The Fat God System

"Huh?!" the desperate man blurted out. He could not believe what he was seeing as he expected Hugh and the others to be beaten up.

However, what he was seeing was the opposite of that. The five bald men were on their chests at the ground, heaving and groaning as they got a big red spot at the top of their shiny bald heads.

The situation almost seemed like the bald men were defeated by just one attack. However, how could that be possible? The bald men were supposed to be vicious and ridiculously strong?

The desperate man shook his head. He finally got the courage to stand up and go over to Serena.

"What happened?" he asked.

Serena grinned at the man. "Oh them? We just taught them a lesson."

It was only then that the desperate man realized what truly happened. He looked at Serena and the others as superhumans who could do the impossible.

Realizing his previous impudence, the desperate man quickly kneeled on the ground and faced the superhuman teenagers.

"Forgive my manners! My humble name is Miser. If it is not too impudent, my I ask for my savior's names?"

Serena was a little taken aback by Miser's attitude, but she did not hate it. She lavished this reaction from him and it made her involuntarily smile.

"My name is Serena. That's Jane. Hugh. Aric, and Dempsy." Serena said as she performed a little bow in front of Miser like a queen looking down at her peasant.

"Oh! What wonderful names!" Miser proclaimed. He put his head even deeper into the ground to show his appreciation.

"Can you tell us what's up with these guys?" Jane interjected as she held up one of the bald men's heads.

As Miser heard Jane, he got a chill in his back. He was so grateful for Serena and the others that he Alamo's forgot the urgency of the situation.

He slapped himself in the cheek and once again faced Serena. He took her hands and pleaded to her. "Please! Help me save my daughter!"

Serena looked a bit flustered at being held by the hand, but she did not reject Miser's request. She nodded her head to calm him down first.

"We'll listen first," Serena said.

Then, Miser told his story to everyone. He was emotional and urgent in his delivery, and it was evident that he wanted the sympathy of everyone.

It turned out that Miser was in a big debt that he inherited from his deceased father. However, he could not pay the debt all at once, so he promised to pay it back in small sums for a while.

Through the months, he was barely making the cut of the payment by gathering herbs in the nearby mountain and selling it to the pharmacy. He was able to pat some of his debt that way.

However, things started to turn for the worse as the herbs started to disappear. Without those herbs, Miser was not able to pay some of his payments.

The bald men were sent by the loaning company to take care of Miser. They would harass Miser for the money, but he could not procure the funds anyway.

Then, they started to target his daughter. It was then that Miser realized that he had to do something. That was when Serena and the others arrived to help.

"…that's what happened," Miser said with a depressed voice.

Hugh sighed as he heard Miser's life story. It was truly an unfortunate situation that was hard to solve. If Hugh did not have his power, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he would also be in this position.

"Will you help me?" Miser asked. He got down on his knees, put his hands together, and prayed to them.

Serena held up her head in a proud way. As a part of the nobility, she felt that it was her responsibility to help the less fortunate. Noblesse oblige. "I will help you."

Jane felt sorry for Miser's daughter, and she could not sleep easily if she did not do anything to help them. "Me too."

"I won't. I have better things to do," Dempsy said as he walked out of the situation. He had no motivation to help them, and he knew that it would take a lot of energy to resolve the situation.

"Wait, Aric!" Aric tried to stop Dempsy from leaving, but Dempsy would not stop. He returned to Miser and talked to him. "Fine, I'll help you solve your father's debt."

Hugh scratched his chin as he thought about the situation. Like Dempsy, he had no profit from helping Miser.

Miser seemed to sense Hugh's reluctance to help, so he spoke up. "I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to offer you. I only have worthless rocks and glasses that I picked up in the mountains to offer you."

As Hugh saw Miser close his eyes, he finally relented. He was not a heartless person, so he thought that it would not be bad to help out once in a while.

"Fine. I'll help," Hugh reluctantly said. He decided that he would eat every rock or glass in Miser's house as a fee.

As Miser heard this, he rejoiced. The seemingly invincible group of teenagers were willing to help him out. It was like a gift sent from the heavens that he would not forget.

————————

"It's there. That's the Shark Loan company," Miser whispered as he peeked from a bush a distance away from the target.

Hugh scouted out the situation and found that it was greatly protected. There were guards all over the entrance and the back while ranged archers protected the rooftops.

"Hmm…it's not impossible," Serena said. Seeing that most of the guards used steel weapons, it was safe to say that they did not have any special powers.

All they had to worry about were those who had no weapons by their side. That could mean that they had a Desire of their own.

"Let's scout out the place first," Jane said. She already planned out several exit and entrance strategies as she observed the place.

"Should we take a visit, then?" Aric said. He peeked out and saw that normal-looking people were visiting the Shark Loan company.

"Those are also victims," Miser said as he looked at the people who were visiting the place. "They are there to pay off their debt by selling themselves or others."

As they heard that, all of them went silent. It was a cruel world, and people were forced to do horrible things just to survive.

"It looks like sneaking in will be a problem, and since we don't know what's inside, it will be a big risk," Jane assessed.

"Like I said, why don't we just visit them?" Aric said. He was ignored the first time, so he raised his voice higher to be heard.

However, nobody seemed to have heard Aric. They all continued to look at the Shark loan building as they continuously tried to think of a possible plan.

After a while, Jane got an idea. "Why don't we go in there and scout it out?"

"Hey! I said that first!" Aric complained, but he was ignored once again.

"Yes! That's a great idea. We could pretend to be paying off our debt with Miser. While we are there, we scout out the place and see where Miser's daughter is kept." Serena exclaimed.

With the plan in place, Jane and Serena continued to smooth out the plan by themselves. Aric was left to himself as he drew circles in the ground using his fingers.

Hugh patted him on the back.

———————

It was late at night, and the Shark Loan building was at its quietest. There were still guards patrolling the place, but they were less energized than before. Some were even dozing off in place.

Five figures walked towards the front entrance wearing cloaks that concealed their bodies and their faces. As soon as the entrance guard saw this, he was alerted and drew his sword.

"Halt! State your names!"

The five figures stopped in place and raised their hands in surrender. They wanted to make it clear that they did not intend to harm anyone.

The guard slowly approached the group holding his sword in both hands. He signaled some of his fellow guards to help him inspect the incoming group.

"Don't move!" the guard bellowed as he approached them with the threat of death.

However, only one of the figures seemed to be shivering in fear. The others were unmoving and expressionless as if they were not afraid of the sword in their faces.

Then, the guards started to inspect the figures. They removed the cloaks and revealed them to be Hugh and the others alongside Miser.

The guards cupped them for any weapons of any kind, but they did not find anything. Seeing that the group was not a threat, the guard sheathed his sword and allowed the group inside.

Hugh smiled as he entered the Shark Loan building.