Well, there was at least one silver lining to his bizarre transmigration.
When Daniel appeared in this world, he hadn't come empty-handed. His clothes, his wristwatch, his wallet, and even his favorite ring with a small diamond—everything had come with him.
The wallet was useless, of course. His credit cards and modern cash meant nothing in 1926 Cairo. But the ring—that was a lifesaver.
It was a gift from his grandfather, worth $100,000 in his old world. Here, it was enough to catch the eye of a local pawnshop owner.
After a bit of bargaining, Daniel walked out with enough Egyptian pounds to rent a cheap room in a backstreet lodging near the museum.
The bed creaked, the ceiling leaked, and the walls smelled of dust and old paint—but it was shelter.
There was another strange thing, too.
Somehow, he could understand every language people spoke—Arabic, English, French. It all made sense in his head, as if someone had flipped a translator switch inside his brain.
If not for that mysterious ability, he would've been finished on the very first day.
Once Daniel realized which world he had landed in—The Mummy's world—his instincts kicked in.
He wasn't the kind of idiot who'd run around screaming about curses and gods. No, he'd seen enough movies and read enough web novels to know how this worked.
So he did the most practical thing a "smart transmigrator" could do:
He got a job at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities.
Manual labor.
Low pay.
Long hours.
But it kept him close to the heart of history—and, more importantly, close to Evelyn Carnahan.
He remembered every scene from the movie: Evelyn's clumsy charm, her curiosity, her love for ancient Egypt, and that one crucial discovery—the key and the map to Hamunaptra.
Daniel knew what would come next. He knew where this story was headed.
And he knew Hamunaptra wasn't just some treasure site; the movie barely scratched the surface of what that city truly hid.
If he wanted a chance to gain something—some kind of ancient power or relic—he had to be there when the story began.
That's why, for the past month, he'd been working hard to get closer to Evelyn. Not in a suspicious or fake way, but enough to make her see him as a reliable helper.
Someone who could lift heavy crates, fetch scrolls, and quietly listen when she rambled about forgotten pharaohs.
Getting close to her wasn't hard.
All it really took was patience—and good acting skills.
Evelyn Carnahan loved talking about history. She could spend hours explaining the meaning of a broken vase or the life story of some long-forgotten pharaoh.
Most people would run at the sight of her enthusiasm. Daniel, however, had a secret weapon: a calm face and a polite nod.
Whenever she started one of her history marathons, he'd just smile, nod occasionally, and say, "That's fascinating, Eve."
Truth be told, it wasn't that hard. Because when a woman like Evelyn was talking—bright eyes full of excitement, lips moving with passion for her work—it was easy to forget the boredom.
Men, after all, were creatures easily drawn to beauty. And Evelyn was beautiful in that natural, unintentional way.
So Daniel would stand there, pretending to be deeply interested in some ancient text, while his mind wandered elsewhere.
She got to talk about her obsession, and he got to enjoy the view. Fair trade.
***
Present — Cairo Museum of Antiquities
"Sigh… where does this book go again? History of Pyramids…"
Daniel muttered under his breath, squinting at the cover. He looked up at the shelf labels and groaned.
"Great. Wrong section. Of course."
He adjusted the stack of dusty tomes in his arms and glanced around, hoping no one saw him talking to himself.
The museum was quiet, except for the faint scratching of pens and the tired hum of ceiling fans fighting the Cairo heat.
Then—
"Kyaaaahhhh!"
Daniel froze. That voice was unmistakable.
"Huh? Was that Eve screaming?" he muttered, blinking toward the direction of the sound.
A second later, there was a loud thud! Then came another. The sound of heavy wood collapsing—shelves falling like dominoes.
His eyes widened.
Wait… no way. Don't tell me this is that scene… the shelf moment!
He barely had time to move before the shelf in front of him groaned, tilted, and began to fall forward—straight toward him.
"Oh, come on—fuck my luck!" Daniel yelled, hurling the books in his hands aside and diving for the floor.
The massive wooden shelf slammed into the one in front of it, sending a rain of dust and books crashing down.
When the noise finally stopped, Daniel was face-first on the cold floor, half-buried under books, pinned between two fallen shelves.
"Ugh…" Daniel groaned, half-buried under books, his face pressed against the cool marble floor. Dust swirled in the air like smoke after a battle.
He let out a tired laugh.
"If this is what working near the heroine means," he muttered, "I might not survive till Hamunaptra…"
His voice faded into silence.
Then—
A faint chime echoed in his mind.
[ One-month survival period completed. ]
[ Conditions met for system activation. ]
[ Initializing… ]
[ Omniverse Recovery System online. ] ( Care to guess who created this system )
[ Welcome, Host — Daniel Haken. ]
Daniel froze. His eyes widened.
"…Wait. What?"
Another chime followed, crisp and mechanical.
[ System calibration: 97%... 100%. ]
[ Basic functions unlocked. ]
He blinked, staring into empty air. "Oh, now you show up?! A month late, after I've been stuck working in a dusty museum?"
*****
A/N: Hi everyone, this is your author.
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*****