Ultimate Soldier

Gerald Burn let out a sigh, trying to get a feel for the atmosphere at his new school. The handsome guy with glasses stood right in front of the gates, hands shoved in his pockets. He had a solid build, not exactly typical for a high school student. Even though his expression was cool, it was part of what made him so captivating.

[System Mission Detected.] [First Task: Help Lucy solve her problem. Reward: $1,000,000 and 1 Afterlife Ticket. Time Limit: One week. Failure to complete the task will be punished.]

A military green hologram suddenly popped up right in front of him. Even though it was hard to wrap his head around, he really had gotten a system after passing through death's gate.

In his past life, he was a highly respected thirty-year-old mercenary. His boss gave him a mission to rescue hostages from a terrorist group. Known as the "Devil from Hell" and the number one in the special forces, he could take down dozens of opponents silently in just a few minutes. The hostages were rescued, all the enemies were killed. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side. He died in a bomb blast.

Gerald then woke up in a bed, in a place completely foreign to him. Suddenly, a strange hologram appeared in front of him, informing him that he had connected with the Peerless Soldier System and been reborn in a new world. At first, he thought it was all nonsense. But after starting to process what had happened, he was immediately frustrated. He couldn't accept his death because he didn't want to leave his mother alone.

When he was five years old, Gerald was kidnapped by a homeless man and sold to strangers. It wasn't until he was twenty-five that he was able to find his family after living a hellish life. He only got to experience the warmth of living with his mother for a month, and that was after he made a deal with his boss. His boss allowed him to see his mother on the condition that he accept a special mission; to go solo and free hostages from a terrorist camp. He succeeded, but his tragic fate was unavoidable.

When he was revived by the system in this new world, he only wanted one thing; to see his mother again. The system granted his wish. Gerald would be revived back in his original world after obtaining ten tickets to the afterlife. Each mission would reward one ticket. Once he collected the tickets, he could open the gates of reincarnation and return to his original world.

"Gerald? Hey? You okay?"

A woman's innocent voice suddenly snapped Gerald out of his thoughts.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine," he replied, forcing a small smile.

"Hm... zoning out again."

The shoulder-length-haired woman who barely reached Gerald's shoulder was his younger sister in this life, Lucy. In his previous life, he also had a beautiful and cute younger sister like Lucy. She was also two years younger than him. The last time he saw his sister was the day he was kidnapped. And when he returned, his sister had long since died at the age of fifteen in a traffic accident. Now every time he looked into Lucy's brown eyes and thin lips, he felt like he was looking at his own sister, Jane.

"Want me to walk you to class?" Lucy asked.

Gerald's background now was that of an orphan from abroad who later met his family. At school, he was a transfer student in his third year of high school. There was only a little information about him, because the system had taken care of it.

"No need. I still want to look around."

"Alright, I'm off. Bye bye!" Lucy flashed a sweet smile, waving briefly.

As Lucy walked away, Gerald thought for a moment about what kind of trouble his little sister was facing. The system didn't explain it in detail. He also didn't have much information about the conflicts that school kids usually had.

As he started to walk, suddenly a guy ran into him from behind, nearly knocking him over.

"Damn it! Watch where you're going?!" The guy glared arrogantly. Even though he was the one who bumped into Gerald.

Gerald looked up and gave him an icy stare, making the guy instantly scowl.

"What's with that look, huh? Do you know who I am?"

Gerald replied flatly, "Sorry."

"Huh! Good. You better know your place, you idiot!"

The guy then turned and ran off, leaving Gerald behind. Gerald watched him for a long time before finally walking away.

...

In class, Lucy sat at her desk and took out her books, because the teacher would be coming in soon. But suddenly, three girls approached and smacked her on the back of the head.

"Aw!"

"Huh. Lucy? Looks like you've been relaxing all summer," Emma stared at Lucy with a cynical look, crossing her arms. Besides being one of the Westwood Academy popular girls, she also had a pretty well-known girl gang.

Some people immediately turned their attention to Lucy. Others seemed to ignore it, as if it was a normal occurrence.

"Look at her face, she looks all cheerful," chimed in the curly-haired girl, Helen. "She's gained a little weight too now."

Eve added, "Huh, I'm sure you must've missed us. Right?"

The intimidating voices of the girls left Lucy speechless. This wasn't the first time. She often got bullied by Emma's gang, making her days at school uneasy.

The girls then exchanged meaningful glances, as if they had planned something.

"I'm hungry and I forgot to eat breakfast. Go buy me food now!"

Emma slammed a piece of paper in front of Lucy, listing the food she had to buy.

Lucy hesitantly looked up and replied, "B-but Miss Joe will be here soon."

SLAP

"You damn rat! You're talking back to me? I don't need your excuses!" snapped Emma, after seeing Lucy's face turn to the right.

Eve chimed in with the same sharp tone, "Are you crazy? Who gave you the nerve to refuse Emma's request, huh?"

"Pfft. Looks like you've been having too much fun since we last met," Helen added.

"Guys, guys, guys!"

At the same time, Monica burst into the classroom with a slightly excited expression, causing the people there to turn their attention to her.

"I have important news. I just saw a handsome guy in the teacher's lounge. I heard he's a new student in the third year."

Hearing the news, some of the women there looked enthusiastic. Some of them were curious about who the guy was and what he looked like.

Meanwhile, Lucy smiled slightly, knowing that Monica was talking about Gerald. She was quite happy that her brother was getting so much attention. In her opinion, Gerald was very handsome indeed.

"Monica?!" Helen exclaimed, giving Monica a knowing look that she immediately understood.

"Oops, sorry. I got carried away," Monica said. She took a step closer to Emma and the others, then said, "I was too comfortable during summer vacation, I almost forgot about this little rat."

SLAM

"What are you waiting for? Do you want me to drag you out of the classroom, huh?" Emma yelled.

The atmosphere inside the classroom instantly tensed up. But the people around didn't seem to want to get involved because Emma was from a prominent family. This year her father was one of the mayoral candidates for Solistown. Dealing with that girl gang was a nightmare for them.

Lucy hesitantly held out her right hand. "Y-you haven't given me the money yet."

Hearing that, Emma scoffed for a moment and then smirked. She asked Helen to get the money from her bag, but Helen took out a ruler instead.

"Lucy? Did I hear wrong? You said you wanted to treat us." Helen smiled widely.

Lucy's eyes widened instantly, as if she had expected what was going to happen next. She quickly pulled her hand back and hid it behind her.

"No, no. I'll buy it. I'll go right away."

Lucy didn't waste any more time and immediately got up from her seat. Meanwhile, the women looked at each other and then laughed in satisfaction.

...

After school, Gerald was already waiting at the gates. The attention of the students there was focused on him. Some women came up to him to exchange numbers, but Gerald refused to give them out. In his previous life, he had never faced a situation like this. All that was on his mind was weapons, gunfire, flames, mud, and all sorts of conditions in warfare. Moreover, he was now back to being eighteen years old, it would take time to adjust.

When his eyes met Lucy's, his cold expression instantly changed. He waved, giving her a slight smile. His somewhat red lips made the guy look sweet.

"Gerald!" Lucy waved back.

They then walked together.

"How was today? Did you have any problems?" Lucy asked.

Gerald shook his head slightly, "Nothing. Everything went normally."

Actually, he did encounter a few problems. There were some people who showed unhappy expressions when he introduced himself in front of the class. One of them even blocked his path with his leg so he would fall, but his fighting instincts, which were already ingrained in him, easily noticed it. He briefly intimidated the guy with a sharp look, making the guy suddenly look wary.

"That's good then," Lucy replied.

Gerald then looked at Lucy's face as they walked. Even though Lucy's words seemed normal, she couldn't hide her awkwardness in her eyes. Gerald understood this, since they hadn't known each other for long. The system also didn't initiate much information about Gerald's past before he was reunited with his family.

Gerald vaguely remembered what his classmate, Hendrick, had said in class. When he told him that Lucy was his sister, Hendrick told him how difficult things were for Lucy because of Emma's gang. Lucy used to be the school's "it girl" and was liked by the guy Emma liked. Since then, Emma had always made things difficult for Lucy.

"What about you?"

Gerald's question immediately startled Lucy a bit.

"Um, yeah. My classes went well. My friends are good too."

Lucy said those words smoothly, but from the look in her eyes, Gerald could tell that Lucy wasn't sure of what she was saying.

At the same time, Lucy's stomach suddenly rumbled quite audibly.

"You haven't eaten?"

"Um... I was doing extra assignments from Miss Joe and forgot to eat."

"Hm, let's stop by a restaurant nearby. I'll treat you."

Lucy smiled slightly and sighed in relief. She didn't eat because she had used all her money to buy food for Emma and her friends.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the sidewalk in front of a cafe.

"Hey? Isn't that the new kid? Why is he with Lucy?"

At a table outside the cafe, Helen and three guys were sitting there.

"Damn it! It's him!" said Juno, the blond guy.

"You know him?" Helen asked.

"I met him in front of the gate this morning. How dare he look at me so arrogantly."

"Yo, Lucy!" called out Celv, the chubby guy with the frizzy hair.

Celv's voice immediately caught Gerald and Lucy's attention.

"Your friends?" Gerald asked.

"Y-yeah... my friends."

Helen smirked instantly. "Friends? Since when did you become our friend?"

"You fucking little temptress. See a hot guy and you immediately try to get close. Hahahaha!" added Ben, the ideal-bodied guy with long hair. The statement immediately triggered laughter from his other friends.

Gerald immediately frowned. His sharp gaze, which showed a cruel aura, was directed at Ben.

"What are you looking at, huh?" Ben exclaimed, not accepting Gerald's stare.

"Hey, lower your gaze, you fucking new kid!"

"You idiot! How dare you act cool in front of me!"

Celv, Ben, and Juno immediately took steps toward Gerald. Gerald reflexively moved Lucy behind him and became alert.

Ben, who was leading the way, immediately stood in front of Gerald, putting on an intimidating look. He quickly grabbed Gerald's shirt collar and threw a punch while exclaiming, "Get out of my face!"