Sizzle~~!!
Dozens of thick, blazing blue lasers exploded from every eyeball on Ivan's body. The terrifying surge of energy flooded the entire stairwell in blinding blue light.
The muscle monster tried to block the barrage with its arms, but they melted away like ice under a blowtorch. It screamed in agony as the beams punched straight through the charred stumps and slammed into its skull with unstoppable force.
Ivan's eyeballs spun at max output. His stamina drained fast, like water pouring out of a broken bucket. The lasers swept downward, completely carbonizing the monster's massive body. The tentacles holding him up finally gave out and snapped back into his spine like retracting rubber bands.
[Fusion Condition Satisfied]
Under the blackened wreckage there was nothing left but a pile of gray ash.
Ivan didn't fuse the ability right away. He stayed still, waiting for his strength to come back.
...
On the other side of the building, Cha Hyun-soo had a bright idea. He made noise on purpose, drawing the Giant-Ear Monster straight to him, then jammed the electrified pipe into it and zapped the fucker unconscious.
He made it safely down to the sibling pair's room. After talking for a bit, he learned the older sister was Kim Su-yeong and the little brother was Kim Young-soo.
"It's not safe here. Come with me," Cha Hyun-soo said, gripping the electric pipe tight. He led the two kids upstairs toward Han Du-sik's room.
Halfway there, the familiar dizzy spell hit him again. Nosebleed started pouring out uncontrollably.
"You want to protect them? Is that what you really want?" a voice whispered right next to his ear.
Veins bulged on Cha Hyun-soo's arm. He suddenly saw a hand resting on his shoulder.
Thick blood gushed from his nose. He clutched his chest in pain and slumped hard against the wall.
" You okay?" Kim Su-yeong shone her flashlight at Cha Hyun-soo, voice full of worry.
Cha Hyun-soo knew his symptoms matched the post exactly. The second he realized he was about to turn, he told the siblings to get the hell away from him and run to Han Du-sik.
Right after he spoke, a monster with pitch-black eyes appeared beside him. It looked exactly like Cha Hyun-soo.
His Desire Mirror smirked. "Yeah, this is who you really are. Always trying to look cool in front of weak people. How's that working out for you?"
Cha Hyun-soo's own eyes started turning black. Flashes hit him hard—slitting his wrists, school bullying, the car crash that killed his parents. The memories dragged him toward the abyss.
The Desire Mirror leaned in closer, whispering with a grin, "Just accept me. I can make everyone you hate disappear. I can give you everything you've never been able to do. You can do whatever the fuck you want. Nothing can stop you…"
Cha Hyun-soo's face slowly twisted into the same vicious smile as the mirror. His lips curled up, showing teeth.
...
At the same time.
Ivan sat on the stairs like he didn't give a fuck, hands dangling over his knees. The panel in front of him showed:
[Gluttony Talent Fusion in progress. Current progress: 4%]
"Interesting," he muttered.
The moment he chose to fuse it, his cells went wild. The change was brutal and raw, but not enough to trigger a nosebleed. His body stayed mostly the same on the outside.
"You really think you can hold back the desire? I am you…"
A version of Ivan with completely black eyes appeared behind him, grinning viciously, hands resting on his shoulders.
The scene twisted.
Ivan in a hospital gown lay in a fancy private room, staring blankly at the TV. His face showed zero emotion—not because he didn't want to, but because the nerves were fucked. Even smiling was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Keeping him alive cost a fortune.
So ever since the car accident, his family had been sucked into a money black hole. Three whole years. They burned through everything they had. Even the head doctor told his parents the chances of him ever recovering were basically zero.
Right now the only thing Ivan could move was his eyes.
By pure luck, one doctor discovered that showing him movies, TV shows, and anime actually stimulated his nerves enough to stop them from dying completely. That's why he'd spent so much time watching all those shows while stuck in that bed.
His biggest desire back then was simple: stand up again and become strong like the protagonists on screen.
Suddenly the voice was back in his ear.
"Three years paralyzed. All you wanted was to get stronger, right? Accept me. I can give you everything you crave. No one will ever hurt you again. You'll stand above everyone. Trust me. I'll give you whatever you want."
The black-eyed version of Ivan grinned at him.
"Are you done talking? You sure love to hear yourself speak," Ivan said.
He spun around, grabbed the mirror by the throat, and slammed it hard into the wall.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He smashed its head against the concrete three times before letting go.
Blood dripped from the corner of the Desire Mirror's mouth, but it still smiled. "Can't bring yourself to kill me? I'm looking forward to our next meeting."
Its body shattered like glass, along with the entire scene, vanishing into thin air.
"Fucking clown. You think you can mess with my head? If you weren't still useful I would've twisted your skull off right there."
Ivan rolled his neck, cracking it loudly. His body started swelling at a visible rate. Thick, bloated muscle packed onto his arms and chest. Rip! His pants tore apart at the seams from the sudden growth.
"Not bad. Just needs a little tuning," he muttered.
He closed his eyes and used the compression ability he'd taken from Gotō. For five straight minutes he crushed and reshaped every new muscle fiber. When he finally opened his eyes, his body had returned to its previous size and shape.
But anyone paying close attention would notice he was way more solid now. The muscle lines were sharper, tighter, and far more defined.
"This isn't some fucking mutation. This is evolution."
Whoosh!
Ivan swung his left hand at the wall beside him. His fingers sank into the concrete like it was soft clay, carving five deep gouges.
"Hunting time," he said, smirking.
His face began to twist and ripple, bones shifting under the skin until he looked exactly like Choi Young-jae.
Time to put some pressure on Cha Hyun-soo. Ivan was extremely curious about the kid's ability. He wanted to know if analyzing him after turning into a special infected would give different, better results. With that in mind, Ivan turned and walked out of the stairwell.
___
A quick peek inside Ivan's past and why he wants to become strong.
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69