Jim's PoV

It's been three weeks since the kidnapping attempt and things seem to be going smoothly. They had purchased a building outside town that met Jim's criteria. His only complaint was that it was a little too on the industrial side. Having just finished setting up his room slash office area, the white windowless walls and bland white tile floor made him slightly depressed.

This lair sucked. Still, once the surveillance network was up they would receive a decent warning if they got any visitors. It was a pile of crap now, but with enough money his evil lair will be awesome eventually!

Speaking of money, they started to have tons of very serious offers for their miracle cure. Overwhelmed with the amount of requests, Charlotte demanded she get an assistant. Jim was adamant that new employees that were going to have high access to their information were very trustworthy, of good character and would relocate to the evil lair.

A lot of candidates didn't like the last requirement, but with how high paying the job was going to be, plenty more stayed for the interview. He hated being a part of the interviewing process, but it would be too irresponsible of him if he let someone have so much access without even offering his opinions before they were hired. Being responsible sucked.

Sitting in the newly furnished conference room he fought the itch to scroll through his inventory. Evil habits. After twiddling his thumbs, Charlotte and Davis entered the room. Davis was now Charlotte's personal bodyguard. Sporting a stylish looking suit, no one would realize he was wearing game items.

One character in FF3 was a butler named Caldwell. He would only wear suits. Wearing the most powerful suit in FF3, Davis was now a force to be reckoned with. One of the reasons he loved looking through his inventory was reading the new item descriptions. Many things stayed the same, but a lot of items had new or slightly changed lines of text.

The suit set still had its massive armor bonus and added 50 points to Strength and Stamina, but it also had the new text of 'Equip: Wearer Fades into the Background, as a Good Servant Should. Equipping More Set Pieces Increases this Effect.'

It didn't make him invisible or anything, but it meant that people took less notice of him. It allowed Davis to do his job better and was very good at keeping people from asking the new bodyguard questions. Looking at his stats with the new gear he was no longer looking like an early game noob.

Davis - Protector Level 25 HP: 3,275 / 3,275 MP: 31 / 31 Strength: 112 (+50) Agility: 50 Stamina: 131 (+50) Magic: 18

Davis was now probably the strongest man on Earth while looking like a gentleman. Eventually Jim wanted to take him to the gym to see how much 112 Strength actually meant, but Jim found a few spare metal pipes down in the lair and Davis could twist them like pretzels. With his gear he was probably equivalent to being a level 50.

Sitting down at the conference room table Jim asked "So, how many candidates are left? Do you have any favorites?"

Charlotte said "I am really leaning towards this one young man. He has been a secretary for another corporation in the area and he comes with very high recommendations from them."

Seems sketchy to him, but he thought that about too many of the people. "If he's so highly recommended, why is he here?"

Charlotte said "He said he was really interested in helping people. On his resume he has done a ton of charity work. The charity organizations love him too."

"How can we trust him? A lot of powerful people probably want someone in our company."

Irritated Charlotte said "Jim! I need a friggin secretary! It's too much work by myself."

"Is there anyone you trust? I don't care about their qualifications, they can learn. We need trustworthy people."

Almost sneaking up on him Davis said "Don't you have a magi, er, something you can do that can tell you more information about them?"

Magic was a banned word according to Charlotte, haha! Davis almost said it! Charlotte was giving Davis a pissed look. But he couldn't use magic on Earth, could he? Trying to think about it, he realized he never tried to do it before.

Figuring he would give it a shot, Jim shifted his right eye over to the other world. His right eye was now looking at two massive wolves that were sleeping in his lap. Sheesh, they were getting really big though. Both were easily over three feet tall at the shoulder but still looked like cute fluff balls. How big would they get?

Lazy cute bums! Not wanting to wake them and have their tongues assault his face, he looked at Charlotte with his left eye and tried to cast Sense Lv2. To his astonishment, it worked!

Manager Level 1 HP: 250 / 250 MP: 38 / 38 Strength: 8 Agility: 12 Stamina: 10 Magic: 15 Bonus Information Thinks you're an idiot and worry too much.

Hahaha! Her class was manager! Skipping over her stats he looked at the little blurb that should tell him how the target feels about him. "Thinks you're an idiot and worry too much."

Jim said "It worked! Wow, I too now have super manager powers!"

Charlotte said "Oh really? What did you find out?"

After reading the line of text she looked at him critically and then whispered "You really have magic that can tell what people think about you? But you could have guessed that, is it real?"

Whispering back he said "It's kind of a useless spell over there, so I forgot to mention it."

Seeing her half furious look she said "Do you have any idea how long I took trying to cut down the candidates? Two, Days! Two friggin days! And you're saying you can just wave your hand and figure it out in two seconds?"

Sheepishly he said "Um, I didn't know? Besides, it only tells me how people think about me. Not their thoughts in general. And there is a cooldown on the spell for each target. I can't spam it over and over on the same person. I can use it once per person then I would need to probably wait a few hours to do it again. Kinda useless right? I have another one that I can use all the time, but it's even worse. Random spam of garbage text."

Charlotte had a considering look. "So that means we just need to ask the right question, dummy. Let me think."

***

Prospective Secretary's #1's PoV

Victor straightened his exquisite tie as he surveyed his competition. Knowing he looked fantastic, he seemed to be the lone man trying to get the job of a traditionally female role. The numerous appreciative looks bolstered his confidence even more.

He knew his resume was impeccable. Of course it was, because it wasn't real. The references on the other end of the line were real though. All that community service! Hah! Who would waste so much time?

He was going to enjoy being paid twice over for the job. At the end of the last interviews he could tell he was far in the lead compared to the others. Living in this dull hole for a few months was going to suck, but the pay would be worth it.

And the kicker was if he did a good job being a mole, he would have another job as soon as he wasn't needed. Having family connections was such a wonderful thing!

Stepping out of the conference room, Charlotte smiled at him and said "You're the first candidate, are you ready for the interview?"

Putting on his brilliant fake smile he said "Of course, lead the way."

Sitting down in the designated chair, he noticed the muscular man sitting at the center of the table. Charlotte said "This is Jim, the CEO of the company."

Being already seated he said "It's great to meet you Jim. If I am lucky enough, it would be my pleasure to work for your company."

Jim seemed to awkwardly return his greeting and then looked at Charlotte. Had they already talked? Was he about to get hired? Charlotte nodded and then Jim turned back to him.

Then Jim said "We are doing revolutionary work in medicine. If you work for me you might have access to my confidential information such as how I make the revolutionary new drug."

There didn't seem to be a question yet, so Victor waited patiently. Access to his confidential information including how to make the new drug? Wow, this job was going to be a lot easier than he thought! Stealing Jim's information and giving it to NewWave Pharmaceuticals would be easy as pie! This guy was an idiot!

Then Jim did an odd hand gesture. He seemed to be reading something, then he shook his head. Charlotte immediately stood up and said "We don't think you will be a good fit with our company. Please head out the door on our right, it will bring you back to the parking lot."

Victor, shocked at the brief interview, said "What? What about the interview?"

"Our CEO just said no. I'm sorry, this is the end of the interview. Please leave."

Was this some kind of game? Why had they called him here if they were not going to interview him? Getting angry, he stood up and was about to give them a piece of his mind when the butler looking fellow appeared right next to him. Oh right, Charlotte's bodyguard. He had almost forgot he was even there.

The bodyguard said "Sir, please leave. This way."

"I'm not leaving till I,"

Then he was forcefully interrupted as the bodyguard firmly took his elbow and started heading to the door. Victor tried to pull away, but his arm was like a vice! After only a few seconds they were out of the front door of the building and the bodyguard let him go. Then the door slammed in his face. Feebly he tried to open the door, but it was locked.

What the hell just happened?

***

Prospective Secretary's #17's PoV

Sandra watched nervously as person after person went through the door to the interview. Not even two minutes after someone had entered, a new person was called. Were people being dismissed that quickly?

As the next person went in, a middle aged woman scoffed and said "If they are doing a group interview, why don't they just let everyone in at the same time?"

Another person said "Are you sure they are doing group interviews?"

"What else could it be?"

"I don't know, maybe some new way of doing interviews?"

Sandra kept to herself, but then she heard the rumble of an engine and a car leave. After another minute another car turned on and it left. She wished she could go outside and take a look, but they were told if they left the room, they would be disqualified. The room full of applicants slowly started emptying out.

Then someone called "Sandra?"

Hearing her name she stood up quickly and became a bit woozy from the quick motion. "That's me! Coming!"

She recognized Charlotte who did the previous interview. Sandra was honestly surprised she got a second interview. With no work experience and only an associates degree, she could tell she was a lot less qualified than the other applicants who bragged about their credentials. Not believing she had a chance, she thought it would be a good learning opportunity.

Seeing the room empty except for the bodyguard and the man at the center of the table, she now knew for sure that it wasn't a mass interview. How long would she last if those other super qualified people only lasted two minutes?

Charlotte introduced her to Jim, the CEO. After the greetings he said "We are doing revolutionary work in medicine. If you work for me you might have access to my confidential information such as how I make the revolutionary new drug."

Steeling herself for rejection she thought of how nice it would be if she got the job. She would work so hard and try to be a model employee. According to the gossip outside, this company was the real deal and was going to change the medical industry.

It would be such a privilege to work for them. Even the odd requirement of having to live in the facility was a positive to her, she wanted to get out of her parent's house.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Still waiting for a question she tried to remember her rehearsed answers about why she should be considered when the CEO said "We have a winner. Good enough. Hire her."

Charlotte was looking down at what was probably her resume and she said "Are you sure? She doesn't have any work experience."

"Just train her. The rest of the candidates so far sucked. Now it's up to you Ms. Company President. Good luck!"

Then the CEO started running away? What? She got the job? Was it because she was pretty? But there were a lot prettier girls that interviewed before her. She had so many questions.

Charlotte said "Sorry, our CEO is a bit eccentric. But it looks like you will be my new assistant. When can you start?"

Oh, she was working for Charlotte? From what the CEO said earlier she thought she was going to be his secretary. But Charlotte seemed so confident and knowledgeable! She was really looking forward to working with Charlotte!

"When can you start working?"

Sandra answered saying "Um, I guess as soon as I can get my stuff moved here?"

Charlotte picked up her phone and dialed a number. "We have our candidate, are you available to move them?"

"Good. I will be finished with the paperwork in 15 minutes. If you can meet her outside afterwards, that would be great."

Seeing her quizzical look Charlotte said "Moving company. We made prior arrangements with them. Now let's talk about hours and salary."

Baffled at how fast everything was moving, she listened as Charlotte outlined her responsibilities. And the pay! Yahoo! She was so lucky!

Then Charlotte stuck out her hand to shake. Sandra took her hand and Charlotte said "Welcome to Elixir Incorporated. I'm looking forward to working with you."

***

Jim's PoV

Damn NewWave Pharmaceuticals. Two of their lackeys were trying to get into his awesome new company, Elixir Incorporated. He picked the name. Charlotte wanted to call it something lame, but he pulled the 'I have the money' card. It was a fantastic card, he was really starting to like it.

He wondered if those two lackeys knew that their company were the bastards behind the kidnapping. After Scarlet's shake down of those three goons, she got the name of someone from the company, but it was clearly a middle man. Jim followed the money for people in that company, and the CEO had some very odd transactions. He was almost certain he was the one ultimately behind the attack.

Now that he had his evil lair set up and his people more protected, he felt like it was time to take care of that problem. Jim thought the most appropriate solution was to break a few of his fingers, just as his goons had threatened to do to himself and Charlotte. If he didn't get the point after that, he would have to make another visit.

Looking at his new official super suit, he wondered if he should downgrade a particular gear choice. He examined himself in the mirror. For his chest, leg and boots slot he used the rogue's ultimate set. Each piece gave a massive bonus to agility. The set looked epic too! Jim decided not to use the head gear from the rogue's set because he wanted to give karma the middle finger.

Remembering yelling at the TV screen all too often in superhero movies, he would say "That person's power sucks! A high caliber sniper rifle shot in the head would kill him easily!"

Not wanting to become a victim of karma, Jim put on the head gear with the most armor in the game. It didn't have any extra special mods, just tons and tons of armor. Looking at the egg-shaped monstrosity on his head, he comforted himself with the fact that the only person who would see him look like this was going to have their fingers broken.

Using his handheld mirror he dragged and dropped ordinary clothes on himself from his game inventory. Once he got close to his target's location, he would change into his super suit, then after getting away he had a different set of clothes to put on. Placing his wallet and phone on his desk, he took out enough money for two bus tickets and his keys. Probably overly cautious, but better safe than sorry.

***

Reporter's PoV

April didn't know why she got into financial news reporting. It was boring. But because it was boring the more ambitious people flocked away from it and that left room for her. She looked around and saw that her cameraman was almost ready.

Scanning through her note cards and doing a quick check in the mirror she was ready to start the interview. Mr. Chou was a bigshot CEO for NewWave Pharmaceuticals.

Investors were getting nervous because there was a rumor going around that a super drug had been found by some new start up company. Of course that kind of news had been said in the past, but there were a number of conspiracy theory nuts that actually put together a plausible list of information.

Today's interview was supposed to help calm investor nerves. It was basically a paid advertisement disguised as news. Too much financial news was like that. Hell they weren't even in front of the research lab for NewWave Pharmaceuticals, they were in his private condo on the 30th floor in a high-rise building. Sometimes April wondered what the point was. Anyone who did a little digging on this interview would find it fishy.

It wasn't even going to be live. Just a little piece that could be chopped up to make NewWave look good. If Mr. Chou happened to fumble any questions they would just reshoot the same questions. Still it was work. Getting in position the camera man started to hold up three fingers, then two, one, and finally a thumbs up.

"This is April from Financial News and I am with Mr. Chou from NewWave Pharmaceuticals. There has been quite the buzz going around about a new drug from a startup competitor of yours. Can you tell me anything about that?"

Sitting up straight the man said "It is true that one of our competitors has developed a promising new drug, but so far the data is very limited. If you look over the data from the FDA findings it was very suspicious. Not only was the trial length short but even the number of experiments conducted were very limited."

"But looking over the data it seems to be very effective, no?"

Mr. Chou looked uncomfortable and said "Yes, but from our data this new lab doesn't have a high capacity at all. It will be years before this new drug is made available to the public. In the meantime NewWave is working on something just as promising and it will be available to the public in only six months!"

Wow, that smelled like bullshit. Also something else was niggling at her so she asked a question that was off script, "How do you know about the production capacity for a competitor?"

The man looked angrily at her and said "That is not on the list of prescreened questions."

Sighing she said "Fine. It's not live, we can edit it out. Still people are going to wonder from your statement. Do you want to rephrase it?"

God she felt slimy. This was not reporting. As Mr. Chou was in thought she heard a crashing sound and looked behind her cameraman.

At first she thought it was an alien with its big wobbly head, but after a second she realized it was some kind of elongated helmet. Excitedly she hissed to her cameraman "Turn it there! NOW!"

Her eyes were filled with excitement when she saw that he had somehow punched a human sized hole through the outside of the building on the 30th floor. The debris cloud cleared and she felt a bite of cold as the wind whipped through the condo. As the man finally made eye contact with her he said "Shit. Uhh.. sorry Mr. Chou. Didn't know you had company."

His voice was odd, some kind of synthesizer or something. With the awkward apology she felt safe enough so she rushed up and put a microphone in the man's face. She asked excitedly "Who are you! How did you break through a wall this high up? And why do you look so weird?"

The man said hopefully "That's not live, right?"

April knew where he was going so she said quickly "Yep. You're live right now! What do you have to say to the world?"

Her heart was racing and excitement lit up her eyes. News! Actual news!

After a few seconds he exclaimed "Hello World!"

She raised a carefully manicured eyebrow and he said "Always wanted to do that. Programmer joke. Sorry."

Still he wasn't reaching out to try to break her camera so she was happy. People were always a lot more polite if they thought she was live. She kept silent and noticed that Mr. Chou was slowly trying to edge away.

Then the man said "Dammit! How was I supposed to know a live interview was going on in his condo! Damn karma."

"So, you're looking for Mr. Chou?"

Reluctantly he said "Yeah."

"Why?"

After a few seconds of thought he said "Well this might be just as good. He was involved in that gang that attacked those two cops a week ago. He ordered two people from Elixir Incorporated to be kidnapped because he was trying to ferret out information about a new drug."

This was a story! New superhuman going after a corrupt CEO? Sounded like a comic strip! Headline city! Score! Although it was probably a power suit of some kind maybe? April wasn't sure. She was so tired of publishing bullshit. April wanted a real story.

"So what exactly are you?"

The man struck a comically heroic looking pose with a fluttering cape and said "I'm a super genius!"

"No, like what can you do? I take it that you didn't just use a rocket launcher on the wall right?"

Happily the man took up a boxing pose and threw a punch at the wall. It disintegrated. The debris started to fall. Holy moly! This weird person was strong!

Then he exclaimed "Oh crap! There could be people down there! I blame you! You're fault! You asked me to!"

Nope. She didn't do it. Legal team will make sure of that! Asking what someone can do is not a command to punch a wall. Beneath them was not a public area, so she was not worried. Still she went back to his previous statement and asked "Do you have any proof of Mr. Chou's involvement?"

Shrugging the man with the overly large head said "I don't think you can call beating someone's goons up till they give you names proof. Can you?"

Once that was said Mr. Chou started to bolt for the door. Faster than she could see, the man moved and had him by the collar. Pulling him off his feet with one hand he said "You got lucky. But piss me off again and I won't care who's looking next time. Understand?"

The speed! What was that? She literally could not see him move! Before she could ask any more questions, the man was gone. How could he move so fast? Then Mr. Chou looked down at his pants and saw the urine stain. The urine stain which was being captured on camera.

Angrily Mr. Chou said "Give me all your footage! Now!"

April and her camera man looked at each other. Then an instant later they were running out of the door. Gold! This was going to be gold!

***

Adam's (Charlotte's Nephew) PoV

Adam was looking at his new school sadly. In hindsight, he wished he hadn't moved from his special needs school. They were all so kind there, but after he was cured he felt out of place.

His closest friends were jealous of his fortune. Adam couldn't blame them, he would be jealous too. Being cured was something that everyone had wished for at some point. They were still polite, but he felt like an outsider with his own friends.

He was happy he was whole for the first time in his life, but change came with it. While he was cured, his stature was still very small.

But that made him the runt at a new school. A school that didn't know and probably wouldn't care that he had been a cripple only a few weeks ago. But at least he found a new friend. Maria was a really smart girl, but it looked like she missed out on a lot of schooling.

She was a year older than him but they were still in the same classes. After school he would tutor her and he was surprised at her quick learning. Maria was so tall too. Even among girls her age she was tall. When he started hanging out with her, the bullying stopped.

But Adam watched sadly as a group of boys walked over to his table at the cafeteria. Today Maria was taking a make up test that had been taken earlier in the year while at lunch. He was alone. Looking up to them he tried to put on a confident face and asked "What do you want?"

The bigger one in the middle smiled and said "Well lookie here. Don't seem to have your new friend around you now. It's been too long, runt. How have you been?"

"Good. Really good actually."

With a piggy smile he said "Well, that doesn't seem right. A runt like you doesn't have the right to feel good."

As he said that the bully picked up his food tray and tossed it at him. Spaghetti sauce and milk covered the front of his shirt. He knew what he had to do. If he didn't do anything then it would just keep repeating. It felt wrong to tell his parents about his new petty problems so he asked his aunt. She told him that if you don't stand up to bullies, it will just keep happening.

With dread he stood up and balled his fist. But before he even stood up all the way the boy punched him in his face. Dazed, he got up quickly and tried to throw a punch. He didn't know who was more surprised when it hit, himself or the bully.

The bully rubbed at the minor scratch on his face and said "Well well, looks like we got someone to play with!"

As the fight started breaking out, many of the kids retreated and formed a circle. A couple started calling out for a teacher, but it looked like it was going to take them too long. Adam tried to throw another punch but he was caught off guard by the bully's friend who was behind him. He lost his balance as the second bully behind him pushed him towards the first one.

Pain exploded in his stomach as the first thug took his free shot. Covering his stomach, he went to his knees. He didn't see the person who punched him in the back of the head. Curling into a ball he tried to guard his head as the four kids surrounded him and then started taking turns kicking him.

Then he heard a meaty thump and the crowd gasped. Dazed and still on the floor, he realized the kicks stopped. Taking a quick look between his hands, he saw his friend Maria! She was fighting two boys at once and two more were coming up behind her! He needed to help! Pushing through the pain he wobbly stood up. In those few seconds, it seemed like the fight was already over.

Maria was moving like a dancer, weaving in punches and kicks at the boys. One of them was crawling on the floor with a bleeding nose. Landing a solid punch to the other one's face, she got behind him and pushed the kid into the two rushing up behind her. Taking the opportunity, she kicked the one with a bleeding nose and he seemed to be knocked out.

That gave the other three a chance to disentangle themselves, but only a second later she wound up a powerful kick, knocking him into one of the other bullies. Now one vs one, Maria made short work of the one who was left. It all happened so fast.

Looking up at her, she seemed like an avenging angel. She always wore these intricate white dresses at school. It made Maria look so different from all the other girls. All the bullies were beaten and on the ground and she wasn't even breathing hard. She reminded him of one of Odin's valkyries in an audiobook series he used to listen to.

Still with a fierce expression on her face as the bullies were slowly getting to their feet she said, "If I find any of you messing with my friend again, I will break bones next time. Understand?"

Fearful nods followed.

Other students started calling out a warning "Teacher's coming!"

Then the mob scattered and the bullies limped away. Maria took his hand and she pulled him outside. It all happened so fast, but now that the excitement was over he felt the pain in his temple. Using his other hand he felt at the spot and his hand came away red with blood. Oh, wow, he was bleeding. His stomach was really hurting too. And the back of his head. He needed to get to the nurse, and they could get in a lot of trouble if they were outside during school.

He whispered "If we get caught outside we could get suspended."

Seriously Maria asked "Can you keep a secret?"

Confused, Adam nodded.

Placing a hand on him it started glowing white. His valkyrie in her white dress had a white glowing aura! Magic! Real magic! Then the light faded and he felt different.

All his pain from the fight went away!

Maria muttered "I wonder why Charlotte was so worried. People here seem really weak."

Adam laughed. Somehow he didn't think that was what his aunt meant. Sneaking back into school they found an empty washroom. He was slightly embarrassed as Maria helped him clean his food stained shirt. As Maria cleaned his shirt, he wiped away the blood on his forehead. Perfectly fine skin was underneath. That was so cool!

He really wanted to ask her questions about the magic, but he said he would keep it a secret. Instead he asked, "How did the test go?"

"Easy. All the stuff you covered was on it."

"Nice!"

***

Charlotte's PoV

Charlotte was watching the news feed. The most ridiculous looking man with a bulbous head was making headlines on some tabloid news network. The newscaster slowed down the feed frame by frame as she watched. Most people were calling it a fake, but she knew. The lame programmer jokes, the talks of karma and most of all that ridiculous looking cape that he made her buy. That idiot Jim.

As she was watching the video again she got a phone call. Picking it up she said "What's up bro?"

"There was a fight at school and apparently Adam and Maria were involved. The school doesn't have a good phone number for Gwen, so I gave you a call."

Rubbing her temples, she realized that giving them Jim's number to get in touch with Gwen was probably a bad move. Thank goodness she now had a secretary. Every time she talked to Jim more work magically appeared. But with 10 new candidates selected for the new 'medicine', they were about to be rolling in even more money. Thankfully he said he was going to be gone for most of the day, so she shouldn't get distracted later when she went over the contracts with her lawyers.

Getting back to the call she said, "I'll make sure she gets the message."

She looked at the so-called superhero or supervillain again and shook her head. He really needed some fashion sense, he looked like an idiot. And what the hell was up with his head?