Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

Rome, hotel suite.

A giant virtual light screen floated in the center of the room, silently playing live footage of the riots from Tokyo.

The footage comes from the city's surveillance network that Mirror Doll 2 infiltrated, and after integration, it is presented from the best director's perspective.

The panic and stampedes on the streets of Shinjuku, the incompetence of the Metropolitan Police Department's emergency response team, and the gruesome death of the supervisor named Sato Masashi, bleeding from all seven orifices and with his eyes wide open, inside the 37th floor office of the Sigma Building.

The source of all the chaos points to a young man named Shota Takahashi who had just completed a contract in a rented apartment.

Jiang Ming held a glass of red wine and gently swirled it.

Jiang Ming was not surprised at all by Shuten-dōji's unauthorized actions, his search for his Master, and even his killing in the street, nor did he have any intention of stopping him.

This was part of the plan all along.

Berserker is a name that should be synonymous with madness and destruction.

The more he goes too far, the more realistic the stage of this "Holy Grail War" will be, and the more intense the emotions of the audience will be.

Those around the world who witnessed this chaos through various channels felt a surge of fear, shock, excitement, and hatred for the mastermind behind it all...

These emotions are the finest nourishment.

Jiang Ming didn't care how the doll was made, or rather, the more excessive the better.

He didn't care who Takahashi Shota's first target for revenge was, nor did he care who his next target would be.

Jiang Ming turned off the virtual screen and focused his attention on his own mind.

On the system panel, the long string of numbers was radiating an amazing light.

[Emotional Value Balance: 42,580,000]

Just then, a cold system notification sounded directly in the depths of Jiang Ming's mind.

[The total host emotion value has exceeded 20,000,000 points.]

The required emotional value to activate the seventh "Choose One of Three Destinies" event has been met.

[Enable?]

"First, select and strengthen."

The "Select Enhancement" feature is now available.

[This enhancement requires 2,000,000 Emotion Points. Confirm?]

"confirm."

As Jiang Ming's thoughts settled, the astonishing string of numbers in his mind instantly began to jump.

[Emotional Value Balance: 40,580,000]

Immediately afterwards, the system notification sounded again.

[Consumed 2,000,000 Emotion Points; the quality of this selection has been improved.]

"Consuming 20 million emotion points, the seventh 'Choose One of Three Destinies' event is now available."

The instruction has been confirmed.

[Consuming 20,000,000 Emotion Points...]

The seventh "Choose One of Three Destinies" event has officially begun...

hum!

Jiang Ming's entire sea of ​​consciousness seemed to freeze at this moment.

Three unprecedentedly brilliant golden lights slowly emerged from the deepest part of his consciousness.

As the light faded, three clear sets of golden options were imprinted directly into Jiang Ming's mind.

Please choose from the following three options.

Option A: Astral Travel

[Ability Effect: Your soul will gain the ability to break free from the constraints of your physical body, allowing you to freely roam in a higher dimension beyond the physical universe—the "Astral Plane." In the Astral Plane, the meaning of time and space will be reconstructed, and you may be able to glimpse the true nature of the universe and come into contact with beings beyond comprehension.]

[Note: The astral plane is vast and boundless, but it also contains unknown risks that pose a great threat to the soul. Please explore with caution.]

Option B: Causality Weapon (Prototype)

[Ability Effect: You can set a specific "cause" and consume a huge amount of emotional points as the cost to forcibly guide a "result" that you desire. As long as the logical chain can stand, no matter how bizarre the process, the result will inevitably occur.]

[Note: Forcibly distorting cause and effect will inevitably produce unpredictable "backlash." The intensity of the backlash is directly proportional to the degree of distortion, and the effects are unknown. This ability is still in its infancy and its function is unstable.]

Option C: Artifact Crafting

[Ability Effect: You will gain the ability to create "Conceptual Armaments." The host can set a "conceptual blueprint" for an item, including its appearance, rules, and inherent extraordinary effects, and input emotional value as "raw materials" and "energy core" to transform it from a concept into a physical entity.]

[Note: The strength of an artifact is directly proportional to the emotional investment made in it, with theoretically no upper limit. Once created, the artifact will be absolutely obedient to its host.]

Jiang Ming quickly analyzed the three options.

Each one of them is truly extraordinary.

【Astral Journey】

The idea of ​​the soul roaming the celestial realms and exploring dimensions beyond the universe sounds incredibly alluring, an irresistible option for anyone yearning to uncover the truth of the world.

But Jiang Ming ruled it out almost instantly.

the reason is simple.

The risks are unknown.

His stage is on Earth, and his audience is the seven billion people on this planet. Before he has fully mastered his own home turf, it would be incongruous for him to rashly venture into a higher dimension full of unknown risks to contact those "existences beyond comprehension".

Next is the second option.

【Causality Weapon (Prototype)】

This ability is more domineering and more dangerous.

Set a "cause" and forcibly derive an "effect".

For example, if the "cause" is that the president of a certain country slips on a banana peel while going out, as long as enough emotional value is invested, this result will inevitably occur regardless of how tight the security is.

This is an unreasonable, rule-based force.

However, its drawbacks are equally fatal.

"The backlash effect is unknown."

These five words were enough to make Jiang Ming keep his distance from him.

The greater the distortion of cause and effect, the more terrifying the backlash.

If you use it to eliminate an important person, the backlash could be the death of those close to you, or even your own personal collapse.

Moreover, this is only a "prototype".

Unstable.

Jiang Ming's attention was finally completely focused on the third option.

【Artifact Making】.

Create "conceptual weaponry".

Create your own blueprint, invest your emotional investment, and turn it into reality.

The intensity is directly proportional to the emotional level invested, and theoretically there is no upper limit.

In response, Jiang Ming couldn't help but have an idea.

A Holy Grail War without a final prize is incomplete.

The lie of a "miracle wish-granting machine" may fool people for a while, but it won't fool them forever.

When powerful Servants like Saber, Berserker, and Ruler appear one by one, and when the whole world believes that this war is real, their final focus will inevitably be on that ultimate reward.

and so……

The Holy Grail must actually exist.

A truly omnipotent wish-granting machine that can grant the wishes of victors.

The [artifact creation] before us is the only answer that makes this "reality" possible.

Jiang Ming no longer hesitated.

He made his choice in his heart.

"I choose C, [Crafting Artifacts]."

The moment the words fell, the two golden lights representing [Astral Journey] and [Causality Weapon] dimmed, disintegrated, and disappeared.

Only the light representing the [Artifact Creation] suddenly erupted, transforming into a vast and boundless golden data stream that surged wildly into the depths of Jiang Ming's memory.

He had a complete grasp of all the relevant knowledge and methods of using emotional values ​​as the core for "forging"—it was as if they were innate instincts.

Jiang Ming brought up his personal panel.

At the end of the "Abilities" section, a brand new entry has quietly appeared.

【Artifact Crafting (Special)】

"Then, the first step is to create a Holy Grail."