As the bullets in the robbers' guns were emptied, Queen Maeve seized the opportunity, tore open the bus door, and began engaging the robbers in close combat.
Soon, amid screams, the actors playing the robbers fell to the floor one after another, lying motionless.
Only Blitz struggled to get up after taking several punches. Seeing this, Queen Maeve glanced at the hidden camera in the corner. Since the director had not called "Cut," she slightly increased her strength.
Poof. Blitz was sent flying with a punch, crashing heavily at Silvain's feet.
"Why risk your life when we're all just trying to make a living?" Silvain said, moving his foot in disgust at Blitz' silly grin. This guy was beyond saving.
At that moment, Silvain was the only one left standing on the bus.
"Brothers, I will definitely avenge you!" Silvain instantly turned into a drama king. He pulled out the dagger from his waist, stomped on Blitz' right hand, and charged at Queen Maeve with a crazed look, completely embodying a desperate fugitive.
In front of the camera, the blond director nodded in satisfaction. After taking a puff of his cigarette, he pointed at Silvain on the monitor and praised, "This young man's acting is good. Give him an extra steak later."
Facing Silvain's attack, Queen Maeve stood still, not even trying to dodge.
Silvain used all his strength, but the dagger in his hand could not even scratch Queen Maeve's skin. It felt like trying to stab steel.
He looked up and met Queen Maeve's brown eyes. In the next second, she grabbed him by the neck and tossed him aside.
[Analysis conditions unlocked. Integrate Swordsmanship Talent?]
To be cautious, Silvain did not immediately integrate the skill but obediently lay on the ground pretending to be dead.
Three minutes later, the director gave the order, and today's filming officially wrapped.
Inside the bus, the "corpses" that had been lying still began to stir, groaning and massaging their sore bodies as they chatted.
"How was it? My acting was good, right?" Hank raised his thick eyebrows proudly at the others.
"Good? You were knocked out by one of your own. You're definitely an undercover agent among the robbers," Freddie grumbled, rubbing his shoulder where Hank had crashed into him.
"Speaking of acting, look at Blitz. That painful expression could win him an Oscar."
"Shit, I was stepped on by that bastard Silvain," Blitz grumbled, rubbing his red, swollen hand and hissing from the pain.
"I really don't know if he did it on purpose or not."
Standing to the side, Silvain raised his hands innocently and smiled. "I was actually deliberately careless."
...
At six o'clock sharp, Silvain clocked out, firmly believing that punctuality was a worker's virtue. He took his dinner back to his room and opened the system panel again.
This time, he discovered something new. In the upper left corner of the panel, there was a golden ladder icon.
When he opened it with his mind, a line of small text appeared.
[Choose to consume 100 Fantasy Points to enter a One-Star Fantasy World?]
"Is there a big difference between One-Star and Two-Star?" Silvain muttered, looking at the second glowing step. The ladder was divided into six steps, but only the first two were currently lit. The others remained locked.
He guessed that this restriction was tied to the Main World's level.
Curious, he clicked the plus sign next to The Boys, and a notification popped up.
[Detected that the player's Fantasy Points are less than 10,000. Unable to upgrade to a higher-level world.]
After some more research, Silvain confirmed that Fantasy Points only served two purposes and could only be earned in the Main World. However, with his current strength, it would be nearly impossible to influence major events. After all, he was not the protagonist of this world and could not stand against superheroes with an ordinary human body.
Especially after experiencing Queen Maeve's overwhelming strength firsthand.
This only made Silvain more convinced that he should avoid superheroes at all costs until he gained enough power. He had to remember that this was a world where you could literally be run over by a speeding superhero.
After carefully finishing his dinner, Silvain wiped the steak sauce from the corner of his mouth with a napkin. He double-checked the room and, finding no hidden cameras, prepared for the next step.
"Confirm integration of Swordsmanship Talent."
The integration process was not painful. Silvain only felt an itchy sensation spreading throughout his body, and his arms kept twitching with the urge to swing something.
[Swordsmanship Talent is being integrated. Current progress: 10%. (The player cannot perform another analysis until integration is complete.)]
Silvain was surprised to find that integration was not a simple copy-and-paste process. It required time for his body to adapt. However, he reasoned that with enough training, he could speed up the integration and eventually reach the level of swordsmanship Queen Maeve displayed.
After getting used to the changes in his body, Silvain took out his phone and decisively ordered three steel swords of different weights from Amazon. The purchase immediately emptied his meager savings, but luckily, his current job provided room and board. Otherwise, he would have ended up on the streets.
In the days that followed, life was relatively uneventful. As for the superheroes, Silvain had already seen most of them, including Homelander, who always smiled warmly for the media and fans. If Silvain had not read the original story, he would have thought Homelander was a perfect superhero.
"Fucking squid brain, are you playing a superhero trading card game? You already blew through the $1,200 I lent you? That money was supposed to be my girl-hunting fund." Blitz cursed as he transferred another $2,000 to Silvain.
Silvain had not expected swordsmanship lessons to be so expensive. One class cost $300, and it was not even one-on-one instruction.
It could only be said that this was a crazy world where people idolized the strong far too much.
"Stop whining, you damn capitalist. I'll pay you back after I get paid," Silvain muttered. Ever since Blitz had invited him to his room for a party, Silvain realized how terrifying an obsessive fan could be. The room was filled with at least twenty Queen Maeve statues and countless posters.
The craziest thing was a limited-edition statue worth over $120,000 online.
"If you ask me, you should stop pretending to be a security guard and go back to living as a spoiled rich kid. Maybe then you could really chase Queen Maeve."
Silvain joked.
"You don't understand the happiness of being a security guard by Queen Maeve's side. Watching those fanboys get blocked from approaching her... it's a pleasure beyond words," Blitz said with a perverted smile.
"Dude, you're completely hopeless," Silvain shook his head and left the building.
After a month of training, the progress bar on the system panel had reached 97%. At this rate, he would fully integrate Queen Maeve's sword skill talent after completing one more lesson.
(To be continued.)