The last thing I remembered was the screech of tires and the cold kiss of asphalt. Now, there was only the smell of rain, trash, and expensive gunpowder.
I opened my eyes to find a dark alleyway and a barrel of a gun pressed against my forehead. The man holding it was shaking, a low-level Gotham street thug looking for a quick score.
"I said... give me the watch!" he stammered.
I didn't even have a watch. I didn't even know who I was. Before I could speak, the finger squeezed the trigger.
BANG.
Pain flared for a microsecond before everything went black. But the darkness didn't last. A translucent blue screen flickered into existence in the void of my mind.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
Host Status: Deceased (Death #1)
Cause of Death: Kinetic Impact (9mm Projectile)
Killer Grade: F-Tier (Common Human)
Looting Essence...
Attributes Gained: +1 Strength, +1 Agility.
Initial Bonus Unlocked: Shadow Manipulation (Source: The Shadow Khan)
Passive Skill: Infinite Resurrection (Rank: EX)
Respawn Protocol Initiated: 10km from Death Site.
The New Reality
I woke up with a gasp, clutching my forehead. There was no hole. No blood. I was standing on a rooftop on the opposite side of the city, the GCPD blimp hovering in the distance.
"System," I whispered.
Immediately, a minimalist panel appeared in my vision. No clutter, just raw data.
[PROTAGONIST STATS]
Strength: 11 (Common Man Average: 10)
Agility: 11
Defense: 10
Spirit: 10
Special Abilities: * Shadow Kingdom: You can travel through and command the Shadow Warriors (Current Limit: 5 Warriors).
I felt a tingle in my shadow. Slowly, a dark, masked figure with glowing red eyes rose from the concrete. It bowed silently. The Shadow Khan. One of Jackie Chan's old nightmares was now my first soldier.
The Math of Mortality
I realized then how this twisted game worked. If a nobody killed me, I gained crumbs—one or two points. I was barely stronger than a gym rat now. But Gotham was home to gods.
If I could somehow get someone like Superman to vaporize me? The System indicated a 3000-point jump for an S-Tier death. I would go from a human to a titan in a single heartbeat.
But I wasn't ready for the big leagues yet. To control Gotham, I had to start in the gutters.
I looked down at a discarded Glock-17 lying near a dumpster. I picked it up. It felt heavy, cold, and temporary.
"I won't need these for long," I muttered to my shadow. "But until I'm durable enough to ignore bullets, we play it their way."
I stepped into the shadows, merging with the darkness. I wasn't a hero, and I certainly wasn't a victim anymore. I was the only man in Gotham who found profit in a funeral.