Chapter 3: Chapter 3: There's No Saving You
As the robbers emptied their clips, Queen Maeve seized the opportunity to rip the bus door off and engage the robbers in close combat.
In no time, the actors playing the robbers were all lying on the ground, motionless, after a series of screams. Only Blitz, having taken a few punches, struggled to get back on his feet. Maeve glanced at the hidden camera in the corner and, seeing that the director hadn't called cut, reluctantly increased her force slightly.
With a loud thud, Blitz was sent flying and landed heavily at Cyrus's feet.
"Why risk your life for a job?" Cyrus muttered, looking disdainfully at Blitz's foolish grin. This guy was beyond saving.
At this point, Cyrus was the only one still standing in the bus.
"Brother! I will avenge you!" Cyrus, fully embracing his inner drama king, drew the knife from his waist, stepped on Blitz's right hand, and charged at Maeve with a crazed look in his eyes, like a desperate man with nothing to lose.
In front of the camera, the blond director watched this scene, nodded in satisfaction, took a drag on his cigarette, and pointed at the screen. "That kid's got some talent. Get him a steak later."
Facing Cyrus's attack, Queen Maeve stood her ground without the slightest intention of dodging. Despite using all his strength, Cyrus's knife couldn't even scratch Maeve's skin; it was like trying to cut steel.
He looked up, locking eyes with Maeve's brown ones, and in the next moment, she grabbed him by the throat and tossed him aside.
[Analysis condition met. Do you want to fuse Swordsmanship Talent?]
To be safe, Cyrus didn't choose to fuse immediately. Instead, he obediently lay on the ground, playing dead.
Three minutes later, the director called it a wrap, and the day's shooting officially ended.
Inside the bus, the previously motionless "corpses" all got up, wincing and rubbing their sore spots while chatting.
"How was my acting?" Hank asked, raising his short, thick eyebrows proudly.
"You must be the inside man among the robbers, getting knocked out by your own team," Fritz, who had fallen on Hank, said irritably.
"Speaking of acting, look at Blitz. That pained expression could win an Oscar."
"Damn it, that's because Cyrus stomped on my hand," Blitz said, rubbing his red, swollen hand and hissing in pain.
"I can't tell if he did it on purpose or by accident."
Nearby, Cyrus raised his hands in a mock innocent gesture and smiled. "I did it accidentally on purpose."
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At six o'clock sharp, Cyrus clocked out on time, demonstrating the good work ethic of a diligent employee. He brought his dinner back to his room and opened the panel again.
This time, he noticed something new: a golden staircase icon in the top left corner of the panel.
When he focused on the icon, a line of text appeared before his eyes.
[Do you want to consume 100 Fantasy Points to travel to a one-star fantasy world?]
"Is there a big difference between one-star and two-star worlds?" Cyrus glanced at the glowing second step of the staircase. There were six steps in total, but only the first two were lit, while the others remained locked. He suspected this limitation was related to the main world.
He clicked the plus sign next to The Boys, and a notification popped up.
[Player's Fantasy Points are below 10,000, unable to access higher-level worlds.]
After some exploration, Cyrus discovered that Fantasy Points had only two functions and could only be earned through the main world. Given his current abilities, significantly influencing events seemed almost impossible—he wasn't the protagonist who could take on superheroes. Especially after witnessing Queen Maeve's insane power, he was more convinced than ever that he shouldn't approach superheroes without sufficient strength. In this world, you could be killed by a superhero just by walking down the street.
After finishing his dinner, Cyrus wiped the steak sauce from the corner of his mouth with a napkin. After carefully checking, he confirmed there were no cameras in his room—no one would be interested in monitoring a security guard's daily life.
"Confirm fusion of Swordsmanship Talent."
The fusion process wasn't painful; Cyrus just felt a bit itchy all over, and his arms had an urge to swing.
[Swordsmanship Talent fusing, progress 10% (Unable to proceed with the next analysis until fully fused.)]
Unexpectedly, fusion wasn't just a simple copy-paste process. It required some time to adapt to his own changes. He suspected that training could accelerate the fusion until his swordsmanship reached Maeve's level.
After adapting to his new abilities, Cyrus pulled out his phone and ordered three steel swords of varying weights from Amazon. This purchase nearly wiped out his savings, but luckily his job provided food and lodging; otherwise, he might have ended up on the streets.
The following days were quite mundane. Cyrus had seen most of the superheroes, including Homelander, who always smiled for the media and fans. If he hadn't read the original work, Cyrus might have thought Homelander was a perfect superhero.
"Are you collecting superhero trading cards or something? That $1,200 I lent you is already gone, and that was my dating fund." Blitz grumbled as he transferred another $2,000 to Cyrus via his phone.
Cyrus hadn't expected swordsmanship lessons to be so expensive—$300 per lesson, and not even one-on-one. It was a crazy world where people idolized those with power.
"Quit messing around, you damned trust fund kid, evil capitalist. I'll pay you back when I get my paycheck," Cyrus said. After Blitz had invited him to a party in his room, Cyrus realized just how terrifying a die-hard fan could be. Blitz's room was filled with over twenty Queen Maeve statues, countless posters, and one limited-edition statue worth $120,000 online.
"You should quit being a security guard and go back to being a rich kid. You might actually have a chance with Queen Maeve," Cyrus joked.
"You don't understand the joy of being a security guard for Queen Maeve. Especially when I stop her fans from getting close to her, it's an indescribable thrill," Blitz replied with a creepy smile.
"Buddy, there's no saving you," Cyrus shook his head and left the building.
After a month of training, the progress bar on the panel had reached 97%. At this rate, he should be able to fully fuse the Swordsmanship Talent after his final lesson.
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Stones?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone