The heavy oak door had barely closed behind Eugene when Richard's carefully maintained facade shattered.
"That bastard!"
CRASH!
A crystal paperweight exploded against the wall, followed by a desk lamp and scattered financial reports that filled the air like confetti.
Richard Johnson, empire builder and ruthless businessman, was having a complete meltdown.
"A child! A fucking child just walked out of my office!" He grabbed a commemorative plaque and hurled it at the window. The glass held, but the plaque shattered. "How?!"
The scarred man—Marcus—stood at attention near the door, expression carefully neutral. The other security personnel had wisely disappeared.
Richard's hands swept across his desk, sending everything crashing to the floor. Still unsatisfied, Richard grabbed a ashtray and spun toward Marcus.
Marcus didn't flinch as the ashtray connected with his forehead with a dull thunk, leaving a white mark that would bruise by morning.
"Boss, I'm sorry. This was my failure. I didn't anticipate the kid would have a contingency."
"Didn't anticipate?" Richard's laugh was sharp, humorless. "You've been doing this for fifteen years, Marcus. Fifteen years. And you let yourself get outsmarted by an eighteen-year-old college student?"
"There's no excuse, sir."
"No, there isn't." Richard's breathing was heavy, veins bulging at his temples. But then, like a switch flipped, his fury evaporated. His posture straightened. When he spoke again, his voice was ice-cold.
"Prepare yourself, Marcus. That kid needs to disappear."
"Boss—"
"Tonight. I don't want Eugene Miller alive to see tomorrow's sunrise."
"Sir, if we move this quickly, won't it raise suspicions? The Police Commissioner's daughter just—"
"Do you think waiting will make it less suspicious?" Richard turned back, eyes glittering. "That boy knows too much. He knows we want Hope Pharmaceuticals. He knows we're willing to threaten him. How long before he connects the dots about his parents' 'accident'?"
Marcus remained silent.
Richard smiled—a snake eyeing a mouse. "We finish this quickly. Before anyone can ask questions, before the boy can find allies. We take control of Hope Pharmaceuticals. There are plenty of people who can tak the blame for us."
He pressed a button on his phone. "Sarah, get me our friends in Hell's Kitchen. Tell them I have an urgent job. Premium rates."
"Right away, sir."
Richard fixed Marcus with a hard stare. "I want this clean. Make it look like a mugging gone wrong. Nothing that traces back. Can you handle that?"
"I'll handle it personally, Boss."
"Good. And Marcus?" Richard's smile widened. "Make it painful. That little bastard embarrassed me. I want him to regret it in his final moments."
Marcus nodded and left.
Richard returned to his window, already composing himself for his next meeting. In his mind, Eugene Miller was already dead.
----------------
Eugene's hands shook as he unlocked his door. Not from fear—though he'd been plenty scared—but from adrenaline crash. Inside, he locked the door, engaged the deadbolt, and slumped against it.
"Holy shit. That actually worked."
In the car, he had dialed Gwen's number. Everything that happened afterward, she heard through the phone.
At the critical moment, she hung up and redialed, saving him from the predicament; otherwise, Eugene would have been forced to sign the agreement today.
In that case, his parents' lifelong efforts would have only benefited others.
His phone buzzed. Gwen. Again.
"Hey," he answered.
"Eugene! Are you okay? What was that about? Did they hurt you? Should I tell my dad? I'm coming over—"
"Gwen, Gwen, slow down. I'm fine. I'm home." Eugene grabbed a glass of water, hands still trembling. "And thank you. Seriously. You saved my ass back there."
"Peter said some guys in suits took you from campus. We tried to follow but lost the car. Eugene, you're scaring us."
Eugene took a long breath. How much should he tell her?
"I know. But... can we talk about this tomorrow? I need some time to think. And Gwen? Seriously, thank you. That phone call was genius."
"Peter's idea, actually. I thought if they knew the Police Commissioner's daughter knew where you were..." Her voice softened. "Promise me you're really okay?"
"I promise. I'll text you later."
"You better. And Eugene? Lock your doors tonight."
"Already done."
After hanging up, Eugene stared at his phone. He should feel more scared about what Richard might do next.
Instead, he felt excitement.
His cheat had arrived.
Eugene closed his eyes and concentrated. A translucent screen materialized, visible only to him. Floating in the center was a cube that shifted through impossible geometries, emitting a soft glow.
For the first time today, Eugene allowed himself to really smile.
"Eighteen years," he whispered, then shouted, "EIGHTEEN YEARS! I've finally waited for it! Do you know how I've lived these years?!"
Below the cube, text appeared:
[Dimensional Cube: Charging Complete - 100%]
[Activate?]
The Dimensional Cube. Like most transmigrators, Eugene was born with a cheat. From day one, he'd sensed it in his mind like a sixth sense. The problem? It needed to charge.
Three years ago, it reached 99.9%. Eugene had been ecstatic. Then nothing happened. The progress froze, stuck at 99.9%, mocking him. For three years, he'd tried everything. Nothing worked.
Then today, his X-gene activated. And the Dimensional Cube had latched onto that burst of mutant energy and drained it dry.
That's why his mutant ability was so underwhelming. Otherwise, Eugene might really have awakened an omega level ability. The Cube had cannibalized most of the energy.
After his energy was drained, Eugene received a prompt that the charging progress had reached 100%, and at the same time, information about the dimensional cube was inputted in Eugene's mind.
This was also the main reason he was not that disappointed about getting a trash ability.
Whether it was omega ability turning into trash ability, or the pressure from Johnson Pharmaceuticals, it didn't matter, because he finally have the means to fight back.
"Activate the Dimensional Cube!"
[Command Accepted. Initiating Activation...]
[Dimensional Cube Activated]
[Host Eugene Miller: Title Obtained - {Lord of Dimensions}]
[Initiating Spatial-Temporal Anchoring...]
[Scanning Dimensional Matrix...]
[Scan Complete: Three Accessible Dimensions Located]
[Establish Connection?]
"Yes! Link them!"
[Connecting...]
[Link Established]
[Deploying Anchor Points...]
[Acquiring World Information...]
[Information Available in System Manual]
[Enjoy Your Journey, Lord of Dimensions]
Information slammed into Eugene's brain like a freight train—intense, overwhelming, like downloading an entire library directly into his neurons.
"Gah! Seriously?! Warning would've been nice!"
For several minutes, Eugene clutched his head as the Dimensional Cube's manual unpacked itself in his consciousness.
When it stopped, he opened his eyes slowly, rubbing his temples.
"Okay. Ow. Fourth headache today." He took a deep breath. "But damn... this is actually incredible."
The Cube could connect to different dimensions. Eugene could observe these worlds and manipulate the fate lines of characters within them. Changes created ripples that generated energy for the Cube.
As Lord of Dimensions, Eugene would receive abilities from characters whose fates he altered. The bigger the change, the more power gained.
And the more he changed a world, the greater his authority over it became.
"This is insane," Eugene muttered, grinning.
He opened the interface, checking the connected worlds.
World 1: [Naruto] World 2: [Bleach]
World 3: [One Piece]
Eugene laughed out loud. The big three shonen anime from his previous life. The ones he'd stayed up countless nights watching.
"A classic start. This is perfect. I actually know these worlds."
The energy reading showed the Cube was nearly depleted from establishing connections. He could only select one character to begin with.
"One character. Better make it count."
The obvious choice: start with a protagonist. Main characters had the greatest impact.
He navigated to the character selection screen and confirmed his choice.
"You're the one..."