Fans?

  A quick internet search brought up a bewildering flood of results. There were news articles dissecting his “debut”, MeTube shorts of his fight, and a trending social media hashtag that he didn’t recognize: #Believvers.

  Near the top of the search results was a link to a subthredd titled t/Believvers.

  He scratched his forehead and cautiously clicked the link. The page loaded with a custom banner of a pixelated wolf howling at a moon.

  There was no one around in his studio apartment, so his [Behavior Lock] didn’t activate, and his jaw dropped.

  The moment the subthredd loaded on his screen, another notification chimed in the air.

  [Achievement Unlocked—Fandom Created]

  A rising name lifts all stats.

  Reward: All Stats +10

  No way.

  Shane stared at the floating text. Was this the system’s way of offsetting the weakness of not being able to join a guild?

  But a fandom? This wasn’t a feature in the original game.

  A +10 boost to his stats wasn’t a huge buff for a high-ranked hunter, but for an F-rank like him, it was a massive difference, almost doubling his base stats overnight. Though it wouldn’t make a difference in the letter grade. He’d need 10 times more base stat to upgrade to an E-rank.

  He immediately claimed the reward.

  The sensation felt like a shot of caffeine straight to the heart, flooding his veins. With this, his mana pool was big enough to use [Blink] and [Fireball] together without having to absorb blood to replenish his mana.

  His nose started to run. He wiped it with the back of his hand and saw a smear of bright red.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  He grabbed a tissue from the table and plugged his nose. He knew instantly what was hapepening. Obviously, it was his [Mana Hypersensitivity] acting up.

  Thanks to the 30-day daily quest skip pass, his mana stats had been increasing each day. Now, with the sudden ten-point boost on top of that, his mana pool had grown too quickly for his body to adjust.

  Of course, it was a good thing in the long run. More mana is always better.

  But right now, his body was reacting badly to the sudden surge. His headaches from the [Chain Smoker] doubled from the [Mana Hypersensitivity].

  At this rate, he’d have trouble clearing minor, normal dungeons.

  He couldn’t get rid of an existing Quirk, but there was surely a reason his friend had chosen this specific combination of Quirks.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A simple solution existed that could solve his [Mana Hypersensitivity], [Chain Smoker], and [Insomnia] all at once.

  A specific item.

  He checked the date on his computer. The timing was tight, but perfect. His next objective was set.

  He opened a new tab on his phone and typed into the search bar.

  [The International Conference on Parahuman Studies]

  It was being held in New York in about a week. That was enough time to recover from his injuries.

  He just needed to find a way in with a new identity.

  ***

  The International Conference on Parahuman Studies was being held at the largest hotel in New York.

  The first day was a welcome reception, a black-tie event with about a thousand people in attendance. The guest list included renowned scholars, leading researchers, nervous graduate students, and hungry industry professionals looking for the next big breakthrough.

  And watching over them all was a small army of security guards.

  In a designated ballroom, Henry Stone straightened his tie for the tenth time. The knot felt like a noose. Or perhaps it was because he wasn’t used to wearing a suit.

  He had signed up for this bodyguard job through the Wynn Guild because the pay was absurdly high. And good for a reason.

  This whole event was a magnet for trouble.

  The two emerging fields, Paranthropology and Xenobiology, were dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology of the Awakened and the monsters, respectively.

  Since both sciences were still in their infancy, their leading figures were walking targets. Terrorist groups, rival nations, and rogue guilds were all looking to kidnap or kill the minds that could unlock the secrets of the new world.

  The security, as a result, was almost suffocating.

  The Hunter’s Association had set up a makeshift operations center in one of the hotel’s smaller ballrooms, and the place was filled with quiet tension.

  A dozen screens at the front showed security feeds and hotel floor plans. Men and women in suits, all with earpieces, spoke in low murmurs.

  It was a mix of Hunters from different guilds, all hired for the night.

  He checked his phone again, breaking the promise he made to himself five minutes ago.

  Still nothing.

  Just the “Delivered” notification under his last text to Shane.

  [Henry: You doing okay, Captain? Just checking in]

  A stupid question. Of course Shane was fine. Even if he’d taken a B-rank paladin’s sword to the shoulder, he would’ve fully recovered by now.

  But, for some reason, he hadn’t responded in the last few days.

  Though Shane usually only gave short, sometimes one-word replies, he had never completely ignored Henry’s texts before.

  Then again, what did he know about the man? He only met him twice during dungeon raids. Worrying like this almost felt like he was overstepping.

  He shoved the phone into his pocket as his detail lead, a stern-faced woman from the Hunter’s Association with a scar running through her eyebrow, called everyone over.

  “Alright, listen up,” she said. “We’re handling the Tier One principals tonight. Top priority.”

  She swiped a finger across her tablet, projecting a headshot onto the main screen.

  “This is Dr. Michael Williams, a xenobiologist.”

  She scanned the room, her eyes landing on Henry. Then she gestured to a man leaning against the far wall, wearing a tailored suit.

  “Stone, you’re paired with him. You two have Dr. Williams.”

  She continued down the line, assigning a different principal to each two-person team.

  “Standard two-man protocol. One shield, one runner. If things go sideways, the shield engages the threat. No. Heroics. The runner grabs the principal and gets him or her to the designated safe room immediately.”

  Henry nodded. Shield duty was a role he was used to.

  He looked over at his new partner. Slightly shorter than Henry, his partner had red hair with freckles that covered most of his face.

  The man was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, staring at the floor, looking thoroughly bored with the entire briefing. Or tired, Henry couldn’t really tell.

  He walked over, trying to be friendly.

  “Henry Stone,” he said, offering a hand.

  The man didn’t even look up.

  Typical, Henry thought, letting his hand drop awkwardly to his side. Just his luck to be paired with the quiet, arrogant type.

  He decided to ignore the guy. It was going to be a long night. Instead, he let his thoughts drift back to Shane, wondering if he should send just one last text before the job started. Like an apology for the spam.

  While Henry was mulling over his decision, his new partner, Shane Ashwell let out a quiet yawn.