The cheat

Nick had been reborn. In his previous life, he had been a veteran of the PLA, an old army man. He might not have been some badass special forces soldier, but he had been a veteran mess squad leader who could deliver piping-hot meals to frontline positions and pick up a couple of prisoners along the way.

After transferring to a civilian job, his life had settled down. Aside from clocking in and out at work each day and turning down blind dates arranged by well-meaning older female colleagues, he had spent most of his free time playing games and watching anime, films, and TV shows.

Just as he began itching for a change and wondering whether it was time to settle down and start a family, he had accidentally fallen off a cliff while helping fight a sudden wildfire.

When he opened his eyes again, his soul had entered the body of Nick, a white boy of only six who had fallen into a coma after a car accident.

Another twenty years had passed in a flash. He had not forgotten everything about his previous life, but those events had gradually blurred like a fleeting dream. Sometimes, waking from dreams at midnight, certain memories would surface again and leave him tossing and turning.

For the past twenty years, Nick had lived in Portland, Oregon.

This world was not much different from his previous one. Aside from a few historical details that did not quite match up and the newly released Apple phone having a whole apple as its logo, the great power in the East was still the same great power in the East, and the great power in the West was still the same great power in the West.

The body's original parents had both died in the car accident, leaving behind a modest insurance payout and a detached two-story house in a middle-class neighborhood.

Ever since he had transmigrated into this six-year-old body, Nick and his aunt Mary, the younger sister of the body's original mother, had depended on each other.

After graduating from high school, he had entered Portland State University with reasonably good grades, majoring in criminology with a minor in psychology. He had then graduated successfully and chosen to begin his career as a police officer.

Hancock was a close friend he had met back in high school. Though he was a Black guy, his background did not quite fit the stereotype: both his parents were around, and his family was happy.

Unfortunately, the guy was not cut out for studying. After high school, he had barely managed to get into a community college before joining the PPB (Portland Police Bureau) early and becoming a patrol officer.

Hancock was quite good at police work, though. Nick had joined the bureau more than two years after him, and after they had been partners for just over a year, the guy had become a detective first.

So, although neither of them was thirty yet, Hancock was already an experienced veteran with nearly six years on the force, while Nick had been a patrol officer for more than three years.

Not long ago, Nick had also passed the detective exam. Today was his last day as a patrol officer; tomorrow, he would report to the detectives' office on the second floor.

Hancock had made a special trip to pick him up for work that morning for one reason alone: the party at the cop bar that night.

Since Nick had joined the PPB, he had appeared in the bureau's promotional police calendar three years running. Because he always occupied the July page, he had earned the nickname "Mr. July."

It was not just that his abilities were beyond reproach. His looks and physique also put him firmly in heartthrob territory, easily outclassing the men next door at the PFB (Portland Fire Bureau).

As long as Nick, their "Mr. July," attended tonight's party, the pretty girls from the entire bureau and even other related departments would surely hear about it and come along.

Although the ones with the best faces and figures would certainly cluster around Nick, one man could only do so much, and his reach had its limits. He could not possibly handle everyone. Some beauties were bound to be left on their own because they could not squeeze into the circle, and that would be Hancock's time to strike.

Nick could see right through his friend's little scheme. Still, since the guy had, for once, volunteered to splurge and given him a G22 quick-draw holster from the well-known tactical brand Safariland, he had readily accepted the invitation before leaving the house and getting into the car.

Portland was Oregon's largest city. Calling its morning traffic terrible would not quite cover it; anywhere that could be jammed was jammed.

Fortunately, Nick's neighborhood was not far from PPB headquarters, so there was no need to worry about being late. Still, inching through traffic remained irritating.

In the passenger seat, Nick turned to look out the window. A golden card flickered rapidly between his fingers, leaving afterimages as it vanished and reappeared.

"You're getting better and better at those little magic tricks." Catching sight of it, Hancock could not help chuckling, and it also brought back memories.

Back in high school, this bastard had used that very little magic trick to charm the hottest girl in school, the cheerleading captain, into bed.

What Hancock did not know was that the little golden card that vanished and reappeared was no magic prop. It was someone's transmigration perk.

Nick had named the little card, made of an unknown material and covered in strange patterns, the "Magic Movie Ticket." Its disappearance was no sleight of hand; it merged directly into his body.

It was a magical movie ticket that could neither be damaged nor lost. When it was fully charged and gave off a soft golden glow, Nick only had to tear it in half to enter a random movie.

Every setting and character in the movie was real, including him, the "intruder."

In this extraordinary movie world, he only had to survive until the main plot ended to receive some random basic rewards. If he could accomplish the objectives set by the Magic Movie Ticket, the rewards would become more generous.

After he left the movie world, the Magic Movie Ticket would return to its original state and reappear inside Nick's body, ready to be manifested at any time.

Unfortunately, this miraculous cheat charged at an outrageously slow rate. In the twenty years since his transmigration, it had glowed gold only twice, and he had yet to find any way to speed up its charging.

The first world Nick had entered was Alien, in the tenth year after his rebirth, when this body was sixteen.

He had appeared directly in the year 2122 aboard the interstellar freighter Nostromo, deep in distant space. The Magic Movie Ticket had even fabricated a crew member identity for him.

None of the seven crew members, including the heroine Ripley, had shown any suspicion toward Nick, the young kid who had suddenly appeared. Even the ship had one more hypersleep pod than in the original film.

The objectives the Magic Movie Ticket had given him then were to kill the alien monster aboard the ship and save as many crew members as possible.

For Nick, who had once been hooked on old webnovels and had read Terror Infinity, he had immediately, brimming with confidence, cast himself as Zheng Zha. He had believed that his knowledge of the plot would let him complete every objective perfectly.

After all, just before his transmigration, he had rewatched Alien because Alien: Romulus was enjoying a successful theatrical run.

Unfortunately, the dream was rosy, but reality was harsh.

Before the movie's plot had even reached the crew's first close encounter with the facehugger, Nick had damaged his spacesuit through improper handling while landing on the surface of the planet called Thedus, dying of shock brought on by oxygen deprivation and hypothermia.

His first great adventure in a movie world had ended just like that. He could not reenter a movie he had already experienced, and in the end, Nick had received a consolation prize: a passive skill called "Fake Death Revival."

As its name suggested, the skill allowed him to recover completely from either injury or illness by entering a state of suspended animation.

That morning, when sixteen-year-old Nick got out of bed, the pimples scattered across his face had vanished overnight, giving Aunt Mary quite a fright.