The night wind blew across the window ledge.
It brought with it a refreshing coolness.
From next door came the playful sounds of Big Brother Jonathan on the phone with his girlfriend, and from the hallway bathroom came the flushing sound as the Second Brother frequently visited the toilet at night.
"It's these miscellaneous noises that are soothing." Ian shook his aching forehead. This time, his startling awake from the nightmare world hadn't resulted in a loud gasp.
"Homelander, Homelander, Red-Eye Disease, Red-Eye Disease." Although Ian was back in the real world, his mind was still occupied with the remains of that "counterfeit Superman."
Young people don't care about counterfeit or not. As long as he could fly in the sky, shoot red light from his eyes, and be invulnerable, Ian would be willing—even if it meant he could only move into a huge mansion, marry a beautiful woman, and live off her enormous wealth when he grew up.
"Next time, I must be prepared, and I'll shout even louder for the sake of the 'Fami-lee'." Ian secretly vowed to practice climbing.
To be honest.
Even now, he couldn't quite understand why Homelander would appear in the Marvel Universe. The scene was like a mismatched puzzle piece, full of incongruity, like an absurd farce.
But seeing such an absurd reality made Ian ponder a question.
"If Homelander can appear in the Marvel Universe, does that mean my psychologist also really is that Hannibal..." Ian found this possibility truly horrifying to consider.
He couldn't think about it too much, the more he did, the more severe his anxiety disorder might become. Ian rubbed his temples, trying to erase his slightly chilling suspicion from his mind.
"System."
He began to shift his focus, opening his personal panel interface. It was still the same simple art style, but a brand-new, selectable tab had appeared on it.
"Finally! I'm about to stop being human!"
A surge of inexplicable excitement welled up in Ian's heart. He impatiently opened the Profession Selection function, which currently contained only one solitary option—Berserker.
Profession System Unlocked
Current Available Professions: 1
Berserker Description: Fuelled by rage, wielding frenzy as a blade, tear through all obstacles!
The introduction, which sounded quite imposing, thrilled Ian. After a slight hesitation, he decided to select the [Berserker] option for profession binding.
How should he put it? While Homelander could certainly unlock another profession option, who could resist becoming a Superhuman immediately? He was well aware that his System could allow him to acquire more than one profession.
This had been verified during his past experiments with the System. Acquiring a second profession simply required meeting some prerequisites, and Ian didn't think that would be too much trouble.
"Berserker Ian is ready for deployment!"
As Ian confirmed his choice, rows of text instantly appeared.
Job Change Condition: Bring Rage Value to the critical point (Current Rage Value: 5/100)
At the same time, a semi-transparent small bar appeared in the lower right corner of Ian's vision, like an in-game status bar, labeled [Rage Value]. A conspicuous red calibration line was near the top of the bar—clearly, that was the "critical point" he needed to break through.
He needed to reach at least 60 points of Rage Value.
"Sure enough, I'm playing Earth OL, aren't I?" Ian couldn't help but sigh with emotion. With a thought, the Rage Value display in the bottom right corner could be hidden.
Increasing his anger wasn't a difficult task.
Ian closed his eyes and tried hard to recall the car accident in his previous life that stole his life.
The Apocalypse Red Rider speeding toward him, the driver's sleepy face, and the brake sounds that never happened... all appeared vividly in his mind.
Rage began to brew in his heart.
In a fit of anger.
Ian got a little angry.
Current Rage Value: 13/100
This was already Ian trying his best to stir up his emotions. There was no helping it, time had diluted too much, and the necessary fury had already worn away with the passage of time.
"Tsk, it's too long ago, I can't get angry anymore." Ian rubbed his ears, which hadn't even turned red, feeling helpless. Next, he chose a different approach—physical stimulation.
"Slap!"
Ian raised his hand and slapped himself.
Angry?
Current Rage Value: 11/100
It seemed not only did he not get angry.
"Damn it!"
Ian dared not continue hitting himself, he was afraid of awakening some strange attribute. After thinking for a moment, he walked straight out of his room into the kitchen and began rummaging through cabinets.
Chili pepper?
He took a bite.
Mustard?
He gulped a few mouthfuls.
Ian felt the spiciness shoot straight up to his head; tears and snot began meeting face-to-face.
Current Rage Value: 21/100
"Not enough, far from enough..."
Ian gasped, his gaze scanning the refrigerator. Suddenly, a light bulb went off. His astonishing intelligence of 2.3 came into play—okay, the Intelligence attribute on the panel didn't really represent true wisdom, only activity of thought, learning ability, and logical thinking intensity, but this didn't stop Ian from thinking he had astonishing intelligence.
Ten minutes later.
Ian's blender churned a viscous, unspeakable sludge—chicken breast, chili, mustard, bitter melon, and a few handfuls of rotten vegetable leaves that had been sitting for who knows how many days.
The "Shit of Shits" drink was completed, but Ian didn't consume it immediately. Instead, he returned to his room, turned on his computer, and opened a game called [Dota League]. Ian knew his second brother Jordan's account password by heart. He quickly logged in and started a game.
As expected.
First game, a teammate went AFK.
Second game, the ADC flashed in to feed kills.
Third game, the jungler was sleepwalking the entire match.
Fourth game, the mid-laner turned on his mic to trash-talk.
Fifth game... the entire line collapsed. Ian's score was 0/31, perfectly blending with his teammates and completely overheating. He furiously chugged the drink he'd concocted while looking at his [Rage Value].
Current Rage Value: 56/100
Good, good, good!
It was finally at the level of nearly losing his mind!
But it still wasn't enough!
To prevent his mood from calming down and the [Rage Value] from dropping, Ian quickly opened his browser and searched for videos of how vegans aggressively force others to adopt vegetarianism.
Current Rage Value: 57/100
The rage rose again.
But still not enough!
He continued watching videos—PSAs from animal welfare associations, and also videos of people engaging in smashing, looting, and arson, forcing others to donate or even move houses, all in the name of animal protection.
"Hiss!"
This truly got to him.
Current Rage Value: 59/100
Ian's face was already flushed with anger, but he was still short by that last little bit.
And just at that moment.
(Why are you watching useless stuff every day? Young people should look at lewd pictures, look at boobs!)
A scrolling comment appeared on the screen, and then an uncontrollable new folder appeared on Ian's computer.
It was the hacker who had been residing on his computer for several years causing trouble.
Ian clicked on the folder.
Sure enough.
(You little pervert want to look at lewd pictures? Dream on!)
There was only a single sentence inside.
Current Rage Value: 64/100
Ian was instantly enraged and frustrated, and it was this emotion that triggered a new system prompt in his ear. Simultaneously, his body began to undergo an enhancing change.
Ding!
Job Change Successful!
Profession: Berserker Acquired!
Basic Template Loaded!
Obtained Talent Skill—Reverse Blood Furnace
Berserker Profession Skill Tree Unlocked!