Chapter 2: Josh, the Time Traveler

After leaving the shop and carefully walking through two blocks, Josh finally breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that no one was following him. He then walked into a decent-looking restaurant on the roadside.

It had been a week since he arrived in this world. The best meal he'd had so far was just a hamburger. Now that he finally had some money, he naturally wanted to treat himself to a proper meal.

Yes, there was no doubt—Josh was a time traveler. (T/N: He doesn't know that he is in Marvel he thinks that he is in his original world)

In his previous life, he had been a young white-collar worker in a third-tier city in China in the 21st century.

One night, after just having a few drinks with a heartbroken friend, Josh woke up to find himself in 1943, in Chicago, as a 15-year-old boy living on the streets.

It seems God had taken some pity on him. In his previous life, although Josh wasn't from a wealthy family, he was a middle-class young man with a car, a house, and a comfortable life. He was in his early thirties, the prime of his life.

Sure, he read online novels occasionally, but he never imagined something like time travel would happen to him.

In fact, it was his friend—who had failed at starting a business and been dumped by his girlfriend of eight years—who seemed to fit the typical time-travel protagonist mold. Shouldn't it have been him instead?

Maybe the gods just picked the wrong person.

Now, here he was in 1943, stuck in Chicago, where he had landed in the proverbial "Orphanage of Protagonists," scraping by for meal to meal. (T/N: proverbial "Orphanage of Protagonists means he is comparing himself to other protagonists in novels who transmigrated and were often orphan)

The only advantage was that he had become 15 years old again, gaining several extra years of life for free.

But living longer wasn't necessarily a gift. Given the environment of this era, it was hard to say how long he would actually survive.

Another piece of good news was that his original body wasn't an orphan by birth. His parents had passed away in an accident less than six months ago. They had been legitimate U.S. citizens, not undocumented individuals.

Although his parents hadn't left him much in the way of inheritance, they did leave him a small apartment, so at least he wasn't homeless.

Entering the restaurant, Josh didn't order anything too extravagant.

A large American-style meatloaf, some fries, macaroni and cheese, a salad, and a big glass of Coca-Cola.

It was a standard blue-collar American meal, and the portions were generous. (T/N: A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor.)

As for the taste? It was decent enough.

What surprised Josh, though, was the taste of the Coca-Cola. It was much richer than the Coca-Cola he remembered from the future.

Since he was in the middle of a growth spurt, Josh quickly devoured everything.

When he finished and paid the bill, it came to seventy-five cents.

Cheap? Not really. If you calculated it based on the official gold exchange rate, this meal would be equivalent to over thirty dollars in the early 21st century.

If it had been a few years ago, during the Great Depression, such a meal wouldn't have cost more than fifty cents.

The reason prices were high now was due to wartime shortages of goods.

That's right, because of the need to support the war efforts in Europe and Asia, even the United States—though untouched by the flames of war—had seen a surge in prices since 1941. In May 1942, a nationwide rationing system had been introduced.

Everyone was issued a ration book, which included 48 blue points and 64 red points in the form of plastic tokens each month.

The "blue points" were used to buy processed goods like canned and bottled items, while the "red points" were for meat, fish, and dairy products.

Ordinary citizens could only buy goods in line with their ration allowances. Only stores and restaurants had larger allocations, as the rest of the resources went directly to the front lines.

At the front lines, a typical soldier's ration was three to four times that of an ordinary civilian.

It could be said that everything was prioritized for the war effort.

This rationing system would last until the latter half of 1944, when America's industrial production peaked, leading to surplus supplies. Only then would the restrictions be gradually lifted.

Of course, just like with the bootlegging (T/N: Rum-running, or bootlegging, is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law.) business twenty years ago, if you were willing to spend money, you could always get your hands on more goods.

After finishing his meal, Josh left the restaurant. Once he confirmed again that no one was paying attention to him, he relaxed and strolled down the street before hailing a taxi.

Don't be surprised—there were taxis in Shanghai during this period, so naturally, America had them as well.

He gave the driver an address, and the car set off.

Soon, he arrived at a used car dealership.

As the world's leading industrial power at the time, America's car ownership was astonishing. By 1937, the rate had already reached 25%.

That meant one out of every four Americans owned a car.

Most of these cars were concentrated in major cities.

And in a big industrial city like Chicago, the numbers were even higher.

Cars weren't that expensive either. A brand-new basic Ford Model A only cost five to six hundred dollars.

However, since America formally entered World War II, all major companies had been temporarily banned from producing civilian cars, focusing instead on military vehicles. As a result, new cars were hard to come by, and, like other goods, they were rationed. Only special professions like doctors and priests could get a car allocation.

Gasoline and tires were also subject to rationing.

Compared to those, a driver's license was the least of Josh's worries.

Although some basic traffic laws had been enacted more than a decade ago due to the high number of cars on the road, they were still relatively loose.

Even though Josh was a bit underage, with a little extra cash, he could still get his hands on a driver's license.

Josh wasn't aiming for a new car anyway. A secondhand car in good condition would do.

Chicago was a big city, and having a car would make things much more convenient.

Plus, while gasoline and tires were rationed, as mentioned before, with enough money, you could get whatever you needed.

In the end, Josh bought a secondhand Ford with a full tank of gas and in good condition for $200.

That purchase cut his assets nearly in half, leaving him with $200.

Once he got the car, Josh hit the road.

Honestly, after driving automatic cars in his past life, switching to a vintage manual car took some getting used to. But traffic rules weren't as strict as they would be later on, so Josh managed to drive without much trouble.

Soon, Josh drove to a somewhat secluded gun shop.

Walking in, he was greeted by a wide variety of firearms.

Though guns in this era weren't as advanced as those in the future, it was important to remember that the U.S. hadn't enacted an automatic weapons ban yet. That law wouldn't come until 1986.

So in this gun shop, there were not only light automatic weapons like the Thompson submachine gun, M1918 Browning, and Colt automatic pistols, but even heavy machine guns like the Colt M1895 were available.

However, Josh could only admire those from a distance—they were far too expensive.

Early Thompson models were outrageously expensive, with a single gun costing over two hundred dollars. Though the price had come down over the years, it still cost more than seventy dollars at the official purchase price.

Due to the war, even retail prices had risen, with the sticker price now at 108 dollars.

With Josh's limited funds, he could barely afford two, let alone the cost of ammunition.

M1 Garands were even pricier, with a retail price of $150—way out of his budget.

So Josh set his sights on an older rifle from World War I.

Not the Springfield rifle. Due to its excellent performance, the Springfield was still in heavy use during World War II, leading to high demand and a steep price.

Instead, Josh was after the M1917, a rifle made as a supplemental model to the Springfield.

Because of its simpler structure, the M1917 had been mass-produced during World War I. After the war, most were retired, with a portion sold and over a million units placed in storage.

During World War II, this rifle was reissued but mainly used for foreign aid or training purposes, not in actual combat. As a result, there were still plenty available in the U.S., making them cheap.

You could get one, along with a thousand rounds of ammunition, for just $45—a real bargain.

At this time, many Americans who hunted or participated in shooting competitions preferred to buy this rifle.

"What can I get you, sir?" asked the plump gun shop owner. Beside him stood a young man around Josh's age, also chubby—probably the owner's son.

"I'll take four M1917s, and a Colt M1911," Josh replied directly.

The rifles were for selling, while the M1911 was for his own self-defense.

The shop owner seemed a bit surprised that Josh was buying four rifles at once, but he didn't ask any questions. Having lived through the Great Depression, he had seen all kinds of things. Even John Dillinger had bought guns from him back in the day.

As long as the customer paid, what they did with the guns was none of his business.

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