"I honestly never imagined I'd end up as him—some jerk who looks handsome in his online dating photos, only to turn out totally round-headed in real life."
The camera pans out. The man speaking is none other than the Second Harbinger of the Fatui: Dottore.
At this moment, he is sitting inside a carriage on his way to Snezhnaya. (Snezhnaya 500 years ago would have used carriages, right?)
Looking back, another carriage follows closely behind. Seated inside is Pierro, the Jester and Director of the Fatui.
Sitting comfortably in the carriage, Dottore thinks to himself: *Oh, thank goodness it isn't 500 years later, and I haven't committed any unforgivable, god-frightening crimes yet. Otherwise, there would be no way to clear my name. No matter what, I must absolutely avoid conducting those cruel experiments from the original story.*
*And Scaramouche—this time, he probably won't have to go through three betrayals, and hopefully, he won't get cursed out quite as badly.*
*And Capitano—during the Natio storyline, he bears the curse of immortality while his physical body continues to rot away. Even under such conditions, holding his own 1v1 without going all out against a Pyro Archon who wasn't even at her peak... I'm really curious just how strong he must be at his absolute best.*
*Alright, enough overthinking. Let's take a look at Dottore's memories.*
Indeed, while the consciousness belongs to the protagonist, he still retains Dottore's memories. The protagonist can use Dottore's abilities, though not to their full extent. If driven to a desperate corner, he can allow Dottore's consciousness to temporarily take over, though doing so will also inflict damage on his own mind.
Right then, the carriage comes to a halt. Dottore steps down and looks toward Pierro, who is emerging from the other carriage.
"What is it, Pierro? Why have we stopped?"
The Jester looks at Dottore and replies, "We spotted a gathering of monsters up ahead. The vanguard has already gone to deal with them. We need to wait a moment."
"I thought the Director himself would step in," Dottore says, swiftly changing the subject. "Once we reach Snezhnaya, I need to check on my laboratory first, and make sure you haven't forgotten to find the materials I requested."
"Of course."
At that moment, the Fatui vanguard finishes clearing out the monsters blocking the road.
"Lord Jester, the monsters blocking the road have been cleared. We can proceed."
"Dottore, get back in the carriage. We're moving on."
The two board their carriages once more and continue their journey toward Snezhnaya. After several days on the road, they finally arrive in the Land of Cryo—Snezhnaya.
The carriage heads straight for a laboratory on the outskirts of the city. Dottore steps inside, finding the equipment remarkably complete. After inspecting the apparatus, he walks back out and asks Pierro, "Where are we off to next?" *(Failing to check the material storage room right then remains his greatest regret.)*
Pierro leads the way, saying, "Snezhnaya Palace. Her Majesty wishes to grant you your rank as a Harbinger. At the same time, you can meet two of your colleagues."
They arrive at Snezhnaya Palace in no time at all. Pushing open the doors, the first thing that greets the eye is a massive conference table. Standing and sitting on either side of it are a man and a young woman. The man stands stiffly upright on the right side of the table, while Columbina sits in a chair on the left, her head resting lightly against the table.
Capitano—the Captain.
Columbina—the Damselette.
Pierro walks in first, taking the central position. Dottore follows closely behind, taking his place on the right side of the conference table.
"This is Capitano." Capitano gives Dottore a slight nod.
"This is Columbina." The Damselette remains resting her head on the table.
Once Pierro finishes the introductions, Dottore speaks up: "I am Dottore."
As the words leave his lips, the temperature inside Snezhnaya Palace plummets drastically, adding frost upon frost to an already freezing room.
Thank goodness Dottore possesses the combat power of a God; otherwise, he might well have frozen to death on the spot.
The Cryo Archon descends. She reaches out a hand and points it toward Dottore. "You are now the Second Harbinger of the Fatui, codenamed: The Doctor." Dottore feels a surge of energy enter his body.
"Thank your Majesty for this grace."
As Dottore finishes speaking, he raises his head only to find that the Cryo Archon has already departed.
At that moment, Pierro speaks up. "It is finished. You may leave now, but Dottore, stay behind. I have several tasks to assign to you."
"Is there anything you need me to handle, Director?"
"I need you to research items capable of enhancing human combat prowess, and there will be several missions assigned to you shortly."
"Very well. Then hand over the starting funds first. I'll hand you the list of materials I need later."
At this, Pierro lets out a few awkward coughs. "Well, you see, Dottore... as you probably know, the recent battles with the Abyss monsters in Khaenri'ah heavily impacted Snezhnaya. We don't have much in the way of starting funds to give you right now."
Dottore's red eyes widen as he stammers, "There should at least be *some*, right?"
Pierro reaches into his coat, pulls out a tiny burlap sack, and hands it over. "This is all there is for now—in Mora. We'll arrange for someone to help you find the materials you need." With that, he vanishes from right in front of him in a flash.
*Wait a minute, is Snezhnaya really this broke right now? Even with the original owner's intellect, what am I supposed to accomplish without money or materials?!*
He walks over to the apartment assigned by Snezhnaya, opens the door, and collapses onto the sofa. *How do I make money? How on earth do I make money?*
*Ding! The Imagination System has been bound.*
Huh? A system? Imagination?
"Yes, Host. I am the Imagination System. I can help you imagine the things or people you need, allowing you to acquire the knowledge or items you require. However, the longer you sustain the imagination process, the greater the scale of mental damage you will incur."
"At the same time, you can also choose to directly redeem the items you imagine, though you cannot redeem living people."
It seems useful. Although it will cause mental damage, Dottore's memories contain formulas for various potions with restorative effects, so he doesn't need to worry about that.
"Forget it. I'll head to the laboratory first and brew a potion to recover from mental fatigue."
Stepping into the laboratory and seeing the complete set of experimental tools, he nods in satisfaction. He turns his gaze toward the material storage room, pushes the door open, and instantly turns to stone.
Wait, where are the materials? A massive material storage room, and there isn't a single experimental material in it?! Are you scamping me out of raw resources?!
"PIERRO, YOU—YOU—YOU BASTARD!!!"
Deep in the halls, Pierro, currently bogged down by Snezhnaya's endless administrative paperwork, violently sneezes.
*Who's cursing me?*