- Thud!
"Mr. Raizer, are you alright?"
A kind, blond woman peeked over the gray cubicle walls, her brow furrowed with concern as she looked down at the dark-haired man.
The man in question—Caucasian, sharp-featured, and currently looking like he'd just witnessed the heat death of the universe—kept his gaze fixed on his desk. He looked utterly forlorn. His left hand was still planted firmly on the mahogany surface from the impact, while his right hand was buried in his hair, gripping the strands in a fit of self-loathing.
"Fuck!"
He loosened his right hand and let it fall, revealing his sharp face and cold eyes. His fair skin had become pale, eerily so.
"I'm stuck in Marvel."
The realization was a physical weight. Raizer Haze was not a 'local.' He was a foreigner among aliens, a man who had realized that his entire reality had been swapped for a much more explosive one.
Raizer Haze, an ordinary accountant. That had been his identity in his past life, and it was his identity now. His existence was so aggressively mundane that almost every detail of his two lives matched perfectly. Except for one glaring, catastrophic difference.
"I bought shares in Stark Industries," he muttered to himself, his voice trembling. "An imaginary company in my old world... a very real, very targetable company in this one. Do I even need to think about where I am?"
Raizer possessed the memories of both lives. In one, Tony Stark was a fictional character played by a charismatic actor. In this one, Tony Stark was a billionaire who was likely currently being used as target practice in a cave.
"Do you need some water, Raizer?"
Marie, the blond coworker, was still lingering. Any sane person would have been repulsed by Raizer's sudden Tourette-like outburst, but Marie stayed for one reason: Raizer was distractingly handsome.
He had a calm, steady gaze and an aura of stoic reliability that acted like catnip for the office staff. Despite this, he remained stubbornly single. He found humans troublesome, high-maintenance, and loud. He was already enough work for himself; he didn't need a second project unless she was willing to do his laundry and leave him in silence.
"It's nothing," Raizer said, his voice instantly regaining its professional chill.
He had only "awakened" to this reality a few minutes ago, but he was already forcing himself to stay calm. The last thing he needed was to be hauled off to a psych ward. One outburst could be excused as "workplace stress," but a second one would involve a straitjacket.
"I've just been a bit stressed lately. Nothing to worry about, Marie." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand.
Marie didn't budge. "Well, if you're that stressed, why not come over to my place tonight? I've got a Netflix subscription. We could... Netflix and chill?"
Raizer didn't even blink. "I'm busy tonight. Audit reports."
He coldly shut her down and returned his attention to his laptop. Marie groaned inwardly, her ego slightly bruised, and retreated to her seat.
'What should I do now? I mean, I can live normally but...'
Raizer looked at the nearest window, watching the wretched Stark Tower standing in close vicinity. During the Invasion, the aliens would attack from a wormhole opened above Stark Tower. Forget escaping, Raizer was right under the enemy bombardment.
'No, Tony was recently kidnapped. That gives me a few months before the Chitauri turn Manhattan into a kebab stand. Should I quit? No, I should leave the hemisphere. See you never, freedom and capitalism. I'm moving to a farm in the middle of nowhere.'
- Thud!
With that decided, Raizer stood up resolved.
- Ding!
[Hello, host! The strongest 'King-Maker' System is at your service!]
And just as soon as that message arrived, Raizer sat back down. He looked at the blue screen floating before his eyes with a sharp gaze, erasing the past few seconds of his life... entirely.
'I mean... the job market is pretty tough right now. Let's rethink my decision about quitting. I do love my freedom and capitalism.'
"So, system, are you going to make me the strongest?"
He whispered slowly, expectations rising in his eyes.
[Ting, ting, ting, you have won the 10-dollar question, host! I will definitely make you the strongest hero! The man that even Gods fear! The man whose one punch ends everything! Monsters tremble when he steps forward!]
Raizer's heart leaped. "Really?"
[Exactly! I even took the time to observe other worlds and found the perfect hero to follow! It's from a world you call 'One Punch Man'!]
"You mean, Saitama-Sense-"
[Exactly! The Rank #7 Hero, 'King'!]
"..."
[...]
"Repeat that, will you?"
Raizer rubbed his eyes, deep sadness welling up inside him.
[The strongest human alive, 'King'! I have already used my entire energy reserves to mimic a fraction of his powers! As you keep travelling to other worlds and completing my quests, you will be able to become 10% as strong as King!]
"10%..." Raizer looked at his palm with a 'I'm dead' gaze, "I'm going to get weaker? I can already feel my bones softening. I think I have osteoporosis now."
[Are you excited enough to die, host?]
"I'm dead."
[Hahaha! I can feel the excitement!]
'... Fck!'
- Thud!
Raizer slammed his head on the desk and groaned painfully. His soul was dying.
.
.
.
After working the entire day, Raizer returned home. (He's a good employee!)
He tossed his bag into the corner of his modest apartment and trudged into the kitchen. He grabbed a pack of instant ramen. As a bachelor with world-class slacker tendencies, he had never bothered to learn the "fine art" of cooking. His survival depended entirely on sodium-packed noodles and frozen burritos.
[Host, are you ignoring me?]
"Man, I must be daydreaming. I can see a gamer screen before my eyes... Hehehe..."
[Host, don't deny my existence as feeble hallucination!]
"Feeble hallucination, my ass! I'm calling you a mental disease! Ahhh~ I'm dead now! Dead, you hear!"
[I know that you believe that 'King' is too high of a goal! But fret not, with me by your side, we can definitely reach 5% of his true strength!]
Clearly the system and the man weren't on the same level.
"Hehe! I'm dea-Wait, why did your percentage go lower? From 10% to 5%, are you trying get me killed by the wind now? Am I supposed to compete with babies?!"
Given that King was a regular human with a scary face, 5% of his physical stats would put Raizer on par with a very lethargic housecat.
[Chill, host! Please check your status! As pitiful as it is, the 'King-Maker' system guarantees you a 100% satisfaction rate!]
"Ha~ Status Interface!"
With a deep sigh, Raizer called out the status window. And a blue screen popped up before his eyes, characterizing his entire existence.
[Raizer Haze]
[Title: King-To-Be(provisional)]
- HP: 70/70 {Regen: 0.07/min}
- SP: 70/70 {Regen: 0.07/min}
- MP: 260/260 {Regen: 0.12/min}
[Attributes]
- Physique: 00.7
- Mind: 01.2
- Spirit: 02.6
- Free Attributes: 00
[Traits] - N/A
[Skills] - N/A
[Inventory (1)]
Raizer calmly scrutinized his system. Putting his name aside, the 'Title' was simply foolish and provisional, to begin with.
Luckily, his body seemed to have become some character. Unless he died immediately or got affected by a status condition, he could theoretically survive. Though the low HP and SP, along with their regen rates, were concerning.
Apparently, 1 was the average Physique value of all humans. Unlike his mind and spirit, his physique was below the average of the populace.
'I won at 2 out of 3. That's good enough.'
Raizer looked down and noticed the lack of apparent muscles in his body, consoling him with the other two attributes.
Spirit attribute decided the total amount of mana one could use while the mind was useful for its regeneration. Even if his physique wasn't average, his mind and spirit had far surpassed the average of 0.5.
(Note: The average for Physique is 1. But the average for mind and spirit is only 0.5)
Moving on, there were no traits or skills available. It was a truly pathetic status.
"Ha~ Hey, system. Are you going to make me weaker than this?"
Despite the pathetic display before his eyes, Raizer was confident about one thing.
'I can take on King and win!'
[Haha! Surely, you jest, host! The only way we're going is up!]
"You're standing upside-down, my system."
Raizer calmly retorted and scoffed, filling his instant ramen with hot water and headed to the couch in his living room with the cup in hand.
As a 24-year old, office worker, he had purchased a modest house. A 1-BHK flat in a quiet apartmental complex, located at the edge of Hell's Kitchen. Perhaps the location was why Raizer could cheaply buy the flat, escaping the life of a rental dweller. More specifically, the year was still 2008.
"Well, I still got a $ 350,000 debt with 7% interest rate yearly."
[Leaving your mid-life crisis aside, please open the 'Starter Pack' in your inventory, host!]
"Mid-life? I'm 24."
[...]
"Okay, my bones may ache. And my back isn't what it used to be. But my mind is still shar-Wait, where did I keep my ramen?"
Raizer raised the ramen cup above and searched under his arm, scanning the table.
[... In your hand, host...]
"Oh! Thanks, bro."
Pulling out a pair of disposable forks from the compartment on the nearby lampstand, Raizer began digging in.
- Slurp!
[Anyway, slurp later, host! Open the 'Starter Pack'! Open the 'Starter Pack'!]
"After I watch the news-"
[Waaahhh! Open it! Please! Waahhhh!]
The blue screen kept popping up before Raizer's dark gaze, irritating him to no end. It even blocked the view of the television in front of him.
"If I'm a mid-aged man, then you're a brat, system. Fine, have it your way, open the starter pack."
Raizer had already given up on thinking on the future. If the system couldn't help him, he could simply skip the country. And if it did, then what was there to worry about?
[Haha! You finally cracked! Well, better be grateful, I used all my life-savings to buy this for you, host! It's only a part of King's power but it's enough to get you through the initial hurdles!]
'Unless it's his luck or plot armor, I'm not interested.'
Raizer had to agree that King was 'unbeatable', in a way. He rolled his eyes, wondering if he would get scarred on the face later.
'Not the face. Hope I get a scar on my chest, because it would be a disgrace on my back.'
[Opening the 'Starter Pack'...]
[Congratulations! You have received the trait 'King Engine(EX)'!]
[Congratulations! You have received the skill 'Absolute Control Lvl 1'!]
Raizer could easily guess where that trait and skill came from.
King Engine: The loud heartbeats of King, who is terrified of his enemy.
Absolute Control: A gaming skilled that has been honed enough to defeat Saitama-Sensei. This one could be useful in winning gaming competitions.
'Well, there goes my luck.'
He sighed, wondering if his plot armor could protect him now.
[Are you disappointed that it's not 'Jugemu-Jugemu Ultra Hydragon Bombastic Handyman Isekai Megablast Canon'? The King's Secret move?]
"Get the lore right, system? Wasn't the name of his move 'Ultimate Purgatory Hellfire Burst Wave Motion Cannon'?"
[Aha! You're a fan too, host! I knew it! King is simply the greatest hero to live! Hahahahaha!]
- Bang! Bang! Bang!
Raizer slammed his head against the couch. After the experience earlier, he had realized that the tables were too hard. And headbutting them, hurt him in return.
[Do you want an explanation about your trait and skill, host?]
"No, I alread-"
[Of course, you want it! Why am I even asking?]
'.... This son of a-'
Trait: King Engine (EX)
Description: The drums are rung! The king has arrived! Your ferocity, your authority, your brilliance, it reverberates through the world! The sky's are rejoicing at the wind that blows behind you! The Earth is praising the ground under your feet! The waters are trembling for a single glance at your magnificence!
Effect: Your attributes randomly increase from 50%~[Redacted]!
Effect: Enemies weaker than you... Die!
Effect: Enemies stronger than you, face 20~80% reduction in their stats! (Locked)
Cost: 10SP/second
"-Oh, my GOOOOODDDDD~~~ EYAAAAA~~"
Raizer stood up and waved his hands hysterically. His character was almost erased by these actions. But it was well-deserved.
"Ahem! System, what the fuck is this?"
Regaining a part of his rationality, he questioned the system.
After all, this trait wasn't different from OPM verse's 'King Engine'. It was on a whole different level.
[Sadly, host, I could only mimic a fraction of the original 'King Engine'! Everytime I tried to copy it from King himself, it became a abnormally loud heartbeat, so I had to tinker a bit to have it resemble the original! Even the world can't truly copy King's moves, he is truly one of a kind!]
'Nah, I'm sure it was copied successfully.'
[If you desire, I can try to copy it one more time and replace this trait with it! Perhaps a miracle may happen, giving you the original skill!]
Raizer snapped faster than a bowstring at those words, grabbing the screen before his eyes.
[Huh? How are holding me, host? I'm a hollo-]
"Listen to me, you little shit! You aren't copying the original! You hear me! This skill is good enough!!"
Raizer shook the holographic screen, threatening him with blood-crazed eyes.
[I-I understand-]
The system barely spoke those words. Only then did Raizer let go and sat back down calmly.
[You must truly a sincere fan of King! To be so angry at me for wanting to replicate his original skill! I give you the title of the 'King's Fan Club King'!]
"Whatever, you say."
Raizer waved the system off but he couldn't hide the excitement that drew his lips upwards.
"Hehehe!"
'King is a weakling. But as long as the system believes King is the strongest, I have a chance of surviving! As long as the system keeps bring advanced (EX) skills and traits, I will truly become invincible!'