The crisp system notification in Ian's mind made him pause for a moment.
He had not expected awakening a dormant class to go this smoothly. He had assumed The Boys would need to become a massive hit before the Homelander class sleeping in the system could finally unlock.
Who could have guessed?
All it took was some rainbow praise from two scientists, and Ian had gotten exactly what he wanted. It seemed that even after becoming an [Independent NPC], Ian still was not destined for some ten-years-east, ten-years-west power-reversal storyline.
"A faint little sense of melancholy, somehow."
Ian glanced at his system panel.
[You have obtained the revised class: Savage Tyrant]
That was the class name that appeared after the dormant class awakened through Homelander. Ian did not inspect it right away. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at the two scientists in front of him, who were still reading the comic.
Do not let the fact that they were ordinary people fool you. They were the protagonists of their own story too. Maybe, in the process of awakening a dormant class, recognition from people like them meant more than recognition from ordinary NPCs.
Ian still did not fully understand it.
He just thought of his deskmate.
His deskmate had definitely contributed too, since she had read the comic, so Ian decided he still ought to save the two oranges in his pocket for the little delinquent girl.
Just then,
"Even though I don't like the way you distorted Superman's image, I also feel weirdly happy that someone else noticed how unreasonable that airplane rescue was."
"Oh, that means I'm a contradictory person too. Anyway, your work is really good, and I'd be very happy to offer more of my thoughts on exactly how Superman violated physics."
Shelton's eyes were gleaming with anticipation, eager to get started.
"So, assuming I'm free, when are you planning to hire us as your comic assistants?"
He really did seem desperate to investigate the scientific impossibilities of the so-called bioelectric aura.
"Free? That violates labor law!"
Ian did not need comic assistants.
He needed mature scientist workhorses.
And right at that moment,
"Let me write the contract, please, please, I'm begging you. I really understand capitalists. I guarantee all eight thousand clauses in the contract will help you exploit us as hard as possible!"
Shelton rubbed his hands together, looking pleading, like he had transformed into Ian's own thoughtful little tapeworm.
That was just how he was.
The thing he loved most in this life was writing contracts.
It did not even have to benefit him.
As long as he got the chance to write the contract, that was enough.
Genius worked in mysterious ways.
Naturally, Shelton's best friend Leonard looked completely speechless.
"Shelton, he wants to hire us for our scientific talent, not as comic assistants..."
At least Leonard's thinking still resembled that of a normal person. Holding his forehead, he quietly reminded his friend.
"Oh, is that so? Then I can write two contracts! Yes! Wonderful!"
Shelton's thought process was clearly unconventional. He looked as happy as a child.
"Changing jobs is a serious life decision. We need to think about it carefully. After all, I have a chance of becoming a tenured professor someday."
That kind of thinking was normal-people thinking.
However,
his thoughtful response only earned him a mocking remark from his friend.
"Tenured professor? That's just what you think you'll become... social intelligence, Leonard, you don't understand social intelligence. If you want to climb in academia, you have to understand that."
"If you had done what I did and given our dean a little Black Book of Wealthy Divorcées right after his divorce, you might have had the tiniest little chance."
He was now solemnly educating Leonard.
"..."
Leonard gave him a polite fake smile.
"The phone numbers in that little black book were all made up."
He felt the need to point that out.
Shelton was completely unfazed. If anything, he looked self-righteous.
"Obviously. The gift I gave the dean was a lesson in not trusting rich-widow scams."
"As a sign of gratitude, I'm sure he'll give me a private office next year."
Shelton sounded absolutely certain, as if he had fully mastered the art of social maneuvering.
"..."
Leonard felt deeply helpless.
Ian, on the other hand, felt like he was learning valuable things. He believed he could follow Dr. Shelton's line of thinking, and if he rounded up a little, that basically meant he had Nobel potential too.
"Of course you can take your time to think about it. This really is a major life decision."
Ian nodded to show he understood. He knew the value of gradual progress.
A fourteen-year-old boy had never expected to trick people into instant loyalty with just a couple of lines. He knew that, as an [Independent NPC], he was definitely not living in the kind of wish-fulfillment story where people bowed the moment they met him.
The road to survival in the DC Universe
was still long and full of hardships.
"At least give me your contact info first?"
This request was not refused. Leonard froze for a second, then quickly pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down their information.
"Maybe we could first talk about your father's company's projects? Of course, if we received a formal invitation from Wayne Enterprises, I think Shelton and I could convince our parents..."
Leonard was still caught up in his internal struggle.
But when he looked up,
Ian had already disappeared.
"Where'd he go?"
Leonard was thoroughly confused.
"Wow, he runs fast."
Only now did Shelton look up from the contract he had already begun typing on his phone.
"He was so enthusiastic just a second ago... what a strange kid."
Shelton still had not stopped editing the contract. Whether it would ever be used was irrelevant. This was his hobby.
"Though, considering he's a talented comic artist, I guess I can understand. Look at that, I've become even more understanding again."
He seemed weirdly pleased by that discovery.
Leonard chose not to comment and changed the subject instead.
"Do you think we might really get an invitation from Wayne Enterprises?"
He was still thinking about the olive branch a child had thrown at them.
Maybe the kid was not all that normal.
In the end, the two of them still never entered the gym. They turned and naturally began walking home instead.
Meanwhile,
somewhere else,
Ian had already found a quiet corner and pulled up the system panel to inspect the newly unlocked revised class.
[Savage Tyrant: In every battle, the Savage Tyrant is the brightest presence on the field, able to crush any enemy standing in the way through overwhelming physical might.]
Another pure brute-force class.
Ian had already suspected as much, so he chose to confirm the class change immediately. Just as he had previously figured out from experimenting with the system, he really could possess more than one extraordinary class.
"There isn't even a prerequisite quest?"
Of course, Ian was not right about everything.
He had underestimated how much the system loved him.
[Class Change Quest: Gain enough public attention and support (0/100000)]
That was the class-change quest for the new class. It did not look impossible, but it was not exactly easy either.
Ian did already have a fledgling superhero account, but using that account to gain enough attention in a short period of time was not realistic.
Of course,
that did not mean there were no shortcuts.
"Superior brain, activate!"
Once a person had taken enough shortcuts, that person naturally became very good at finding more shortcuts.
So after only a brief moment of thought, Ian came up with a solution through the power of his excellent intelligence.
Slowly grind out popularity and support over time?
Ian had no interest in living that kind of life.
So instead,
"Hello."
Ian, wearing three layers of nude stockings over his head and carrying untraceable cash, walked into a costume shop that specialized in cosplay outfits. Most of the time, this shop catered to people with very specific tastes.
Today, however, it had a very special customer.
"Y... you! What are you here for?!"
The owner, who also served as the only clerk, immediately went into full defensive mode the moment Ian entered, pulling out a big shotgun and aiming it straight at him.
He very clearly thought a robber had just walked in.
However,
"I'd like a Batman suit, please."
Ignoring the universal equalizer aimed at him, Ian deliberately lowered his voice into a breathy murmur and politely offered over a stack of cash.
Yes.
This was the direction his intelligence had led him to.
They were both billionaires, after all.
Granted, Ian was only a future billionaire, but if Bruce Wayne got to be Batman, why shouldn't Ian Kent get to be Batman too?
Night had fallen.
The Dark Knight should be out there.
He only needed attention and support, after all.
And the system had never forbidden him from stealing someone else's account.
(End of Chapter)
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