The Original Beefcake

Marcus watched the last seconds of the video and listened to his own voice. It wasn't Spielberg, but it would do, he hoped. His first video had five views, but what did he expect? In this day and age you can only get views if you are already a big name or talk about a hot topic. A 'no name' channel that starts talking about the lowest ranked class in the world had no chance to be noticed. Still, he had made a second video 'Fighter's third ability is a Game Changer!'. It was only ten minutes long and included a small demonstration of his healing ability. Marcus hoped at least this would garner some attention.

He stretched and decided to have a walk in the sun, and get some fresh air in his lungs. The dorm rooms were nice, but they had no natural light and after several days in the dorms he craved some sun rays. The last days have been R&R, they had visited Bianca and Malcolm in the hospital and discussed the situation with Carmen. Their expedition was over and a new one would go in their place in the near future. Carmen wasn't happy, but satisfied with what they had found. The team got paid anyway and the scientists promised to mention the names of the team in their papers. The others were surprised that the little they had found would be enough for a publication, but Marcus knew better. Those paintings would cause a stir, he was sure.

The implications of their discovery, including Achara's black blade would be discussed for a long time. A dead civilization from 100k years ago had class holders, Marcus mused about this while he walked under the blazing sun. His vitality was so high that even under the full midday sun he wouldn't get a sunburn, maybe not even a bit of color.

Two hours after uploading the video he was on the way back to the dorms to find Janette and get some food. His phone rang and he expected Janette to call and to complain about hunger, but it was an unknown number. He took the call and seconds later rolled his eyes, "Sure, and I'm Santa Claus." He hang up and was annoyed by the really bad scam call. How was this still a thing, and such a bad one too.

Ten seconds later his phone rang again, unknown number. "Marcus Freimann," he said, and the same voice answered him. "If you give me a second I can prove to you, that I'm the personal secretary of Mr. Kim," the voice said. Marcus squinted his eyes, but didn't instantly end the call. That man was of course not the person he claimed to be, it was a scam, but Marcus was curious where this was going. The fake secretary spoke again, "Can you activate the video function of your phone please, Mr. Freimann." Marcus did, and somehow his fingers started to shake. It was stupid, there was no way this was real.

The face of a middle aged, Asian man with rimless glasses and a white formal shirt came into view. The man nodded and then the view changed again and a second later another Asian man came into view. Marcus' breath stopped, the man smiling at him was no other than Kim. The Kim. The one and only Grand Paladin KIM! Marcus knew him, had watched hundreds of hours of videos of Kim in and outside battle, followed every post, every comment he made. He was a sweaty fan boy, he knew, but this... this was insane.

"Marcus, nice to meet you," Kim said. Marcus just nodded, unable to take his eyes off the person in the video call. The Grand Paladin smiled, "I would like to talk with you, in person. There is a problem I think you could help me with. Would you come visit me as soon as possible? If I'm informed correctly you should be free right now." Marcus nodded, but his brain hadn't fully understood the question. It was more of a reflex. "Very good, I took the liberty and already prepared a private jet and a helicopter to pick you up. Mr. Kang will give you the details. I'm looking forward to seeing you," Kim said and smiled. Marcus nodded, the other man appeared in the video call and explained a few details to Marcus and the call ended. Marcus just stood there and then double and triple checked his call history. There were two calls from an unknown number, it hadn't been a dream.

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Marcus ran back to the dorms and started to pack a few things into a bag. When Janette found him, he explained what happened and that he would be away on a trip. She wasn't at all convinced and the rest of the team shared her view. Half an hour later they all stood at a helicopter landing pad on the fringes of the military base. A fancy looking modern helicopter awaited Marcus, but Janette wanted to see some credentials first. They had plenty and they were indeed affiliated to the 'Sleeping Sky' clan, Kim's clan.

Marcus said goodbye and watched his friends turn into ants as the helicopter left the base behind. As soon as they reached the airport Marcus was guided to an even fancier jet and spent the next hours trying to answer questions: What could the most powerful class holder in the world want from him? How does he even know him? Was he watching Marcus? He said he was informed about him, since when? Why? The flood of questions didn't end, but the flight did.

The plane landed on a private island near the Korean peninsula. As he left the jet the sun already set and painted the large modern buildings that made up the headquarter of the Sleeping Sky in crimson colors. All his needs were taken care of, including his bags and he was led into the largest building. He got a wristband with a chip and then a nice woman guided him to an elevator and sent him up.

Marcus' heart was pounding and he was sweating in his clothes, which as he now found weren't at all good enough for the situation. The elevator stopped with nearly no sound and opened to a large nicely decorated room with a large door at the end. A man with green dyed hair and a very Scottish look just moved through the door and walked in Marcus' direction. "Finally. Ye-jun has been unbearable the last hours. Just go in, he is waiting. Oh, I'm Jack, by the way." The man gave Marcus a hand and then left with the elevator. Yes, Marcus thought, I just shook hands with Jack MacDougall, a level 110 Puppeteer (rank 6) and right hand man of Kim. Yes, that just happened.

Marcus crossed the room and slowly opened the door, as one would open the door to a boss room in a game, full of excitement and fear. A spacious office with a god-like view opened up and he stepped into the room, trying to make no noise or upset anybody who was in the room.

"Marcus!" Kim greeted him with a bright smile and walked right up to him. Marcus had seen Kim so many times on screen, but only now he could truly understand the overwhelming aura of the man.

Kim wasn't particularly large, but as he came closer Marcus felt like the room was shrinking. Marcus felt a pressure from the very existence of the Grand Paladin. He moved with a grace and confidence that Marcus had never seen before and his eyes were dark and felt impossibly deep to Marcus. They shook hands and Marcus opened his mouth, "Why am I here?" That was rude you IDIOT, Marcus screamed internally.

"There are a few reasons, but one thing at the time." Kim offered him some water and Marcus took it, but forgot to drink any of it. "I'm actually super hyped about seeing you," Kim continued, and looked as happy as a kid on Christmas. "Would you allow me to see for myself?" Kim asked and Marcus didn't follow until Kim gently took his hand, "A small cut would be okay?" Now Marcus got it and nodded. Kim moved one, longer than normal, fingernail over the back of Marcus' hand and instantly a deep cut appeared. Marcus remembered how much force he had to use with a very sharp knife and how easy this little gesture made him bleed. This wasn't strength, Marcus knew, this was Kim handling his Channel Light ability on an incredible level.

Kim carefully observed as the cut on the back of Marcus' hand closed. "This is a first without a doubt," Kim said, now carefully removing any blood with a tissue. "We researched the possibility of rapid healing or a healing factor in the past, but all results said it was impossible. Healing from abilities or vitality was too slow and energy consuming to be of use in anything but extremely long winded fights. Real time recovery was, until now, impossible," Kim explained, and Marcus listened, taking in a lot of new information.

"Some in depth experiments might give us a clue how this is possible, but for now: congratulations Marcus, your hard work and persistence has paid off," Kim said. "Thank you, but how do you even know me? And why did you bring me here? It isn't only because of my Game Changer?" Marcus asked. He slowly got used to the presence of the man in front of him. He still felt out of place and his breathing felt heavy, but the rational part of his brain worked hard with the limited information he had.

"I have been watching you for a few months now, based on a strong hunch that I had," Kim said, and Marcus looked perplexed. Months? "And this is a nice way to jump to the other reason I wanted to see you in person. I need your help," Kim said, with a sad smile. "To be honest, I don't expect you to solve my problem, but I'm grasping at straws. For the first time, I'm truly stuck." And these words alone connected ideas in Marcus' head and he finally knew what this was about, "Paladin's fourth ability. You have not found it yet."