The incident with Jessica and her laptop spread through Greenwich Academy like wildfire.
By Friday morning, the whispers weren't just about Nate's sudden academic prowess or his confrontation with Mark; they were about his surprising act of kindness.
Jessica, relieved and genuinely impressed, certainly wasn't shy about telling her story, painting Nate in a new, overwhelmingly positive light.
"Can you believe it? Nate Thorne, fixing a computer? And he actually helped Jessica without asking for anything!" A group of girls murmured near his locker.
"He was so nice about it, too. And he looked… really good concentrating," another sighed, a dreamy note in her voice.
Nate pretended not to hear, but a private smile touched his lips. His Charisma attribute, bolstered significantly to 4.0, was working wonders.
The negative reputation of the 'old Nate' was beginning to crumble, replaced by a much more intriguing, and favorable, narrative.
He wasn't overtly trying to be friendly, but his demeanor exuded a vague confidence, a hint of something more beneath the surface that drew people in without him actively pursuing it.
Mark, however, was not pleased. He confronted Nate again between classes, his face a furious red. "What the hell, Thorne? Playing Mr. Nice Guy now? Trying to steal all the attention?"
Nate leaned against the lockers, casually crossing his arms. "I'm just being myself, Mark. Something you clearly know nothing about." His voice was low, confident, utterly unbothered. There was a cool, almost distant edge to his tone, a subtle ruthlessness that cut deeper than any shout. "Maybe you should try it sometime. Might improve your disposition."
Mark clenched his fists, but a flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes. The easy manipulation he'd enjoyed over the 'old Nate' was gone. This new Nate was a solid, unyielding wall, his eyes holding an unreadable depth. "You're getting too big for your britches, Thorne. Just remember who your friends are."
"I remember who my friends are," Nate said, pushing off the locker and taking a step closer to Mark, forcing the larger boy to instinctively take a step back. His presence was subtly intimidating, a stark contrast to his earlier "kindness" to Jessica. "And they're not the kind who try to drag me down. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have actual classes to attend."
He walked away, leaving Mark sputtering with impotent rage. The small victory felt good. He wasn't just avoiding past mistakes; he was actively dismantling the mechanisms that had led to them, reinforcing a persona that was both compelling and unapproachable on his terms.
That afternoon, after football practice, Nate initiated another rigorous workout session in the home gym. He pushed his body harder than ever, focusing on power and explosive movements.
The attribute points flowed in, swift and abundant, a testament to the System's generous nature and his body's capacity for rapid growth.
[Rigorous Physical Exertion Detected: +3.0 Strength Attribute Point]
[Exceptional Power Output: +2.0 Strength Attribute Point]
[Advanced Athleticism: +1.5 Dexterity Attribute Point]
[Sustained Peak Performance: +2.0 Stamina Attribute Point]
[Increased Physical Resilience: +1.0 Constitution Attribute Point]
By the time he was done, his core physical attributes had soared even higher. His Strength was now 19.0 (13.0 + 3.0 + 2.0 + 1.0), making him nineteen times stronger than an average human.
His Dexterity was 6.4 (4.9 + 1.5), granting him nearly six and a half times the agility and coordination. His Stamina reached 6.3 (4.3 + 2.0), indicating truly extraordinary endurance. And his Constitution had risen to 3.0 (2.0 + 1.0), making his body three times more durable and capable of rapid recovery. He was no longer just 'stronger than average'; he was entering the realm of the physically extraordinary for a human, closing in on the lower tiers of established MCU powerhouses.
He could feel it in every fiber of his being—a subtle hum of power just beneath the surface, a constant readiness.
He then turned his attention to the "Ransomware Enigma" that his father had mentioned. The brief, delivered to his secure email, was indeed complex.
A highly sophisticated, polymorphic ransomware had infiltrated a global financial institution, locking down critical systems and demanding an astronomical sum.
The company's top cybersecurity experts, even those from the Thorne Corporation, were at a standstill, fearing data loss with any brute-force attempt.
Nate settled into his lab, a deep sense of calm washing over him. This was his element. He fired up his dedicated analysis rig, a powerful machine that hummed with processing power.
He began by dissecting the ransomware's code, his Intelligence attribute of 4.1 making the complex encryption patterns and evasive tactics seem almost transparent. He worked meticulously, exploring every line, every function, every byte.
Hours melted away. He paused only for a quick meal brought down by a bewildered household staff member, who clearly hadn't seen the 'young master' so intensely focused.
[Deep Analytical Focus: +0.5 Intelligence Attribute Point]
[Complex Problem-Solving: +0.3 Intelligence Attribute Point]
[Innovative Solution Development: +0.2 Wisdom Attribute Point]
As the night deepened, Nate felt a breakthrough. The ransomware wasn't truly polymorphic in the traditional sense; it had a subtle, almost undetectable 'backdoor' key, a tiny mathematical anomaly embedded deep within its core encryption algorithm.
It was a signature, a flaw in the design that allowed for a very specific, non-destructive decryption. It was brilliant, and only an intellect like his, enhanced by the System, could have spotted it amidst the layers of complexity.
He quickly coded a counter-program, a precise digital scalpel designed to exploit this flaw, decrypt the data, and neutralize the ransomware without a single byte of data loss. It was elegant, efficient, and devastatingly effective.
He ran a simulation. The ransomware dissolved, the locked files unlocked. Perfect.
[Quest Completed: "The Ransomware Enigma"]
[Reward: High Tier Attribute Points, System Upgrade Progression, Undisclosed Bonus. Undisclosed Bonus: +5,000,000 USD (directly transferred to Host's private account), ThornCorp Executive Access.]
Nate almost choked. Five million dollars? Just for solving a ransomware problem? And executive access to ThornCorp's resources? The "generous rewards" were truly beyond compare. And the attribute points? He quickly checked his stats.
[Host: Nathaniel Thorne]
[Current Attributes:]
Strength: 19.0
Dexterity: 6.4
Stamina: 6.3
Constitution: 3.0
Intelligence: 5.4 (4.1 + 0.5 + 0.3 + 0.5 - from High Tier Attribute Point)
Wisdom: 1.9 (1.7 + 0.2)
Charisma: 4.0
[Unspent Attribute Points: 0]
His Intelligence had soared to 5.4! That was a massive, unexpected bonus from the "High Tier Attribute Points" reward, clearly exceeding the sum of the incremental gains.
It was a direct, substantial increase from a completed quest, far more significant than the daily activities. This cemented his place not just as a genius, but as an intellectual powerhouse unmatched by virtually anyone in his age group, and rapidly catching up to even the brightest scientific minds on Earth.
His Wisdom also saw a decent boost to 1.9.
Nate leaned back in his chair, a wide, triumphant grin stretching across his face. This was it.
This was the true taste of being OP. Not just muscle, but mind. With 5.4 Intelligence, he was already bordering on the intellectual level of some of the brightest minds in the MCU, or at least rapidly approaching them, capable of processing information and forming solutions at an unprecedented rate.
And he was just getting started. The potential was truly limitless.
He saved his solution and coded a detailed report, ready to send to his father in the morning. David Thorne was about to get a very pleasant, and very shocking, surprise.