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"Mom! Dad! Come quick—it's God—wait, no, it's Superman!"
In a cozy living room, a little boy, barely a few years old, was watching the news on TV. The footage was shaky—probably because the cameraman's hands were trembling with excitement.
The boy yelled excitedly for his parents to come see.
"Has this kid gone nuts from reading too many comics? How many times do I have to tell you—there's no such thing as Superman, and Ultraman doesn't exist either!"
Hearing his son's excited shout, the boy's father walked into the living room with a plate of freshly washed apples, shaking his head as he lectured his "silly" son.
"And what's with this lying habit of yours? Who did you even pick that up from? This is the second time already—it's serious!"
He plopped down on the couch, still lecturing while taking a bite from one of the apples.
"Huh? What is this, a new Superman movie from some studio? The special effects aren't bad, but the video's way too blurry—I can't even see the actors' faces."
"And look how shaky the camera is. What, did they hire someone with Parkinson's to film this?"
He stared at the fuzzy footage on TV with amusement and started giving his opinion like a movie critic.
"Dad, I'm serious. It's real."
The boy insisted. He never lied, not now, not last time either!
"This kid... your mom really needs to step in and discipline you properly."
"Quick, switch back to the other channel—I want to keep watching that press conference... Wait, what the hell? This is the press conference?!"
The dad froze, eyes glued to the screen. The channel hadn't changed.
It was the live feed from the press conference!
At that moment, the entire press conference—over a hundred people—fell dead silent the second that figure appeared in the sky.
Every head tilted upward, staring at the imposing figure floating above, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Up until a few seconds ago, people were still scoffing at the idea that Superman could ever be real.
But now, here he was—hovering mid-air like a god, glowing red eyes staring down at them like they were nothing but ants.
His presence radiated power. It was terrifying.
No one dared to question it anymore.
"You... are you really Superman? Or just another fraud fooling the ignorant?"
But of course, there's always someone bold enough to ask, especially in a room full of reporters.
One of them finally spoke up, his voice laced with doubt as he looked up at the man in the sky.
"What an idiot," someone muttered. "Does he actually think the real world works like comic books?"
"If I had powers like Superman, I'd have taken over the world already."
The moment he said that, every reporter around him instinctively took several steps back, putting distance between themselves and the poor fool—just in case karma struck hard.
Sure enough, the glowing red eyes of the man above slowly shifted their gaze in his direction.
And in that instant, the glow intensified sharply.
ZAP!
A blazing heat vision beam tore through the air, slicing the ground near the reporter's feet into a clean checkmark shape.
Had the beam been even slightly off, the guy would've lost both legs.
No words, no warning—just action. That was the answer to his challenge.
And then, without any hesitation, the figure in the sky shot upwards, accelerating so fast he broke the sound barrier.
BOOM!
The shockwave was deafening, like a thunderclap right in their ears. Some people nearly passed out from the pressure.
The ringing didn't stop for nearly a full minute.
And when everyone turned to look at the so-called "brave" reporter...
They saw him sitting on the floor, completely paralyzed with fear. The ground beneath him was soaked with urine.
Turns out, he wasn't brave—just naïve.
High above the clouds...
[Congratulations, Host.Task complete:You've announced your existence to the world like a god.Reward: 500 points. For the next month, your sunlight absorption rate is increased fivefold.]
It wasn't that Peter liked showing off—it was just that the system's rewards were way too tempting.
He hadn't even finished breakfast. After saying a quick word to Uncle Ben and Aunt May, he went straight to his room...
Then blasted off to the press conference site to complete this sudden time-limited task.
Just the reward alone—500 points—was five times what he'd ever earned from any previous mission.
Not to mention the extra buff: a full month of boosted solar absorption.
Sure, it was only half as effective as the last buff he got, but it lasted way longer.
With this boost, Peter had a feeling he could unlock all the remaining Superman powers within a month.
Then, he'd truly become a god among men—with no weaknesses.
As Peter daydreamed about awakening all his powers and becoming unstoppable, the system chimed in again.
[As Superman/Homelander, incredible power also demands equally impressive equipment and facilities.Now issuing a new Main Storyline Quest:How can you be Superman without your own custom, badass suit?Task: Create your own signature suit. No restrictions on materials, style, method, or participants.Reward: Based on the final suit's design and coolness. (Note: Completing this task will unlock the next main storyline quest.)]
"A new quest? And it's part of the main storyline? That means more are coming after this…"
"Make my own suit, huh? That's basically a free reward."
The mission had no limits. Peter could technically just claim the random outfit he was wearing right now as his custom suit and be done with it.
But the reward probably wouldn't be all that impressive.
"Still... it's about time I made a real suit for myself. I mean, I can't keep borrowing clothes every time I head out as Superman."
"If anyone found out that the mighty 'god among men' was stealing clothes just to look the part... I'd die of embarrassment."
As the system laid out his newest task, Peter couldn't help but smile to himself.
Honestly, he'd been thinking about making a proper suit anyway.
It's just that he'd only learned to fly yesterday—he hadn't gotten around to it yet.
"....."