As the last bullets rattled out of the guns, Queen Maeve picked her moment, ripped the bus door clean off its hinges, and waded into the robbers for some close-quarters ass-kicking.
Screams filled the air. One by one the fake robbers dropped and stayed down, twitching on the floor.
Blitz was the only stubborn idiot who took a couple punches, then tried crawling back up.
Maeve glanced at the hidden camera in the corner. When the director didn't yell "cut," she shrugged and put a little more power behind the next hit.
Thud. Blitz flew through the air and crashed right at Ivan's feet.
"We're all just wage slaves, man. No need to die for this shit," Ivan muttered, looking down at the grinning idiot. He shifted his foot away in disgust. This guy was beyond saving.
Inside the bus, Ivan was now the only one still standing.
"Fuck! I'll avenge you!" Ivan flipped the switch to full drama queen mode. He yanked the knife from his belt, stomped hard on Blitz's right hand, and charged at Queen Maeve with wild eyes like a cornered psycho.
Behind the camera, the blond director watched the take, nodded with satisfaction, took a drag on his cigarette, and pointed at the monitor. "That kid's got decent chops. Throw in an extra steak for him later."
Maeve didn't even bother dodging Ivan's attack. She just stood there.
Ivan put every ounce of strength he had into the stab. The knife didn't even scratch her skin. It felt like trying to cut through solid steel.
He looked up and locked eyes with her brown ones for a split second. The next thing he knew, her hand was around his throat and he was flying sideways.
[Analysis Condition Unlocked. Fuse Swordsmanship Talent?]
Just to be safe, Ivan didn't hit yes right away. He stayed on the floor playing dead like a pro.
Three minutes later the director called it. Shooting for the day was officially over.
All the "corpses" inside the bus suddenly groaned and climbed to their feet, rubbing bruises and bitching.
"How was that? My acting was solid, right?" Hank waggled his thick eyebrows, looking way too proud.
"Getting knocked out by your own crew makes you the traitor of the robbers," Freddie grumbled, still sore from the hit he'd taken from Hank.
"Speaking of acting, check out Blitz. That pain on his face? Oscar-worthy, mate!"
"Fuck off, that was because Ivan stomped on my hand like an asshole," Blitz hissed, blowing on his bright red knuckles.
"No idea if he did it on purpose or not."
Ivan put on his most innocent face, raised both hands, and grinned. "I definitely did it on purpose by accident."
By six o'clock Ivan clocked out right on time — good work ethic and all that. He grabbed dinner on the way and headed back to his room. The second the door closed, he pulled up the panel again.
This time he spotted something new. In the top-left corner of the panel there was a small golden staircase icon.
He tapped it with his mind. A line of text popped up immediately.
[Spend 100 Fantasy Points to travel to a One-Star Fantasy World?]
Is there a big difference between one-star and two-star? Ivan wondered, looking at the second glowing step. The staircase had six levels total. Only the first two were lit up; the rest showed as locked. He figured the restriction had something to do with the main world.
He tapped the plus sign next to "The Boys." A warning flashed right away.
[Player's Fantasy Points insufficient. 10,000 points required to upgrade to a higher-level world.]
After poking around, Ivan realized Fantasy Points only had these two uses and could only be earned inside the main world.
With his current weak-ass level, he had zero chance of changing major events. He wasn't the main character of this show. A normal guy trying to fight supes? Good fucking luck.
Especially after feeling Queen Maeve's insane strength up close.
That experience hammered it in: until he had real power, he would stay the hell away from supes. This was a world where you could get splattered by A-Train just walking down the street.
He finished his dinner, wiped the steak sauce off his mouth with a napkin, and carefully checked the room for cameras.
Nobody was bored enough to watch a male security guard's daily life, right?
"Confirm fusion of Swordsmanship Talent."
The fusion didn't hurt. Ivan just felt itchy all over, and his arms kept twitching with the urge to swing something.
[Swordsmanship Talent fusing… Current progress: 10% (Further analysis locked until fusion is complete.)]
He hadn't expected fusion to be simple copy-paste. It needed time for his body to adapt. Some training would probably speed it up until he reached Maeve's level.
Once the changes settled in his system, Ivan grabbed his phone and ordered three steel swords of different weights on Amazon. The purchase wiped out every last dollar he had saved.
Good thing the job covered food and housing, or he'd be sleeping on the street.
The following days stayed pretty quiet.
He'd seen most of the supes by now, including Homelander, who kept flashing that perfect smile for the cameras and fans. If Ivan hadn't known the original story, he would've thought the guy was the ideal fucking hero.
...
"Fuck you, man. Are you playing some superhero trading card game or what? I lent you twelve hundred bucks last time and it's already gone? That was my pussy fund!" Blitz grumbled as he pulled out his phone and transferred two thousand dollars to Ivan anyway.
Truth was, Ivan hadn't expected sword lessons to cost that much. Three hundred bucks per class, and it wasn't even private.
This world was fucking insane. People worshipped anyone with real power way too hard.
"Shut the hell up, you rich second-generation asshole. Capitalist scum. I'll pay you back as soon as my paycheck hits," Ivan shot back.
Ever since Blitz had invited him over for a "small party," Ivan finally understood how terrifying a die-hard fanboy could be. The guy had at least twenty Queen Maeve statues in his room, plus posters covering every inch of wall space. The most ridiculous one was a limited-edition figure that went for a hundred and twenty thousand dollars online.
"If you ask me, you should quit this security gig and go back to being a rich kid. Might actually have a shot at banging Queen Maeve," Ivan teased.
"You don't get it," Blitz said with a creepy grin. "There's nothing better than being security for Queen Maeve. Especially when I get to block her fans and watch them cry because they can't get close to Her Majesty. That feeling is fucking addictive."
"Bro, you're beyond saving." Ivan shook his head and left the building.
After a full month of training, the panel now showed 97% progress. One more class and the swordsmanship talent should be fully fused.