Golden Finger

The book that Pro expected to fall actually defied gravity and hovered in front of Pro's eyes.

The gleaming gold letters on the book lit up with a fiery glow. It was then that Pro noticed that the book was actually soaked bloody red.

However, Pro could see that the blood stains were gradually fading away as if the book was absorbing all the blood like a sponge.

"..."

"Well, can this be any more cliche? The book I got is of course not normal. Coincidentally, the blood from my death actually signed some contract with this mysterious book. Heck, this book is probably the cause of my death isn't it? I have read far too many novels with similar plot lines. Damn it, why me? Can't I just live an ordinary life?"

With his head tilted up at a certain angle, Pro stared up at the round moon in silence as he pretentiously sighed, "Alas, even in death, I am destined to be extraordinary."

Pro then looked back down at the book. A grin had appeared on Pro's face at an unknown time as Pro could feel his heart beat with faint excitement.

"It's finally my turn. Alright, show me what you can do oh Negative Chronicles."

Pro silently stared at the book that was floating in front of him. Silence ensued as the book continued to absorb the book stains on its cover.

Pro's lips twitched as he awkwardly comforted himself, "Okay, guess I'll have to wait for my golden finger to finish activating."

Pro sighed inwardly as he glanced around in boredom.

It was then Pro started to take in the world around him. The first thing Pro realized. It was silent.

Glancing at the group of college students making a ruckus below, Pro realized that he actually couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Well, either I went deaf from the collision or maybe this is what it means when the books said that the world of the dead was separate from the living?"

It didn't take long before Pro saw an ambulance rumbling to a stop on the street.

A couple of paramedics hurried over to his body. After a quick check, Pro saw one of them shake his head with a grim face.

Still, they loaded Pro on a stretcher and carried his body into the ambulance.

The ambulance sped away as a couple of police cars escorted the college students into another direction. The street soon returned to its tranquility as Pro's bike laid on the side like an abandoned puppy.

"Guess they won't be burying my trusty partner with me. Well, maybe some lucky guy will get a free bike-"

Suddenly, Pro felt a jolt as he felt his body constantly being tugged by something. Pro was perplexed by this situation.

"I'm already dead, and there shouldn't be anything that can act on my soul body right? Perhaps ... is this the calling of heaven or hell or whatnot?"

It didn't take long before Pro felt that the unknown force got stronger.

Suddenly, a vortex materialized in the air in front of Pro. Pro felt a strong force suck him into the vortex.

"Wha-"

With the disappearance of Pro's soul body, the vortex began to stabilize and gradually faded away.

Suddenly, the book that was hovering the air shuddered as it completed its absorption. Then, with a swish, it turned into a beam of light and chased into the vortex.

With a couple of waves that seemed to distort the nearby space, the vortex disappeared as sudden as it came. This time, the world truly returned to its tranquility.

---

"AHHHHH-"

Pro frantically screamed in horror, or at least he thought he did.

Unfortunately, Pro couldn't tell if he actually is screaming or not. Pro couldn't tell which direction was which and there wasn't any sound in this space. He seemed to be riding a roller coaster through some weird tunnel.

Well, Pro wasn't even sure if it was a tunnel because the space around him was twisting and distorting. It was a miracle that his soul didn't seem to be damaged at all, but Pro definitely felt nauseated.

Pro didn't know how long he was in the tunnel. It seemed like it was only moments before he heard a loud pop as if his ears were popped when traveling on the mountain roads.

Hu. Hu. Hu. Pro took a couple of deep breathes to quench his dizziness. As the dizziness faded away, Pro felt a hard surface beneath his face, and it seemed that he was sitting in a chair.

Huh? Pro slowly lifted his head. He took in his surroundings as voices gradually faded in like background music.

"-college examinations are soon, and it is of upmost importance that you reach the basic criteria of physical fitness if you want to apply to a martial or exo university. Of course, general knowledge must also be covered if you want to stand out, but note that you will still need to meet the physical requirements or else you'll end up being accepted only in civilian universities ..."

Glancing around the classroom with many unfamiliar high-school students in it, Pro couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I transmigrated? And it seems to be a martial arts world at that?"

Pro's eyes lit up with some excitement as he glanced around. Then, he tried to check his memories before realizing ...

"Damn! Where is the original body's memories?! Without memories, how can I catch up and stand out in this martial arts world? Plus, college exams are soon. With no memories, doesn't that mean I will fail?!"

Pro was about to freak out, but he quickly calmed himself, "I just got to stay calm and act well. Hopefully, no one will notice anything wrong. Meanwhile, I should dig through the items in the school bag and desk in hopes of piecing together some info, like where is my new body's home ..."

"Wait, I should have a gold finger at least. Right! That book! System, come out!"

Nothing happened. Pro's face stiffened a bit before he calmed himself. Then, his eyes slyly swept around and seeing no one paying attention, Pro quietly whispered, "System?"

Still, nothing happened. Pro awkwardly sat there in silence for a moment. Okay. Let's try again.

"Negative Chronicles?"

Whoosh. Under Pro's shocked gaze, a familiar book materialized itself in the air in front of Pro's eyes. Pro swiftly grabbed it with his hands and hid it under his desk as his eyes swept around to the nearby desk mates.

Phew. It seemed no one noticed. Pro inwardly sighed in relief.

Although Pro didn't think anyone else could actually see his golden finger, it was still better to be safe than sorry until he figures things out.

Pro then peeked down at the book.

Although it was familiar, it had a huge change from before. Its tattered appearance was gone, and the book was good as new. The stains were gone, and Pro could feel the thick, crisp pages of the book as he brushed his hand across the side.

Giving the classroom a sweep and noticing no one paying attention to him, Pro then peeked down at the book in his hands.

After gently rubbing the cover, Pro slowly opened the cover with a bit of anticipation.

Seeing that the page was not blank, Pro's eyes lit up with excitement. On the cover page of the book, now there was a line of text.

"Death is only the beginning. How low can you go?"

Pro was a bit perplexed by this line, but he didn't put too much thought in it. After a glance, Pro turned to the next page.

With a glance, Pro saw a page that was mostly blank, but now there were lines of text printed in an orderly fashion, just like a status screen.

[Host Name] Pro Con

[Zone] Second Dimension

[Identity] John Depp (Progress: 1%)

[Source Power] None

[Abilities] None

With a glance, Pro knew that he could only understand the first and third line.

"It seems that the name of the body I transmigrated into should be John Depp. I should be able to confirm that later after searching his items. Not quite sure what the progress means. Same for zone and source power. Tapping the page didn't bring out any helpful hints ... well, obviously a book isn't touch screen. On the other hand, abilities is straight forward, but it seems I have none? Well, I was too ordinary my last life I guess."

After organizing his thoughts, Pro then turned the page once more.

This page was titled, "Biography of John Depp".

However, there was only a short line of text on the page, "John Depp was born on-"

Then, the text was cut off. However, Pro could see that the following text was slowly fading in. Alas, it was at a snail crawling pace.

"Seriously, it seems that I'll have to wait to even know this body's birthday ... I assume the biography will fill up as the progress percentage increases? So, the book is probably sorting out the memories of the body in a readable format for me?"

Although video format has its own benefits, Pro was pretty sure accepting a foreign soul directly will lead to some sequelae.

In many novels, accepting the soul means you will also accept the foreign soul's grievances, desires, emotions, or more.

Typically, it can be the cause for the protagonist to make irrational moves.

Sometimes, it may also be some troublesome 'quest' before being able to truly claim the body.

If one were unlucky, they may even have their personality affected unknowingly.

"Well, I like reading anyways since I read a lot of light novels. Plus, there should be no aftereffects this way. Very user friendly. I like it," Pro inwardly commented as he tried to turn the page.

To Pro's surprise, he failed to turn the page any further. After a couple more tries, Pro realized that the page was stuck like glue as if the book simply ended there.

"It seems there is no more? Perhaps, I will have to unlock more pages in the future?" Pro mumbled to himself.

Just when Pro wanted to turn the pages back to continue exploring further, he was suddenly jolted by a loud smack right on his desk.

Crack.

Pro's eyes shrunk as he saw tiny cracks appear on his desk where a palm had slammed down. After freezing for a moment, Pro's eyes trailed upwards on the hand and locked eyes with a mature woman with a grim face.

Before Pro could think further, Pro's eyes widened in shock as he watched the female teacher lift his desk up into the air with one hand, "Student John. What are you sneakily doing below your desk instead of paying attention in class?"

Gulp. Pro's eyes swiveled around as he glanced down at the book in his hands. Caught by the teacher. Damn, to think this cliche situation would happen to him.

The female teacher also followed Pro's eyes down. She queerly stared down for a bit before glancing back at Pro with a frown.

After a moment of silence, she then stated, "It seems that you can hide whatever you were doing quick enough. You better pay attention in class and not let me catch you in the act. College exams are coming up, and strict measures are allowed to be taken for ... unruly students."

Bam. The desk was placed back down on the ground.

The teacher glanced at the cracks on the table for a bit before she turned around and grumbled, "Damn it, these tables are getting old and breaking so easily. Now my salary is going to be deducted again, damn profiteers. Can't they just replace the tables ..."

Uh. Pretty sure it's not the table's problem. Pro thought so inwardly, but didn't dare to speak out loud. Still, Pro breathed a sigh of relief after taking a glance at the book still in his hands.

"It seems that others can't see the book. As expected, this should be a cliche of golden fingers. Still, I need to be more careful with what I do in the future. This world is not as peaceful and normal as the one I lived in before. Just a normal teacher has the strength to crack tables with one palm."

With a firm thought of putting the book away, Pro watched the Negative Chronicles gradually vanish in his hands. Pro then sat upright to listen to what the teacher has to say about the coming college exams.

Time passed as the teacher changed a couple of times, but most of them reiterated the same announcement in similar tones. Then, class commenced, and Pro tried his best to understand the heavenly language.

Soon, a dizzy Pro stepped out of the school and took a deep breathe.

"It seems I will have a lot of studying to do in most subjects. I also have to check my physical fitness ... hope it won't drag me down too much."

Thinking of the book, Pro watched it materialize in front of him once more. With a thought, the pages automatically flipped to the status screen. The progress was already at 30%.

"Can't wait to see what happens once it reaches 100%. The biography had already filled out a large part by now. I should head to my new home and meet my new family ..."

What has to come will still come in the end. Pro sighed inwardly as he began to try to find his way home without being too suspicious.

Pro observed the commercial streets as he made his way towards what he believed to be the right direction based on the biography he read and the items he searched through.

Noticing the modern world that wasn't too much different from his previous world, Pro breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least this new world won't take too much effort to get used to-"

BOOM!

Pro stiffened in place as his eyes widened in shock. Chunks of debris flew his way as the wall of a nearby bank exploded outwards.

It was unknown if it was due to his stronger physical body or if he gained danger senses after his first death, Pro miraculously was able to dodge out of the way.

Hu. Hu. Hu.

Taking deep breathes to calm himself down as he listened to the screams of nearby civilians, Pro glanced at giant hole on the wall nearby that was spewing smoke. Some unlucky civilians were already laying on the ground near the hole in pools of blood.

Then, Pro instantly made the choice to back away from it as quick as possible. Sorry, he isn't some hero. No way is he going to be a good Samaritan.

Unfortunately, the plot is like a hook on a fishing line, and the fish is the protagonist.

Whoosh! A couple of figures covered from head to toe flashed out of the smoke with assault rifles in their hands. With a glance, one of the figures locked eyes with the nearby Pro.

Before Pro could run away, he saw the man zoom towards him whilst leaving cracks on the ground. Within seconds, he felt a claw clamp tightly onto his arm as a cold metallic object pressed against his head temples.

"Don't move, kid. You are now our hostage. Do as we say, or I can't guarantee you can go home in one piece."

"..."