The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 190

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. 〙

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

〘 PULL THREE COMPLETE 〙

〘 DEMIGOD 〙

〘 Rarity: LEGENDARY 〙

〘 Type: Passive Trait (Permanent) 〙

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