The Old Baseball Player System

Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

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"Damn it! Hurry up, Carlos!" - A tanned young man with a shaved head said urgently.

"Wait a bit longer, Víctor! We need to grab all the money back, or the boss will be mad!" - Another tanned boy replied as he stuffed wads of cash into a large garbage bag. He looked quite similar to the other young man, with the only differences being his curly black hair and a slightly younger appearance.

These two were brothers, Víctor and Carlos Mendoza. Víctor was the young man with the shaved head, the older one at 17. After their parents died, he took care of his younger brother.

Carlos was the younger one, with curly hair and only 14 years old. Unfortunately, due to life's hardships, he was already involved in the world of crime.

Currently, the two brothers worked for a criminal gang and were in the middle of a robbery at one of their rival faction's bases.

CLANG

"Shit! Run!" - Víctor shouted as he heard a loud metal noise. He grabbed a bag of money while opening the window of the room they were in and watched his brother climb out first.

"There they are!" - An angry man's voice was heard, followed by gunshots.

Bang Bang

"Come on, Víctor!" - Carlos said anxiously as he helped his brother out of the window. The two boys then grabbed a bag of money each and looked into each other's eyes.

"See you at the meeting point!" - Víctor placed his hand on the back of Carlos's head and spoke, looking at his brother. This wasn't the first time they had found themselves in such a situation.

"Hehe, don't worry!" - Carlos said with a grin. When it came to running away, there was no one in all of Venezuela who could catch these brothers. They then ran in separate directions as a man poked his head out of the window.

Bang Bang

"Fuck!" - The man tried to shoot Carlos, but the young boy was simply too fast. Without wasting time, the man shouted: "They're getting away! One went north, and the other went west!"

"Let's go! If they escape with the money, we're dead!" - Another man shouted as he jumped on a motorcycle and revved the engine.

"Move!" - The first man ran and also jumped on a motorcycle parked outside the warehouse. Along with him, five other henchmen mounted their bikes, and the loud roar of engines echoed as they split up, accelerating towards the boys.

Carlos was running with everything he had. The boy skillfully jumped over obstacles, climbed fences, and quickly changed directions, not allowing his pursuers a clear line of fire. However, even though he took a difficult path that the motorcycles couldn't follow, the roar of the engines grew louder, signaling that they were getting closer.

"Damn it!" - Carlos looked ahead and realized he was under a bridge, with no place to hide in sight. The boy heard the engines getting closer, and in a panic, he desperately searched for an exit. Luckily, he spotted a maintenance door about 400 meters away. Without thinking twice, he sprinted towards it.

"There he is!" - One of the henchmen shouted as he turned onto the street Carlos was crossing. He saw the boy near the door and, without hesitation, drew his gun.

Bang Bang Bang

"Fuck!" - Carlos screamed in pain as one of the bullets grazed his arm. Luckily, he managed to get inside the door right afterward. He looked at the dark, damp room he had entered, saw a staircase, and, not knowing where it led, climbed it without hesitation.

"Damn it, follow him!" - Another henchman shouted at the man who had shot Carlos. The man quickly accelerated to the door, got off his motorcycle, and entered the dark room, climbing the stairs in pursuit of the boy.

Bang Bang

The man fired as soon as he reached the top of the stairs and exited through a door. He saw the curly-haired boy running with the garbage bag in his hand.

Fortunately for Carlos, the shots missed again. He was now on top of a bridge, and upon hearing the gunshots, he didn't think twice. He looked down, saw a pile of trash, and jumped without hesitation.

"What the hell?!" - The henchman who had shot at Carlos cursed loudly as he watched the boy jump off the bridge like a madman. He ran to the spot where Carlos had jumped and looked down, but to his surprise, he didn't see the boy lying on the ground broken and bloodied. Instead, he saw the boy getting up as if nothing had happened.

Carlos looked up with a confident smile. He saw his pursuer on top of the bridge, staring at him in shock, and couldn't resist the opportunity to flip him off.

"Son of a bitch!" - The man gritted his teeth and swore as he saw the boy giving him the finger with a mocking smile. He clenched his fists, watching Carlos escape easily.

"Haha, that was easy! I wonder if Víctor has already reached the meeting point?" - Carlos spoke excitedly as he hopped over a fence. Fortunately, the shot he took to the arm was just a graze. He had suffered worse injuries than this, and given that he was carrying millions in a garbage bag, he felt pretty good.

Bang Bang

"Ahhhhhhh!" - Carlos screamed in pain. The moment his feet hit the ground, he heard a loud gunshot behind him and felt an unbearable pain in his left leg.

"Did you really think you could escape with my money, kid?" - A man calmly walked towards Carlos, holding a pistol in his hand. The man was tall and strong, with a shaved head and a thick black beard. He had brown skin and a large scar on his face. This was the first time Carlos had seen this man, but he felt a fear he had never experienced before.

"You're pretty fast. To think you managed to escape from my men." - The man spoke calmly, with a hint of surprise in his voice.

Bang

"Better make sure you don't run off again, right?" - The man fired another shot at Carlos, this time in his right leg, right in the knee.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" - Carlos screamed in pain, clutching his legs as he curled up on the ground. In that moment, he knew this was the end. Many memories flooded his mind, along with countless regrets.

He remembered one specific moment: his mother sitting in the garden with a beautiful smile while he played baseball with his father and brother.

"Bro, I'm sorry. Looks like I'm finally going to stop being a burden to you." - Carlos thought sadly, realizing that after losing their parents, his brother would now lose him too.

"Hey boss!" - Carlos heard a voice. He looked towards it and saw the henchman he had flipped off earlier. Read the full story on m-vl-em-py-r

"You're finally here. And the other boy?" - The man with the scar spoke, seeming irritated at his subordinate's delay.

"The guys managed to catch him. He's already dead." - The henchman spoke, fearing further angering his boss.

"What?" - Carlos screamed in disbelief, tears streaming down his face upon hearing that his brother was dead.

"Tch! You're still alive?" - The henchman was annoyed by Carlos's interruption. Without thinking much, he quickly drew his gun and fired at the boy.

Bang Bang Bang Bang

Just like that, Carlos felt his consciousness fading. In the end, he left this world full of regrets, without being able to make his parents proud, without repaying his brother for taking care of him, and without pursuing his dream of playing professional baseball...

With his vision completely black, feeling his consciousness slipping away, Carlos saw a glowing screen, followed by a robotic voice.

[DING]

[You have been blessed with another chance!]

[Do you accept this chance to become the system's user?

Yes/No]

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Author's note: Please read the author's thoughts, they are important for the story's development!