First Boss Defeated

Third Person P.O.V.

Taking his eyes off the big building where his enemies wait, Hector gives one last look at Delilah’s destroyed body, checking with himself if he feels any regret.

In the canon of the Luther Strode series, the Main Character Luther was able to convert Delilah to his side, so she is not completely irredeemable and maybe he was too harsh on killing her.

It was not easy either, they spent some months together, even with the distance, they talked constantly, and she was the one closest to him for a long time, maybe in all his life. It’s a little sad when he thinks about it…

But so what? One of the first things Hector started hammering on his head is that he is not special. Not like those main characters filled with charisma and with the plot by their side, he can’t fix her now… He doesn’t want to take this risk.

When he puts things in the balance, his own safety weighs much more than someone else, even if this someone is close to him… There are infinite Delilahs out there in the Omniverse. And she was plotting against him, why should he show mercy? 

Just because in another universe she has her redemption? Or because she has a sobbing backstory? Or maybe because she is a woman? Pfft…

“Sorry, I’m not strong enough to afford this luxury…” It’s his last words to her before he turns around and starts walking to the final battle.

One day maybe he will have the charisma of a Main Character, and one day he will be strong enough to afford those risks… One day there will be no risk… One day maybe he will start fixing those broken women, but this day is not today.

Today, and for a long time in the future, he will walk alone. He is ready to forsake the perks of being a dimensional traveler for now… Riches, luxury, women… He will use and discard them so that he can grow as an individual.

And his mindset is what will make him strong.

……………………..

Boom

Hector blasts open the huge double doors with a kick.

“Knock knock~” He says sarcastically while walking inside the building. He remembers this scene, it's pretty similar to the one in canon, except that Delilah is not siding with his opponents for now.

He knows he made the right choice in killing her.

Three people are facing him now, two very muscular black men in tribal attire and an Asian man, not so well-built as the other two, wearing a kimono and with a katana.

“Miyamoto Musashi, right? Big fan… But of your representation in Vagabond, not you. But as I will not meet that one for a long time…” Hector smirks while talking with the Asian man “Sorry, you two, I don’t know…” He turns to the duo of black men.

“We are-” One of them starts saying but Hector interrupts

“Sorry, but I don’t care. You will be dead in a minute anyway.” He says dismissively “I was kinda forced in this quest, but it is all about me, not about any of you…” His plan was to lay low for years and years, amassing strength in different universes.

He never thought that he would be forced to get involved with the plot of the visited universes so fast. But he can’t turn his back and run away when people threaten his prized freedom.

“Arrogant boy! Do you really think that yo-” Another starts saying but Hector interrupts him again

“No. I don’t think that I’m stronger than any of you or that I can leave this place alive…” He concedes pretty calmly, surprising his three opponents “I know very well that I’m the weakest, but… If being stronger is enough, what would be the point of a fight, right?” He smirks and takes something from his pocket…

A transparent pill.

“I really don’t want to use this too much… But I plan to make it permanent anyway, and maybe the data of using it in battle can help with the research that I will do in the future.” Hector comments calmly, waiting for the NZT to take effect.

He can almost feel his brain expanding, the boost on all his mental capabilities… Including his Telekinesis. It’s like a dam broke and the water that is his hidden potential, the potential that he still needs to tap, busted freely.

“Aaaah~” he almost moans while closing his eyes, basking in the feeling. Even with his eyes closed, his telekinesis touches everything around him. It’s like he is touching everything with his own skin.

Whoosh whoosh

“We don’t know what are you talking about…”

“... but enjoy your death!”

The duo of dark-skinned guardians advances at him, their bodies disappear and reappear close to Hector, one on each side, their power and covered with thick muscles arms going for a punch.

“...” Hector doesn’t seem worried, his eyes slowly open, two pools of calm water look forward, ignoring the men attacking “A pity that I can’t say the same…” He says calmly despite being a second away from being killed.

Just then, faster than everyone thought possible, he stretched his arms, his hands reaching for his enemies' faces, but not touching them…

SPLAT SPLAT

The two are disintegrated instantly.

“You two didn’t even have the time to enjoy your death…” Hector continues. The mist of blood that was previously the two powerful warriors circling around him but not touching his body.

He remains pure and untaintable in a certain area even when a bloody rose blooms on the ground.

“...” Miyamoto Musashi lived for a long time and saw many things, but he never once saw something like that.

He didn’t even touched them... What is that? Wind pressure? A martial technique? Inner energy?

The famous samurai felt danger like he hadn’t felt for a long time, he couldn’t even predict his opponent's next moves…

 Hector's eyes turn to him… They are different, Musashi noticed. The experienced samurai can read a person through their eyes, previously Hector was an inexperienced and slightly nervous youngster.

But now? It was a 180-degree turn… Hector's eyes are emotionless and incomparably deep… Musashi can’t read him anymore, he is the one being read! He is being analyzed like he is a toy in a child’s hand!

“You are next…” Hector says 

Despite not having a drop of aggression in his tone, Musashi felt it…

Death! He is in unbelievable danger!

In the face of death, the samurai instincts kicked in and he attacked. Flee? Freeze? No, Fight! Even if is hopeless…

Much faster than the guardians, Musashi dashes, the ground cracks under his foot as he zooms in, katana being removed from the scabbard in an instant, the blade cutting the path to Hector’s neck.

“Bang.” Buchi

But he was stopped when Hector raised his hand and pointed at him with his index finger, simulating a firearm, and shot something invisible at Musashi Miyamoto. The torso of the samurai is blown away, a huge hole appearing, taking away all of his organs.

“You are good, but sorry… I’m thinking so fast that even before you think about your next action, I already devised many counters.” Hector “praises” while explaining how he was defeated.

Despite losing his heart, lungs, stomach, liver, intestines, and all other organs in his torso, Musashi is still clinging to life. And clinging to his sword.

Hector can recognize the will of this swordsman… The Spirit of a Samurai. Or something like that… he is only a weeb, after all.

But facing danger like that is respectable.

“You are kinda cool, too bad Cain made you his bitch.” After one last look, Hector watches the light leaving Musashi’s eyes and then he steps over the corpse.

Just another corpse, after being killed, this opponent lost all value to Hector.

His mind is focused on the actual threat, the final boss of this world… The one that took the efforts of the Protagonist, his allies, and a lot of Plot Armor to win.

Hector has none of that but “I can cheat.” He walks down a flight of stairs.

The more he goes down, the more the building becomes less sophisticated. The human-made walls return to the rustic cave walls. Almost untouchable stone covers everything. 

After walking enough, he found a huge open space, supported by huge pillars that maybe or not have been polished by human hands.

“This whole palace took a lot of time to build…” He comments as he goes down, his voice echoing on this emptying cave “But I guess time is the thing you all don’t lack.” He finally stops in front of a particular pillar.

A man is bound, and seemingly mummified, on it. Only his mouth is free.

“You killed Delilah and the rest…” The man says, his voice deep and ancient.

“Yeah, sorry for breaking your toys.” Hector shrugs

“That is just how the world works… You murder and you are murdered.” The man chuckles.

“I bet you know about a lot of it, you’re the inventor of Murder after all. Right, Cain?” Hector chuckles too “The Ceo of Murder.”

“Bwahaha!” Cain laughs uproariously, even bound, the reverberations of his body make the huge pillar(and the cave) tremble. “You are a funny guy. So, now that you killed the rest, why don’t you join me in-?”

“Stop right there.” Hector interrupts and raises his hand “This cliche speech will make me cringe…” And the time of the NZT is limited “There’s nothing that you can offer that can move my heart” He is an Omniversal Traveller after all “So let’s murder each other and the winner takes all.”

“…” Cain pauses for a moment before laughing again Crack Boom He then flexes his body and frees himself from his bindings “You have the right idea, boy. What is your name?” He asks while the bandages and the chains fall from his muscular body.

It is really a ridiculous muscular body, his biceps thicker than a man’s torso.

“Following the trend of this world… You can call me the Traveller.” Hector says. Binder, Shooter, Ripper, Gardener…

“Hmpf, too bad you will die now. You had a brilliant future ahead of you with this mindset.” Cain gives him some praise.

Hector’s progress with the Hercules Method is mediocre, but he has the right mindset. He would go far… In other words, his talent is mediocre but his potential is great.

 And probably has some tricks under his sleeve if he can kill the rest… Cain will pay attention to that.

Swish

“??” But it seems he did not pay attention enough, because suddenly he was hit with three darts from behind… An impossible angle. There’s nothing there! And he didn’t see Hector’s body moving!

Those darts are from the Binder, filled with a neurotoxin to stop the connection between brain and body. To a Hercules Method User, with the whole mind-body connection, something that can tamper with it is like kryptonite.

“I’m Batman.” Hector says in an exaggeratedly deep and hoarse voice. ‘Who said that I would fight fairly? I want to win.’

At the same time that Cain is shaken by surprise, Hector starts using his telekinesis to destroy the pillars around them. He will bury Cain here, beneath thousands of tons of sand and stone.

He is not so optimistic to think the darts will work… And true to his paranoia, on Cain’s skin, close to where the dart hits, a bump starts growing and then it pops.

From the open wound blood, and Hector can guess the neurotoxin too, starts pouring out, cleansing Cain’s system.

“Such bullshit…” Hector smiles. He is happy because if Cain can do this, it means he will be able to do it in the future too.

Cain dashes at him, becoming a blur, his arms that are bigger than a normal person reaching to turn Hector into mincemeat. Hector moves a hand in front of him to stop Cain and he really paralyzes the man in the air.

“Heh~” He smiles seeing that. The buff of the NZT is really something else.

Cain's fists are just some inches away from his body, but he remains calm. Everything was calculated by his boosted big brain.

From this close the strength that he can apply with his telekinesis is at the highest… and mercilessly he starts tearing Cain’s body apart.

“Sorry for not giving you an epic fight… I’m the type of guy that creates an OP mage build in Elden Ring.” 

Boom With a last flex of his will, Cain’s body explodes.

He would have a high chance of living if he was not that eager to get closer, unfortunately, Hector didn’t give him any choice when he started destroying the place.

All to corner Cain to attack. He even stood in front of the exit, blocking all routes of action from his enemy.

“Oh, blood…” He feels something touching his lips and he finally notices the nosebleed. “Yep, I shouldn’t abuse this, I will try to keep a low profile in the next world so that I can rest.”

He did not even want to go into this “Quest”, but they forced his hand.

Hector is a quiet guy who will bring you no harm unless it benefits him in some way. After getting the Hercules Method, he could have very well stayed in a bunk for the rest of the time his Omniversal Travel power is on cooldown.

But he doesn’t have a bunker.

“Let’s see if there’s something interesting around here…” He starts looking around, stepping over Cain’s remains that made a puddle of gore on the ground.

……………………………………………..

Hector P.O.V.

“Nothing?! For real nothing??” I looked around two times! I flew to have a better view of this whole place and even used my powers to dig in some suspicious place and I found nothing!

No treasure. No weapons. Nothing!

Just some miscellaneous things that I can find anywhere.

“Ah, man~” I groan, going back to the front hall where I fought the guards “All this trouble and no loot?” Way to destroy my mood.

With a sigh, I move to the corpses and crouch down to take the, probably, most valuable thing here.

“At least I gained the Katana of Miyamoto Musashi.” I don’t even like Katanas that much. Longswords are better. 

So overused by those isekai authors… I roll my eyes.

But this is a Katana of a legendary samurai, so it should be special in some way. More resistant at least, after all, he is too strong to use normal things.

“Till I get my hands in a cold weapon made of some fictional bullshit material, this will do.” It’s not worth going to Westeros or Marvel yet.

One is too low-level and the other too dangerous.

“Maybe I can go to Westeros as a vacation… Play god a little, see dragons, take a magic sword, see if those women are really beautiful…” With my powers, I can take everything there without obstruction.

I don’t think even a fully grown dragon can do anything to me.

And I can run before Winter Comes. Or take a nuke with me there… Let’s see if the Others can resist a Nuclear Summer.

“Here Comes the Sun~ Dudududu~~ Here Comes the Sun~ And I say it’s all right~”

Humming the Beatles I left this place, despite being a good hideout, it lost its purpose because I don’t have any more enemies.

Now I just need to prepare my things for my next world. 

With only my new Katana, I go back to the car, stepping around Delilah’s remains.

“Luckily I learned how to drive…” I can fly, but it’s not every day that you can drive a Humvee through the desert. I will abandon it when the tank is empty. A good action to the guy that will find it.

Those things are worthless to me anyway.

………………………………………

The Omniversal Travel is finally out of cooldown and I am ready to Jump.

I check one last time the things on my duffel bag… My things decrease with time. I don’t hoard a lot of electronics and clothes anymore.

In truth, most of the space of this only, but very big, duffel bag is occupied by food.

I eat a lot! And to where I’m going, I will need this food.

“Let’s go!”

I’m already used to the transition of one universe to another, well more like I’m used to how underwhelming it is… So seamless and “normal”. I don’t feel anything.

I’m in one place then I’m in another. It’s strange that something big like teleporting to another universe is so… easy.

After the Jump, I look around… Yep, this is the place. And the right time.

I’m on the rooftop of a skyscraper, the night sky above my head and a very busy and lively city below me, full of movement.

I hear some sounds, a person blabbering his mouth, his voice slurred, obviously drunk.

Right there, on the same rooftop where I appeared, the Main Character of this world is drowning his sorrows on the edge of the building. Now I just need to wait for his “Cheat” to literally fall from the sky and I steal it from him.

Don’t blame me, dude. You can’t miss what you never have, anyway.

The world I am in right now is a not-that-known novel, that has a manhua, “I Have a Mansion in The Post-Apocalyptic World”. Ugh… Mouthful… When did titles start being the synopsis?

I didn’t read all because the Main Character annoyed me, but the premise is nice and the little that I read revealed a lot of interesting things that I wanted.

Thanks NZT for bringing those memories to the front of my mind.

The premise is very simple, that guy there… Eh… Let me see his name again in my book… Jiang Chen! So common to Chinese MCs, how did I forget?

Anyway, he is a loser. Typical too…

A failure to the standards of modern society. No career, no formation, no girlfriend, no future prospects… Shame. Shame! Shame on you! Shame to your cow! Shame to your whole family!

Heh. That’s why he is getting drunk right now, but this is the moment where his life takes a turn for the better… And I’m about to steal it from him.

While I wait for the right moment, I look at the city below, some billboards…”Hm, I thought this would be China… Is this one of those worlds that they don’t use the real name of the countries so they call it ‘Panda Country’?”

I learn Chinese, goddammit(a little)! Well, it seems they at least speak Chinese, albeit a little differently, so it’s not a waste.

Oh, here it comes!!! 

It’s hard to not notice, a green shooting star… People from below probably can’t see it because of the lights but from this angle is very clear.

Jiang Chen is still drunk so he is completely oblivious to his surroundings, I’m surprised that he hasn’t fallen yet.

I didn’t read the whole Novel or Manhua, so I don’t know if Jiang Chen is really just a lucky guy or if is secretly super important and this Cheat was aimed at him from the beginning, so…

I will sneak behind him and move him out of the way at the right time.

“...” Well, I don’t even need to sneak… He is so drunk that he doesn’t even notice my tall frame behind him. Laughing to himself like an idiot…

Fuck it… I grab his clothes.

“Uh? Whooo are you? HuuUuh?” He turns to me, his voice still slurred and his face flushed.

“You are drunk and at the edge of a building, just stay behind me.” I say in a calm voice. The green shooting star is approaching. His eyes now, focusing on me, don’t see his opportunity to a great life being stolen.

“Hmm? But I’m completely… Completely fine!” He continues, but I ignore him and simply push him away, using my telekinesis to send him to the stairs.

The green shooting star looks very big now, I can’t risk the thing choosing him if we two are hit.

“Heey!” Blam It’s the last thing I hear from him before I close the door to the stairs with a strong sound, now it’s only me and the shooting star.

“Haha! Come to me, Cheat. I will use you better!” I open my arms as I watch the green light cover all my vision.

Boom

Oh, it hurt… A little. Like being hit by a motorcycle… But my body is not that fragile.

Beyond being knocked back till I hit a wall, and gaining some bruises, nothing bad happened… Ah! My clothes are destroyed. Tch, I should have got naked then, I have very few clothes now. And I don’t have the currency of this country to buy more… I sigh again.

I thought my days as a thief were over, but it seems that old habits die hard.

Standing up and dusting myself I check my arm. In my right arm, there’s an intricate pattern, shimmering before fading… It was like a green tattoo.

“Ah yes, it’s charged with electricity.” I would look around for an outlet, but I carry a pocket battery and charger for my electronics. I’m a traveller after all.

I grab the battery and the charger with my right hand, and the thing in my arm starts charging. I can instinctually feel how much it needs to reach 100%.

This thing here- that I don’t know if is a parasite, magic, or technology- is the Cheat of this Story.

It has two functions… The most important, but less important to me, is that allows the user to jump to a parallel universe relative to this one.

Yeah, I said that is not that appealing to me.

It only travels to this specific universe that appears very similar to this one but some hundred years in the future, after a lot of things go bad.

Nuclear wars, exhausting of resources, monsters… It’s like Fallout.

But is still useful because this future is filled with very good and useful technology. Cybernetic prosthetics, holograms, power armors, learning chambers, serums…

A lot of things that I could describe here all day. A fast way to show the level of technology of this certain universe is that is on a Cyberpunk level, more or less. And now I can travel to it pretty easily. Without cooldown, I just need to charge this thing here on my right arm.

But there, the planet is pretty fucked so is hard to people to live even with this technology. There’s almost no food, the majority of the regions are taken by mutants, humans' lives are treated like trash…

And that’s the whole premise of this story! And my great advantage!

There, even fruits cost a fortune because they can’t produce it!

It’s supply and demand, baby! Capitalism at its finest! And I will be the one only taking advantage of it!

Even canned food should give me a lot of money. And there, things like gold are pretty useless, so I can have a lot of money in this universe too.

It’s an infinite money glitch. A perpetual machine of money. A vicious circle.

And this is without talking about the technology. Even a smartphone from there would make me a billionaire CEO here.

But I’m not gonna do it… Ew, that’s the route that Jiang Chen took, for some reason.

I don’t know, man… Koreans and Chineses have this boner about being CEOs and having a great social status. There are always those scenes of the characters flexing the facts that they are important in K-dramas, right?

It must be a cultural thing.

Myself, personally, I don’t care. Social Status is so fragile. 

My ego is not so easily satisfied by having a big building and employees bowing to me… So pathetic.

Jiang Chen had a lot of trouble seeking this because of his vanity.

I will simply get some gold bars from the abandoned cities, exchange here for money, and buy food. Then I will buy the technologies that | want there.

No need to establish a Company. No need to create a kingdom.

One day, maybe I will play the Big Shot, I can’t deny that it looks fun, I admit.

Imagine having someone mistreating me just so that I can slap on their faces the fact that I’m the Ceo/King/Someone important. It looks a little fun…

But I guess it will get boring fast.

When I have real power, those things will come naturally.

“Ah yes, the second function is the main reason why I came here.” I comment excitedly and extend my arm.

Then a green light appears and I can see the image of a pocket space in my mind, a cube of 1m³. But I know it will increase with time.

“Hehehe~” I can’t help but laugh. Others would have something like this from the beginning but I need to get it myself… But I’m enjoying it… Building myself, brick by brick…”

I allow myself to be a little childish and I shout to the night sky

“Inventory Acquired!!”