"What the f—!?"
Tony and Yinsen were so startled by the sudden scene that their hearts nearly stopped.
Especially Tony—he hadn't slept for two days just to keep up the pace. The shock nearly made him pass out on the spot.
Under their stunned gazes, Kai climbed out of the hole with practiced ease, dusted himself off, and casually slung a pixel-style pickaxe over his shoulder.
[Item: Diamond Pickaxe]
[Effect: Greatly increases mining efficiency. Can rapidly collect/destroy most minerals and rocks.]
[Description: If Andy had this in Shawshank, he'd have saved at least 19 years.]
"Who are you!?"
Tony was the first to recover, staring at Kai with guarded eyes.
Kai grinned. "You're Tony Stark, right? I'm here to get you out."
"Are you with the military?"
"No. I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Here's my card."
Tony took the card and glanced at it.
Federal Bureau of Investigation — Senior Agent Kai Havoc
"?"
"Uh, sorry—wrong one."
Kai smoothly snatched it back, then pulled out a thick stack of business cards from his coat.
Department of Defense. CIA. NYPD. IRS…
Tony: …
"Found it."
Kai finally handed one over.
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division — Senior Agent Kai Havoc
Tony stared at the ridiculously long name.
It sounded like something a novelist would make up just to pad word count.
He looked at Kai suspiciously. "How many people did your… 'Strategic Homeland whatever' send?"
Kai flashed a confident smile. "Just me."
"…Seriously?"
Tony's face darkened.
This guy had to be messing with him.
Kai didn't care about Tony's reaction. His attention was completely locked onto the crude steel armor on Tony's body.
[Mark I Armor (Bound to Tony Stark)]
[Description: A powered suit handcrafted by Tony Stark inside the cave using scrap materials. Requires massive energy input.]
"Now that's a good item."
Kai's eyes lit up.
No man could resist the allure of power armor—and he was no exception.
This was the ultimate sci-fi fantasy for men.
Too bad it was bound to Tony, a main storyline character. Otherwise, he might've tried to see if it could drop as loot.
Kai sighed in regret.
He had already confirmed that NPCs in this game did not respawn.
Once they died, they were gone forever—and any related missions would disappear as well.
So… probably best not to mess with main storyline characters.
Maybe on New Game Plus.
Kai made a mental note.
Tony felt a chill run down his spine under Kai's eager—and slightly dangerous—gaze.
Just as he was about to speak—
A burst of noise suddenly erupted from outside the cave!
Tony's expression changed instantly. He turned toward the surveillance monitor in the corner.
Clearly, the terrorists had noticed something and were already rushing over.
"They're here! Hurry up!"
Tony ignored Kai and shouted at Yinsen.
Moments later, terrorists had already reached the cave entrance, banging on the iron door while shouting in an unfamiliar language.
BOOM—!
The moment they forced the door open, a deafening explosion rang out!
The bomb Tony and Yinsen had set earlier detonated, leaving several charred bodies collapsing to the ground as dust and debris filled the air.
But before they could relax, even heavier footsteps rapidly approached from afar.
"Damn it!"
Tony's heart raced.
The terrorists were coming much faster than expected.
"Yinsen, start the power system now!"
"But the armor hasn't been fully calibrated yet—"
"We don't have a choice! Do it!"
Tony knew forcefully activating the suit was extremely risky.
But he had no alternative.
If they didn't activate it now, once the terrorists stormed in, they wouldn't even have a chance to fight back!
Yinsen gritted his teeth and followed Tony's instructions, activating the power system. A progress bar began slowly filling on the screen.
Outside, the terrorists' shouts and footsteps grew closer.
"There's no time!"
Yinsen took a deep breath, grabbed a rifle from beside one of the corpses at the door, and his eyes turned resolute.
"I'll hold them off!"
Without hesitation, he rushed out of the cave.
"Yinsen! Come back! Stick to the plan!"
Tony shouted anxiously—but Yinsen had already disappeared.
Crunch… crack…
At that tense and tragic moment, an out-of-place sound echoed.
Kai was casually munching on sunflower seeds from who-knows-where, watching the whole life-and-death scene unfold like it was a show.
"Cutscene's not bad… but the plot's a bit cliché."
Kai spat out a seed shell and commented.
Based on his vast experience with game storylines, this NPC named Yinsen was about to be sacrificed.
…Wait.
This setup felt strangely familiar.
Kai suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at Tony.
Handcrafting a powered suit from scraps inside a cave?
That alone was already unrealistic—basically cheating.
Add in the "companion sacrifice" trope…
Wasn't this main character treatment?
"System, don't tell me he's the protagonist and I'm just some background camera."
[Please rest assured. This game has no predetermined protagonist.]
[The system will not interfere with any player decisions. You are free to participate in the story.]
[Whether you become the protagonist, a supporting character, or a bystander is entirely up to you.]
"Good."
Kai let out a sigh of relief.
He had no interest in being a background camera that just followed the protagonist around.
Tony, on the other hand, was about to explode from anger.
They were risking their lives here—and this guy was eating snacks and watching!?
But thinking again…
This guy claimed to be an agent. He should have some combat ability, right?
Clinging to a sliver of hope, Tony shouted:
"Hey—you! Agent or whatever! Go stop Yinsen! Don't let him do something stupid!"
Yinsen, a defenseless scientist, facing a group of heavily armed terrorists—
His fate was obvious.
Guaranteed death.
Hearing this, Kai sneered.
"Heh. Who do you think you are? I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. If you tell me to do something and I just do it, wouldn't that make me look bad?"
[New mission assigned by NPC Tony Stark]
[Mission: Save Yinsen]
[Objective: Ensure Yinsen survives]
[Reward: +1000 EXP, Tony Stark Favorability +20, Random Rare Item ×1]
"…But then again, as a responsible citizen, how could I just stand by and do nothing?"
"Don't worry—I've got this."
The disdain on Kai's face vanished instantly, replaced by a righteous expression.
The speed of his change left Tony completely stunned.
As for integrity?
Kai would say—
Do players even have that?