Episode 4 – The World Beyond the Scalpel
New York's skyline glittered like broken glass as Michael leaned against the railing of the hospital roof, smoke drifting from his blunt. He had one eye on the horizon—and the rift that pulsed faintly above the city like a scar in the sky.
Nobody else could see it. Nobody else could feel the heat rolling out of it. But Michael, Level 4 Healer, felt every vibration in his bones. His Dimensional Awareness made the air buzz like static whenever he got near it.
"Limitless worlds," he muttered. "Guess I can't stay in this hospital forever."
⸻
Hospital Tension
Downstairs, Roosevelt Memorial boiled with whispers.
Lang's rumor about Michael's affair with Jessica had spread like wildfire. Married nurses glared at him in judgment. Residents smirked in envy. Even attendings muttered behind his back.
Jessica avoided his eyes. But every time she brushed past him, her body lingered just a little too close, a silent reminder of their nights tangled in sheets.
And yet, Michael didn't flinch. His reputation might be tainted in gossip, but his patients worshiped him.
Every miracle he pulled off made the staff's hatred burn hotter. And every save fed him.
[XP: 4200 / 5000]
[Balance: $7,000]
[Level 4 – Prestige 0]
⸻
Case #5 – Betrayal in the OR
That afternoon, Michael was thrown into surgery with Lang. A middle-aged woman had a ruptured aneurysm—seconds from death. The OR blazed with tension.
Lang smirked behind his mask. "Watch carefully, Carter. You're about to see how a real surgeon works."
Michael's eyes narrowed. He could already see the flaw in Lang's technique—he was clamping too far up, cutting blood supply. It would kill her.
"Stop," Michael snapped. "You're strangling the vessel. She'll bleed out in seconds."
Lang sneered. "Shut the fuck up, intern."
Michael didn't wait. He shoved Lang aside, hands glowing as he pressed directly on the vessel. His power surged through her arteries, knitting the rupture, sealing the blood flow.
The monitors steadied. The bleeding stopped.
The OR froze.
Lang was pale, trembling with rage.
Michael calmly finished the save, then stripped off his gloves. "That's how a real surgeon works."
The staff whispered in awe. Patients lived under his hands. Doctors failed under his shadow.
Lang's eyes burned with hatred.
⸻
The Senator's Wife Returns
Later that evening, Michael was paged to a private suite. The senator's wife—the one whose cancer he had cured—waited. But she wasn't alone.
She closed the door, eyes hungry, lips curling into a smile. "You saved my life, Dr. Carter. My husband is too busy in Washington to even notice I'm alive. I thought maybe… you deserved a better thank you."
Her dress slipped off her shoulders.
Michael smirked. Calm. Chill. Dangerous. "You're playing with fire."
She pressed against him. "Then burn me."
Clothes hit the floor. Gasps and curses filled the private suite. Her body shook under his steady rhythm, her moans echoing against marble walls.
When it was over, she lay trembling, whispering, "You're mine now."
Michael lit a blunt, smirking. "I'm everybody's cure, sweetheart. Don't get greedy."
⸻
The Rift Opens
That night, walking home, Michael felt the air tear open. The rift outside his apartment stretched wider, glowing green and blue.
The hum in his skull was unbearable. His Dimensional Awareness screamed—someone was dying on the other side.
"Fuck it," he muttered. "Time for house calls."
He stepped through.
⸻
Another World
The world on the other side was chaos. A battlefield under twin moons. Soldiers screamed in alien tongues. Bodies lay broken in the mud. Creatures with jagged armor tore through lines of men.
And in the center, a boy no older than twelve lay gasping, chest torn open by a blade not of this world.
Michael's instincts took over. He sprinted to the boy, dropping to his knees. His hands glowed, brighter than ever.
Alien blood hissed under his touch, but his power surged stronger. He rewove the child's organs, sealed the wound, restored the life slipping away.
The boy gasped awake, staring at Michael with wide, glowing eyes. "You… savior…"
[XP +3000]
[Balance: +$1000]
[Level Up! You are now Level 5 Healer.]
[Skill Unlocked: Cross-Species Adaptation.]
The battlefield froze. Soldiers stared at him in awe. The creatures snarled. The rift behind him pulsed, calling him back.
Michael stood, smirking. "Different world, same shit. Who's next?"
⸻
Back in New York
He stepped back through the rift into his apartment, blood on his scrubs, adrenaline still buzzing. The rift sealed behind him with a hiss.
His phone buzzed. Dozens of missed calls. Jessica. The senator's wife. Even the chief of surgery.
The hospital was waiting for him. His enemies were waiting for him. And now, the multiverse itself was waiting for him.
Michael lit a blunt, collapsed into his busted couch, and exhaled smoke into the cracked ceiling.
"Limitless worlds. Limitless lives. Limitless pussy. And I'm leveling up one save at a time."
His phone buzzed again. Another page. Another patient. Another XP bar waiting to fill.
Michael grinned.
"I am the cure."