"Hey! Did you hear what I just said?! Take it to table 13! Quick, chop-chop!"
I blinked, feeling both disoriented and out of place with the current reality.
Wait… is this really happening? Was I sent back in time by that thing? A system?
While confused, a chime echoed in my mind while blue specks of light danced before my eyes, scrolling down to display a projected screen.
The words lined out text after text, a voice announcing each word into my consciousness.
— Emergency protocol activated…
— Activating the "Syndicate Game" model…
— System activated successfully…
— Locating and locking-in on the anchor point…
— Facilitating parallel space-time consciousness projection protocol…
— Restarting life in 3… 2… 1…
…
Then… there was no then. I remember suffering from a mental breakdown that caused a horrendous car accident.
Yup, I certainly died back then, or I was facing certain death.
I surely made peace with everything and accepted my death by then. Suddenly, this happened and I went back in time?
Wait, not back in time exactly… Did it just say parallel space-time? Is this a different world?
— Affirmative. Time is one of the absolute yet most delicate forces, and superimposing your consciousness with the original from your timeline conflicts with the system's emergency protocol. The second best option was to transmigrate your consciousness to an alternate reality where the timeline coincides with the anchor point.
— To facilitate the transfer of consciousness, I have terminated the original consciousness of your current body.
I immediately understood my situation. However, the constant nagging and flying saliva from the shift manager returned with vengeance.
I didn't even think twice before a string of profanities erupted from the depths of my soul.
Did I mention I had anger management issues towards the latter years of my life?
Well, now I'm making it clear.
"Fuck!" my fist was faster than my mouth as I delivered an uppercut. I mounted the shocked and delirious man, continuing with the unholy rain of pain through knuckles of steel.
Fuck, it felt good to punch this guy. I remember this day—this motherfucker is deliberately pushing me to serve one particular table.
On that table sat my nemesis in second-year college together with my freshman girlfriend.
Well, ex-girlfriend now.
I be damned, that slut had me good.
Haa… Haa… Haa…
I'm so exhausted from punching this ugly face! But goddamn, this feels satisfying!
Ugh, my face feels all wet and sticky, and my knuckles! Ah, they feel all gooey and shit.
Eh? This guy doesn't look alright now, does he?
Rationality slowly crept to the forefront of my mind. Before me was something that could no longer be described as a human face anymore.
Fuck, this facial structure is missing a nose, isn't it? Is he going to die?
Also, why is it so silent?
I turned my head to look around.
Oh oh, perhaps my movement was too abrupt. The silent spell shattered.
The plates shattered too by the way.
Ah, pure chaos.
Those that screamed. Those that ran. Those that screamed and ran.
Then there are the stupid ones going against the current and coming in instead of running away.
They must be curious. How foolish. If I had a rifle in my hands, they'd be my first pick priority targets. They're just looking to die at this point.
Oh. I smiled warmly, or so I thought my smile was. Talk about foolishness, and this slut burst into the party like a blindfolded duckling.
"Hey!" I called out with a laugh.
"Which guy's turn is it today, Luciana? I bet the whole campus had explored your depths by now. I can't say I'd be surprised. I signed up for uncharted territory, hence why I tolerated your bullshit princess syndrome for so long… sigh, good riddance. My days of misery are now over. I probably dodged an AIDS with this one too."
I wanted to continue teasing this little campus slut to vent my anger. However, that damn system was up to some weird shenanigans yet again.
Why can't it say everything in one go and get it done with?
— Tailored growth-pack protocol had been activated after the triggering conditions were met. Detected extreme tendencies for violence, crime, manipulation, vice, greed, lust, and various indicators leaning towards the gray and dark areas of society. It had been assessed that the Host's growth under societal norms would prove counterproductive.
— Installing the backup protocol package for underground syndicate expansion. You have been gifted the SSS-Rank Criminal Package.
> SSS-Rank Criminal Package:
* 1x All-Purpose Criminal Satellite Smartphone. (Customized)
* SSS-Rank Pickpocketing Skills.
* SSS-Rank Lockpicking Skills.
* SSS-Rank Reconnaissance Skills.
* SSS-Rank Retentive Memory.
* SSS-Rank Photographic Memory.
* SSS-Rank Firearms Mastery.
* SSS-Rank Military Technology Mastery.
* SSS-Rank Close Combat Mastery.
> Information Bank (Unlocked)
* Access and Purchase Information from past or present, no matter how classified, damaged, lost, or deleted from this world.
* Deduce, predict, or analyze future events through big data, probability, and statistical analysis from established facts.
…
Well, I be damned that's a lot to take in one day. Was it triggered because I committed murder with so many witnesses and surveillance cameras?
In any case, I wasn't really thinking about consequences when I killed him. It just sorta happened.
I found myself tasting blood off the corner of my mouth with a sweep of my tongue. I didn't know why, but I found myself smiling at Luciana as I walked her way.
Look at her petrified in fear, eyeing me as though you'd eye a twisted sociopathic creature.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. It's fucking annoying…
It's all your fault. You pushed me into this position with your cunning machinations and shit. I'm the victim here, right?"
I mumbled, my hand searching for her slender neck. It felt squishy and fragile in my hand. A simple twist here and there and you know the rest.
Eh? Is she crying? Is she seriously begging me to let her go?
"Please… I… I…" Luciana tried to throw off my grip but failed. It backfired miserably, my grip tightened.
This probably really scared her. She started begging and crying.
Doesn't she look pitiful?
"I'd let you go but…" I hesitated, deciding to reason with her for the sake of old times together.
"I'm already a criminal—a murderer—killing one more or one less won't change anything so… Don't be selfish, let me do this one thing I've always wanted to do but couldn't, kay love? Thanks…"
I whispered my sincere gratitude into her ear.
It was freezing cold for some reason.
Right, they had a balcony seat out there in the sprinkling snowfall. It makes sense.
I heard the sirens blaring from the distance.
Cops.
I knew I didn't have the time to be playing games of gratitude with this slut anymore.
It was fun while it lasted… Well, maybe it wasn't fun.
For lack of a better alternative, I made her death painless. A quick yet efficient snap of her neck.
"Let me borrow this one, dear," I grabbed the trench coat off her shoulders. It was probably my nemesis' coat—quite expensive and warm.
I grabbed a fashionable wide hat a customer left behind in a hurry and escaped through the back door.
It was chaotic. Lucky me, right?
Anyway, I couldn't return home after all that, so I decided to try my luck by visiting somewhere poor and dangerous.
One of those neighborhoods.