Chapter 1

Fang Shi stood under the shade of a tree on the sidewalk, which was on the southeast side of the overpass where Caitian Road and Zhongnan Road intersect. The sidewalk was paved with artificial marble, looking both beautiful and clean. In the middle of the sidewalk, there were some soil pools with large-leaved trees planted in them. Fang Shi didn't know what kind of trees they were, but they were definitely over ten years old.

Under the shade of the trees, there was a man and a woman sitting by each tree, dressed in various outfits. There were about six or seven people in total. They sat on small stools, with colorful cloths in front of them, on which words like "Face Reading," "Fortune Telling," and "Straightforward Divination" were written. Some had a bamboo tube for drawing lots, or an old book that was almost worn out, with most of the characters in seal script, which many people probably couldn't recognize.

Among these people were old men and middle-aged women. The old men looked like they collected scrap, and the middle-aged women looked like they sold vegetables at the market. It was hard to imagine that people with such appearances could actually deceive passersby into paying them.

On any other day, Fang Shi would have scoffed at them and felt proud of his high IQ. However, today, Fang Shi stood a few meters away with a strange expression, looking at a young man in front of him who had a neat mustache and wore a traditional Chinese jacket.

This young man, holding a paper fan, was the youngest among the group of fortune tellers. He looked presentable and had a mysterious expression on his face. He would occasionally glance at the passersby, smile mysteriously, or shake his fan with a sigh, giving off the air of a sage.

However, even so, under Fang Shi's prolonged gaze, this young man, who looked somewhat ethereal, began to feel uncomfortable. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, closed his fan, and waved at Fang Shi. Fang Shi looked around, confirmed that the gesture was for him, and firmly shook his head but continued to look at the young man.

This made the sage even more uneasy. He frowned and looked around. It was around one o'clock in the afternoon, and there weren't many pedestrians here. Fang Shi stood in the sun, staring at someone under the tree, which looked very strange.

"Hey, buddy, what are you looking at?"

"Nothing, just standing here!"

"Or do you want a fortune told? No money? I'll do it for free, but don't interfere with my business here."

"No! Just looking."

"Come on, we're all trying to make a living. Is it really necessary to be so over the top?"

"Sorry, really nothing, just pretend I'm not here!"

"That's nonsense. You're staring at me with those big eyes, making me feel uneasy. Can you just pretend I'm not here? Get lost, or don't blame me for being rude. Even a clay figure has a bit of temper!"

Fang Shi gave a dry laugh, turned to leave, but hesitated and stopped. He turned back and looked at the young man. "Brother, can you really tell fortunes?"

"Of course, why would I be here if I couldn't?"

The young man's words caused a few of his colleagues to laugh strangely. Fang Shi understood.

"Can you tell your own fortune?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, I just think you might be in for some bad luck!"

"What! Are you picking a fight?"

Fang Shi waved his hands frantically and took a step back. "Really, if you can, just tell your own fortune quickly."

Fang Shi's expression made the young man suspicious. To be honest, this young man wasn't a complete fraudster and was indeed different from the others.

Picking up the turtle shell and copper coins in front of him, the young man prayed sincerely and then shook the coins in the shell.

"Clank"

The coins scattered on the cloth in front of him. The young man looked at them, picked up the book in front of him, and quickly found a passage, reading it softly:

"Neither wind nor rain, the spring breeze brings warmth and peach blossoms bloom. A thousand miles apart, we meet by fate. Life is unpredictable, don't hesitate. Good fortune!"

The young man looked up, his eyes unfriendly, and was about to say something when a strong wind suddenly blew, lifting dust and paper leaves, blinding everyone.

"Crack!"

The young man looked up curiously, but everything went dark before his eyes!

"Bang!"

A branch, broken by the wind, fell and hit the young man's nose with a thud. He fell backward and lay still, blood flowing from his nostrils. The other fortune tellers were stunned, then looked at Fang Shi strangely.

Suddenly, one of them led the way, and they quickly packed up their things, picked up their stools, and ran away.

Fang Shi's mouth dropped open. He didn't expect this to happen. He was completely shocked. Fang Shi was an honest kid. The worst thing he had ever done was peeking into the girls' dormitory in elementary school, getting into a fight in middle school, smoking secretly in high school, watching porn in college, and tricking old people into buying useless health products after graduation. Apart from these, he had never done anything bad.

The serious accident in front of him and the strange events that happened to him far exceeded Fang Shi's psychological capacity. He was now unable to think.

Fortunately, a kind passerby called the police. More and more people gathered to watch. A kind person checked the young man and confidently announced that he was still alive. Fang Shi watched dumbly as people gathered, a kind person stole the mustachioed man's wallet and phone, and an ambulance arrived, taking the man away.

Fang Shi stood there, still in shock, until the crowd dispersed and even the mustachioed man's belongings were picked up by a scavenger. His mind was a mess, and he couldn't think clearly. What was going on? What had he done? Was the man dead? What should he do?

"If one day, I have no place to rely on in my old age..."

A familiar yet strange ringtone woke Fang Shi up. He looked around, and the pedestrians on the road had increased, the sun already setting behind the tall buildings.

"Please bury me..."

After a moment, Fang Shi came to his senses. The annoying ringtone seemed to be from his own phone. He fumbled for his cheap phone, saw a familiar name, and answered the call.

"Hello, who is it?"

"It's me, Dazhi. Are you free tonight? Let's go for a drink!"

"Again, drinking!"

"You don't have to pay. I'll treat you. I'll call Weiwei and Fangfang. We'll meet at the stall at the entrance of your village. I'm in a good mood today, ha ha."

"Did you win the lottery?"

"I wish. Not yet. Dad said he'll buy me a car, ha ha."

"Not a used car from your family's dealership?"

"Hey, that's not right. What's wrong with a used car? It's still a car, a good one. Every car has a life, so you must take good care of it. It can then burst with surprising brilliance, just like a woman, showing different charms with different men."

"Wait, that's too deep. We need to talk about it another time."

"Ha ha, good idea. I'll give you a lesson tonight. Where are you?"

"Caitian Road."

"What are you doing there? On business?"

"On your head, I'm going to the social security office."

"Alright, come back quickly. I'll wait for you, but no flirting with girls!"

"Get lost, I'd like to, damn it!"

After hanging up, Fang Shi felt his head clear up a bit. Friends are indeed a lifeline! Truth! Absolutely true.

Looking at his phone, Fang Shi thought about where to start unraveling the strange events that had happened to him.

On the bus, Fang Shi was lucky to find that the bus at this time was a perfect example of a harmonious and happy society.

The cool air conditioning and the humming of the engine were actually something Fang Shi liked. He studied automotive electronics in college, but after graduation, he could only work in a repair shop. He was very unsatisfied and switched to a sales job. However, it didn't seem as exciting as some passionate salespeople claimed. At least, it wasn't for Fang Shi. He felt that salespeople were just legal fraudsters.

After a few taps on his phone, Fang Shi's expression became serious.

This was a rather ordinary MMRPG mobile game. Fang Shi brought up his character, a sorcerer. He had just started playing and was still level one, with only one skill, "Aura Reading," which allowed him to see the health and luck values of monsters in the game. That was it!

Fang Shi opened the game and carefully read the attribute settings and skill descriptions for the sorcerer. On the game screen, a small monster had two numbers floating above its head, just like what Fang Shi had seen above the mustachioed man's head.

However, Fang Shi was sure he could only see one number, which was the luck value. The reason for this strange ability was thanks to his classmate Jiang Dazhi's call. That day, after a shower, Fang Shi rushed out of the small bathroom, grabbed his charging phone, and somehow gained this strange ability. The cost was lying naked on the floor all night and having his index finger burned black, along with a broken cheap phone and a burnt-out fuse.

Fang Shi had been staring at the mustachioed man because, in the past few days of strange occurrences, this man had the highest value he had seen. The number had a negative sign in front of it, and Fang Shi was curious about what a "-5" would bring. So he watched, and indeed, something big happened.

After the shock, Fang Shi finally confirmed that he wasn't hallucinating or having a mental problem. He had genuinely received some mysterious favor from a higher being, giving him this strange superpower.

But could this superpower make him rich? Could it help him stand out? Fang Shi was very concerned about this, and that was all he cared about.