I'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please

Ch7 - Beginnings of a Fandom

With his eyes fixed on the treacherous purse, Lucas swallows nervously.

'It won't be very long before he shows up right? What should I do 427, just immediately grab the bag back and find a way to disarm him, but then let him run off? It's not like I can restrain him and turn him in to the police, they'd probably just laugh me away if I even tried. It doesn't feel like it's enough though...'

[While that would count as a successful GDV task completion, you don't want to let him off that easily do you? I understand you're probably still traumatized from last time, but you don't have to let him go unscathed. Break an arm or two perhaps?]

Lucas's nervous expression falls from his face, instead, his mouth stretches into a sinister smile.

'You know 427, you're really starting to grow on me. Ah, what's more important to a thief than his hands? Ehehe, nothing, that's what.'

[...As long as you're happy. Completing the GDV task without any penalties will increase your GDV by replacing the previously earned amount with the new higher value. As you have probably guessed by now, re-doing a GDV task simply replaces the previously earned value, only new unique GDV tasks will add their full value.]

Looking at the contents of his hands, Lucas frowns slightly.

'Bah, the extra cardboard box made it easier to stack last time, oh well, guess I'm having crushed pizza.'

Setting the beer and garlic knots on top of the pizza box, he shifts his hold so that he's carrying the stack of lunch with just his left hand held over his head. Looking like a waiter with a tray stacked high with food and drink, he gets a few odd glances his way. He leisurely follows the purse-bearing young woman, keeping an eye on the recently arrived thief-to-be.

[There we are. Alert; a new minor GDV task has been assigned. Please prevent this purse-snatching incident. Have fun, just don't completely cripple him or there will be a GDV penalty, albeit not as large as outright murder.]

"Excuse me, pardon me, good samaritan passing through." Lucas says with a snicker as he grabs the thief's hand that is holding the strap of the purse by his wrist, promptly twisting it with an audible crack.

The thief lets out a shrill scream that Lucas finds oddly satisfying. The purse falls out of the now useless hand onto the ground, going completely ignored by Lucas.

The thief turns to the side and backs away from Lucas as best he can to put some space between them, glaring at him with a wary expression mixed with fear and anger. He kicks at Lucas's legs to distract and hopefully trip him, reaching covertly to pull out his knife with his left hand.

'Oh good, that makes getting the knife easier, thanks bro.'

Lucas merely braces himself and is completely unfazed by the kick, actively keeping his eyes locked on the familiar knife. With the thief being the one caught off-guard, Lucas releases his wrist and reaches over to chop down on the lower part of the thief's left arm with the side of his flattened palm and cracks his ulna bone, making a large and painful bruise. The sudden pain makes him release his murderous knife, letting it fall onto the sidewalk with a clatter.

Screaming out in pain, the thief rapidly backs further away while staring at Lucas with pure sheer terror, breathing heavily with shaky breaths. Once he is out of arm's reach he turns and runs away as fast as he possibly can, looking awkward with his useless arm and hand hanging strangely. Lucas makes no effort to pursue him, simply bending over to pick up the knife with a self-satisfied smile. He had managed to elegantly hold the pizza box with friends over his head with his left hand the whole time.

[Congratulations on completing your minor GDV task for a reward of .1 GDV, replacing the previous .05 GDV for a net increase of .05 GDV. I can sense you growing bored with this announcement. An additional reward of .01 for confiscating the weapon was previously rewarded, this value remains unchanged. And you claimed you didn't know what to do.]

Lowering the pending pizza party, Lucas casually sets the knife down next to the beer on top of the pizza box and then turns to look back at the fruits of his labor.

Standing in her original location, the purse's owner is standing with said notorious purse held against her chest with both arms crossed over it. While she is watching Lucas warily, it is nowhere near the levels of fear from the previous cycle. With slow deep breaths, she seems to be waiting for his next action before saying or doing anything, a trace of an unidentifiable expression across her densely freckle-covered face.

"Ah, don't worry, we're good. I uhh, had a bit of a bone to pick with him. Don't mind me." At a bit of a loss as to what to do at this point, Lucas gives her a charismatic smile while trying to assert there is no need to be scared of him. Deeply embedded mannerisms make him feel too awkward simply walking away, regardless of the world he's currently in.

She relaxes her hold on her purse a bit, lowering it down instead of clutching it to her chest, smiling up at him.

"Tha… Thank you. I… I had never seen a supe, um, fight up close before. That was… Um, are you an out-of-town villain? May I… May I have your autograph?" As she manages to stammer this out, her eyes are practically sparkling with hero (villain?) worship.

Lucas freezes awkwardly, his now stiff smile briefly twitching a bit at its left corner.

"Oh uhh, no autographs. Ah, look at the time, my pizza is getting cold, got to go!" Lucas turns and starts awkwardly power walking towards his apartment. His new fangirl watches him with clear disappointment written across her face.

427 bursts out into laughter, the clear sound not having the normal hint of a mechanical tone, making him sound much more like a human speaking through a phone call rather than how he usually sounds like something synthesized.

"Oh um, what's your villain name? I'll buy some of your organization's merchandise!" She calls out before he's gotten very far from her. At a complete loss as to how to respond, Lucas just starts walking faster while trying to ignore her as if he didn't hear anything.

[Congratulations on earning your first fan, you coward.]

427 starts merrily laughing even harder than before. Now Lucas's ears and face are turning red as he breaks out into a full run back home to his apartment. He's just mentally screaming incoherently, amusing 427 even further.

If he had a physical form, 427 would probably be struggling to breathe due to laughing too hard at this point.

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Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 2

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 3

Lucas current GDV: 2.5 (+.05 net change)

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Little character theater:

Lucas, in full awkward freakout mode: What the hell was with her reaction!? AaaaaAAAAHHHHH!!!

427, in the best mood he's been in for decades: [There's never a dull moment with you, hahaha.]

Author, laughing as well: Good job Lucas, you just couldn't make it one day without becoming famous as a supe one way or another. At least this time it was toned down, so no one else knows just how strong you are.