The road shimmered under the warm morning sun.
A soft, refreshing breeze threaded through every strand of hair.
Ry-Two stood in front of the debris that used to be his rewarded building.
Pedestrians smiled at him softly, as if it were just another Monday.
Living in a High-Risk Zone, such incidents happened daily—no matter the cause, people were already numb to them.
But Ry-Two, the newbie superhero, wasn't.
His heart trembled with frustration.
Placing a hand on the shoulder of a middle-aged man beside him, he spoke in a pained voice.
"Uncle, do you know how painful it was for me to own this building?"
His arms shook violently, just recalling the group fight from the day before.
He roared, "It was nut-cracking pain!", tears streaming down his face.
This building had been the reward for his suffering, the result of sacrifices he made; he'd staked his future and happiness for it.
He had nearly lost his manliness in the process.
Thinking about all the lives lost that day, he added, "Do you know how many potentially young men lost their futures? Hundreds of millions!"
("Technically, some could be women too—if those imprisoned offenders can still plant seeds… just adding for accuracy.")
(The Author breaks the fourth wall again, munching popcorn while watching the drama unfold.)
(He reaches for his drink, slips, and spills Coke all over his desk—)
"Huh? Did I just hear someone scream?" the Uncle muttered, distracted. He looked around, trying to locate the source of the heart-wrenching cry in the distance.
Ry-Two stomped the ground, fuming.
"Damn it, Uncle, did you even hear me!?"
"Today, either you compensate me properly—or I'll make you experience nut-cracking pain too!"
He was on the verge of exploding.
The Uncle finally turned his full attention back to the angry young man, sighing deeply.
'Poor kid… must be working hard in the nuts factory.'
'And those black-hearted bosses—science is so advanced, yet they still use human labor? A hundred million young men? What a waste of resources.'
'No wonder he wants me to experience nut-cracking pain—he must've suffered terribly cracking nuts by hand.'
Moved by his own imagination, the Uncle shed a tear.
"Young man, you've worked hard."
"Don't worry, stuff like this happens every day here."
"This is a High-Risk Zone after all. Damage like this? Uncle can fix it in less than a week!"
Ry-Two, trying to remain calm, couldn't hold back.
"It wasn't just some damage, okay!?"
"You literally tore down my building! Why did you do that in the first place!?" He felt wronged.
But the Uncle stayed calm, like a man used to chaos.
"Hey, mistakes happen—rarely! But I'll properly compensate you. Just give me a few days, and your building will be as good as new!"
He even patted Ry-Two's shoulder with confidence.
BAM!
A massive explosion echoed nearby.
Ry-Two turned—the building across the road had collapsed into rubble.
It now looked exactly like his own: flattened, debris everywhere.
Comically, a small chunk of wall remained upright, with the address plate still intact.
"DAMN YOU, NOT AGAIN!"
A furious voice howled.
From under the rubble, a muscular man crawled out. He stomped over to a worker in the same uniform as the Uncle and grabbed him.
They argued briefly—then the muscular man threw the worker to the ground with a loud "puchi."
"Oh, your coworker's coming over," Ry-Two noted dryly.
"Uncle Thomas, we demolished the wrong building again!" the worker shouted, pulling out a map in a panic.
The Uncle was stunned.
"That's impossible! We double-checked the address plate—there can't be a mistake!"
He rushed to compare maps with his coworker.
Ry-Two stood silently… then lost patience.
He stepped in, glanced once at the map, and immediately roared: "Damn you! This is a map of Beatrice Zone—we're in Beatrix Zone!"
Both workers froze.
Realization hit them like a brick. They thumped fists into their palms, as if everything now made sense.
The muscular man marched over, pointed at Uncle Thomas, and shouted, "Compensate!"
"Five days!" the Uncle quickly replied.
"Too long—make it three!" the man demanded.
"Four days—final offer."
"Okay, deal!"
They shook hands, and the man left, satisfied.
The Uncle turned to Ry-Two.
"See that, young man? We're a credible company!"
'For what? Your professionalism or your compensation policy?'
Ry-Two wanted to retort, but was too tired to argue.
"Three days!" Ry-Two said coldly.
"Too short! At least five!" the Uncle protested.
"Make it four, and I'll give your company a good review!" Ry-Two countered.
"Deal!" the Uncle beamed.
They shook hands. Ry-Two fled the scene.
Forget it. If it's lost, it's lost.
It wasn't his real asset anyway—the System was the one that bled from this incident.
Since his original plan was ruined, Ry-Two decided to drive around aimlessly, treating it like a patrol.
No way he could tell Rio what happened today…
That would be too humiliating.
...
On the road.
"System, your reward this time is so bad, I didn't even get to see it once," Ry-Two grumbled as he drove.
[Ding!]
[Outside interference is beyond the System's control. The Host must handle such matters independently.]
As expected, it was another heartless reply.
Ry-Two sighed and asked his next question.
"Then… can I use the Superhero Recruit Card?"
[Ding!]
[Without a building for the team to operate in, the Recruitment Card is temporarily locked.]
"…Expected that," he muttered, finally resigning himself to reality.
It looked like his plan to start his own Superhero team would have to be delayed at least four days.
That was—if the uncle didn't run away.
[Ding!]
[The System will ensure that the one responsible for the damage properly compensates the Host. Please wait patiently.]
"At least you have a heart," Ry-Two nodded, finally able to relax a little.
He continued his aimless patrol, letting the wind cool his head.
...
At noon.
Ry-Two parked his car outside a fast-food restaurant. Just as he was about to go in and grab some lunch, a small voice stopped him.
"Uncle, can you buy a flower for me?"
A cute little girl, barely eight years old, stood there with a basket full of wildflowers.
Ry-Two raised an eyebrow. "Did you harvest these flowers yourself?"
The little girl nodded happily.
"Yes! I woke up really early and snuck into the park to pick them!"
Ry-Two glanced at the flowers.
They were all worthless.
Still, with two daughters waiting at home, he had a soft spot for children—especially adorable little girls like this one.
Just imagining his daughters growing up to this age and having to work hard to earn money on their own made his heart ache.
He sighed.
"Silly girl. If you want to sell flowers properly, go to a flower shop and sneakily learn how to arrange them better."
"And don't steal these ugly weeds again," he added bluntly, clearly not impressed with her selection.
Then, pointing in a certain direction, he continued, "See that building over there? They've got a big flower bed, and no cameras. You can steal some real flowers from that place!"
The little girl's eyes lit up, "Uncle, you're so smart!"
Pleased by the praise, Ry-Two's mood instantly lifted. He couldn't resist—he continued sharing his "life experience", all of which he had learned from TV shows.
In short: utterly impractical nonsense.
After a while of talking, Ry-Two paused when he heard a grumbling sound from the little girl's stomach.
He blinked, then pointed toward the restaurant.
"Hungry? Uncle will buy you something to eat."
The little girl beamed with joy. "Yes! I'm really hungry!"
And so, the two of them entered the shop together.
...
"Are you sure you can eat all that?" Ry-Two asked, eyeing the table suspiciously.He felt like he was being scammed by this little girl.
On the table sat multiple bags of fries, a heaping bowl of fried chicken, and even a medium plate of fried rice.
"Yes! They're so tasty! I've been wanting to eat them for a long time!" the little girl replied cheerfully, then resumed eating with delight.
Every time she popped a piece of food into her tiny mouth, she made a happy "yumm yum yum~" sound as she chewed, clearly savoring the crispy texture.
Ry-Two sighed.
"Well… as long as you like them…"
He decided to stop overthinking.
Watching the little girl eat so happily made Ry-Two's own appetite grow. He ended up eating more than usual, caught up in the cheerful atmosphere.
Afterward, "Uncle, you're the best! I'll give you these flowers for free!"
The little girl beamed, handing Ry-Two all the wildflowers from her basket before running off.
As she ran a short distance, she turned around and waved at him one last time before disappearing around a corner.
Ry-Two looked at the flowers in his hands, a warm smile on his face.
"Well, I guess I can't throw these away now, can I?"
He returned to his car, gently placed the bundle of wildflowers on the passenger seat, and continued driving.
He drove around for a few more hours before stopping to refuel.
After that, it was finally time to return home.
...
"Welcome back! Oh, you brought some flowers home?"
Greeting him at the door was his girlfriend, Rio, her eyes landing on the bundle in his hands.
"Yes, they're a gift from a little girl," Ry-Two replied proudly, his gaze lingering on the wildflowers with an odd sense of satisfaction.
Rio noticed his expression and smiled softly.
"Then I'll find a flower pot for you."
"Thank you."
The wildflowers were ordinary—maybe even ugly, if he was being honest. But for some reason, the silhouette of that little girl he'd met at noon lingered in his mind all night.
Maybe he really did have a soft spot for children.
His fatherly instinct seemed to stir whenever he saw an innocent smile like hers.
Such kids should be running and playing in the park, not wandering the streets trying to make a living.
That night, after merging back and being re-summoned again, Henry and the Clone were chatting about everything that had happened during the day.
Ry-Two still couldn't put the little girl out of his mind.
"Then why don't you just help her?" Henry suggested casually, gently caressing his daughters who were sleeping peacefully beside him.
"Ry-Two, compared to regular people, we're rich. Filthy rich."
"You know what I mean, right?" Henry gave the Clone a wink.
Ry-Two was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.
"I'll check on her tomorrow."
That night was, again, another dreamless night for the Clone.
'Maybe I should bring some fried food. That little girl seems to like it.'
'I wonder if she'll praise me again?'
As he took care of his daughters through the night, Ry-Two sometimes chuckled quietly, already imagining the bright smile on that little girl's face.
"I can't wait to see that little girl again," Ry-Two murmured, smiling.
...
Early Morning
Near the fast-food restaurant Ry-Two had visited the day before, the security guard of a nearby building jolted awake.
Realization struck.
"Damn it, I fell asleep again on night shift!"
Panic surged through him. He quickly checked all the security cameras, then rushed out of the guard room.
"I need to wash my face and wake up, fast!"
As he hurried along the open corridor, something caught his eye—a sneaky figure moving near the flower beds.
Instinctively alert, he quietly followed, trying not to make a sound.
Then he saw her.
It was just a little girl, no more than eight, happily plucking flowers from the building's flower bed and carefully placing them into her basket.
He paused, exhaling.
Relieved but still responsible, he decided to step in.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" he shouted as he ran from his hiding spot.
"AH!"
Startled, the little girl dropped her basket and ran away—terrified.
And she ran straight toward the road.
It all happened too fast.
A loud car horn blared.
Then—BAM!
The sound of impact echoed through the empty street.
The security guard sprinted after her, dread building with every step.
But when he reached the road...
She was already lying under the car.
Her small body was covered in blood, her eyes wide open—frozen in confusion and fear.
"...?"
She tried to move her legs.
Then her arms.
Desperately, she tried to crawl out from this dark place.
But her efforts were futile.
Seconds passed. Then minutes.
As the adrenaline faded, the pain began.
It was unimaginable, throbbing through every inch of her broken body.
'It hurts.'
'I'm scared.'
Terror consumed her expression as she finally understood.
'Uncle… save me…'
She thought of the only person who had been kind to her.
The one who treated her to fried food and made her smile.
Her vision blurred. Her consciousness slipped away.
Blood gushed onto the pavement, painting the road red as the security guard collapsed to his knees.
He screamed into the morning silence.
"Help! Someone—this kid's dying!"