"The World's Greatest Ability User Tournament, that sounds interesting."
On a New York street, a handsome man in a suit looked at the advertisement for the World's Greatest Ability User Tournament on a screen, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
His name was Loki Odinson, the God of Mischief from Asgard, the eternal second-in-command of the Royale Palace.
He had studied magic with Queen Frigga since childhood, and with his teleportation magic, he could freely travel through the Nine Realms even without the Bifrost Bridge.
This, of course, included the mortal realm of Midgard.
He remembered his last visit to Midgard over thirty years ago, when he made a bet with his brother, Thunder God Thor, hijacked a Boeing 727, acquired 200,000 U.S. dollars, and escaped by leaping from the plane.
Today, his muscle-headed brother, Thunder God Thor, was officially declared heir to the throne by their father, Odin.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would inherit the throne five years from now and become the new King of the Royale Palace.
His heart was filled with sadness and frustration, so he came to Midgard again to clear his head.
He didn't understand. When they were children, Odin had told him and Thor that both of them were born to be kings. Yet, Odin had always favored Thor, passing the throne to him and not to Loki.
He was clearly so much smarter than Thor and more suited to be the King of Asgard.
From a young age, Thor had always been the Thunder God, the center of attention, Odin's pride, beloved by all Asgardians, and had The Warriors Three and the Valkyrie Sif as close friends.
As for him, apart from Queen Frigga, no one else paid him any mind. Even Odin, though he spoke of it, essentially focused all his attention on his brother, Thor.
Therefore, he had to become king to gain Odin's approval and the approval of everyone in Asgard.
"The strongest ability user, Saiyan Superman, from Planet Vegeta. Planet Vegeta, I haven't heard of this Planet before. Perhaps..."
Suddenly, some ideas sparked in his mind.
After more than thirty years of not visiting Midgard, it had clearly undergone tremendous changes. Not only had technology advanced a little, but more importantly, there were now so many humans with special abilities.
This World's Greatest Ability User Tournament gathered many powerful individuals from the human World, especially that Saiyan Superman from an alien Planet. From the video, he certainly seemed like a formidable opponent.
If he could trick his currently triumphant brother, Thor, into participating in this tournament, perhaps he could make him hit a wall.
For the mighty First Prince of the Royale Palace, the invincible Thunder God Thor, the future King of Asgard, to be defeated by a mortal from the mortal Planet of Midgard, this would undoubtedly be a huge blow and an extremely humiliating event.
If he could see Thor suffer a setback, he would be absolutely delighted. If this made Odin think Thor was not up to the task, then he would have truly hit the jackpot.
And even if Thor did win, what of it? Winning a mere competition in the mortal World, what was there to brag about?
Or, in this competition, if he could defeat Thor, that would also be a joyful experience.
He certainly couldn't defeat Thor in a direct battle, but in this kind of competition, there were many opportunities for manipulation.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt his idea was brilliant and amusing. So, he changed direction and walked towards the headquarters of the League of Heroes in New York.
"Beautiful lady, I want to register for the tournament."
Loki, ever the gentleman, took the receptionist's hand and lightly kissed the back of it.
Looking at Loki's handsome face and gentlemanly manners, the receptionist immediately blushed and her heart pounded, falling into a state of infatuation.
"Here's the registration form, please fill it out. Oh, you're saying you want me to fill it out for you?"
"You truly are a kind girl. My name is Loki, and my ability is... my strength is a bit stronger than a normal person's."
In a few words, Loki fabricated an identity for himself as a strength-based ability user.
"By the way, I also have a friend named Thor. He's busy today and couldn't make it. I'll register for him first."
"Um... for this registration, the person must be present."
The receptionist hesitated but managed to regain some clarity.
Loki, however, leaned closer to the receptionist, gently blew on her, and cast a hypnotic spell:
"I think, sometimes it's not necessary to be so troublesome, don't you agree, beautiful lady!"
Having studied magic with the Queen since childhood, he always believed that magic was the strongest power in this World. In the face of wondrous magic, weapons were worthless, and only brutes would enjoy using them, just like his brother Thor.
So, even though he also possessed a pair of daggers forged for him by the Dwarf King using Uru metal, he rarely used them; most of the time, they were just for show.
He spent all his time learning and researching magic. Hypnotic magic like this was too simple for him, especially when hypnotizing a mortal.
Indeed, after falling under Loki's hypnotic magic, the receptionist's eyes immediately became vacant:
"Everything you say is right. I'll help you fill out the information now."
"Thor, super strong physical strength, skilled in close combat, adept at using a hammer, can summon lightning."
Compared to his own information, which merely stated that his strength was a bit stronger than a normal person's, he clearly detailed almost all of his brother Thor's abilities.
His goal was to have Thor defeated in this competition, so he naturally revealed all of his information.
After registering and leaving the League of Heroes headquarters, Loki did not linger in Midgard but used magic to teleport back to Asgard.
Next, he had to convince the triumphant Thor to participate in this tournament in Midgard.
Of course, this posed no difficulty for him at all. Based on his understanding of Thor, as long as he described the World's Greatest Ability User Tournament in a favorable light and provoked him a little, Thor would probably go on his own without much persuasion from Loki.
A week later, Adam, who had just finished his Training, returned to his dormitory from the box and opened his computer to browse the news.
Although he was addicted to Training and couldn't extricate himself, he still took a little time each day to read and scroll through the news, keeping an eye on potential events outside.
As usual, almost all the news now was reporting on the World's Greatest Ability User Tournament, which was three days away.
There were various interviews, interviewing Superheroes, interviewing company employees, and even interviewing lucky audience members. Everyone was super excited for the tournament to begin.
However, he still noticed a piece of news that wasn't particularly sensational.
That was, Obadiah Stane, a shareholder of Stark Industries, had died in a plane crash.
Clearly, with the combined efforts of a prepared Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D., Obadiah Stane had been dealt with.
As for whether any conflicts occurred in between, or whether Obadiah Stane created an Iron Monger or anything similar, he didn't care about that.