The sound of gears grinding filled the room, but Arthur paid it no mind. His attention was fixed on the Iron Man movie playing on the computer screen on the other side.
"After Avengers: Infinity War was released, everyone rushed to catch up," He remarked, glancing at the barrage of comments on the screen. They were all variations of 'catching up,' 'Avengers: Infinity War revisited,' 'first lesson,' and 'next lesson: invincible Hulk.' Arthur couldn't help but smile.
Unlike them, Arthur had already watched the entire Marvel movie series.
Now, he was revisiting them.
As the grinding gears came to a halt, Arthur finally turned his attention to another screen.
To see a familiar game, Dungeon & Fighter (DNF)!
His encounter with this game was a twist of fate, and after going through its ups and downs, it had become something he played to pass the time.
"Announcement!"
"Disassemble equipment successfully!"
"Colorless Crystals *103"
"Rare Soul"
"Boring…" Yawning, Arthur was about to log out when suddenly, the computer screen started to shake abnormally, and the Massive Disassembler began emitting a red light.
"What the heck is going on?" Arthur was startled, but before he could get up from his computer, there was a thunderous explosion, and the Disassembler blew up!
"Even if durability was reduced to zero, it shouldn't explode like this. What's going on?"
In the midst of his thoughts, Arthur was enveloped in the red light produced by the explosion. Following that, the entire computer screen went dark, and Arthur…vanished without a trace!
…
…
Images flashed before Arthur's eyes. In a daze, he saw scenes of battles, explosions, and desperate shouts, one after another…
Arthur suddenly opened his eyes, feeling relieved that it was just a dream.
"What are you doing, soldier?!"
"Get up, Get up! These damn bastards broke through our defenses!"
"This is a sneaky ambush. Damn it, fight back!"
Before he could figure out what had happened, Arthur was already stunned by his surroundings.
As he looked around, he saw a chaotic battlefield, filled with trenches, distant smoke, gunfire, artillery fire, cries of pain, and wailing, all interwoven!
Arthur was completely dazed; what was going on?
One moment, he was at home playing games and watching movies, and the next, he was in the midst of a battlefield filled with real danger, not the kind you'd find on Valentine's Day but the life-threatening kind!
A burly youngster was pulling him along, running and babbling something incoherently.
But before the young man could finish his words, there was a gunshot, and a bullet pierced through the almost worn-out helmet, nailing him in the head.
One moment, he was running alongside Arthur, seemingly searching for something.
The next moment, he was a lifeless corpse on the battlefield.
Blood soaked the ground, and Arthur sat down, his mind in disarray.
"What the hell is going on here?" Bullets whizzed above his head, and Arthur crouched in the trench, his mind filled with inexplicable and surreal sensations.
Arthur muttered to himself, "Is this… a crossover?"
Having read numerous novels, Arthur was well aware of the concept of crossovers. However, he had never heard of anyone, let alone someone like him, crossing over directly onto a battlefield without meeting any god-like figure!
'If my life as a crossover were a novel, this was an incredibly intense start', Arthur silently thought in his heart.
"Calm down! I have to stay calm!!" Arthur gave his face a few light slaps; the first thing he needed to do was to regain his composure.
Glancing at the battlefield, he saw tanks and cannons in the distance. The symbol on them left Arthur dumbfounded. It was a reversed swastika flag!
Historically, only one regime has used this symbol as its flag.
"What the heck, is this World War II under the rule of a certain mustachioed dictator?" Arthur's head was about to explode by the influx of the information he was seeing. He was just an ordinary guy, and he might even be a bit of a homebody. Crossing over to a place filled with corpses from World War II was the last thing he expected.
Dodging bullets grazing his head, Arthur quickly lowered himself. He scanned the trenches, where everyone was armed, and anyone still alive was using their weapons to fire at the enemy.
To survive, his only option was to fight with a bayonet. And the only thing he had was…
"A gun!"
Arthur, who had never handled a firearm, began to search his body for a weapon.
As a soldier, he must have a gun on him. It was slung over his shoulder, a fact he hadn't noticed before. When he picked it up, he couldn't even recognize the model.
Just as he was about to observe others' actions to learn how to handle the firearm, he heard a familiar sound of gears grinding.
"Am I suffering from auditory hallucination?" Arthur wondered.
He paused for a moment, and the sound was too familiar, reminiscent of the Disassembler's noise in Dungeon & Fighter (DNF).
Then, a virtual dialogue box appeared before him. It read, "Would you like to Disassemble the M1 Garand rifle?" With two options: "Yes" or "No."
"Is this some kind of joke? Am I being pranked?" Arthur was utterly baffled.
"Wait… could it be a 'Golden Finger'?" In the next moment, it suddenly dawned on him.
And then, he was even more perplexed. Typically, these 'Golden Fingers' were all overpowered, like systems or divine weapons. How did he end up with a Disassembler from DNF?
Scanning the battlefield, he saw a lot of corpses, and everyone had weapons. Disassembling one wouldn't be a big loss. Without hesitation, he chose "Yes." After all, it was a 'Golden Finger,' and he needed to figure out its purpose to increase his chances of survival.
The sound of gears grinding resumed, and Arthur huddled in the trench, gritting his teeth. Bullets whizzed above him, and the occasional flying mud splatter landed on him.
Before today, he never could have imagined the suffering he was currently enduring. He almost shed tears in the trench.
However, he persevered. After all, he was now a member of the crossover army. Running away in panic would only bring shame to the entire crossover community. He didn't want to feel embarrassed when meeting other crossover individuals in the future.
"But I probably won't encounter any other crossover folks here, will I? It's like sending razor blades to the readers." Arthur muttered to himself, seemingly talking to no one while the sound of gears grinding continued.
"Why isn't it done yet?" Arthur started getting impatient.
Just as he said that, there was a hissing sound like steam being released. Immediately after, another virtual dialog box appeared.
"Announcement!"
Seeing those two words, Arthur felt exasperated. "What's the point of making an announcement now? Who's it for?"
"Equipment Disassembled Successfully!"
"Beginner Rifle Shooting Experience *6"
"Beginner Rifle Close-Combat Experience *3"
"Damaged Battle Soul"
"Disassemble Experience +1"
"Disassembly Complete, Would you like to extract at once?"