Year: 1988 – New York City
The school bell rang with the enthusiasm of a drunk mosquito, vibrating through the classroom. Ethan Stark leaned back in his chair, legs up on the desk like he was auditioning for "Most Punchable Face in the Room."
"Mr. Stark," the teacher snapped. "Feet. Down. Now."
Ethan smirked, lowering them with the kind of slowness reserved for villains in soap operas. "Of course, sir. Just making sure Newton's law of gravity still works. Spoiler alert—it does."
The class snickered. Hope Van Dyne groaned from the seat beside him. "One of these days, Ethan, someone's going to staple your mouth shut."
"Not possible," Ethan said with a wink. "You'd miss me too much. Admit it."
Hope gave him a sharp look, but her lips betrayed the slightest twitch upward.
The day passed in a blur of half-hearted lessons and Ethan's carefully orchestrated disguise of mediocrity. In math, he "guessed" his way into a perfect answer, feigning surprise when the teacher praised him. In history, he compared Alexander the Great to "a guy who clearly peaked too early," earning laughter and a threat of detention. Science nearly went sideways when he commented that their frog dissection smelled better than Tony's experiments in the garage.
At lunch, his little group gathered at their usual spot. Hope, sharp-eyed as always. Hank, too buried in his doodled schematics to finish a sandwich. Danny, the ever-loyal hype man who found Ethan's jokes funnier than they deserved to be.
"You're hiding something," Hope said suddenly, cutting through Danny's laughter. "Nobody coasts through classes the way you do."
Ethan leaned back, tossing a grape in the air and catching it with ease. "Wrong. I'm not hiding brilliance—I'm perfecting the art of 'strategic mediocrity.' Keep expectations low, and no one's disappointed. It's genius, really."
"Or cowardice," Hope shot back.
"Tomato, tomahto," Ethan said, grinning. "Besides, if I went full Einstein, you'd all feel bad about yourselves."
The group chuckled, but Hope's gaze lingered on him a little too long, like she wasn't convinced.
When the final bell rang, Ethan and Danny walked the cracked sidewalks home. That's when Ethan noticed two older kids cornering a freshman in an alley, rifling through his backpack.
Danny hesitated. "Ethan… maybe we just let it go?"
"Sure," Ethan said, already strolling toward the scene. "Let them mug him. Then maybe tomorrow they'll move up to car theft. Then arson. Then global domination. It's a slippery slope, Danny."
The taller teen sneered when he noticed him. "Beat it, Stark. This ain't your business."
Ethan picked up a dented trash can lid, resting it against his shoulder like Captain America's knock-off cousin. "Everything's my business. Plus, I've always wanted to audition for Discount Batman. Let's do this."
The fight wasn't elegant. The first punch rattled his jaw, and for a moment Ethan felt the world tilt. But instincts—sharpened since the System stirred awake in him—kicked in. The lid blocked another swing, his knee slammed into a gut, and his elbow cracked across someone's temple. In less than a minute, both older kids were groaning on the pavement, nursing bruised egos and ribs.
The freshman muttered thanks before bolting. The bullies staggered away cursing. Ethan tossed the makeshift shield aside with a flourish.
Danny stared. "You… actually fought them. Like, really fought them."
Ethan brushed off his shirt, ignoring the sting in his knuckles. "That wasn't a fight. That was cardio with a soundtrack."
That night, Ethan lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. For a moment, he felt it again—the whisper at the edges of his mind. Something bigger. Something waiting.
[SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION: 80%...]
Almost there. Soon, the real game would begin.
📊 Status Window – End of Chapter 4
Name: Ethan StarkLevel: 1Job/Class: [N/A] (Locked)HP: 150 / 150MP: 20 / 20
Stats:
Strength: 16 (+2)
Agility: 14 (+1)
Vitality: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 20 (Cap locked)
Sense: 16 (+1)
Skills:
[Unarmed Combat Basics] – Instinctively improves fighting reflexes in physical altercations.
[Locked]
System Synchronization: 80%