Now I got curious.

I picked up my phone and started it up.

-You are not ALONE! Remember to trust your friends and company, one cannot reach the top ALONE. Behind me is the blood and sweat of many compatriots!

Quite something to say for someone that just told us to not trust others easily…

He stopped to rest a little and checked the time on his watch.

-Look at the time! We are almost done here. Please just wait a little bit more…

Yeah, baby! About time!

Today is the day they release The ancient scrolls 6! I waited for this moment for half of my life!

Who would imagine that this legend of a game would take so long… But here I am, in the year 2023…

If the betas are anything to talk about… this game will be a blast.

/Bing!/

My cell phone finally finished initiating.

I unlocked it and went to the already opened University page.

Here it is. Download the lecture… Yes, I accept the damn terms of conditions…

-And this is all! Thank you for today, everyone.

/APPLAUSE!/

Vista made his way towards a back door with his guards.

/Bing!/

-Hm?

That was fast?

How did it download so quickly?

-... Everyone, please be calm and…

Looks like it will take a while until everyone leaves. I will wait for the crowd to disperse.

I picked my earphones and plugged them into my phone.

-Let me see this recording.

/10%...60...90...94...98...100%/

The video started. But instead of the class hall, I saw old man Vista looking at the camera while sitting at a desk table.

-What the…

-I know… I know… You must be confused, but if you are here. It means you are either lucky or attentive.

-No one would download this video otherwise… The lecture was a pain in the ass after all.

-But that was on purpose.

What. The. Fuck.

-Soon enough something you can't even imagine is going to happen, but since my time is short, I beseech you that you listen to me until the end.

-... Are you still here? Good.

Now I am fucking curious old fart!

-First thing: Never… EVER! Tell anyone about your private information… MAKE IT UP! Whatever you must do… You must keep it a secret. The longer the better… Although there will be a day where it will spill up. It's inevitable.

-The least important thing is your "role". So use it if needed.

-Sorry for the lack of words, the translation keeps changing every so often. So I can't really point it out to you.

-Second thing: Don't trust your ******. Did you hear me? Do not trust ******... For them, you are nothing but a TOOL! Perhaps some of them might see you all as Humans and fellow people. But I am sure this isn't their collective thought.

-Third thing: Focus on growing! Forget about the many pleasures they will offer you. Those are nothing but distractions. You can enjoy it as much as you want after leaving. And that leads us to the next entry…

-Fourth thing: Leave immediately! Form a group or go alone. Find a way to go away from the *****.

-Fifth thing: Don't attract attention, but you can't be too secretive. You are lucky that this time there will be over a hundred people being *****. But don't underestimate their info gathering abilities… Unless they got rusty, I can't see a new "chosen" being able to escape from them.

-Sixth thing: Do not make a contract! Do NOT make a contract. Do not make a contract. Important things should be said 3 times. You should only do a contract after you are used to the new *****.

-Seventh thing: At the end, if you survive. Do not accept their proposal. Otherwise, you are going to become just like me… You are free to make your choice though. As that is something they surprisingly give you a chance to "choose".

-Eight thing: Do not rush for… "First break". It doesn't matter what "role" you get. Remember to push yourself beyond your limits first before trying that. Every "break" is of outstanding importance. Even more so if you plan to "resist".

/Static noise/

-TSK! They did improve, huh?... Time is running out… I still have over twenty things to talk about…

/BANG!/

He punched his wooden table with one hand. Breaking it in half…

That's some immense strength for an old man with one foot on the grave… Or this is one of the greatest movie trailers I have ever seen.

-FUCK IT! Let's go to the more important ones!

He started speaking faster.

-Nineth thing! Potential! You need to maximize your potential. There are three types of potential:

Mind, body, and mystique! Remember that! Don't confuse them for the five *****. Even if you are a musclehead, you can still improve your body potential and mystique. But make sure to always keep them close to each other. But how do you increase your potential?!

-Tenth, eleventh and twelfth things! Do not increase your "state"! No matter what! Increasing it will make everything else harder to acquire. Achieving greater feats while in a lower "state" will increase all sorts of rewards leading to a chance for you to increase your potential.

-Once again, I am sorry for the lack of vocabulary. But I need to say it like this because of the "Assimilation" changes… You will understand what I am talking about as soon as you get your "role".

-Techniques! That is what separates us, Humans, from mere beasts in combat! Get as many as you can until you form a proper fighting style! That's the only time where I will tell you to listen to those guys… Learn from them while you can. You won't get such a good teacher for a long… Long while.

-RAISE THOSE NUMBERS!... As my old friends liked to say… And remember… Collect all of the "Titles". The good ones though. Be careful not to get bad titles… What I want to say is that Titles are important as FUCK! They are almost as important as your life!

-Titles that you MUST acquire: Reading all of the books on the oldest shelf of the royal library, number 021; Finishing all of the basic weapon training; Create one martial/magical technique while in the lowest state; Receive a blessing from the broken fountain, you will need a.../STATIC/… for that. Let me repeat, you will need a coin of.../STATIC/…

-These five are the most essential ones. You can find a book detailing everything else in the place where the old heroes had their first and last supper.

/STATIC… BUZZ/

He only said four though… Did the static cut one?

-Fucking hell, those bastards… Looks like this is all I can tell you right now. After you leave the castle, make sure to look for the "remnants". Everything I couldn't say here will be there.

/STATIC!/

-... And lastly… Remember to be safe and sound. And to delete the entirety of your phone data. They will surely take an interest in this. Either break it now or delete all info. I would break it and throw it at the nearest trash can if I were you.

-Be smart and throw everything you have on you into the trash can. The least I can do is take care of it for you…

/POOF/

The video cut out of nowhere.

… This was… Ominous… Delete my data? Let me first pass everything I have here to cloud save.

With the press of a button on my gallery. Everything slowly made its way to the cloud save.

/BANG BANG BANG!/

-HEY! THE DOOR IS FUCKING LOCKED! DID THAT FUCKER OF A GUARD LOCK US INSIDE?! Said one of the delinquents.

-Not cool man… It must be a problem with the doors, they are old after all. Said one of the cool guys.

-WHAT THE FUCK YOU SAID YOU LITTLE BITCH?!

Wow… That guy has some anger issues…

But things are getting strange… That door cant lock through the outside… You need to lock it inside and make your way through the back door.

I looked to the side and noticed that all trash cans seemingly disappeared. With the exception of one on my right.

What the… Didn't we have several of those in here? When did they…

I got up and went to the trash bin side and looked inside. I saw a necklace lying inside of it.

Okay… Be normal…

-Shit… My phone…

I "dropped" my phone inside the trash bin. picking the collar up and stashing it in my pocket.

No one saw that right? I completely encased the collar on my hand...

Should I drop my stuff in here?... What am I thinking about...

/Tremble/

The hall shook a little, but I noticed some strange green runes appearing on the walls.

They were faint, making it hard to spot them because of the light on the ceiling.

-This is… People have yet to notice it…

The delinquents were so angry that they started to kick and punch the doors. The geeks were smarter and tried leaving through the back door but to no avail.

All of the groups had different reactions to the trembling…

Some cried, some cuddled in fear, others even laughed.

-Hum?

I noticed someone on the other side of the hall. It was one of the Popular guys. A pretty girl was looking attentively towards the wall.

So people started to notice it as well…

/BUZZZ… CRACK!/

All of the light bulbs in the ceiling broke at the same time.

/KYAAAAAA!/

An extremely loud pitched scream rang in the Hall.

Ouch! My ears.

But because of this, everyone noticed the green runes… Or should I say, multi-colored runes?

Red, purple, blue, yellow… Not only green.

The ones close to me were green while the ones close to the girl were red.

-...

He didn't say anything about the runes, so they aren't that important.

For a moment, I acted as if everything happening here was serious. I was surprised. It looked way too real.

-It's just like playing one of those VR games…

My vision went to the Lecture hall podium. The runes there were also green.

For a moment I thought they were going to be golden and we would compete to see who stayed there but…

Just kidding.

The trembling stopped, and now we were in a rather beautiful room filled with those strange runes. It looked rather macabre to be real...

/Shiiiii/

As if sand was falling into the ground, the light of the runes started to "gather" in one point of the room, creating a multi-colored prismatic ball.

Okay. This can't be special movie effects.

So what the old man said…

Why do I remember everything so clearly?

The ball started to expand, slowly engulfing the room.

/SAVE ME!... GET OUT OF THE WAY!/

People started panicking thinking the ball was dangerous.

In fact. I was also trembling a little.

/Cling.../

The crystal on the collar of my hand emitted a warm heat, somehow calming me down.

-Looks like you aren't normal either…

I looked at my phone and my bag, and within a second, I stashed my phone inside it and took out my switchblade, throwing the rest in the trash can.

But I didn't notice the girl on the other side of the room who was also looking at me.

She picked her bag and threw it on the ground after a moment of indecision.

I don't have anything left right?

The light ball had almost reached me.

In order to not be one of the first on the other side… If there is any. I gathered with the other people in the back of the room.

10 seconds… 30 seconds…

The ball was so close…

-NOO! AHHHH!

Someone was pushed right into the ball.

Betrayal huh? This is a good time to see how people act in desperation.

The geeks, The edgy Chunibyo group and The outcasts were the only groups where everyone seemed rather calm.

The geeks and The edgy were… Excited?

The outcasts seem to have each other's backs, not allowing anyone to kick or push them. Or at least they are trying to...

Of course, there were several individuals who were calm among the rest. Like the popular girl who saw the runes earlier than most.

-NOO!

Another one bites the dust.

From behind me, I saw someone approaching me to kick me into the ball. It was one of The normals… My memory is quite good today...

-Come on man, you don't want to do this.

He was startled and retreated in fear.

I guess people are on edge… I didn't even do anything.

/Proumm!/

The ball stopped moving. Making a strange sound.

It flashed with white light and…

Darkness.

…

A moment later I opened my eyes.

High ceiling, decorated with beautiful mythical paintings. High marble pillars filled with beautiful carvings.

The ground was so shiny that I could see the reflection of the ceiling perfectly.

Everyone around me was still rather disoriented... This is bad!

"Fifth thing: Don't attract attention..."

Immediately after I opened my eyes and moved my head I closed them again and put my hands on my head as if I was experiencing pain. Like the others around me.

1 minute passed before I heard strange whispers and a soothing feeling spread across my body.

Not only mine in fact, but everybodys.

Everyone got up slowly. I decided to take longer but I wasn't the last.

I was rather tall being 193Cm. Taller than 95% of everyone in here, so I could see slightly ahead.

I am sorry for the Loli behind me though…

There was an old priest/mage chanting something incomprehensible on an altar.

This man looked like a twig about to be blown away by the wind, his body was entirely being supported by a strange metallic cane with a massive gem in the middle. He was wearing some nicely decorated white cape resembling a priest.

/Puc puc puc/

My ear popped several times for no reason.

-Cough! Cough!... I am getting too old for this, your majesty.

His voice was raspy and weak. The priest turned around and talked to a man sitting on a beautiful throne.

-Thank you once again for your help, High priest Gulio. We will take it from here.

The man on the throne had a powerful and masculine voice. He was tall and muscular, with deep red hair going all the way to his shoulders. He had a set of beautiful pauldrons on his shoulders with a deep purple cape.

He wasn't wearing a crown though.

-I am not a high priest anymore, old friend. There seems to be quite a large amount of seedlings this time, so make sure to take good care of them. To think I would live to see this again. I don't really need to say anything else right?

If that man is truly a king then he will…

-HAHAHA! No need to tell me! The guards will escort you out. Be sure to stay for dinner though!

-Ba! I can't eat this fancy shit anymore, Rebifos. I am too old already… I will be home if you need me. Until we meet again.

And the priest left under the care of two guards clad in purple shiny armor.

-...

The king mumbled something with a small smile before getting up.

-WELCOME!

/BOOM!/

His voice was so loud that almost made us fall.

My ears… Fuck.

-... Do they understand me Lupio?

The king turned to the side to talk with a man wearing an old-style purple Tuxedo. His hair was deep blue and he had a long mustache. He had a very refined aura.

-I am sure they are. They must be shocked by the travel. Let's give them some time. It has been recorded many times that this period is the time where they are the most… "volatile". Being taken away from home is quite the thing after all.

His voice resembled that of a well-trained butler. If that is anything to go by.

-... I understand. /CLAP!/

Multiple beautiful maids carrying several things entered the throne room.

-The best way to make them comfortable is through food right?

-That's an excellent option, your majesty.

The maids went to us and started to handle water cups and some sweets.

/BANG!/

One of the delinquents hit the plate the maid was carrying into the ground, making her drop all of the stuff she was carrying.

-WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL OF THIS?! YOU BETTER EXPLAIN THIS SHITHOLE ELSE…

A knight clad in red armor with a large spear appeared behind the man, it was as if he teleported.

He was over two meters tall, fully clad in red armor…

-Else what?...

He looked towards the delinquent.

The guy became scared but recomposed himself before throwing up a punch in the knight's face.

/CLANG!... CRACK!/

-AHHHH!

The knight didn't even move while the guy broke his fingers.

-I approve of your courage, but I disapprove of your recklessness. Stay there and rethink your actions through the pain. The king's authority cannot be challenged. Normally you would be sentenced to dea…

-Stop. He is just a confused kid. Said the king

/Clang./

The knight got on his knees and said:

-Understood!

The king looked at us and said:

-It seems most of you have regained your clarity. I am immensely sorry for what just happened, I want to clear all of your worries but we need to take this slow.

He seems like a nice guy…

"Second thing: Don't trust your ******. Did you hear me? Do not trust ******... For them, you are nothing but a TOOL!"

Is he talking about our… "summoner"?

-I will give you all five minutes then we will start. Calm down in the meantime.

I placed my hands on my pocket but…

The collar! It isn't here!

I had my hands in there the entire time! I only took it out when I placed my hands on my head.

Focus… Things are getting serious way too fast.