"So he doesn't just summon ninja assassins, he actually possesses considerable strength himself?" Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, watched the security footage provided by his surviving men with zero emotional fluctuation. He watched his two expensive exo-suit enforcers get utterly dismantled like cheap toys.
It wasn't until he saw Luke effortlessly dodge a highly coordinated sniper volley by vanishing into thin air that his expression finally changed. "His capabilities far exceed my initial estimates."
Fisk turned off the monitor and looked across the room at Bullseye, who was casually tossing playing cards at a dartboard.
"This superhuman has impressive abilities. I want you to test the waters. See if you can recruit him. If he refuses, kill him."
Fisk was incredibly confident in his top assassin, and Bullseye felt exactly the same. He lazily flicked the final playing card from his hand. It whistled through the air, ricocheting off three different walls before pinning itself dead center in the bullseye.
"By the way," Fisk added smoothly, almost as an afterthought. "Lanko failed his operation tonight, putting me in a very passive position. Send his family down to keep him company."
Bullseye didn't break his stride. If anything, he walked out of the office a little faster, eager to get to work before someone else stole his kills.
Luke eventually found a nice hotel in Manhattan. He flashed his new S.H.I.E.L.D. "Security Consultant" badge at the receptionist, and not only did it clear all background checks without a hitch, but it also got him a massive 30% government discount on a luxury suite.
"I can't believe this thing actually works," Luke muttered, inspecting the sleek black card as he walked into his room. He was thoroughly satisfied.
If this was what it meant to work for the government, he was all in. He didn't have anything better to do anyway. Getting a steady paycheck meant he wouldn't have to spend every night raiding gang hideouts just to survive. He'd have to watch out for HYDRA sleeper agents down the line, but he wasn't too worried. If things ever got too hairy, he could just slip into the shadow realm and vanish.
Lounging on the plush hotel bed, he opened his System interface. Thanks to his relentless mining, his energy generation rate had allowed his total balance to shoot up to over 300 points in a single day.
Just like every late-game idle clicker, the numbers were starting to snowball. He bought a few more Shadow Ninjas, pushing his army exactly to 100.
The moment he hit the milestone, a new System prompt popped up:
[Notice: Host must purchase a 'Stat Enhancement' before purchasing additional Shadow Ninjas.]
'There it is! The classic idle game prestige mechanic!'
Luke stared at the option with shining eyes. The only reason idle games eventually reached ridiculous numbers like billions and trillions was because of these milestone multipliers.
Purchasing this upgrade would literally double the base stats of all his units. For example, a ninja currently mined 0.1 crystals per minute. After the upgrade, it would become 0.2. The next upgrade would make it 0.4, resulting in exponential, terrifying growth.
Checking the required cost, he realized he'd have to wait until tomorrow to afford the upgrade. He happily turned off the lights and went to sleep, fully intending to buy it the second he woke up.
Time flew by when you were sleeping. Before he knew it, morning had arrived.
Luke groggily opened his eyes and lounged in bed for a while before remembering his milestone. He eagerly opened the System interface, saw he had enough energy, and instantly bought the [Stat Enhancement].
A sudden, intense rush of electricity surged through his entire body. His muscles involuntarily spasmed, leaving him completely paralyzed and limp against the mattress.
As the numbing sensation faded, a new prompt appeared:
[Notice: Host's physical constitution has been permanently enhanced. The strength of all unlocked units will scale proportionately with the Host's constitution.]
'Wait... what?'
Luke blinked. 'My ninjas' stats are tied to my physical strength?!'
He quickly checked his interface. Not only had a ninja's mining speed doubled to 0.2 points per second, but a brand-new unit type had also been unlocked: The Razor Claws.
Luke remembered them clearly from the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon. The Razor Claws were the second tribe of the Shadowkhan, originally commanded by Ratso. Their hands and feet were entirely replaced by razor-sharp, cone-shaped spikes. They were incredibly agile, possessed terrifying single-target combat power, and, most importantly, were immune to the standard anti-shadow spells. In the show, a single Razor Claw was strong enough to completely overwhelm Jackie Chan in a one-on-one fight.
The cost, however, was steep. To summon one Razor Claw, he had to permanently sacrifice 5 Shadow Ninjas and pay an additional 50 Energy Points. That roughly translated to over 100 points per unit.
Curious, Luke bought a single Razor Claw and summoned it in the middle of his hotel room.
It materialized from the shadows, towering over a regular ninja. It wore slightly different black garb, with glowing V-shaped red eyes. Its fingers tapered into long, terrifyingly sharp steel spikes, just as durable as a ninja's katana. Its feet were literal steel cones, allowing it to effortlessly stab into solid concrete and scale sheer walls like a spider.
How did Luke figure out its exact combat stats? Simple. He immediately ordered his regular ninjas to fight it.
Through highly destructive empirical testing, he concluded that it took exactly 5 regular ninjas just to fight a single Razor Claw to a standstill. If he actually wanted to kill it, he'd have to sacrifice several ninjas in the process.
Furthermore, his regular Shadow Ninjas had also received a massive buff. Since their strength was now tied to his newly enhanced physique, they were twice as strong and significantly faster than before.
'If my own physical strength ever reaches Captain America's level... does that mean I'll basically be commanding an army of super-soldiers?!'
Highly satisfied, Luke recalled the Razor Claw. Seeing he had over 400 energy points left, he bought three more Razor Claws and replenished his regular ninja count back to a clean 100.
He left himself roughly 30 energy points as a combat reserve, knowing that any dark energy he personally fired off as magic scaled directly with his remaining pool.
Watching his newly optimized mining squad passively generate energy, Luke felt a deep sense of accomplishment.
Then he looked around his hotel room, which was completely trashed with deep gouges in the walls and floor from the ninja sparring match. His face fell.
'Well, that's going to cost a fortune in damages.' He sighed. 'Looks like I'll have to go ask the Kingpin for another donation.'
Deciding that his new daily routine would be "eat, sleep, beat up the Kingpin," Luke headed downstairs, paid a hefty repair fee, and left the hotel.
He was just about to pull out his phone to ask Coulson for the locations of Fisk's remaining safehouses when his burner phone started ringing.
Looking at the unknown number, Luke glanced around the busy street, trying to spot whichever S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was definitely tailing him. He couldn't spot anyone out of the ordinary.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
'I guess they really are professionals, and I'm just an amateur.' Mildly annoyed, he answered the call.
Coulson's voice suddenly spoke right behind him.
Luke jumped and spun around. Coulson was standing casually on the sidewalk mere feet away. Luke hadn't sensed his approach at all.
Mental note: never underestimate a top-tier spy.
"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. really reimburse your phone bills?" Luke asked dryly. "You're standing right next to me and you still called."
Coulson smiled warmly. "We do have an excellent benefits package, which includes unlimited domestic calls. As our Security Consultant, you are naturally entitled to the same perk."
He paused, glancing at Luke's cheap burner. "However, I highly recommend getting a dedicated phone line with your new ID before claiming that perk. Using an unregistered prepaid phone can lead to... complications."
Luke looked down at the burner phone he had looted off a dead mobster, shrugged, and casually tossed it into a nearby trash can.
As if completely expecting this, Coulson smoothly pulled a brand-new, sleek government-issued phone from his suit jacket and handed it over.
Luke raised an eyebrow but took it without complaint. Free stuff was free stuff.
Coulson gestured toward his parked car, and Luke casually slid into the passenger seat.
"So, what's on the agenda?" Luke asked as they pulled away from the curb. "Am I already being sent out on a field mission on my first day?"
"No," Coulson replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "We need to officially register your profile. You'll have to disclose the general nature of your abilities so we can assign you appropriate missions."
"As a Security Consultant, you won't actually handle regular fieldwork. You will only be called in as a specialist for particularly dangerous or unusual situations."
After a short drive, they arrived at the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s massive, imposing headquarters.
Luke eagerly looked around as they walked through the grand lobby. In his past life, he had always been fascinated by classified government bases. He half-expected to see captured alien artifacts or super-soldiers wandering the halls.
To his mild disappointment, it just looked like a really upscale corporate office. Dozens of agents in business attire bustled back and forth carrying files. The only thing that made it feel like a spy agency were the heavily armed tactical squads that occasionally marched past.
Coulson led him into a private interview room, sat him down at a desk, and handed him a blank registration form.
The form asked for his name and a detailed breakdown of his abilities. Luke scribbled down his name, wrote "Can summon Shadow Ninjas," and immediately slid the paper back across the desk.
Coulson picked up the massive, empty sheet of paper, stared at the single, incredibly vague sentence, and sighed, placing it back down.
"Perhaps I should clarify," Coulson said patiently. "Before we request your assistance for a mission, we review these files. We will only contact you if your specific abilities match the requirements of the crisis at hand."
He gently slid the paper back toward Luke. "To put it simply: the more detailed your file is, the more missions you will qualify for. And the more missions you qualify for... the more you get paid."
"Why didn't you lead with that?!"
Luke snatched the paper back and instantly began furiously scribbling across the page. Coulson watched him work, nodding in satisfaction.
As he wrote, Luke carefully considered his options. He definitely couldn't reveal everything. He needed to heavily curate his "powers."
He described his Shadow Ninjas as highly skilled, infinitely regenerating summons, completely omitting the fact that they could sink into the shadows, traverse dimensions, or drag things into the dark realm. He also conveniently left out any mention of the new Razor Claws.
Finally, he classified himself purely as a "Summoner," completely hiding his personal superhuman strength, speed, and mastery over dark energy.
He handed the paper back, having successfully filled half the page with absolute fluff. Coulson didn't read it too closely, simply nodding in approval.
"Wait here for a moment. I need to submit this to classification. Afterward, I will take you to the evaluation wing for physical testing."
"I get it, gotta make sure I'm not lying on my resume," Luke chuckled.
As Coulson quickly left the room, Luke pulled out the new phone he had been given. It was obviously bugged with every tracker S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed, but he wasn't worried. The moment things went south, he would just toss the phone into the Shadow Dimension. If S.H.I.E.L.D. could still track a GPS signal across dimensional barriers, he'd personally applaud them!
He was deeply engrossed in a game of Brick Breaker when Coulson finally returned, looking incredibly defeated.
Coulson stared at the boy happily playing on his phone and wanted to cry. He had genuinely thought Luke was holding back a massive arsenal of powers. But when he handed the form to the analysts, they confirmed that aside from "Summoning Ninjas," the rest of the page was just highly redundant descriptions of basic physical enhancements.
Sighing deeply, Coulson gestured to the door. "Follow me. It is time for your physical evaluation."
He led Luke down to a pristine, high-tech testing facility filled with scientists in white lab coats. Seeing their new subject arrive, they wasted no time getting to work.
They were incredibly professional. They immediately directed Luke to a specialized indoor track.
"We will begin with a 100-meter sprint," a scientist instructed, holding a tablet containing Luke's freshly submitted file.
Luke didn't bother hiding his physical capabilities here. Since his stats scaled infinitely with his System, whatever numbers they recorded today would be completely obsolete in a week anyway.
After running him through a battery of standard physical tests, the scientists concluded that Luke possessed roughly the strength of two average adult men, or 1.2 times the strength of a highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent.
Then, they asked him to summon a ninja.
Luke summoned a single Shadow Ninja, and the scientists practically swarmed it, far more fascinated by the summon than the summoner. They spent several minutes meticulously testing its strength, agility, and reaction time.
However, they weren't satisfied with basic metrics. After confirming with Luke that the ninjas possessed infinite stamina and could endlessly respawn, an older, gray-haired scientist casually pulled an assault rifle off a nearby weapon rack and opened fire on the ninja.
Seeing the crazed scientist spraying automatic fire, Luke quickly summoned two more ninjas to stand directly in front of him, terrified the old man might fail to control the recoil and accidentally shoot him instead.
The test ninja's katana became a blur of steel, flawlessly deflecting several incoming rounds. It managed to withstand the concentrated barrage for nearly five seconds before finally being overwhelmed and dissipating into smoke.
Luke was thrilled. Just last night, a ninja could only block one or two bullets before being shredded. Now, they were lasting five times as long! The stat boost was clearly working wonders.
Having thoroughly tested every ability listed on his form, the scientists compiled the data, printed two official copies, handed one to Coulson for the archives, and gave the other to Luke.
Coulson then took him to get his official ID photo taken and formally entered him into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database.
With the orientation complete, Coulson offered to drive him back to Hell's Kitchen.