Welcome to the LOL System, Mad Scientist!

Chapter 4

After withdrawing some money from the lab's bank and discreetly stuffing some snacks and Snickers into each of his pockets, including Ava's, Luca snapped his fingers and watched the entire building burn.

A mixed expression crossed his face as he thought about all the time he had spent here. Besides being isolated from the workers, Luca had spent most of his time here with his mentor.

Luca hadn't really wanted to join the government project to create a deadly biological weapon gas because he had a bad feeling about it. But when Professor Silas asked him to join, as it might be his last project before retirement, Luca ignored his gut feeling and accepted.

But Luca should have learned to say no, and it was better to leave him heartbroken than having him leave forever.

The government also promised Luca that if he joined, they would highlight his wife's burgeoning perfume company in Gala. And since one of Gala's company sponsors was Lisa's most sought after company, Luca was even more receptive to the offer. 

He should have thought twice before truly falling in love, because women truly were Adam's poison.

“L—Luca Kane? Is that you?”

A small, trembling male voice sounded from behind Luca, and turning around, Luca saw a short, hunched, nerdy looking man.

Luca recognized him because he was also a government scientist, but his colleague had a more unfortunate life.

He had immediately faced bullying upon entering the building because he was the son of a single mother who worked as a janitor, and sadly, his mother had died because he failed to pay her hospital bills.

“Luca… I thought you were dead! Everyone said you died in the high contamination zone because you were too late to save yourself! I’m so glad you’re alive!!” Anthony said, rushing over and hugging him.

Luca smiled lopsidedly as he ‘tried’ to push Anthony away, and Luca noticed Ava glaring at him.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away. It’s just that there are rumors that you’re a traitor and that you’re the one who leaked the poison gas,” Anthony said, looking closely at Luca’s face. “But I know that’s not true, and oh… I’m also sorry to hear that your wife is now marrying Daniel. I heard she just married her ex from college, and it happened exactly three days after your death.”

“The lab is on fire right now! I should call 911, and you look injured too—” “No, you won’t call 911, and you never worked here.” “W-what?”

Anthony stopped talking as Luca looked straight into his eyes. Luca’s eyes were a bright blue, and Anthony’s eyes were rolling as he lost focus.

“Besides, you weren’t born into a poor family and had good fortune. You’ll probably only see me here, but not with Ava. Do you understand?”

“Y-yeah, I understand…”

Luca snapped his fingers, and Anthony snapped out of his trance and ran out of the basement lab. 

Luca didn’t see him pull out his phone as he waited for the bus.

“My words should be enough to change his fate, right? He's had a hard life as an only child, and I hope he can make good use of his second chance at life,” Luca said.

Ava shook her head. “Not necessarily, because your words are only for attacking, not for anything related to money. To gain money and power, you must join this system. Your orders will only give him personality, and that could make him arrogant and conceited if he's inherited bad seeds from the start.”

“But why did you tell him to only remember you? Are you protecting me? I'm just something the system created, in case you forgot,” Ava asked.

“It's because, like I said before. You didn't do anything, and if anything goes wrong, it's all my fault,” Luca sighed. “You should just forget about me joining this system. It's enough for me to be alive and have this power. Any suspicious offer has grave consequences, like Squid Game.”

A familiar blue light suddenly appeared before them, and Luca recognized it as the LOL system tablet.

The word "Trial" was displayed large on the screen, and Luca immediately swiped it.

But then, Luca stopped when he saw a prize column on the bottom panel. He saw a necklace, and the light blue necklace had the word "GK" engraved on it.

“Even if it’s just to get your mother’s necklace? From the look on your face, I can see that it’s very important to you. You have a son at home, too,” Ava said, pointing to the little boy marked with a question mark on the rewards panel. “Don’t you want to at least say hello to him? Considering his father just rose from the dead?”

“This is just an experiment, so if you don’t want to join the system, don’t worry. It doesn’t count as joining.”

Luca sighed as he considered his decision.

Maybe, just maybe, Luca thought he really needed to say a proper goodbye to his son. His son was completely innocent here, and when Luca pressed the button to join the experiment, an image of the Northwest appeared.

Luca’s first mission was to find the robber and steal his car to drive, but not by supernatural means.

“Huh? Where am I supposed to find a robber at this hour—”

“Ah! Please! I have a wife and kids, please don’t kill me—”

*BANG*

“Sorry, man, but I have to eat here. Your wife can find another man, and you look like a lousy househusband. She’s better off without you and your meager salary!”

Laughter rang out from the other side of the street. In front of the bar’s parking lot, there was a robber and the body of a worker.

“Looks like the first mission just came in, and it’s about fighting robbers,” Ava grinned. “Do you need a beginner’s tutorial or some help, because this mission seems a bit tricky—”

“No need, I already know how,” Luca formed his hands into pistols and aimed them at the robber’s head.

“It’s easy. I learned it after watching my mother die from this. All I need to do is say the word ‘bullet’ in my head, right?”