From Zero To Stardom: My Superstar System

Chapter Seven: Victor Petrov

"Brother Victor! Y-You are finally here!"

Amidst the echoing explosions in the background, the boy's voice trembled with relief and disbelief. A hesitant smile crept across his face, and he started to rise as if to embrace Marcus.

"Get down!"

Marcus shouted angrily, veins pulsed on his forehead, and his features contorted with fury.

There could be a sniper nearby, yet the boy behaved as though they were meeting for a casual outing.

Alexie's eyes widened and stopped on his tracks.

Amidst the relentless explosions that rocked the battlefield, Alex's heart raced, and his hands trembled, but he couldn't tear his gaze away from Marcus.

The man stood there, looking at him with judgment. Despite the explosions, the man didn't even flinch once.

Explosions thundered around them, sending dirt and debris flying, but Marcus remained immovable.

He didn't even blink, his expression resolute, as though he were listening to a serene opera amid the turmoil.

"I-I apolo—"

Suddenly, a man's head flew through the air and landed near them.

Blood sprayed in a gruesome arc, painting the ground and nearby walls crimson.

Alex's eyes widened in terror as the lifeless eyes of the severed head locked eyes with him.

He scrambled frantically towards a corner, and his face drained of color.

"Ahh!" the boy shouted while shaking his head like a madman.

While the boy quivered in fear, Marcus merely regarded the severed head.

He felt like it was normal in his everyday life. He didn't feel disgusted nor scared.

"I can't do it! I can't! I can’t do it. I can’t take any more. I don’t want to die! Please, when is this going to end?!"

The boy trembled, and his fingers pressed against his ears.

His closed eyes were full of tears as if attempting to shut out the relentless barrage of noise and danger.

Marcus's face twisted when his gaze fell on the boy's wet pants. The dampness was reaching down to his feet.

He was exactly as what the book described him to be—a coward.

"Shut it! Do you know where you are? Should a real soldier be really crying in the middle of a war?"

Suddenly, Marcus' mouth moved, and harsh words were coming out of his mouth.

His words dripped with the bitterness of experience, like venom from a serpent's fangs.

'What is happening to me? Why is my body and mouth doing it as it wishes? This isn't me!' Marcus thought to himself in bewilderment.

Marcus stood there, yet despite the whirlwind of confusion and panic raging within him, not a trace of these emotions revealed itself on his countenance.

It was as though an invisible hand had wrested control of his body, rendering him a mere spectator to his own actions.

The boy, Alexei Ivanov, somehow finally managed to control his trembling, and his wide eyes locked onto Marcus.

Alexie crawled on the mud-soaked ground and kneeled in front of Marcus.

His hands pressed closely together, and he trembled as tears streamed down his dirt-streaked cheeks.

"B-Brother! Let's get out of here! No one will know! Let's get out of here! I don't want to die, Brother Victor, please!" the boy pleaded, his voice filled with desperation.

Watching the young lad begging desperately, something inside Marcus swirled, and the words from the script flashed in his mind.

He knelt and looked at the boy's eyes, gripping his shoulder firmly.

"Private Alexei Ivanov! Do you not know where you are? Your comrades are dying, and yet here you are hiding with your pants wet. You are in the middle of a war and not in your father's playground anymore! Get a grip! Hold your gun properly and get out of here! Fight like a real soldier!"

Marcus felt his whole body heating up.

He was suddenly filled with anger. He was suddenly disgusted, but it wasn't directed to the boy before him.

"B-But Brother Victor… I can't do it! I'll get killed!"

Alexei's voice trembled with fear, his eyes wide and glistening with tears.

Marcus's face contorted with a mixture of frustration and disbelief.

He leaned in, his gaze piercing into Alexei's. He gritted his teeth, and his body flared even more.

"So what, fucker?! Dying on the battlefield is an honor! You don't get what an honor, Kid?! Are your daddy issues worse than I thought?! You yapped about proving something, didn't you? About not being the weakling Daddy thinks you are. But look at you, a pathetic mess. If you can't pull yourself together right now, forget about impressing Daddy or anyone else. Frankly, you'd be doing us a favor, 'cause deadweight is the last thing we need."

As Marcus said those words, he felt like a different person.

He wasn't Marcus Thornwood, the actor, but he was Victor Petrov, the skilled and resourceful spy who was sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a rival country and gather crucial intelligence.

Suddenly, as he gasped for breath, a red dot appeared on his shoulder.

His eyes widened and his face went pale when he realized what it was. There was a sniper!

"Shit!"

Marcus closed his eyes, anticipating the piercing sensation of a bullet but suddenly a sound he didn't anticipate reached his ears - clapping.

Confused and disoriented, he cautiously opened his eyes, expecting to see the chaos of war that had surrounded him just moments ago.

But he didn't see the explosions of fuel, fire, metal and flesh, instead, he saw the Director, and the writer clapping their hands in unison.

Marcus furrowed his forehead and looked at the panelists' who wore expressions that mirrored each other – mouths agape, eyes widened in sheer astonishment.

Despite the continued applause, none of them spoke, leaving Marcus in a perplexing state of transition.

Marcus looked at his cousins and Rachel direction and they were the same too. The three of them sat in stunned silence beside the panelists. Their expressions blend of anger and disbelief.

It was as though they had just borne witness to something extraordinary.

Marcus furrowed his forehead.

'What did they see for them to react like that? I thought I had failed. Was I wrong?'

"Uhm, excuse me. W-Why are you clapping your hands?"

Summoning his courage, he finally addressed the room, his voice laced with uncertainty.

The clapping ceased abruptly, and the panelists regarded him with bemusement.

"Do you really not know? You have impressed us, Marc!" Jake, the Director, exclaimed, his voice filled with awe.

The stout man with graying hair that framed his imposing face, held a glint of excitement and intrigue as he regarded Marcus.

He still couldn't believe what he saw earlier. His hands could not stop shaking.

"I did? B-But I haven't even started yet—"

"Yes, and I have never seen such realistic acting before!"

The sadistic casting director cut off Marcus.

She leaned forward in her chair, her eyes fixed intently on Marcus, searching for any trace of the bumbling actor she had initially expected.

"You almost made me believe that you were a veteran soldier who couldn't feel any emotions anymore! You acted like you were in the middle of war! Your portrayal, it was raw, visceral, and so... so authentic! I've never witnessed anything like it in all my years in this industry!"

As she spoke, her face flushed with astonishment, and her fingers clenched the arms of her chair until her knuckles turned white.

Marcus looks at the sadistic casting director. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the same woman who insulted her earlier.

Just what the hell happened?! He was just in the middle of the battlefield and then all of the sudden, he was in front of the panelists once again.

'Earlier, I saw that translucent screen from the system again, saying that some kind of skill was activated, and then I was suddenly transported in the middle of a war!'

He thought, his thoughts spiraling in panic.

He clutched his script, drawing it close to his face and scanning every word. Even though he'd read it countless times, he combed through it once more.

Marcus' eyes widened in shock. The same dialogue, the same setting and the description of the characters—it was what exactly happened to him earlier!

Marcus turned the pages of the script, his eyes widened in shock. In the last page, was the scene where Victor Petrov was about to be shot by a hidden sniper.

'T-This! Don't tell me I was really in the middle of a war earlier? That was all real?! I-Is this because of the system?!'

Marcus' eyes widened in fear and astonishment. He had no idea the system was capable of such a thing.

Before he could make sense of the chaos in his mind, Frank's voice shattered his thoughts.

"This! This is it!"

Frank's voice reverberated through the room.

"We have found our Victor Petrov! This is exactly how I imagined him to be! This is Victor Petrov that I have written about!"

The writer, Frank, shouted like a madman.

"You got the role!" Frank's announcement echoed through the room.

Beside the panelists, Eric, Julia, and Rachel were caught off guard.

Their eyes widened in disbelief after hearing Frank's announcement.

Their initial expectations have been shattered by this unexpected turn of events.

Marcus, too, was in a state of shock. He stammered, "I... I got the role?"

Eric was unable to contain his frustration, muttering under his breath, "This can't be happening."

Suddenly, a familiar ding suddenly sounded in Marcus' mind.

Ding!

[Mission: Audition for "Brothers of Valor Completed!"]