Aiden Ravens stared at the body inside the car, his entire being frozen in shock.
The corpse's skin was pale, drained of color, as if it had been soaking in water for God knows how long. If it hadn't been for the car, the body might have just floated to the surface by now.
Aiden felt a shiver run down his spine. Was this for real? Just moments ago, he thought he had struck gold, only to realize how naïve he had been.
This system—yeah, the one promising him good fortune—couldn't be trusted, not even a little.
"Koi physique?" Aiden chuckled bitterly to himself.
Who in their right mind would call this good luck? The system's promises were as empty as a ghost town. In fact, Aiden was now convinced his so-called "lucky break" had taken a direct detour to the underworld.
Great. Just great. What now? He was flying high, but it felt like he was headed straight into a brick wall. A haunted one, at that.
Aiden glanced at the bystander nearby. The guy was still there, rooted to the spot in disbelief after seeing Aiden pull a car out of the lake.
But when the corpse showed up, the man's face twisted in horror. It was as if he was witnessing some kind of dark ritual unfold.
The bystander's thoughts seemed clear enough: Dude, you couldn't just be satisfied with fishing out a car, huh? No, you had to go and dredge up a body too?!
Aiden let out a nervous laugh. This situation was spiraling out of control fast.
"Hey, uh... could I borrow your phone?" Aiden asked, trying to sound casual.
The bystander looked at him as if he had just asked to borrow a bomb.
"Bro, I'm just saying... do we really need to involve the cops again? You don't want to, I don't know, maybe... lie low for a bit?"
Aiden rolled his eyes. "You think I want this to happen?"
A part of him wanted to just walk away, leave the whole mess behind. But then again, the cops were already on their way. He had no choice. Time to call in the cavalry... again.
As Aiden reluctantly dialed the authorities, his mind raced with thoughts of what would come next. Sure, last time it was a blow-up doll, but this time…
The captain would probably have his head for making them come back so soon. But what choice did he have? He couldn't exactly ignore a dead body.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Captain Damien Stark was feeling unusually irritated.
Just hours earlier, he had been briefed on what he thought would be a significant case. Something big. But when they got to the lake, all they'd fished out was a damn inflatable doll. Stark was ready to explode.
"I can't believe I wasted my time for a freaking blow-up doll!" Stark grumbled, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
The station's receptionist, Hannah, was equally stunned to see him back so soon.
"Already done, Captain? Wow, that was fast," she commented, surprised at how quickly he'd returned.
Damien grimaced. "If by 'done' you mean traumatized, then yes. That's one thing I won't be forgetting anytime soon."
Just as Stark was trying to make sense of his disastrous day, the phone rang again. Hannah picked it up, her expression becoming increasingly serious.
"Wait... what? Another body?"
This time, she had to be sure. "You're absolutely certain it's a real body, not a doll again?"
Stark froze in place. No way...
"You've got to be kidding me," Stark muttered under his breath as he grabbed his gear once again.
Despite his initial reluctance, duty called. This time, though, he wasn't going alone. "Alright, team, let's move! But if this kid's lying again, I swear he's going to spend a few nights in a cell."
As they arrived at the lake, Stark was already on edge. He found Aiden standing there, a mix of exhaustion and exasperation on his face.
"Kid, you better be right about this," Stark warned.
Aiden pointed silently toward the car by the shore. Stark followed his gaze and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered. There it was—a genuine corpse, soaking wet and very real.
"How...?" Stark's eyes narrowed as he turned to Aiden. "You've got some explaining to do."
Meanwhile, his team was equally stunned.
What's with this guy? First, a blow-up doll, and now an actual body? Is he some kind of corpse magnet?!
The disbelief among Stark's officers was palpable. It wasn't just the sight of the corpse that stunned them—it was the fact that Aiden had managed to pull it out of the lake so soon after the whole blow-up doll incident.
"How do you even manage something like this?" one officer mumbled. "This guy might be cursed."
Aiden just shrugged. He didn't know how or why this was happening. All he knew was that his day had gone from weird to outright insane.
Stark quickly ordered the area to be cordoned off, setting up a perimeter as they waited for the coroner to arrive.
Aiden watched as they worked, feeling a sense of relief that, for once, he wasn't the crazy one.
"Man, they're going to think I planned all this," Aiden muttered to the bystander, who was still lurking nearby.
"You sure you're not cursed?" the guy asked, looking genuinely worried now.
Aiden let out a sigh. At this point, anything seemed possible.
As Stark bent over to examine the body, his mind spun with questions. How did a corpse end up in a car at the bottom of the lake? And what were the odds that this kid, of all people, would find it?
"Get the medical examiner out here, now," Stark barked at one of his officers.
The call went through, but on the other end, the coroner was just as confused.
"You've got to be joking," the coroner groaned. "I was just told to turn around—something about a false alarm. Now you want me to come back? What is going on out there?"
When the officer explained the situation, the coroner's disbelief grew. "First, it was a blow-up doll, now a real body? This kid must have some crazy luck."
Crazy luck or a curse, Stark thought as he glanced at Aiden. Either way, things were only getting more complicated from here.