There's no such thing as "luck."
Even the most accidental mishap often turns out to be inevitable—because when coincidences keep lining up just right, the outcome starts to look less like chance and more like destiny.
New Eridu — Sixth Street, inside the Random Play video store
Wise and Belle sat on the sofa while a highly recognizable voice came from the TV.
"With the municipal re-election approaching, the highly anticipated public works project—Old Capital Metro Renovation—has officially begun! We're honored to interview the chief representative of the contractor, Vision Corporation: Mr. Charles Perlman!"
After an emotionally rich, contagious opening, the bespectacled reporter turned, bent down exaggeratedly, and offered the mic to the "head of Vision's enterprise," smiling from ear to ear.
"Later today, the company will conduct a controlled demolition in the metro reconstruction zone near the Old Capital—commonly known as Canvas Alley. Could you briefly explain the construction process?"
Faced with the reporter's respectful attitude, Perlman huffed twice.
"Kid, you asked the right question."
Then the short, fat man—white-haired, with a thick beard and mustache connecting into one—spread his arms and declared grandly:
"After the fall of the Old Capital, large sections of the metro were destroyed, severely obstructing New Eridu's transport convenience and urban development."
"To solve this, we must completely clear the damaged remnants of the old metro, then construct a brand-new line. For this purpose, our company spared no expense and purchased large quantities of high-purity industrial Ether explosives, specifically for blasting operations."
After hearing him out, the reporter made a show of realization.
"So that's how it is."
Then he immediately followed up.
"But right now, isn't Canvas Alley cut off from the city? How will you transport the explosives?"
Perlman smirked inside. Good. This reporter knows the script.
"Hahaha, you're absolutely right! But Vision has always been forward-thinking. Come—look at this electronic map with me—"
Where Perlman pointed, a red region appeared on the display, sharply contrasted against the blue city area around it. A yellow navigation arrow line also appeared.
"We are currently at the demolition command center at the entrance of the Dead End Hollow. The red area in the center of the map is the blasting zone."
In New Eridu, whenever anyone mentioned Hollows on camera, their expression would turn serious.
Perlman was no exception—despite how broadly he'd been smiling.
"Due to the presence of the associated Hollow known as the Dead End Hollow, the tunnel connecting New Eridu to the blasting zone has been completely swallowed."
"However, inside the Dead End Hollow, parts of the metro lines remain intact. Therefore, our company has decided to use a specially modified train (close-up of train) to pass through the Hollow and transport explosives."
As he got excited, Perlman stepped off his chair, climbed onto a platform behind him, and slapped the mountain of explosive crates stacked there.
"To avoid Ethereals, we planned carefully and advanced step by step. We've now successfully delivered most of the explosives to the blasting zone."
The reporter's expression froze. Hands spread out like a duck.
Perlman chuckled—and promptly raised a gigantic death flag.
"Hahaha, rest assured! Without a special detonator or an extremely powerful external force, it won't explode!"
Perlman returned to his little stool and stroked his chin, eyes drifting.
"Uh… we'd love to show the site, but to avoid signal interference during blasting, we've implemented civilian signal jamming in the demolition zone."
"At present, only our dedicated frequency band can communicate."
The reporter seized the chance to flatter.
"You even jammed signals after evacuating all civilians from the demolition zone—just to be safe? Vision Corporation is truly thorough!"
At the phrase "evacuating all civilians," Perlman's body trembled slightly.
But he quickly recovered—both thumbs up, flashing a polished "official grin" with gleaming teeth.
"Uh, that's right! Because Vision's vision… is the well-being of every resident in New Eridu!"
The live broadcast then cut to footage from a few months earlier.
Several cute, burly bear Thirens from Belobog Heavy Industries watched Perlman bouncing with excitement on stage after winning the bid.
One bear was grinding its teeth in rage; the rest were silent.
The TV switched to a standard news narration explaining the background.
"…Several months ago, Vision Corporation successfully won the contract for this Old Metro project at the engineering bid conference. Vision promised a shorter timeline and lower cost, defeating the much-watched Belobog Heavy Industries by a significant margin and securing the bid."
"Our correspondent attempted to contact relevant personnel at Belobog Heavy Industries, but unfortunately was unable to arrange an interview."
The camera returned to the现场. The bespectacled reporter smiled brightly.
"Mr. Perlman—having beaten the industry's rising star Belobog Heavy Industries, what would you like to say?"
Perlman immediately launched into official-sounding remarks—but every word dripped with thinly veiled snark, and whatever little caution he had left vanished completely.
"Well, Belobog Heavy Industries is a highly respected competitor, and a fellow business we can learn from. I believe they'll have a better result next time."
The moment had arrived.
A sharp glint flashed in the reporter's eyes—though he kept a restrained smile on the surface.
Then his question turned pointed.
"Then could you also share the secret to compressing your project costs?"
"…We should… not have that issue, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Y-you—this wasn't in the interview outline you gave me—"
The situation started to deadlock—
When the secretary, who had only been standing aside holding a cue board, suddenly spoke. Her voice was cool and flat, with a faint edge of warning.
"Mr. Perlman. This is live."
After that "reminder," the secretary—seen only from the upper body on screen—smoothly took over, explaining:
"What Mr. Perlman means is that Vision Corporation has absolutely no improper cost-cutting during construction. We welcome supervision from every citizen."
Then, seemingly to reassure the public watching the broadcast, she added:
"For this demolition, Mr. Perlman will personally be on-site and will stand watch for everyone until the very last moment."
"Y-yes, that's right!" Perlman rushed to follow.
"I'll soon ride the train with the technical staff to the monitoring point inside the blasting zone…"
Belle turned her head.
"Bro. What do you think?"
Wise replied flatly.
"What do I think? I'm sitting on the couch watching."
"..."
"Bro, once again confirming: you have zero humor cells. At this rate, we'll have to make Chiya implant a few humor cells into you—ow!"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Pulling his fingers back after flicking her, Wise stood up and scratched his cheek.
"Construction next to a Hollow, plus relocating a ton of people…"
Belle finally recovered too, lowering her hand from her head and planting fists on her hips.
"A company aiming to join the TOPS consortium really is loaded…"
Then—
A crisp synthetic voice chimed in.
"Alert: street surveillance has identified an unknown individual approaching this shop at high speed."
From initial wariness to gradually becoming part of Phaethon's everyday life, Fairy had demonstrated frightening strength in all areas: Hollow expeditions, privilege intrusion, data gathering, even singing-ticket purchases…
Aside from driving Random Play's electric bill up fivefold (with Chiya helping to cover it), everything was… mostly fine.
For example, casually hacking public cameras to assess an approaching target:
"Hypothesis: he needs to borrow the restroom; his rented tape is nearing its due date; he intends to do harm to the shop."
Wise sighed.
"It's just a customer. I'll get the door."
"What's with how you make 'a customer' sound so creepy…?"
Belle's complaint fell—
BANG—!
The door opened, and a small figure came tumbling in with a "Meow!"
A brown cat Thiren—red top, black pants, bell collar—Nekomata.
She crashed in and fell to the floor—
And with her, the Cunning Hares' exclusive Bangboo: Amillion.
"…Uh."
"Uh…?"
"M-my nose hurts…"
But this was not the time to worry about her nose!
Nekomata scrambled up, pointed at Perlman talking smoothly on TV, and shouted anxiously:
"Ah! Don't believe that short winter-melon uncle!"
"He's lying!"
— Nekomata flails desperately to explain —New Eridu — Black Goose construction site (former), Belobog Heavy Industries' current base — in front of the kiosk
Two steel-frame beds were set up in the middle.
A table beside them was packed with supplies—bandages, medicated patches, acupuncture needles, mugwort, cupping jars…
Chiya sat beside one bed, carefully inserting needles into Anton's acupoints.
On the other bed, Nugget was applying brutally strong "martial arts techniques" to a bear Thiren lying down—elbows crashing like a hammer to loosen muscles and "unblock" the body.
"Mm—mm—ngh—AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Ngh… Anton, you holding up?"
"No problem, Chiya bro!" Anton gritted out.
"A real man… sees it through to the end! It's just a little—ngh!!"
"…Ben, this'll be another one. Trouble you—get the gummy on the table and put it in Anton's mouth."
"Understood, Doctor Chiya."
"Wait! Chiya bro! I can still—zzz—zzz—"
Watching Anton drenched in sweat yet still trying to force it, Chiya didn't give him another chance to "keep going."
The fatigue built up in his body was just too extreme.
At Chiya's signal, Ben carefully picked up a wrapped gummy from the table.
He tore it open, controlled the force, and precisely inserted it into Anton's wide-open mouth.
The "tough guy" immediately slumped over.
"…No matter how many times I see it, Doctor Chiya—your gummy…"
Ben couldn't help muttering.
"Honestly, that 'sleep the instant it enters your mouth' ability is ridiculous. I'm impressed."
"Thanks. But Ben—the effect being this dramatic isn't only because of the candy."
"It's also because of you."
With the last needle placed, Chiya exhaled long, then turned a weary look toward Ben.
Ben smiled awkwardly, then thoughtfully pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Chiya's forehead.
Thankfully, Chiya's gaze didn't linger—he looked instead at the long line of Belobog employees waiting their turn.
Seeing them all avert their eyes guiltily, Chiya sighed.
"And you lot too."
"Every day you swear you'll follow medical advice."
"Then every time Nugget 'unblocks' you, you scream like you're turning into Ethereals."
"Quack! Doctor Chiya! That's not our fault! Your—BAM!"
A bear Thiren tried to argue—
But in the next instant, Nugget—who had been elbow-striking the bed—flashed forward and appeared right in front of the bear's head.
A cold inverted cross filled the bear's vision.
Then: white clouds and blue sky.
A few seconds later, darkness spread.
A chill, peaceful calm arrived.
His body softened—collapsed.
"Old Li… Old Li…"
Ben rubbed his head helplessly as the bear's coworkers caught Old Li together.
But Chiya was still firing.
And now the spear turned straight at Ben.
"Ben—you too."
"Don't think you're in great shape."
"Your muscles are solid, sure. But you and Anton—your fatigue has piled up badly."
"Uh… Doctor Chiya…"
"Every time I come, if other patients are grass or wildflowers…"
"You two are mountains."
"Unblocking you is like opening floodgates—no matter how far I go, there's always some pressure left."
"Ben, you know it too."
"These hidden injuries aren't 'incurable.'"
"So many 'incurable' conditions only become hopeless because people don't take them seriously early on—because they ignore them, let them go… until it's too late."
"Wait—Doctor Chiya—"
"And Koleda as well."
"As the president, leading from the front is a great quality. I respect that."
"But precisely because of that—Ben, where is Koleda?"
"Uh, President…"
Ben tried to warn him—
But Chiya, fully in Doctor (Lecturing) Mode, plowed right through.
"Forget it. Even if you don't say, I know."
"If she's not attending some ribbon-cutting ceremony she can't even reach, then she's definitely hauling a hammer around mixing cement again."
"Doctor Chiya… stop talking."
"I'm not done!"
"And every time I come, that 'Iron Witch' keeps making me go see her 'kid' or whatever—seriously, I—"
"Ah, Doctor Chiya."
"…You're finished."
"Finished? What's finished—"
In the next moment, a large hand—rough with calluses yet still careful—settled on his shoulder.
A voice came down behind him, calm… and dangerous.
"Looks like, little Chiya…"
"There's been a slight misunderstanding between us."
"You don't even call me by name…"
"You call me 'Iron Witch'?"
"That really…"
"Hurts my feelings…"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 50)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 70)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 50)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 54)
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