A Cover

The harsh reality of John's situation was that if John wanted to remain safe, secret, and keep his powers mostly concealed, then he had to treat them like superpowers. And he had seen more than enough comics, movies, tv shows, and video games to know that sometimes when one wanted to hide, the best place to do so, was in plain sight.

So it wasn't too surprising, at least from his point of view, when John followed after Grace, the tan skinned Indian woman, and told her that he was looking to apply for a job. This was followed by her informing him that then he should probably talk to the manager then and an immediate drop in relationship points with her, actually losing him five more from a single statement, but after some quick thinking on his part... He managed to pass the moment off as if he had read the angry expression on her face, and turned it around.

"Oh, sorry. I don't know why, but when I saw the way you walked in here made it kinda feel like you owned the place." It slowly ticked back up, a little smile passing over John's face as it reached a solid -40 once again. "Probably will be soon, am I right?" he joked with a playful bump from his elbow. There was a slight smirk on her part, followed by the lightest hint of a blush. She took a moment with him, pointing in the direction of the manager before John mumbled out a thanks and awkwardly turned away, watching his points tick up just five more on the pop-up he had kept open at his side.

The impact of what he had just done and said hit him after he walked away. John resisted the urge to **** on the air around him as his surprise left him wondering what in the hell even compelled him to talk with her like that. Had it...had it been the charisma point he had gotten earlier? If that was true, and he had gotten the idea to say that after just one point then... what would it do if he were to actually try and increase his charis-

Achievement Unlocked! "You sly dog..."
You subtly flirted with a woman who didn't even know your name, and she noticed! Can you follow up?
+1 Charisma
+5% chance for targets to react positively to flirting.

Achievement Unlocked! "Didn't see that one coming..."
You flirted with someone for what may have been the first time, and they liked it!
+1 Charisma
+0.5" to Base Cock Size.

John blinked at the pop-ups. He chose to ignore the comments attached to each of them for now. Partly because it seemed like half of the time, they at least didn't seem to be insulting him. Mostly because he didn't exactly know who or what it was that was making up these damn pop-ups. It couldn't be him, right? If it was, it would have made it rather useless anyways to get angry at a couple of screens that were popping up because of him.

It did turn out to be rather surprising to John, after he walked through a solid blue iron door, to find himself sitting in front of what had to be the largest, and the most masculine, Russian woman that John had ever seen. Like, literally, ever. He couldn't even think of a time in a movie or anime when he had seen someone that big. It wasn't just in height either. No, this giantess, who seemed like she might have been two feet taller than John was, was built too. Even through the thick, blue, velour body-builder tracksuit she wore, which he assumed was supposed to be baggy; John could make out the image of thickly packed, rippling muscles bulging hugely through her clothing.

When he entered, she regarded him with a look, one first of contempt for barging into her office, then one full of confusion when John sat down in front of her.

Dina Gusev
Level 19, Bodybuilder
721/721 hp
Relationship: -110

Well shit, she pretty much hated him already. It couldn't get much worse right?

The conversation he had with Dina, who he quickly discovered to be the actual owner of Gun's Gym, panned out exactly like the relationship points led him to expect from her. Fortunately, she did react positively when he told her that he was looking for a job.

She proceeded to hold onto that positive attitude when he begged her to let him take that job, and when he agreed to start as soon as the next day. She even managed to stay happy when Dina finally told him, much to his dismay, that he'd be getting minimum wage, and was now officially the janitor for Gun's Gym. The pop-up he got from that didn't do much to improve the news.

Title Unlocked! "The Custodian of Gun's Gym."
Clean 10% faster while on the job at Gun's Gym.

Equip now? YES/NO

He tapped yes, and this screen was just one of many. The rest of them, John made sure to check outside the gym and away from the ears of other people after nearly calling out how ridiculous the last one was.

"What do you got for me now?" he mumbled once he was on the open street again, on his way back home.

Achievement Unlocked! "You're HIIIIIRRRED!"
Get an actual job even after you've gained superpowers. Now you just need a name for your alternate identity and you can join a team of heroes like the rest of them!
+$1000
+10% effectiveness when working a normal job.

Achievement Unlocked! "We're Famous, Baby!"
Earn your first title.
+New Aura Skill

New Skill: Waves of the Nile. Passive, Aura. Level 1
Waves of the Nile: A rare gift usually given only by Isis through her tremendous power. This invisible aura washes off of you in waves, radiating out from you thanks to the mere presence of your mana. Nearby individuals are affected by this ability through a gradual increase in the Libido stat. Scales with skill level, total mana amount, and Charisma.

An ability that increases Libido and a thousand bucks?! John scratched his head as he read through the various pop-ups, debating the meaning of that one part just as he finally rounded on the last road to his house. It wasn't very clear as to what it was that meant exactly. He wasn't sure what an increased Libido level did, other than made him cum more often and lessen his recovery time between orgasms, but he knew what he wanted it to mean.

Did it just add to the total amount of things that a person liked sexually? Or perhaps, from being led to believe by his level up in masturbation, did it just shorten the amount of time it took for a person to get off? Did it make them more sensitive, or just really fucking horny? On top of that, was the money real or was it just saying that? There was only one way for him to find out though. He just had to figure out where and what to spend it on.

John didn't have much time to debate over the topic before he got home, the front door creaking loudly as he stepped through and shut it behind him.

"Jooohn?" his mother called out as soon as the door was shut, the source of the noise echoing out from the nearby kitchen. He didn't bother answering her when she spoke, choosing to continue fumbling with the pop-ups in his menu as he walked into the kitchen, nodding all the while. "Is that you?" she asked as he rounded the corner, her shoulder length black hair bouncing around her shoulders. A short 'tsk' escaped her as she put a single hand on her wide, motherly hips and glared daggers into John.

"You're late." She snapped, not even bothering to raise her voice. She didn't need to, and she knew it. The tone she took with John caused him to wince when he heard it. His body literally contracted at the sound, pulling just slightly away from her as she took on a dangerous edge with him. He didn't even have to look up to see the hard glare she threw in his direction. "Where have you been?"

"I uh..." He paused, suddenly feeling very nervous. His eyes darted frantically over the ground in front of him as he tried to think of what to say. In the end, he decided that the truth was probably best. "I got a job." Well, some of the truth. "It's just some cleaning thing over at G-"

The squeal of sheer happiness that followed his admission was one that was so loud that it not only cut John off mid sentence, but **** him to hesitantly try to step out of the room in a weak attempt to save his hearing. In reality though, his hearing was lost the moment he told her.

Brenda Newman, in all of her pride and glee, refused to let John walk away after hearing good news like that. Instead, in the midst of all of her high pitched excitement, John's mother decided that that moment was perfect for celebration. Perfect for a moment where they shared their feelings. Perfect for a hug. Perfect...

...to truly hammer the last nail in the coffin containing John's sense of sound.