Invincible Lucky Star

Introduction

Volume 1 Chapter 1 Mysterious Phone Call

High school students mysteriously absent from exams, an unprecedented stroke of bad luck! — B City cracks down on a major armed robbery case!
This newspaper reports from B City: Yesterday, the B City Public Security Bureau announced the official resolution of a robbery case involving a criminal gang armed with guns, including suspects Wang Gongping, Li Qiu, and others.
On the early morning of July x, several men armed with guns broke into... Currently, the case is under further investigation.
In this case, the Yang family, chosen by the robbers as a temporary hideout, also suffered an unwarranted disaster, not only losing 778 yuan in cash but also valuables like watches and jewelry worth about 9,000 yuan. The three members of the Yang family were gagged and tied to their beds for as long as three days, causing them severe physical and mental harm. More importantly, Yang Hua, the only son of the Yang family, was supposed to take his college entrance exam that day, but due to this unexpected disaster, he had no choice but to miss the exam.
Missing the exam for such a reason, Yang Hua's bad luck is already rare in B City, but our reporter learned that Yang Hua's misfortunes go far beyond this. As an excellent student with decent psychological resilience, this was already Yang Hua's third attempt at the college entrance exam.
Our reporter found out that Yang Hua participated in his first college entrance exam two years ago, but on the way to school, he was hit by a drunk driver and spent the entire exam period in the hospital.
Last year, after studying for an extra year, Yang Hua confidently took the second college entrance exam, but disaster struck again. The night before the second exam, a small earthquake hit B City. The earthquake caused minimal damage, with almost no casualties, but unfortunate Yang Hua had his chandelier fall at home, breaking his right hand and forcing him to give up that year's exam.
And this year, the unyielding Yang Hua registered for the national college entrance exam for the third time and successfully completed the first two days of exams. However, on the last day, disaster struck again. This time, Yang Hua was not in a hospital bed but in his own bed at home, anxiously watching the exam time slip away.
As the saying goes, people have their ups and downs; temporary bad luck is inevitable, but such prolonged and intense misfortune is indeed rare throughout history...
Looking at the old newspaper he accidentally flipped over, Yang Hua couldn't help but smile bitterly. Who would have thought that his bad luck could even make it to the newspaper? It's a pity the reporter didn't know about his other misfortunes; otherwise, with all the times he had been burned, flooded, hanged, chased by dogs, and bitten by snakes... wouldn't he be on TV by now?
After that college entrance exam, Yang Hua barely managed to get into a third-rate university thanks to his high scores in the earlier subjects. He thought he would finally turn his luck around, but a series of subsequent events proved that his luck had not improved in the slightest. Perhaps due to the adverse conditions after leaving home, Yang Hua fell seriously ill twice in college, resulting in a pile of missed classes. Moreover, the university he entered was not a good one, so not many of his roommates were serious about studying.
Those roommates, who always claimed that college is about enjoying life, were hardly ever seen, spending almost twenty-four hours a day playing games outside.
Yang Hua had always been an easygoing person. At first, he stayed in the dormitory because he was sick. On one hand, he had nothing to do, and on the other, he wasn't used to living in a dirty and chaotic environment, so he often helped his roommates with their personal issues. As a result, his roommates got used to it, and later, every time they left the dorm, they would remind Yang Hua to help tidy up their beds and wash their sweat-soaked clothes. If there was ever a time Yang Hua forgot to clean, they would collectively complain, and sometimes even play pranks on him.
However, as time passed, Yang Hua gradually got used to this lifestyle. The large amount of time spent handling his roommates' personal issues meant that he never had enough time to catch up on his missed classes. By the time he could skillfully manage his roommates' problems and finally had plenty of free time, it was already too late to catch up. No matter how well he performed afterward, his previous grades were set in stone, and the school wouldn't let him retake the exams.
Four years of college passed in the blink of an eye, and now, Yang Hua was a senior about to graduate. His fun-loving roommates continued to live carefree lives, while Yang Hua, who came from a poor family, faced the pressure of finding a job.
The university Yang Hua attended was not a good one, and his grades were far from ideal, so he faced constant rejections while job hunting. However, Yang Hua was not someone who would easily give up. He had survived numerous disasters in the past, and now he could endure the pain of being looked down upon and ridiculed while continuously making job application calls.
One day, Yang Hua was alone in the dormitory, going through the job application materials provided by the school, trying one company after another.
36784762... Yang Hua dialed the number while reciting the digits. When the call was answered, he immediately introduced himself enthusiastically, Hello, is this Futai Trading? I saw that you need an office assistant? I'm a student from Lianhua University... Ah? You've already found someone? Okay, okay, I understand.
This was not the first time Yang Hua had been rejected as soon as he mentioned his university's name. Although he knew that the we've already found someone excuse was just that, he could only helplessly hang up the phone and flip to the next page of the job application.
This time, the job application featured a private insurance company called Lucky Peace. Its phone number was quite interesting, being 38888888. Except for the first digit, all the other numbers were 8. It seemed the owner of this private company had spent quite a bit of money at the telecom company to make it seem truly lucky.
Picking up the phone, Yang Hua followed his usual routine, reciting the number as he dialed. 388888...
Wait? How many eights did I just say? Yang Hua paused halfway through. There were just too many eights in this number, and he started to feel a bit dizzy.
Four? Yang Hua thought for a moment but realized he had misremembered a digit. However, he was already prepared to dial incorrectly. In his mind, dialing one extra number wouldn't matter, as the call probably wouldn't go through anyway.
...888, Yang Hua pressed three more eights on the phone.
Beep—beep—beep—surprisingly, the phone rang.
Oh, I got it right! What a rarity, I never expected to get something right in my life. Yang Hua mocked himself inwardly.
Hello! This is the Luck Management Center, who are you looking for? A voice that sounded incredibly pleasant came from the other end of the line.
Although the company name mentioned by the other party was different from what Yang Hua saw in the job application, he didn't pay much attention. Still following his usual approach, Yang Hua picked up the phone and confidently introduced himself, Hello, my name is Yang Hua, and I'm a student from Lianhua University. I heard that you...
What? What? The voice on the other end suddenly sounded surprised, What did you say? Who are you?
This was the first time Yang Hua encountered such a situation during his job search. The other party neither asked him to provide his grades and information nor directly rejected him, but instead asked who he was. However, recalling the strange tactics often used by private companies when interviewing candidates, Yang Hua remained cautious. He was afraid that a single wrong word could cost him this rare opportunity.
My name is Yang Hua, and I'm a student from Lianhua University. Yang Hua repeated what he had just said.
What? A student? The voice on the other end was now utterly shocked.
What's so strange about being a student? Even if you really don't plan to hire students, there's no need to be so surprised! The astonishment in the woman's voice made Yang Hua feel inexplicably confused, but for the sake of the job, he still carefully held the phone, waiting for the operator's next question after her surprise. Based on Yang Hua's experience, at this point, the other party would either ask him to send his resume to their company or tell him to leave.
However, this time, the wait for Yang Hua felt unusually long. It took a full minute before the operator's voice came through again. Sorry, please hold on for a moment! The operator's words left Yang Hua even more puzzled. She neither asked him to leave nor told him to stay, but instead told him to hold on for a moment.
After saying hold on for a moment, the operator went silent. But no matter what, Yang Hua felt that compared to the previous direct rejections, this company's attitude had made significant progress. Holding onto that last bit of hope, Yang Hua eagerly waited by the phone.
What Yang Hua didn't know was that his call had caused a tremendous impact at the Luck Management Center. As the name suggests, the Luck Management Center is a place that manages the luck of all humans in the world. Since neither gods nor ghosts have issues with luck, the duties of the Luck Management Center fall outside the jurisdiction of both heaven and hell, making it a branch office responsible solely for the human realm. However, its office is located in hell, so it is managed by the King of Hell.
King of Hell, King of Hell! The operator who received the call rushed into the King of Hell's office, panting. Why did she rush? Because she was a ghost, of course!
Ahem, back to the point. The operator floated into the King of Hell's office, but at that moment, our esteemed King of Hell was busy stamping documents piled high in front of him.
Ugh, damn it, there was another earthquake yesterday. Tens of thousands died. Those bastards from the Accident Department say they want to go home for a visit, pushing all the work onto me. I'm so busy! Next time, I'm definitely going to dock their pay! When the King of Hell saw the operator float in, he thought it was his secretary and continued to complain while stamping away.
King of Hell, it's bad! The operator shouted in a panic.
What is it? Is there a fire? Just call a fire demon to handle it! Why do you bring every little thing to me? Am I the King of Hell or a minor ghost?! The King of Hell was already irritated and shouted back at the secretary when he heard her panicking.
No! King of Hell! The operator looked at the King of Hell, almost turning into a vengeful spirit from anxiety.
Then what is it? Speak! The King of Hell continued his work without stopping, sighing as he asked. After all, he was responsible for the affairs of hell, and if anything went wrong, he would be the one to suffer the consequences from heaven.
King of Hell, it's the Luck Management Center! A student called our center! The operator finally managed to explain clearly.
Huh? Such a small matter requires my attention! The King of Hell continued to wave his arms, You go find... At this point, the King of Hell suddenly froze, his arm holding the official seal suspended in mid-air.
What did you say? Say that again? The King of Hell turned sharply to stare at the operator.
Just now, a student called our Luck Management Center! The operator took a step back in fear, nervously looking at the King of Hell.
Is he... is he a relative of some deity? The King of Hell blinked, asking blankly.
It doesn't seem so, the operator quickly replied, Currently, no deities' relatives are playing reincarnation in the human realm; most of them have gone to other worlds.
Not? Then how did he get through? The King of Hell shouted angrily.
King of Hell, I... I really don't know. The operator was nearly scared out of her wits.
Go find out how this happened! The King of Hell angrily put the official seal back in its box, reluctantly glancing at the mountain of documents, and finally followed the operator out.
The two administrators of hell quickly arrived at the Luck Management Center. Soon, the ultra-super-duper computer, which had taken thousands of years to research by all the famous scientists who had already passed away and hundreds of years to manufacture by all the genius engineers who had also passed away, appeared before the two... oh no, two ghosts.
When the ghosts in the Luck Management Center saw the King of Hell appear, they immediately knew something big had happened. They all put down their work and followed the King of Hell to see the commotion.
Luck No. 1! As soon as he rushed into the control room, the King of Hell shouted. He didn't have time to pay attention to the little ghosts following him.
Voice verification complete, identity confirmed. Honorable King of Hell, hello. A dry mechanical voice came from the computer's speaker.
Check what that guy named Yang Hua is all about! The King of Hell anxiously watched the computer's voice input system. This new gadget was nice, but the King of Hell always felt it wasn't as smooth as the bull-headed and horse-faced minions. If it were the bull-headed and horse-faced, he could just kick them to work right after speaking, which would be so comfortable! But now, he didn't even dare to touch this thing, fearing that a single mistake would lead to complaints from the maintenance engineers.
Please enter his detailed address and age for identification. The computer replied.
Without waiting for the King of Hell to give the order, the operator hurriedly stepped forward and input Yang Hua's address and age.
Name: Yang Hua, Age: 23 years and 4 months, Address: Student Dormitory No. 8, Lianhua University, T City, Z Province, China. Please confirm.
Confirm, confirm, hurry up and get to work! Listening to the computer's rambling, the impatient King of Hell felt like smashing it.
Searching, please wait. The computer made a series of chaotic noises, and then displayed a row of data on the large screen in front of the two.
Name: Yang Hua, Date of Birth: September 27, 19**. Luck values used: Career luck -78455 points, Love luck -113383 points, Money luck -54872 points. Overall luck value -82236 points. The computer quickly reported the initial data.
Damn! The King of Hell couldn't help but curse, What the hell did that kid do in his past life? How can his luck be this bad at just twenty-something? I remember that Hitler's reincarnation only had a luck value of over -50,000 when he got hit by a car; how can this guy be over -80,000 at just twenty-something? Was he Tojo Hideki in his past life?
Tojo Hideki has passed away, and now his luck has dropped by over sixty thousand points. The operator clearly remembered this extremely unlucky person and immediately picked up on Yan Wang's words.
What happened to him? Yan Wang was also puzzled, and he shouted at the computer, Continue the investigation, show his past life data and the expected luck value for this life.
Soon, after a loud rumble, the computer displayed the information Yan Wang wanted on the big screen. But when Yan Wang and the operator saw the data, both were left dumbfounded.
Yang Hua, reincarnated as a benevolent person in his tenth life, should have a luck value of 131072 points in this life. The computer reported its findings in its usual calm voice.
God damn it! Yan Wang stared blankly at the screen. According to the computer, Yang Hua should be a guy whose luck was so good that even gods would be jealous! But how could he have such bad luck that it dropped by over eighty thousand points? Was he meant to achieve great things, so he had to suffer first? But even sages like Confucius and Mencius never had such a drop in luck! Moreover, since luck management was handed over to computers, modern people who achieved great things wouldn't have such a drastic drop in luck either. The computer wouldn't have the time to arrange such a rollercoaster life!
Hurry up! What are you waiting for? Get the maintenance engineer here! Yan Wang shouted at the operator, terrified by the numbers.
This was simply a joke! Even the legendary Dou E wasn't this wronged! If a person's real luck differed so greatly from what they should have, their resentment at death would surely be sky-high. Such immense resentment would cause a disturbance in the heavens, and the Jade Emperor would definitely remove him as Yan Wang.
The operator quickly floated out from the luck management center, and within a few minutes, she returned with the maintenance engineer.
Hurry up, see what's wrong with this machine! Yan Wang anxiously kicked the engineer towards the damn computer.
The engineer carefully examined the hardware for a long time and finally pushed up his glasses to report to Yan Wang. There's nothing wrong with the hardware; if there's a problem, it's with the software.
I don't care if it's hardware or software, just fix it! Yan Wang grabbed the engineer and shook him back and forth.
But I can't handle software issues.
Then who can?
Um... apparently, the software was written by someone called 'Money Gate.'
Where is he now?
He reincarnated over forty years ago.
What?! What do we do now?
Lord Yan Wang, I think it's definitely the anti-resentment system we recently introduced from the heavenly court that's causing this, which is why that person called the management center. The engineer adjusted his glasses and finally suggested something that satisfied Yan Wang, You could try switching to manual operation. Just find a Bull Head or Horse Face to manage his luck and transfer his luck for the latter half of his life.
Mm! Yan Wang grunted heavily and glanced back. As soon as they heard Yan Wang was assigning a task, the little ghosts who had been following him to watch the fun immediately vanished without a trace. Only the operator remained, standing there, unsure of what to do.
Yan Wang's gaze turned to the operator, and then he said, Then this matter will be up to you.
Ah, I... yes! The operator wanted to refuse, but seeing Yan Wang's expression, she swallowed the word 'no.'
Thus, after nearly an hour of chaos, the luck management center finally returned to calm.
Mr. Yang Hua, are you still there? The operator's sweet voice came through the phone line into Yang Hua's ears.
Uh, I'm still here. Yang Hua quickly replied.
We have understood your situation. Please enjoy every day of your life from now on, thank you. After saying these inexplicable words, the operator hung up the phone.
Was that a rejection or an acceptance? Yang Hua stared at the phone that kept beeping. When he picked up the phone to call the Lucky and Safe company again, the person answering had already changed. Hearing the new operator's impatient voice, Yang Hua instinctively hung up.
It seemed he wasn't accepted. Yang Hua sighed. In fact, he had already lost hope for this job application when he realized the person answering was a woman, as his luck with women was notoriously bad.
Yang Hua was definitely not an ugly or sleazy man. On the contrary, he had a fairly standard height and build, and while he might not be described as handsome, he certainly had a masculine charm. Yet, despite this, Yang Hua had never received any affection from girls from kindergarten through university, and every time he encountered a girl, something would go wrong.
He remembered in elementary school, his deskmate always drew a dividing line between them on the desk. They sat together for six years, yet they had spoken to each other no more than ten times. Moreover, every time Yang Hua spoke to that girl, he would end up getting bullied terribly. Their only interaction was during an exam when Yang Hua borrowed an eraser from her, but he ended up failing that test and came home with a black eye after being scolded by his parents. After the scolding, he discovered that the exam paper had been mixed up, and he had taken the paper of another student named Yang Hua from the adjacent class.
Several unfortunate experiences made Yang Hua too afraid to even glance at that girl, fearing that even eye contact would bring him misfortune. In middle school, his bad luck with women reached another peak. Because of his elementary school experiences, he never dared to speak to that girl again. Later, for some unknown reason, he asked that not-so-pretty deskmate a question. As a result, on the way home that day, a flying soccer ball hit him square in the face, knocking him out cold. He bled profusely and suffered a mild concussion, spending two days in the hospital before being discharged.
After that incident, Yang Hua never interacted with any woman except for his mother and grandmother until he entered high school.
In his second year of high school, Yang Hua finally experienced a brief first love. However, that was also the time he was hurt the most. Although he didn't suffer physically in the relationship, he endured inhumane mental torment. The girl, who was said to have transferred in, disappeared without a trace after a romance that lasted no more than seven days. She left behind a pile of sweet words, leaving Yang Hua in painful anticipation of an elusive hope.
Moreover, during his first college entrance examination, he ran into that elementary school deskmate, who was also his high school classmate. He merely glanced at her and pulled her slightly, resulting in a serious car accident.
Because of these experiences, Yang Hua never dared to interact with any girl in college, walking with his head down, afraid that even a wrong glance would lead to trouble.
Of course, walking with his head down in college sometimes led to accidental collisions with girls. One morning, while heading to the classroom for self-study, Yang Hua accidentally bumped into a girl who weighed nearly a hundred kilograms. What happened? By the afternoon, he was diagnosed with chronic pneumonia and isolated in the hospital for over a month—though for someone used to bad luck like Yang Hua, not being diagnosed with AIDS after such close contact was already a huge stroke of luck!
Sigh! Forget it! After being given hope and then falling into disappointment, Yang Hua sighed helplessly. He flipped open the job application materials again. Just as his hand brushed against the corner of the materials, Yang Hua suddenly jumped up in panic. He remembered that his roommates had asked him to buy He Ji Shao Bing for dinner before they left. He had been busy making job calls, and that last call had taken nearly an hour, causing him to forget about it.
Yang Hua quickly raised his arm to check the time: 4:30. If he didn't leave soon, he would be late!
The only store selling He Ji Shao Bing in T City wasn't near their school; Yang Hua had to walk half an hour to a residential area far from the school. If he counted the round trip, that would be an hour, plus the time spent waiting in line. His roommates usually returned around 5:30. If they didn't see dinner by then, who knows what trouble would arise!
Thinking of this, Yang Hua hurriedly tossed aside the job application materials and rushed out. After running frantically, he finally arrived at the He Ji Shao Bing store twenty minutes later. After waiting in line for nearly twenty minutes, he finally bought the shaobing. Without even catching his breath, he turned around and sprinted back to the dormitory.
However, just as Yang Hua ran out of the residential area, heading down a usually quiet road with few vehicles towards the dormitory, he suddenly saw a figure standing at the corner of the road. Without needing a second glance, Yang Hua recognized it was a woman. But she was facing the road, so Yang Hua only saw her back.
Seeing her back should be fine, right...? Terrified, Yang Hua quickly lowered his head, feeling anxious. Since the school was right across the road, he had to pass by the woman, and Yang Hua just prayed that he wouldn't cause any trouble by looking at her.
It seemed that heaven was always against Yang Hua; the more he prayed, the faster disaster approached. Just as he was about to r