Chapter Two: A Single Draw Brings Miracles!

In the slime cavern, Zhao Tianhe, who had memorized the locations of the slimes upon entering, deftly sidestepped the attacks from the “spitter mode” slimes, avoiding drawing the attention of any others. After a year and a half of monster-slaying, such minor mishaps were nothing to him.

Truth be told, most “otherworldly heroes,” or even regular folk, wouldn’t make such mistakes after a year and a half of fighting monsters... Zhao Tianhe’s talent in combat was frankly abysmal.

An hour later, breathless and sprawled on the ground, Zhao Tianhe had cleared out all eleven slimes on the first level. His shift was over.

“Sigh, this feels no different from answering roll calls in class back home... No, exercise is always healthier, even if there’s some risk involved...” After a brief rest, Zhao Tianhe stood and walked toward the stairs at the cave’s entrance, where his lunch and snack basket awaited at the top.

It was the height of summer, sweltering outside, but the slime cavern was a perfect retreat from the heat. Oddly enough, though this world had no sun, it experienced four seasons—no, eight, to be exact. The other four were rare, catastrophic climates.

After eating two tea eggs, Zhao Tianhe spread his clothes on the ground, bundled the thick tablecloth with his leather armor to make a pillow, yawned, and settled for a midday nap.

Strictly speaking, Zhao Tianhe’s actions violated regulations. Dungeons, after all, were magical constructs, sometimes unpredictable—with elite mutated monsters occasionally appearing out of nowhere. The Ultimate Final Edition Dungeon Adventure Handbook, version 273, explicitly forbade solo heroes from resting, especially sleeping deeply, in dungeons without using various alert items or spells. Zhao Tianhe had memorized this for exams. But the slime cavern was no ordinary dungeon—it hadn’t changed in centuries, always a feeble, utterly rubbish instance.

The restaurant owner had once considered opening a summer food stall here, but gave up due to the remote location and lack of customers—the natural, free air conditioning was wasted.

“Come to think of it, my belly’s getting round again. Is my diet getting too good lately?” Zhao Tianhe mused drowsily. “But it’s not my fault. No internet, no games or novels, what else can I do but study food? Well, there are novels, but honestly, compared to web novels back home, they might be a bit better in quality, but the updates are so slow... Like that ‘Strange Journey to Divine Lands’ I’ve been following in the newspaper—updating once a year, who can stand it?! Sigh... I really want to go back... Wonder how Mom and Dad are doing? If I died a hero, maybe they’d get some compensation at least...”

His thoughts drifted, and Zhao Tianhe fell asleep, until a sudden, intense light shone on his face...

“What’s going on?!” Zhao Tianhe sprang up, his first thought being, “Is Pixie up to her tricks again?!”

Previously, when he napped here to escape the heat, Pixie, that mischievous sprite, often played pranks—fumigating his pants with stink bugs and other antics both laughable and infuriating.

But this time, it wasn’t Pixie.

“What... is that?” Zhao Tianhe stared at the source of the light, nervous, licking his lips. He picked up his sword, hesitated, then decisively pulled out the magic scroll from his belt!

Although he was just a lowly “cleaner” hero, and the slime cavern the most harmless of dungeons, regulations allowed him to claim a third-tier magic scroll each year for self-defense.

The scroll in his hand was a third-tier fire spell, “Explosive Fireball”—a large-scale, devastating fire magic.

Previously, he’d nearly been killed by spitter slimes, but dared not use the scroll for fear of its power. At close range, the slime would be obliterated, but so would he. Faced with the choice between being sprayed to death by slimes or blown up by his own magic, Zhao Tianhe had chosen to risk it all and fight.

Now, seeing the creature in the distance—taller than a person, shimmering with seven colors, its body crawling and gleaming like living crystal, a suspected slime-type monster—Zhao Tianhe wondered if the scroll would even be enough to kill it.

“This is way too extravagant... The difference from ordinary slimes is clear as day, like the gap between edible mushrooms and poisonous ones! Clearly not to be trifled with! And that flexible crystal appearance looks tough as nails... Never mind, if it survives, I’ll just escape and drag Pixie with me!” Zhao Tianhe licked his lips, focusing intently on the scroll.

—

Though Zhao Tianhe lacked any magical talent, unable to learn basic meditation or cast spells, with the hero system’s aid, he could use his mind to access and unleash existing magic.

Boom!

As the scroll’s glow intensified, a massive fireball, about two meters in diameter, materialized out of thin air, its scorching heat making Zhao Tianhe’s hair and eyebrows feel dry.

“Amazing, this is magic? I can sense the fireball’s structure and power... Better hurry, the fire element’s slowly dissipating! Aim, fireball locked on target—good, it’s slow. Fire!” Zhao Tianhe’s pupils flashed with a fiery six-pointed star array, and in his vision, a magic circle locked onto the monster.

In the next instant, the giant fireball shot at the seven-colored slime, striking it directly!

Boom~~~

The searing blast filled the entire first level of the cavern. The scroll in Zhao Tianhe’s hand crumbled to ash as he raised his arm to shield his face.

A notification from the hero system echoed in his mind, confirming the monster’s death.

“Level three... Well, monster hunting will be easier now!” Zhao Tianhe muttered with a smile. “But I’ll have to report using the scroll to get another one—shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

To prevent heroes with questionable character from abusing benefits, the Dungeon Management Association’s Hero Welfare Division maintained strict oversight. In a dungeon like the slime cavern, unchanged for centuries, using a scroll would likely prompt an investigation.

“Just hope it drops something to prove my strength...” As the blast faded, Zhao Tianhe, sword in hand, approached.

Ordinary dungeon monsters, once slain, usually had their energy dissolve back into the world’s source, with a small portion absorbed by the hero system for strengthening. But elite or mutated monsters were different. Their deaths triggered a delicate balance between the hero system and the world’s source, causing them to drop unusual items.

These items were utterly random, sometimes related to the monster’s traits or appearance, but always valuable—often things current magical technology couldn’t decipher: special gear that could be absorbed, weapons and tools with unique abilities, attribute-boosting potions and artifacts, and much more.

There were even “monster seeds,” rumored to grow controllable monsters.

Yet sometimes, monsters dropped worthless junk—a twig, a lump of ore—useless and unconvincing as proof of slaying a formidable foe.

So, if the seven-colored slime didn’t drop any dungeon-exclusive special items, Zhao Tianhe would likely face a wage deduction during the review.

“If nothing drops, maybe I just won’t report it... No, year-end reviews check everything anyway! Not reporting seems even worse...” The closer he got, the more anxious Zhao Tianhe felt. No one would believe an elite spawned in his rubbish dungeon, and if he had nothing proper to report, he’d really be in trouble!

Fortunately, on the scorched ground, a golden card floated in midair.

“A treasure! Definitely a treasure! But... why does it look so familiar?” Ignoring the hot ground, Zhao Tianhe stepped forward and grabbed the card.

Examining the card’s pattern, he grew more and more convinced, rubbing his chin for a long moment before slapping his thigh in shock.

“This is a Summon Ticket?!”

—

The Summon Ticket was, in fact, an item from a mobile game Zhao Tianhe had played in his previous life, used for summoning—essentially, drawing lots!

As the saying goes, one Summon Ticket brings a million unlucky souls together—it was a single-draw luck tester in the game. Zhao Tianhe had never won anything with it before crossing worlds.

“How do I use this?” Zhao Tianhe stared at it, baffled but excited.

Though the drop was bizarre, he was certain it was related to himself. He could guarantee, besides him, no one in this world had played FGO! He’d spent a year and a half in the Hero Academy, never met another Earthling, and the last summoned Earthling was said to be decades ago.

“Supreme Hero System, activating hidden system, loading talent system...”

A familiar voice sounded in Zhao Tianhe’s mind—the hero system’s notification.

“Right, as a ‘heroic spirit,’ my hero system is top tier... Those summoners were desperately trying to awaken the hidden system, exclusive to ‘otherworldly heroic spirits’—the talent system!” Zhao Tianhe suddenly recalled his experiences and failures at the Hero Academy. “But I’ve killed elite creatures before, haven’t I? Why didn’t anything happen then? And it dropped a useless old sneaker...”

He’d never forgotten the mocking smiles of those summoners when he got that result... Like they were watching trash... It had wounded Zhao Tianhe’s youthful heart and pride, leaving him standing awkward and powerless...

“I’ve made it now?!” Zhao Tianhe exclaimed, trembling with excitement.

“Talent system loaded. Would you like to activate Summon Ticket?”

“Of course!” Zhao Tianhe shouted. “If I can summon a heroic spirit—even if it’s Darius, I’ll take it! Let me recreate Chaldea in this world!”

As Zhao Tianhe roared, the Summon Ticket in his hand slowly rose, dazzling spiritual light erupting from it. He was forced to shield his face, peeking through his fingers.

Then, the brilliant light transformed into rings of seven-colored halos, surging forth!

“A rainbow ring! It’s flashing, ah, ah, ah, ah—” Zhao Tianhe wept; a single draw had brought a miracle!

The rainbow ring was a phenomenon in FGO, indicating a top-tier SSR draw. Zhao Tianhe, unlucky as he was, had never managed this before—but now, in this new world, he had!

The Summon Ticket burst open, and a graceful figure slowly emerged...

A dignified long dress of blue and white, a pure, elegant face, golden hair coiled at the back of her head, except for a stubborn strand standing upright on her forehead...

“Let me ask you. Are you my Master?”

A cool, solemn, and beautiful voice sounded, then faded away.