After the old man left, Ali rose from the bench and headed toward a shop that sold booklets to newcomers. He positioned himself in an alley, observing as people entered and exited the store. Some left with a red booklet, others with a grey one. Ali waited patiently until he spotted a young woman in a nurse's uniform exiting the shop with both booklets in hand.
'Found my target', Ali thought, as he silently followed her. The woman nervously made her way toward the apartment buildings, glancing up at the engraved numbers on the buildings to ensure she was headed in the right direction.
Ali crept closer and closer until he was only a few meters behind her, yet the woman remained oblivious to his presence.
"Hey", Ali said.
Startled, the woman dropped both booklets and quickly spun around. She stared at Ali's imposing frame and instinctively took a fearful step back.
Ali bent down to pick up the fallen booklets. The woman, assuming Ali was about to hand them back, extended her hands. However, her eyes widened in shock when he simply opened the red booklet and started reading.
She stood frozen, her hands still outstretched, trying to comprehend what was happening. Quickly regaining her composure, she stammered, "Excuse me, that's mine. Give it back."
Ali looked up, his gaze cold and unyielding. "I know. Wait until I'm finished, then you can have them back,"he replied, his tone ominous.
Now terrified, the nurse stood in silence as passersby walked by without intervening.
Ali finished reading the red booklet first. It was small, containing brief summaries of various low-tier worlds they might be sent to. 'The old man was right—this is a scam. It just lists the world's name and conflict—nothing about characters, locations, or anything useful', Ali thought, flipping through the last few pages.
He handed the red booklet back to the woman and began reading the grey one. After finishing it, he returned both booklets to her. "You paid two and a half Paradise Coins for each? We're all given five to start, and this is what you spent it on?" he muttered before walking away, leaving the woman speechless, clutching the booklets.
As Ali made his way back to the city centre, he mulled over what he had read. 'At least the grey booklet wasn't completely useless—it explained the interface functions in detail', he thought, glancing at the various shops lining the streets.
The marketplace was bustling, with vendors selling backpacks, survival gear, and even exotic items from different worlds—far too expensive for someone with Ali's meagre five coins. Eventually, he came across a shop displaying steel weapons and shields.
Ali entered the shop, noticing it was empty aside from a middle-aged man behind the counter, who eyed him curiously. Ignoring the man's gaze, Ali examined the weapons on display. A short steel sword was priced at ten coins—far beyond his budget. The only affordable item was a small steel knife for five coins. He picked it up, inspecting its quality.
'This is trash, but something's better than nothing. At least it could serve as a throwing weapon', he thought as he made his way to the counter.
"Do you want me to initiate the deal, or will you?"the man asked.
"Let me try," Ali responded, recalling the process from the grey booklet. He opened the interface, selected "Deal," and focused on the knife, offering five Paradise Coins.
The man received the offer and immediately accepted, completing Ali's first transaction in Reincarnation Paradise—a low-quality knife for five coins.
Leaving the shop, Ali glanced up at apartment building number seven and headed in that direction. As he walked down the street, he noticed the purple-haired woman from earlier, now holding hands with the fat man who had been excited when they first arrived. 'Looks like she found her prey. I wonder how much he knows', Ali thought as he passed them.
"Jayden I'm really scared, i don't know what to do, if i am sent to a world i have no idea about then..", Ashley said as she got closer to Jayden pretending to be scared which worked on him.
"Don't worry, I'll try and tell you how to be safe in the worlds mentioned in the booklet, you'll be safe if you follow my words.".
Further down the street, Ali suddenly witnessed two men rush out of an alley. One of them held a knife to the other.
"You bastard! You scammed me! Give me back my money!", the man with the knife shouted before lunging at his target.
BANG.
The attacker exploded into a pool of blood, splattering across the street. Some of it landed on Ali's shoes. The second man, now catching his breath, looked back at the mess.
'You idiot. Didn't you know what happens when you attack someone here?" the man muttered, a smug smile forming on his face. However, his expression shifted when he noticed Ali crouch down, pick up the bloodied knife from the ground, and pocket it.
'Now I've got two shitty knives', Ali thought as he continued walking, unfazed by the carnage. The other man stared in disbelief as Ali's tall frame disappeared into the distance.
'Good thing I didn't push the nurse too hard for those books. I'd have ended up like that fool—dead over nothing', Ali reflected, realising how close he had come to making a fatal mistake.
Arriving at the massive grey apartment building, Ali climbed the stairs to the second floor and approached door number twenty-two. As he neared it, the door swooshed open on its own.
Stepping inside, Ali found a small, sparse apartment. It was a single-room unit with an attached bathroom, which included a shower. On the bed lay a grey shirt and pants, perfectly sized for him. 'These must be for those who arrived without clothes', Ali thought as he removed his shoes and sat down on the bed, moving the clothes aside.
Sitting there, Ali began reflecting on everything that had happened since he arrived in Reincarnation Paradise. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden message:
-Tomorrow at 9:00, you will be sent to another world.
'Good. I didn't want to stay in this shithole any longer anyway', Ali thought, dismissing the alert.
He opened the interface and spent the next few minutes customising it. He added a time display at the top and moved the "Deal" button to the right for easier access. Once satisfied with the adjustments, he stood up and found a box in the corner filled with bland, wrapped rations.
With no money left for real food, Ali forced himself to eat the tasteless rations until he was full. 'Tomorrow can't come fast enough', he thought, lying back on the bed, mentally preparing for whatever world awaited him next.
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Five extra chapters on patreon.com/Rondo312