Beginner's Luck

Agatha felt like her lungs were set on fire. At first, they were burning. But then a moment later, she felt a suction.

No!

This was more like tagging

She thought. It was like her soul was being ripped out of her body and the excruciating pain accompanied by this was unimaginable. She could swear that it was the most painful thing she ever felt in her entire life.

As this sensation continued, she almost prayed for heaven to grant her a  quick death instead.

Phew!

At last, Agatha escaped her dreamland; a nightmare if you may...

She woke up drenched with cold sweat.

"Thank goodness it was just but a dream. I almost thought I'll be a goner back there."

Agatha thought out loud. Her dream was so vivid she could almost argue it happened for real.

She waited for her ragged breath to return to normal and when she finally recovered she decided that she have to call the police and tell them what had happened.

"I had to expose my cheating husband about his affair. I'll put them both behind bars. I will make him and his mistress regret ever betraying me."

She spat those words through gritted teeth. However, before she could even take a single step away from her bed, she heard someone call her name.

"Ms. Moore. You are awake!"

Forcing a smile, Agatha turned on her heels to face the other party.

"Yes."

She answered. However, as soon as she heard her voice, she was befuddled. The voice that came out from her did not sound anywhere near her own voice. It was as though someone else had spoken in her stead. Yet, before Agatha could even make sense of what was happening, a bout of pain came crushing her head it was accompanied by a foreign memory that came flooding her brain without a warning.

The splitting headache made her stagger backward and it became a good thing that someone was present when it happened as she was assisted back to her bed.

It only goes without saying that the girl was confused as hell how did she manage to acquire another set of memories from a girl that goes with the exact same name as hers; Agatha Moore.

Apparently, Agatha learned that she did die but not entirely since as it turned out, it seemed that her soul managed to slip into a new body that also died at the same time as she did.

The cause of death of this 'other' Agatha Moore, on the other hand, was drowning after she jumped off a bridge.

The girl shared not only the same age but also the name. They were almost the same person. However, unlike her, the girl was not blessed to have fortunes. On the contrary, she was even debt-ridden which led her down the road of depression.

The overwhelming pressure of unpaid debts left to her by her gambling father on top of the stress from being bullied in school, as well as the constant threatening message the loan sharks used to send her finally took a toll on her mental health, and eventually, she tried to take her own life by jumping to her watery grave. This in return gave Agatha's soul an opportunity to slip into a new body and have another lease of life.

"Judging by busy people in scrub suits walking to and fro, I guess it's safe to assume that I'm in a hospital  right now."

She deduced after observing the people around her as well as the hospital gown that she was wearing.

In her opinion, there was a high chance that she was sent there to receive medical help after being rescued from her suicide attempt.

"Since you are finally awake, we can now discharge you. Kindly settle your account. The cashier is at window 3."

The nurse informed Agatha before taking his leave.

"Wait!"

She called him up and when the other party turned to face her, she asked him.

"Where can I use a phone? As you see, I needed to make a phone call to inform my guardian about what happened."

She insinuated, so the nurse pointed her toward the phone service nearest to their current ward.

"Thank you."

Agatha mumbled her thanks before she walked away. The girl was just about to start dialing when she fell silent for a moment. Standing before the landline, she realized that she had no other contact.

Well, except for Jerome and Stacey who, of course, would be the last two people on her list if she wanted to call someone right now.

After all, it was not like she could expect them to help her. They were the ones who tried to kill her with toxic fumes, in the first place.

Besides, she was no longer the same Agatha Moore they used to know. As crazy as it may sound, she was now residing inside a different body.

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Agatha tried to think of a better way how she could settle her payment and leave the hospital with no issue. But after a long moment of contemplation but still coming up with nothing at all, Agatha was left with no choice but to flee. 

"This won't do. I had to leave now or else, I might risk having someone take notice of me and put me under surveillance."

When this thought occurred to her, she planned her escape right away. 

She could only thank heaven later on for the fact that she was blessed with a petite and slender body. This proved to be useful in helping her slip through the gap of an open window without any problem. She was able to escape the hospital in no time with no one noticing her.

Agatha wandered around the street in the middle of the night, unsure of what to do next. The girl walked aimlessly with only the moonlight illuminating her path. She has nowhere to go.

"No wonder my dreams felt so real. Something inexplicable indeed happens to this body."

She unknowingly muttered under her breath. She could not help but let out an exasperated sigh whenever she was reminded of her current situation. But then after a short while, her face lit up when another idea crossed her head.

"Right! Why haven't I thought about it before? I could just spend the night in this girl's house and decide what to do next tomorrow."

With that thought in mind, Agatha started making her way ‘home'.

By the time she arrived in a rather run-down apartment complex, she somehow felt weird being so familiar with the unfamiliar place. She was sure she had never been there before. But at the same time, she also had a faint memory of another Agatha Moore living in this shabby place.

"Hello, is there anyone home?"

She called out to the empty room just to make sure because she found that its door was unlocked. 

Agatha was not yet done making peace with her new identity when out of nowhere, three burly men approached her from behind and one even grabbed her hair.

"Gotcha!"

Said the man who held her by her hair. 

Apprehension welled inside Agatha as soon as she recognized the face staring right before her

 It was Julius! Right behind him was their leader, Marcus, and the other bald one who she forgot the name of. They were the same people who had been terrorizing her these past few days; threatening to bring her with them the next time they see her if his father still failed to pay his dues.

From what she could understand, these loan sharks had been looking for her father for ages because of the unsettled debts he had left on their tab. But since they could not seem to contact him anymore, they came after her instead.

Out of reflex, Agatha subconsciously swung her legs towards the man's groin and when she hit him on the spot that hurt the most, he was forced to let go of her in an instant. The man named Julius dropped to his knees, holding a spot between his legs.

It was not her intention to kick the other party on his balls, and in fact, she was not sure either where she got the guts to do that.

Concerned, she reached out to him and asked,

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry. I promised I didn't mean it."

She sounded like she was really on the verge of crying this time. But her apology fell on deaf ears because before she could even understand what was coming to her, she saw a hand flying towards her face.

Apparently, the same man she just almost crippled used the back of his hand to slap her. Almost immediately, a strong metallic taste filled her mouth, and blood dripped from the corner of her lips.

<System: Dear Prospective Host of Promiscuity System. Would you like to activate 'Beginner's Luck'?>

Out of nowhere, this text flashed right before her eyes. But the pain made Agatha disoriented thus rendering her unable to make total sense of what was happening.

She felt like crying but the pain that assaulted her next made her swallow her tears back. Agatha could only inhale sharply as she received countless kicks on every part of her body. The relentless kicks rained on her as if these men were determined not to leave a single part of her unscathed.

<System: I suggest you permit Beginner's Luck activation now.>

The disembodied voice tried its best to make Agatha respond but it was to no avail and his frustration was growing as he feared that he might lose his hard-to-come-by host.

<System: Grant the damn permission! You dimwit! Or else you will die!>

For the past five minutes, only the sickening sound of feet sinking to a flesh could be heard inside the dark and empty room. However, in the girl’s semi-conscious state, Agatha finally heard the voice inside her head that has been trying its best to talk to her.

<System: You dolt. You will die twice today unless you accept my help.>

"Who are you?"

Agatha asked back but the other party refused to answer this question and brushed it off instead by saying,

<System: My identity is the least of your concern right now. We have plenty of time to get to know each other as long as you survived tonight.>

The system snapped because the fact that he has all the means to wipe out their enemy in a blink of an eye yet they were still helpless against the situation because his host was so clueless and slow, irked him the most.

Meanwhile, by the time the men grew bored of beating the girl, Agatha's state was no better than a used rag. They left her body lying on the cold floor before they moved away, but not too far. She could still hear them and they were muttering something as though they were in the middle of a discussion. So with all the remaining energy left in her, she tried to make out the words from what they were saying

"You overdid it again, Julius."

Tsking in annoyance, the de facto leader of the three reprimanded one of the guys. His gaze was unnaturally cold as he stared at the limped body of a lady lying in her own pool of blood not too far away from where they were standing.

Judging from his action, it was clear for all eyes to see that this kind of gruesome sight was not enough to faze him.

"Miss Jensen specifically instructed us to escort this one to the den. As she will serve as payment of her father's debt."

He continued when Julius said nothing and another man seconded him.

"Marcus is right. What do you think Boss will do to us once she learned that we damaged her good?"

Unease was clearly written on the man's face when he said those words and his fear was contagious as it quickly spread within the group of three. They shared the same fear-stricken expression when they were reminded of their boss' instructions.

Jensen was a female syndicate involved in a flesh business that sells pleasure amongst the higher echelon of society. Her surname alone was more than enough to instill fear in these big and strong men.

"What if we throw her body into the river and made it look like she committed suicide?"

Julius suggested and after a short while of no one making a sound, they came into a silent agreement.

When Agatha saw one of the guys bending down to pick her up, she whispered softly,

"Help me."

Meanwhile, that was all the system was waiting for. Right after saying those words, Agatha felt a surge of energy coursing through her body. Healing all the injuries she had sustained from the previous beating.

Just a while ago, she was almost pummelled to death and her sorry state would be proof of that as she was still covered with blood. Nonetheless, she was no longer in pain. She could not tell what kind of sorcery it was, but it was as though the beating never happened. If anything, she even felt reinvigorated right now.

Ding!

[Beginner’s Luck Activated]

Trial Card: Silver Tongue

System Notice: This item is expendable, meaning it can only work once! Are you sure you want to unlock it?

“Yes!”

Her response came shortly afterward. Albeit, unsure how things work, Agatha, still answered mentally.

System Introduction: Silver Tongue will give the user exemplary eloquence that will help her get around in any situation.

~

Meanwhile, Agatha had spoken her words barely in a whisper. But even though her voice was weak, Julius who was just a few inches away from her face at that moment was still able to hear it.

Likewise, for a reason unknown even to himself, when Julius heard the other party’s voice he felt compelled to give in to her words of plea and soon after, his expression softened and it almost looked like she triggered something inside him. Very carefully, akin to handling a very fragile item, he carried Agatha in his arms and he took her inside a room. Afterward, he put her on the bed, gingerly, as though he was afraid Agatha might break into pieces.

On the flip side, the man’s colleague both watched everything unfold right before their eyes with great astonishment which was to be expected since they noticed how their friend was acting strange. The way Julius was acting, was a complete contrast to the brutal man he was just a while ago. It was as if he was not the same person anymore and if someone would claim that another soul had taken possession of his body, Marcus and the other other lad with him would readily believe it.

Unable to tolerate this farce for much longer, the leader grabbed Julius on his shoulder in an attempt to pull him back to reality.

“What’s your deal, man?!”

But when Julius turned around to face Marcus, he was sporting a conflicted expression.

“Let us spare the girl.”

He insinuated with a tone that sounded like he was pleading rather than stating an idea.

“Get your act together, Julius. Aren’t you the one suggesting putting an end to this and making it look like the girl killed herself? It was your idea and we will just go along with it.

The third guy interjected and stated his argument when he realized that Julius was starting to chicken out.

“Yes, I do get your point. But we all know that it is not a guaranteed foolproof plan either.”

Julius retorted and before the third guy could even counter his words, Marcus already intervened to stop them.

“.Enough, you two. There is no point arguing about this.”

He concluded before he turned to Julius and asked,

“So what do you suggest we should do to her instead?”

Yet before Julius could even respond to this question, Agatha already outdid him.

“Give me three days.”

Everyone whipped their head in her direction when they heard her speak.

“I will get you the money in three days' time.”

Agatha knew deep inside her that it was an empty promise. She had no means to produce that kind of money. However, she also has no other choice but to spout blatant lies. After all, she would rather be a living liar than be a piece of honest dead meat.

Needless to say, the other party’s unusual behavior initially put Agatha in a state of confusion. But eventually, the idea occurred to her that most likely than not the Trial Card she recently acquired was behind this. She could only imagine the mysterious being that had been lending her its aid, pulling some string behind, yet again.

“Three days is nothing. We can always track her back if she dared to escape.”

Julius insinuated; almost seconding Agatha. On the other hand, when Agatha noticed the other two’s reluctance to accept the idea, she proceeded to plant a seed of doubt in their minds.

“Besides, who was to say that you guys won’t get implicated if I were to go missing?”

Agatha was making a good point and Julius knew that. So when his colleague remained silent, he expressed his agreement.

“She’s right. With Ms. Jensen’s temper, I am sure she won’t let this mistake slide, unpunished. The girl is under our jurisdiction, after all. Moreover, we, more than anyone, should know how our boss does her business. She will definitely not leave us unscathed. If we were lucky, we could just lose our job, but what if she is in a bad mood today and we end up losing our neck instead? It will be too late for regret by then.”

Marcus was speechless because their argument was making a very good point. Yet, a small voice inside his head was telling him that it will never end well for them.

At this point, Agatha was already on her feet. But she still kept a safe distance between her and the other three.

“With my current state, I am certain that you can’t risk bringing me because if that were to be the case, I will be nothing but damage good. A liability. Wherever it was that you are planning to take me, they will have no use for me given my condition. But if you guys were to kill me now, then you will surely be up for some trouble later once you face your Boss’ wrath for failing to retrieve her goods.”

Agatha could tell that their resolve were starting to waver upon being reminded of their unknown boss. So she continued to convince them that the best plan was to let her go for now.

“Rest assured that I will nurse myself back to health within the duration of those days as well. So that, if you have to retrieve me next time, I will be in good shape and you will have nothing to worry about. Release me now, and you will have nothing to lose.”

Mustering all the conviction she could, Agatha declared those words. Thankfully, her confidence managed to win over the fellas. They contemplated her words in complete silence and after exchanging glances, the leader spoke.

“Alright, we’ll be back in three days and we expect to have yourself ready by then. It’s either you or your money that we will be taking.”

With that, the three departed leaving Agatha on her own.

“I didn’t expect they were this easy to talk to. The negotiation went so smoothly.”

<System: Nah. If not for your trial card, I doubt that talking them out of your murder will work. Just consider yourself blessed because not everyone gets to have a chance to receive my help. Today is your lucky day.>