"You can die now."
New York street. Those were the first words out of Ivan Greevs' mouth when he saw the doppelganger.
The poor bastard nearly shit himself. He was already squeezing out a few fake tears, ready to beg for his life.
Then Ivan switched gears. "You don't have to keep pretending to be Translucent anymore. This afternoon I'm announcing his death."
"Whew! So you meant that.." The doppelganger wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and let out a massive sigh of relief.
Thank fuck. As long as he wasn't getting killed, everything was fine. He instinctively glanced down at his chest where the remote bomb was still planted. At this point he'd rather piss off Madeline than cross Mr Greevs.
"Memorize my face. Starting today, you're the head of Vought's Talent and Public Relations. I've already prepped all your work files. Contact me the second anything comes up." Ivan planned to push the fusion all the way to 100% before the day was over.
The panel popped up in front of him.
[Laser Eyes (Blue) Talent Fusion in progress. Current progress: 74%]
Even though it hadn't been a full week since his last dose of Compound V, half the drug had already burned out of his system. At full power it should be more than enough to finish the fusion.
"But I can't just vanish into thin air," the doppelganger said, looking uneasy. "What if Madeline comes looking for me?"
"I've already handled it. After playing Translucent for so long, Madeline decided to reward you with two weeks of paid vacation. Right now you're supposed to be sunbathing in the Maldives."
"Wish that was actually true," the doppelganger muttered.
"Of course. I don't like forcing people to do shit they hate. If you don't want the job, no problem. I can buy you a one-way ticket to Green-Wood Cemetery instead. Nice scenery, very peaceful. Perfect place to settle down permanently."
The doppelganger shivered like someone had poured ice down his spine. He nodded frantically. "It's my honor to work for Mr. Greevs. I was just joking earlier. Please don't take it seriously."
"Fifty grand. That's your cut." Ivan pulled out his checkbook, scribbled a number, tore it off, and handed it over. "Don't worry. It's registered. You can cash it anytime."
"Thanks." The second the doppelganger saw the amount, every trace of resentment vanished. His whole attitude flipped to ten times more respectful than before.
When he ran errands for Madeline he usually got a measly ten or twenty thousand. Ivan threw money around like it was nothing. It honestly made him a little nervous.
"You're a smart guy. I trust you know how to improvise. Just don't fuck it up." Ivan gave the doppelganger a firm pat on the shoulder.
The guy bowed slightly, grinning like an idiot. "I'll give it everything I've got."
Then his face changed. In a blink he looked exactly like Ivan.
"Very professional," Ivan said, opening the car door. He climbed into the pickup and drove off toward the villa on the outskirts.
"Best of luck, Mr. Greevs."
The doppelganger watched the truck disappear down the street, then pulled the check out again and stared at it with pure greed.
...
Inside the villa.
Ivan stripped off his shirt. Twelve scars, each the length of a baby's thumb, ran across his arms, neck, and back.
Suddenly every scar split open. Twelve living eyeballs popped out and drank in the entire room.
[Laser Eyes (Blue) Talent Fusion in progress. Current progress: 79%... 81%....]
[Laser Eyes (Blue) Talent Fusion in progress. Current progress: 83%.... 85%...]
[Laser Eyes (Blue) Talent Fusion in progress. Current progress: 90%.... 94%...]
...
Each vial of Compound V he drained pushed the numbers up at ridiculous speed.
At the same time the eyes all over his body started glowing. The blue grew brighter and brighter until they burned like perfect sapphires.
"Too bad. Still two percent short."
The moment his cells started screaming warnings, Ivan cut off the Compound V intake. The fusion bar froze at 98%.
"Only two percent left. I can finish that myself in no time."
The eyeballs on his arms suddenly fired four bright blue laser beams that instantly shattered and melted the empty glass vials.
"Alright. Target set: one-star fantasy world."
The panel flashed.
[Confirm consumption of 100 Fantasy Points to enter a one-star fantasy world?]
"Confirmed."
The floating panel exploded into countless rays of light that wove together into a brilliant white orb. The strands of light then unraveled one by one and wrapped around Ivan's body.
He didn't hesitate. He reached out and grabbed one of the glowing threads.
The second he touched it, the light spun around him once and plunged straight into his chest.
The bright orb reshaped itself back into the panel.
[Fantasy World: Sweet Home]
[World Level: One Star]
[Stay Duration: 5 months]
[Friendly reminder: Time flow in the fantasy world is 150:1 compared to the main world]
Ivan's body in the living room broke apart into countless sparkling particles and vanished like bubbles.
...
"So this time I'm a dissection doctor."
Ivan adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, wearing a crisp white lab coat. He looked up at the rundown apartment building with the faded sign that read "Green Home."
The fake memories flooded his mind. He had been a well-known surgeon back in France, but a major medical scandal destroyed his reputation, drained his bank account, and left him with nothing. With only a few bucks left, he crossed the ocean and moved into this shithole apartment in Seoul.
"Pretty fucking rough life this guy had."
The implanted memories didn't give him any real medical knowledge, only perfect Korean.
"Hey, is that Dr. Greevs?" The security guard trimming the lawn waved at him with a big smile. He'd obviously been told about the new tenant already.
"The air's a lot fresher out here than in Seoul."
"Yeah, the building's old as shit, but the surroundings are decent." Probably because Ivan was a doctor, the guard treated him with extra respect.
Just then, a curly-haired teenager with a laptop bag slung over his shoulder walked toward the apartment. Head down, looking like the whole world bored him to death.
As he passed close to Ivan, the guard's lawnmower suddenly jammed. A sharp metal shard shot out like a bullet. Ivan smiled and simply leaned aside. The piece of metal whistled right past the kid's face and buried itself deep into a wooden sign.
That fragment had missed Hyun-soo's skull by less than an inch. The boy had just walked past the Grim Reaper without even noticing.
"Shit! Sorry, you two!" The guard rushed over, face pale. "Dr. Greevs, I'm so sorry! I don't know what the hell happened. This isn't even my job, but the other guys are all off on weekends so I had to do it myself. Almost caused a real mess there."
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Sweet Home 2020 ‧ Korean Horror Series (Netflix)
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69