c20: Rapidly Rising Play Progress
Ryan Wong's words left Natasha Romanoff, Nick Fury, and the others metaphorically facepalming.
Brawling in the streets (knocking out the Hulk in Harlem), lethal takedowns on public roads (neutralizing mutated Abominations during a rampage), assaulting law enforcement (flattening a full squad under General Ross during a standoff), and public combat demonstrations (one person laying waste to a cadre of Kingpin's enforcers in Hell's Kitchen).
If that's what qualifies you as a "good citizen," then Batman, Spider-Man, and Daredevil should be on the Daily Bugle's "Top Ten Law-Abiding Civilians" list.
Annoyed though they were, duty came first.
After deliberation by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tactical think tank yes, the same minds who once debated whether letting Loki escape was "strategic" Ryan Wong's request was approved.
After all, when a free powerhouse knocks on your door offering help, you don't ask why especially if said powerhouse could probably solo the Dark Phoenix in a bad mood.
Compared to the chakra-level might demonstrated by the so-called "Fourth Hokage," the task reward Ryan asked for was pocket change.
Ten million dollars had already been thrown into black ops like Project Insight, so a few extra funds here or there didn't even raise Maria Hill's eyebrow.
Still, the think tank wasn't entirely at ease.
The seal located beneath Times Square a covert mystic lock placed with assistance from Zatanna and Strange was fragile. Should it shatter, it would unleash the demonic energy of the Kyuubi, an entity strong enough to put Dormammu on edge.
And yet, instead of heading straight for investigation or power growth, Ryan Wong wanted to make money?
This concern was tactfully voiced to Ryan by Natasha.
"Oh? That's what you're all worried about?" Ryan scoffed, leaning lazily against a table. "Do you think someone at my level needs more training?"
"If gaining power is a grind with minimal returns, why not chase profit instead? Gotta eat, right?"
"Besides, those trying to break the seal aren't careless. They're like Hydra: always in the shadows. If they don't reveal themselves, good luck finding them."
"So, on the surface, sure, I'm helping S.H.I.E.L.D. run errands, finish side quests. But in reality? I'm running deep recon. Figured that was obvious. Guess I gave you too much credit."
The silence from the S.H.I.E.L.D. think tank was palpable. Several junior analysts flushed red with embarrassment, while senior operatives like Coulson managed to maintain their poker faces.
Most of them grumbled internally: "Yeah, sure, the theory tracks, but how are we supposed to guess your entire playbook?"
Also, supporting a family? Since when is Minato Namikaze—sorry, Ryan Wong married?
Eventually, a compromise was reached. Natasha was reassigned to a dedicated logistics role for Ryan's missions.
Her new title: Field Support Liaison for Wong Operations.
Job description? Source viable missions, verify completion, manage payouts, and occasionally "accidentally" deploy herself alongside him because, after all, the "honey trap" angle had now become an optional, case-by-case maneuver.
Obviously, S.H.I.E.L.D. had zero intention of provoking Ryan Wong—even if the odds of him snapping were only theoretical.
The ever-pragmatic organization wasn't about to test someone who could warp space like Magik and punch like Thor.
In the following week, Ryan Wong smoothly raised the simulated persona progress of his alternate identity essentially a "playthrough" of Minato Namikaze—to 50%.
Here's how he pulled it off.
To start, Ryan spent the week carrying out S.H.I.E.L.D. missions like clockwork.
Every morning at 8:00 sharp, he would materialize next to Natasha Romanoff, then vanish at 6:00 p.m. to return home.
Of course, the excuse he gave Natasha was simple "I have a strong attachment to my bed back in Konoha Village."
And with a space-time teleportation technique like the Flying Thunder God Jutsu which in Marvel terms works like a personal Boom Tube meets a perfected version of Cloak's shadow teleport what could anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. say? Even Fitz didn't have the tech to trace him.
During these missions, Ryan put on an Oscar-worthy performance: pretending to covertly investigate while appearing to fully commit to mission objectives, though ironically, he was actually doing only the mission.
This triple-layered bluff boosted Ryan's acting stat dramatically.
In this phase alone, he racked up 12% progress in persona mastery.
He completed ten moderately difficult S.H.I.E.L.D. ops low-stakes affairs like escorting agents, retrieving Hydra intel caches, or dismantling rogue AIM tech nodes. For his trouble, he earned a payout of $100,000 and another 10% bump in character development.
But the final 2% revealed something crucial: the nature of the quest-giver matters.
Ryan learned that helping civilians or minor agents barely moved the needle in performance gain.
Helping everyday folks like stopping a local thug in Harlem or rescuing a banker's daughter from a Skrull impersonator netted only 0.1% progress, even when public thanks or newspaper blurbs followed.
But helping a known superhero? Whole different scale.
When Ryan assisted Natasha (Black Widow herself) by tracking down a rogue ex-KGB handler, and in return got nothing but a shawarma dinner? That interaction boosted his persona by 1.9%.
A nineteenfold gap.
That's when Ryan realized: play progress was exponentially higher when tasks were commissioned by major figures those listed in the Avengers database or on the Raft's restricted registry.
That also explained why his ten prior missions only earned 10% progress most were assigned by rank-and-file operatives or secondary informants, not by powered individuals or marquee villains.
From that moment on, Ryan resolved to prioritize requests from recognizable heroes or villains people like Luke Cage, Mystique, Moon Knight, or even lesser-known but powered figures like Taskmaster.
Adding this new week's 22% to his previous 28%, Ryan had now reached 50% total persona sync.
And the final 10% that completed this week's haul?
That came courtesy of none other than Dr. Bruce Banner himself.
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