Not long after Luke posted the photo, Coulson liked it.
"Can I ask what your official working hours are? Just so I know when you're slacking off," Luke texted him.
Without waiting for a reply, he opened his System interface and claimed his three daily ad skips. With the massive influx of energy, he bought exactly 50 more Shadow Ninjas, bringing his total army to 250.
At this milestone, another option to upgrade his physical constitution appeared, but this one cost a staggering 5,000 Energy Points.
He checked his generation rate: his 250 ninjas were pulling in 25 points per second, meaning it would take roughly three hours to afford the upgrade.
Deciding to kill some time, he booted up his game console, summoned a ninja to carry him, and settled in for a gaming session.
Even though he spent most of the matches staring at a gray respawn screen and occasionally sabotaged his ninja teammate so badly that they actually lost two games, he still had a blast. Why? Because his personal kill-death ratio had improved! He was now consistently getting at least one kill per game!
A few hours later, Luke checked his energy pool. He had finally saved up the required 5,000 points.
He laid back on the bed, getting as comfortable as possible, and tapped the [Stat Enhancement] button.
Once again, that intense, numbing sensation washed over him, temporarily draining him of all his strength.
A few minutes later, the upgrade finished. Luke sat up and looked around the room, testing his newly enhanced body. He walked over to the coffee table and casually gripped the heavy, solid marble tabletop with both hands.
Heave!
"Whoa! Is this what four times normal strength feels like?! The power is surging!" Luke exclaimed in delight as he hoisted the massive slab of marble completely over his head.
Then, his smile froze.
Because he realized he couldn't put it down without dropping it and shattering the entire table.
After awkwardly summoning two ninjas to gently lower the marble back into place, Luke decided he needed to head outside and find an empty lot to properly test his new physical limits and the upgraded combat capabilities of the Shadowkhan.
He stepped out of his suite and walked to the elevator. When the doors opened, he found it packed with burly men in black suits. Squinting, he spotted Tony Stark sandwiched directly in the middle of them.
Seeing Tony practically being crushed in a sea of aggressively masculine bodyguards, Luke couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you guys a little hot in there?"
Tony's face immediately soured.
He had just finished discussing tomorrow's award ceremony with Pepper and wanted to head down to the casino to have some fun, but Obadiah Stane had insisted on assigning this massive security detail to tail him everywhere.
Tony had barely managed to squeeze into the elevator, and the first person they ran into on the way down was that weird camera kid from the lobby. Usually, Tony wouldn't care, but the kid's comment about the bodyguards made him look ridiculous.
"Do I need to teach you guys how to not block the door?" Tony snapped at the massive men surrounding him.
The bodyguards exchanged nervous glances, but they didn't budge.
"I can't believe Stark Industries employs people this incompetent. If a certain camera-happy kid out there snapped a picture of this and leaked it to the press, do you have any idea how much money Stark Industries would lose?"
Tony put heavy emphasis on the word Stark, sharply reminding the security detail exactly whose paycheck they were cashing.
Properly cowed, the bodyguards finally shifted, creating a narrow path for Luke to enter the elevator.
"Looks like Mr. Tony Stark is having a stressful evening," Luke teased as the doors slid shut.
"My evenings are usually quite relaxing," Tony shot back effortlessly. "Except when I run into certain kids who never put their cameras away."
"Well, consider me honored. If Justin Hammer found out my mere presence ruins your day, he'd probably pay me a fortune just to follow you around," Luke shrugged. "So, heading down to the casino to blow some cash?"
"Do I look like I'm heading out to take landscape photos?" Tony retorted dryly.
Luke glanced down at the camera hanging around his neck. Did the billionaire have some sort of deep-seated prejudice against photographers?
The two of them continued to trade sarcastic jabs until the elevator reached the ground floor.
Luke stepped out first, followed by Tony, who glared irritably at his security detail. When the doors had opened, the bodyguards had actually moved to block Tony from leaving just so they could clear the area first, forcing Luke to squeeze past them. Looking at their ID badges, Tony silently resolved to fire every single one of them the second he got back to Malibu.
After finding a secluded construction site and thoroughly testing his new physical limits—as well as the massively upgraded speed and strength of his ninjas—Luke returned to his hotel highly satisfied.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to evaluate him based on the data they collected yesterday, they were in for a rude awakening.
He was a bit disappointed he didn't run into Tony again in the lobby, but tomorrow was the actual award ceremony. Luke figured he'd try to snap a photo of Colonel James Rhodes awkwardly accepting the award on Tony's behalf. He watched his daily ads, spent his energy, and went to sleep.
The next morning, Luke was jolted awake by the loud, echoing booms of daytime fireworks. He checked the time and groaned. It was already 10:00 AM.
He had slept in completely. Yawning, he opened his System interface and checked his overnight progress. He had amassed roughly 3,000 points, but the starter Dark Dimension he had been mining was finally completely depleted of crystals.
Using the book the Ancient One had given him, he locked onto a fresh Dark Dimension containing over 30,000 crystals. He nodded in satisfaction; luckily, this one also seemed to be uninhabited.
The coordinates the Ancient One provided were mostly tiny, fragmented micro-dimensions that no major cosmic entity cared about. They usually contained anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 crystals. For now, that was plenty, but as his mining speed increased exponentially, he realized he might eventually drain entire dimensions in a single day.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
He also noticed that the base price for a Shadow Ninja had inflated to 35 Energy Points each.
He spent the bulk of his energy to buy exactly 50 more ninjas, leaving his available combat reserve capped at around 1,000 points.
Lamenting the relentless inflation of idle games, he got out of bed, washed up, grabbed his camera, and headed over to the convention center.
The award ceremony hadn't officially started yet, but the red carpet had been rolled out, and various celebrities and socialites were posing for the cameras.
Luke casually snapped a few pictures of the more attractive attendees. Just as he lowered his camera, a familiar voice called out from behind him.
"Hey, kid!"
Luke turned around and saw Tony Stark, dressed in a sharp tuxedo.
"Dressed up, huh? Actually going to attend your own award ceremony?"
"Did I even tell you I was getting an award?"
"Did I tell you I pulled two UR characters in a ten-pull last night?"
"?" Tony stared at him in utter confusion.
'Oh, right,' Luke realized. 'Gacha games don't exist in this timeline yet. Or maybe they never will.'
"Never mind. Listen kid, I have a plan," Tony smirked, leaning in conspiratorially.
"Let me guess, you're ditching the ceremony to go play at the casino?" Luke asked, pretending to be curious.
"Wow, you really are a mind reader. I'm going to have to start drinking pesticide to get rid of you," Tony deadpanned, though he looked genuinely amused. "But since I'm in a good mood, want to tag along and watch the genius Tony Stark win a fortune?"
"Pass. I don't exactly have millions of dollars to throw away on a single hand of blackjack," Luke declined, remembering that Tony canonically dropped three million dollars in a single casino run in the movie. Next to that, his five million dollar net worth was basically pocket change.
Tony exaggerated a pout. "Your loss. If you change your mind, you know where to find me!"
With that, the billionaire turned and strolled confidently toward the Caesar's Palace casino, clearly intending to cause a scene.
Luke shrugged. Tony had a sharp tongue, but as long as you didn't let him get under your skin, he was actually pretty fun to talk to.
Luke flashed his universal S.H.I.E.L.D. badge to the security guards at the convention center entrance. They let him in immediately, but informed him that unauthorized photography was strictly prohibited inside the main hall.
Not wanting to cause a scene, Luke casually dropped his camera into the shadow realm, letting a ninja hold onto it to protect it from the corrosive dark energy.
He strolled into the grand ballroom.
The room was packed with the global elite—politicians, generals, and billionaire CEOs, all dressed in formal evening wear. Dressed in a simple jacket and jeans, Luke stuck out like a sore thumb.
He didn't care. To him, most of the people in this room were just unnamed extras.
He grabbed some hors d'oeuvres from a catering tray and retreated to a quiet corner. Since he didn't recognize anyone important, he pulled out his handheld console and started gaming.
After an unknown amount of time, a sudden commotion at the entrance drew his attention. Obadiah Stane had arrived, drawing a massive crowd of sycophants and business partners eager to greet the acting CEO of Stark Industries.
Luke casually watched the crowd part for Stane. As he did, his eyes landed on a very unexpected figure standing near the back of the group.
The Kingpin!
Wilson Fisk's influence was terrifyingly vast. Considering he possessed military-grade weapons and Stark Industries tech, Luke knew the crime lord had deep ties to both the criminal underworld and the legitimate corporate world.
Still, seeing the Emperor of the Underworld standing openly at a high-society charity gala, casually sipping champagne and chatting with politicians, felt incredibly surreal.
Seeing Fisk exchange a polite, familiar greeting with Obadiah Stane perfectly explained how his mercenaries had gotten their hands on Stark-tech rocket launchers.
Fisk, possessing the honed instincts of a seasoned killer, immediately sensed someone watching him. He turned his head and locked eyes with Luke, who was sitting in a dark corner holding a video game console.
Fisk's expression didn't change in the slightest. He looked at Luke as if he were just another random teenager who had sneaked into the gala.
'Still pretending, huh?'
Luke raised a hand in a polite wave, then pulled out his phone and texted a smiley face emoji to Fisk's burner number.
Across the room, Fisk felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out, glanced at the text, and smoothly excused himself from his conversation with Obadiah, making his way toward the secluded outdoor balcony.
The moment Fisk stepped onto the balcony and the glass doors slid shut behind him, he heard a voice.
"Say cheese."
Click.
Fisk turned his head just in time to see a bright flash. Luke was standing there, holding a digital camera.
Fisk watched with zero outward emotion as Luke casually dropped the camera. Before it could hit the marble floor, a pitch-black, spiked hand materialized from the shadows, caught the camera, and vanished back into the darkness.
"Don't worry," Luke smiled casually, leaning against the balcony railing. "I just realized that if my blog only features embarrassing photos of superheroes, people might think I'm biased. I figured I'd add a few supervillains to balance it out. Who knows? Someday you might even be proud to be featured on my page."
"Perhaps," Fisk replied, his massive hands tightening slightly around his cane. "But why are you here? I was under the impression our business had concluded."
"It's the Apogee Award ceremony," Luke shrugged. "I just came to snap a few pictures for the blog."
Fisk nodded slowly, not pressing the issue further. He turned around and walked back into the ballroom.
Luke stood on the balcony for a few minutes, enjoying the cool night breeze. 'What a coincidence,' he muttered to himself before slipping back inside to find a quiet corner to finish his game.