Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Fourth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
Matthew had no idea if the item he was holding would actually work as he imagined.
Many items in the store could be tested and tried before purchase.
This white room they were in could transform into any shape for equipment testing. It could even transform into Planet Doom, if necessary for testing.
Otherwise, many freshmen would be forced to make random choices without knowing if their weapons and equipment were suitable for them.
The Supernatural Realm wouldn't leave them in such a pointlessly difficult situation.
Of course, they only had 5 hours, so it wasn't possible to test all the equipment in depth in that time.
Therefore, it was wisest to choose the equipment they would test from the documentation before coming here.
But some items couldn't be tested.
The store only had descriptions of these items, and they had to be purchased to test and use them.
The item Matthew had just spent 3,000 attribute coins on was one of them.
And Matthew's primary plan was based on this item working. Otherwise, he would have to abandon his main plan and focus on the secondary plan.
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[Hero Template Card – Legend]
[With this card, you can transform any hero you imagine into an avatar and acquire the hero's powers.]
[The percentage of the hero's powers you can obtain depends on how deeply you know the hero.]
[Since this card is Legend level, the maximum hero power gain rate is 100%.]
[This card can only be used in one event.]
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The information on the panel that appeared was the same as what Matthew had seen in the Store.
Therefore, Matthew couldn't reach a conclusion without trying the card and seeing its effect.
Just as Matthew was about to activate the card, he heard Natalie's voice. "Is that... a Hero Template Card?"
Matthew looked up at Natalie. Although Natalie didn't say anything, he could see the worry on her face. Like Matthew, she must have some prior knowledge of the Hero Template Card.
"Yes. A voice inside me tells me I can achieve results with this card that no one else can. At worst, we'll lose some Attribute Coins, but we still have more than anyone else." He explained.
"I trust you. If you can create a detailed avatar in ten seconds with your imagination, you should be able to imagine a powerful hero, too," Natalie said.
Matthew smiled in response. It was truly a nice feeling to have someone who trusted him so much.
"Can you check the Rules while I activate the card, Nat? I don't want to miss anything."
While examining the items in the Store tab, Matthew noticed another tab containing the rules for the fourth layer.
A glance revealed that many of the things written there were the same as those Professor Holland had mentioned.
Matthew now understood better why the university had such detailed information about this layer.
"Sure," said Natalie, and quickly began reading the rules.
Meanwhile, Matthew activated his Hero Template Card.
And the words "[Imagine a Hero]" appeared on the panel in front of him.
Matthew closed his eyes again and began to visualize the hero he had already decided on.
Of course, the hero he chose was none other than Superman.
Matthew knew there were heroes stronger than Superman among those he knew, but he still had a reason for choosing Superman.
In the past, the highest match rate among those who used the Hero Template Card was achieved by a Spider-Man Bloodline ability user, and he achieved this match rate by imagining a hero with his own ability.
Although this rate was a low 7%, it was almost double the next best rate.
Matthew concluded from this that the ability one possesses increases one's understanding of that hero.
As someone with the Kryptonian Bloodline ability, he thought that imagining a Kryptonian Hero would increase the success rate.
In this way, even if there were shortcomings in his imagination, the understanding that came with possessing this ability could compensate for it.
Matthew, with his eyes closed, tried to recall everything he knew about Superman.
The Superman he was basing his thoughts on was the one portrayed by Henry Cavill in Man of Steel, followed by Batman v Superman and Justice League.
Matthew wasn't satisfied with that and began recalling all the Superman-related works that came to mind.
Comics, Smallville, Superman & Lois, other films...
Everything he had ever seen, heard, or read about Superman...
But Matthew wasn't just recalling this information. It was as if he were reliving those moments.
From the struggles Kal-El (Clark Kent) faced when his powers awakened in his childhood, to the self-control he maintained to avoid harming people as he grew older.
After what felt like a few hours, Matthew awoke from his trance, and the first thing he saw was his Hero Template Card transforming from a blank white card into one bearing a picture of Superman as portrayed by Henry Cavill.
At that moment, Matthew saw the text appearing on the panel.
[Your knowledge and understanding of the hero you envisioned is at a high level. The Hero Template Card was created successfully. Please review the card for details.]
Matthew quickly shifted his focus to the Hero Template Card in his hand, and a small new information panel appeared before him.
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[Superman Template Card - Legend]
[A Hero Template Card that grants the user the powers of Superman, a Kryptonian.]
[This card has a maximum match rate of 100% because the creator has a high level of knowledge and understanding of this Hero.]
[Basic Hero Powers: Flying, Invulnerable Body, Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Mind, Super Hearing, Super Vision, Heat Vision, X-Ray Vision, Super Strong Cold Breath, Bio-Electric Aura.]
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Jackpot. Just as he thought, Hero Template Cards were perfect for Matthew.
They wouldn't be useful to those unfamiliar with the heroes' history, but for Matthew, it was a completely different story.
Although a typical freshman could probably only get a Standard version Hero Template Card, and in that case, the maximum match rate they could achieve would be 25%.
Even Epic Hero Template Cards, which offer a 50% match rate, cost 1500 Attribute Coins. And that's something only a handful of freshmen throughout history could afford.
Maybe Matthew could even be the first.
And while the strength of 25% and 50% match rates varied from hero to hero, they would most likely still have had many weaknesses.
In a Battle Royale with 1 million participants, those weaknesses were likely to cause problems.
So, cards other than Legend-level Hero Template Cards weren't that useful.
At least not for someone like Matthew, aiming for a super SSS-grade result.
Matthew first checked the remaining time and relaxed after seeing that only a minute had passed.
Besides trying out the abilities he would gain with this card, he had items he wanted to test and plans he wanted to discuss with Natalie.
So, he was glad that the imagination phase, which he felt had lasted a few hours, hadn't lasted that long.
Without further delay, Matthew used the Superman Template Card he was holding.
The card shattered, transforming into green data that merged with his avatar, changing Matthew's avatar into Henry Cavill in a Superman suit.
Even the avatar status on the panel in front of him had changed.
His original William Turner avatar had been moved to the backup slot, and the Superman avatar had taken its place in the primary slot, with his nickname also changed to Superman.
Furthermore, he could no longer choose his other avatar.
He had to use this avatar throughout the Battle Royale event.
This was one of the main reasons Matthew didn't want to waste too much time creating his avatar.
Although when they re-entered OASIS on the eighth layer, the Hero Template Card would lose its effect, and he would be forced to use his original avatar.
And there was also the possibility that the Hero Template Card usage wouldn't go as planned.
That's why he hadn't been careless in creating his avatar from the start.
"You succeeded?" Natalie asked after seeing that he had used his Hero Template Card and his avatar had changed.
"Yep," Matthew said with an iconic Henry Cavill smile.
"What is the matching rate?" she asked.
Matthew now said with a mischievous grin, "100%."
"100... 100%?... Wait a minute... was that a Legend-level Hero Template Card you just bought?" she asked, bewildered.
"Yep. And the reward was truly satisfying." He said.
"I really can't understand how you can gamble so calmly." She said after she sighed.
"This isn't gambling, it's an educated guess." He said, then added. "Anyway, just wait a minute."
After saying this, Matthew bought another Hero Template Card from the Store on the Panel.
Natalie, seeing a new Hero Template Card appear in Matthew's hand, asked in surprise, "Matthew... what exactly are you planning to do?"
Matthew first gave a simple, mischievous smile as he held the blank hero template card.
Then said, "Natalie, how about becoming a Kryptonian Hero?"
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.121: Shopping Spree and a Crazy Item
Ch.122: Get Ready!
Ch.123: Mini Bosses