As the sun set in the west, the twilight slowly dyed the surrounding clouds red, painting the entire sky with a crimson veil. Linton lay on the grass in front of his house, slowly contemplating the three ultimate philosophical questions: Who am I? Where am I? What do I want to do?
It was obvious that Linton wasn't from this world, but the problem was, he didn't know who he was either. According to his understanding, he should be a human from Earth, and specifically from China, but it was clear this was not his world.
In this world, there was Dou Qi (battle energy) and magic. To Linton, these were things that only existed in fantasy novels. His presence here likely meant he had traveled between worlds. Yet, strangely, he couldn't remember anything about what happened before the crossing.
It wasn't that his perception was flawed, but his memories from childhood to now seemed like a complete blank. He couldn't recall a single thing, nor could he remember anyone he knew or any experiences he had. He couldn't even recall his own family. Even the name he was using wasn't his own but one from this world.
In this world, he was called Linton Meloway, and today marked exactly the 30th day since his arrival. He had spent these 30 days getting a rough understanding of his current identity and this world. Now, he just wanted to figure out who he really was.
Oddly enough, his situation felt strangely familiar to him, as if he had gone through something like this before. Traveling to another world didn't seem that shocking, and it even felt a bit familiar. Most people in his situation might have simply accepted it—settling down and moving on with life since they couldn't remember their past. But Linton couldn't just let it go. He felt like there was something he had to do, although he had no idea what it was. This question was one of the things he kept pondering.
As he organized his current situation, Linton figured he needed to make a plan. If there was no hope at all, he might have given up, but the problem was, he did have a glimmer of hope: a system that he seemed to have brought with him.
Speaking of the system, it also felt incredibly familiar to Linton. It was like the many stories where people traveled between worlds and carried systems with them. His system, as Linton summarized it, was like a system from an online game. Although he had no memories of ever playing online games, the system felt very familiar to him.
With a wave of his hand, a transparent screen appeared in front of him, recording quite a bit of information about Linton, including even his stats.
**Name:** Linton Meloway
**Class:** None
**Subclass:** None
**Level:** 15
**XP:** 0/14400
**Health:** 660/660
**Mana:** 300/300
**Attributes:**
- Strength: 25
- Agility: 33
- Constitution: 33
- Intelligence: 20
- Spirit: 15
- Charisma: A
- Luck: E
**Skills:**
- **One-Handed Weapon Mastery (D):** Increases damage with one-handed weapons by 10%.
- **Two-Handed Weapon Mastery (C):** Increases damage with two-handed weapons by 20%.
- **Armor Specialization (D):** Increases defense performance of equipped armor by 10%.
How should one describe this situation? It felt like the template of an ordinary NPC, with nothing remarkable. Over the past few days, Linton had tested his current strength, which was just slightly stronger than the average guard. He could defeat them in about ten rounds, give or take.
However, after discovering the system, Linton's confidence soared. Though he was weak now, with a system like this, he figured he should be able to level up like in online game novels. If he leveled up hundreds of times, wouldn't he become invincible? So, he immediately began his journey to grind experience points.
But just as he started, his dream was shattered. He went to the outskirts of town and killed a few low-level monsters. The process was smooth, but the problem was... his XP didn't increase.
Linton tried several more times, unwilling to give up, only to discover with disappointment that his XP really wasn't going up. He didn't understand what was going on, and no one was there to explain. He spent several days researching, recalling a novel where the protagonist couldn't level up until they died. Linton wondered if he was in the same situation, but he wasn't eager to test that theory.
He tried every method he could think of, except for dying, but nothing worked. His XP remained stuck at zero. At this point, he was out of ideas, which is why he was now lying on the grass, contemplating life.
"Should I resort to drastic measures?" Linton thought. If he couldn't level up, he'd be stuck at this level forever. Others could improve through training, but his system seemed tied to leveling up, and if that wasn't an option, was there any other way to improve?
Just as he was thinking this, a voice he had never heard before suddenly echoed in his mind—a cold, mechanical voice devoid of emotion.
"System notification: No operations for 30 cycles. Exploration mode activated."
"System notification: Auto-searching for suitable coordinates..."
"Huh? What's happening?" Linton sat up immediately, confused by the series of messages flashing in front of him.
"System notification: Suitable coordinates found. Initiating teleportation."
"What? Teleportation?" Before Linton could react, a flash of white light enveloped him, and his vision went dark for a few seconds. When his sight returned, he found himself in a strange place.
It looked like a narrow alley, with buildings on both sides and a concrete wall on one end. The familiar surroundings made Linton pause for a moment. This was clearly Earth. Though he had no memories of his life here, the place felt incredibly familiar.
"Did I really come back?" Linton was excited. He didn't know how it happened, but it seemed he had returned. Now, he finally had a chance to figure out who he really was.
Before he could celebrate, something suddenly bumped into him. Linton staggered back two steps and looked up to see that a young Black man had crashed into him. The man had probably rushed into the alley and collided with him. Linton steadied himself, while the man fell to the ground, dropping the bag in his hand.
"FXXX! You wanna die?" The man on the ground started swearing before Linton could say anything.
Linton was immediately annoyed. Clearly, it wasn't his fault. He hadn't even moved. Yet, the guy was already cursing at him. Just as he was about to confront him, a voice sounded in his ear again.
"Hostile target detected. Initiating auto-combat mode."
"Huh?" Linton was stunned, but before he could react, his body moved on its own. His fist shot out, hitting the Black man in the throat. The man let out a grunt, froze, and Linton grabbed his shoulders, pressing down while delivering a knee strike to his chin. The man flipped in the air before collapsing, eyes rolling back, unconscious.
"Combat complete," the strange voice said again.
"What the hell?" Linton finally realized what had just happened. For a brief moment, his body had moved on its own. This was too bizarre, and he had no idea what was going on.
But something on the ground caught Linton's attention—a dark object. He picked it up and saw that it was a handgun. It was clearly the Black man's. Linton remembered that the man had seemed to be reaching for something when he stood up. Now it seemed he had been going for his gun.
"Freeze! Drop the gun!" A voice suddenly called out from the alley entrance. Linton looked up to see a white man in a police uniform—a cop.
Startled, Linton glanced at the unconscious man on the ground and quickly realized what was happening. The cop must have been chasing the guy, not him. But now that Linton was holding the gun, the cop had misunderstood.
"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding," Linton said, immediately tossing the gun aside and raising his hands. "You're looking for him. I was just passing by."
Seeing Linton drop the gun, the cop seemed to relax a bit, but he still kept his gun aimed as he approached. "Hands on your head, kneel down!"
"Wait, I'm just a bystander…" Linton didn't want to kneel. He had already figured out he was likely in America. After all, there was a Black guy and a white cop. Linton knew this was how American police operated, but he wasn't ready to accept it.
Before he could explain further, the voice in his ear spoke again.
"Hostile target detected. Initiating auto-combat mode."
In an instant, Linton lost control of his body again. He grabbed the unconscious man off the ground and used him as a shield.
The cop hesitated, unwilling to shoot with a hostage in the way. In that split second, Linton pushed the man aside, stepped forward, and grabbed the officer's gun, twisting it skyward. Simultaneously, he delivered an elbow strike to the cop's temple. The officer collapsed without a sound.
"Stop, stop, stop..." Linton finally managed to speak, but it was too late.
"Combat complete."
In an instant, Linton regained control of his body. Looking down at the police gun in his hand and then at the two people lying on the ground, he held his head in frustration. "What did I just do? What the heck is going on?"
At this point, Linton had no idea what to do. He hadn't even figured out his own situation yet, and now he was a suspect for attacking a cop. How could he possibly explain this?
"Hey, kid, what was that just now? Kung fu?" While Linton was still in shock, a figure suddenly dropped onto the cement wall nearby, crouching and speaking to him.
Linton looked up, stunned. "Spi…Spider-Man?"
(End of Chapter)