Chapter 20: One Month Later

"This is a bit awkward... There are only a handful of members in the Avengers?" Even after returning home, Jos still found it hard to accept this reality.

Currently, the Avengers consisted of Captain America Steve, Iron Man Tony Stark, and three from S.H.I.E.L.D.: Nick Fury, Black Widow Natasha, and Hawkeye Barton—altogether, a handful of nameless members.

Well, including himself, that made six.

"Although I knew the timeline in this world was a little different, this is a huge disparity..." Considering all the dangers that would eventually arise, it was worrying if some key powerhouses weren't part of the Avengers.

"What are you muttering about over there?" The silver-haired girl's raspy voice sounded beside him.

"Nothing, just thinking about the future," Jos replied.

As for this Hydra member, S.H.I.E.L.D. naturally had no intention of letting her go freely. However, she knew nothing substantial, nor had she committed any egregious acts against S.H.I.E.L.D. Furthermore, Jos insisted on protecting her and credited most of the success of this operation to her. In truth, it was her deliberate provision of time to Jos that allowed him to warn Steve.

Lastly, though she was the same age as Jos, her appearance was that of a young girl—so even Nick Fury felt uncomfortable detaining her by force.

Up to this point, Jos and the others remained baffled by her actions, and she never explained herself. Still, Jos wasn't curious enough to press her for answers.

At least one thing was certain: she was the unintended byproduct of one of Hydra’s failed experiments—a mutant injected with an unknown serum.

Thus, she was required to stay at Jos’s home under strict supervision. Tony Stark had provided devices to monitor her location. It was troublesome, but her treatment was far better than that of other Hydra members.

"By the way, what’s your name? I can’t keep calling you 'hey, you' all the time," Jos asked, remembering that he still didn’t know her name.

"If you want my code, it's number 15510721."

Jos frowned. "No, I mean a name, like Natasha or Steve."

"I don’t have one." The silver-haired girl shook her head indifferently, as if she had never considered the question.

"...In that case, how about Lilith? It’ll be easier with a name." Jos didn’t press her for explanations or ask about her code, simply shifting the topic decisively.

The silver-haired girl seemed indifferent to his suggestion, so Jos took her silence as consent and settled on the name.

"Silver-haired demon girl, legal loli Lilith—it's decided!"

"Wait, what was all that before the name?" For the first time, Lilith's ever-calm expression cracked, as if she’d seen a ghost.

...

After joining the Avengers, Jos discovered that the life of a superhero wasn’t as exciting as he’d imagined. World-threatening crises were rare, and even city-level emergencies were uncommon—by Jos’s logic, such events would warrant a new movie and global box office success.

Besides the Avengers, there were numerous freelance heroes, so the world’s security appeared fairly sound.

As for Hydra agents hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D. and the cities, Nick Fury’s orders were to act as if nothing had happened, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Consequently, Jos spent most of his days training and completing side missions, and a month slipped quietly by.

During this time, the Avengers’ guard against Lilith dwindled to almost nothing. As Jos knew, there were many superheroes who started as villains and eventually joined the Avengers—it wasn’t unusual for members to change sides.

Meanwhile, Jos’s combat suit was finally finished, specially designed with a compartment on the back holding about a liter of water, making his “fight with his back against the wall” much more convenient.

Though Tony Stark’s expression had been quite peculiar while customizing the suit.

In that month, Jos underwent plenty of real combat training—sparring with Steve and others, dealing with criminals on the streets—his experience was worlds apart from what it had been before.

He also completed numerous system tasks, though they were mostly insignificant, and managed to accumulate just over 1,200 “Source of Self-Destruction” points. Today, he planned to spend them all.

Both system upgrades and ten consecutive draws cost 1,000 points. After a moment’s thought, Jos decisively chose the upgrade.

On one hand, he had a clear sense of his own luck; on the other, he hoped the upgraded system would offer more options.

Besides, the upgrade itself came with a bonus package, so Jos wasn’t worried about wasting points.

Accompanied by sound effects reminiscent of a retro arcade console, the system interface underwent a drastic transformation in Jos’s vision, and an upgrade summary appeared before him.

[The system interface has been upgraded—now it looks cooler!]
[Sound effects added—the glass shards say it’s awesome!]
[Voice options expanded: mature women, young girls, domineering CEOs—you name it!]
[Now supports nearly all languages in this universe (though you clearly won’t need them).]
[Login animation added!]
[Physical items now available—win them through the lottery!]
[Next upgrade requires 10,000 Source of Self-Destruction points.]

"In the end, only one of these features is actually useful?! What kind of idiotic online game are you?!"

Even after a month, Jos still found the system exasperating beyond words.

[Upgrade bonus package distributing...]
[Host receives the Dead Sea Fire Superpack. Please choose one of the following:]
[Random Zanpakuto: Live and die with the Shinigami. A powerful weapon with both Shikai and Bankai abilities.]
[Random S-class Ninjutsu Scroll: Contains mighty ninjutsu, with a chance to obtain forbidden techniques.]
[Random Devil Fruit: Created by the sea’s demons, granting terrifying powers but causing the sea to hate you.]

"Damn! These rewards are obviously traps!"

Having spent this much time with the system, Jos could easily guess what kind of pitfalls lay hidden in these seemingly incredible rewards.