Skill Card

"Why was it that after I'd been out all day, not only had you not washed the dishes, you hadn't even cleaned up the leftover pizza?"

When Sean returned to the apartment and saw the complete mess, he glared furiously at the little blonde girl lounging on the couch and eating ice cream. Two days had passed since they dealt with Frank D'Amico. In a moment of sympathy, he had brought this little girl, Mindy McCready, home with him. At the time, the police had already sealed off the area downstairs, and they had barely managed to slip away unnoticed through the building's pipes.

Who would have thought that this little girl, who had just suffered the loss of her father, was only using her innocent and adorable appearance as a disguise? After living together for merely two days, Sean already had a splitting headache because of her.

"Isn't washing dishes and scrubbing plates supposed to be your job? Books say that a gentleman should do more for ladies—especially a young lady like me!"

Mindy widened her bright, watery eyes and wore an innocent, aggrieved expression, almost making Sean feel as if he really had said something terrible.

Can't provoke her. Can't provoke her...

Sean muttered silently as he set down his backpack and obediently went to the kitchen to clean the dishes. Never try to reason with a woman—especially a demon much younger than you!

"Any news from the police?" Sean asked Mindy, who was lying on the couch watching TV, while he scrubbed the plates.

"Such a serious violent incident happened, so the West Coast police seem to have sealed off the news... But they didn't find anything useful. Before I left, I wiped all the security footage, and every gunman who saw us is dead. That guy named Larsu and the others were all taken care of too."

The little girl with golden twin ponytails spoke calmly as she happily licked the ice cream in her hand. Mindy, who had endured her father's harsh, inhuman training since childhood, had never lived such a relaxed and peaceful life before.

"But you're really strange. Your physical abilities are even better than my dad's, yet you don't know anything about disguises, reconnaissance, or computer hacking."

The little girl took a fierce bite of her ice cream. After living with Sean for two days, she was full of curiosity about this young man who had charged into Frank D'Amico's hideout at the slightest disagreement. He possessed astonishing physical abilities, yet seemed never to have received any formal training. He was completely inexperienced in fighting, hand-to-hand combat, and firearms, relying purely on inhuman strength and powerful control over his body to crush Frank D'Amico's men all the way through!

"Uh... that's hard to explain. Ordinary people improve through training and exercise. I'm different from them." Sean answered vaguely. He couldn't tell anyone where his power came from.

"If you call me Teacher, then I can teach you all that..." The little girl suddenly seemed to think of something and abruptly sat up from the couch, nearly smearing ice cream all over her face. "The training you're doing now is all physical conditioning, and it takes effect too slowly. What you lack isn't strength, but the methods and techniques to use it—things I can teach you. And knowledge about disguises, explosives, and assassination too!"

As Sean listened to the little girl excitedly ramble on at length, he couldn't help rubbing his forehead. He felt deeply shocked. Just what kind of lunatic had Mindy's father been to raise his own daughter into a genuine instrument of slaughter?!

Ding! Card System activated!

A clear line of text suddenly appeared in his mind. Sean narrowed his eyes. This system, which had barely shown any presence since his body was modified, now continuously flickered with a soft white glow as Mindy enthusiastically laid out a training plan for him.

As he focused his thoughts on it, Sean discovered that the formerly plain system interface now had an additional card option. A card bearing the words "Hit-Girl" shone brilliantly.

Skill Card: Gun Proficiency (A-rank)

What was going on?!

Sean opened his eyes and abruptly looked toward Mindy, who was sitting on the living room couch assembling a Colt. The little blonde girl deftly and skillfully dismantled the pistol into individual parts, then swiftly reassembled it. As though deliberately showing off, she kept analyzing the gun's strengths and weaknesses as she worked.

Could he obtain skill cards from people?

Sean pondered it for a moment, recalling that the original game seemed to have a setting like this as well. Superheroes' exclusive skills could be obtained through draws.

It seemed this system really was quite useful. He had simply neglected to develop and explore it before...

Sean couldn't help shaking his head. This truly had been his mistake. Ever since coming to this world, he had believed that with the power gained from his body modification, he could develop and grow steadily until he eventually secured a place for himself.

It was the sense of swelling confidence that came after suddenly gaining power. Thinking carefully, this world was filled with all sorts of powerful figures: genius scientists who flew around in Iron Armor, terrifying hulking brutes who transformed into giants when enraged, Asgardian Princes from extraterrestrial civilizations, and even a notorious Cosmic Overlord lurking in the vast universe, constantly eyeing this Blue Planet...

Surviving in such a dangerous yet wondrous world would not be simple or easy. At the very least, one's thirst and pursuit of power should be endless!

Sean suddenly sank into calm reflection. Perhaps it was because he had encountered no setbacks after gaining his power. Those street punks and gang enforcers had been utterly incapable of putting up a fight, allowing a bit of arrogance to take root in his heart.

As his thoughts touched the soft white glow in his mind, Sean smiled faintly. The card he had obtained suddenly transformed into a shower of light and poured into the depths of his consciousness.

"Mindy, are you trying to train me into a mercenary?"

The young man patted the little girl's head, then used both hands to instantly dismantle the reassembled Colt pistol into scattered parts before putting it back together in a dazzling blur. The entire sequence was smooth and swift, as if he had practiced it countless times.

Mindy's mouth fell open in an adorably astonished expression. She knew Sean knew absolutely nothing about firearms. At most, he could only disengage the safety and pull the trigger...

"Hehe, that's The Gifted. I learned it after just one look..."

Watching the little girl repeatedly question him, Sean gave a mysterious smile and dragged her off to clean up the messy apartment.

"What do you want for dinner?"

"Burritos! There's an amazing pizza place a block over! And I want a strawberry sundae too!"

"Aren't you afraid of getting fat if you eat that much...?"

"Shut up. I'm your teacher now, so show some respect... Aah! Don't touch my head!"

The tall and small figures walked along the evening streets. The setting sun stretched their shadows long, while farther away, the bustling city resembled a cold, immense steel jungle, gradually swallowing the two tiny figures.

P.S.: Just to clarify, I'm not very good at writing System stories, so this system will probably continue to have very little presence in the future...

Also, generous Esteemed Readers, shower me with recommendation votes! Please don't hold back! (｀ω)