Fanfic / Roulette Wheel Of Fate

Roulette Wheel of Fate is a Scumbag System fanfic written by Muzu on Archive of Our Own.

After returning from the mirror world and dealing with the disappointing copy of himself and the strange copy of his old Shizun, Luo Binghe makes a choice. If he can't have that Shizun, then perhaps there's another Shizun somewhere not under a Luo Binghe's protection yet that he can take for himself.

There are hundreds of worlds with endless possibilities right? Surely with enough desire one can be opened to lead him to what he's searching for.

Shen Yuan most certainly did not sign up for this shit.

Contains the following tropes

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Shen Qingqiu was rather indifferent about transmigrating in a whole new world and being given a brand-new identity in canon. Here, he's definitely affected by the sudden separation from his family and his inability to be himself.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: Until Luo Binghe got killed by his Evil Twin, the plot was a fantasy romance full of more or less tragic miscommunications. After transferring the Protagonist Halo to Liu Qingge, the story switches to a dark high fantasy war intrigue, with hints of romance.
• Ascended Extra: Liu Qingge was nothing but cannon fodder worth a few sentences in the Proud Immortal Demon Way novel. In this story, he ascends as the new protagonist.
• Blasé Boast: Liu Qingge has a gift for this kind of statement. No matter the obstacle on his path, the War God merely tells he can take care of it — and it sounds like annuncing the sky is blue.
  • Yue Qingyuan also has a good moment — when Shen Qingqiu tries to justify his refusal to involve Cang Qiong in his problems regarding Binghe because the former disciple is a Heavenly Demon, the Sect Leader's answer can be summed up as "meh, been there, done that".
• Brought Down to Normal: Post-resurrection Bingmei has noticed how weak he currently was, a consequence of losing his protagonist halo.
• Crocodile Tears: As he's trying to figure how to seduce Shen Qingqiu, Bingge decides to break down in tears and wail over his inability to find genuine, lasting happiness. He's surprised to see how successful he is.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • Luo Binghe being murdered by the original goods utterly shocks both transmigrators, and Bingge later revealing he's more interested in bedding Shen Qingqiu than torturing him is another surprise.
  • Shen Qingqiu picks Liu Qingge as the new Protagonist because Bingge had no opportunity to fight the War God and won't be able to prepare against the man.
• Distressed Dude: Shen Qingqiu just won't stop be dragged away by Bingge for unwanted kissing and groping.
• Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest: Bingge genuinely believes he can Kill and Replace his good counterpart because he's also Luo Binghe, only for Shen Qingqiu to tell him that he wants the Luo Binghe whom he raised and shares a background with. Even if he has the looks, Bingge is far too divergent in his character for Shen Qingqiu to be content with him.
• Easily Forgiven: Downplayed about Shen Qingqiu pushing Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss; the youth noticed his Shizun looked quite anguished and conflicted about the matter, so when Yue Qingyuan explains him it was done because of a prophecy, he wholeheartedly accepts it.
• Enemy Mine: Bingge is so hated and dangerous that Sha Hualing and Mobei-jun propose an alliance with Cang Qiong in order to fully neutralize him.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • Liu Qingge notices he's got a surplus of spiritual energy and believes he stressed so much over Shen Qingqiu suffering a qi deviation it gave him a breakthrough in his cultivation. He actually received the unassigned Protagonist Halo.
  • After realising Shen Qingqiu is far too well-informed about current and future events, Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge conclude the Qing Jing Peak Lord gained seer abilities.
• Even Evil Has Standards: After finding a world in which his father managed to get free and rampage, Bingge decides he will never allow Tianlang-jun to escape his prison.
  • Word of God also mentions that he won't try to openly rewrite Shen Qingqiu's mind. If the man doesn't accept Bingge from his own will, then it's worthless.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Bingge is genuinely confused by Shen Qingqiu's loathing towards him, as he doesn't consider killing the man's disciple or forcibly touching him as noteworthy.
• Evil Me Scares Me: Bingmei has nothing but disgust towards Bingge, as his Evil Twin easily dispatched him and gloated he would rape Shen Qingqiu.
• Fighting Fingerprint: How Liu Qingge twigged on Shen Qingqiu not being the original goods — Shen Jiu fought dirty and cruelly relished in his victory, Shen Yuan tries to avoid conflict and treats battles as chess matches in which he needs to read the opponent's moves and lure them in a trap.
• Hero-Worshipper: Ming Fan is described with starry eyes when the Bai Zhan War God comes to visit Qing Jing Peak.
• Kill and Replace: What Bingge sought to do by murdering his counterpart. Unfortunately for him, the strategy was doomed to fail by the System warning Shen Qingqiu of the Protagonist's demise.
• Lethal Chef: Shen Qingqiu's attempt to prepare soup. Liu Qingge outright asked if the Qing Jing Peak Lord was trying to poison him while Luo Binghe calls it his greatest enemy and muses it's worse than the Water Prison.
• Loving a Shadow: Liu Qingge secretly frets about people loving what he can do as the Bai Zhan War God rather than himself.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: Bingge's answer to any problem he stumbles on.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: By murdering his counterpart, Bingge didn't merely ensured that Shen Qingqiu would be warned of his arrival and would empower Liu Qingge with the Protagonist Halo, he also gained Shen Qingqiu's undying hatred — precisely the inverse of what he sought to obtain.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Bingge tries to plead for Shen Qingqiu to grant him love by pointing he's a Luo Binghe and not so different from his good counterpart. Shen Qingqiu fires back that implying not so different points at a difference existing.
• Oblivious to Love: Shen Qingqiu earnestly wonders why would anyone want to be in a relationship with him. Qi Qingqi finds his behaviour hysterical while Shang Qinghua is pained in front of such lack of awareness.
• The Power of Love: When two Protagonists are dueling, the strongest will always be the one with meaningful relationships.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge conclude that Shen Qingqiu is a seer and foresaw the kind of atrocities Bingge was able to unleash. The man does have some measure of prophetic knowledge, but it comes from his pre-transmigration self reading the novel about Bingge.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Liu Qingge is perfectly aware that Shen Qingqiu isn't Shen Jiu anymore, courtesy of the Fighting Fingerprint, but considers his new shixiong a Preferable Impersonator and is happy with things as they stand.
  • Word of God reveals that Mu Qingfang also knows because Shen Jiu wouldn't have been able to save Liu Qingge's life in the Lingxi Caves.
• Shoot the Medic First: The second demonic assault against Cang Qiong targets Qian Cao Peak, in which the healers reside. Liu Qingge fumes over the lack of honor and inherent cowardliness of such a tactic.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Shen Qingqiu doesn't bother clarifying he's not actually a seer because it tidily explains his weird knowledge and he's forbidden to reveal the System's existence.
• The Three Faces of Adam: Bingmei is the Hunter (the youngest of the three, struggling to build his powerbase and show himself a worthy spouse for Shen Qingqiu yet easily beaten by his two rivals), Bingge is the Lord (he conquered his original world and is now obsessed by gaining Shen Qingqiu's love yet only cares about the man as something to own rather than someone to respect) and Liu Qingge is the Prophet (introduced as more thoughtful than expected, privvy to Shen Qingqiu's secrets and open to discuss problems in order to find a solution).
• Tragic Villain: Bingge is a monstruous psychopath responsible for hundreds of thousands deaths across the multiverse and bent on raping his former teacher and victim's counterpart. He's also aware that no matter what, he will never be satisfied with his lot in life — because he has been written to be such.
• Undying Loyalty: After Bingge kills Bingmei, Sha Hualing and Mobei-jun refuse to follow his banner — and manage to resurrect his victim.
• Uniqueness Value: Bingge explored more than three hundreds worlds in the multiverse. Shen Yuan was present in two of these worlds.
• Unique Protagonist Asset: The Protagonist Halo manifests as a spiritual energy surplus and can be transferred to another character if the current Protagonist untimely dies.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Yue Qingyuan gently calls Shen Qingqiu out on his refusal to warn Cang Qiong about a potential enemy attacking them, pointing it left them vulnerable when they could have prepared themselves to withstand the assault.
• World's Best Warrior: Liu Qingge's fame as the unbeatable Bai Zhan War God is enough for armies to surrender and flee when he's rumoured to come on the battlefield. And it was before he was empowered with the Protagonist Halo that will ensure his victory no matter the foe he's facing.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Bingge still operates according stallion novel rules — he can rape and murder as much as he wants and people nonetheless will obey and worship him. In the Scumbag System world, it only means he's a very sinister and unhinged villain.
• Yandere: Bingge still is obsessed by Shen Qingqiu, decades after his demise. As torturing the man couldn't grant him the satisfaction he craved so much, Bingge decided to seduce him instead - unfortunately for Shen Yuan, the demonic emperor thinks rape is acceptable when courting.