Welcome to Reincarnation Paradise

Lin Jiu woke up in a shabby rented room, his eyes slightly dazed. He couldn't shake off a feeling of unfamiliarity about his surroundings, but upon closer inspection, everything seemed normal.

"Must be the double pressure from studying and living," Lin Jiu muttered, shaking his head to clear his mind. After freshening up, he grabbed two steamed buns and headed out with the junk materials he had collected during his spare time.

Since childhood, Lin Jiu had never seen his parents. Thankfully, the people in his town were kind enough that he didn't starve. As he grew older, he realized that knowledge could change his fate, so he left the town to attend school.

This meant he had to become self-reliant. At that age, he couldn't take up part-time jobs, so he collected and sold junk materials outside school hours to barely make ends meet.

High school was slightly better as he could take on part-time jobs. However, he wasn't a genius who excelled in his studies, so he could only manage to get into a second-tier university.

During the holidays, he worked for a while. On this last day, Lin Jiu decided not to go to his part-time job and instead took the junk materials he had collected to the recycling shop.

"Little Jiu, long time no see!" 

The recycling shop owner, Old Zhang, greeted him warmly, clearly familiar with Lin Jiu.

"I've been working recently! The holidays are almost over, so I thought I'd make a trip here. Old Zhang, weigh these for me!" 

Lin Jiu responded, equally familiar.

Lin Jiu took out a large metal disc, bigger than a human head, and held it up with both hands. 

"Old Zhang, look at this copper plate; it's quite heavy. Weigh this first!"

Old Zhang took it, struggling to hold it with one hand. He tested it with a magnet and then placed it on the scale. 

"You've got good luck, kid! Copper prices have been pretty good lately. This big piece is worth around two hundred bucks."

Lin Jiu smiled, but before he could speak, a commotion erupted in the distance, accompanied by cries and shouts. Puzzled, Lin Jiu asked, "What's going on over there?"

"Sigh..." 

Old Zhang sighed. 

"That's the construction site for a new property development. Recently, a worker died on the job, but the real estate boss covered it up and didn't pay much compensation. The deceased's family is causing a ruckus there."

"That real estate boss has plenty of money; why not just pay more to settle it?" 

Lin Jiu remarked. He felt sad for the worker, knowing the family was probably just after money. Otherwise, they would be preparing for a lawsuit.

"These rich folks look down on us. They'd rather spend money elsewhere to settle things than compensate us properly!" 

Old Zhang spoke with frustration.

"That's why there's such a severe conflict between the lower and middle classes and these arrogant people. They'll soon be punished by the people. The real pests hide in the shadows," Lin Jiu lamented. 

He had just read a news article about a rich person in a neighboring city being stabbed by a young man, who was then shot dead on the spot. [Note: This is the original MC of RP in Chapter 1.]

"There are always a few rich people who think they're superior and don't see the poor as human. Some idiots even flaunt it openly, which is suicidal in this day and age. They'll soon be exposed, their companies will go bankrupt, and they'll face ruin. But this will only make the smarter pests hide even better."

"You bookworms always speak so fancily," Old Zhang chuckled as he finished calculating the account.

Lin Jiu took the few hundred yuan and happily went home. The distant cries, devoid of any real emotion, didn't affect his mood.

With the holidays ending soon, students would return to school. However, Lin Jiu had already applied to live off-campus to accommodate his part-time job. The school, understanding his situation, quickly approved his request.

"Finally, I can rest for a day!" 

Lin Jiu adjusted himself into a comfortable position on his second-hand sofa, took out his phone, and prepared to take a nap.

Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught something on the table. He quickly focused on it. There lay a familiar metal disc—the same "copper" plate he had just sold to Old Zhang!

Lin Jiu didn't know if it was copper, but it looked like it and didn't react to a magnet, so he claimed it was copper. If it weren't for its poor appearance, he would have tried to sell it as a family heirloom gold plate at a jewelry store.

So what was going on now? How did it come back on its own?

Thinking it had returned by itself, Lin Jiu's lips parted slightly. He walked over, his hands trembling, and grasped the metal disc. His eyes grew moist as he whispered, "After being poor for so long, is spring finally coming? I'll rely on you to get rich!"

Such a large recycling station, missing one copper plate—who would notice? Even if someone did notice, they wouldn't blame Lin Jiu. It came back on its own; he didn't steal it. Lin Jiu immediately had the urge to run to every recycling station in the city.

One shop gave him over two hundred yuan; ten shops would mean over two thousand yuan. He could even visit again after some time or switch to a different city and continue.

Thinking of this, Lin Jiu's eyes squinted with joy as he picked up the metal disc. If it weren't for the fact that it had just returned from the recycling station, he would have kissed it.

Seemingly sensing Lin Jiu's thoughts, the metal disc in his hand trembled slightly. To Lin Jiu's surprise, tiny stars of light appeared in the center of the disc, and a white ф mark appeared on it.

"Why does this mark look so familiar? If the color were to change to... blood red!!!" 

Lin Jiu stared in shock as the white ф on the disc turned blood red, unlocking memories in his mind as if a seal had been broken!

"This is Reincarnation Paradise! Did I unknowingly transmigrate? No wonder I felt a bit unfamiliar... Damn it!" 

Lin Jiu suddenly realized, and then felt the metal disc in his hand uncontrollably slam into his head.

Lin Jiu only had time to curse halfway before his vision went black, blood streaming from his head as he collapsed. A blood-red ф mark floated on the back of his hand, and the metal disc merged into the mark.

[Welcome to... Reincarnation Paradise!]

[Talent detection in progress... Result: average. Preparing contractor contract...]

At this moment, the ф mark on the back of Lin Jiu's hand lit up, clearly guiding him into Reincarnation Paradise.

[High-level special unit observer detected, number 357! Issuing special unit observer number ending in 312... Verifying!]

[Verification complete! Unknown timeline, future observer 357... Timeline has perished... Including several derivative worlds, several native worlds!]

[Identity modification in progress... Contractor 13014 [Lin Jiu], identity changed to Hunter... The Original number was a false number!]

[Body transmission in progress...]

[10%, 50%, 100%, transmission complete. Hunter's head was detected to have suffered severe trauma, initiating repair...]

[Hunter's consciousness not awakened, repair command delayed, maintaining minimum survival state, duration ten minutes...]

Lin Jiu felt a sharp pain in his head as if his soul was being torn apart repeatedly. This intense pain jolted him awake: "I had a nightmare, dreaming I went to Reincarnation Paradise... Damn it!"

Initially groggy, thinking he had just had a nightmare, Lin Jiu saw the blood-red ф mark on the back of his hand, the pitch-black surroundings, and the pale blue text in front of him—all telling him he wasn't dreaming.

[Hunter, welcome to Reincarnation Paradise]

This line of text left Lin Jiu speechless. How could he be a Hunter? The only fight he ever had was with the town rooster in his childhood, and it called for backup to peck him. Besides enduring hardships, he wasn't particularly tough.

Feeling liquid dripping, Lin Jiu touched his head and saw blood on his hand—a head injury.

As a reader from another world, Lin Jiu didn't have many questions... Just kidding!

"What is this metal disc?"

Pale blue text appeared in front of Lin Jiu: [High-level special unit observer 357's unique item: Reincarnation Disc]

"Reincarnation Disc... Reincarnation Paradise... Is there a connection?"

[No]

"..."

"What is observer 357?"

[Hunter lacks necessary privileges... Due to the special connection between the Hunter and Observer 357, it is known: Observer 357 is ??????????!]

"???"

Lin Jiu was stunned. Did Reincarnation Paradise just glitch?

As if understanding that Lin Jiu grasped the rules, without further explanation, a parchment paper, ancient in appearance, floated in mid-air.

[Do you wish to sign the contract?]

"Yes!" 

Lin Jiu understood that the Observer had hidden its name. With nothing else to say, he agreed. He hadn't forgotten that his head was still bleeding! Agreeing now might mean dying later in a derivative world, but disagreeing meant instant death!

As soon as he spoke, Lin Jiu's hand moved uncontrollably, his thumb pressing onto a blank spot on the parchment. A sharp pain pricked his fingertip, a drop of blood staining the parchment, turning it a light red.

[Contract established! Initiating Hunter's injury recovery.]

Pale green light spots appeared around Lin Jiu, attaching to his body, especially his head. In a matter of seconds, his injuries were completely healed.

[Injury recovery complete, talent modified! Forcibly awakening Hunter's talent.]

Lin Jiu's face twisted with pain, followed by intense agony coursing through his body. The sudden pain made Lin Jiu's previously dazed expression contort dramatically!

Next, it felt as if his head—or more accurately, his soul—was being repeatedly torn apart and mended. Fortunately, Lin Jiu felt familiar with this kind of pain, which lasted for half a minute before finally ending.

[To visually represent the "Hunter's" comprehensive qualities, semi-datafication is activated.]

[Warning: Semi-datafication assists in combat abilities. Severe damage to vital organs such as the heart and brain will still result in death.]

[Hunter's exclusive trial begins. Failure to complete the trial will strip the Hunter's identity, reverting to a regular contractor. Death during the mission results in permanent death.]

[Paradise regulations: Everything will be exchanged equivalently!]

Lin Jiu understood that the novels only showed the tip of the iceberg. Without enough caution, he could die at any moment. After reading these regulations, he felt a hard knock on the back of his head, and he fainted again.

[Transmission begins...]