> [New Task: Moderate Crime Assignment #003]
<[ Objective: Find a hero trainee and frame them for colluding with a villain ]>
[ Reward: +100 Aura Points ]
[ Bonus: +50 AP if target has hereditary potential ]
Damon stared at the red-glowing text as it hovered in the air like a devilish to-do list.
The last week had been baby steps—salt-swaps, fake pizza orders, and a few prank-tier disruptions. This? This was real. This could alter someone's life.
And somehow, that made it more exciting.
Damon booted up his laptop, opened a private browser, and started digging.
Within twenty minutes of online sleuthing, he struck gold.
"To Be A Hero – Urban Academy Satellite Center, District 12 Branch."
A whole building in the city dedicated to hopefuls. People who trained, learned strategy, practiced basic combat and rescue scenarios… all in the hopes of getting approved for a pass into the Emerald Dimension.
The Emerald Dimension wasn't a place where normal civilians were allowed to every visit. Only heroes and extremely high profile people could get a pass since the government erected a structure around its gate.
The only time there were exceptions was for hero trainees in these part time hero academies.
According to what he read, very few of the students had actual powers—most were still "aspirants."
The lucky few who got approved for Emerald access sometimes came back with Essence awakenings. The rest, well… they stayed normal.
The important part?
> Get suspended, and you're blacklisted for life.
It would ruin an aspirant chance of ever visiting the Emeral Dimension.
This was it.
Damon spent the night working on falsified audio files and system-forged text logs.
The forged dialogue featured a "student" agreeing to work with a known D-rank villain named Midnight Nail, who was infamous for corrupting young vigilantes with flattery and free gear.
Damon ran the audio through filters to replicate background noise.
He then picked phrases like—"Infiltration," "Work with me to bring down this city," "The heroes will never know what hit them," with villain speech clips.
All he needed now was a victim who would say phrases like "Sure" "Alright" "I can do that" "Definitely".
Pretty much just affirmations.
---
"To Be A Hero" Facility – The Next Day
The building was huge and shaped like a miniature government facility with open training yards, simulation rooms, and holographic panels of hero quotes mounted across the walls.
"Courage is louder than fear."
"Protect before you perfect."
"If you want to be remembered, save someone who won't forget."
Damon exhaled deeply as he walked into the atrium. He wore a gray hoodie, jeans, and clutched a digital file chip in his pocket. He didn't look like a threat. Just another nobody passing through.
The place was packed.
Young men and women ran drills, jogged laps, discussed team formations, and practiced over-the-top heroic catchphrases.
Damon spotted his first potential mark: a tall guy with a buzz cut and friendly eyes. He approached.
"Hey," Damon voiced while trying to smile. "You in training?"
"Yeah!" the guy beamed. "You too?"
"Not exactly," Damon said before slipping into nervous-fan mode. "Just… curious. Don't know if this is actually worth it."
The guy nodded eagerly. "It's worth it. My whole family was killed by villains when I was a kid. A hero saved me. I wanna be that guy for someone else."
Damon blinked.
"…Right. Cool. Thanks for sharing."
Abort mission!
---
Target two: A girl tying her boots near the weight rack. Damon approached while rehearsing his lie.
"Hi, uh, just wondering—what got you into this?"
She looked up and smiled brightly. "I grew up in the slums. When a gas explosion went off, all the heroes ran away—but one stayed and pulled us out. He got burnt real bad saving my brother. I never forgot that. I want to be that."
"…Right. Good on you."
Abort again!
This happened three more times.
Every trainee he spoke to had tragedy, honor, or hope swimming in their eyes. It was like a farm for golden retrievers. Everyone smelled like soap and righteousness.
Damon pulled away and slumped onto a bench outside.
"I'm not sure I can truly become a villain…" he muttered.
Then the door opened.
And in strolled Eliot Brandt.
He had sunglasses on with a tight white tee hugging his biceps and a cocky smirk. He bumped into someone, didn't apologize, and took his sweet time admiring his own reflection in a training mirror.
"Oh," Damon remembered him from college. "You'll do just fine."
"Bootlicking Mode: Activated..."
Damon approached with fake awe plastered across his face.
"Wait—you're Eliot Brandt, right?! The guy who's going to the Emerald Dimension?"
Eliot grinned. "Guilty."
"I've watched your videos! That speech you gave in front of the clocktower? 'Crime will fear me'—bro, I had chills."
"Appreciate it, man," Eliot stated before slapping his shoulder.
"You're gonna be a hero for real. Like, Number One in no time."
Eliot winked. "Damn right I will."
Damon spent five full minutes feeding him compliments. At one point, he even fake-laughed so hard he snorted. Eliot lapped it up.
Then Damon struck.
"Would you be down for a voice interview? For a blog I run?"
"Yeah, sure. Ask away."
Damon opened his phone and began asking generic hero questions.
"You plan to beat up villains?"
"Obviously."
"You gonna become Number One?"
"Hell yeah."
"You'll never stop fighting evil?"
"Never."
"You'll do whatever it takes to rise to the top?"
"Absolutely. All day."
Got it.
He had the raw material he needed.
---
That Night
Damon sat in his dorm, audio editing software open, system filters active.
He inserted villain phrases. Mixed Eliot's voice into fake contexts.
> "You'll do whatever it takes to rise to the top?"
"Absolutely. All day."
> "You'll help us get past the security grid?"
"Obviously."
> "Midnight Nail will reward you if it works."
"Hell yeah."
Perfect timing. Pauses. Believable stitching. The file sounded damning.
Damon encoded it with false metadata, wrapped it in a hacked report form, and sent it anonymously to the To Be A Hero disciplinary board using a public network hub.
Then he ate cold pizza and waited.
---
Two Days Later – Internal Tribunal
Eliot stood before the review board with a red face and sweaty palms.
"You think I'd team up with Midnight Nail?! I don't even know the guy!"
"Then explain this," the lead examiner said before playing the file again.
Eliot winced at his own voice, repeating "Absolutely. All day."
"I… I said that to someone else," he muttered. "I was being interviewed…"