Booking Glory

Rob fidgeted a little as he sat outside the interview room. His mind was whirling with a multitude of thoughts as he struggled to concentrate on anything particular.

It had been two weeks since he became the owner of this body. His previous life's memories and the memories of this body took a while to assimilate with each other. It took him around a week to both reconcile with the fact that he was dead and accept that he had been transmigrated into his current body.

It wasn't easy as they made out in the novels he had read previously. The mere fact that you died was a huge bummer to get over. After all, it isn't as if you die every day. That was truly once in a lifetime event. And no comparisons could be made in regards to that.

To boot it, there was another insane phenomenon of transmigration to deal with.

Oh boy!!! Wasn't that woozy to deal with? Even thinking about those things made his hair stand up.

Philosophical questions like whether God was real or not, who was responsible for his body switch, what happened to the previous owner of this body, was he really dead, why was he brought here, and many more battered his mind like a broken tape-recorder.

That was when he realized that those lucky bums who were gifted some system of sorts really had good fortune. They didn't need to agonize over their future, for it was already pre-ordained and they have to just complete the missions provided by the system. If such a thing had accompanied him, he wouldn't have wasted an entire week to get his bearings back. That would have been truly magical.

Speaking of magical, those bastards who were transmigrated into those fantastical realms where cultivation was the norm were lucky too. Who wouldn't want to split mountains with a swing of a sword? Who wouldn't like to rescue beauties and faceslap idiots like there was no tomorrow? Flying on a sword, learning martial arts, and even cultivating to be an immortal, who wouldn't want such a chance?

Being transmigrated into such a world would be ideal too. While living there would be perilous, it would have been a damn interesting life for sure. Just the thought of exploring hidden realms was enough to pump one's blood up. If he had been relocated to such a realm he would have gladly forgotten about such tiring questions in a heartbeat and would have embraced this whole thing more easily.

But if those kinds of things were too hard to actualize, he would have been glad to be relocated to another body in an early time on earth itself. But no, those kinds of things only happened in novels. Real life was actually much shittier than those fantastic tales he spent his time reading over in his previous life.

Just imagine, if he was born in an early timeline in the earth, he would have started on the road to being a millionaire already. He would know all the future events and would have acted accordingly to get the most beneficial standing for him as per his memories.

Damn it! That would have made fucking sense!!!

Why in the hell was he transmigrated into this body? Granted, this body was younger than he actually was, that was the only redeeming quality of his transmigration. Compared to those fanciful tales, his transmigration paled in comparison. To be honest, this downright sucked!

If there was one thing that he really agreed with after transmigration, then it was the thought that "deciding one's future is the hardest task a man would face in his lifetime."

His recent experience cemented this thought further into his brain. He wasn't given a cheat like those protagonists in the novels he read to determine his future direction. He was left adrift in a sea of confusion to find his way back with no directions. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. If he had been like any other youngster who wasn't aware of how cruel society could be, he wouldn't have worried much.

But, he knew! He knew damn well how things functioned. He knew damn well how easily one could be backstabbed by his friends and colleagues in society. He wasn't an idealistic youth, who dreamt of making big in the world with his hard work and intelligence, he was a bitter man in his late thirties who had experienced how shitty society actually is.

To ask him to make a decision on his future from the perspective of a young man who just turned twenty was way too cruel.

And the worst part of this entire thing was that he had to make such a hard decision when he was acquainting himself with his new body. While getting up without his back aching was a luxury he had forgotten about, trying to understand how this new world differed from his old one based on this body's memories made it one hell of a task. Not to mention how often he went off in tangent thinking philosophical questions about life, soul, transmigration, existence, and such stuff.

It took him one whole week to gain a semblance of normalcy. More often than not, he was lost in his own thoughts. But somehow he made sense of the new world he was in by the end of that week. Thankfully, the owner of this body was someone who grew up in an orphanage and had started living on his own when he turned eighteen. That gave him some space to come to terms with his situation.

After all, if he had to keep running into old acquaintances who knew the original owner of this body, it would have been hard to alleviate their suspicions about how he was behaving that week. Luckily, by the end of that week, he had a basic grasp on both the interpersonal relationship of the previous owner and the state of the new world he was in.

The one thing that went in favor of him was that there wasn't much of a difference between earth and this world. Sure, there were some differences like how this world was made up of three continents instead of seven on earth. Or how the names of the countries here and the places we're different from his original world. But all in all, both earth and this new world were at the same level of technology and other such stuff that mattered. As for the history of this world, he didn't do much research on it to save himself some headaches.

In a way, these familiar conditions helped him a lot in synchronizing with this new world. It was both a bit of a relief and a letdown. His eagerness for a new life was stymied early on when he realized that only his body and the world had changed, but everything else remained the same. It was really a bummer.

Once he took stock of the situation and identified his circumstances, he took the next two days to think of his future direction and come to a decision. The previous owner of this body was a regular youth with no sense of direction in his life. He drifted along with no goal or aim. There wasn't anything bad per se, but the fact of the matter was that he was a blank slate. He had no exceptional skills to speak of and was entirely an average Joe to the end.

The previous owner would have worked some odd jobs and eventually get a boring office job and then end his life like every other average male in the world. He knew he had no right to knock on the previous owner of his body either, as he was exactly the same in his previous life. Hell, he didn't even have a girlfriend when he died. His ex had left him two years ago after their relationship had become stale after the initial whirlwind of romance. He never even got married. So, he was the last person who could mock the previous owner of his body.

As a result, he was once again in a dilemma. Neither he nor the previous owner had anything noteworthy to speak of. Then how in the hell was he going to change anything. The mere thought of living such a boring life once again made him sick. So, he knew he had to find something. Anything. Anything that could give him an edge, or at least make him live a better life. So, he seriously mulled over what he could do. That was when he hated the fact that he wasn't given any damn cheat more than any other time. If not a G.O.A.T system, just a future direction would have been fine. God damn it!

After agonizing for a long time, he decided to switch focus. He knew that while this world looked exactly the same, except for the geological differences, there must be something different. There has to be some divergence! One that he could exploit. An idea, a gamble, that this world has not yet realized!!!

So, he buckled down and did his research. He shifted through each and every aspect of this new world.

The first sector he focused on was entertainment. He knew that the entertainment industry was something where rags to riches stories were abundant. So, he focused there. Sure enough that the songs and films here were different than what his old world had. Excitement filled him as he tried to suss out something that would help him obtain instant success. He found several ideas he could capitalize on.

Unfortunately, he soon hit a snag.

While his old memories supplied him with hit songs and films, he soon ran into a roadblock. The problem lay in bringing what was in his mind onto a paper. That's when he realized he didn't have the skills to actualize those ideas. So, he reluctantly gave up on the entertainment sector. While he could develop those skills, it wouldn't help him currently. After all, distant waters were never able to quench one's thirst.

He next focused on the technology of this world. This world was stuck in somewhere around the late 1990s of earth's technology. That meant that computers were just coming out. This was a great opportunity. But the same problem prevailed. While he was a tech-savvy individual, that didn't translate into creating technology. If he had money, he could hire people to bring his ideas to fruition. But he wasn't that loaded. It was once again the distant waters scenario.

One after the other, all his ideas hit a roadblock. This frustrated him as nothing else had in his entire life. Neither he nor the original owner of this body was talented individual in any aspect. So, all his ideas were mere dreams at this stage. What he needed was something that could help him currently.

He went to bed for two days straight mulling over how to solve this predicament. He even thought of developing these non-existent skills slowly as he worked part-time for a while. But, he put that idea in the backburner. He knew that any of these skills would need years to develop and he wasn't willing to waste so much time on them.

On the third day, he shifted his approach a little. Instead of blindly searching for things he could capitalize on, he calmed down and started analyzing what he was good at and where his interests lay. That was when he hit a jackpot. Both he and the previous owner of this body had one point of convergence apart from their average Joe life.

Professional Wrestling!!!

Unlike on earth, pro wrestling wasn't that well developed here. It was considered to be a niche sport. Their highest attendance rate for a show was something similar to the attendance rate in the Hogan-Flair era. But, that was the only redeeming point of the pro-wrestling industry in this world.

Here, pro wrestling was considered to be a niche sport. Hardly anyone paid it any attention. Sure, there were some hardcore fans like the previous owner of this body who enjoyed the sport and followed it passionately. But the craze and amount of status pro-wrestlers had on earth was entirely absent here.

As a pro-wrestling fan himself, this piqued his interest. So, he researched more into the state of pro-wrestling in this world. He put on some of the DVDs the original owner had in his possession and started watching it. Initially, he was baffled by why pro-wrestling was in a slump after watching the matches.

Almost all the matches were decent enough. There was hardly any DQ finish to grumble out. Victors and losers were clear cut, and every one of the wrestlers could wrestle decently. In short, many of the usual complaints about a pro-wrestling product could not be found here. This confused him a lot.

Was there no market for pro wrestling in this world?

He felt a little dejected after that. So, he put that too on the backburner and started analyzing other stuff. For half a day, he went on trying to figure out what he should do in the future. But, something niggled in his brain. He couldn't concentrate entirely on what he was trying to do. It was when having dinner that night he figured out what felt wrong.

Pro-wrestling in this world was too perfect. That was what felt wrong to him. There wasn't anything he could criticize about it. The in-ring ability, the matches, the finish, everything was perfectly fit like a machine. Suddenly, a thought flashed across his mind and he followed that trail of thought. He searched the original owner's memories hard and squeezed out everything related to pro-wrestling. There was a difference - one major difference that might as well be a game changer.

He couldn't help but laugh at his luck. While both he and the original owner liked pro-wrestling, their point of view differed on one major aspect. While the original owner appreciated and watched pro-wrestling for the wrestling ability that was showcased, he enjoyed the storylines more than the actual matches. In his humble opinion, it was the storylines that gave the matches that spark of something special.

While it is true one couldn't exist without the other, wrestling fans were always divided in their opinion of what was the most important part. Some went with wrestling and some went with storylines. He was of the later category. And the original owner was of the former category.

In fact, he didn't think that anyone in this world would agree with him. Because, the storylines here were so bland that it made him irrationally angry just thinking about them. But, he couldn't help but laugh. This was his ticket. He would introduce to this world what proper storytelling and character building can accomplish in the world of pro-wrestling. He would be the pioneer who would usher in the Attitude Era of pro-wrestling to this world.

And he just knew deep down in his heart that he would become a legend just for that!!!

Sure, he couldn't make any drastic changes immediately or get rich overnight like he had hoped, but he had a goal now.

And it's really a shame that pro wrestling was in such a state.

A stadium full of fans cheering and booing just like he had envisioned!!! And the architect of such a scene would be him - Rob Freaking Williams!!!

"Next"

A sudden sound broke through his thoughts. Rob looked around once to make sure he was indeed the next one, then rose up and entered the interview room. As he entered the interview room, there were only two sentences rolling around in his mind.

A stadium full of fans cheering and booing....

Rob Freaking Williams....