The original owner of this body was 18 years old and dreamed of becoming a treasure hunter at sea. About fifteen days ago, he accidentally found a treasure.
The first treasure he found in his life not only became his last but also dug a grave for him.
And the treasure was...
Ed fumbled under his pillow and pulled out a dull silver coin.
This silver coin was the treasure.
The coin was tarnished and black, suggesting a long history—though it didn't seem to be a good one, considering this little thing carried death with it. An S-shaped silver snake was engraved on the front, and a three-petaled flower on the back. A deep scratch across the silver snake's head was very conspicuous.
Apart from that, it was just an ordinary "silver snake," a common currency in circulation—if one could ignore the deadly curse it carried.
Although the coin had value, quite a high one, it was nowhere near enough to buy the previous owner's poor life.
"Eight days left... no, seven and a half days left. This is going to be hell-mode difficulty," Ed muttered to himself, staring at the sun hanging in the sky through the window beside his bed.
Who would have thought that this ordinary silver snake in his hand was cursed?
If he had heard a curse mentioned about a coin before, Ed would have just smiled and treated it as a joke, perhaps even giving the informant the middle finger.
But the sudden death of his predecessor was a crucial truth that forced him to take it seriously; otherwise, this silver coin would be more than happy to dig his grave as well.
Fifteen days ago, the body's original owner had dug up this silver snake while following some vague clues from books and local rumors. It had been placed in a small iron box with a sentence engraved on it in creepy handwriting, as if the writer were trying to warn any idiot wanting to open the box that this was not for them.
"Return within seven days and get the treasure. After seven days, die from the curse."
A simple and straightforward sentence, but like any normal person, the original owner hadn't taken it seriously at all. Who would believe such nonsense, even if the sentence was written in a creepy way?
There was nothing related to supernatural power in the original owner's memory. At most, the people in this world seemed to have much better physical endurance than in his previous life—probably because the world was less developed, the food was purer, and there wasn't much adulteration.
Then, eight days ago, the original owner suddenly fell ill. At first, it seemed like a casual sickness that a good night's sleep could fix. But after he went to bed that night and closed his eyes, they never opened again. Ed easily took over the empty body.
There probably wasn't a more painless and quicker way to die. Yet, remembering his own super-painful death and that crazy, hot doctor, Ed felt his blood boil. He couldn't help but punch the bed hard in anger.
After Ed took over the body, the memories integrated very slowly. He only fully recovered all of the original owner's memories last night.
For the past seven days, he had mostly pretended to be sick, hiding in the house and waiting for his memories to fully restore so he could properly judge the situation. The process was extremely boring, so he would only go out to look around after dark. During one of these outings, he met the original owner's crush and, successfully winning her over, although the process wasn't much complicated since he was a person from modern times, it wasn't difficult to fool a widow from ancient times, who always had a good impression of him, so now they are together.
The original owner's death confirmed that the "curse" was real, not a joke, which was obviously not good news for Ed. Seven and a half days had already passed since he'd taken possession of the coin. His time limit had expired, and his ticket to another world—or hell—was already booked. He just didn't know when the sickness or some unexpected accident would send him away.
There was a possibility, of course, that the original owner had satisfied the curse with his pure soul, or that Ed, having just been resurrected in this body, was still in a "beginner's protection period" and wouldn't die in another seven days as described.
But for Ed, who had just traveled across worlds and been resurrected in a corpse, and for whom life was finally on the right track, having a beautiful, honest girlfriend, he didn't dare gamble at all. He didn't want to die yet, under any condition.
The memory of waiting for death for nearly an entire year in a wretched hospital room in his previous life had filled him with despair. How could he just wait to die after finally getting a new life? Especially now that he had such a beautiful and caring lover? For context, Ed had been a 30-year-old virgin in his previous life, spending his years with the help of his own hand and dying to get a girlfriend. Sadly, due to dire financial situations and his poor health, his dream of losing his virginity remained unfulfilled until his death.
But in this new life, shortly after being resurrected, he gave his crush some psychological comfort, made a few promises, and under mental fatigue, she easily accepted his—or rather, the original owner's—feelings. She let him in, and now their relationship was perfect. Most importantly, people in this world were different physically; not only were they stronger, but they also recovered stamina very quickly. Even a guy with a thin physique like him could go for more than three rounds without stopping.
So, even if there was only a 1% possibility of the curse being real, Ed was unwilling to take the gamble. He had to return this damn silver coin, whether the legend was true or false.
Currently, the only way to solve this mess was hidden in the small booklet in his hand.
Ed took a deep breath and began to analyze all the information he knew about this curse, or the treasure for which the original owner had been so desperately searching.
First, according to his memory, this silver coin was part of a larger treasure that belonged to a man called The Magician, Jack.
The original owner had obtained the coin through a clue found in stories. It was just a small piece of the puzzle; only after solving it could he obtain the final treasure. In other words, to lift the curse, he had to find Magician Jack's final treasure and return the silver coin. He might get rich along the way, too.
Ed began to extract information about Magician Jack's treasure from his memory.
Magician Jack, originally named Jack Monk, was born on Golden Wheat Island more than 200 years ago. He went to sea as a young man in search of adventure and opportunity and didn't return until his fifties, by which time he had become famous in the surrounding waters. He was a renowned treasure hunter with the resounding nickname "The Magician."
As a famous treasure hunter, he returned to his hometown in his later years but did not appear to be wealthy; instead, he pretended to be a poor soul who had lost everything and had nowhere else to go.
Naturally, no one believed his nonsense. The people on the island always believed he had hidden his wealth in his hometown.
It was said that he once mentioned in a tavern, while drunk, that he had hidden his treasure on Golden Wheat Island. However, no one had found it in over 200 years, so it had naturally become a legend.
Most residents eventually came to believe he had squandered most of his wealth abroad, returning to his hometown in his old age to wait for the god of death—a very fitting end for someone who had wandered the sea for many years.
Ed looked at the silver snake in his hand. The coin and its curse confirmed the treasure's authenticity. But if possible, he didn't want this kind of wretched treasure at all.
He stood up and walked to the painting on the left side of the room. It depicted an old man wearing a black top hat, his long black hair hanging over his shoulders. His face was unlined despite his age, and he wore typical, formal, yet expensive-looking black clothes.
On his right hand, which rested on his left shoulder, were several rings, none of them simple. If they were placed in an auction house in Ed's previous life, he believed the seller would undoubtedly become a millionaire.
This was a portrait of Jack Monk, an ancestor of the original owner's mother.
The small stone house, which was now in urgent need of renovation, had two small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. It was also the place where the Magician had died. It was hard to believe such a well-known, rich treasure hunter had spent his retirement in such a poor home.
This was why the original owner had such an easy time getting an important clue. After all, this was a family matter; naturally, he had an advantage over others.
Thinking of this, Ed opened the manual in his hand. The thin booklet contained information about several treasures, all collected by the original owner from various places.
"Parker's Golden Cane," "The Lucky Gold Coin," "Markto Shipwreck," and now "Magician Jack's Treasure."
Some of these were treasures from the main island where Ed lived, and some were legends from neighboring islands. They were all popular stories that no one really believed were real. Even if someone did, like the original Ed, who claimed to be a treasure hunter, he wasn't foolish enough to tell others.
In fact, Ed himself thought most of the treasures were fake. The reason he focused on Jack's treasure was that it was his family's, and he possessed more detailed information than outsiders. Several pages at the back of the booklet were filled with clues to Jack's treasure, while the rest contained only simple introductions.
On the page where the next two sections connected, a simple map of Golden Wheat Island was drawn with very basic lines. Two key points were marked with ink dots.
This was the only clue the original owner had left to find the real treasure, and he had been about to explore those places when he met his maker. The original owner was a good boy, so he definitely wouldn't have gone to hell—unlike our Ed from Earth, who had done his fair share of bad deeds. They weren't too heavy, but his ticket to hell had been confirmed long ago.
Ed looked at the map, but three seconds later, he blinked helplessly. He hardly understood anything and didn't have much hope of finding anything from a map drawn by what looked like a child with charcoal. The poor kid hadn't even had money for ink.
[*Ding! System installation complete.]
[Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the Miracle Treasure Hunting System! May our time together be wonderful!]
[*Ding! A Map Detected!]
[Scanning for Treasure...]
[Scanning Completed!]
[Happy Treasure Hunting!]