The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism

Chapter 190: 190 | Existential Reclassification

"Yeah. Sure. Why not. Let’s see what other cosmic jokes you’ve got lined up."

The wheel spun again.

This time the energy in the room shifted differently. The gold light took on an edge that hadn’t been there before, something sharper and colder that made the hair on my arms stand up. The wheel’s rotation felt slower, heavier, like reality itself was taking a moment to consider what it was about to deliver.

The second pull locked into place.

The symbol that burned into focus was a crown of thorns wrapped around a clenched fist. The imagery was not subtle.

〘 PULL TWO COMPLETE 〙

〘 SADISM 〙

〘 Rarity: Epic 〙

〘 Type: Passive Trait (Permanent) 〙

〘 Classification: Combat/Psychological 〙

The description materialized beneath the header.

〘 Description: Pain inflicted by the Host generates measurable psychological and physiological feedback that reinforces combat effectiveness. Successful strikes that cause genuine physical damage to opponents provide immediate stamina recovery proportional to the severity of the hit. Attacks that miss or fail to inflict damage carry doubled stamina cost. The trait creates a high-risk momentum engine where landing clean hits fuels continued aggression while failure compounds exhaustion. This effect operates independently of conscious intent and cannot be suppressed. Secondary function: In intimate contexts where consent is established, pain inflicted by the Host generates heightened sensory feedback for all participating parties, scaling with intensity and emotional investment. The Host’s moral framework remains unchanged. His nervous system’s response to causing suffering has been permanently altered. 〙

I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to process what I was reading.

The System had just weaponized cruelty. Made it mechanically efficient to hurt people. Created a feedback loop where causing pain would literally give me the energy to cause more pain. Miss a strike and I’d burn out twice as fast. Land a clean hit that actually broke something and I’d recover stamina on the spot, ready to press the advantage before my opponent could breathe.

It was vicious. Predatory. The kind of combat trait that would turn a fight into a one-sided dismantling once I got momentum.

And the intimate application was worse somehow. Not worse in function but worse in implication, because it meant the System wasn’t just optimizing me for violence. It was optimizing me for a specific kind of relationship dynamic where intensity mattered more than comfort and boundaries became negotiation points instead of walls.

I thought about the way Sloane had grabbed my wrist in the shower and told me not to hold back. The way she’d marked my shoulder with her teeth like she was claiming territory. The way she’d gone still and quiet for exactly three seconds when I’d tightened my grip in her hair before something in her had snapped and she’d pulled me closer instead of pushing away.

Maybe the System hadn’t installed a new personality trait.

Maybe it had just made official what was already happening under the surface.

〘 The Host’s self-assessment is refreshingly direct. For the record, Sadism was selected from the Epic pool specifically because the Host’s psychological profile indicated compatibility. The System does not grant abilities that fundamentally contradict the Host’s nature. It amplifies existing potential and removes the friction that prevents actualization. 〙

"So you’re saying I was already like this."

〘 I am saying the capacity was present. Sadism simply ensures that exercising it will feel correct rather than conflicted. Many Hosts spend years fighting their own combat instincts because cultural conditioning has taught them that enjoying violence makes them morally suspect. This trait eliminates that particular inefficiency. The Host will hurt people when tactically appropriate and experience the psychological reinforcement that makes repeating the behavior easier. This is optimal design. 〙

I looked at the notification window floating in my vision and thought about what it meant to have a power that rewarded cruelty. What it meant that the System considered that optimal. What it meant that I was reading this description and my first reaction wasn’t rejection.

〘 The Host is prepared to proceed with the final pull? 〙

"Yeah. Do it."

The wheel spun for the third time.

The energy in the room exploded.

There was no other word for it. The gold light that had characterized the first two pulls was replaced by something that felt like standing in the path of an oncoming train, a pressure that built in my chest and behind my eyes and in the roots of my teeth until I was certain something was about to break. The wheel’s rotation became a blur of silver and gold and colors that shouldn’t exist, the segments flickering so fast they stopped being individual options and became a single continuous stream of potential.

Then it stopped.

The symbol that locked into place was simple. A figure standing with arms outstretched, light radiating from every line of their body. The kind of image you’d find in a religious text if the religion in question was built around the concept of power.

〘 PULL THREE COMPLETE 〙

〘 DEMIGOD 〙

〘 Rarity: LEGENDARY 〙

〘 Type: Passive Trait (Permanent) 〙

〘 Classification: Physical/Existential 〙

The room went completely silent.

〘 Description: The Host’s physical existence has been elevated to a state that transcends baseline human limitation. All physical attributes gain a permanent 25% multiplicative bonus. Physical recovery rate increases by 300%. Natural lifespan extends to approximately 500 years. Aging slows proportionally. The Host’s body will continue to develop toward an idealized physical state regardless of training regimen. Disease immunity is now absolute. Poison resistance is significantly enhanced. The Host is no longer entirely human. The Host should plan accordingly. 〙

I forgot how to breathe for approximately four seconds.

Twenty-five percent bonus to all physical stats. Multiplicative, not additive, which meant the bonus would scale with every future improvement. Three hundred percent recovery rate, which meant injuries that would sideline normal people for weeks would heal in days. A five hundred year lifespan, which meant I would outlive everyone I knew by centuries unless I found people with similar modifications.

The System had just made me immortal.

Not unkillable. Not invulnerable. But close enough that the distinction felt academic.

〘 The Host has received one of the rarest passive traits in the Scumbag System’s catalogue. Demigod is not merely a combat enhancement. It is an existential reclassification. The Host’s body will now develop toward its theoretical maximum regardless of external factors. His physical presence will become increasingly difficult to ignore as the trait’s effects compound over time. This will have significant social implications. 〙

"Social implications."

〘 Correct. The Host’s physical development will attract attention. His apparent age will become increasingly inconsistent with his actual age as the decades pass. His presence in any space will register as significant to those with sensitivity to such things. Demigod does not make the Host a god. It makes the Host something between what he was and what gods are. The space between is rarely comfortable. 〙