[Volume 2] Chapter Eight: The Ultimate Child of Fortune

“The meeting’s starting.”

Several holographic figures materialized in the hall. They were projections of people who had been unable to arrive in time and were attending remotely instead.

A soft snore rang out, and everyone turned to look.

One of the holograms showed Su-Jin lying on a bed, fast asleep. Her limbs were sprawled out, exposing her snow-white thighs and navel. Her sleeping posture was anything but dignified.

No one paid it any mind. They had long since grown used to it, so the meeting continued.

Fuu-Honlon looked up at Chen-Awelon, who was hanging from the ceiling, and asked, “Chen-Awelon, what mission are you posting?”

Chen-Awelon twisted around overhead and frowned.

“Could you put me down first? I’m the one posting this mission, so technically that makes me your employer. Is this how you treat your employer?”

Sis Avasarala reclined in a sandalwood chair, her fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

“Chen-Awelon, don’t get too full of yourself. Everyone here is only helping you as a favor. You’d better not start flexing in the Spacetime Destruction Bureau.”

“She’s right. Don’t push your luck,” Shahowe, the tardigrade Immortal Venerable, chimed in. “At least ten of our colleagues here could casually crush you to death between two fingers.”

As soon as Sis Avasarala spoke, Chen-Awelon obediently stopped squirming. He cleared his throat and spoke in a grand and solemn voice.

“According to the records in the ancient Flex God’s Legacy, among the vast and boundless Endless Worlds, there is one world that is home to an Ultimate Child of Fortune.”

Bearmont folded his thick arms across his chest.

“I’ve heard of Children of Fortune, but what the hell is an Ultimate Child of Fortune?”

“Wait, what even is a Child of Fortune?” Moonbell asked, her bright eyes widening with curiosity.

The little girl had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and was intensely interested in anything she didn’t understand.

“Allow me, the undisputed king of flexing, to explain what a Child of Fortune is.”

Chen-Awelon’s eyes narrowed. Then he launched into an absurdly long chant:

“Level up, slay mobs, scoop up loot,

Caves, academies, auctions to boot.

Clear the quests and raid each dungeon,

New maps: Immortal Realm, then Divine Realm.

Peerless talent, flawless aptitude,

One year’s cultivation equals ten for others.

Alchemy, artifact refining, formations too—

I’m a master of every craft.

An old man lives inside my ring,

My new pet is always a divine beast.

Rich young beauties all fall for me,

Even when the hero’s a total clown.

Now and then I browse a roadside stall,

Then buy a brick because the mood strikes me.

One quick wipe when I get home—

A broken ancient divine weapon!

A beauty goes hungry in the mountains,

One roast chicken wins her heart.

My roast-chicken technique is exquisitely refined,

Designed expressly for picking up girls.

The heroine and second male lead join my love triangle,

While I keep a whole harem of beauties.

My tiger-like frame gives one mighty shudder, and domineering aura erupts—

Followers and beauties, I take them all.

Villains are brain-dead beyond belief,

Sending henchmen to feed me EXP.

My companions are all hopeless weaklings;

When fighting starts, they stand aside and gape.

Endless clever schemes and incredible luck,

Worthless techniques become priceless treasures.

I sweep every foe within my realm;

Fighting above my realm is no big deal.

Even if I’m called useless trash today,

One day I’ll surely become a genius.

Fortune’s wheel will turn in time—

Never scorn a poor young man.

Whenever the hero is hurt, he’s always healed;

He’ll never be crippled for good.

He never goes to school? It doesn’t matter—

He was born knowing how to read and write.

Protagonist halo, divine arts, cheats turned on—

Immortals, Buddhas, monsters, demons: I kill them at will.

I defy heaven, the gods, and all living beings—

I slay ghosts, demons, even gods on high!”

Moonbell stared, slack-jawed. “Th-that’s the protagonist of a novel, isn’t it?”

“More precisely, the protagonist of a wish-fulfillment power fantasy,” Chen-Awelon corrected.

“How could anything like that possibly exist in the real world?” Moonbell said disdainfully. “Chen-Awelon, have you read so many novels that you’ve lost your grip on reality? Your intelligence must be pitifully low if you can believe such nonsense. I suggest getting brain-enhancement surgery to boost your IQ.”

“Hmph.”

Chen-Awelon looked smug.

“Let me tell you the truth: I am a Child of Fortune! My entire life has been one long parade of cheats, glorious victories, and spectacular flexing. Every beauty, every fortune, every cultivation manual, treasure, and divine weapon in the world exists for my sake!”

“It’s true,” Sis Avasarala said. “I know every turn Chen-Awelon’s life has taken. By the standard you just laid out, he is indeed a Child of Fortune.”

Fuu-Honlon gave him a malicious grin. “If you’re truly a Child of Fortune, why are you dangling from the ceiling and swinging like a pendulum?”

“My connection to fortune was severed the moment I entered the Spacetime Destruction Bureau,” Chen-Awelon said miserably. “What choice do I have? You’re all too powerful.”

“Then what exactly is an Ultimate Child of Fortune?” Finn suddenly asked, intrigued. “Is it simply a stronger version of a Child of Fortune?”

Chen-Awelon’s expression turned serious. “According to the records in the Flex God’s Legacy, an Ultimate Child of Fortune is a hundred times stronger than an ordinary Child of Fortune! A thousand times stronger! The entire world revolves around the Ultimate Child of Fortune!”

He continued, “If I can become an Ultimate Child of Fortune, I’ll finally become the supreme Flex God!”

“Then where is this Ultimate Child of Fortune? Are we meant to possess him and seize his body?”

“According to the Flex God’s Legacy, somewhere in the Endless Worlds, there must be an immeasurably vast world where all the world’s fortune has converged into one gigantic vortex.

“So long as we cross into that world and descend upon it as otherworldly transmigrators, we can absorb all its fortune and become the Ultimate Child of Fortune!

“So the key is finding the world that contains this supercharged vortex of fortune!”

Fuu-Honlon stroked his snowy beard and slowly shook his head. “Fortune is mysterious beyond all mystery. Think this through carefully. Reality is no tale spun by human hands. All the fortune of a world concentrated in one person? Never have I heard of such a thing, much less witnessed it.”

“You want us to help you find a world where an Ultimate Child of Fortune exists?” Bearmont asked.

“No.” Chen-Awelon sighed. “Director Fuu is right. The Ultimate Child of Fortune is far too abstruse and unfathomable. It sounds more like the protagonist of a novel. I don’t even know whether such a thing exists in reality.”

His expression hardened. “That’s why I have to enter the Imaginary World of a wish-fulfillment power fantasy, investigate the laws governing Children of Fortune, and overturn those very laws!”

At this point, one concept needed to be clarified.

A Imaginary World existed in opposition to a real world. In other words, it was a world with no independent physical existence.

That might sound paradoxical, but it was precisely what a Imaginary World was. It had no material form and was constructed from the imaginative force generated by works of literature and art.

A movie, a novel, an anime, a television series… After readers and viewers experienced these works, their emotions surged and their imaginations took flight, producing an intangible force of fantasy.

Once the audience became large enough, those individual fantasies would begin to resonate with one another, collectively forming a shared world with no existence in material reality.

Such a construct was called a Imaginary World. Although it existed only in the collective minds of its readers and viewers, certain arcane methods allowed people to enter it.

The birth and destruction of Imaginary Worlds were closely tied to the popularity of the works that created them. When a work fell into obscurity and no one cared about it anymore, its Imaginary World would naturally collapse and fade away.

Research into Imaginary Worlds flourished throughout the Endless Worlds.

One especially important branch of study was called Imaginary World materialization: the process of transforming a Imaginary World into a real one. That subject, however, would be left aside for now.

“Which wish-fulfillment power fantasy’s Imaginary World are you planning to visit?” Finn asked.

“Battle Through the Heavens!” Chen-Awelon’s expression was utterly resolute. “I desperately need everyone’s help to enter that Imaginary World and uncover the secrets of the Child of Fortune!”

“And what’s the payment?” Sainquartz asked from the sofa.

“One hundred Contribution Points per participant!” Chen-Awelon proclaimed with tremendous bravado. “Another hundred Contribution Points will be paid when the mission is complete!”

“Not interested.” Fuu-Honlon stroked his white beard. “My Five-Element Spirit-Nurturing Pills are about to emerge from the furnace. This old man shall take his leave. Farewell, everyone. We shall meet again if fate allows.”

An immortal gate swung open in a blaze of brilliant radiance. Six hundred and sixty-six young acolytes marched out in ordered ranks, boys and girls alike, while nine true dragons snarled and brandished their claws as they drew forth a carriage sculpted from white jade.

Fuu-Honlon climbed into the carriage and departed. Several others left as well.

People of immense wealth and status were hardly rare in the Spacetime Destruction Bureau. Many possessed fortunes rivaling those of entire nations, so Chen-Awelon’s mission attracted little interest.

Finn, Sainquartz, and Jimmy lounged on a leather sofa, sipping drinks and shooting the breeze.

Sainquartz glanced at Chen-Awelon, who was still hanging from the ceiling, and his eyes lit up.

“I might be interested. I went a little too hard on the in-game spending these past few days, and I’m almost broke. This mission doesn’t sound like much trouble, either. Seems pretty easy.”

Suddenly, a rainbow-colored streak of light shot into the hall. The light steadied in midair, revealing someone who looked exactly like Sainquartz.

The newcomer “Sainquartz” apologized sheepishly to Sis Avasarala.

“Sorry. Something held me up. I’m late.”