Chapter 2 – The First Target
The city was calm, or at least calm enough for the kind of work I liked.
They thought I was still just the jobless boy who laughed at nothing, the one who dropped gadgets for fun. F-Rank, remember? Perfect cover.
Orion, scan the district.
"Scanning… Corrupt merchants detected. Security minimal. Vulnerability: high. Potential collateral: negligible. Estimated human boredom: extreme," the AI replied.
I grinned. Perfect. I loved boredom—it always led to chaos.
I slipped through the crowded streets, blending with the morning rush. No one paid attention. That's the joy of being underestimated. They never saw me coming.
Then I spotted him: the first of many. Mr. Tarlow, a D-Rank corrupt merchant who overcharged poor families for food and supplies. A perfect first "lesson."
I watched him, silent, calculating. Orion's voice piped in again:
"Warning: human retaliation possible. Probability of detection: moderate. Psychological enjoyment factor for you: high."
I smirked. That's exactly why I did it.
A small pulse from my pocket. My first prototype suit—nothing flashy, just a wearable AI interface—activated. Tiny drones unfolded, invisible to the naked eye. Not enough to blow up a city… yet. But enough to make a statement.
Mr. Tarlow was counting coins when my drone delivered a subtle nudge. His ledger flipped open, revealing all his scams, overcharges, and illegal transactions.
"Hey! Who… what…?" he stammered.
I leaned on the nearby wall, pretending to tie my shoelace.
Orion, play back the data to the city monitors.
"Playback ready. Citizens' confusion factor: 92%. Potential riot: low, but entertainment: optimal."
I pressed a button. Screens across the city lit up, showing every scam Tarlow had pulled. The people gasped. Murmurs became angry whispers.
Mr. Tarlow ran, flailing. He didn't know where to go. Every alley, every corner, every screen, I had predicted his escape route.
I laughed quietly. "You shouldn't have cheated the people."
Orion, tally the transferred funds.
"Total redistributed: 42,000 credits. Happiness index adjusted by 17.3%. Your amusement index: maximum."
Perfect. First minor villain dealt with. First prank done. And the best part? No one suspected a thing. Not even the authorities.
They saw a boy, a jobless joke, tripping over his own backpack.
They never saw the mind behind it all.
Cliffhanger / Foreshadowing for Chapter 3
Mr. Tarlow vows revenge—introducing the first long-term villain thread.
Rocky's tech shows potential for serious escalation, foreshadowing suits and planetary tech in later arcs.
Citizens now subtly begin noticing his interventions, planting seeds for his F → SSS reputation.