Roger clenched his fists.
As a surge of the Power of the Bully coursed forcefully through his body, he immediately felt himself becoming stronger.
His physical strength had increased by at least 40 kilograms.
Every Special Exploration rewarded Roger with a skill from a superhero.
Most of the time, it was only a beginner-level skill fragment worth about 10% of the original ability.
These rewards raised the minimum baseline of a superhero’s power.
To reach the fragment’s full potential, Roger still had to train and grow under the appropriate conditions.
However, the minimum baseline itself could be stacked.
For example, if he obtained strength fragments from all three Spider-Men, his baseline strength would increase by roughly 120 kilograms.
After enough training and growth, his upper limit would also surpass a single Spider-Man’s 25-ton strength cap, reaching 75 tons or even higher.
Generally speaking, if the reward was experience or combat techniques, Roger could master it at 100% immediately.
But if it was a supernatural ability, he would only receive a beginner-level skill fragment—meaning 10% of the original power.
Moreover, the maximum effectiveness of any single version of an ability could only stack up to 90%.
Fortunately, abilities from different versions of the same hero could still be stacked together, so Roger didn’t think this limitation mattered much.
Including the one he had just drawn, Roger now possessed nine minor skills.
It could be said that he was “quite powerful.”
Knocking Happy unconscious with a single punch would be no problem at all.
The problem was that the enemies Roger would soon be facing were the heavily armed terrorists of the Ten Rings, and very likely Erik “Killmonger” Stevens as well.
Whenever Roger thought about the countless ritual scars covering Killmonger’s body, he couldn’t help shivering.
But what choice did he have?
Sure, he had a cheat system now.
The problem was, this lousy cheat system was just like a mobile gacha game—it even had different banners.
During the year since awakening his memories, Roger had earned about 158 Dimensional Crystals through daily missions.
(Stopping Tony from going out to gamble, taking care of his daily needs, accompanying him to yacht parties…)
Dimensional Crystals were the currency used for draws.
Kind of like… well…
Intertwined Fates—those colorful little things.
At the moment, the only banner available to Roger was the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
If he wanted a good start, he had to choose the world where obtaining superpowers would be easiest.
But to obtain that ability, he had to wait for the Omniverse Exploration Banner to unlock.
Roger had already seen the countdown timer.
It would open tonight, after the Apogee Awards Ceremony—
The very day Tony Stark awakened.
Unfortunately, Roger had already picked the world he wanted most.
But that damned golden pull simply refused to appear.
Damn it!
Wasn’t every tenth draw supposed to guarantee at least a purple rarity reward?
Then why the hell were they all purple?!
Slightly irritated, Roger left his room and headed for the casino in Las Vegas to protect Tony Stark.
Having spent over ten years by Tony’s side in this world as his best friend, Roger simply couldn’t bear to watch him continue sinking into a sea of beautiful women.
Such suffering…
Roger decided he would shoulder it in Tony’s place.
Without hesitation, he stuffed every last goji berry from a small box into his mouth, swallowed them in one gulp, and slammed the door shut behind him.
…
10:00 PM
Las Vegas Casino
Roger and Tony were each holding a stunning beauty in one arm while enthusiastically throwing dice.
The two of them looked like they had been carved from the same mold.
Even Colonel Rhodes, who had come carrying Tony’s award, could only look at them helplessly.
Surrounded by a team of bodyguards, Roger and Tony left the casino and headed toward their waiting car.
A striking blonde reporter rushed toward them.
Roger’s eyes lit up.
This female reporter truly had one of the best figures imaginable.
Immediately, Roger held back Tony Stark, who was about to turn around.
“Just a reporter. I’ll handle her. You go first.”
Tony immediately realized what Roger was up to.
Like hell!
You’re obviously trying to have her all to yourself!
“Happy! Hold him down!”
Upon hearing Tony’s order, Happy immediately grabbed Roger from behind.
“My apologies, Mr. Roger. Those are Mr. Stark’s orders.”
Watching Tony walk toward reporter Christine, Roger sighed helplessly.
“You’re really not loyal, Happy. I even gave you my treasured Eastern mystical fruit.”
Hearing Roger’s complaint, Happy could only feel a tiny bit guilty before tightening his grip even further.
…
In the blink of an eye, Roger and Tony had returned to the Malibu mansion.
Of course…
Tony had also brought Christine home.
She was currently next door to Roger’s room…
“Discussing life’s ideals” with Tony.
Listening to the endless stream of “Mmm…” and “Ah…” coming from the next room, Roger found himself completely unable to sleep.
“JARVIS, are you there?” Roger called.
“Yes, Mr. Roger. How may I assist you?”
“JARVIS, can you record what’s happening in the room next door?”
“That way I’ll have some blackmail material and can squeeze that rich bastard for more money tomorrow.”
Roger couldn’t help imagining just how many dollars that video would be worth.
“Mr. Roger, that would be an illegal invasion of another person’s privacy. I cannot assist you in doing that.”
“Besides, JARVIS does not understand. That is merely the normal human reproductive process. Why would you specifically want to record it?”
Roger flopped onto the bed in the shape of a giant “X.”
Because you’re only an AI…
You don’t understand the joys of being a cultured pervert.
As the sounds from next door became louder and louder, Roger grew increasingly irritated.
Quietly opening a drawer, he took out an old-fashioned tape recorder from a pile of vintage recorders and secretly placed it outside the neighboring balcony door.
JARVIS’s voice sounded beside him.
“Sir, this is inappropriate. You are violating Mr. Stark’s privacy.”
Roger immediately raised a finger.
“Shhh! Keep your voice down! They’ll hear us!”
“I’m not invading his privacy. Tony and I are brothers! Brothers don’t have secrets from each other!”
“You’re just an AI. You wouldn’t understand.”
Completely confused, JARVIS began searching online for similar legal cases in an attempt to refute Roger.
However—
Just then, a beam of golden light flashed.
Roger vanished from the room.
…
“System!”
“Ten-pull!”
“This time it’s definitely going to be gold!”
“I said so—even if Thanos himself showed up, it wouldn’t change a thing!”
[You have spent 10 Dimensional Crystals and performed ten draws. (100/100)]
[You have obtained Common Rewards: …]
[Golden light shines brilliantly! Congratulations! You have triggered a Real Exploration Event.]
[Please choose your destination world.]
[Notice: After selecting a target world, there is a 99% chance that you will accurately arrive in that world.]
[Warning: Every action you take will cause irreversible changes to that parallel universe.]
[Exploration preparations complete! Time flow ratio between Parallel Universe No. 12580 and the film Chronicle is 1:10.]
[A flash of light envelops you as you arrive at the Sea of the Multiverse. The magnificent scenery leaves you spellbound. Suddenly, a mysterious energy surrounds you and carries you into your chosen universe.]
[You have entered the universe of the film Chronicle. You have become a student attending a secret party.]
When Roger came back to his senses, he found himself standing in the middle of a crowded dance floor.
The music thundered through the air.
Young bodies released every ounce of their youthful energy.
Even “reckless abandon” wasn’t enough to describe the atmosphere.
During Special Explorations, the system automatically adjusted Roger’s abilities to fit the scenario.
If he was too strong, he would be weakened.
If he was too weak, he would be strengthened.
Everything was balanced to match the simulated setting of the exploration.
Furthermore, Roger could only obtain fragments of information about the exploration, much like watching a movie or reading a novel.
Unlike Special Exploration, however, Real Exploration meant physically entering another parallel universe.
There, he would face not only uncontrollable dangers but also unimaginable rewards.
Just as Roger was wondering how he was supposed to find the three protagonists, he spotted a young man and woman talking while holding a video camera.
Immediately, he understood exactly where in the story he was.
This was Raven Hill, a secretly organized party being held inside an abandoned warehouse.
The two people carrying the camera should be Andrew, one of the protagonists, and Casey, the girlfriend of another protagonist, Matt.
Soon enough, Roger watched Andrew leave the party by himself and stand beneath a tree outside.
Roger hid nervously in a dark corner, quietly waiting for the third protagonist, Steve, to come borrow Andrew’s camera.
A short while later, his target finally appeared.
After the two exchanged a brief conversation, they headed toward the woods.
Roger quietly followed after them.