Ren woke up to the same disaster of a room.
He stretched, and reached for his phone on the nightstand before his eyes had fully opened.
One notification sat at the top.
[sorry about last night ~ Mila]
He stared at it for a second. Sighed. Put the phone on his chest.
That was them. It wasn’t the first time he’d said no, wasn’t the first time she’d walked out leaving the door open, and it wouldn’t be the last time she texted sorry. Friends with benefits.
He unlocked the phone to reply and stopped.
Twitch Tak notifications were stacked so deep the screen could barely hold them.
『You’ve got to be kidding me. 』
[@TheVidreader44, @Death-Kid299 and 9,730 others followed your account]
Ren sat up slowly. He tapped into the Glitch profile. Ten thousand followers. Overnight.
Something had happened while he was asleep. Something he had no part in. He went to his inbox. It was packed. He opened the first one that looked like it wasn’t spam.
[@Super-Agent5: Hey Glitch. I’m an agent with serious industry connections. I’ve worked with upcoming villains, a few of them broke through to the top tier. I’m seeing potential in you that could rival Elena Mars. Reply if you’re interested.]
『Business in everything. Who said I want to go that far off the deep end like Elena Mars. 』
He backed out of the messages, didn’t bother with the rest, and went straight to the stream replay. The comments were moving fast.
[only here because of Ashley Hunt]
[who else came from Ashley’s segment]
[Ashley Hunt sent me and I am NOT leaving]
[this is clearly not scripted and I am sick]
『Ashley Hunt! Don’t tell me my stream ended up on CCN. 』
He read through them with a slow grin spreading across his face. Ten thousand followers and the comments were split clean down the middle. Half of them were locked in. The other half were Flamebird loyalists, already sharpening their knives.
[this is obviously staged. CCN will do literally anything to drag a hero down]
[still waiting for Flamebird to address this. a Class D hero does not go down from one hit from some rando]
[some teenage nobody wasting everyone’s time]
Ren was still smiling when he checked the time.
7:34 AM.
『How is it already 7:34. 』
He threw the covers off. The moment his feet hit the cold floor, the system pinged softly in his ear.
[Congratulations on completing your first stream.]
[Reward Unlocked: Future streams will be automatically recorded by the system. No setup required.]
[Influence Points: 4][Used for: Audience Growth, Stream Features, Public Manipulation]
[Points Balance: 3,000. Tier 1 Gear Store now accessible.]
Stats materialized in the corner of his vision.
[Name: Ren Moore]
[Alias: Glitch]
[Points: 3,000]
[Last Mission: Successful]
He blinked past it. No time. He’d deal with the system later. He grabbed his stuff and headed for the bathroom.
***
RavenHall High, South Mayvel.
The school sat only a few blocks from his apartment, close enough to walk even when he was half-awake.
Ren shuffled through the front entrance with his bag slung over one shoulder, still mentally replaying the follower count.
The morning sun cut across the courtyard, catching on clusters of students. Some rushed past. Others lingered near the doors in tight groups, laughing, scrolling, pretending the bell wasn’t about to ruin everything.
"That’s all marketing," one voice said loudly. "You can’t believe anything the media puts out."
Ren slowed slightly without stopping, ears tuned in.
"We all know Ashley Hunt. She’s loud and she never has receipts."
"Okay, but did you actually watch the stream? Like, the full thing? The guy hit Flamebird and he actually went down."
A small, private smile tugged at Ren’s lips. Nobody glanced his way. He was still invisible. And right now, that was perfect.
"Glitch has to be classified," another student insisted. "You don’t drop a Class D hero with one shot unless you’re the real deal."
"I think it’s a Veil Tech promo." Pearl Catherine Noble’s voice cut clean through the group.
Ren glanced sideways as he passed.
Pearl stood at the center of the group, black hair pulled into a perfect puff, mini skirt paired with an oversized jacket, one hand resting confidently on her hip. She had that effortless command, the girl who studied the hero industry like it was her personal religion and was almost always right.
Every head in the circle had turned toward her.
"It’s been rumored for weeks that Flamebird was being positioned to replace Lady Vega after she dropped her Veil contract," Pearl continued while the others listened. "Then suddenly this Glitch thing blows up and everyone’s talking about Flamebird again. That’s not random. That’s a campaign."
"Speaking of Lady Vega though, Pearl, I genuinely love how—"
Ren was already past them.
"Ren freaking Moore."
He turned around.
Bishop was jogging to catch up, glasses slightly crooked on his face, messy hair doing its own thing, backpack slipping off one shoulder.
"B." Ren waited, adjusting his own bag.
"You didn’t answer my message," Bishop said, falling into step beside him, still catching his breath.
"Did you send one?"
Bishop laughed. "Come on, man. You act like your phone is blowing up. The only people who text you are me and your cougar."
"Don’t call her that." Ren said quietly, no real heat behind it.
"She’s in college, Ren."
"She’s a first-year."
"That’s literally what cougar means." Bishop adjusted his glasses with a grin. "How’s the whole ’rising heroine’ dream going for her anyway?"
"She’s working on it." The tone closed the door on that one.
Bishop let it go. "Okay but did you see the Glitch stream though?"
Ren exhaled through his nose, keeping his expression neutral as they walked down the sunlit hallway.
"Flamebird stumbled on camera, man. On actual camera," Bishop continued, voice rising with excitement. "CCN’s been looping it all morning. I’m telling you, this time something might actually stick. He might be cooked."
Ren didn’t reply, but he felt a quiet warmth in his chest. Bishop didn’t hate heroes as a rule, he had the posters, memorized the rankings, could debate tier lists for hours. But Flamebird was different.
Two months ago, Bishop’s girlfriend Sophia had gotten invited to one of Flamebird’s exclusive "Blue and Red" parties... and never really came back the same.
"I think Izzy’s already inside," Ren said as they pushed through the classroom door.