SSS-Class Profession: The Path to Mastery

Breakfast dishes clinked softly as the others helped clean up, their movements still careful and measured. I found myself moving with the enhanced efficiency that my skills provided, my upgraded physiology having already processed most of the previous night’s alcohol. The contrast was almost amusing, watching them wince at sudden sounds while I felt increasingly energized.

With the immediate social obligations handled, I went to my rather empty office to properly explore my new capabilities. Job Merger and Enhanced Copy were both on cooldown for the next twenty-three hours, but that didn’t mean I was out of options. Enhanced Absorb was still available, though it required someone to actively teach me a skill rather than simply observing them use it. Though I did have another option...

I settled into my desk chair and opened the interface, navigating to the Enhanced Destroy skill. The familiar red warning text appeared, reminding me that this was permanent and irreversible, but I was more interested in the target selection screen. Previously, I’d only used Destroy three times, the requirement either being consent from the target or their total subjugation.

The first had been Nathan Crowley who I defeated at the construction site using the Union Papers. The second was Chief Ryan who was about to die and he consented to giving me his firefighter skills so I could continue saving others. The third was Damian Voss, Camille’s brother, who I defeated in the Masked Syndicate court case. Each time, the System had presented them as viable targets only after their total defeat.

I scrolled through the interface, expecting to see the usual "No targets available" message. Instead, a single entry appeared:

Available Target: "Hyena"

Status: Incarcerated

Job: Hacker (S-Rank)

Hyena. Despite having arrested him 2 months ago, he’d had definitely been one of the most notorious cybercriminals of the past decade, maybe even history, using his abilities to cause chaos for its own sake. Hacking into cameras, police files, breaking into homes and kidnapping kids. The man had treated human suffering like a game.

Now the System was offering me his abilities.

I didn’t hesitate.

Whatever moral qualms I might have had about using Enhanced Destroy were absent in this case. Hyena had chosen to use his remarkable talents for cruelty and chaos. He’d shown no remorse during his arrest. If the System could transfer his abilities to someone who would use them constructively, it seemed like justice rather than theft.