At night, a bustling, restless second-tier city.
The streets are filled with traffic; as night falls, many young people escape their stuffy rooms, savoring the time lavishly.
Su Xiao crouches on the rooftop of a two-story villa, the night breeze cooling him.
Su Xiao is dressed in black, with a wide black hood covering his head, hiding his figure in the rooftop's shadows.
This outfit would feel stuffy even at night during the sweltering summer.
But compared to his unfortunate experiences, this is nothing; he has waited here for two hours.
At Su Xiao's age, he should be enjoying his university life, but three years ago, due to hatred, he gave up his studies to learn other skills.
Human anatomy, combat, quick unlocking, and other knowledge.
The long wait begins...
Two hours later, a black luxury car slowly drives into the villa's courtyard, the dull engine noise ceases, the car door opens, and a middle-aged man, reeking of alcohol, steps out of the car.
Because of excessive drinking, the middle-aged man's steps are noticeably unsteady.
On the villa rooftop, Su Xiao picks up a long knife beside him. The knife is unsheathed, its black blade blending with the night, making it hard to detect.
He leaps nimbly from the six-meter-high rooftop, his agile arms grabbing the villa's protruding corners, slowing his descent.
Landing smoothly, Su Xiao stands directly in front of his nemesis.
Without any words, Su Xiao's long knife slices through the air with a whimper, slashing the enemy's throat with a single strike.
Blood spouts out. Although Su Xiao tries his best to evade, his sleeves and hands are still stained with blood.
The drunken enemy doesn't even grasp what happened before collapsing to the ground.
Such a wound is as good as death, so Su Xiao immediately runs towards a place with fewer people.
In his peripheral vision, Su Xiao spots a uniformed security guard.
Though caught in the act, it doesn't matter to him if he's seen, as he's disguised well.
However, in the next moment, Su Xiao feels an icy chill. The security guard unexpectedly draws a gun from his waist, a black handgun; its long body clearly equipped with a silencer.
How can a security guard have a gun? Su Xiao doesn't have time to think deeply.
Behind is a villa at least tens of meters wide, and the guard is about twenty meters away. Choosing to flee would expose his back entirely to the enemy, making him an easy target.
When faced with danger, Su Xiao's first response is to eliminate the source of the threat, never to flee.
He strides forward, running in an S-shaped pattern to evade gunfire.
"Puff, puff, puff..."
The silencer-equipped handgun emits only soft gunshots.
After charging about five meters forward, Su Xiao feels a numbness in his calf, followed by the same sensation in his chest.
Su Xiao knows he's been shot. Though a revenge-seeker, he's never been shot before.
A powerless feeling spreads through his body, yet Su Xiao feels no fear, just a deep unwillingness.
The revenge is not fulfilled, yet he has already fallen, killed by an unknown enemy. What a pitiful end.
With his last ounce of strength, Su Xiao throws the long knife in his hand.
This throw is more about fate, but heaven seems to notice Su Xiao's unwillingness and his unjust ordeal. The long knife spins rapidly in the air, miraculously piercing the armed guard's chest.
Su Xiao, collapsed on the ground, smiles.
That long knife was coated with a neurotoxin, a mixed type that guarantees the stabbed guard's death.
His consciousness begins to fade, and Su Xiao feels a heavy blow to his head, after which everything turns black.
In his last shred of awareness, Su Xiao vaguely hears.
"Hunter, 'Reincarnation Paradise' opens for you."
--------------
[Body Transmission in Progress...]
[10%, 50%, 100%, Transmission Complete. Detected hunter's body suffering massive damage, pending repair...]
[Hunter's consciousness is not awake, repair command postponed, currently maintaining minimum survival state, maintenance for ten minutes...]
[Beep... Detected hunter's talent as a Growing Talent, survival time extended by two hours.]
In the darkness, a few lines of pale blue text float mid-air, emitting a faint glow.
Beneath the pale blue text, Su Xiao lies in the void, covered in blood.
His fingers twitch, and Su Xiao gradually awakens.
Upon waking, Su Xiao feels confused but promptly tries to stand up as he recalls the black muzzle.
Agonizing pain strikes, and Su Xiao nearly faints again.
With effort, he sits up, scanning his surroundings. Besides a few lines of flickering blue text, it's pitch black all around.
[Hunter, welcome to 'Reincarnation Paradise']
A line of text suddenly appears before Su Xiao, but he doesn't look at it; instead, he checks his injuries.
His calf is pierced, the wound's flesh turning up, fingers can easily reach into it.
This gory sight only makes Su Xiao frown without any other reaction.
He's experienced scenes ten times more terrifying than this, so these can't shake him.
The chest injury is more severe, but neither the leg nor chest wounds are bleeding anymore.
"I didn't die?"
Placing a hand on his chest, Su Xiao feels his heart beating vigorously.
[Hunter, you have not died. Are you willing to join 'Reincarnation Paradise'? Here, you can have everything you desire.]
Su Xiao had already noticed the suspicious text, but out of caution for the unknown, he ignored it.
The situation now seems bizarre. He suffered a mortal wound yet survived miraculously, and before him, a row of blood-red numbers is counting down.
[1:35:10], [1:35:9]...
One hour thirty-five minutes and nine seconds. If Su Xiao's guess is correct, that's what the numbers signify, and they continue to count down steadily.
This blood-red number gives Su Xiao an ominous feeling, as if when the number reaches zero, he will lose his life.
[Hunter, please communicate with 'Paradise' promptly to sign the contract, or you will die in '1 hour and 35 minutes']
Sure enough, the numbers represent the time he still has to live. Su Xiao had guessed this beforehand as his injuries were severe enough for inevitable death.
"Where's my knife?"
Su Xiao doesn't care about any 'contract' or 'paradise'; he's demanding his knife back from the other side.
The knife is the only memento left by his parents, supposedly a captured officer's knife by his great-grandfather, passed down to his generation.
[Most real-world items cannot be brought into 'Paradise'. Please sign the contract promptly.]
Su Xiao falls silent, the pale blue text flashing, perhaps never encountering a 'hunter' like Su Xiao.
"Contract? Let's hear it. What do I have to give, and what can I gain?"
The dwindling survival time leaves Su Xiao little room for delay, and he feels he might have encountered some 'supernatural' event, stirring some inner turmoil.
Su Xiao desperately needs power for revenge, and 'supernatural' events, despite the tremendous risks, might grant extraordinary power.
[By signing the contract, you will traverse various 'Derived Planes' to complete tasks issued by 'Reincarnation Paradise', gaining 'World Source'. Finally, the rewards will be constant based on the amount of 'World Source'.]
['Reincarnation Paradise' is omnipotent.]
...
A flood of text appears, and Su Xiao reads it carefully.
"Omnipotent? Can it revive the dead?"
All pale blue text suddenly freezes in midair, then disappears entirely.
[Given your status as a hunter, no.]