Chapter 2: Transmigration
*Gasp!*
A man suddenly let out an audible gasp, his ragged breathing tinged with pain. He then frantically surveyed his surroundings which were supremely unfamiliar to him.
"I-Im..alive..?" he muttered wearily as if talking alone was a herculean task.
Of course, the man was Juanito. He now wore his favorite garb, a casual short-sleeved polo shirt paired with camo jeans, and a pair of sneakers.
After recovering most of his senses and lucidity, he began carefully analyzing his present conundrum.
"Was this a kind of prank from a TV show where they stage an elaborate setup for their episodes?" he surmised despite how unconvincing the idea was.
Not long after, he immediately shot down the notion of such development when a frigid wind furtively caressed his back.
"..huh?"
"How could this be, wintry air amidst summer?" Juanito grimaced, unable to make head or tails of the situation.
From where he came, the blistering heat of summer should be at its peak during this time. It seems that his current predicament was veiled by a thick fog of mystery.
Shaken by the grim realization that dawned upon him, he once again surveyed his surroundings. This time, with fine clarity.
What was displayed in his field of vision was a vast array of fauna ranging from saplings to shrubs, and a cornucopia of trees. Everything around him was lightly stained with the ivory pigment of snow.
Evidently, winter was making its foretold entrance.
And this very fact baffled him, "There are only two possibilities for this occurrence.."
"The events from earlier may perhaps be a sick machination of a group of people, a ploy that involves sending me to a foreign place."
As he held his palm out, he caught a teensy mass of snow. The icy feeling permeating his skin only added to his mounting apprehension.
"..Or was I reincarnated? A different timeline, an alien dimension" he paused as if to absorb the thought then a soft chuckle leaked, "That can't be the case, right?"
As Juanito took his first step into this unknown world, seeking for answers, a benumbing sensation assaulted his mind.
Then after a while, a robotic voice echoed in his head.
"Initiating [The Great Enterprise Venture]"
"Wait..what?" he croaked, stupified by the outlandish anomaly that befell him.
"Rebooting sequence in 3..2.."
"..."
Leaving everything to fate, he closed his eyes, bracing for what was about to come.
"1.."
Thereafter, Juanito's body fell limply on the unfeeling soil beneath him.
***
As though waking up from a long hibernation, Juanito gradually peeled his eyes open. Same scenery, same chilling sensation.
However, his painfully sluggish body was now devoid of lethargy that once inhibited it and was now replaced with an unknown vigor.
Not only that, his vision was augmented to the point of seeing what shouldn't be possible even for the healthiest of human eyes.
He could also distinctly hear even the minute rustling of distant leaves, the croaking of insects, and the gnarls of those who lurked in the shadows.
Unaccustomed to his heightened senses, he felt nauseous as the acids from the pit of his stomach rose to his throat, and predictably-
"Blegh!"
Juanito disgorged a copious amount of internal muck. The odor was impossibly putrid as though his stomach sheltered a rotten animal for days.
He then instinctively backed away to distance himself from the stench although his efforts were in vain. After all, his olfactory senses were now in a completely different dimension.
"...the great enterprise venture."
Recalling the earlier events before he lost consciousness, Juanito could not help but mutter discreetly the words of the robotic voice that popped in his head.
"What was that all about?" he asked himself, still in the dark.
And as if to answer his concerns, a well-designed User Interface was projected in his mind, the likes of which depicted in sci-fi movies set in a futuristic era.
"Are you kidding me right now?!" He yelled, unable to contain his astonishment.
"Isn't this the same as those in cliche transmigration novels which rose into popularity in recent years..ha ha what lame joke..."
He thought with humor, amused with the possibility yet he remained dubious, still.
Regrettably, the series of events only proved otherwise.
His death which still lingered in his soul, the inexplicable world he is in, and the fabled system he currently possess, interweaved together to form a coherent reality.
A once make-believe imagination, now a definitive truth.
Juanito could not help but swallow a mouthful of spit. 'Gulp'.
"No..way.."
His voice quivered, laced with disbelief and trepidation, but most of all, anticipation.
'A second chance', was the first thought that crossed his mind.
'Whether this was a blessing, a spiritual redemption of some sort, or a distorted tragedy to punish a wrongdoer like me..'
With a heavy heart, he began reminiscing about his past.
His indifference towards those he could potentially extend a helping hand. The powerlessness of a complete bystander.
'I'm not one who let an opportunity slip by without reason. Doubly so when there is a mountain of stuff I still want to do..'
He then closed his eyes and grinned mischievously, "..I have yet to get myself a wife, after all"
With his resolve renewed, Juanito began acquainting himself with his sole company in this still obscured world, his system.
As he refocused his thought, the familiar modern UI was once again projected into his mind.
Now he was ready.
[The Great Enterprise System]
Name: Juanito Bezos
Class: Shopkeeper
Store Grade: Uncalibrated. Requirements have yet to be fulfilled. Refer to Journal for further information.
Number of Employees: 1/3
Reputation EXP: 0/1000
Accolades: None
Skills: None
Income / day: Undetermined
As Juanito navigated through the system's UI, a bunch of information was featured in his mind albeit the general stuff only.
'It really is a system. But one that isn't combat-oriented is quite a bummer. I could probably easily plow this land unhindered with a martial system, given I don't opt doing moronic stuff."
"An enterprise? hmm..Supermarket? does that mean I have to eventually build a shopping center of some sort? Wait, how do I even start, peddle some herbs and random merchandise?"
"Reputation, accolades. It even shows how much income I can generate daily. Employees?" he quietly read all the details in front of him and continued with a sulking tone.
"It would be a different story if I am a graduate of business administration and commerce but for an underachiever like me, this is too much.."
An impending headache started to ferment in his skull as Juanito began analyzing his system which only gave a vague description of itself.
He had no exemplary talents to show off nor achievements to his name back in his previous life. All he had was a keen observational skill, a knack for social interaction, and a flair for intimidation tactics.
At one point, he was an infamous gigolo who bedded the wives of renowned executives, dealt with small-sized gangster squads, and some errands operated covertly in the dark.
Of course, all within his bottom line and given the existence of a justifiable reason.
"Running a damn shop..seriously" he sighed.
But when he tried to examine the system in-depth, a small icon situated on the top right corner of the UI caught his attention. The icon read "Notifications" symbolized by an exclamation point in bold red (!).
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone