"Ugh, what kind of world is it this time?"
Li Ke had absolutely no idea he had just narrowly escaped death multiple times. The moment he stepped out of the cave, the first thing that caught his eye was a landscape of reinforced concrete and urban ruins. Intrigued, he muttered the question aloud.
However, his system—or rather, the 7 Days to Die World Will—remained completely dead silent, offering no response whatsoever. It left him utterly bewildered. He even pulled a World Fragment out of his 'system,' but the 7 Days to Die World Fragment lay in his palm, completely inert.
"Playing dead, are we?"
Li Ke rolled his eyes and pulled up his Endless Traveler world list. But the moment he glanced at it, he froze.
The costs...
They were dirt cheap!
Traveling to Academy City only cost 100 Energy Points. The Naruto world? 100 points. Toph's world? Also a mere 100 points!
Even traveling to the World of Warcraft, Rias's world, or the Arad Continent only required 100 Energy Points!
"I knew this economic system would completely collapse sooner or later..."
Li Ke couldn't help but complain out loud, though his eyes instantly lit up. Setting aside whatever treasures he might obtain after reclaiming the World Fragments, the inherent mechanics of this new world alone meant he had already struck gold!
Are you kidding me? As long as he found a random woman in this world and slept with her just once, he, Li Ke, would never have to worry about travel expenses ever again!
Right as Li Ke was celebrating his luck, a few glaring anomalies caught his eye.
NieR World: 100,000,000 Energy Points to travel.Overwatch World: 3,000,000 Energy Points to travel.League of Legends World: 1,000,000 Energy Points to travel.Food Wars! (Shokugeki no Soma) World: 80,000,000 Energy Points to travel.The King of Fighters World: 300,000,000 Energy Points to travel.
"Why the hell are you guys so special? Seriously, this economic system is completely... what kind of logic is this even running on? I don't get it at all!"
Li Ke was right in the middle of trash-talking the system when he suddenly froze.
He heard Tsunade's voice!
He whipped his head around. Right inside the window behind him, an old television screen was broadcasting Tsunade's voice—the exact sound he had just picked up.
Looking closer, he realized the TV was playing the Naruto anime.
"...Could that be the reason?"
Li Ke glanced back at the TV. It was one of those old, bulky CRT monitors. The billboards lining the streets shared that same retro look, and even the clothes the locals wore...
Well, they were way more expressive and daring than what people wore back in 2023, boasting all kinds of crop tops, miniskirts, and short shorts.
Speaking of which, Li Ke couldn't help but internalize a quick rant. Modern feminism had absolutely ruined miniskirts, short shorts, and crop tops by claiming women only wore them to please men!
Then again, Li Ke had only learned that from his female friends back in the day. Before they told him, he had always just assumed fashion trends had naturally shifted.
"Did I somehow end up in an old Hong Kong movie world?"
Looking around at his surroundings—especially with the locals whispering and pointing at him in Cantonese—Li Ke was genuinely at a loss.
He knew exactly why he was drawing so much attention. Wearing a sweeping cloak with a massive sword strapped to his back made him stick out like a sore thumb. But he had a perfectly good reason for not actively hiding.
He wanted to draw out whatever companion had been summoned alongside him.
During his last mission, Mai Shiranui had joined him. Logic dictated there should be a helper this time around, too.
Granted, Mai hadn't actually accomplished much last time. But a helper was a helper. It was just that Li Ke had blitzed through the earlier stages too fast and triggered a scripted storyline death, leaving Mai to basically do nothing but coast along the entire time. If they had actually followed the standard progression, Mai definitely would have been qualified to face the final boss by his side.
This time, he figured he didn't need to rush. There were no visible signs of mass chaos in this world, so his plan was to locate his teammate first and take things slow.
Yet, as he scanned the crowd, he couldn't spot a single person who looked remotely like a teammate. The surrounding pedestrians just kept staring and whispering. Aside from himself, there wasn't a soul who looked like they belonged in an anime or an otherworldly setting.
"Strange... Is there really no teammate for this mission?"
Li Ke cast another glance at the World Fragment resting inertly in his hand. Knowing he wouldn't get any answers out of it, he shoved it back into his 'system.'
"First things first: let's figure out what kind of world this actually is."
Ignoring the opinions of the crowd, Li Ke leaped straight up. He bounded onto the roof of a nearby building, and within a few quick, agile jumps—all under the stunned, gaping stares of the onlookers—he reached the rooftops to get a bird's-eye view of the area.
Even from his high vantage point, he couldn't spot anything unusual, causing him to frown. This meant his teammate was either laying low, was someone native to this era, or simply didn't exist at all.
"Whatever. Let's see what the pocket watch and the map have to say."
Li Ke pulled out the map that had allowed him to speedrun the Demon Slayer world. To his disappointment, the map that had worked absolute wonders back then remained completely unresponsive here, devoid of even a shred of magical energy.
Fortunately, his pocket watch pulled through this time.
The compass needle on the watch locked firmly onto a specific heading. Li Ke looked up in that direction, his eyes meeting the vast expanse of the azure ocean.
Evidently, the watch was telling him to cross the sea.
"But is this pointing toward my teammate, or my actual objective?"
Li Ke scratched his head, feeling uncertain.
Still, having a target was better than wandering aimlessly. He opened his inventory backpack, shed his conspicuous Arad Continent attire, and changed into a fresh, ordinary set of clothes.
"Time to go get some cash first."
He took the stairs down from the rooftop and successfully blended into the bustling crowd. After a bit of observation, he managed to piece together a few crucial bits of information.
First, this wasn't the late 2000s like he had initially guessed. It was much earlier—specifically, 1990.
And his location wasn't just any random place; it really was Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the direction his compass was pointing toward was Japan.
Second, he didn't have an ID card. If his clothes hadn't been crisp, new, and clean, and if his overall presence hadn't radiated the sharp energy of an extraordinary martial artist, the local authorities probably would have stopped him for an ID check already.
In other words, traveling by commercial ship using a normal identity was out of the question.
Of course, that wasn't a real obstacle for him. With his physical capabilities and the guidance of the compass, he could easily pilot a small boat to Japan on his own, provided he had enough fuel and rations.
But a glaring issue remained.
He didn't have any Hong Kong Dollars. To make matters worse, exchanging gold required proper identification. When he tried some of the smaller, sketchier jewelry shops, the owners just tried to play him for a fool. If he had a female anchor in this world to bind himself to, Li Ke wouldn't give a damn. But he didn't. If he left this world now, he wouldn't be able to return. He highly doubted the currently braindead 7 Days to Die world had the power to send him back a second time.
As for using his superhuman skills to steal...
He wasn't pathetic enough to prey on ordinary citizens.
"Which means... it's just your unlucky day."
Clutching the gold in his palm, Li Ke observed the bustling crowd. His eyes gleamed with a deep, calculating light as his gaze locked onto a group of local punks. They wore their hair dyed in a vibrant array of obnoxious colors, strutting down the street with a swagger so arrogant you'd think they owned the place.
Whenever senior transmigrators faced financial hurdles like this, they usually turned to characters like these for a quick solution. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him following in their illustrious footsteps, right?
After all, thugs, hoodlums, and syndicates were practically the natural, universal ATMs for transmigrators!
It wasn't like they were going to file a complaint, anyway.
Watching them swagger toward him, Li Ke let out a soft chuckle. He walked right past them, and right on cue, one of the punks—completely ignoring where he was going—slammed right into his shoulder.
Li Ke chuckled again, intentionally making a move to walk away.
Sure enough, an arrogant voice barked out behind him.
"Hey, you! Hold it right there!"
Li Ke fought hard to suppress his grin, maintaining a completely blank expression as he spun around.
"Is there a problem?"
He was already fully prepared to harvest these guys' wallets. His plan was simple: shake them down, find any decent-looking woman to sleep with once to secure this world as an anchor point, and then dive right back into other worlds to restock his inventory.
However, the exact millisecond Li Ke turned around, an overwhelming wave of pure physical pressure washed over the thugs. The lead punk stared at Li Ke's expressionless face, then instinctively clocked the massive slabs of muscle rippling beneath his clothes, his thick, powerful fists, and—most importantly—the massive heavy sword strapped to his back. Even wrapped in thick cloth, its lethal silhouette was impossible to hide.
The alley fell silent. After two agonizing seconds of dead air, the gang leader spoke up, his voice remarkably calm and polite.
"Nothing at all, boss. Just wanted to tell my boy here to apologize to you. The idiot doesn't look where he's walking, you know?"
With that, the punk leader grabbed his lackey by the back of the neck, forced him into a deep bow before Li Ke, and then turned on his heel, walking away without a single backward glance.
As they hurried off, Li Ke could even overhear their frantic hushed whispers:
"Are you a complete fucking moron?! You actually bumped into a mountain like that?!"
"Boss! I was just caught up admiring your magnificent swagger!"
"Look where you're going even if you're admiring me! Look at the size of that absolute unit! Who among us can take him in a fight?! Next time, find a four-eyes for me to bump into! You hear me?!"
...
Li Ke: "..."
Damn it, since when did street thugs have this much situational awareness?!
Li Ke was utterly speechless.
"Forget it. Guess relying on this method for quick cash really is a bit unreliable. I'll just go sell some gold."
Sighing, Li Ke reached into his coat and felt the gun inside his inventory backpack. While going to a sketchy jewelry shop that didn't ask for ID meant he could liquidate the gold, he'd definitely get hit with a massive transaction fee. But since robbing punks had proved to be a bust, selling the gold was his best bet. As long as he flashed the gun, the shopkeeper might still shortchange him a little, but at least they wouldn't try to play him for a total sucker.
Li Ke shook his head, planning to just find another gold shop at random.
But the moment he stepped out of the alleyway, he spotted a familiar face.
To be precise, a familiar face he had seen on a screen.
The man was holding a lighter, walking with a cocky, rhythmic stride. He wasn't even smoking, yet he kept the lighter flicked open, casually playing with the flame as he walked.
Between the effortlessly flowing long hair and that iconic, devastatingly handsome swagger, Li Ke recognized his identity and exactly what franchise he belonged to at first glance.
"Young and Dangerous... Am I in Chan Ho-nam's world?"
Li Ke pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling a massive wave of cognitive dissonance.
He was supposed to be traversing a proper anime universe. How on earth did he suddenly end up in an old Hong Kong movie—or worse, a Hong Kong manhua (comic) timeline?
Yes, a manhua timeline. Because Young and Dangerous originally came from a comic book series. Li Ke couldn't be entirely certain which version this was. After all, the anime worlds he had visited previously were tangible, three-dimensional realities; they looked almost identical to their anime counterparts, just without the exaggerated art style.
So even if this turned out to be the gritty comic book version of Hong Kong, Li Ke wouldn't be surprised.
"Still, if it's the Young and Dangerous universe..."
Li Ke stroked his chin, watching the legendary Chan Ho-nam for a moment. Sure enough, right beside him was Jordan Chan's character, swaggering along with the rest of the boys.
"Wait, what were their names in the movies again? Was it Chicken, or was it Airplane?"
Li Ke wracked his brain, but he had never actually watched the original Young and Dangerous movies; his only exposure to them was through Hong Kong cinema crossover fanfiction.
Shaking his head, he decided to tail the group. He figured he'd just wait until they reached a secluded spot, give them a proper beating, and strip them of their cash.
They were triads, after all. Beating them half to death was basically a public service.
However, right as he was keeping an eye on the crew, someone suddenly approached him from behind.
Li Ke whipped around instantly, grabbing the hand that was about to tap his shoulder. But the moment he registered the man's face, he blurted out instinctively:
"Uncle Jiu?!"
The name caught the man completely off guard. It was only then that Li Ke noticed this version of Uncle Jiu was actually wearing a Royal Hong Kong Police uniform. Before Li Ke could even begin to process what was happening, Uncle Jiu spoke up, looking thoroughly confused.
"Young man, how did you know I'm the ninth child in my family?"
The uniformed Uncle Jiu stared at Li Ke. He was absolutely certain this kid wasn't one of his nephews or younger relatives. There was no way the boy should be calling him 'Uncle Jiu,' especially since they were total strangers.
Meanwhile, Li Ke's mind went completely numb. He was seriously starting to suspect he had been transmigrated into a full-blown Hong Kong Cinema Universe.
But there was a massive problem with that.
I'm supposed to be a regular in the anime world! This is completely off-genre!
Noticing Uncle Jiu's lingering suspicion, Li Ke quickly waved his hand dismissively.
"Oh, uh... I've just heard stories about you."
"Is that so..."
Uncle Jiu remained skeptical, but figuring that anyone who knew his background couldn't be an illegal immigrant, he decided not to press Li Ke for an ID card. Instead, he gave Li Ke a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Those guys over there are all triads. Don't stare at them like that or you'll just invite trouble. Hurry on home."
With that, Uncle Jiu patted Li Ke's arm once more, gesturing for him to move along.
Li Ke naturally played along and walked away. But when he discreetly activated his Observation Haki to sense Uncle Jiu's life force, he couldn't detect a single trace of supernatural energy.
"Strange. What kind of world is this exactly?"
Just as Li Ke was scratching his head in confusion, a stray flyer drifted right in front of his face. Printed on the paper was a notoriously smug, handsome face, flanked by bold characters that read: God of Cookery, Stephen Chow.
"...Yep, it really is a Hong Kong movie universe."
He finally accepted reality. He pulled out his pocket watch once more, only to find that the needle—which had been locked firmly onto Japan just moments ago—had drastically shifted its direction.
"This is..."
Li Ke was completely baffled. Stroking his chin, he finally arrived at a definitive conclusion.
"Screw it, I'm just going to rob these triads for some cash!"
There was no other choice! This world and this mission were turning out to be entirely too bizarre!
Up ahead, Chan Ho-nam and his crew were looking utterly invincible, strutting with a swagger that practically screamed they didn't care if their own mothers recognized them. As they slowly turned into a deserted, narrow alleyway, Li Ke silently shadowed them. The exact moment they noticed his presence, he raised his fists without saying a single word.
Naturally, someone in the crew caught onto Li Ke's intentions. A guy whose face looked incredibly familiar to Li Ke—though he couldn't recall the actor's name—marched right over, pointing a finger directly at Li Ke's nose.
"Hey, puk gai! What do you think you're doing? This is Brother Ho-nam you're looking at!"
Li Ke's only response was a fist to the jaw.
Two minutes later.
Li Ke spat disdainfully onto the ground, looking down at the defeated, groaning Brother Ho-nam sprawled on the asphalt.
"Are you fucking kidding me? There's a whole mob of you, and you can't even scrape together ten thousand bucks? What kind of pathetic underworld syndicate are you running?! Next time I see you, if you still don't have at least ten grand on you, I'm breaking your legs!"