Somewhere in Recalm City's factory district, Lester stood next to a nondescript concrete building, which acted as an entrance to Doctor Nastybrain's lair. When he had exited the building, text had appeared in his vision.

  Quest complete: You have escaped the supervillain's lair. Note, due to getting help on two occasions, 2 points have been subtracted. Award: 1 point.

  Lester read the text. Then it went away, leaving him wondering about the meaning. Did the points have a purpose, or was it just an empty number, there to make him obedient to some algorithm? Even if the loss of the two points didn't mean anything, it sure was unfair, considering what he'd gone through.

  New text appeared.

  Would you like an introduction on how to use your free points?

  "Okay."

  For completing a quest successfully, you get points. These points can then be used to improve your attributes on the Henchman Interface. Attributes are directly related to your physical and mental capabilities in the world.

  Attributes work as follows:

  Might: Increases your strength and durability as a factor directly in relation to your base physical strength and durability.

  Vitality: Increases your regeneration speed as a factor of a square of the value, in relation to your base regeneration speed. Also, affects general health, slows down aging, and improves recovery, preventing permanent injury.

  Reflex: Increases your neural reaction speed as a factor directly in relation to your base neural reaction speed. Does not directly increase movement speed. Also, enhances senses, accuracy, and dexterity.

  Intellect: Increases your mental capabilities, including processing speed, memory, and rational logic.

  Will: Increases your control over your superpowers. Grants greater control over the effects of your other attributes. Gives resistance to mental effects caused by powers from other people and beings. At higher levels, this attribute will grant you psionic abilities.

  Energy: Increases your total energy capacity and output rate exponentially related to the value. Energy is used to power your superpowers, including additional psionic abilities.

  Lester stared at the text.

  This might be important.

  He read through the text. Then he read it again. Then jumped around the text, reading parts here and there. Finally, he said, "Done, what next?"

  Would you like to assign your 1 point?

  "Sure."

  The text was replaced.

  Attributes:

  Might 4

  Vitality 2

  Reflex 2

  Intellect 1

  Will 1

  Energy 0

  Available points 1

  It was, for sure, like a video game. And there really didn't seem to be anything difficult here. Anyone who'd played a couple of RPGs would understand. Was he going to be a wizard, rogue, warrior, or some hybrid? He wasn't going to be a priest, that was for sure. Not a warrior either. It wasn't that warriors weren't cool to play. It was just that he definitely wanted magic or superpowers. And the text on the Henchman Interface had said that, for superpowers, Energy was needed.

  Lester poked at the text in front of him. His fingers just went through it. He tried to swipe the number 1 to move it to energy. But nothing happened and he felt no resistance from the text. This definitely wasn't a touch-based thing.

  "Put one point into energy," Lester said.

  Can not comply. The attribute Energy is locked.

  Lester stared at the notice that had popped on top of the text. This did not look good. His new RPG superpowers were already malfunctioning.

  "Fuck," Lester said. After a while of just waiting there, he added, "How do I unlock it?"

  The quest to unlock the Energy attribute is not currently available.

  Well, there was the word currently, which kinda meant that it could be available at some point.

  Lester thought about it. He could either spend the point now or save it for later when he got the Energy thing unlocked.

  If he allocated his single point now, he would be able to enjoy it immediately, which, if you really think about it, was the only reliable thing to do. But which attribute?

  Might was the simple answer. Considering the future of his superhero career, it would be nice to become bulletproof as soon as possible.

  Next was Vitality. There were all the health benefits—slower aging and such. But it didn't really give much in the way of superpowers. On the other hand, he might be a bit sick at the moment, so adding a point to Vitality might not be that bad of an idea.

  There was Reflex. Having points there would make him cooler for sure. But the downside was, as the text had said, that it didn't increase one's actual speed, only some neural thing. This made it less attractive than Might.

  There were also Intellect and Will. Attributes he would one day maybe put points into, but now didn't sound that good. Intellect sounded like something that would make him a computer, and he really didn't know how much benefit a higher Will would bring since his Energy was zero.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  All in all, this point allocation thing was huge, and he definitely didn't want to, now, do something he would regret later.

  Lester let out a sigh. "Can I do this later?"

  Would you want to allocate your attribute point later?

  "Yes."

  After a few seconds, all the text went away.

  Lester thought about all the text stuff and his powers. There was always the chance it was all fake. Just numbers in his head. He would have to validate this shit somehow for real.

  Lester looked around. There was a fence around the place and one car parked next to the building. If he could lift that car, the superpowers would definitely be real.

  He looked at his hands. Still thin with only a little muscle. Even if he was supposed to be four times as strong as his body would now be without the powers, the car might still be a bit too much. Besides, cars sometimes had alarms that went off when you tampered with them.

  Lester walked to the one other thing in sight—the fence. Blocking his way to the streets behind it, the fence was around four meters high. Onto it, he put his hands, gripping tight with his fingers. He pulled, lifting himself upward. With ease, he continued climbing, reaching the top in less than a minute. There he sat onto the top and looked down, seeing the ground not so far below. But still, a fall from this height would hurt any normal person. Or at least it would hurt normal Lester. He would have to jump if he really wanted to be sure. There wasn't actually that much doubt. He'd managed to climb the fence easily even with his now muscleless limbs. All in all, he was almost certain that he had powers.

  Lester pushed off the fence, into the air, which rushed past quickly as he descended, hitting the asphalt. And as he landed, he felt only a light impact.

  I have superpowers.

  Lester whirled around then did a small step dance number, hopping around in the seemingly abandoned street.

  After admiring himself for a while, he left, walking toward the direction he estimated his home would be. As he went, a thought hit him. He said, "Mr. Henchman Interface, where do these points come from?"

  You gain points by completing missions.

  "I know that, but where do they actually come from? Who makes them?"

  Lester saw no answer. He was definitely too tired to figure this out. He would just go home and rest and maybe eat something.

  Without realizing, he put his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out the granola bar, the food he had been given by the guard. Lester stared at the bar for a while. Actually, when he thought about it, he didn't feel that hungry even though he did look like he had already starved to death. He might maybe be beyond starving in some sense, not remembering how food tasted since he probably hadn't had any food for a month or so.

  "Better start putting on some weight then," Lester said as he opened the wrapper and took a bite. The best thing I've tasted in a long while, he thought as he chewed on the thing.

  Lester kept on walking, quickly finishing the small snack. After a while, he felt his belly turn. Or it was like something turned there, something like an eel with steel spikes tearing into his stomach.

  "Oh fuck," Lester said as he fell down, holding his belly. "This is not normal."

  Lester tried to think of what had happened. It had been the granola bar, but how? Had it been poisoned? Was this some clever way to catch escaping people? Give them a poison farewell snack. So diabolical.

  He squirmed there for a while. At some point, a group of kids came to look at him, but they got tired and went away, leaving him to suffer. As he lay there, Lester tried to think of a way to help himself. There had been something there in the Henchman Interface. Something about health, points, and stuff.

  Lester managed to say, "Put point . . . into . . . Stomach."

  Would you like to put your point into Vitality?

  "Yes."

  Vitality increased to 3.

  Lester passed out.

  ***

  He woke up, sitting on a bench, and there was a traffic cone on his head. He said, "Fuck."

  After removing the cone, Lester tried to figure out what had happened. He had definitely had some digestion issues. Also, while it could have been poison, it might have also been the fact that he hadn't eaten for a month, and he'd just had some cramps. But it was fine now. And now there was something like a hunger there, and it was definitely growing.

  "Mr. Henchman Interface, how are those hunger things I have going on?"

  Status Effects:

  Extreme Malnutrition

  Extreme Muscle Atrophy

  The text had just popped there. And after he'd read it, it disappeared. Seemed like their working relationship was smoother now. But the status effects had still been there, unchanged by the granola bar.

  Quest: Get rid of the negative status effects Extreme Malnutrition and Extreme Muscle Atrophy. Reward: 1 point for each of the two status effects.

  This actually looked good. He was going to eat anyway. Now he would get some points from it, which was a great bonus. He still had three packs of instant noodles at home. That would be a start. Also, he had, hidden for an emergency, a twenty-dollar note. These all would certainly be enough to deal with the hunger issues.

  Before he left, Lester glanced at the red and white traffic cone, which now lay on the ground.

  Did someone put this on my head? Did I put it there? Is it something related to my powers or just some freak thing that happened?

  He shook his head, having no idea. Sometimes weird shit just happened.

  Lester took off toward the general direction of his house, now with determination.

  ***

  After a walk, which lasted more than an hour, Lester arrived at his apartment. His place was located on the second floor of a rundown apartment building, which was accessed through a metal staircase bolted onto the side of the building. After climbing the staircase, he came to his door, which was locked. Lester turned to look at his window next to the staircase and noticed that it had been repaired. This was good in a way, but kinda not. He had actually been counting on it to be his way in since he didn't have his keys. Doctor Nastybrain, being evil and all, hadn't been kind enough to leave Lester's stuff beside the operating table.

  Lester leaned over the edge of the railing of the metal staircase, looking into his house through the window. He could see people there sitting next to a table, which hadn't been there before. This was not right. He was definitely at the right place. He'd lived here for over a year.

  Lester pulled back from the window and stared at the door, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He would have to get his stuff back, and that meant he needed to be nice to these people who had taken over his home.

  Lester knocked on the door, and, after a while, someone answered with a deep male voice, "Who's there?"

  "Hi, my name is Lester. I used to live here."

  The door remained shut. "You don't look like a normal person. And I'm not letting you in."

  Lester glanced at the peephole. The guy had seen his skeletal appearance. There really wasn't a way to hide his looks. No way around it. He would just have to live with it for now.

  Lester said, "I was wondering if you had some of my old stuff left."

  "I got a gun, and it's loaded."

  The words made Lester wonder about his durability. If he was indeed four times as tough as he would normally be, was he bulletproof? The answer, at least at the moment, was a maybe. Also, he was a superhero, and superheroes didn't go around robbing people. But still, he needed to eat something soon, or he would die.

  "Could you give me something to eat?" Lester said, "I'm really hungry."

  "I'll give you the count of three. After that, you're eating a bullet."

  "Okay, I understand." Lester turned around and hurried down the stairs.

  After moving a couple of blocks away from his old home, Lester sat on the curb and thought about his situation. It was not good. He had lost all his stuff, all his money, all his superhero special edition collectible cards, which were worth at least three hundred—minimum. Also, he was going to die from hunger.

  Lester let out a small laugh. "At least I have superpowers now."