I sat at my small kitchen table and opened my cheap laptop while eating the slice of old cheese from the fridge. It tasted like cardboard, but it was the only food I had.
I went to the city’s job board website. I typed "immediate hire" and "high pay" into the search bar.
Hundreds of jobs popped up. I clicked on the first one.
Construction Worker.
Pay: $40 an hour.
Requirements: Minimum Strength stat of 50. Must have a body-enhancement Blessing.
I closed it. My Strength stat was 5. I couldn't even lift a heavy box, let alone a steel beam.
I clicked on the next job.
Courier / Delivery Driver.
Pay: $35 an hour.
Requirements: Minimum Level 20. Must have a flying or super-speed Blessing.
I closed that one too and scrolled down the list. Every single job that paid enough to cover my rent required a high Level or a very specific Blessing.
The world doesn't care if you are smart or hardworking. The world only cares about your numbers. If your Level is too low, you are stuck working minimum wage at a gas station. And I didn't even have that anymore.
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling.
What about crime?
A lot of poor people with strong Blessings become Villains. They rob banks and steal from rich people. It pays really well.
But I thought about it for two seconds and shook my head. Being a Villain is way too much work. If you steal, the government sends Pro Heroes and Private Military Contractors (PMCs) to hunt you down. You have to hide in the sewers and fight for your life. You have to run from the cops.
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Running is cardio. I hate cardio.
What about being a Vigilante? Some people fight crime illegally outside of the System. But Vigilantes don't get paid. They just risk their lives for free. That sounded like doing chores for strangers. No thank you.
There was only one job in the world that gave you money, fame, and a comfortable life.
Pro Hero.
Top Heroes are billionaires. They live in mansions and get paid just to put their faces on cereal boxes. If you get a Hero License, corporate agencies will pay you a massive signing bonus just to join them. That bonus would pay my rent for a whole year.
But there was a problem. The normal way to become a Hero is to go to a Hero Academy from age fourteen to seventeen. You study, you train, and you graduate with a Provisional License before being fast tracked into an agency.
I went to Metropolitan Academy, the best school in the country. I was accepted just because my Blessing was S-Tier. But I hated the training and slept through classes. I refused to run laps so they kicked me out before the first semester was even over.
Once you turn eighteen, you can't go back to Academy. I was nineteen.
But there is a loophole.
It is called the Hero Licensing Exam.
It was made for adults who never went to Academy, or for people who want to change careers late in life. You just show up, take a physical test and written test, and if you pass, you get a Hero License.
It is incredibly hard. Thousands of people take it every year, and almost all of them fail. The physical test is brutal. You have to fight System Constructs and rescue fake civilians.
But I had a secret weapon. My Blessing.
Master of the Elements.
Even at Level 1, my power is S-Tier. The System loves S-Tiers. The government loves S-Tiers. If I could just fake my way through the physical test by using my power smartly, I could pass. I wouldn't have to fight up close. I would just use a few Blessing Points to trick the test.
Once I had the license, some rich agency would hire me and I could sit at a desk, collect a paycheck, and go back to being lazy.
It was a huge gamble. If I failed, I was totally out of options.
But I didn't have a choice. I opened a new tab and went to the Hero Regulation Committee (HRC) website. I clicked on the application for the Direct Exam.
I filled out my name, age, and Blessing. Then I clicked 'Submit'.
A new page loaded.
Application received. Please pay the $500 testing fee to secure your spot.
I stared at the screen. Five hundred dollars.
I checked my bank account again. I still had fourteen dollars and twelve cents.
I closed the laptop. I needed to find five hundred dollars by tomorrow morning, or my plan was dead before it even started.