Chapter One: Stealing Luck
It wasn't death that frightened Lin Chen…
but the emptiness that came before it.
In his final moment, he was sitting in front of his computer screen, reading a novel about a world that didn't reward effort—only luck. Heroes were born at the bottom, then rose because opportunities fell into their hands as if the world itself favored them.
Then… everything went dark.
No pain.
No light.
No screams.
When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by cold air and the faint scent of blood. He lay on hard stone ground, surrounded by sounds of shouting and impacts. He slowly stood up, his eyes scanning the area.
A training ground.
Ancient buildings, stone pillars, and youths about his age training violently. Some screamed in pain, others laughed with confidence.
It didn't take Lin Chen long to understand.
"Another world…"
And more dangerously—
this world was not unfamiliar to him.
His memory was sharp, unnaturally clear. This place, this system, these laws… all of them matched the novel he had been reading before his death.
A world ruled by power, but power didn't come from effort alone—it came from opportunities.
A treasure found by chance.
A master appearing in a moment of despair.
An illogical survival from certain death.
All of this was called here: luck.
And some people… were born drowning in it.
As Lin Chen watched in silence, a thin young man nearby stumbled. He fell to the ground, his hand striking a small stone. With the sound, an old bottle was revealed, buried beneath the dirt.
The young man opened it in shock.
In the next moment, a faint green aura rose around his body.
"A strengthening pill?!" one of the trainees shouted.
Silence fell—then the area erupted with whispers and envy.
But Lin Chen… was not surprised.
Instead, he felt a calm disgust.
"Another one…" he muttered inwardly.
"A low-tier chosen hero."
At that moment, a cold voice echoed inside his mind, without warning:
[Target with high luck detected]
[Do you wish to activate the system?]
Lin Chen froze.
"A system…?"
He didn't say the word aloud, but the thought alone was enough.
Yes.
[Destiny Plunder System – Activated]
[Host: Lin Chen]
[Primary Function: Observe, intercept, and steal paths of opportunity]
Information flooded into his mind without pain. Numbers, future paths, countless probabilities. He looked again at the young man who had found the pill and saw a transparent line above his head:
[Luck: 71]
[Upcoming Opportunity: Critical survival – in 3 days]
A faint smile spread across Lin Chen's face—one that carried no warmth.
"So… this is the secret."
No gods.
No cosmic justice.
No miracles.
Just a blind world distributing opportunities at random, and some people born in the right place at the right time.
But now… there was someone who could see them before they happened.
Lin Chen slowly clenched his fist and looked up at the gray sky above the training ground.
"If they're called heroes because they're lucky…"
His voice dropped, a deadly calm settling in his eyes.
"Then I'll be the one who steals that luck."
In this world, he had no intention of being a hero.
Nor a savior.
But rather… the shadow that extinguishes others' miracles before they are born.
And so, without anyone noticing, the greatest anomaly this world had ever known was born—
A person who doesn't challenge chosen heroes…
but strips them of everything that made them special.