1 Chapter 1: Reincarnation

"Has this experiment failed too?"

Upon hearing this voice, Jekyll tried hard to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, only able to vaguely make out a figure.

"More of a failure than the others. He probably won't survive outside the incubator for 10 minutes. Making a clone of the Joker seems unlikely; that guy has too many peculiar secrets."

Jekyll realized he was immersed in icy liquid but strangely didn't feel suffocated, though his throat burned as if on fire, unable to utter a word.

"Then dispose of him too—leave no evidence behind. That bat seems to have already found its way here."

"Don't worry, I've planned for this. I've already lured Harley Quinn here, that crazy woman conducting dangerous experiments to resurrect the Joker. This plan won't raise any suspicion."

As the footsteps gradually faded, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence once again. Jekyll felt his consciousness becoming heavier, as if slipping into eternal slumber.

[Sufficient intake of extraordinary factor. Would you like to activate hero abilities?]

In a semi-conscious state, Jekyll faintly sensed this as his sole chance for revival.

"Yes!"

In his mind, a card shimmering with colorful light appeared. As Jekyll's consciousness touched it, his entire body was enveloped in a warm current.

"Hmm? Where am I exactly?"

Jekyll's senses immediately sharpened, quickly assessing his current situation.

He seemed to be immersed in a cylindrical glass jar, unable to see anything beyond due to the murky yellow liquid.

Jekyll forcefully banged on the glass, but it was futile.

Realizing panic wouldn't help, Jekyll decided to calm down and gather his thoughts.

The good news was that his memories didn't seem to be missing.

His name was Jekyll, his life is as average as it can get. Not too good and not too bad.

Jekyll's life flashed before his eyes like a carousel, freezing at an unfortunate car accident on his way home from work.

Was he used as an experimental subject by certain people? While Jekyll speculated this, he immediately discovered a very real and familiar interface in his mind.

This was the character skill panel from a game he used to play frequently, simulated down to the skill bars, with three out of four gray skill squares showing a plus sign.

Isn't this the character skill panel from League of Legends? And it seems to be the skill panel of Evelynn, no, of Shaco?

"Could it be..."

With a desperate attempt, Jekyll tried using his thoughts to click the plus sign above the first skill, and the box for that skill immediately lit up.

[Deceive: Teleport nearby and enter stealth. His next attack during stealth deals additional physical damage. If behind the target, this attack can also critically damage.]

Deceive?

As Jekyll silently recited the name of this skill in his mind, he felt as if he had been squeezed into a rubber tube and then forcefully squeezed out again.

"Ha... Ha."

Jekyll finally felt the sensation of the ground once more, taking deep breaths of the somewhat unpleasant air and struggling to stand up.

At that moment, he realized he was completely naked, and both his body size and skin color seemed to have changed, as if he had become a different person.

With an overwhelming amount of incomprehensible information, Jekyll looked around. This place resembled a mad scientist's laboratory from a movie, with over a dozen cylindrical glass jars standing densely, except for the one closest to him, all seemingly containing a person in deep slumber.

"Okay, calm down. Based on my years of reading novels and watching movies, in this situation, either I'm dreaming, or I've experienced what they call a 'reincarnation'..."

As Jekyll silently pondered, through the reflection on the glass jars, he saw his current appearance—an unfamiliar male face, a pale countenance tinged with a sinister aura, and dark, dried green hair standing on end.

Having seen this, Jekyll was almost certain that he had indeed transmigrated.

At the same time, he noticed a small device panel in front of him, adorned with various buttons.

Was the voice I heard earlier someone tinkering with this? I remember they mentioned something about an experimental subject.

Out of curiosity, Jekyll tried pressing a button that looked like a switch, hoping to obtain information about his location.

"Ding—Program confirmation complete, initiating data destruction program—"

Huh?

Hearing this sound, Jekyll felt something was off.

In all those dozen glass jars, black murky liquid simultaneously poured in, and those previously slumbering naked men instantly opened their eyes, their faces contorted in silent screams, then their bodies swiftly dissolved into small pieces merging into the liquid.

"Wha—"

Jekyll gasped in shock.

It wasn't entirely his fault, right? Who places such a dangerous button in such a prominent position without confirmation steps? Isn't that inviting trouble?

Wait, calm down. Maybe they weren't exactly alive to begin with, so he didn't exactly commit murder—

[Gained 200 experience points.]

[Personal level has increased to level 2, new skill point acquired.]

Hmm.

Though this mysterious system promptly compensated, Jekyll didn't develop psychological shadows from it. After all, from what he overheard in those glass jars, it seemed these people didn't have much chance of survival even without any mistaken operation.

Now, what mattered more was examining the results of the upgrade. In this unfamiliar environment, it was his only reliance.

Jekyll focused on the panel in his mind, and sure enough, there appeared buttons above the skills for allocation once again.

This time, he chose the second skill, Jack in the Box

[Jack in the Box: Create a terrifying magic box. It pops up when enemies approach, causing nearby enemies to enter a brief state of fear and inflicting a small amount of poison damage.]

Pop!

With a subtle burst like bursting bubbles, a petite and delicate box appeared on the ground in front of Jekyll and turned invisible within a few seconds—but Jekyll could sense the box still there, waiting for the opportune moment to trigger.

What principle was this based on? Optical refraction? Moreover, its sudden appearance seemed to violate the law of conservation of mass.

Just as Jekyll contemplated the principle behind this skill, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if targeted by some wild beast.

Whoa!

As Jekyll turned, he saw something pitch-black and abyssal descending from the dim ceiling, seemingly capable of devouring light itself, coming straight at him.

Bang!

Jekyll was forcefully pressed against the ground, the opposing force rudely compelling him into intimate contact with the icy ground.

Immediately after, a mysterious and hoarse-like voice resounded

"Don't move! Unless you want to get hurt—How could it be you?! You're not dead?!"

°°°

AN: This is it. The new fic. Hope y'all like it and be sure to drop some stones to get us really started