Chapter 1 - Damned Luck

It was 5:23 in the evening. Adam is walking back home from work when he remembers his cigarette ran out. He made a stop at a convenience store nearby to buy some when he noticed a roadside stall with a person ringing a bell.

Adam bought his cigarette first and then went to the stall to check out of curiosity. He saw a rolling wheel commonly seen in anime used for the lottery.

"Come try your luck mister. Who knows, you might win the first prize."

Adam nods absent-mindedly while his eyes look at the prizes. Consolation prize is $500, third prize is $10,000, second prize is $100,000 and the first prize is not a cash reward. Instead, it's written there 'Your Wish Came True'.

Adam guess this maybe another internet influencer or YouTubers making a video maybe like Mr Beast. The weird first prize aside. Even the consolation prize is attractive enough for him.

"Do I need to pay to play the lottery?" Adam asks.

"No. You can spin it for free." The man with the bell said.

"Okay. Here I go." Adam then quickly spun the wheel and prayed for the second prize.

*Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!*

"You've won the first prize!" The host cheered while Adam frowned.

"Dammit. So, what is the first prize?" Adam sighed disappointedly that he didn't win any cash prize and suspect the lottery is rigged.

"Glad you ask." The host put down the bell and crouched under the stall to grab something. When he came back up, Adam saw a pistol in the host's hand and he nimbly loaded a magazine before pulling the chamber to load.

"Haha… is this some kind of a joke?" Adam is a little spooked and looking around for a camera.

"Congratulations on winning the lottery." The host said with a big sinister smile that revealed his inhuman feature as he pulled the trigger.

Adam was too stunned to run as he looked at the red and black eyes staring back at him. He wanted to run but his entire body felt like they were turned into stone.

"Dem-"

*Bang!*

Adam fell flat to the ground with a bloody hole on his forehead. But none of the passerby even noticed a dead body was literally on the sidewalks.

"Rude. I am not a Demon. But oh well, my job is done here." The creature snapped his finger and the stall vanished along with him.

———

Location: Limbo

Time: Unknown

Adam woke up in terror which is understandable considering how he just died.

"Welcome to my domain, Adam White."

"Who?" Adam quickly turns around to find the person talking to him but all he can see is black.

"Don't bother looking for me, just listen and answer accordingly." The voice said with a flat tone.

"No. Fuck you. You are that bastard shooting me in the head right?" Adam immediately got angry which honestly, isn't the best move considering who he is talking to.

"Shooting you?" The voice sounded surprised. "Since when did they transition from using a truck to a gun?" "Anyway, that didn't matter. And while I am not the one killing you. You can say I am the one responsible for it."

"What? You mother fucker!" Adam wants to punch the guy for killing him but he can't even feel his hands.

"Why are you angry? Isn't this what you wished for? You dislike your boring and monotonous life. You wished for your fantasy to become true and prayed. I am simply granting your prayer."

Adam immediately quiets down. Yes, he recalled that wish and prayer he made. It was a while ago.

"So, you are sending me into a fictional world with powerful abilities?"

"Yes. However, there are rules. First, I am only granting power. Which world you end up in is beyond my control. Second, which power you get is dependent on your luck."

Then a lottery wheel appeared in the void. On the wheel is a lot of powers that some Adam recognised, some he didn't. Also, they are coded with 4 colors. Gold, purple, blue and white.

Of course, Adam focused only on the golden one which only has four compared to the other colors that have more than 50 in total. The one he recognised is [Throne of Heroes Template Summoning] which obviously Fate, [12 Divine Keys] being Honkai Impact and [Quincy Emperor Inheritance] is Bleach.

"Do I just need to roll the wheel?" Adam asks while he is salivating over the awesome power he can get. He is already starting to imagine getting those powers and conquering nations, women and living like a king for the rest of his life.

After a while, he received no answer. He figures the voice might have left once he is done with the explanation.

Since the voice isn't here, can't he cheat and roll the wheel to where he needed to?

Adam tried but then he realized he didn't have an arm or any limbs.

"Fuck. How the hell am I supposed to roll this thing without a hand?" Adam tried to figure out and then when he tried to order the wheel to spin, it really did spin. So, it uses voice commands.

Looking at the wheel getting slower, Adam prayed for it to land on a gold stripe.

"Please gold. Please gold. Please gold." He chants as the wheel is nearly stopped and almost lands on a gold stripe as he wished. But suddenly stop on the white stripe just beside the gold one.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Adam punched the wheel but his ghostly hand simply passed through it.

"It's fucking rigged! Damnit!" Adam shouting at the void as a portal opened up below him and sucked him away.

———

Somewhere in the dense forest, Adam's soul ejected out from a portal next to a dying person.

The person is a guy with white hair and light blue eyes. His white suit was stained with a blood hole on the stomach. The guy is at his last breath when Adam arrives and his soul instantly replaces the guy once he dies, hijacking the body in the process. The injuries immediately healed up as if the body was never injured and only the bloody clothes is proof the body was previously injured.

"Huh?" Adam woke up in his new body that felt very sluggish.

He can feel a searing pain on the back of his skull for a moment before a mechanical voice greeted him.

[Welcome to SAS 4 Mercenary System.]

[Do you want to accept the New User Reward?]

Adam was momentarily stunned because he recognised the name of the System. SAS 4 Zombie Assault is a zombie shooter game made by Ninjakiwi. He played it when he was a teen for a few years and still plays now albeit very rarely.

"Accept reward."

[Reward accepted and moved to inventory.]

"Open Inventory." Leo gave the voice command and the HUD suddenly appeared in his eyes. He can see a screen with numerous slots and only a few have items on the slot.

The first item is [Starter Gear Giftbox] that he has to choose between Heavy/Assault/Medic. Depending on his choice, the guns and armor he receives will be different. On the second slot of the inventory is a body suit named [ACE Suit Mark III] and the third slot is five [Nantonium Strongboxes].

Without hesitation, Adam chose Assault. The Heavy have good armor and powerful guns but all of them look very heavy for him to carry. Meanwhile the Medic have lackluster guns of smaller caliber like SMG and Handgun.

The gear he obtained is Raptor Assault Rifle, RIA 30 Strikeforce Shotgun, RIA 313 Pistol and Special Force Set Armor.

Then he looked at the golden crates.

"Loot crates… is this how I'm going to get better gear in the future?" Adam felt horrified that he would have to gamble on luck for better gear.

Putting his thoughts aside, Adam all of the crates.

[Hardplate Boots ★★★ (Red)]

[Sub-light COM2 ★★★ (Red)]

[Special Force Helmet ★★★(Red)]

[Dragonfly Glove ★★★(Red)]

[Ronson 5X5 ★★(Prem)]

"Premium weapon?" Adam looks in his inventory and double checks it and it's really a Premium gun which means it's a paid gun when still in the game. But it turns out he can get them through Strongboxes. Good to know.

Adam looked at the bloody clothes we were wearing and wanted to change it out to the ACE Suit. But when he tried to select the suit, it was as if he wanted to equip the ACE Suit.

"Quick swapping. Neat." Adam praised the System while equipping the Special Force Set but replaced the glove for Dragonfly Glove because it has faster reload speed and also lighter. And then the helmet was also replaced by the Special Force Helmet which is a direct upgrade with better protection stats.

(The game has a tier for the gears. Standard, Red and Black. The higher the tier the better the stats. The gears he received from the giftbox are all standard.)

"Now what?" Adam has no clue where or what world he's in.

[Host can accept a contract.]

[There are two types of contract. Normal Contract and Interdimensional Contract.]

[Normal Contract is a special training ground created by the System for Host to gain XP, proficiency and various items like Strongboxes and SAS Dollar. ]

[Interdimensional Contract is a special contract that will take place in another world with similar gain as normal contract but greater. As long as the contract isn't complete, the Host cannot leave that world. So, please choose wisely.]

"I'll do the normal one first."

Adam opens the menu and chooses the Normal Contract. Once he starts, he is instantly transported into what seems to be a futuristic lobby area.

[Map: Space Resort, Zombie Hotspot: Eliminate all approaching Infected until time is up.]

On the top of his HUD, there is a timer on 00:10 quickly approaching 00:00. When it did, the timer changed to 10:00. Which means he needs to defend the entrance behind him for 10 minutes.

Three operators suddenly appeared next to him from a blue holographic glitch in reality, one of each available class and they wordlessly readying their guns.

When the zombies poured in, guns went blazing with bullets mowing down the Infected horde.

Adam mentally swapped his first primary and Sub-light COM2 Assault Rifle appeared in his hands. He moved closer to the Heavy Class operator and aimed his rifle down at the row of undead Shamblers and then pressed the trigger. The recoil hit him hard on the shoulder since it's firing at a speed of 5 rounds per second.

Five bullets left the muzzle and tore the row of undead in half. Adam could literally see the bullet tore a big hole through the undead's body, separating it in half. The bullets continue until it hits the wall behind and punctures it like nothing.

He briefly looks at the gun in amazement and appreciation before he starts gunning down more infected like sledgehammers through wet tissue, a goddamn overkill.

"Damn, look at that newbie." Adam heard through the built-in comms in his ACE Suit.

"Yeah, looking at his performance. I say maybe his first deployment."

"Eh? Are you serious? First deployment? That rifle I think is Critical Mass Sub-light COM2 Assault Rifle, it's only available to Commander rank and above."

"Hey, you two. Focus on the mission. We can talk later." The Heavy Class operator turned to the Assault and Medic operator for a moment before looking at the front again.

Adam was surprised because he thought those were just NPC created by the System since this space supposedly was a creation of the System. But the operators act as if they are alive.

As soon as the timer reaches 08:00. Someone shouted in the comms.

"Second wave incoming! Look out for the variants. They might be appearing."

"Alright!"

"Alright." Adam also replied.

"Damn, he sounds so young."

"Told ya he's a newbie. Maybe his dad works for the Planetary Administration."

"Focus on the mission!"

"Roger!" x2

They two quickly straighten up and get back to work.

"Shit, thick skin Infected!" The Heavy Class operator shouted.

"Leave it to me." The Assault Class operator responded and swapped his rifle to another rifle that had a striking red paint on the body.

Once he shot, a blue beam flew out the muzzle and hit the said variant Infected and instantly caused it to combust into flame.

However, it's only the beginning as more different variants pop up and even have a particular Infected they called Bloater which release Infected maggots upon death that crawl very fast and leave a puddle of acid upon death.

"Brace for impact!" The Heavy Class operator shouted into the comms as another holographic glitch appeared on the ceiling before what seems to be giant shells rained down from above.

"These people are crazy! Calling artillery bombardment inside a goddamn space station!" Adam felt like he was experiencing an earthquake with how strong the ground was shaking but the floor thankfully didn't look damaged at all by the bombardment.

"Third wave incoming!"

"This gonna be a while." Adam grumbles as he experiences the longest ten minutes in his life.

———

00:03

00:02

00:01

00:00

00:10

[Collect all rewards while the Teleportation Module is in activating.]

"Whew, another job well done boys." The Heavy Class operator said as he relaxed his body and dismissed his gun.

"Hey, newbie. Let's meet at the Black Horse pub later." The Assault Class operator said while giving Adam a thumbs up.

"See you next time, newbie." The Medic wave at Adam before everyone is teleported away.

As for Adam, he is engrossed while looking at his HUD.

[Contract completed]

Level: 1>6

SAS $: +5600

SB: 0

Adam is teleported back to that forest and it was too dark to see anything. The tree canopy also blocked the moonlight. So, it's total darkness down there.

[Host please open the Skill Menu]

Adam follows the System's guide and opens it to see a long list of abilities he can allocate his stats point to.

(General Skill)

Fast Reload (0/25)

-Increases reloading speed.

Fast Movement (0/25)

-Increases movement speed.

Toughness (0/25)

-Increase max Health value.

Health Regen (0/25)

-Increases Health regeneration speed.

Energy Boost (0/25)

-Increases max Energy value.

Energy Regen (0/25)

-Increases Energy regeneration speed.

Recovery Time (0/25)

-Reduce self resuscitation time.

Pay Grade (0/25)

-Increase the total amount of payment for the completion of a mission or contract.

Body Armour Expert (0/25)

-Increase Armor's protection and resistance value.

Field Supplies (0/25)

-Gain more loot and ammunition when scavenging or resupplying.

Grenade Damage (0/25)

-Increases grenade damage.

Critical Shot (0/25)

-Increases the chance to land a critical shot and critical damage.

———

(Heavy Class Skill)

Hold The Line (0/25)

-When standing still, increase the damage and weapon penetration.

Heavy Gear (0/25)

-Increasing the bones strength to wield heavier weapons and armors with ease.

Tough Body (0/25)

-Augmenting the flesh to become more resilient and resistant to any kind of damage.

Armor Mod Expert (0/25)

-Decrease cost for Armor augmentation cost.

Die Another Day (0/25)

-Overload Reactive Barrier to become nearly immune to any damage for a few seconds.

Brute Strength (0/25)

-Increase brute strength to push through obstacles and enemies.

Concussion (0/25)

-Shots have a chance of stunning enemies.

Aerial Bombardment (0/25)

-Calling in orbital bombardment from the Orbital Fortress.

———

(Assault Class Skill)

Adrenaline (0/25)

-Administer an Adrenaline Shot to temporarily increase movement, firing and reload speed.

Deadly Force (0/25)

-Increase all gun type damage.

Gun Mod Expert (0/25)

-Deduce cost for Guns augmentation cost.

Stim Shot (0/25)

-Automatically administer a Stim Shot when health reaches critical.

Killing Spree (0/25)

-Increased damage dealt with kill streak.

Reinforcement (0/25)

-Call in a team of Operators to assist in combat for a limited time.

———

(Medic Class Skill)

First Aid (0/25)

-Drop or administer a Medkit that will heal any ally.

Protective Aura (0/25)

-Project a field of aura that will increase all types of armor value.

Healing Aura (0/25)

-Creating a field filled with nanomachines that will rapidly regenerate any ally.

NanoMachine Bomb (0/25)

-Throw a grenade that will form a nanomachine cloud that slows and weakens enemies.

Necro Bomb (0/25)

-Throw a grenade that will form a huge gaseous explosion filled with special nanomachines that will infiltrate and explode inside the enemy's body.

Nanomachine Augmentation (0/25)

-Augment the body to store more nanomachines that will increase physical strength, regeneration speed and resilience.

———

Each Level Adam raises, he gains 2 points. Now he has a total of 12 which he quickly allocated according to his need.

Aerial Bombardment (1/25)

Adrenaline shot (8/25)

Reinforcement (1/25)

Stim Shot (1/25)

First Aid (1/25)

The reason for this choice. Aerial Bombardment is good for clearing up enemies and he sees it first hard how good it is. Reinforcement allows him to call in three Assault Operators for limited time which is good if he is pinned and as an element of surprise.

As for Adrenaline Shot, it increases his gun's rate of fire. He didn't know what witchcraft was going on there but it's definitely good, especially with the reload and movement speed. So he put the rest of his SP there.

Stim Shot heals him up a little when his health is critical. Very important life saving ability.

As for First Aid. He has it just in case. Better have it and not need it rather than need it but not have it.

With skill allocation done. Adam immediately hopped on the Normal Contract again to raise his levels. He knew the Interdimensional Contract would be difficult and best if he was prepared before jumping head first into the unknown.

———

Three hours later, Adam returned to the forest with a frustrated look on his face.

Once Adam hit level 10, the amount of XP needed increased exponentially. From 6,000 XP from Lvl 9 to Lv 10. To 20,000 XP from Lvl 10 to Lv 11.

He had enough leveling and now focuses on the forest. He turns on the flashlight on his helmet and is armed with his Assault Rifle as he explores the forest to figure out where he is.

His minimap diligently mapping every path he took and made sure Adam didn't go in a circle. But before he found anything, he was the one being found first.

*Grrr*

Five black wolves with bone mask on their skull and protrusion around their arms and spine. They each growl at Adam and surround him, ready to pounce. But Adam didn't give them a chance and shot them with his Assault Rifle. A single shot is enough to penetrate their bony mask covered skull and kill it. He repeated it four more times before he annihilated the hostile local fauna.

"I can't recall anything with this kind of wolf." Adam left scratching his head trying to figure out what world he is in.

Shrugging his shoulder, Adam continues his exploration and meets more of this beast as he progresses. He meets a bear, snake and even a giant freaking scorpion. All of them have masks on their head, black body and bony protrusions. They also dissipate when killed.

"This place is overrun by hostile creatures." Adam noted and sighs as he felt tired after spending more than 6 hours exploring and still can't find any settlement.

At this point, Adam loses hope on finding an actual settlement with this place being overrun by hostile fauna. He doubts there will be any people alive unless the locals of this world have special power to combat these creatures.

He cannot even catch a breath as the more he fights them, the more will appear. Even if he is just staying still and making no noises, these creatures can somehow still locate him like they have a radar that can detect him with pinpoint accuracy.

"I have enough of this place." Adam said and opened the Contract Menu and immediately chose Interdimensional Contract.

—————

Level: 11

Rank: Private

Civilian Rescued: 18

Infected Killed: 3,098

SAS $: 13970

Armament:

Slot 1: Sub-light COM2 Assault Rifle

Slot 2: Ronson 5X5 Thermal Shotgun

Secondary: RIA 313 Pistol

Armor: ACE Mark III, Special Force Helmet ★★★(RED), Special Force Vest, Dragonfly Glove ★★★(RED), Special Force Pants, Special Force Boots

Skill:

Fast Movement (8/25)

Aerial Bombardment (1/25)

Adrenaline shot (10/25)

Reinforcement (1/25)

Stim Shot (1/25)

First Aid (1/25)

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