Lin Chen was born unlucky.
He wasn't abused. He wasn't orphaned.
But somehow, life still found ways to crush him.
He grew up in a gray apartment block on the edge of the city—not poor enough to qualify for government aid, but never stable enough to live without counting coins.
His father was a gambler who ran off when Lin was ten, leaving behind a mountain of debt and a silent mother who never smiled again.
He learned early that people only paid attention when you had something they wanted.
He didn't.
He was average in looks, below average in grades, and invisible in every classroom.
No one asked him to join group projects.
No one remembered his birthday.
When he got sick, he walked alone to the clinic and paid with change from a jar.
By sixteen, he was already working weekends— handing out flyers in the freezing cold, washing dishes, cleaning toilets— anything to help his mother, whose health had started to decline from overwork.
While others played video games and hung out at malls, Lin Chen memorized the price of every instant noodle brand and compared electricity bills month to month.
But he never complained. Not once.
He believed that if he just kept going, if he worked a little harder, studied a little longer,
someday, life would reward him.
He was wrong.
At twenty-four, Lin Chen was stuck in a dead-end job as a warehouse clerk, making barely enough to survive.
His coworkers mocked his clothes, his boss treated him like a disposable rag, and his girlfriend of three years—Yun Xi—was the only light in his life.
Or so he thought.
Tonight, everything collapsed.
It started with a message.
A photo, to be exact.
Yun Xi, half-naked, curled up in the arms of Lin's direct supervisor— the same man who always told Lin to "be more assertive."
She didn't even bother to hide it.
"You're too boring, Lin. You have no ambition.
I want a man who can give me more than cheap takeout and bus rides."
He stared at his cracked phone screen, his thumb hovering over the call button, his chest hollow, like someone had scooped out everything inside him.
Before he could say anything, his work phone rang.
It was the warehouse manager.
"Don't bother coming in tomorrow.
We reviewed the footage.
That missing shipment?
You were the last one to scan it.
You're fired. The police might call you."
Click.
Just like that, his job was gone.
No investigation. No explanation.
Just gone.
He tried to explain. But no one picked up.
The rain started falling then, like the heavens were mocking him.
He had no umbrella.
He didn't care.
He walked.
Just walked.
Through alleyways that smelled of piss and decay.
Past couples laughing under awnings.
Past neon lights that made everything feel even more fake.
His phone buzzed again.
A message from the hospital.
"Patient Lin Meiyun has been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer.
Treatment is urgent. Please confirm insurance status."
His legs gave out.
He sat down in the middle of a back alley, the rain soaking his cheap jacket, his pants, his skin.
He didn't move. Didn't cry.
He just laughed.
Not the laugh of a madman.
But the hollow, bitter laugh of a man
who had finally realized that hard work meant nothing.
That good people didn't always win.
"Maybe I really was born a loser…" he whispered.
His voice was barely louder than the rain.
And then—
A chime.
Ding!
Golden light flared in the air before him.
A transparent screen flickered into existence.
[Loser's Comeback System initializing…]
[Analyzing Host: Lin Chen — Age: 24 — Status: Destitute, Depressed, Desperate]
[System Binding in Progress…]
[Congratulations! You have qualified to rewrite your fate.]
[System Functions: Earn Coins. Exchange Power. Predict Destiny.]
[Welcome, Host, to the start of your comeback.]
Lin Chen blinked.
For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating.
Maybe his mind had finally cracked.
But the screen didn't vanish.
It waited.
A second line appeared—
[First Mission: Slap back. Get your revenge. Reward: 100 Coins + Personal Luck Boost Lv.1]
Lin Chen stared at the words.
He thought of Yun Xi's smile in someone else's bed.
Of his boss's cold voice.
Of his mother lying in a hospital bed alone.
He clenched his fists.
The rain couldn't wash away the fire in his eyes now.
"…Alright," he muttered.
"If fate won't give me a chance—
then I'll steal one."