Chapter 1: The Beginning of Rebirth

A man covered in scars stood before a winding river, his cold and battered face reflected clearly in the water.

“This is the Fate Space…”

A voice suddenly echoed in the man’s ear.

“Congratulations, you have achieved victory. According to the rules of the game, you shall receive Godhood and join the ranks of the gods…”

Before the voice could finish, the man interrupted.

“I have a question.”

“It is not a good habit to interrupt others, though I know what you want to ask. The answer is: No.”

“…”

The man let out a helpless smile upon receiving that answer.

“Do you wish to renounce the Godhood that billions of living souls have fought for?”

“I have lost too much. If there is no way to bring them back to life, what use is this Godhood to me?”

The man rose, preparing to leave; his only wish was to find a quiet place to end his own life.

He had harbored a sliver of hope, but this voice had severed the last of it.

He was weary, having lost the drive to continue fighting…

Suddenly, the voice called out to him.

“If you do not want this Godhood, how about using it as a chip to give yourself a chance to start over?”

“…”

The man froze in his tracks—a chance to start over?

If so, he would have the opportunity to change fate.

“It seems you are interested. However, I must warn you that changing the past is a dangerous matter; even the smallest thing can alter the future you know.”

“As long as I can return to the past, there is nothing to fear.”

The man turned back, his mind made up.

“Very well. Then, make your wish to the River of Fate…”

After the voice vanished, a Fate Coin fell from the sky.

The man reached out to catch it and walked to the edge of the river.

Gazing at his reflection in the water, he opened his hand and let the coin drop…

****

Beep, beep, beep… Beep, beep, beep… Beep, beep, beep…

The sound of an alarm rang out.

The man woke up in a daze.

Inside a room both strange and familiar, he pulled back the curtains to welcome the long-lost sunlight and peace.

‘September 5th. There are still five days left…’

On September 10th, the nations of the world would jointly release a fully immersive dive game called [Fate Paradise], sparking a global craze.

In an era of rapid development, the pressures of reality were becoming increasingly intense, making games a spiritual sanctuary for the majority of humanity; this was the reason it was named [Fate Paradise].

However, it was anything but a paradise.

Behind it lay a massive conspiracy.

Who could have imagined that the tentacles of Evil Gods had already reached this planet, turning it into a new battlefield?

Who could have imagined that the CEO of a social media platform, constantly ridiculed on his own site, was actually an Evil God who grew stronger by accumulating the insults and resentment of humanity?

Who could have imagined that behind an online Q&A community lay an Evil God capable of creating countless parallel worlds, manufacturing one world after another based on the fabricated stories of its users to increase its own power?

…

‘First, I must make thorough preparations.’

As the saying goes, “He who considers the future is prepared, and he who is prepared has no worries.”

The man named Qin Yu was already contemplating his preparations for the launch of [Fate Paradise].

He spent half a day organizing his thoughts, making a rough outline of what he needed to do during the first seven days of the server’s opening.

The reason it wasn’t too detailed was that the world of [Fate Paradise] was unpredictable; no one knew what would happen the next moment.

Aside from that, he needed to prepare before the server opened.

In truth, the battle for the game had already begun before its release, especially for a game with such an online-heavy nature.

The most important factors were, of course, capital, gaming equipment, and “pay-to-win” spending at the start, all of which were key to securing resources.

By scraping everything together, Qin Yu could only muster fifty thousand yuan.

If he paid upfront, he could buy a mid-tier device, but Qin Yu wasn’t considering that.

For someone like Qin Yu, who was familiar with the game’s progression, the bonus items from that tier were mediocre—neither high enough to be elite nor low enough to be ignored.

It was a very awkward position, and it would be better to save money by buying the entry-level version instead.

In his previous life, he had bought the entry-level version to save money, only to find out later how much he had lost out on.

Players who purchased the highest-tier gaming pod for the first time would be granted a lucky draw, offering a chance to obtain various excellent weapons, equipment, or even skills.

The most critical rewards were the skills.

They were essential resources for early-game exploration.

Qin Yu had missed out on them before, and later on, no amount of money could compensate for it; it had to be your first purchase, much like the first-time homebuyer incentives in China.

As for that two-hundred-thousand-yuan gaming pod, the first installment of the payment plan required fifty thousand yuan.

If he bought it, he wouldn’t have any money left to pay next month, and he would be blacklisted on the social credit system.

Furthermore, having no cash on hand was never a good thing; basic necessities like food and drink would become major problems.

‘September 5th… I remember…’

Qin Yu reminisced for a moment as something important suddenly crossed his mind.

He immediately left the room and headed downstairs.

The easiest way to get rich in a rebirth story was to buy a lottery ticket.

However, no one remembers lottery numbers perfectly, and there was always the possibility that the numbers might change.

Nevertheless, Qin Yu wanted to try.

Because the numbers for the night of September 5th were so unique, he remembered them clearly.

The first four digits were his local area code, the next two were his birthday, and the special number was his lucky number.

155126, 6.

After purchasing the ticket, Qin Yu returned home.

Whether he would win was an unknown, so he still had to prepare a backup plan.

If he didn’t win, he would have to burn his bridges, buy the gaming pod on installments, and then solve his financial problems by gold farming in the early stages of the game.

Qin Yu would absolutely not do that unless it was a last resort, as doing business with other players was incredibly troublesome.

Players from large factions would manipulate prices and create monopolies, suppressing solo players.

Since it involved cash transactions, the trading information could be traced by those large factions, exposing his real-life identity and inviting trouble.

In short, it was nothing but a headache.

Qin Yu wanted to avoid contact with those people as much as possible for now; until he possessed enough strength, the best strategy was to avoid provoking them.

One should make a fortune in silence.

Moreover, the instability of prices at the start of the game was a major issue.

Normally, only high-level weapons, armor, and items could be sold for a high price, but those items were also very useful to Qin Yu.

Selling them early would only benefit others.

‘In the end, it’s still a gamble. I’ll just have to see if these numbers can win…’

Whether he won or not, Qin Yu had a countermeasure; no one could stop what he intended to do.

In the evening, it was time for the drawing.

After the host finished a long, expressionless speech, the number drawing finally began.

The first number appeared quickly: 1.

Then came the second: 5.

The third was: 5.

The fourth was: 1.

The fifth was: 2.

…

Qin Yu felt his hands sweating.

He hadn’t expected to actually experience the feeling of hitting the jackpot.

A massive fortune falling from the sky—he remembered the prize pool was over eighty million.

With that much money, he could do so many things, and his early-stage capital problems would be largely resolved…

No, it was still too early to say.

After spinning for what felt like forever, the sixth number finally emerged.

To Qin Yu, it felt as long as an hour.

The sixth number was…