When all the others chickened out and ran away like bitches, our MC just sat there on the park bench, completely still, while Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in the street, turning a chunk of Fuyuki City into a warzone.
He was honestly hoping that Sun Wukong would just kill him along with all the other poor bastards.
There was no point or hope for him being alive in this world anyway. His situation was completely fucked from the start, especially since he had been granted no "golden finger," no cheat code or special power to help him survive.
Given the choice between a slow, agonizing death under the cruel experimentation of some random magus who happened to pass by, he would much rather choose a quick and direct death at the hands of a God. It was a cleaner, more respectable end.
The moment he had crossed over into this world, he was immediately thrown into this bullshit.
If someone wasn't deliberately targeting him, he wouldn't believe it. After all, in the lore of Campione, there is no canonical plot about Sun Wukong suddenly going on a rampage in the middle of a public park, which was precisely the shithole where he had crossed.
Furthermore, just hearing the name "Fuyuki City" was more than enough for him to guess which cosmic entities were responsible for this mess.
Who else would it be except for Alaya and Gaia, the wills of the world itself?
It wasn't that he was being overly cynical about his shitty situation. As someone who had deeply researched the mechanics of the Fate universe, there was truly no one better than him to understand how its rules worked, especially when those rules were brutally mixed with the Campione world.
He knew with cold certainty that this world was unfriendly to a dimensional traverser like him.
His ultimate fate was destined to be just like that of countless other irregulars throughout history, dying because of some "convenient" accident, or worse, being captured and used as a lab rat by power-hungry magi, all while being systematically targeted by the world's will in a thousand different, malicious ways.
Gaia and Alaya were notoriously malicious towards existential contaminants like him, so it was zero percent surprising that this entire incident was a blatant, orchestrated attempt by them to squash him like a bug.
Just look at what they did to Artoria Pendragon. Even a legendary King of Knights like her couldn't escape from their poisonous hands.
Her entire "love" for Emiya Shirou was a carefully arranged scam by them, all to make her give up her quest to resurrect Britannia and to force her to participate in the various fraudulent schemes of the Holy Grail Wars.
She played by the rules, she won her battles, but in the end, she got absolutely nothing of what she was promised.
The Counter Forces themselves swore to her that victory would grant her wish, but the truth was the entire thing was one giant, cosmic con job.
If even a heroic spirit of Artoria's caliber fell perfectly into their trap, how could he, a completely ordinary guy, ever hope to compare?
He stood no chance.
So, at the very least, dying at the hand of a God wasn't such a bad way to go out.
It was infinitely better than being tortured to death by some asshole magus in a dungeon.
That's why he refused to run away like a scared bitch like everyone else. He would stay put and face his death head-on, like the man his parents had raised him to be.
Oddly enough, and completely contrary to his expectations, Sun Wukong didn't even glance in his direction, let alone target him.
Instead, the God simply sat down on the bench right beside him, grinning from ear to ear as if the city's destruction happening right in front of them was the best fucking entertainment she had seen all century.
Oh, and did I forget to mention earlier that this particular Sun Wukong is a woman?
Yeah, she definitely is.
"Do you know why I didn't finish you like I finished them off, young one?" she asked, her voice a low, teasing hum that promised both violence and secrets.
"You have the perfect answer for my trouble. Even Alaya decided to off you with her own hand by sending me here, but no. I'm not here to become her puppet. I'm here to send a message."
She leaned in, her eyes gleaming with a predatory light. "And you are the perfect fit for the criteria of a delivery boy who could send them a message."
"How about we become friends first before we talk about the message?"
"It's not your usual day to become friends with a god, is it? Especially a heretic one," Sun Wukong chuckled mischievously.
She was intrigued by this guy's calm demeanor in front of chaos, reminding her of when she faced off with a coalition of Buddhas head-on.
Instead of fearing them, she embraced them and determined to teach Buddha's lesson.
And now, seeing this same fearless spirit in a mere human, she felt no hesitation in offering him a place at her side.
"It would be my honor to be friends with a god. I suppose my name would be recorded in history because of it, even if only as a footnote?" he replied, his words laced with a dark irony.
"You speak as if my offer is an invitation to your own execution," Sun Wukong mused, highly amused by his gall.
"Well, from where I'm standing, becoming a messenger for a god sounds a lot like a death sentence," he chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. "Nonetheless, I accept your offer, Sun Wukong. If walking hand-in-hand with death is the price for my vengeance against those who wronged me, then I will gladly accept your invitation to damnation."
"Since you have accepted my friendship, then sit and listen," she said, her expression turning serious. "Let me explain exactly who this chick Alaya really is."
The knowledge Sun Wukong shared with him was no different from the knowledge he knew from the Fate World.
They were still meddling cosmic bullies seeking targets among weaker parties with the potential to threaten their existence.
"Become a Campione, young man, only by becoming a Godslayer that you have the qualification to spit on them and become the perfect messenger for me, Sun Wukong." Sun Wukong declared, her voice ringing with absolute conviction.
"Pardon?" he said, confused about why becoming a Campione really mattered.
Moreover, did gods really easy to be killed at will?
If they were as easy to pick as cabbages, he would have become a Campione long ago.
"There is no time for explanation, young man. You only need to know that a Campione would be blessed by the power of the very existence they killed."
"You will meet Pandora in the future; let her explain, or the person on the ground for that job."
"You only need to answer: Do you want to become a Campione or not?"
"This would define what kind of individual you are as a person."
"Will you become a victim of the machinations of Fate or crush them?"
"The choice is yours."
[Congratulations, Player, you have been granted the power of choice to control and shape the narrative, to alter the foundation of fate and the fabric of reality itself. Choose wisely.]
Option 1: Accept Sun Wukong's offer and become a Campione.
1. Sun Wukong +20 affection
2. Sun Wukong +20 trust
3. Gain all of her powers from myth.
4. Open path to Pandora's route.
Hint: When you choose this path, you will establish yourself as Pandora's ally and a Campione; her help would be crucial to your future. Even Gaia and Alaya would need to think twice before messing with her.
Option 2: Reject her on the ground. You don't want to be a Campione but be taught by her personally.
1. Sun Wukong +40 affection
2. All knowledge and martial arts that Sun Wukong learned in life.
3. Open path to Sun Wukong's route.
Hint: You will gain an opportunity to romance the deity herself. However, if you choose this path, you will miss the opportunity to align yourself with Pandora. She will not help anyone who is not her child.
Moreover, this path is riskier because Alaya and Gaia's hostility towards you is so great that if you fail to complete this path, you and Sun Wukong would encounter true death.
Option 3: Refuse both of them. You don't want to participate in the cosmic game between them.
1. Gain neutrality from Alaya and Gaia.
2. Third Magic.
3. Open path to the Holy Grail War's route.
Hint: By refusing Sun Wukong's offer, you will greatly reduce the vigilance and hostility of Alaya and Gaia. They will probably try to recruit you to their cause and throw you into the Holy Grail War, asking you to destroy them in return. They will not intervene with you ever again and give you nice boons for your service. Whether you will try to stab them in the back or be truly loyal to them, only time will tell.
When he wanted to accept, suddenly, a bunch of wall of text appeared in front of him.
The world itself seemed to grind to a complete and utter halt the moment this new choice presented itself, and this surreal phenomenon finally convinced him, without a shadow of a doubt, that the so-called "golden finger" or cheat ability he was witnessing was bloody real.
He found himself as the sole exception in this frozen reality; he was the only one who could still move and breathe freely, while everyone and everything else around him was locked in place.
The great and powerful Sun Wukong, for all her legendary might, was caught in the same stasis, proving that no one was exempt from this golden finger.
So, what should he choose?