Chapter 78: Super Soldier
Scar hesitated for a moment. He hated thinking about his death, but he decided to indulge her. "I was hit by a truck." He said simply.
Alicia’s jaw dropped. She was stunned. "A truck?" A massive grin spread across her face. "Like in those animes?" And then, she burst into hysterical laughter. "Hahahaha! I can’t believe it! You totally got isekai’d! And by Truck-kun! Oh man, this is so hilarious."
Scar stood there in wonder, watching as the violent, tragic plot of his demise was treated as peak comedy.
After a solid minute, Alicia finally calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye. She noticed his blank stare and offered an apologetic smile. "I’m so sorry for laughing. But it’s just... if you knew what ’isekai’ meant, you’d find it funny too."
"I know exactly what it means," Scar deadpanned. "And I know what Truck-kun is."
"Oh," Alicia blinked, genuinely surprised. "You had anime in your previous world?"
Scar nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Apparently, there are tons of things that this world has in common with the one I came from."
"Wow," Alicia breathed in pure awe. "So it’s like a parallel universe? A divergent timeline?"
Scar shrugged. "Perhaps. But I’m not really ready to dive into the subject yet. I just want to get stronger. And faster. That’s what matters to me at the moment."
Alicia nodded enthusiastically. "Of course," she agreed. "And don’t worry. With me on your side, you’ll become unstoppable in no time. Just trust me."
Scar smiled. "Alright."
Alicia smiled back, then turned her attention back to the silver disc on the table. "So, what exactly does my shield remind you of?" She asked, asking out curiosity and an unknown desire to keep the conversation with Scar alive. "I made it because I was bored and decided to try something different from the usual gauntlets and mecha suits."
Scar hummed, pulling up the old memories. "Um... I think it was from a movie or something." He said. "There was this dude who used a shield just like that. He would throw it, and it would always bounce back to him."
Alicia paused, looking at him with intense excitement. She already knew what... or rather who he was talking about. "No freaking way!" She smiled widely. "Let me guess... he wore a suit with the colors; blue, white, and red? And he had a star on his chest?"
Scar nodded. "Yeah, I think that’s him."
Alicia laughed in pure amazement. "Wow! I can’t believe it," she chuckled. "Our worlds really are alike! This is so exciting."
Scar chuckled, finding her giddy, childlike enthusiasm slightly infectious. "Yeah, it is. But the main difference is, the things that were considered fictional in my previous world—like super-speed, magic, and mechs—are considered completely normal here. It’s crazy."
Alicia shrugged. "Well, they used to be fictional here, too. Back in the 21st century," she stated. "But after the Beast War and the Awakening, everything changed. Perhaps in your world, some cataclysmic event might happen one day, and make those fictional things normal as well."
"Yeah, perhaps," Scar hummed. He looked at the shield again. "Though, not everything here became exactly the same."
Alicia raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
Scar motioned toward the shield. "That guy. The one who used the shield in the movies. There was something special about him," he said. "If I remember correctly, he used to be really small and weak. But then he was injected with some kind of super-serum that instantly made him powerful."
"Oh!" Alicia exclaimed. Once again, she knew exactly what he was talking about. "You mean the Super Soldier Serum."
Scar nodded. "Yeah. That’s it."
Alicia chuckled, a dark, knowing smirk playing on her lips. "Who said it didn’t exist in this world?"
Scar’s eyes widened in shock. "It does?"
"Wait right here," Alicia said with a mysterious grin.
She turned and practically skipped over to the biological section of the lab. She bypassed the microscopes and went straight to a small cryogenic safe that looked like a sleek refrigerator. She punched in a biometric code, and the door hissed open, spilling thick white nitrogen steam onto the floor.
She reached inside. There were dozens of vials glowing with various liquids, but her hand hovered over a specific cryogenic rack holding five identical vials filled with a vibrant purple liquid.
She pulled one out, slammed the cold safe shut, and walked back over to where Scar was standing. She stretched her hand out, holding the glowing purple vial up to the light.
"Ta-da!" she announced excitedly.
Scar couldn’t believe his eyes. He reached out and gently took the freezing vial from her hand, staring mesmerized at the thick, swirling purple liquid inside.
"That is what we like to call the ’Durability Serum’," Alicia explained, crossing her arms proudly. "Yes, It was somewhat inspired by the movie, but I didn’t want to officially call it the ’Super Soldier Serum’ for copyright and licensing reasons." She chuckled. "Anyway, just like in the movies, this serum is designed to radically increase your baseline strength, stamina, agility, and bone durability. It will also forcefully restructure your muscle mass, making you look... well, muscular." She held up a finger, adding a caveat. "However, it does not amplify your senses, it does not grant hyper-cellular regeneration, and it certainly does not make you invincible."
Scar was still completely in awe, his mind racing with the tactical possibilities. This was all he had ever wanted since, well, a few days ago.
"Wow. I can’t believe this is real," he breathed, barely containing his excitement. "It would instantly increase my physical stats and give me the perfect body for my speed. I wouldn’t have to worry about breaking my own limbs or my muscles tearing apart when running at high speeds."
"Yeah," Alicia hummed, her tone suddenly dropping. "But..." She hesitated, looking away. "...we decommissioned it."
Scar snapped his head up, his brow furrowing. "Why?"
Alicia let out a heavy sigh. "At first, the serum worked really well and produced incredible physical results during the trials, but later on... about twenty percent of the test subjects started to develop severe complications. In other words, side effects."
Scar’s intense excitement immediately dialed back. "Oh. What were the side effects?"
Alicia shook her head grimly. "It varied," she said. "During the initial experiments, some subjects permanently lost a massive portion of their mana cells. While some experienced total cellular rejection and began to develop some kind of super-cancer. And some were affected on a deep genetic level, mutating in unpredictable ways." She sighed deeply. "My point is, taking this is a massive gamble. You may or may not experience any side effects, but it is way too risky to even try. That’s exactly why I never mentioned it to you before."
Scar hummed, his logical mind instantly crunching the statistics. "But you said only twenty percent developed these side effects. Which means about eighty percent of the people who used it were perfectly fine?"
Alicia nodded. "Yes, but those eighty percent were later found to possess a significantly higher baseline of mana cells than those who experienced the negative side effects. Which strongly suggests that a high mana cell count might be a biological prerequisite for a the serum to work perfectly with no side effects" She looked at him pointedly. "But you, Roy... you don’t have any mana cells. So, I’m not really sure what’s going to happen to you if you take it. Which is why I think it’s best if you don’t use it at all."
Scar stared at the serum for a long moment, contemplating his choice.
This was it. This was the exact golden finger, the overpowered cheat item he had been desperately searching for to bridge the gap between his fragile human body and his speed. And now, it was finally resting right in the palm of his hand. He couldn’t just throw it away because of a small risk.
After a while, he made up his mind.
"I’m willing to take my chances," Scar said, his voice cold and resolute. His burning need to get stronger had completely overrode any sense of self-preservation or logical caution he had. "If I don’t have mana cells at all, then there is a very strong chance what causes those complications won’t affect me and I won’t experience any of the side effects at all."
"But what if you do?" Alicia argued, stepping forward to play the voice of reason. "Roy, you could permanently mutate yourself! Do you even know what super-cancer is?! Your cells start to disappear and your entire body slowly turns into dust. You seriously have to reconsider." She shook her head. "And the fact that you have no mana cells at all means there’s also a chance of something even worse than cancer happening to you."
Scar exhaled softly, his grip tightening around the glowing purple vial. "Well, there’s only one way to find out," he said. Then he looked her dead in the eye.
"Do you have a syringe?"