"Catch him! Catch the Black Thief! Seize him!"
It was a desert town named Baghdad, a place filled with many houses. Upon the rooftops of these homes, a 19-year-old boy was running.
He was dressed entirely in black, his face concealed by a black cloth. Behind him, six or seven soldiers were sprinting, desperate to capture him.
"Come on, I am waiting for you," he taunted. "Catching the Black Thief isn't just difficult, it's impossible."
The boy smiled upon seeing the soldiers and kept running, leaping from roof to roof.
I descended to the ground and sprinted into the market. It was incredibly crowded, and I weaved my way through the throngs of people. From behind, the soldiers were closing in, shouting loudly.
"Catch him! Catch him! The Black Thief is getting away!"
I reached a pillar, but suddenly, soldiers surrounded me from all sides, aiming their weapons directly at me.
An eight-foot-tall soldier stepped out from the group; I figured he must be the commander of this unit.
He looked at me, a smile of victory plastered across his face. "Black Thief, Baghdad has placed a prize of 8,000 gold coins on your head. Give us the chance to see your face."
At that moment, instead of being frightened, I smiled. I activated my skill: Phantom Hand.
Instantly, the pouches filled with gold coins from the pockets of every single soldier appeared in my hand. I shoved them aside and took off running from there.
The soldiers I had dodged and fled from suddenly realized that their pockets felt strangely empty. All of them immediately checked their pockets.
"Did this Black Thief steal all our gold coins without us even realizing it?"
"Come on, brothers! Let's put our lives on the line to catch this Black Thief!" one shouted. "If this were just about Baghdad's orders, failing to catch him would only mean getting scolded or perhaps suspended for a few days. But now our own coins have been stolen! What will we tell our wives when we go home? We are done for!"
Thinking this, they began to chase after me again, but what was the use? The Black Thief had already vanished, and in his place, Aladdin had appeared.
Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Aladdin, but this is my name in this life. By that, I assume you have all understood what I mean.
Yes, I am a reincarnator from Earth who has reincarnated into the body of this boy named Aladdin.
In my previous life, I had only heard the name 'Aladdin' from other people. Apart from that, I don't know anything else about this world.
From Aladdin's memories, I learned about his father and mother. His father's name was Cassim, and he was branded a traitor. That was the only information I could find about his father. As for why he became a traitor, Aladdin knew nothing.
However, I suspect that he had discovered a massive secret. Someone likely demanded he share that secret, but when he refused, they framed him as a traitor.
I say this because I watched many movies, dramas, and anime in my previous life that followed similar tropes. But this is just my theory; whether it is true or not, who knows?
As for his mother, her name was Zena. At the time his father was declared a traitor, Aladdin must have been an infant, barely a year old. After Cassim was branded a traitor, his family—meaning Aladdin and his mom—had to suffer through all of this, despite being innocent.
Now, let's speak of Aladdin's father's wealth. All the money and property were seized by Cassim's older brother, Mustapha—Aladdin's uncle. However, the uncle did all this only at the instigation of his wife.
After this, Aladdin and his mother began living in their own home as if they were mere tenants.
From Aladdin's memories, I learned the truth about the uncle, the aunt, and their son. I realized that the uncle wasn't actually a bad person, but he was weak-willed in front of his wife. Their son—Aladdin's cousin—was very innocent and naive. It was only that aunt who was truly evil.
Now, let's talk about Aladdin himself. Seeing his mother's struggles, Aladdin decided to become a thief. He would rob the rich and distribute the majority of the loot to the poor, keeping only a little for himself. Yet, even then, if someone asked him for help, he would give away his own share to the poor as well.
Such a kind-hearted person usually exists only in fairy tales. In the real world, finding such a person is like trying to find a single grain of rice in a haystack.
But I am not like Aladdin. If it were up to me, I would give more than half of the stolen wealth to the poor, but whatever remained would be mine. Even if someone came begging for it, I wouldn't give it up.
You might think that I am doing something wrong, but according to my logic, I am right. I will help them, certainly, but the moment my identity as the Black Thief is exposed, no one will remember this help. Perhaps a few children and elderly people might raise their voices in my defense, but they too will soon forget me.
So, why did I decide to distribute the money at all? You might be wondering.
My answer is simple: even if the money comes from the rich, it is still stolen wealth. If I kept all this wealth with me, I would constantly be haunted by the fear that someone might steal it from me. That is why I do this.
Besides, some of the money would just run out in a few days anyway.
Now, a question must be nagging at you: since I am a reincarnator from Earth, why don't I use my modern knowledge to earn money, become rich, and quit stealing?
My answer is that I was thinking the exact same thing. However, I acquired a system, and because of it, I could not give up the life of a thief.
It happened a few days ago. I received a system known as the Black Thief Blessing System.
From the name alone, you can guess that this system is entirely related to thievery.
This system possesses three functions:
The first is the ability to view anyone's information.
The second function works like this: if I decide to steal a specific item, the system converts that intent into a mission. Once I complete the mission, I am awarded 'Thief Points' and a random reward.
The third function is the Store, from which I can purchase anything—provided I have enough Thief Points.
To be continued...