Damon stared at the red glowing screen hovering in front of him like a ghost that refused to be exorcised.
> [Tutorial Task: Steal one civilian's wallet.]
Reward: +50 Aura Points
Bonus: +25 if it's livestreamed.
He dragged a palm down his face while groaning into his hoodie sleeve.
"Steal a wallet? I can't even look the cafeteria lady in the eye when she gives me change…"
It had been four days since he was crushed under a chunk of concrete and woke up alive in his dorm with zero broken bones and a mysterious crime-based system floating in his vision like some demonic version of Google Glass.
Four days of popping painlessly back into routine. Of lectures he couldn't concentrate in. Of wandering the campus like a ghost while the System whispered sin in glowing red boxes every few hours.
> [Reminder: Task incomplete. You are still powerless.]
He hated how it always phrased things like it was his fault he wasn't a criminal.
> [Reminder: Task Incomplete. You are still a shitty villain. ]
---
The lecture room was quite loud with chatter. Professor Giroux was droning about social systems and meta-governance while students pretended to care. Damon sat in the far corner with chin on hand while staring dead-eyed at the board.
He wasn't listening.
How could he?
A bright red notification kept blinking in his vision. No one else could see it, but it glared at him like a scarlet pimple on reality.
> [Tutorial Task pending…]
He exhaled loudly.
"Dude," his seatmate muttered while leaning over. "Can you not breathe like a dying whale?"
Damon blinked. "Sorry…"
"Whatever, man." The guy turned back.
Damon stared at his textbook again. He hadn't turned a page in 45 minutes. He couldn't read. He couldn't think. All he could see was the moment he lay under debris, blood pouring into his lungs, and Thunderman looking him dead in the eyes before flying away.
It played over and over like a cruel looped cutscene in a game he never agreed to play.
He packed up and left early.
---
Outside, the sun had started dipping past the skyline, casting gold streaks across the clouds.
Luminous billboards blinked on like clinking glasses. Skyscrapers rose like glass teeth, and the city's evening bustle had begun. Flyers from Hero merch stores fluttered along the sidewalk like leaves.
As he walked down College Avenue toward his dorm, a giant holographic screen on the corner of Delmont Plaza caught his eye.
Thunderman's face.
Perfect. Symmetrical. Soft glowing eyes. Hair tied back in its signature battle-knot.
A warm smile stretched across his face as he addressed a crowd during an interview, standing in front of the Hero Association's headquarters.
> "I just want civilians to know they matter," Thunderman said into the mic with a tone of false sincerity. "That's why I fight. For every life."
The interviewer giggled. "A true symbol of hope!"
The crowd clapped.
Damon paused with a deadpan look. The knot in his chest pulled tighter. His fists clenched.
"…So mine just doesn't, huh?" he whispered.
He stared for a moment longer, then turned sharply and stormed away.
Anger burned under his skin like a virus waking up.
He was so distracted that he barely noticed when he bumped shoulders with someone at the street corner.
"Whoa—sorry, my bad," Damon said quickly while stepping back.
The man who was dressed in a white button-up and slacks, gave him an irritated look—but then something small hit the ground.
A wallet.
Damon instinctively bent and picked it up. "Hey, your wallet—"
The man turned around while patting himself up.
He realised that his wallet truly did drop after he accidentally bumped into Damon.
He reached for it. "Oh, thanks, man—"
But then... Damon hesitated.
The System... The task...
The task he had ignored for four days.
The 50 Aura Points.
The idea of power.
The two faced heroes...
The man reached forward and their hands touched when he grabbed his wallet.
All of a sudden, Damon's fingers tightened around it.
"Hey… let go, man."
But Damon didn't.
Something inside him—rage, pain, betrayal—snapped loose.
He ripped the wallet away from the man's grasp and ran.
"HEY! MY WALLET! THIEF!" the man's voice boomer through the plaza as he shouted.
Gasps erupted as people turned and pulled out their phones.
One woman screamed. Another guy pointed.
But Damon didn't stop.
His legs pumped like turbines as his heart crashed against his ribs.
He took a hard left into an alley, jumped over a trash bin, squeezed between two rusted fences, and burst out onto a backstreet behind a pizza shop.
Footsteps followed at first—but then faded.
He knew these side roads. No one ever chased far here.
By the time he stopped, he was panting. He crouched behind a dumpster with the wallet still clenched in his hands.
"I… I can't believe I just did that."
His voice trembled and his fingers wouldn't stop shaking but somehow, this feeling of exhilaration was unmatched.
The reality of what he had just done slammed into him like a truck. He had stolen. Not joked about it. Not fantasized. He had actually, physically robbed someone in broad daylight.
And then—
> [Ding!]
Tutorial Task Completed.
[ +50 Aura Points awarded. ]
[ Villain Progress: 0.2% ]
[ You've taken your first step into villainy. The world may not know it yet—but it will. ]
Before Damon could react, two new windows flashed:
> [Abilities Shop Unlocked.]
Welcome to the Aura Market. Exchange your points for power, perks, and destruction.
> [Would you like to purchase an Ability or Increase Your Stats?]
Points available: 50 AP.
He stared at the screens while panting and sweating with the wallet still gripped in one hand like a murder weapon.
"I did it…" he whispered.
He hadn't wanted to. Not really.
But something had shifted inside him.
--