The news hit campus like a grenade wrapped in velvet.
"Illicit business assets traced to unregistered offshore accounts.
Allegations of arms trafficking and illegal crypto laundering."
The name beneath the headline?
Damon Black.
Midnight — Black Tower Suite
Zeke threw the tablet down. "Lucien's playing dirty. These 'leaks' are spliced footage and repackaged transactions from four different shell corps."
Nyah crossed her arms. "He's not trying to bring you down legally. He wants your reputation shredded."
Kai cracked his knuckles. "We hitting back?"
Damon stood in silence at the balcony, the city lights blinking beneath him.
He didn't flinch. Didn't blink.
Just said, "Pull up the System Store."
System Store: Flash Sale Activated
Category: Legacy-Class Retaliation Tools
"Wraith Wallets" – Move money invisibly across 112 countries.
"Black Ice Leak Package" – Acquire and leak your enemy's deepest secrets in one motion.
"Public Redemption Override" – Generate verifiable data proving philanthropic donations, clean assets, and ghost charity initiatives.
Damon selected All Three.
Spender's Dominion Active — $7.8M Spent → $28.4M Returned Instantly.
New Skill Unlocked: "Reputation Reversal I" — When enemies smear your name, you can flip the narrative instantly and turn their allies into your believers.
The Next Morning — Campus Hall Screens
The smear articles were gone.
Replaced by a viral exposé:
"Lucien Black Jr. Linked to Private Prison Profits and Political Bribery Scandal"
Anonymous source reveals offshore files, voice recordings, and blackmailed judges.
Students whispered. Faculty watched. Investors pulled.
And Damon?
He didn't post a word.
He just walked into class like a god wearing sneakers.
System Alert:
Power Status: Feared
Campus Influence Rank: #3
Threat Level: Untouchable (Tier I)
Later That Night — Underground Combat Ring (St. Monarch Sub-Level)
Damon stood shirtless in the ring, wrapped hands coated in chalk and silence. Across from him: Leon Kairos, top-ranked campus fighter, known enforcer for the Kairos Family.
He was twice Damon's size.
Didn't matter.
Damon ducked the first punch, slipped left, landed a liver shot that echoed.
Then elbowed Leon's jaw with enough force to silence the crowd.
One hit. One break. One legend born.
"He fought like he already knew how you were going to move."
"That wasn't a win. That was a message."
Check-In Complete: "Fight for Your Name"
Reward: "Ghost Hands" Skill — Your strikes become unpredictable, flow-state based, near-invisible to trained fighters.
Bonus: "Whispers Begin" — Your name will now travel underground as a ghost-tier threat.
Across Campus — Vera's Suite
She watched the footage in the dark, fingers trembling slightly.
"Damon Black…
You don't just survive.
You rewrite the rules."