Prologue of Fortune

“Ah Chen, buying lottery tickets again? Did you win anything last time?”

Inside the noisy lottery shop, people stood everywhere complaining.

Some were smoking while staring at the Double Color Ball numbers, others scratched instant tickets furiously as if they were forming Rasengans in their hands.

The owner sipped his tea with a grin and looked at the young man squeezing his way through the crowd.

The boy was somewhat thin, yet tall and well-built.

His medium-short black hair slightly covered his brows, and his eyes were calm—far calmer than the adults who had struggled through society for years.

Hearing the owner’s words, the boy frowned slightly.

“Don’t even mention it.

I missed all three buses this morning.”

The owner burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, Xiao Chen, with luck like yours, you should stop buying lottery tickets.

Why not try awakening supernatural powers instead?

That’s way more reliable than gambling.”

The boy sat heavily on the chair and tossed a handful of wrinkled coins onto the table.

“Bullshit.

I’d rather buy Double Color Ball.”

The supernatural powers the owner mentioned were now the most desirable path in this world.

No one knew exactly when it started, but little by little, people across the world began discovering they possessed strange abilities.

Some could release lightning, and from then on never had to pay electricity bills or carry power banks again.

Some could shoot flames, so their friends always brought them along for barbecues.

It was even said their families only used candles afterward.

Some could spray water—not in the way sensitive women do, but literally spraying water for no reason at all.

Rumor said he was recruited into the fire department that same day.

Of course, those were just the early social oddities when powers first appeared.

As time passed, more and more gifted people emerged.

Some loudly claimed they could turn invisible, walk through walls, or even fly.

Yet without exception, after making a public appearance, such people would disappear from the public eye not long afterward.

Later, when these gifted individuals became too numerous for governments or local authorities to conceal, official announcements were made around the world.

These people were named Ability Users.

Though no one could explain where the powers came from, the public was told that among ordinary people, fewer than one in a thousand possessed such gifts—perhaps even fewer.

Governments would provide these Ability Users with dedicated cultivation grounds, training, and education, allowing them to use their powers for the benefit of humanity.

At the same time, a new policy was announced: anyone possessing powers who failed to register with local authorities would be arrested immediately upon discovery.

However, those accepted into government institutions known as the Extraordinary Ability Centers would receive generous subsidies, and even have their future careers arranged by the state.

It could be said that discovering one’s powers was like becoming a phoenix soaring to the heavens.

Because of this, many private organizations also appeared, claiming they could awaken powers in others.

In truth, they were completely useless.

But Xia Chen did not care about any of that.

In this life, Xia Chen had never imagined he would become an ordinary person, but relying on something so vague and uncertain to rise again was simply…

“Give me two Double Color Ball tickets!”

The owner handed him two tickets.

Feeling as though something was still missing, Xia Chen stood up and walked to the convenience store next door.

He bought a pack of Soft Baisha cigarettes, lit one, and stood at the entrance puffing smoke into the air.

“SCREEECH!!”

A powerful engine roar suddenly came from the road, followed by the harsh sound of tires grinding against the pavement.

A fiery red Ferrari stopped right outside the lottery shop.

Then, under the astonished gazes of the nearby pedestrians, the car door opened.

A pair of long, fair legs appeared through the haze of Xia Chen’s cigarette smoke.

Then came a tall figure, nearly one meter seventy in height.

She wore summer hot pants and a tight tank top that revealed her navel and smooth, toned waist.

Higher up was a face whose proud aura and exquisite features could not be hidden even behind oversized sunglasses.

The beautiful girl stepping out of the red Ferrari was enough to attract any man’s gaze.

But the moment Xia Chen saw her figure, he instantly threw his cigarette to the ground, crushed it underfoot, and rushed back into the lottery shop without even looking back.

Leaving the girl standing beside the Ferrari, she looked around suspiciously and muttered to herself.

“Strange… I clearly sensed that kind of aura here…”