Plot Kill

"Can't go home in one piece? But I want to be the pirate king ..."

"... Shut up, kid."

"..."

Pro had a moment of silence for his situation. Honestly, isn't the plot too forced?

If this was a novel, then he probably didn't even go through a couple of chapters and now he ended up in such a situation. Who would read such a bad novel with such a forced plot?

Well, life must go on, and Pro knew that if he wants to live, then even if it is a bad novel, the plot still needs to continue to be forced.

After all, if the plot ends, then that's the end of his story for real.

As the criminals found cover in the area, the screams of civilians had gradually subsided as civilian officers set up a cordon. What a fast response. Pro couldn't help but be amazed.

However, Pro's attention was suddenly attracted by the civilians who were watching in the crowd outside the cordon. They seemed to be pointing up in excitement?

Looking up, Pro then blinked his eyes a couple of times in shock.

Hovering in the airspace above the commercial area was an enormous aircraft. It seemed to have materialized out of thin air as it turned off its camouflage.

Not long after, an exit point opened below the aircraft as three humanoid figures leapt down from the aircraft. As they approached the ground, thrusters on their foot assisted them in landing.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three humanoid figures suited in a black metallic armor landed not far from the scene of crime. The dark metallic sheen seems to absorb the sunlight from its surrounding, giving the three figures a mysterious, yet calming vibe.

Seeing this, Pro's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Was he wrong? Did he just come to a futuristic sci-fi world and not a martial arts world?

"This is a warning. You have been surrounded. Drop your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, you will be dealt with according to felony procedures."

The robotic sound came from one of the humanoid armors as three futuristic assault rifles aimed at the criminals whilst glowing with energy as if prepping to attack.

"..."

Pro couldn't help but sweat a bit. Hello? Can't these law enforcers see that there is still an innocent hostage?

"Ha! I knew you enforcers don't care about the measly life of a civilian, but I want to see if you can truly dare to fire upon us after knowing that currently we are on live broadcast! Hahaha! No one believes us and call us terrorists, but we want the world to know the dark side of you enforcers!"

The enforcers glanced at each other as one of them seemed to ask for instructions. Then, as if they received orders, they lowered their weapons and began to discuss conditions with the criminals.

Pro breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the enforcers still care about their reputation.

Wait a sec. Why does the enforcers sound like bad guys all of a sudden? Probably not right?

Glancing into the distance, Pro noticed that the crowds of civilians were gradually being dispersed and can't help but have a bad feeling.

Fortunately, Pro relaxed again when he heard that the two sides finally had come to a compromise. A route of escape was arranged for the criminals, and in exchange the hostage will be freed.

As the criminals gathered, the three law enforcers launched back into the air and hovered above the small group of criminals like gods.

"Alright, kid. Let's go. Hopefully these law enforcers don't go back on their words ..."

Just when Pro breathed a sigh, a cold, robotic voice echoed on the street.

"Student John Depp. It has been confirmed that you have fought bravely and sacrificed under the hands of the terrorist organization, Rebel Hearts. Your courage is commendable and will be remembered. Your family will receive third-class compensation. Farewell."

Pew. Pew. Pew.

Blinding laser lights crisscrossed on the battlefield.

Within moments, Pro felt a strong tug as the man who held him hostage actually stood in front of him. Blood splattered as a searing pain came from his chest. Pro spat out a mouthful of blood as he saw the large gap in the man's body in front of him.

Peeking down, a similar, charred hole had opened up on his body.

A sense of weakness assailed Pro as he felt his body topple backwards. The man in front of him toppled on top of him, but Pro didn't feel the pain any longer. His vision began to darken as Pro glared venomously at the enforcers that had opened fire upon him.

"Damn ... I didn't even get to meet my new family yet ..."

It wasn't long before Pro found himself floating besides his dead body ... again.

After checking his soul body and finding no injuries, Pro breathed a sigh of relief, "Sheesh, I didn't even get to live a day in my new body. Well, at least I don't have to worry about college exams now."

Pro tried to give his body a kick, but his leg simply passed through the physical body as expected. Pro couldn't help but sigh in melancholy before glaring at the enforcers who are now cleaning up the area.

"Really ... unlucky- huh?"

Pro suddenly gawked in astonishment as he noticed a couple of other transparent figures nearby.

Glancing over, Pro saw a group of man huddled together while crying. Pro heard some of them cursing the law enforcers while others hugged each other goodbye.

Although it was the first time Pro saw their faces, Pro was sure these folks were the souls of the dead criminals.

"Yo kid, sorry about dragging you into all of this. I really didn't expect those law enforcers to really fire under live broadcast- well, unless those unreliable folks failed to keep the broadcast up ..."

Looking behind him, Pro saw the man who held him hostage.

A scruffy beard covered a part of his face and his eyes filled with guilt stared at his companions from afar.

The man had regret on his face as he muttered to himself, "I guess that's that. I fought for so many years, and it ends like this. Honestly, I didn't expect to see everyone like this after death ... I wonder what's next? Since it seems there is a life after death, is hell real? Where will I go next? Or will be stuck here in this world as a ghost-?"

Pro didn't answer as he felt a familiar suction force once again. A familiar vortex appeared near him while similar vortexes materialized near each soul.

"It seems that is the cue. Really, I'm sorry, kid. Hopefully you'll have a better life wherever we are going next. Maybe you'll really become a pirate king ..." the man next to him said with a wry smile as he calmly accepted his end.

Some of the other souls also calmly accepted their end while some had regrets as they looked in certain directions.

Some of the souls had fear on their face as they tried to escape, but in the end, none escaped their own vortex, including Pro.

Once again, Pro experienced the wild roller coaster ride in an unknown space. After an unknown amount of time, Pro felt himself being spat out once more after which he was seemingly stuffed into a container.

Hu. Hu. Hu. Pro sat up abruptly as he gasped for air many times.

After calming his heart beat and feeling the strength slowly return in his new body, Pro finally observed his surroundings.

He noticed he was sitting on the ground of what seemed to be a small apartment room.

There were windows behind him and his bedroom was combined with his living room plus dining room.

Next to his apartment door seemed to be the bathroom door that was now firmly shut.

The dilapidated, yet modern furnishing hinted to Pro that he was still in a modern world, but Pro wasn't too sure since he knew that some things, such as high tech, may be hidden from the public or until he assimilates his memories fully.

Observing his rough hands with calluses and his coarse clothes, it seems that this body belonged to a worker.

"Let's see who I am this time. Although the start seemed to be at a lower status than before, at least now I know I can still get a second chance ... more than once. Is this my secondary golden finger? Or is this something that everyone gets?"

Not too sure about his conjectures for now, Pro then called out the Negative Chronicles and flipped to his status screen with a simple thought.

[Host Name] Pro Con

[Zone] First Dimension

[Identity] Esteban Lorenzo (Progress: 1%)

[Source Power] None

[Abilities] {Danger Perception I}

"Hmm ... the progress began again. It seems the progress represents how long it takes before completely assimilating the memories of the previous owner of the body. More details will appear in the biography as time passes. By my calculations in the previous world, it is estimated that it would take about 24 hours before it is completed, assuming the progress doesn't slow down as it approaches the end. As for the zone ... it went from second to first dimension? Did I just move up a dimension? Weird-"

Huh? Pro then noticed a new ability in his abilities section.

"Danger perception? When did I get that?"

With a bit of confusion, Pro then had an idea as he turned to the next page.

As expected, he saw the biography of John Depp. Quickly skimming through the biography that was similar to a summary of the man's life experience, Pro then noticed the sudden cut-off in the story. The biography then suddenly jumped over to describe the scene that Pro experienced.

In the midst of danger due to incoming debris, John awakened his danger perception due to his physically fit body and experience in a past life that wasn't worth mentioning.

With fortune on his side, John narrowly escaped death, only to be held hostage by a squad captain of the Rebel Hearts organization because John didn't move his fat ass fast enough.

What John didn't know was that the captain was an abandoned sacrifice and that the enforcers had no intentions of sparing anyone from the Rebel Hearts.

So, naive John stood there like an idiot thinking that he was safe. Failing to achieve anything substantial, John's pitiful life was sacrificed at the age of 17 under the crossfire between light and darkness.

"..."

Pro's mouth couldn't help but twitch as he read the biography.

Glancing upwards and seeing the sudden jump in the story, Pro couldn't help but mutter, "Guess I won't be able to find out the rest of the details of poor John's life or how he really died. After all, the progress of assimilation never finished before the end game occurred. Still, I'm sure he was destined to die on that day regardless if I came or not, just like my current new body."

Feeling his weak body, Pro had a wry smile as he struggled up before observing the nearby drawers.

"Well, let's see if I can find anything useful ... maybe a weapon or something. After all, poor Esteban was already cold before I came, and I had to take many breathes to barely recover the body's functions. In any case, I might need a weapon to at least stay safe assuming it's some robber ..."

"Well, no one will rob this poor bloke. I'll probably have to wait until the progress hits 100% to know how he died. Poison from working at the factories maybe? Or natural heart attack?"

Glancing at the old calendar on the wall, Pro knew it won't help him know what age the world was in. After all, different world had different names for eras and maybe even months and days.

Rummaging through the cabinets, the closest thing that Pro found that resembles a weapon was a fruit knife. Although it wasn't much, it should come in handy ... probably.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Sudden knocking sounds came from the apartment door. Then, there was a disturbingly long moment of tense silence.

"..."

Hearing no more knocks, Pro calmed down a bit, but he still didn't make any unnecessary movements.

For some odd reason, he felt a lot of tension when he heard the knocks as his senses warned him not to make any noise. He didn't know where this feeling came from, but Pro attributed it to his new danger perception ability.

After a long moment of silence, Pro felt that it should be fine now as his tension seemed to have faded away. He wasn't too sure if his danger perception had expired or if the danger was gone.

Still, standing still wasn't going to resolve the issue, assuming there is any.

So, he softly crept over to the apartment door. Seeing the apartment door was bolted shut, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief before slowly bringing himself to peek out through the peep hole.

A shiver ran through Pro's body as his heart skipped a beat.