[Sun God Bloodline — SSR Rank. Upon successful exchange, you will inherit the divine authority and power of the Sun itself, ascending to become a supreme and unparalleled god. Exchange Price: 100,000,000 Achievement Points / 100,000,000 Potential Points.]
[Superman Bloodline — SR Rank. Upon successful exchange, you will become the nigh-omnipotent Man of Steel, capable of feats that defy both heaven and earth. Exchange Price: 50,000,000 Achievement Points / 50,000,000 Potential Points.]
These two together...
As the new semester kicked off, Locke Broughton leaned back in his seat and stared at the two bloodlines sitting in the System Store, turning the idea over in his head like he did every morning.
The Sun God granted divine authority over the Sun itself - raw, primordial cosmic power. Superman, meanwhile, drew his strength *
from the Sun. Stack them on top of each other and you weren't looking at addition anymore. You were looking at multiplication. Maybe something even beyond that.
Every time Locke pulled up those two listings, he felt this stupid, electric pull of motivation deep in his chest.
Immortality. Actual immortality. It's right there.
As for the price tag? Locke wasn't scared of high prices. A price meant it was achievable. A price meant there was a road, even if it was a long one. What terrified him was something having no price at all, no clear path forward, no rules to game.
There was always a way to grind.
He pulled up his status screen out of habit.
[Name: Locke Broughton - Sole Player]
[Achievement Points: 2,000]
(Can be used to purchase items in the Achievement Store)
[Potential Points: 3,000]
(Can be used to upgrade owned Skills)
[Talent: Tenacity - Level 3]
Your physical conditioning and recovery are substantially enhanced.
[Skills: Driving (Beginner) | English (8th Grade) | History (8th Grade) | Mathematics (8th Grade) | Shooting (Intermediate) | Sniping (Advanced)...]
[Active Mission - Daily: Mock Exam]
Completion Reward: +500 Achievement Points / +500 Potential Points
[Mission Note: You are a Player. Only results influence you - not feelings, not pressure, not other people's expectations. The choice to lay low or make an entrance is yours. It's your game. You're in charge.]
Locke closed the screen.
Alright. Let's see what New York's got.
That was the whole reason he'd transferred. Not some deep emotional pull toward the city. Not family. Not drama. Just math - New York City had more people, more density, more situations that could spiral into something mission-worthy. More missions meant more points. More points meant the Sun God Bloodline crept one day closer.
Case in point: he'd been here less than a morning and already had a Mock Exam mission sitting in his queue. Back in Texas, his old school ran on what teachers liked to call a "student-centered philosophy," which in practice meant nobody took anything seriously and the highlight of most people's week was the Friday lunch menu. One real exam per semester, if you were lucky. The kind of place that produced people who peaked at seventeen and spent the next forty years talking about it.
This was different.
Midtown High had a reputation for a reason. Even just walking in, Locke could feel the shift, a sharpness in the air, like everyone in the building was operating at a slightly higher baseline. Less noise. More purpose.
Good. That means more triggers. More missions.
He scanned the room with practiced quiet.
The kid in the front row had already color-coded his notebook. The girl two seats over was reviewing flashcards before class even started. The group in the back corner, bigger guys, louder, were stress-laughing at each other, the universal language of people who hadn't studied.
But no Peter Parker.
Locke tilted his head slightly.
Shouldn't Spider-Man be here? Midtown High, right? That's the school.
He ran it back in his head. Peter Parker, Midtown High School, Queens kid, science prodigy. He was almost certain that was right. Either Parker hadn't enrolled yet, or something about this version of the timeline was running on a different track.
A flicker of blonde hair pulled his attention sideways.
Oh.
That's Gwen Stacy.
She was laughing at something her friend had said, gesturing animatedly with both hands, clearly mid-story about her break. Easy confidence. The kind of person who made a room feel lighter without trying to.
Locke watched her for maybe two seconds before she caught him looking.
Her eyes met his, just briefly, curious rather than annoyed and she glanced away to say something to her friend. A moment later, she stood up.
He raised an eyebrow.
She crossed the room without hesitation and stopped in front of his desk with a smile that felt genuinely warm rather than performed.
"Hey." She extended her hand. "I'm Gwen. Ninth grade student assistant, basically means if you're lost or have questions, I'm your person. Just transferred in from Texas, right?"
Locke shook her hand. Firm grip, no nonsense.
"Locke. And yeah." He paused. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
"You're welcome." She said it like she meant it, not like it was a script.
The classroom door swung open and the math teacher walked in, and Gwen slipped back to her seat without another word. Efficient. Locke filed that away without knowing why.
Student assistant. She introduced herself before anyone told her to.
He watched her settle in, watched the easy way she oriented toward the front of the room, comfortable here, used to being on top of things. Then the teacher was calling his name for a brief introduction, and Locke stood up and gave forty seconds of calm, practiced normalcy, and sat back down.
Ten minutes later, the teacher dropped the bomb with a cheerfulness that was almost offensive.
"Welcome back, everyone. The break is over, but the fun doesn't have to stop. Let's see where we're all at with a quick mock exam."
The room split instantly. The front-row kids straightened up like soldiers. The back-corner crew let out a collective groan that rattled the windows.
Locke looked down at the exam paper when it landed on his desk.
Huh.
He'd expected a step up from Texas. He hadn't expected to feel like someone had switched to a different game entirely. This wasn't harder, it was just built for people who had actually been paying attention all year.
The teacher paused at his desk on a slow walk around the room.
"Adjusting okay?" Not unkind. Just checking.
Locke glanced up and shook his head. "I'm good."
He turned back to the paper. Then he pulled up the System.
Okay. For the reward.
[Mathematics - 8th Grade → 9th Grade upgrade will cost 1,000 Potential Points. Confirm?]
He stared at the number. Three thousand points in the bank, and this was going to take a third of it.
It's fine. You invest to get returns.
"Confirm."
[Upgrade successful. Enjoy the game, Player.]
The knowledge came in clean and fast, not like studying, not like remembering. More like a door swinging open into a room that had always been there, everything arranged and lit and ready to use. Ninth grade mathematics settled into his Memory Palace in neat rows, and when he looked back down at the exam paper, the problems didn't rearrange themselves. They just... became obvious. Like someone had turned up the brightness.
Locke picked up his pencil.
If you can't find an advantage, you build one.
He started writing.