8 Arc One (7)

Transmigrating a third time took longer to recuperate from.

Nicholas wasn't sure if it was because of the number of times he'd transmigrated, or whether the manner of his death influenced the experience, but regardless it took him nearly the entire thirty minutes to finally feel the pain receding.

What was with the constant drowning? Was he fated to always die in the same way as his original death? Admittedly with slight variations but drowning is drowning.

Once more, Nicholas came up with a list of what his previous attempts at the World had taught him:

1. Transmigrating hurt.

2. Upon dying before completing the mission he would return to the initial moment of

transmigration.

3. The system was voice activated (admittedly limited to a mere "Help" option).

4. The Help Option could only be activated once per mission.

5. Synching the original's memories didn't guarantee knowing all the details necessary to survive the world.

6. Simply letting the female lead die wouldn't be enough to save the original.

7. The original's car was the murder weapon.

8. The male lead was definitely involved in an organised crime syndicate. Most likely the female lead as well.

Here, Nicholas paused. It was never clarified whether Louisa knew about Gabe's mob ties but he couldn't imagine her being kept in the dark for nearly a decade. The memories from the original suggested that she was probably involved, at least in a supportive wife role, but Nicholas made a note to never assume she was either aware nor in the dark. It was better, he decided, to assume that everyone was more involved than they were and maintain his own ostrich act.

9. The male lead was not the friend that the original thought he was.

10. The original's apartment was bugged. Definitely with hidden cameras but possibly with a wire tap as well.

11. Logic dictates if his own home isn't safe from surveillance, then he would most likely have a shadow everytime he stepped out of the house too. Being the closest companion of at least one gang lord was obviously a prime target for corruption and having men follow the original would have let the male lead stay ahead of the competition.

12. The male lead knew about the original's crush.

It was this final point that most concerned Nicholas. The rest could be avoided (mostly through keeping his head in the sand and pretending he knew nothing of Gabe's real life while still side stepping any future plots), but Gabe knowing about the original's crush had nothing to do with Nicholas' presence in the World.

"Hey! System! You fraud. What mission quests?" This bloody system needed to come with a manual. Or at least a copy of "Transmigration for Dummies".

<You have selected Mission Quests. Please select from the following:

Introduction to Mission Quests

Instinctualisation of Mission Quests>

"Oh no… You won't catch me out a second time." Nicholas shook his head as he made his selection. "If absorbing the memories is this screwy then I bet that 'instinctualisation of mission quest' means I have no clue what the quests are, but find myself driven to do random stupid shit until I complete the quest. No thank you."

<You have selected Mission Quests. Please select from the following:

Introduction to Mission Quests

Instinctualisation of Mission Quests>

"Instinctualisation of Mission Quests."

The writing in the air disappeared and when more didn't appear, Nicholas wondered if maybe he had chosen the wrong option. No sooner had the thought occurred to him, then his vision went spotty and he found himself glad to still be sitting down. He better add that to his list of things about the system;

13. When accessing any information from the system, make sure to be alone and seated before making the selection.

<Mission Quests.

Mission quests are small tasks designed to facilitate the completion of the World Mission. This World has three tasks;

1. Save the Female Lead

2. Find true love

3. Change occupations

Completion of these tasks accelerates the completion of the World Mission; Save the Cannon Fodder Nicholas Kim.>

What kind of romance novel BS was this? Nicholas remembered teasing his mum about her addiction to Mills & Boon trashy romance novels and this sounded like it could have been taken out of any one of those stories. Save the female lead? What was he? A Knight In Shining Armour saving the Damsel In Distress from the Big Bad Mob Boss? And then they'd fall in love and ride off into the sunset to have lots of babies? He shuddered at the terrible cliché of it all. Nope. He'd find some way to complete the World Mission without finding himself living in story his mother would read.

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