And so, the long-awaited Day-X has arrived. Why X? That's a secret.
Just yesterday, I bought up the shares of what everyone considers a dying company and finished my training. Looking at my stats now, I finally see where all that time went. Still, raising raw stats like this feels like something meant for cultivation protagonists, not normal people. Well, I'm almost at the warehouse. One last look and I might just drop a single, manly tear.
Name: Rain Pierce
Level: 12
Experience: 3950/4000
Parameters:
Strength: 53
Agility: 51
Endurance: 56
Intelligence: 31
Intuition: 15
Free Points: 6
Traits: "Rich Kid," "Lab Rat," "Traveler."
Skills: Martial Arts – Lvl 21, Shooting – Lvl 40, Polyglot – Lvl 5, Psychology – Lvl 6, Strategist – Lvl 6, Stealth – Lvl 7, Gamer's Mind – MAX.
Superpowers: Time Acceleration.
I was particularly annoyed by the waste of free points. When I was planning my future moves, I decided to boost Intelligence to 30, hoping for some perks. Not only did I feel zero change, but after hitting level ten, Intelligence and Intuition only increased by 1.
At the warehouse, besides my weapons, a decent black suit was waiting for me—turns out Martin carries those too. It won't stop bullets, obviously, but it'll hold against a knife. It looked like a wetsuit, so I threw black jeans and a hoodie over it. I didn't forget a mask either. Pulling it over the lower half of my face, I felt like a straight-up ninja—missing a katana, sure, but a pistol and sniper rifle are solid replacements.
Since I was infiltrating toward evening, I expected a S.H.I.E.L.D. cordon and other headaches. But apparently, they didn't think Obadiah was that big of a threat, sending the same small handful of agents as in the movie. Slipping past security using my memorized maps, I found a building adjacent to Sector 16. Once on the roof, all I had to do was wait for the moment.
About an hour later, the car with our lovely agents pulled up. Led by Pepper and Coulson, they marched in to find Obadiah. How prudent. They didn't leave a single agent to watch the entrance. Well, time to leave a few "gifts" to test his new suit. Fifteen minutes later, Pepper runs out alone, and soon the concrete begins to shatter. Our villain tries to crawl out. Fortunately, my gift bag lands right on target. Thanks to my training, a well-aimed shot triggers the blast, and a half-emerged Obadiah gets a hell of a kick in the rear from my grenades. I wonder if that damaged the hydraulics?
"Who's there? Who else did you bring, Miss Potts?" Stane bellows, looking around venomously.
Damn! The suit is well-built; he's moving without a hitch. Four grenades only dented the plating! Luckily, he was distracted from finding me by the arrival of Iron Man. Oh, they've gone off to explore the underground world again. I'll just sit here in the cold and loneliness. Finally, I see our lovebirds fly into the sky. Stane's suit leaves such a trail of smoke you can't tell if it's a poorly designed flight system or a tactical feature. If he flew over an enemy base a couple of times, they could film The Mist right there.
A few minutes later, Tony landed on the roof, right near his clean energy reactor. Stane arrived right after him. After a fireworks display that smoked up the roof, Tony decided to play stealth. I was glad I'd bought a thermal imager; otherwise, I'd just be sitting here hoping for the best. Pepper heads back into the building. It's about to start.
"Come on, sweetheart, show your face."
On the roof of the Arc Reactor
"I've never done anything like this in my life, but I must say, I'm crazy about this toy. You've outdone yourself, Tony. Your father would be pro—"
Bullseye. Was he giving a speech? Who cares. Time to clear out before S.H.I.E.L.D. "backup" arrives.
Still on the reactor roof
"Pepper, kill the reactor."
"But what about Obadiah?"
"He's... dead."
"What? How?!"
"A sniper took him out. Say thanks to those agents."
20 minutes later
"Mr. Stark, are you alright?"
"Everything hurts, especially my nose. But it would've been much worse if not for your people. Who's the hero who saved my life?"
"Mr. Stark, I'm afraid I don't understand."
"I'm talking about your sniper who took out Stane. Where is he?"
"All S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were downstairs during your fight. Those were not our people. Agents, fan out! There is a third party on-site!"
"So, who do I have to thank for my life?"
Somewhere in a dark alley
"So, what did I get?"
Ding!
Quest Completed.
Because you exceeded the goal by more than 10x, the rewards have been increased.
Rewards: New "Playlist" function, random "Playlist" upgrade, One-time Ability Ticket, Permanent Special Ability Ticket, and 50 Free Points.
Now that's what I call a return on investment. Time to check the new function and the upgrade.
"Playlist." As soon as I said the word, a gargantuan list of tracks appeared, seemingly endless. A message followed:
The "Playlist" function gives you access to all musical tracks, and not just from your world. Selection of a random upgrade in 3 seconds...
3...2...1... Done! You received "Telepathic Radio."
Telepathic Radio allows you to broadcast audio from your playlist directly into the heads of surrounding living beings. Range: 1000 meters.
Incredible! Now for the Permanent Special Ability Ticket.
You received "Lycanthropy" — Your body can take a hybrid form, your parameters increase by 30%, and all six senses are enhanced. During a full moon, you lose control... error... bloodlust effect blocked by Max level "Gamer's Mind."
Phew, that gave me a scare! Why didn't it mention negative effects? Now, the one-time ability.
You received "Teleportation" — Your body can be transported to any point in the world. Just visualize the destination or its coordinates. Transport occurs within 1/10 of a second.
Best day ever! I got my music back! I got a cool power! And I have an "escape death" ticket! Woo-hoo! Now, time to fix my weaknesses and spend these points. Easy come, easy go. I'll put 20 into Intelligence and 21 into Intuition. I want my own Spider-Sense!
Name: Rain Pierce
Level: 13
Experience: 4325/4500
Parameters:
Strength: 54
Agility: 52
Endurance: 57
Intelligence: 51
Intuition: 36
Free Points: 15
Traits: "Rich Kid," "Lab Rat," "Traveler."
Skills: Martial Arts – Lvl 21, Shooting – Lvl 41, Polyglot – Lvl 5, Psychology – Lvl 6, Strategist – Lvl 6, Stealth – Lvl 12, Gamer's Mind – MAX.
Superpowers: Time Acceleration, Lycanthropy.