They were woken Sunday morning by the near-simultaneous buzz of Alex's and Sofia's phones.
Sofia stirred first, groggy and half-buried in blankets, fumbling for her phone with a yawn. She squinted at the screen, thumb scrolling lazily… then stopped.
She blinked once. Then again.
Her posture snapped upright as she reread the messages flooding in, lips pressing together before she broke into open laughter.
"Alex," she called, voice bright with barely contained amusement. "You need to check your phone!"
"Mmm… whatever it is," Alex mumbled sleepily. Instead of reaching for her phone, she shifted closer to Magnus, tucking her face against his neck. "It can wait."
"You sure?" Sofia asked, grinning now. "Because it's about your boyfriend. And apparently… he's famous!"
That did it.
Alex jolted upright, snatching her phone from the bedside table. Her eyes skimmed the screen — messages, notifications, screenshots — and she groaned softly, dragging a hand down her face.
Magnus, woken by the sudden movement and chatter, stretched with a yawn, eyes still closed.
"I'm sure it's nothing," he said drowsily. "There's no universe where I'd ever be 'famous.'"
"Oh, I don't know," Sofia said sweetly. "You seem pretty well-known for a guy who argues with raccoons."
Magnus cracked one eye open.
"Excuse me?"
Sofia laughed outright now. "Whole campus knows you talk to raccoons. And apparently, 'Raccoon Boy bagging Alex Reyes' is today's headline."
Both of Magnus's eyes flew open.
"…What?!"
***
By the time they finally sat down at the folded table for breakfast, Magnus had been thoroughly briefed on his accidental rise to campus infamy.
Sofia, cereal in hand, had gleefully walked him through everything: the memes pulled from the blurry footage of him arguing with Tony under a lamppost, the slowed-down clips with fake subtitles, the dorm forum threads debating whether the raccoon was real, a paid actor, or a government drone — and somehow, inevitably, speculation spiraling into his love life.
Apparently, Tony had become a cryptid. And Magnus had become a brand.
Out of equal parts curiosity and dread, he pulled up his menu. Sure enough, his Popularity had doubled overnight.
Alex, meanwhile, was aggressively scooping cereal into her bowl like it had personally offended her.
"Why," she said, jabbing the spoon downward, "couldn't Carol just say I was 'happily in love' or something? Why does it have to be 'annoyingly' in love? I am not annoyingly in love. I'm just…" she gestured vaguely with the spoon, "… in love. A normal amount."
Sofia snorted. "Bestie, I adore you, but Carol is absolutely right! You are a little annoyingly in love."
Alex shot her a wounded look.
Sofia raised both hands. "Not that I can blame you! He's great. And after last night…"
She whistled, long and pointed.
"Let's just say, if you two are ever up for a repeat — death quest or not — I'd happily volunteer!"
Magnus inhaled cereal at exactly the wrong moment and coughed violently into his bowl.
Sofia giggled and leaned over to pat his back. "Relax! If you're not into it, forget I said anything. No pressure. I don't wanna make things weird."
Alex reached over and smacked Sofia's shoulder. "Don't scare my boyfriend off!"
"See?" Sofia rubbed her shoulder theatrically. "Annoyingly. In. Love!"
While they devolved into familiar bickering, Sofia's comment kept poking at Magnus's brain. Curiosity won out.
He quietly pulled up their menus.
[Name: Alejandra "Alex" Reyes | Level: 9
Interest: 99% | Popularity: 98% | Sexual History: 121 times (6 known partners)
Relationship: Boyfriend/Girlfriend
Core detailed stats:
Trust: 100% | Arousal: 15% | Submission: 50%]
[Name: Sofia Ramirez | Level: 6
Interest: 25% | Popularity: 80% | Sexual History: 151 times (8 known partners)
Relationship: Friend/Conquest Target (Conquered)
Core detailed stats:
Trust: 55% | Arousal: 15% | Submission: 25%]
He frowned and pulled his own back up, just to be sure.
[Name: Magnus Chane | Level: 4
Interest: N/A | Popularity: 16% | Sexual History: 16 times (3 known partners)
STR: 6 | AGI: 12 | STA: 15 | INT: 6 | SPD: 5
Powers: Telekinesis Lv4 | Invisibility Lv2 | Animal-Linked Comprehension Lv2]
Something didn't line up.
After last night, both his and Sofia's partner counts had increased, but Alex's hadn't.
Which meant…
"Uh," Magnus said slowly, raising a hand. "Alex. Sofia. Quick question!"
They both looked at him.
"You two… had a threesome before?" He paused, then quickly clarified, "Before last night, I mean."
Sofia burst out laughing. Alex just sighed.
"I told you that already," Alex said. "When your quest first popped."
Magnus blinked. "You did?"
"Yes."
He thought about it, then said:
"I thought you meant 'we' as in, you and me," he said. "You know, with Lila."
Sofia arched an eyebrow. "That is new information!"
Alex waved it off. "Platonic survival sex only. I'll explain later."
"I thought you told me not to call it that," Magnus protested.
Then something clicked.
"So when you told Lila you'd had threesomes before… it was with Sofia?"
Sofia answered immediately. "Sophomore year. Right after she dumped her asshole ex. We did some… experimenting. With an exchange student from Denmark. Only a couple times, no strings."
"Oh," Magnus said — not judgmental, just recalculating.
Alex cleared her throat. "Anyway. Why are we suddenly auditing my love life?"
Magnus blinked again. "Right. Sorry! It's just… remember what I said Thursday? About how the System tracks Sexual History?"
They nodded.
"I noticed that Sofia's and my partner counts changed, but yours didn't. That's when it clicked."
A beat passed.
Then Magnus's eyes widened. "Wait. If you only had four partners before me — and two of those were Sofia and the Denmark guy — does that mean you only dated two guys before me?"
He froze.
"I mean… you don't have to answer! I was just thinking out loud."
Sofia snickered openly. Alex rubbed a hand down her face.
"I don't mind," Alex said finally. "I trust you. I just… didn't expect it to come out like this."
And she told him.
About her high school sweetheart. Friends since middle school, dating through high school, staying together after graduation. How he'd taken a gap year before deciding to study abroad. How they'd broken up during freshman year, amicably, knowing long-distance wasn't for them.
"He's in Europe now," she finished. "We're still on good terms."
"And the second guy?"
Alex grimaced. "More of a mistake than a relationship. A few months in sophomore year."
"The guy who wouldn't take a hint?" Magnus asked, recalling a memory from the early days of getting to know her.
"Yep."
Sofia leaned back. "For the record? You're a massive upgrade from Dick the dick." She glanced at Alex. "She might even like you more than Sammy at this point."
Alex glared at her.
Magnus just sat there, spoon hovering, quietly processing everything — about Alex, the System, and how complicated his life had become overnight.
***
The hard part came after breakfast.
With the entire campus apparently having opinions about "Raccoon Boy bagging Alex Reyes," Magnus's survival instincts were screaming at him to stay indoors, draw the curtains, and never make eye contact with another human being again.
Unfortunately, hiding defeated the point.
Their experiment hinged on one simple question: did the System immediately assign a new quest once the previous one was completed, or did finishing early buy him time? And there was only one way to test that: going outside.
Worse: going somewhere crowded.
They'd agreed on this back on Thursday, when Sofia had pointed out a flaw in their original plan.
"What if quests have a standard start time?" she'd said then. "Like Monday. And if you start late, the System compensates by giving you extra time?"
That possibility changed everything!
If Magnus stayed holed up all Sunday and only got a quest on Monday, they wouldn't know whether it was because the System waited, or because he simply hadn't been in a situation that could trigger one. And repeating the experiment later — with someone who wasn't Sofia — was risky. The System wasn't predictable… or kind from what they knew.
So regardless of how he felt, today was the day to tempt fate.
Alex read the dread on his face as they prepared to head out:
"This might actually be a good thing." She mused.
"I'm listening," he said warily.
"Your reputation isn't bad. It's not scandalous or creepy. It's just… weird."
"Reassuring."
She laughed. "Weird sparks curiosity. Curiosity becomes attention. Attention is leverage. Image management is my thing, remember?"
She squeezed his hand. "This could make future quests easier. Trust me!"
Magnus wasn't convinced, but Alex had yet to steer him wrong. So, he nodded, took a breath, and let her lead him toward the door.
"By the way," Sofia called out casually when they were at the door, "want me gone tonight and tomorrow? You know, extra privacy. Given what's coming?"
Alex responded by throwing a pillow at her roommate.
"Let's go," Alex snapped, half-laughing as she physically herded Magnus into the hallway.
Sofia's laughter followed them all the way down the corridor.
Campus was worse than expected. Glances lingered. Phones came out. People definitely took pictures.
It wasn't hostile. People were mostly just curious.
By the time they reached the quad, Magnus finally asked:
"So. What was that about?"
Alex exhaled, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "My period's next week."
"Oh."
He paused.
"…Oh!"
She shot him a sideways look. "You don't have to say anything."
"Good," he said quickly. "Because I absolutely do not have anything intelligent to add!"
That earned him a smile.
They picked a bench near the center of the quad — prime territory. Students sprawled across the grass, tossing frisbees, studying in clusters, wandering between dorms with nowhere better to be. A perfect test environment.
Magnus waited.
Minutes passed. Nothing happened.
No pressure behind his eyes. No HUD flicker. No ominous countdown appearing out of nowhere.
What did happen was subtler.
Whispers. Photos. Group chats lighting up. Magnus felt like a monkey in the zoo.
He sighed and checked his menu: Popularity ticked upward — no dramatic jump, just a steady and gradual climb driven by whispers, screenshots, and forum threads updating in real time.
Alex leaned against him, fingers lacing with his. "See? Nothing exploding."
"Yet," he muttered.
They stayed there longer. Long enough to be seen. Long enough to be talked about. Long enough that total silence would have been awkward. So, they talked.
"It just occurred to me," Magnus began, "that if your… uh. Time of the month is next week, then it would also have been around when the System set you as my target."
Alex hummed, thinking. "Yeah. Barely ended before our first night together, now that you mention it."
The implication hit him all at once.
He turned to look at her, quiet for several seconds before finally saying, "I always knew I was close to dying that week. I just… didn't realize how close until now. If the quest had started a few days earlier, or if your period had ended a few days later…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Alex took his hands, fingers threading through his with practiced ease. "Don't do that! The what-ifs will drive you insane." She squeezed gently. "The important part is that you're here. With me."
That was enough.
They shared a soft kiss — brief, restrained, both of them keenly aware of eyes on them from every direction. When they pulled apart, Magnus frowned at something only he could see.
"…That can't be right."
Alex tilted her head. "What can't?"
He squinted at the HUD hovering at the edge of his vision. "Jenna Morales. Her System menu's showing her Sexual History as 15 times with 55 known partners. It used to be 12 times with 48 a month ago." He frowned harder. "Neither of those should even be possible. That's gotta be a System glitch."
Alex blinked. Then she turned slowly to look across the quad, eyes finding Jenna where she sat laughing with a group of friends. After a beat, she turned back to him.
"Magnus."
"Yeah?"
"We just had a threesome yesterday."
"…Yeah?"
She stared at him.
"How have you not put two and two together yet?"
He glanced between Alex and the floating numbers below Jenna's name, still thoroughly lost. "What am I supposed to be adding?"
Alex opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Then sighed, rubbing her face.
"Never change," she said, exasperated and fond all at once. "You're way too pure for this world, babe!"
Magnus blinked. "Thanks… I think?"
They kept talking. And waiting.
Morning bled into lunch, which pulled them into the crowded cafeteria. From there, an unhurried afternoon stroll across campus — past study groups, club booths, dorm lawns thick with people who had nowhere better to be. Then the campus gym where he did the daily quest.
Everywhere they went, whispers followed. Phones came out. Group chats lit up.
Yet, the System stayed silent. No quest triggered. No new death countdown. Which, somehow, felt louder than any warning.
For the first time in weeks, Magnus felt something dangerously close to relief. By the time they walked back, casually debating dinner plans, his Popularity was at 24%.
Sunday passed.
And the System had let it.
(End of Book 1)
===
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since we've reached the end of Book 1, and the next chapter will mark the start of Book 2 (it'll be uploaded sometime within 6–10 hours), I'd like to take a bit of time to share with everyone who's read and supported my story so far how it came to be what it is.
It started with me reading adult manhwa. And it was just another System story where the "nice guy" MC turns into yet another idiot who thinks with his dick and is ready to sell his soul the moment he gets a System. For something to jerk off to, it works, but there's no point following the plot after that, and that's just frustrating.
So I asked myself: what if a similar System dropped on someone like Peter Parker? Or Dick Grayson? And the answer came to me pretty quickly: it wouldn't be much of a story. One issue, maybe two to four at most. Because established heroes with an actual moral code would crack a System like that open, neutralize it, then go after whoever invented it. And while that is an interesting story, it's probably already been told in mainstream comics — just not with a manhwa-style "System."
So the second question I asked was: what if it's not an established hero, just someone who looks up to them? The answer I got was that it'd either be a corruption story or a dilemma story. And corruption stories have been done so many times already, in every kind of media, both Western and Eastern. I'm going to be honest — I like reading them, but I do not like writing them. So I kept thinking in the dilemma direction.
Which led to the third question: what could possibly force someone innately good to compromise and do something they normally wouldn't? Punishment, right? But if he's just doing things to avoid punishment, then it circles back into a corruption story again. And I didn't want that. So it had to be someone incorruptible — and the punishment had to be cranked up to 11… no, 15 on a scale of 10. Because any less and someone incorruptible would just take the punishment instead of compromising.
And that's how we ended up with a System that threatens death on every failure meeting an incorruptible MC.
The naming part was easy. I like Magnus Bane. I like Magnus Chase. I'm in both fandoms, and that's how the name came to be. And if I set the story in the 2030s — about ~20 years after both series became famous — then Magnus's mother naming him after her favorite character, hoping he'd find his way in life despite hardships, felt both natural and relatable.
Building his basic background wasn't hard either. Raised by a single mother — which also explains the naming — and someone whose story was about staying kind despite hardship, it made sense that he'd idolize Spider-Man and Nightwing. And just like that, name, look, and foundation were done.
But then came the real question: how do I make it interesting?
Because at the end of the day, if the story isn't interesting, there's no reason for readers to keep reading—and no reason for me to keep writing. And let's be honest, incorruptible characters can be very boring—and very hard to relate to—if not handled well.
So I binge-watched Superman & Lois. Because when you think incorruptible, you think Superman (outside of the handful of "dark Superman" stories, Clark Kent really is the symbol of that). Also because I genuinely love that series and had already watched every episode as they aired. Around the same time, I also stumbled onto a manga called The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku) and absolutely fell in love with it.
And that's when the final piece clicked.
What if Magnus is instinctively kind to the point where he's not only incorruptible, but also inspiring, and he's not even aware of it because his self-esteem is just that low?
And that's how autopilot Magnus and conscious Magnus came to be. His conscious self is someone we can all relate to: stumbling through life, trying his best, making mistakes, getting knocked down. His subconscious self is the person we all wish we could be: smooth, aware, composed, probably out there aura-farming in twelve different ways at once.
And when the two finally become one, that's probably the end of the journey.
But until then, the story stays interesting as long as I have enough inspiration to keep it going. And for now, I have plenty.
All that being said, and without spoiling any major plot points, I'll leave you with a couple of questions instead of revealing what came next in my thought process:
What do you think the System's actual goal is?
Why do you think it keeps giving Magnus these kinds of quests while threatening to kill him every week?
Feel free to comment your thoughts and discuss with everyone else if you've been enjoying the story so far!
Once again, thank you all for supporting this story of mine!