Logan hadn't turned into some kind of dimensional pocket—it was just that Tenseiga had bonded with him, granting him this extra ability.
At least it spared him from ending up like that loudmouth Wade, who had to tie his katana to his back with a rope. Logan honestly thought that looked ridiculous.
Charles changed the subject. "Now it's your turn, Erik. Any idea what kind of reward you'll get this time?"
Erik looked at the glowing screen with anticipation. Having participated in the quiz game once and even come out on top, he'd gotten a decent sense of how it all worked.
For instance, the rarity of a reward was closely tied to the color of its glow—gold meant rarer and more valuable than purple.
Logan and Charles had both gotten golden rewards. Erik figured that since he'd received a golden one after winning the last round, this time should be the same.
But he guessed wrong.
When the screen displayed his name, the light that emerged was not gold, but a deep violet.
[Congratulations, Player Erik Lehnsherr. You have received a mysterious reward: Super Soldier Serum (Base Version).]
Erik frowned in disappointment, but before he could react further, the violet light engulfed him. In the next instant, an overwhelming pain tore through him—inside and out, it felt like his entire body was being ripped apart.
Normally, a person would pass out from pain of this intensity—it's a built-in defense mechanism. But Erik couldn't even manage that. He couldn't scream, couldn't move—nothing.
His mouth hung open, body convulsing violently. He barely managed to raise his trembling hands. In the midst of this torment, his vision suddenly sharpened—like looking through a microscope. He could actually see through his skin, into the muscle fibers, all the way down to individual cells.
He could vaguely hear Charles shouting in the background, but the voice felt distant and hollow. Erik had neither the strength nor the focus to respond.
His perception had been forcibly dragged inward, deep into the inner workings of his body—past flesh and blood, all the way into his very cells.
What he saw there astonished him.
Inside his microscopic world, tissues formed and broke down in cycles, like cosmic phenomena. He even saw what looked like stellar explosions—tiny supernovas going off inside him. He knew, of course, that there were no actual stars in his body—what he was witnessing was the result of violent biochemical reactions triggered by the serum.
The Super Soldier Serum he'd received was just the base version—the prototype, developed before it had undergone full clinical trials.
Back when Steve Rogers was injected with it, he'd done so fully prepared to die.
And mutant physiology was even more complex than a normal human's. The quiz game had clearly customized the serum to better match Erik's body—but even so, side effects were unavoidable. What he was experiencing now was the consequence of that: pure, unfiltered agony.
It felt like his body was being shattered into fragments smaller than cells. Each second dragged on like an eternity.
He had no idea how much time passed before the pain finally began to fade. His vision gradually returned to normal. His whole body was drenched in sweat, as if he'd just survived some brutal torture—or run a full marathon with his muscles on fire.
"Erik, are you alright?" Charles looked at him with concern.
Erik waved a hand weakly, his voice hoarse. "I'm fine… Just tired. And a little hungry."
As he spoke, he slowly rubbed his stomach. The pain was gone, and if not for the sticky sweat clinging to his skin, he might've thought the whole ordeal was just a hallucination.
He felt utterly drained, but more than that—he was starving. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days, his stomach burning with hunger. That was probably another effect of the serum.
Charles was about to ask more questions, when a system voice cut in:
[This round of the game has ended. The Points Store is now offering a limited-time discount. Please spend rationally and wisely. See you next time]
As the announcement ended, the three players suddenly saw their surroundings blur and shimmer. There was no time to say goodbye—an instant later, they were back in their respective worlds.
Erik and Charles returned to a remote field. Before the game began, they had worked together to capture Sebastian Shaw.
Back then, special ops teams from both the U.S. and the Soviet Union had been tracking them. Now, after all this time, those forces had arrived and were quietly waiting nearby for Erik and Charles to reappear.
As the two mutants materialized, they found themselves standing between two approaching factions. On one side was the American special operations unit; on the other, Soviet agents. The Cold War was still in full swing, and both sides clearly considered the two mutants highly valuable assets.
"Hey, Erik, Charles—we mean you no harm. Don't be nervous. We just want to talk. Give us a little of your time, okay?" the American representative said first, hands raised in a gesture of peace, approaching slowly.
The Soviets weren't far behind, also signaling for their agents to lower their weapons. One of them spoke up:
"You saw what the Americans will do to you in the future. Join us—we'll even help you build a nation for mutants."
"Shut up!" snapped the American. "How many illegal experiments have you KGB guys run? Listen, gentlemen, we'll seriously consider your concerns. Congress is already discussing legislation for mutant hearings. A lot of people think mutants should follow the Jewish model—found their own country."
Erik and Charles exchanged a glance but remained silent. Meanwhile, the American and Soviet representatives started bickering, as expected. Since neither side could open fire, all they could do was argue.
Erik crossed his arms, watching the show with a mocking grin. He had long since stopped trusting these so-called officials, and their sudden shift from hostility to obsequiousness only made them look more pathetic in his eyes.
After the last round of the quiz game, global authorities had grown wary of mutants—especially leaders like Charles and Erik. The official response had been to list them as fugitives, capture them, and ship them off to labs for experimentation.
Now suddenly, everyone wanted to negotiate.
To Erik, the whole thing was a joke.
___
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