“If you had the chance to cross over into the Type-Moon universe, would you choose to join the Holy Grail War and marry Saber, or infiltrate the Matou household to save young Sakura?”
Lying in bed scrolling through a thread on a online forum, Yoru Hayashi looked at the anime bait question pinned at the top of the trending list.
Without a second thought, he typed out a response:
“Is that even a choice?
Do you even know what a Pure Love God of War is?
Obviously go to the Matou house, turn that old fogey Zouken Matou’s bones to ash, and adopt Sakura as a little sister!
What’s better than raising a sweet little sister?
Saber can wait!”
After typing the last word, he hit “Send” and prepared to roll over and sleep, thoroughly satisfied.
However, the moment it sent successfully, his phone screen exploded with a brilliant white light brighter than high beams.
“Holy crap!
My eyes…”
Everything went white before Yoru’s eyes.
Immediately after, a massive suction force pulled him—blanket and all—straight into the screen.
A moment later, the silent bedroom contained only a glowing phone.
Yoru Hayashi was nowhere to be found.
…
“What the hell just happened?”
Yoru opened his eyes groggily, his brain still stuck in a bewildered state of *Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I having for late-night snacks?*
The moment his consciousness returned, a stench mixing rotting soil and an indescribable foul odor blasted into his nostrils, nearly making him throw up the braised chicken he had eaten last night.
“Where the hell am I?
Am I even still back home?!”
Yoru sat up abruptly, feeling something horribly wrong as his palms pressed against the ground.
It wasn’t smooth concrete, but a squishy, slimy, constantly writhing, sickening texture!
By the faint, ghostly blue light of the basement, Yoru looked down, and his scalp instantly went numb.
The ground beneath him was teeming with sickening bugs that looked like a hybrid of arthropods and mollusks, radiating eerie ripples of magical energy!
“Holy shit!
What the hell are these!”
Terrified, Yoru turned into a tap-dancing master on the spot, frantically stomping on the bugs beneath his feet while scrambling backward toward the corner.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a tiny figure curled up in the center of the sickening swarm.
It was a little girl of about five or six, wearing a thin dress, with soft black short hair.
Right now, her eyes were hollow and her face blank as she hugged her knees, letting those disgusting bugs crawl around her, un-dried tear tracks still hanging on her cheeks.
Short black hair…
hollow eyes…
insect pit…
As a veteran anime fan, these keywords collided in Yoru’s mind, piecing together a location that made every Type-Moon fan’s blood pressure skyrocket!
Fuyuki City, the Matou family underground worm pit!
It was 1993, the eve of the Fourth Holy Grail War—the hellish start right after Tohsaka Sakura was given away to the Matou family, about to suffer inhumane torment!
While Yoru’s brain was frantically glitching out, a crisp *ding* rang in his mind, followed by a translucent light-blue screen slapping him right in the face.
[Name: Yoru Hayashi] [Rank: Muggle] [Magic Circuits: 0 (Insulator)] [Magic Element: None] [Skills: None] [Current Location: Type-Moon Universe · 1993 · Matou Household Underground Worm Pit] [Evaluation: A pure Muggle without an ounce of magical aptitude.
Aside from providing a negligible amount of protein to the Crest Worms, you have zero value.
If Crest Worms had taste buds, they’d complain you taste a bit dry.]
Along with the panel, an emotionless mechanical voice sounded.
“Ding!
Congratulations, Host, on successfully transmigrating into the Type-Moon universe (Eve of Fate/Zero).
The ‘Type-Moon Savior System’ has been bound.”
“Detecting that the host’s strongest desire before transmigration was ‘Turn Zouken Matou to ash and save Tohsaka Sakura,’ the System has thoughtfully arranged the drop-off location closest to your objective.”
“Host, please kill Zouken Matou immediately to complete the rescue mission…”
Before the System could finish its announcement, Yoru completely lost his cool.
“Thoughtfully my ass!
You call this thoughtful?!”
Yoru pointed at the screen and swore furiously.
“When I said I’d turn the old bug to ash, that was assuming I had strength and cheats!
Look at my stats!
What the hell is ‘Muggle’?
I don’t even have a single Magic Circuit!
How am I supposed to fight Zouken Matou with my bare hands?
You’re playing dirty as hell!”
“Kekekeke…”
Before Yoru’s cursing faded, a bone-chilling laugh echoed from the basement shadows.
A hunched, emaciated old man with sunken eyes like a skull stepped out, leaning on a cane.
His eyes flickered with cruel amusement as he stared fixatedly at Yoru.
It was the source of all evil in the Type-Moon universe—Zouken Matou!
“I wondered who triggered the barrier around the pit.
Turns out it’s just a stray dog crawling in from who knows where.” Zouken tapped his cane against the floor, grinning like a dried-up villainous corpse.
“No matter.
Little Sakura hasn’t quite adjusted to the Crest Worms yet.
Let the flesh and blood of this stray dog get my bugs excited!”
The moment he spoke, the Crest Worms on the floor surged toward Yoru like a tidal wave as if commanded.
“Old geezer!
Don’t come any closer!
I’m warning you, I’ve practiced martial arts for two and a half years…”
Panicking, Yoru grabbed a piece of rubble beside him and hurled it at the bugs on the ground.
However, it was completely useless.
An ordinary person without magic was worse than a minion in front of these magical constructs.
In just two seconds, swarms of Crest Worms crawled up Yoru’s pant legs.
Their sharp mouthparts ripped into his skin without mercy, greedily draining his vitality.
“AAAAAH!
You old bastard, Zouken Matou!
I won’t let you off even as a ghost—”
Excruciating pain instantly drowned Yoru’s sanity.
Accompanied by a scalp-numbing sound of gnawing, everything went black before Yoru’s eyes as he lost consciousness completely.
…
“Hah!
Hah!
Hah!”
Who knows how much time passed before Yoru abruptly sprang up from the ground, gasping violently for air as his hands frantically felt around his body.
“My kidneys!
My legs!
Am I still intact?!”
After confirming nothing was missing and no disgusting bugs were on him, Yoru finally noticed he was in a pure white square space.
The agonizing sensation of being devoured by ten thousand bugs just now was ten thousand times worse than having a tooth pulled alive.
He didn’t want to experience that feeling again for the rest of his life.
Just then, the familiar translucent light screen expanded in front of his eyes again.
[Failed Attempts: 1] [Cause of Death: Sucked dry alive by Crest Worms, becoming midnight snacks for bugs.] [System Evaluation: A useless scrub with zero combat capability.
Though you died horribly, your death didn’t even make a ripple in the world of magi.] [Death Settlement Rewards Distributed: 1 Magic Circuit forcibly activated!
Minor increase in Pain Resistance!
Minor increase in Bug Magic Resistance!
Minor Mana injection!]
Looking at the panel, Yoru froze.
“Wait…
System…
Did I…
resurrect?”
“Yes, Host,” the System’s cold mechanical voice helpfully explained.
“This System operates on an infinite rewind mechanism.
After dying in the current world, the Host will immediately resurrect in the System Space.
Furthermore, after each death, the System will distribute corresponding stat enhancements and skill rewards based on your performance, cause of death, and pain endured prior to dying.”
Yoru’s eyes widened like brass bells.
“Meaning…
not only can I restart when I die, but I can also farm stats and drop gear?!
No limit on revives?!”
“No limit.
As long as your mind does not collapse, you may challenge infinitely.”
“Holy crap!
Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”
Yoru’s previous fear and despair vanished instantly, replaced by the fanatical glow of a “Fourth Calamity” gamer!
Can’t die?
Get stronger by dying?
What the hell was he afraid of then?!
In web novels and games, once a player unlocked “infinite revives” and “death rewards,” even the most terrifying boss was nothing more than an elite mob waiting to be farmed!
Zouken Matou?
Crest Worms?
In Yoru’s eyes right now, those were just walking piles of experience points and stat boosts!
“System!
Teleport me back to the Matou worm pit right now!
I’m gonna fight that old bastard again!” Yoru shouted excitedly, waving his fist, unable to wait.
“Understood.
Host is about to re-enter the Type-Moon universe (1993 node).
Teleporting…”
A flash of white light.
…
“What the hell just happened?”
Same line, same nauseating stench, same slimy touch.
Yoru opened his eyes again, still in that dim underground pit.
Tohsaka Sakura was still curled up in the corner, and that old corpse Zouken Matou was just stepping out from the shadows leaning on his cane.
“I wondered who triggered the barrier…”
Before Zouken could finish his villain monologue, he was interrupted by Yoru’s roaring shout filled with vigor.
“Didn’t expect your granddaddy to drop from the sky, did ya?!
Old monster, drop your loot!”
Yoru didn’t step back at all this time.
He could clearly feel a faint but undeniable warm current inside his body—the 1 Magic Circuit rewarded earlier!
He stomped down hard, carrying a trace of faint mana, crushing the Crest Worm closest to his foot.
*Squish!*
With a sharp crunch, the Crest Worm was stomped into a bursting meatball.
The sneer on Zouken’s face froze instantly.
Though it was only the lowest-tier Crest Worm, it was still a magical construct.
A regular Muggle shouldn’t have been able to do that.
This random kid who appeared out of nowhere actually had mana inside him?!
“Seems I misjudged you.
You’re actually a fledgeling magus.” Zouken’s eyes turned cold as he slammed his cane down.
“Go!
Drain him dry!”
This time, because Yoru squished a worm, the swarm grew even more furious, surging toward him like a tidal wave.
Though he had 1 Magic Circuit and minor resistance increases, against hundreds of Crest Worms, it was still a drop in the bucket.
Throwing wild punches, Yoru smashed three or four more bugs before being submerged by the sea of insects again.
“Zouken, you old bastard!
Just you wait!
I’m coming right back to smash you to pieces!”
With one final, fiercely defiant roar, Yoru met his second death.
…
[Failed Attempts: 2] [Cause of Death: Physically exorcised four bugs before being consumed by the enraged swarm.] [System Evaluation: A slightly improved Muggle who learned to use blunt weapons (the sole of your shoe) to attack.] [Death Settlement Rewards Distributed: Magic Circuits +3!
Minor physical strength increase!
Pain Resistance increased!
Toxicity Resistance increased!]
In the System Space, Yoru casually dusted off non-existent dust, feeling the mana refilling inside him, his lips curling into a grin even wilder than a villain’s.
“That’s it?
That’s all you got?
This pain is way lighter than last time!”
He had 4 Magic Circuits now!
And a boost in strength!
“System, cut the chatter.
Send me back!”
Flash of white light.
[Failed Attempts: 3] [Rewards: Magic Circuits +5, Neural Reflex Speed increased…]
Flash of white light.
[Failed Attempts: 8] [Rewards: Magic Circuits +10, Basic Magic Knowledge: Reinforcement Magic (Beginner), Insect Deterrence +10%…]
Flash of white light.
[Failed Attempts: 15] [Rewards: Magic Circuits +20!
Skill Obtained: Martial Arts Mastery (Rank C)!
Special Title Obtained: [Pesticide] (+50% damage against insect magic)!]
…
Attempt sixteen begins!
When the white light dissipated, Yoru stood once more on the familiar soil of the worm pit.
Having endured fifteen full cycles of life-and-death “torment,” his aura had undergone a complete transformation.
The Magic Circuits inside his body had surged to a terrifying count of nearly forty.
Though still far behind the prodigies of centuries-old prestigious families in the Type-Moon world, he was no longer helpless against the scene before him!
In the corner, young black-haired Sakura, who was about to cry, suddenly froze.
She stared blankly at this strange older brother who had suddenly appeared.
For some reason, when this big brother appeared, the scary bugs around her that had been baring their fangs and trying to crawl onto her body suddenly hissed in terror as if encountering their natural predator.
Like a receding tide, they scrambled back frantically, clearing a two-meter vacuum circle around Yoru’s feet!
The passive deterrence of the title [Pesticide] was truly fearsome!
In the shadows, Zouken Matou, who was stepping out with his cane, originally had a cruel smile.
But upon seeing the scene before him, his withered, orange-peel face twitched violently, and a flash of genuine shock crossed his dead-fish eyes for the first time.
“Who…
who are you?!
Why are my bugs afraid of you?!”
Yoru ignored Zouken’s interrogation.
He turned his head to look at Tohsaka Sakura in the corner, whose eyes were filled with terror yet held a faint glimmer of hope, and flashed a bright, sunny smile.
“Don’t be scared, Sakura.
Big Brother is going to show you what you should do when you see cockroaches and bugs!”
With that, the forty Magic Circuits inside Yoru operated at full capacity in an instant, and light-blue magic energy clung to his fists like flames!
Reinforcement Magic, activate!
He turned back, his eyes locked onto Zouken Matou like a hungry wolf.
“Old geezer!
I’m fucking back!
If I don’t tear your old bones apart to make broth today, I’ll spell my name backward!”