1 Chapter 001: A new day, a new skill, a new life

Whew. I am so tired.

Taking in a deep breath of the earthy smell, Chrono relaxed his body and lay on the soft and comfortable patch of grass, gazing at the clouds slowly drifting across the azure blue sky.

*Flash*

...

*Wee-woo* *Wee-woo* *Wee-woo*

Sirens filled the air shortly after.

…

A few hours later...

"A lightning strike hit a male age 21 at Punggol Park this afternoon. The victim is currently in a critical condition, the surgery is still ongoing..."

-----

2 days later.

"Received 1 gold coin."

[Status]

[Name] Chrono Feldman (Dead but alive)

[Lifespan] -60 years

[Job]

<<Life Merchant>>

Ability to shorten one's lifespan and transfer the number of years to a target or increase one's lifespan by receiving a specific number of years from a target's lifespan.

[Stats]

Power/Strength - 10 +

Intelligence - 30 +

Speed - 24 +

Agility - 26 +

Stamina - 15 +

Luck - 50

Charm/Charisma - 29

Recovery - E

Control/Accuracy - D

[Skills]

<Life Merchant Contract> - (A shop where a person's desire can be fulfilled)

<Lachesis Eyes> - LV1 (Ability to see target's lifespan)

<Inventory> - (Somewhere to store all the random junk)

<Lucky Draw> - LV1 (What new skills will you obtain?)

-----

[Quest Log]

Use <Life Merchant Shop Mode> once (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)

Use <Lachesis Eyes> ten times. (Reward: Unlock LV2)

Collect 10 gold coins. (Reward: Unlock LV2)

Purchase 10 stat points. (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)

Play <Lucky Draw> once. (Reward: Unknown)

What the heck is this? Did I knock my head too hard? The last thing I remember is me lying down on the grass, and afterward, there was a sudden flash... These were Chrono's thoughts at the sight of the weird screen filled with dubious words that had appeared when he opened his eyes.

Wait, am I in the hospital? Chrono wondered, suddenly aware of his surroundings as he recognised the layout of a typical hospital ward. He turned his head to get a closer look of the room, the screen followed his gaze and continued to obstruct his view.

Irritated, Chrono sat up to inspect the screen. After briefly scanning through the words, he found a small [X] button at the top right corner of the screen.

He pressed it, making the screen disappear into thin air, as intended.

What the heck?

"Chrono, how are you feeling?" A silvery voice interrupted Chrono's train of thought.

Chrono looked up at the person who had spoken. It was a nurse, she had been checking Chrono's vitals on the machine when she noticed Chrono got up from the bed.

Wow. This nurse is really pretty.

Chrono acted like the stupid hoodlum he normally portrayed and teased the naive-looking woman, "I hope angels know CPR because you just stole my breath away."

The nurse was stunned after hearing the cheesy pick up line. She averted Chrono's fake scorching gaze as she walked to retrieve the medical chart, blushing, exactly as the patient had expected.

"When must the angel return to heaven? Can I please know thy name before thou leave?" Chrono shamelessly continued, seemingly flirting with the nurse.

"Another hormone overflowing patient. Maybe I should really change to a private hospital." The hospital employee ignored Chrono and muttered to herself as she wrote on the medical chart.

"Please give me a moment, I will inform the doctor-in-charge that you have regained consciousness."

Chrono barely glanced at the back view of the nurse's hourglass figure as she walked out of the room.

Ok. I got rid of the annoyance. Now, why am I in the hospital? And what was the weird {Status screen} thing?

*Zing*

[Status]

[Name] Chrono Feldman (Dead but alive)

[Lifespan] -60 years

[Job]

<<Life Merchant>>

Ability to shorten one's lifespan and transfer the number of years to a target or increase one's lifespan by receiving a specific number of years from a target's lifespan.

[Stats]

Power/Strength - 10 +

Intelligence - 30 +

Speed - 24 +

Agility - 26 +

Stamina - 15 +

Luck - 50

Charm/Charisma - 29

Recovery - E

Control/Accuracy - D

[Skills]

<Life Merchant Contract> - (A shop where a person's desire can be fulfilled)

<Lachesis Eyes> - LV1 (Ability to see target's lifespan)

<Inventory> - (Somewhere to store all the random junk)

<Lucky Draw> - LV1 (What new skills will you obtain?)

-----

[Quest Log]

Use <Life Merchant Contract> once (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)

Use <Lachesis Eyes> ten times. (Reward: Unlock LV2)

Purchase 10 stat points. (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)

Play <Lucky Draw> once. (Reward: Unknown)

Chrono examined the screen word by word several times over, a feeling of ridiculousness growing increasingly stronger the further he read. These types of situations where you gain some gaming ability or superpower only happened in fantasy novels, right? Dead but alive? And what's with the -60 years? Closing the status screen, he massaged his head, trying to recall what had happened after the flash.

"The condition of the victim of the lightning strike at Punggol Park has stabilized…" The news anchor reported.

Wait… Are they talking about me? So the flash… Lightning strike? Seriously?

Chrono was still staring pensively at the television when two person walked into his room.

"Patient Chrono Feldman, I am your attending physician, Doctor Wyine. How are you feeling?" The doctor wearing a white coat called out to Chrono.

Oh my Gosh, what's going on with this hospital? I guess my luck is just good.

As Doctor Wyine saw the patient staring at her, she could not help but asked him, "Are you alright? Can you hear and see me? How many fingers am I showing?" The Doctor extended her slender fingers.

Chrono finally snapped out of his stupor, his sleep must have had affected him in some way, for him to react this slowly. He beamed at the Doctor, going back to his womanizer role, "That's three fingers, Doctor Aphrodite."

Doctor Wyine looked at her name tag and then looked back at the convalescent, her face full of confusion and concern.

"Are you sure you are able to see clearly? I am Doctor Wyine, not Doctor Aphrodite. My name tag shows W-Y-I-N-E."

"Oh, sorry for the mistake. For a moment I thought you were the most beautiful of all women, the Goddess Aphrodite. It's really my bad, you are much more beautiful than that." The nurse from before who was standing behind Doctor Wyine rolled her eyes and said, "Doctor Wyine, that was exactly what he did just now."

Doctor Wyine laughed lightly and said, "Looks like you are perfectly alright". She then studied the medical chart she had been given and scribbled something, before adding, "I was doubtful of Melissa when she told me that the first thing you had done after waking up was to flirt with her. But the situation is apparently more severe than that."

"Why would I lie to you?" The nurse called Melissa complained, indignant to find out that Doctor Wyine had not believed her.

Ignoring her, Doctor Wyine wrote down a few more words. "You will require a detailed physical examination with pertinent laboratory tests to determine the presence of injuries. Please have a good rest, we will begin the tests later."

"Wait! I was struck by lightning, right?"

"Yes. Scientists are still figuring out why a random bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere. However, that is not important as long as you are safe and sound. We need to find out whether there is any internal damage or permanent disability have been be caused by the strike." Then, Doctor Wyine and nurse Melissa left the room.

Remembering that he had a 'skill' called <Lachesis Eyes>, meant to be used on others, Chrono decided to start his experiment.

[Total life span: 85 years | Cause of Death: Unknown] appeared above Melissa's head, who was closer to Chrono...

[Total life span: 78 years | Cause of Death: Unknown] for Doctor Wyine.

Wow. This is neat. I can find out the total lifespan someone has? But what now?... I don't know what I can do with that. I should try out the other skills too.

"Chrono, you're finally conscious." Just at that moment, a voice reached his ears.

Turning around, he saw his mother, with a face full of worry, entering the room.

Chrono smiled, genuinely happy to see his mother and asked," Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Mother touched his cheek and forehead lightly.

"Do you know how worried we were? Thank goodness you are alright."

"Of course I'd be alright. I wouldn't die so easily. It's just a lightning strike."

How can I die when I haven't even have a girlfriend before…

"Maybe I should tell you how many people die of lightning strikes every year?" Mother chided, nagging at Chrono.

"What day is today?" Chrono interrupted Mother's well-prepared speech.

"Wednesday; you've been out for 2 whole days." As she replied, she sized Chrono up and down to see whether or not he was really alright.

…

1 hour later...

"Alright, I'll be leaving now."

"So fast? You were here only for an hour!"

"If you were still unconscious, I would have taken a full day leave to take care of you. Since you woke up and you're fine, I'll just take a half a day leave. I will see you later!" Mother left on those words.

______________________________________________________________________________

[Status]

[Name] Chrono Feldman (Dead but alive)

[Lifespan] -60 years

[Job]

<<Life Merchant>>

Ability to shorten one's lifespan and transfer the number of years to a target or increase one's lifespan by receiving a specific number of years from a target's lifespan.

[Stats]

Power/Strength - 10 +

Intelligence - 30 +

Speed - 24 +

Agility - 26 +

Stamina - 15 +

Luck - 50

Charm/Charisma - 29

Recovery - E

Control/Accuracy - D

[Skills]

<Life Merchant Contract> - (A shop where a person's desire can be fulfilled)

<Lachesis Eyes> - LV1 (Ability to see target's lifespan)

<Inventory> - (Somewhere to store all the random junk)

<Lucky Draw> - LV1 (What new skills will you obtain?)

-----

[Quest Log]

Use <Life Merchant Contract> once (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)

Use <Lachesis Eyes> ten times. (Reward: Unlock LV2)

Purchase 10 stat points. (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)

Play <Lucky Draw> once. (Reward: Unknown)

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