The three options floated before him.
Watcher in Training.
Wildcard.
Redemption Arc.
The protagonist stared at them.
His first instinct was simple.
Pick one.
His second instinct was even simpler.
Pick all of them.
He looked toward the place where the cloaked figure had vanished.
"Hey!"
Nothing.
"Come back!"
Only the wind answered.
He clenched his fists.
"Typical."
A system notification appeared.
[EXTRA QUEST: CHOOSE A ROLE]
Time Remaining: 00:59
His eyes widened.
"Wait. There's a timer?"
00:54
"You're kidding me."
He quickly scanned the options again.
Watcher meant safety.
Wildcard meant chaos and power.
Redemption Arc meant trying to fix things.
He looked at them again.
Then shrugged.
"Fine. I'll take all of them."
[00:41]
"All three. Done."
The system paused.
[ERROR: MULTIPLE SELECTION DETECTED]
[PROCESSING…]
He blinked.
"That was allowed, right?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
[00:20]
He sighed.
"Okay, listen. I don't know the rules. I don't care. Just give me everything."
A new notification appeared.
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Rules are for characters with simple roles.
He stared.
"...That's still not helpful."
[00:10]
His hand moved again.
"All of them. I choose all of them."
His finger touched the options.
The world stopped.
The wind froze.
Smoke hung motionless in the air.
Even the distant fires seemed to pause.
For one impossible second, the entire city became a still image.
Then—
[ROLE ACCEPTED]
EXTRA PATH: WILDCARD / WATCHER / REDEMPTION
Initial Alignment: UNDEFINED
Faction Affiliation: NONE
Destiny Classification: UNSTABLE
Warning: This choice makes survival much harder.
He stared at the last line.
"Yeah, I figured."
[Too late.]
"...I hate you."
For the first time, the system seemed unsure.
Then another message appeared.
[Noted.]
He blinked.
"Did you just—"
A thunderclap erased the rest of his sentence.
BOOOOOOM!
The rooftop shook.
He dropped to one knee.
Across the skyline, something enormous crashed through several buildings.
A trail of green energy ripped through the clouds.
Then another impact.
Then another.
Something was fighting the Symbuster.
He slowly stood.
The clouds split.
For half a second, he saw him.
Red cape.
Blue suit.
A figure moving faster than his eyes could follow.
Superman.
Behind him came a flash of lightning.
Thor.
Then a streak of red and gold.
Iron Man.
The three collided with the Symbuster in the distance.
The shockwave rolled across the city.
Windows exploded.
Cars flipped.
The rooftop beneath him cracked.
He stared.
"...Why are they fighting together?"
The system answered.
[Correction: They are not.]
He frowned.
"What?"
[Cinematic Proximity Event — Level 4 has escalated.]
[Multiple Major Characters detected.]
[Conflict probability: 97.8%]
[Civilian casualty probability: 84.2%]
His stomach dropped.
"You're telling me people are going to die?"
[Affirmative.]
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
Silence.
He stared at the screen.
"System?"
Nothing.
"Seriously?"
Then—
[Wildcard Path detected.]
[Watcher Protocol active.]
[Redemption Protocol active.]
[New Passive Function unlocked.]
His eyes widened.
[EXTRA INTERFERENCE]
Rank: F
Description: You may disrupt small events in a larger story.]
He stared.
"All three paths… and I still get something small?"
[You are not strong enough to control the story.]
A second line appeared.
[But you may still change it.]
He went quiet.
That sentence stayed with him.
He looked toward the battle.
Superman flew through the Symbuster.
Thor struck it with his hammer.
Iron Man fired a blast.
The monster roared.
And suddenly, he understood.
He wasn't supposed to win.
He wasn't supposed to be important.
He was supposed to survive.
And maybe…
Help where he could.
A sudden metallic shriek came from behind him.
He turned.
A construction crane was falling.
A bus was trapped underneath it.
People were running.
His heart stopped.
The system appeared.
[Minor Event Detected.]
[Potential casualties: 17.]
[Recommended action: Ignore.]
He stared.
"...Ignore?"
[Major characters are engaged elsewhere.]
[This event is not important to the main battle.]
His eyes moved to the street.
Seventeen people.
No heroes.
No gods.
Just people.
Like him.
He swallowed.
"Not important?"
[Correct.]
He looked at the falling crane.
Then the system.
Then the street.
"Then your definition of important is wrong."
He ran.
"Wait!"
He jumped from the rooftop stairs and raced forward.
The edge was too far.
He stopped.
"...Oh no."
The street was far below.
Very far.
He looked at the crane.
Then the bus.
Then his hands.
"I made a very bad choice."
The crane fell.
He jumped anyway.
For a moment, there was no sound.
Only wind.
His stomach dropped.
The city rushed up at him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
[Script Immunity activated.]
His eyes widened.
"WHAT?!"
[High-Stakes Scene detected.]
[Someone important is watching.]
A blur crossed the sky.
Something caught him.
Hard.
His body slammed into armored metal.
He looked up.
Red and gold armor.
Iron Man.
Tony Stark looked down.
"...Who are you?"
The protagonist blinked.
"...I was about to ask you the same thing."
Tony frowned.
"Funny."
"I'm not joking."
Tony looked at the falling crane.
Then the street.
Then him.
"Okay. Mystery guy. You have three seconds to explain why you jumped."
"I was trying to save them!"
Tony looked down again.
The crane was still falling.
"Right."
His armor ignited.
"Hold on."
The protagonist blinked.
"Hold on to—"
WHOOSH!
They dropped.
"—WHAT?!"
Tony flew toward the crane.
The protagonist clung to the armor.
"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!"
Tony grabbed the crane.
The armor strained.
The crane slowed.
Below them, people stared in shock.
Tony grunted.
"Okay… that's heavy."
The protagonist looked at him.
"Need help?"
Tony glanced sideways.
"Unless you secretly have super strength, no."
"Oh."
"Then be quiet."
Tony strained.
The protagonist looked down.
A cable was wrapped around a building.
"Wait!"
"What?"
"The cable!"
Tony saw it.
If he let go, the crane would swing into the bus.
"Can you cut it?"
Tony raised his hand.
"Gladly."
A blast fired.
The cable snapped.
The crane swung away.
Tony redirected it and dropped it onto an empty street.
CRASH!
Silence.
Then—
Cheers.
The protagonist stared.
Everyone was alive.
Seventeen people.
Alive.
The system appeared.
[Minor Event altered.]
[Casualties: 0]
His breathing slowed.
Warmth spread in his chest.
Then—
[Wildcard Effect triggered.]
[Watcher Observation recorded.]
[Redemption Action registered.]
[Extra Points +15]
His eyes widened.
"Wait."
Tony looked at him.
"What?"
The protagonist stared at the screen.
"Nothing."
[Current Extra Points: 25]
Tony narrowed his eyes.
"You definitely said something."
"Nope."
Tony stared.
The system chimed.
[New Character Relationship registered.]
Tony Stark — Interest: Suspicious / Curious
The protagonist groaned.
"Oh, come on."
Tony sighed.
"Yeah. You're weird."
A roar interrupted them.
Both looked up.
The Symbuster had stopped fighting.
It was staring at them.
The protagonist froze.
Tony's armor shifted.
"Okay," Tony said.
"That's bad."
"How bad?"
Tony looked at him.
"Eleven out of ten."
The Symbuster charged.
Tony pushed him away.
"RUN!"
The protagonist fell back.
The monster hit Tony.
BOOM!
Iron Man disappeared.
"TONY!"
The protagonist froze.
He didn't really know him.
But he had just saved people with him.
And now—
The rooftop exploded.
He was thrown forward.
He hit the ground.
His ears rang.
The system appeared.
[Major Character in Critical Danger.]
[Cinematic Proximity Event — Level 5.]
[Wildcard / Watcher / Redemption opportunity detected.]
[Choose action:]
[YES]
[NO]
[RUN]
He stared.
Then laughed.
"Of course."
The monster rose.
Tony was gone.
He stood.
Terrified.
But he already knew something.
He wasn't important.
And that meant no one expected him to matter.
He looked at the options.
Then selected—
YES.
The system went silent.
Then a voice echoed across the sky.
Not the system.
Something else.
"Interesting."
He looked up.
The clouds moved.
A golden symbol appeared.
The Symbuster stopped.
Thor stopped.
Superman turned.
Iron Man pushed out of the rubble.
Everyone looked up.
The symbol rotated.
The system finally spoke.
[WARNING.]
[WARNING.]
[Unknown entity entering reality.]
[Power: UNDEFINED.]
[Status: UNDEFINED.]
Then—
[EXTRA SYSTEM ERROR.]
He stared.
"...What does that mean?"
The system answered.
[It means you are no longer the only anomaly.]
The sky split open.
Something stepped through.
The city went silent.
Even the gods looked up.
It looked down.
At him.
It smiled.
[NEW MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED]
SURVIVE THE STORM
Objective: Find out why it recognizes you.]
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
He stared.
"Why is everything unknown?"
The system didn't answer.
For once…
It felt afraid.