Mario sat in the passenger seat, staring at the bright Cybertek logo in the distance. The building looked like every other glass-and-steel monument to capitalism in Manhattan, except this one was crawling with Hydra operatives pretending to be legitimate businessmen.
"Woody, circle the block a few times," Mario said to the driver. "I'll call when we're done."
In the back seat, Garcia cracked his knuckles while Kerry nervously checked his concealed knife for the third time. Gore was studying the building through binoculars he'd somehow acquired.
"Twenty-seven floors, approximately three hundred windows, multiple exit points... My cousin's friend who works construction says these buildings are basically vertical mazes."
"Do you mean, Mateo?"
"Yeah."
"Gore, his only friend is a janitor," Kerry pointed out.
"Hey, janitors know buildings better than anybody. They go everywhere."
Mario pulled out a vial of invisibility potion and tossed it to Ivan. "Open it and drink some. Don't forget to give me the bottle back."
Ivan examined the liquid. "What is this?"
"Magic," Mario said simply, opening the car door and stepping out.
Ivan hesitated for a moment before uncorking the vial and downing the contents. "What..."
His voice trailed off as he watched his own body fade from existence. Looking down at where his hands should be, his voice came from empty air. "How is this even possible?"
Kerry jerked backward so hard he banged his head on the rear window. "He's gone! The dude just vanished!"
"That's some Harry Potter bullshit right there," Gore said, reaching out to wave his hand through. "Hermano, you sure he didn't just teleport somewhere?"
Garcia's eyes went wide. "Can we get some of that?"
"Maybe later," Mario said. "Woody, keep the engine running. Garcia, Kerry, Gore, you three are our backup. If this goes sideways, I want you ready to cause a distraction."
Seeing Ivan disappear completely, he was pleased with the potion's effectiveness. Even his enhanced senses could only track Ivan's position through the mini-map interface.
"Ivan, you're a physicist, not a wizard. Don't overthink the magic potions. Just stick close and follow my lead."
The back seat shifted as Ivan apparently moved, though all they could see was the cushions compressing.
"This is fucking with my head," Kerry muttered.
The car door opened seemingly by itself as Ivan climbed out. Mario pulled out his own invisibility potion and drank it down.
Woody drove off as instructed, leaving the gang members to set up a surveillance position across the street. They'd brought folding chairs and a cooler full of sodas.
"Just walk toward the building. I'll be right behind you."
"Got it."
On the mini-map, the small dot representing Ivan moved toward Cybertek's tower, and Mario followed a few steps behind.
The main entrance was locked tight, with two security guards stationed at the door, looking bored out of their minds.
"Around to the back," he whispered.
Most people with invisibility powers would try the front door or look for a window to climb through. But his approach to urban infiltration was more direct. His mini-map showed him exactly where everyone was located, and his diamond pickaxe could dig through anything.
They circled around to the side of the building where Mario stopped Ivan and opened his mini-map, looking for areas with the fewest hostiles.
But the moment the map interface appeared, he went silent.
The entire building showed only three or four scattered red dots, obvious security personnel. The rest were densely packed white dots representing innocent civilians.
Of course.
Whether Hydra or vampires, they always embedded themselves among regular people like parasites. The vast majority of Cybertek employees were probably just normal workers trying to make a living, completely unaware of what their bosses were really up to.
He pulled out his diamond pickaxe and found a section of wall with no one nearby. Against the enchanted diamond tool, the concrete might as well have been butter.
A few seconds later, a perfect one-meter-wide, two-meter-tall opening appeared in the wall. Ivan moved closer without needing to be told.
The moment they entered, Mario sealed the hole behind them with the concrete blocks he'd collected.
They found themselves in an ordinary storage room filled with cleaning supplies. Since it was nighttime, the area was completely empty.
Stepping out into the hallway, he grabbed Ivan's sleeve and headed for the stairwell. He kept one eye on his mini-map, tracking both the glowing dots and the building's layout. The first floor was simple, just basic offices and meeting rooms, nothing special.
They moved quickly to the upper levels. By the time they reached the fourth floor, the mini-map displayed a detailed floor plan, clearly showing several restricted areas that looked promising.
He approached a heavily reinforced security door and mentally grumbled before pulling out his pickaxe to dismantle it.
Beep-beep-beep...
A piercing alarm immediately filled the building.
"Damn. Motion detectors."
Then he noticed the security cameras positioned throughout the hallway.
"Shit."
The security team monitoring the cameras was even more confused than Mario. One moment there had been a solid metal door, the next it had simply vanished into thin air. No amount of training prepared you for that level of impossibility.
From the first floor came the sound of multiple sets of boots, clearly a large security response team rushing upstairs. He tugged on Ivan's sleeve and whispered, "Time to go."
They brushed past the confused security personnel and retraced their steps, slipping back out of the building the same way they'd entered.
Should have just gone in alone.
Mario sat on a bench outside near Garcia and his gang, looking at the distant building with frustration. If it had been just him, he could have stormed in, smashed whatever equipment he needed, stuffed it all in his inventory, and not worried about gunfire or advanced security measures. Hell, he could have jumped from the upper floors and stuck a perfect superhero landing.
But bringing Ivan along had slowed him down. Without the scientist, though, he couldn't tell which devices were actually useful and which were junk.
Next time I need to recruit a biologist before attempting any major heists.
Soon the invisibility potion wore off, and both figures reappeared on the bench.
"Tomorrow I'll give you funding. Buy whatever equipment and materials you need through normal channels. If money can't solve it, let me know and I'll figure something else out."
He had to settle for second-tier equipment. The really good stuff wasn't available through normal procurement channels. Suddenly, he thought of Fury. Now that he knew the situation inside S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe he could actually get his hands on their technology.
Ivan showed no disappointment at the failed infiltration. Back in Siberia, he'd managed to conduct research with jury-rigged scrap equipment. Having access to even second-rate professional gear was a massive upgrade. But right now, only one question occupied his mind.
"Do you have any more of that potion? Can you spare me another bottle?"
Seeing Ivan's intense stare, Mario sighed and pulled another vial from his inventory.
"Invisibility potion. Lasts eight minutes. You've experienced the effects. Once you finish building the reactor, then you can study it."
He was curious what kind of discoveries might come from analyzing these items.
He pulled out his phone and called Woody. "Pick us up. We're right across the street from the building."
Garcia walked over to them. "That's it? We're heading home?"
"Mission's over," Mario said simply.
Kerry frowned. "But we didn't get any of that fancy lab equipment you wanted."
"Plans change."
They waited in the alley until Woody's car pulled up. The gang members piled into the back while Mario took the passenger seat, Ivan settling in beside the others.
"How'd it go?" Woody asked as they drove away.
Mario glanced at the security door now tucked away in his inventory and couldn't help but smile. Using some creative mental gymnastics to console himself, he muttered, "Well, at least the trip wasn't a total loss. I got a security door out of it."
After a moment, Woody asked, "Where to now?"
Leaning back in his seat, Mario said softly, "Let's go find those vampires hiding in the shadows. I'm in a bad mood tonight, and I feel like having a heart-to-heart conversation with some bloodsuckers."
Woody silently thought, When you're happy, you hunt vampires. When you're upset, you still hunt vampires. Can't we skip the excuses just once?
The ride back was quieter than usual. The gang members had been geared up for a major heist, and the anticlimactic ending left them restless.
---
A peaceful week passed, and Mario's life settled into a comfortable routine. Ivan worked with purchased equipment to develop reactor prototypes while Mario focused on expanding their base operations. The gang members handled security and supply runs, gradually adapting to their new roles as part of a larger organization.
"Another productive day!" Mario said, stepping out of the car as the sun rose over the horizon.
Garcia stretched as he climbed out of the back seat. "Still feels weird doing the day shift thing. We used to sleep till noon."
"Legitimate business hours," Kerry said. "Who knew?"
Gore was already planning their next activities. "A guy who works for the city says there's been weird electrical readings in the subway tunnels. Could be vampire activity."
"He's your cousin's friend, right? No, don't answer. It's worth checking out."
Mario nodded absently, his attention focused elsewhere. Something felt different this morning.
That's when it happened.
[TWILIGHT FOREST MOD LOADING...]
[LOAD SUCCESSFUL...]
A familiar synthetic voice echoed in his mind without warning. Mario, who had just been stretching, froze mid-motion.
Twilight Forest?!
The Twilight Forest was one of the classic Minecraft mods, and among the ones he'd played most extensively back in his gaming days. A mystical dimension filled with magical creatures, ancient ruins, and powerful artifacts.
With fewer vampires around lately, life had started to feel repetitive. He'd been calling Blade regularly to check on progress in other cities, but establishing new operations was slow work.
He turned toward Woody, who was waiting by the vehicle. "I'm heading home first. You guys go to the factory and make sure no random people get too close."
"Got it!"
Woody and the gang drove off while Mario made his way back to the underground complex. The place had grown over the past weeks, with proper living quarters, workshops, and even a small recreational area where the gang members could relax between missions.
As he entered the main chamber, a figure immediately approached to greet him.
"Mario, you're back!"
It was Allen, the former Hydra operative whose mini-map dot had inexplicably turned green a few days ago after he'd talked with the gang. What had the boys done to him?
The man now followed Mario's every command with disturbing enthusiasm, acting like serving in an underground vampire-hunting operation was the greatest honor of his life.
At the time, he had been completely baffled, eventually summarizing it with a single thought: Did this poor bastard get Stockholm syndrome?
Since the dot had turned green, he had stopped the enhanced interrogation and instead assigned Allen to handle the farming work Woody used to do. To make the job easier, he'd even converted Allen into a vampire, though without providing any upgrades or special abilities.
"Not bad work," Mario said, examining the harvested crops and newly planted saplings. He pulled some food from his inventory and handed it over. "This is for you. Living on bread and water isn't sustainable. When I have time, I'll get some livestock for you to manage, so we can improve everyone's diet."
Allen accepted the food like it was precious treasure. "Thank you! Just give me your orders, I'll do whatever you need..."
Mario shuddered at the man's attitude and waved him off. "Right, go eat. I've got other things to handle."
Leaving Allen behind, he walked toward the Nether portal. He pulled out a pickaxe and excavated a small chamber adjacent to the existing portal room, preparing to build a gateway to the Twilight Forest.
Using dirt blocks, he constructed a 4×4 frame on the ground, leaving a 2×2 space in the middle that he filled with water to create an infinite water source. From a nearby chest, he retrieved various flowers he'd collected from farming and planted them around the pool.
He took a deep breath.
Activating a Twilight Forest portal was different from a Nether portal. A diamond had to be thrown into the pool, which would trigger a lightning strike when the portal activated. The damage wasn't severe, but he wasn't exactly eager to get struck by lightning.
He quickly backed up to a safe distance, pulled a diamond from his inventory, and got ready to throw. His skipping-stone technique had improved a lot during his fishing expeditions, tossing a diamond accurately was child's play now.
CRACK!
Deafening thunder split the air. Even though he'd been prepared, he still flinched at the sound. A lightning bolt pierced through the solid earth above and struck the pool. The once-clear water now shimmered with the same purple energy as a Nether portal, except this gateway lay horizontal rather than vertical.
Out in the main chamber, Pearl barely twitched an eyelid at the noise before returning to his daytime rest. Allen, still eating his meal, looked up anxiously toward Mario's direction but didn't move without explicit orders, he'd learned not to pry into matters above his clearance level.
Mario gazed at the newly activated portal.
"Finally, I'll be able to gather a lot of resources. No more scavenging for scrap metal around the factory."
When he'd first arrived in this world, he'd spent every day worrying about where to find basic materials. Even now, things weren't much better, he still couldn't obtain certain specialized resources in bulk, like redstone or lapis lazuli.
Walking up to the portal, he looked down at the swirling purple light beneath his feet. He checked his inventory and equipment one more time, found no problems, gritted his teeth, and jumped in.
There was no disorientation this time. Darkness swallowed his vision for an instant, then the solid feeling of ground returned beneath his feet.
The sound of various animals filled his ears.
This mystical woodland was filled with oak trees, birches, canopy trees, and towering twilight oaks. The ground was dotted with flowers, mushrooms, and plants unique to this dimension. Many creatures wandered peacefully through the area, creating an atmosphere of tranquil harmony.
He felt like a muggle stepping into Hogwarts for the first time, everything around him radiated wonder and fantasy.
This was a world shrouded in eternal twilight, filled with strange creatures and vegetation that existed nowhere else.
Not far in front of him stood a towering Gothic structure.
"The Lich Tower!"
Mario immediately recognized the iconic building. The dark spire stretched high into the dusk, its many chambers once showing signs of advanced civilization but now fallen into decay and ruin.
Within resided one of the Twilight Forest's major bosses: the Twilight Lich.
Just then, a dark blue creature suddenly materialized in a nearby clearing. In its hands was a book wrapped in strange energy. The moment it appeared, it began running straight toward Mario on stubby legs.
"This thing looks more like a mutant bear than a kobold. What an abstract design."
Looking at the creature's nameplate floating above its head, he couldn't help but sighed. The thing bore no resemblance to any kobold from his imagination.
Because he hadn't yet defeated the Naga boss, entering the Lich's domain triggered the spawning of kobolds carrying the explorer's notebook, exactly like the book in this creature's hands.
Mario drew his diamond sword and stood still, waiting for the kobold to waddle over with its comically short stride.
With a light leap and downward strike, his Sharpness IV diamond sword instantly eliminated the kobold's mere 13 health points in a single blow.
He picked up the creature's drop: [Notes on a Pointy Tower].
"Never bothered reading this when I played the game. Wonder what's actually inside."
He opened the notebook and began reading its contents.
[[An explorer's notebook, gnawed on by monsters]]
I have begun examining the strange aura surrounding this tower. The bricks of the tower are protected by a curse, stronger than any I've seen before. The magic from the curse is boiling off into the surrounding area.
In my homeland I would have many options for dealing with this magic, but here my supplies are limited. I shall have to research...
[[Many entries later]]
A breakthrough! In my journeys I sighted a huge snake-like monster in a decorated courtyard. Nearby, I picked up a worn down, discarded green scale.
The magic in the scale seems to have the curse-breaking properties I need, but the magic is too dim. I may need to acquire a fresher specimen, directly from the creature.
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30 Advance Chapters!