An hour before the restaurant opened, the staff came filing in one by one. When at least two of them had finally come in excluding Maxie, Lucian headed for the gym down the block to use their showers. Mr. Suarez was close friends with the gym's owner, and Lucian ended up basically getting free membership.
Standing in his shower stall, Lucian let the cold water simply trickle down over his body. The low temperature was pleasant to him— therapeutic. He was sure that if he hadn't been enhanced by the program's empowerment system, he would have been shivering all over.
Using a small towel to scrub himself as the water soothed him, he let his mind wander.
'I gotta bring my costume plans to Jodie today... hm. Secret identities, huh? I don't have a legal presence, not yet, but any personal connections that I make would still be real. Gotta be careful if I wanna stick around certain people.'
'...'
'Then that brings up relationships... meeting Maxie just now made me realize how lonely I've actually been. I wonder if I have any chance with her...?'
Lucian suddenly felt hollow. It had been years in his perspective since his last relationship ended, but he could still feel the hole that it left in him. While he didn't plan to use anyone he could pursue romantically just to 'fix himself,' he did entertain the idea of seeking that certain type of fulfillment again.
Thoughts like those occupied his mind as he washed up, drifting back and forth between the logistics of living a double life as a vigilante, and more personal things like relationships, platonic and otherwise.
...
Some time later, Lucian returned to the restaurant, now in uniform. When he reentered through the front door, he was greeted with stares from several pairs of eyes. Those stares were of the teasing sort, though not all eyes were on him. Others were on Maxie as well.
'Ah... it's 'that,' isn't it?'
[ Affirmative. Begun, the shipping has. ]
It was a sort of rite of passage for any community, including small workforces like the one in Inigo's. Unlike Maxine and Lucian, who had only gotten there within weeks of each other, everyone else had been working there for years.
Because of their 'newcomer' status, something like this was unavoidable.
'Let's just tough it out,' Lucian told himself. This sort of teasing wasn't new— no real harm would come of it, but on the off-chance, something good might actually happen instead.
For the first time in this life, he felt hopeful about something other than wealth and power.
...
The day passed by, relatively uneventful. Lucian's first batch of deliveries that morning went as well as it could have. Drive back and forth, make money, rinse and repeat.
Later during lunch, he hung out at Jodie's for a good minute. They got to talking about random things, and the old lady even offered to help with the rest of his costume. He took her up on that without hesitation, seeing as he had planned to ask for help in the first place.
There would be the issue of her knowing who he was once he started making a real identity for himself, but he decided to worry about that later.
'Better that someone gets to know rather than scrambling to hide it from everybody, instead.'
As for his coworkers, Lucian was fine in that department. Even if he did basically live in the restaurant, he kept his stuff on the roof during work hours. The only way to get to them was an access point (custom parkour course) where nobody could see him climbing up, so nobody in his workplace was liable to find out.
...
He eventually returned to the restaurant for his lunch break. Everyone got a free full meal there every afternoon, and another one in the evenings. While eating his fill, Lucian noticed Inigo giving him the cheekiest grin.
Bald Boss™️ then subtly gestured to Maxine with his eyes, who was running around to tend to customers.
Lucian's gaze lingered on her; he couldn't help it. There was something about her that just... pulled him in. Her bright orange hair bounced around whenever she rushed elsewhere or turned her head. Every little skip or heel-turn she did caught his eye.
He did catch himself staring eventually, and was greeted to the sight of Inigo flashing him the smuggest look.
Lucian couldn't help but feel exasperated, but felt amused by his boss's antics nonetheless. He shook his head in mock annoyance and went right back to devouring his meal.
...
Not long after Lucian had started eating, Maxie plopped down next to him, visibly tired.
"Rough first day?"
"You could say that," Maxie drawled in exhaustion.
It was her first time interacting with so many people while running around so much. On top of that, it was a Sunday— a lot of Hispanic families came over during the afternoon as regular customers.
Inigo's employees dubbed it the "Post-Mass Rush."
Soon after she she sat down, someone from the staff came over and brought Maxie a bowl of some sort of sour-savory soup, as well as a plate of rice.
"Eat up," said the coworker. "You'll need the energy for the rest of your shift."
Maxie tentatively brought the food over to herself, setting it down on the same kitchen counter that Lucian was eating at.
"I-is this alright?" she asked, worried because she had no money.
"Did the boss forget to tell you?" the coworker wondered out loud, and the puzzled look on Maxie's face told them what they needed to know. "Ah... lunch is free here for all of us. Dinner too, for people working nights. Like Luce over there."
Perplexed, Maxie turned to Lucian as the helpful coworker left to return to work.
Swallowing down some fried rice before answering, Lucian said, "Yeah. I basically work here morning to night."
"Is that okay??" asked Maxie, now no longer shy about chowing down. Her stomach had been killing her, after all; she forgot to have breakfast earlier. Not to mention, it tasted so good. Better than anything she'd ever eaten before.
Lucian shrugged in response. "Hey, I get paid overtime. Not like I'm being mistreated here," he said with a fond grin.
"What about other responsibilities...?" asked Maxie, and Lucian wondered for a good second.
Finally getting what Maxie had been implying, he explained, "Oh, that. I er, don't go to school... had to drop out to work. No family either, so... yeah."
Maxie ate in silent wonderment after that— Lucian's situation wasn't too far from hers. Well, it was closer to Bailey's, but Maxie could still relate somewhat.
Seeing that Lucian had neither a negative reaction, nor the intent to continue speaking, Maxie allowed herself to keep eating with him in companionable silence relative to the workplace.
...
Not much else happened after that. Maxie continued working until 3 PM, since she started at 7 AM. Everyone bade her farewell as she left through the back exit.
Right after that, because Lucian would keep working until late at night, a continuous tease-fest was directed right at him as news of Maxie's existence spread to the others.
Since he died just after graduating high school, transmigrating two years later after 'studying' at the Headmaster's extradimensional academy, he was still used to such things and didn't let it get through his skin.
More pressingly however, was the fact that he actually entertained the thought of pursuing her. He couldn't blame himself for feeling that way, though; at least in terms of appearance, she was exactly his type.
'Worry about that later,' Lucian reprimanded himself. 'Program!'
[ Yes, host? ]
'Bonk me whenever I get thoughts like that again.'
[ It shall be done. You will remain a man of focus, commitment, and sheer bleeping will. ]
[ ... ]
[ Notice. The Headmaster has given you a new quest. ]
'Oh, for fuck's sake...'
Already having a feeling what the quest was about, Lucian felt the urge to burrow into the earth and live among the moles.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
[[ New Quest: Love is in the Air ]]
Description: The Headmaster noticed that someone has caught your eye. He encourages you to shoot your shot: either you land a bullseye, or miss entirely.
Time Limit: none
Objectives:
[1] Success Route: enter a relationship with Maxine Steele. Casual or committed doesn't matter.
[2] Failure Route: have Maxine Steele reject you.
Rewards:
[1] 1,000 EXP, and a random B-grade item inspired by your actions, or Maxine herself.
[2] 1,000 EXP, and a random B-grade item inspired by how you fail, or how Maxine rejected you.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
'I ain't gonna lie to you, program... going after Maxie with this dangling in front of me makes me feel like a terrible guy.'
Lucian got no real response from the program, receiving only the impression of a shrug as if to say "[ Eh, what can I do? ]"
Hanging his head in defeat, he went on with his day, completely ignoring the quest. Come nightfall, he would clear his head of this... mess.
...
The sun inevitably set, plunging the city in its usual darkness once again. Waiting for all of his coworkers to filter out, Lucian was itching to get out and do something. That something would come in the form of fighting in Paulie's ring, and once the coast was clear, he locked up as fast as he could.
Up on the restaurant's roof, he put on his cardboard mask, as well as his black hoodie, work boots, and sports gloves. This would have to suffice for his prizefighting— the leather jacket and cowl, he would save for his actual vigilante persona. Speaking of that jacket, he had actually left it to Jodie just earlier in the day to serve as a base for his costume.
He dashed out of the restaurant's area as a black-and-white blur, leaving streaks of purple as One for All's excess energy crackled behind him in the form of electric arcs.
When he traveled this fast, worrying about cameras catching him wasn't an issue. It wasn't as if there would be a significant presence of them where he was going anyway, and the only people who might catch him had to be at least on Batman's level.
...
Minutes later, Lucian finally arrived at the usual ring. He didn't leap down this time; he just went in through the actual entrance like a normal person.
Some of the muscle out there tried to get in his way, but a few actually recognized him, and he got a free pass. It was much the same for the crowd as he cut through: some heckled, some cheered. For the most part though, he sort of just got strange looks from people who had never seen him fight there before
On his way to reception, he suddenly remembered the previous night, where his 'official title' was unceremoniously vested upon him by the announcer.
Cringing on the inside, he just kept pushing forward and paid the usual fee. He honestly felt nonplussed by the alias, but he guessed that was just how things were sometimes.
"Well, hello there, Mr. 'Phantom,'" Rita said as her opener once Lucian approached.
"Eugh... please don't..."
Lady had a laugh at his expense, but thankfully, it didn't drag on.
"So, how's life been treatin' ya?" she asked while stashing away Lucian's money.
"Eh, so-so," he answered half-heartedly. "A few good things happened today. Looking to make some good happen with my own hands later."
Rita raised a brow. "Oh? Care to share, rising star?"
"Been saving up, and now I'm looking for a new place to stay. If I get lucky, I can live well within my means."
"Hmm... so that's why you're fighting so much?" Rita crossed her arms on the desk and laid her head on top of them, slightly pouting. "You make a lot of money here, y'know? On the daily, you make more than I do."
"Don't get any ideas about borrowing from me now," Lucian joked. That was good, right? He was getting comfortable with the people here. Connections were a good thing for someone like him.
"Hah! Don't you worry your pretty little mask about it," said Rita. "Now, go on, you! Get! With the money you gave me, you're in for four rounds. Go and wait in the back."
Not needing to be told twice, Lucian waved her goodbye to wait his turn among the other fighters...
...
The fight organizers that night did great by Lucian, even if they didn't mean to. Since he had scheduled himself for four fights, they set him up to fight all of those rounds consecutively.
They actually pulled that setup out of spite; Gomez and Matchstick said as much when it was time for him to leave. Nobody had ever registered for even three rounds in one night before; the organizers seriously believed that 'the Phantom' was getting cocky and wanted to knock him down a peg.
It would have been one hell of a gauntlet for anyone else, but for him? Apart from having fun picking apart each of his opponents, the crowd absolutely loved the spectacle.
Steadily, his reputation and popularity, or maybe even infamy, grew. If Lucian kept signing up for consecutive fights like this, he might just be on the up-and-up. Hell, even the organizers came to apologize. They were businessmen first, after all, despite being in the pit with crooks; they knew a golden goose when they saw one.
Needless to say, if Lucian wanted to keep fighting in that ring, it would be much easier to set up multiple fights per night moving forward.
...
Once he was free from the ring some time around midnight, Lucian left and returned to the restaurant's roof. While switching masks and changing to a navy blue hoodie he'd snagged at some point, he asked the program to review his progress from the ring.
[ Event Report: ]
[ Rounds won in the ring: 4 - EXP awarded: 400 ]
[ Money earned: $1,000 - EXP awarded: 250 ]
[ Notice. A cap has been implemented on EXP gained through prize fighting profits. ]
[ Total EXP awarded: 650 ]
[ Congratulations! Your level has risen to 9. ]
[ 3 attribute points have been distributed between your Agility, Intellect, and Mentality attributes. ]
[ One for All bonus: your Power, Vitality, and Agility attributes all increase by 1. ]
[ You have 1 unallocated level and 5 free attribute points. ]
[ EXP to next level: 1,284 ]
'Hm... good to know that getting a fuckton of money won't just make me jump several levels,' Lucian mused.
The thought of getting so much EXP by just making money did make him feel weird, so while he definitely missed out on a lot of EXP that night, he was happy with that rule.
After the levelup, he worked on evening out his stat distributions...
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
Host: Lucian Albrecht
Matrix: Quirk User: One for All
Level: 9
Classes: [Brawler - Level 3] ; [Acrobat - Level 5] ; [Criminal - Level 1]
-[ Attributes ]-
Power: 28
Vitality: 28
Agility: 28
Intellect: 19
Mentality: 19
Spirit: 19
Luck: 0
Free Attribute Points: 0
New class ability unlocked!
Acrobat:
[5] Jack, be Nimble!: You have developed an instinct for traversing precarious environments, as well an intuition for avoiding environmental hazards.
Spider-Man much? Part I