He should have known the day would end badly.

  It started with the email.

  “We regret to inform you…”

  Kael stared at the glowing screen in the dim office, the words blurring together. Terminated. Downsizing. Economic restructuring. Meaningless phrases to hide a simple truth.

  He was disposable.

  Around him, the office buzzed as usual. Keyboards clicked. Phones rang. Someone laughed near the break room.

  The world hadn’t ended.

  Just his.

  By noon, security was escorting him out with a cardboard box containing ten years of effort reduced to a framed photo and a dying desk plant.

  He didn’t argue.

  He never did.

  The rain started as he stepped outside.

  Of course it did.

  Kael let out a hollow laugh and walked into it without opening his umbrella.

  His phone vibrated.

  Elena.

  For a brief, fragile second, hope flickered.

  He answered immediately. “Hey.”

  Silence.

  Then a shaky breath on the other end.

  “We need to talk.”

  Those four words were sharper than any blade.

  By the time the call ended, the rain had turned into a storm.

  She was leaving.

  She said she couldn’t keep building a future with someone who never seemed to move forward. Someone stuck. Someone unlucky.

  “I’m tired of fighting the world for you,” she had whispered.

  Unlucky.

  He almost laughed again.

  If she only knew.

  The accident happened twenty minutes later.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  A screech of tires.

  A flash of headlights.

  Pain.

  Then darkness.

  He woke up on cold pavement.

  The storm had stopped.

  The street was empty.

  Too empty.

  Kael pushed himself up slowly, his body trembling. He remembered the car. The impact.

  He looked down.

  No blood.

  No wounds.

  “What…?”

  A sound echoed inside his skull.

  Not heard.

  Felt.

  A chime.

  Soft.

  Mechanical.

  A translucent window unfolded before his eyes.

  Blue.

  Cold.

  Unmistakably real.

  [System Initializing…]

  [Host Detected.]

  [Compatibility Check Complete.]

  [Divine Authority Linked: The Forsaken God.]

  His breath caught.

  “This isn’t real.”

  [You have been chosen.]

  [Reason: Extreme Negative Fate Accumulation.]

  [Current Luck Value: -100]

  The number burned in crimson.

  -100

  [Passive Skill Acquired: Catastrophe Attraction (Lv.1)]

  [All misfortune directed at the host will be converted into Catastrophe Points.]

  [Warning: Increased probability of lethal events.]

  His hands shook.

  “This is a concussion,” he muttered. “That’s all.”

  [First Conversion Triggered.]

  [Event: Job Loss.]

  [Severity: Moderate.]

  [+12 Catastrophe Points Awarded.]

  Another notification.

  [Event: Romantic Separation.]

  [Severity: High.]

  [+25 Catastrophe Points Awarded.]

  The air felt thin.

  “This isn’t possible.”

  [Event: Near-Death Experience.]

  [Severity: Critical.]

  [+60 Catastrophe Points Awarded.]

  [Total Catastrophe Points: 97]

  The number pulsed.

  Then the world shifted.

  The empty street flickered.

  For a fraction of a second, Kael saw something layered over reality—

  Shadows stretching unnaturally long.

  A massive silhouette in the sky.

  Watching.

  [Milestone Reached.]

  [Catastrophe Points ≥ 100 Required for First Evolution.]

  [Additional Suffering Required.]

  A cold sensation wrapped around his heart.

  “Additional… suffering?”

  As if responding to the system’s demand, a deep rumble shook the ground.

  Kael turned.

  At the end of the street, a truck sped toward him.

  Out of control.

  Driver unconscious.

  Heading straight for him.

  Of course it was.

  He didn’t move.

  Not because he couldn’t.

  But because something inside him understood.

  This was the cost.

  This was the rule.

  [Catastrophe Attraction Activated.]

  [Probability of Survival: 18%]

  [Bonus Multiplier Applied Due to Extreme Negative Luck.]

  Eighteen percent.

  He laughed.

  A broken, hysterical sound.

  “Figures.”

  The truck closed in.

  Ten meters.

  Five.

  Impact—

  —

  The world exploded in white.

  Silence.

  He was standing.

  In the same street.

  The truck had crashed into a light pole, twisted metal smoking.

  He looked down at himself.

  Unharmed.

  But something felt different.

  Colder.

  Sharper.

  Stronger.

  [Event: Lethal Impact Survived.]

  [Severity: Critical.]

  [+85 Catastrophe Points Awarded.]

  [Total Catastrophe Points: 182]

  The window glowed brighter than before.

  [Threshold Reached.]

  [Initiating First Evolution.]

  Pain unlike anything he had ever felt tore through him.

  Not physical.

  Existential.

  As if invisible hands were rewriting something fundamental.

  Reversing something.

  Breaking something.

  In the distant sky, thunder rolled again.

  But this time, it sounded like laughter.

  [Congratulations.]

  [You have taken the first step toward becoming a Calamity.]

  Kael lifted his head slowly.

  The fear was still there.

  The grief.

  The emptiness.

  But beneath it—

  Something else had begun to grow.

  If the world insisted on destroying him…

  Then he would let it.

  And take everything it gave in return.

  [Current Luck: -120]

  [Catastrophe Points: 0]

  [New Skill Unlocked: Pain Conversion (Lv.1)]

  Somewhere far above, unseen eyes narrowed in interest.

  The game piece had moved.

  And the board would never be the same.