Chapter 52: Choice in the Rainy Night
Heavy rain fell outside the window.
Raindrops flowed down the glass like streams of dark liquid.
The darkness in the distance was so thick that nothing could be seen clearly.
Tsukasa opened his eyes and saw a familiar ceiling above him.
The only light in the narrow room came from his phone lying nearby, playing music with occasional static.
The song was fine, but the constant notification sounds kept interrupting it.
Tsukasa picked up the phone and glanced at the screen.
[Got a writing job. Six dollars per thousand words. You interested?]
[Need revisions on the draft. How about going back to version one? A hundred bucks is still money.]
[I know you're broke and sick and your scooter battery got stolen, but I really can't lend you money right now. I'll definitely pay back that six hundred eventually.]
[What's your problem? You saw me hanging out at the massage parlor and suddenly you're judging me? What do you know? Whatever, I'm blocking you.]
[Hey. Rent's due.]
"Ahem." Tsukasa climbed out of bed coughing and picked up his phone. He wanted to transfer three hundred dollars to the landlord, then send an apologetic message asking for another two weeks—
But a low balance alert popped up on his screen.
He was silent for a moment, then opened his banking app to check if his five hundred million had arrived.
Account balance: $5.26.
It felt like a knife stabbing his heart.
"Damn it... was that all just a dream?" Tsukasa sighed, recalling the vivid details of his year in the shinobi world. It had felt incredibly real.
But reality still required money to survive.
Tsukasa slapped his cheeks, forced himself to rally, and opened his messaging app.
First, he deleted his only friend in this city—"Good Brother"—resolving never to associate with that jerk again.
Then he opened the chat windows with various clients and replied to their messages one by one.
"Thanks, man. I'll write ten thousand words tonight."
"Sure thing, boss! I knew you had good instincts. The first version was great. I'll make some adjustments."
After calculating his potential earnings, Tsukasa sent another message to the electric scooter dealer.
He promised to bring money tomorrow morning, rent a battery for one-fifty, grab breakfast, and continue working.
There's a storm surge bonus tomorrow—I could conservatively make two hundred.
Tonight, I'll buy the landlord a carton of milk for fifty bucks and smooth things over. Probably won't get evicted.
Just keep this up for another month, and life will definitely get better!
"Ahem."
After handling everything, Tsukasa shuffled to the window in his slippers and looked up at the dark sky outside—a pitch-black void where nothing could be seen.
He thought about being alone in this strange city, without friends or family, struggling just to survive.
Especially at this late hour, it felt somewhat lonely.
But Tsukasa pushed that thought aside within thirty seconds.
He didn't have time to dwell on such things!
If he didn't work hard to secure tomorrow's necessities, he'd starve!
Pulling himself together, Tsukasa grabbed a can of cola from the small refrigerator by the window—his essential spiritual fuel.
SNAP—he pulled the tab and gulped it down.
Suddenly, he frowned. The taste was getting worse.
Why did this cola taste so... metallic and sweet? Was it expired?
Frowning, Tsukasa looked at the can in his hand—his vision suddenly blurring, the scene before him distorting.
The cola can suddenly transformed into the face of a young woman with emerald green eyes. She clutched Tsukasa's head and cried out anxiously in his ear:
"No!"
"Don't die!"
Outside the window, torrential rain continued falling, spreading and flowing violently across the glass like streams of dancing dark liquid!
Faster and faster!
CRACK!
The glass was pounded by the rain, fracturing and leaving spiderweb-like cracks!
Tsukasa gripped the can, his breathing stopping.
It felt like something had grabbed his throat, squeezed his heart—then clenched hard!
Like he was about to die!
But the next moment, everything stopped.
Tsukasa's vision cleared.
He was standing in his rental apartment again.
At that moment, a notification appeared in his field of vision.
[Employee: Uchiha Tsukasa, you have died accidentally while attempting to save a troubled world.]
[You now have two choices.]
[Option One: Receive your insurance compensation of 500,000,000 yen, and you will be resurrected in your original world.]
[Option Two: Resurrect in the shinobi world and continue being a heaven-sent warrior to save this troubled era. This opportunity only comes once.]
[Note: If you choose Option Two, your insurance coverage will be reduced to 50,000,000 yen, but the insurance policy will remain active.]
Looking at the two options before him, Tsukasa fell silent.
Especially when he saw the word "Resurrect" in Option One, his entire body trembled. A burst of pain suddenly surged through his head.
Memories continuously crashed against his sealed heart.
The stark word "Resurrect" clearly told him one fact: in the real world, he was dead.
Tsukasa slumped to the floor, head in his hands, pupils darting as he took in the familiar sights of his rental apartment—the torrential rain outside, the cramped room, yellowed walls, the bed with a missing leg, the moldy desk.
Finally, his gaze fell on the no-name computer on the desk that had been his companion for a year.
A sudden chill ran through his heart.
He remembered now—everything that had just happened was a reflection of his past.
That night, sick and exhausted, he had confidently made plans for the future.
However, at the very first step of implementing his plan, something went wrong.
First, there was his old companion—the no-name computer that had served him for a year.
Just as he was about to use this second-hand computer with a foreign CPU he'd bought for cheap online—capable of running basic programs, a truly incredible purchase—to complete his freelance writing jobs and earn enough money to rent a battery the next day...
It started smoking and died.
He was so depressed that he stayed up all night, only feeling sicker.
The next day, with no money to rent a battery, standing in the pouring rain feeling lost, he returned to his rental apartment only to find all his belongings dumped at the door by the landlord.
The constant stream of setbacks nearly broke him.
However, with the five dollars remaining in his pocket, Tsukasa forced himself to rally and thought:
People have won lotteries with less. Today, I could win five hundred million with just five bucks!
He decided to buy himself a cup of instant ramen as a treat, then steel himself to start fresh somehow.
However, as he was crossing the street, a notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[This Earth inhabitant's willpower has been detected to meet the recruitment criteria of the Heavenly Path Company.]
[Would you like to become a heaven-sent warrior?]
Secret Record 1:
[Heavenly Path Company Recruitment Notice:
Position: Heaven-Sent Warrior
Requirements: Someone who has endured pain, despair, and repeated setbacks, yet remains resolute and clings to hope.
Job Description: Helping troubled worlds.
Compensation: SSS-level talent, substantial mission rewards, and complete insurance coverage.]
End of Chapter 52
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