In a scientific facility within the headquarters of the South Korean army, the white, sterile light of the fluorescents illuminates the environment.
Robert was lying on a stretcher in a medical diagnostic room, surrounded by advanced equipment and staff in white coats.
The machines' soft hum and the technicians' murmur filled the air as they prepared for Robert's monthly check-up.
The stretcher was slowly pushed toward a large circular machine in the medical station's center.
The doctors and technicians around him adjusted the controls and spoke quietly about the scanning parameters. Some wore army symbols, indicating the importance of this study.
The head of the team, a middle-aged doctor with a focused expression, approached the young man - "We're ready, Robert. It'll be like always, don't worry. Just stay still and relax"
"No problem, doctor"
Robert nodded, already accustomed to this monthly ritual. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the stretcher moved slowly into the machine.
Brrrumm
Clack, Clack, Clack
The sound of the motors and the soft click of the gears indicated that the process had begun. Inside the machine's tunnel, lights flickered, and the sensors began to collect detailed data about his body.
Every month, these studies allowed the medical and scientific team to monitor changes in his physiology, looking for any sign of adaptation or alteration due to his extradimensional origin.
For Robert, however, this was a mere waste of time, as the results would not reveal anything new that he didn't already know about his own body, thanks to the system.
Ding, ding, ding
[Status]
>Basic Information:
Name: Robert Jovanovich-Lee.
Age: 19 years.
Race: Human (90%) / Transcendent (10%)
HP:250 MP:440
Strength: 150 Agility: 140 Vitality: 750
Intelligence: 65 Perception: 75 Fatigue: 0
Average human value: 10
Additional points: 55
>Passive Abilities:
[Unknown max lvl.: no information available at the moment]
[World Traveler lvl 2: a passive ability that allows you to travel between different realities on a round trip. Can only be used once a year]
[Unbreakable Spirit lvl 1: due to your resistance to death, whenever your HP is below 30%, all damage received is reduced by 50%]
[Immaculate Body lvl 2: due to your nature as a Transcendent, contaminants of this world, whether biological or not, can do nothing against your body. You can control this response at will]
[Advanced Combat Arts lvl 3: due to your previous life and new training, you are versatile in the use of mixed martial arts in hand-to-hand combat]
[Vitality Absorption (locked): allows you to replenish your own vitality at the expense of the life and fluids of surrounding living beings to reconstruct your own body. Only activates in critical moments]
[Inner World Access – lvl 1: now you can store objects from your world or other worlds within a personal space of the host. Capacity: 10 cubic meters]
>Active Abilities:
[Sprint lvl 2: due to your daily training, every time this ability is activated, your movement speed increases by 100%. Maintaining it active costs 5 MP per minute]
[Body Resistance lvl 2: you can reduce fatigue by one point for each MP point consumed, and also increase HP by one point at the same time]
[Bloodthirst lvl 2: due to the host becoming a killer, their aura becomes heavy, intimidating their opponents. When activated, the target loses 50% of all attributes for 60 seconds. Cost for 60 seconds: 50 MP]
'Well, it seems that things have gone well after all. I managed to accumulate a considerable amount of points, and some of my abilities leveled up… I think these days have been positive'
Robert mentally murmured as he thought about everything that had happened during his time in this world.
It's been almost a year since he arrived in this reality, and although it was chaotic at first, he now led a quieter life in high school, with a bit more than two months of routine and normalcy.
While he had developed well in terms of his statistics, Robert thought he still had a long way to go if he wanted to reach his limits.
That's why he still actively participated in the various incursions that the army's special units carried out in secret to eliminate the monsters that continued to appear throughout the country.
However, this had only happened a couple of times, so his growth had stalled. Moreover, the system had not given him any missions to gain more points.
When he asked why he wasn't given any training missions or something similar to earn points, the system told him that new missions would be given soon and that he first needed to adapt his body to the recent improvements because if his stats increased, his body wouldn't be able to handle it.
The evolution of his body was determined by his evolution as a Transcendent.
Robert smiled, remembering that no matter how many questions he asked the system about the meaning of his new nature, the system kept saying he still wasn't at a high enough level to know.
He was sure it was a damn joke from the old man who made him transmigrate to this world, that damn old man was surely having fun watching him develop his life in this reality.
But no matter how much he wanted to do something to prevent it, he knew he didn't have enough power to do anything about it, at least not yet.
'I wish you were dead, damn old man… I don't feel comfortable knowing you're watching'
Robert gave a bitter sigh, trying to stop thinking about it and focus on his plans.
Concerning his daily life, high school was by far the place where Robert had become most popular.
Breaking Gunner's face two months ago had catapulted him into the eyes of all the students, turning him into a sort of 'boss' of all the students.
However, his popularity was not so much because he had taken down the school's main bully, but because, unlike Gunner, he didn't waste time bothering other students and kept control over the rest to prevent them from abusing each other.
Did Robert do this because he was a good person? Of course not. There were two reasons why he kept the school's bullies in check.
The first, and most important, was the image he wanted to project. Korea is a place where image matters, especially if your goal is to become one of the biggest celebrities in the entertainment world.
The big entertainment moguls were not exactly saints, but they fought to maintain an image that made them look that way, investing a lot of money to cover up their fetishes and personal issues.
Even a problem that occurred in high school could have a substantial impact on the image of anyone involved in this type of business.
The other reason, and the most important to him, had to do with the girls who were part of his school group.
His relationship with Mia Woo was going very well. The girl's feelings had matured and strengthened, even overcoming the insecurities of sharing Robert with other women.
Mia had shown him her love and understanding, allowing him to explore his interests without restrictions. Because of this, Robert felt like the luckiest bastard in the world.
The boy smiled thinking about this, as Mia had repeatedly hinted that she wouldn't be surprised if at some point her two new friends also became Robert's new girlfriends.
And she wasn't wrong.
His greed and desire to have more drove him to keep the idea of being in a relationship with Anna and Sophie.
He knew that Mia had accepted this part of him and would have no problems pursuing these desires. Each of these girls represented a different aspect that he longed for, and his heart, although divided, felt that it could handle them all.
Moreover, both Anna and Sophie had become so close to him that it was evident they were beginning to behave in ways that conventional friends wouldn't.
This was especially the case with Anna, as the energetic and cheerful girl with black hair was much more direct in expressing everything she felt was appropriate, the things she liked and those she didn't.
Sophie, on the other hand, was still reserved. She had integrated into the group, and it was also evident that she was feeling something more than friendship for Robert.
However, she still had a small internal guilt about past events. Not against Robert, but directed at the guy who left and abandoned her, causing her emotional conflict.
For Robert, this was not a problem, as he could work slowly and moderately to cultivate the necessary feelings to completely conquer the hearts of both girls in the same way he did with Mia.
'Ah... I have become very emotional' - the boy sighed - 'To think that the piece of humanity I lacked in my past life I found in this world.'
Robert was aware that he was experiencing feelings that had been foreign to him in his other life. Maybe it was because he was not only the Robert from the past but was now in a new world, with a new body, and perhaps all of this had influenced his current way of thinking.
However, this wouldn't interfere with his way of being and thinking. While he was getting used to this peaceful life, he would not soften or falter in his desire to reach the pinnacle.
He had to take advantage of everything at his disposal to start laying the foundations upon which he would build his well-being in this world. He needed to start creating his own company.
There was just one small detail: he still lacked a lot of money and contacts to do so.
Of course, Robert had quite a bit of clandestine income from the various bets that he made through his collaborators.
Or rather, the women who were crazy about him after he had fucked them until they were completely stupid, who were willing to trust him and place those bets.
Nevertheless, that was nowhere near the amount of money needed to start an entertainment company. He needed a venue, staff, publicity, and above all, the face of a known personality to serve as a hook.
Although he intended to turn Mia into a superstar, that was a long-term plan. For now, he needed someone already recognized within his ranks to start this business.
Moreover, above all else, Robert knew that the most fundamental thing to succeed in this world was to secure strong backing, a powerful guarantor who would serve as insurance for investors to bet on his company.
This was the cornerstone of such a competitive and fierce business.
'Hmm, if I ask old man Kim for help, he'll most likely tell me to go to hell. The director of the NIS would surely offer to support me if I became his lab rat… Maybe if I go to the SW Group? Ijin could make the connection'
His mind wandered to his friend Ijin, the teenage mercenary. He remembered how Ijin had always been a serious boy with very few words. However, in recent months, he had noticed a change in him.
Ijin was getting closer and closer to Yuna, the granddaughter and heir of the SW Group. Although it might not seem like it because of how he sometimes teased him, Robert was happy about this. He saw how Ijin smiled more often and started to make good friends in his class.
This change made him happy, as he knew how difficult it had been for Ijin to adapt to a more normal life, away from the dangers and loneliness of being a mercenary.
'No, I won't get him into trouble for now… let's think of something else.'
Brrrumm
With a final hum, the machine shut down, marking the end of the study.
"Alright, Robert, the exam is over. You can come out now" - a doctor approached to pull the stretcher out of the donut-shaped machine.
Robert got out calmly and asked the same question he always did, knowing he would receive the same answer - "Thanks, doctor. How did everything go?"
"Everything seems to be in order so far, but we need to analyze the results more thoroughly. I suggest you go to the waiting room and relax while we review the complete data. Then, the general will call you," the doctor replied, checking the screen of the tablet in his hand.
"I understand. I'll be in the waiting room until the old man deigns to receive me"
The doctors just smiled at the boy's sarcastic tone, knowing the type of relationship he had with the General Commander of the Army. To everyone present, Robert was perhaps the only person in the entire country who would dare to speak to him that way.
So Robert left while his mind was still flooded with many ideas and plans for his future