[All characters, place names, organizations, and events appearing in this work are entirely fictitious and bear no relation to reality. They are the product of the author's imagination.]
Henry decided to pour in every last one of his remaining 105 points. It was exactly the budget needed to synthesize a 1-Star grade avatar.
[Select the gender of the avatar to be created.]
[Male / Female]
'For security reasons, male is the obvious choice.'
Without hesitation, Henry selected 'Male,' his eyes narrowing. While Asians or Black people were overwhelmingly superior in terms of cost-effectiveness, this time he had no intention of saving on the budget. He clicked on 'Anglo-Saxon American,' which sat at the most expensive end of the race category.
The reason he was going to such lengths was simple: to target Butler Bartholomew Kensington, the true power behind the family.
This seasoned butler, who went by the nickname Bart, was the living history of the Devenger family. He was a descendant of a vassal family that had served three generations of masters since his grandfather's time, and currently the chief administrator of the Devenger family trust. With his parents gone due to an accident and his direct subordinates wiped out, Bart was now the figure who wielded the greatest power within the family.
'If Bart put his mind to it, I could be turned into a fool inside this mansion without anyone the wiser.'
In his memories, Bart was the perfect loyal retainer. He had held Henry's hand when he took his first steps, and on the day of his parents' funeral, he had swallowed his tears while tying Henry's tie. Even now, he stayed by Henry's side—who had ceased all food and drink(?)—handling the complicated inheritance as if it were his own affair.
The Henry from before the possession would have been moved and clung to him, but the safety-first ideologue from 2026 was different. His motto was to strike the stepping stone with a sledgehammer before crossing it. Unless a loyalty value was floating before his eyes, human hearts were nothing but fluid risks that could change at any moment.
'It would have been nice if I could at least see real numbers... Well, there's nothing I can do since I can't see them. Bart was growing old alone without so much as a romance, let alone children, since he raised me. I suppose I'll just make him a son.'
Henry let a sly smile play at the corner of his lips. His fingers danced through the air, filling in the blanks of the avatar creation window. A blood relation secretly raised by a woman who had briefly captured Bart's heart in his youth, or perhaps a hidden past that not even the family's records could reach.
As if doctoring a Wikipedia article, he began to bestow the most convincing narrative upon a virtual person.
At that moment, Bart—holding a meal tray outside the door and worrying about Henry's safety—felt a chill run down his spine. On the family tree of a lifelong bachelor, he had no idea what kind of bomb his master, who was rampaging like a madman behind the door, was preparing to drop.
[Joshua Kensington]
Birth = April 12, 1951 (Age 28)
Birthplace = Westchester, New York, USA
Physical = 189cm, 92kg, Blood type AB Rh+
Education = Browning School graduate
Military Career = U.S. Navy SEAL Team 1 (1971–1975)
Current Position = Head of the Devenger family security team, 'Devenger Resources'
Family Relations = Father: Bartholomew Kensington
= Mother: Margaret Kensington
His appearance was optimized purely for functionality. It was the result of dumping everything into the concept of 'intimidation' to save points. A rugged and sharp impression, various scars that marked real combat experience, a muscular physique that looked ready to burst, and to top it all off, a shaved head. He had crammed in all the 'three sacred treasures' that would make anyone's knees buckle at the mere sight of him.
He would only learn this later, but making the settings this menacing actually cost slightly more points. However, having toiled day and night to craft this aesthetic beauty(?), Henry pushed forward as is, unwilling to waste the effort.
Perhaps he felt sorry for making the face too vicious. Henry showed mercy(?) at a rather subtle point.
'Still, he has to do his part as a man. Smaller than mine, but much bigger than average... Let's go with exactly 16 cm.'
By setting Joshua's length to 16 cm, Henry was finally able to alleviate a modicum of guilt. The biography that followed was an unending series of hardships. It took a full three days of rummaging through the outdated records of 1979 instead of the convenient search engines of 2026 just to stitch together a plausible narrative.
[Overview]
Successor to the Kensington family, which has served the Devenger family for ten generations, and the dedicated head of security for the current family head, Henry Devenger. An elite agent who survived the brutal front lines of the Vietnam War, he is a man who serves Henry as his absolute master. An upright man who chooses loyalty over life itself, and a figure who serves as the very symbol of the family's military might.
[Biography]
Childhood: Lost his mother in a delivery accident and was raised by Bartholomew. He grew up like a brother to Henry, a reliable older brother who silently supported him from behind when Henry first learned to walk.
Navy SEAL Days: Enlisted voluntarily in 1971. Assigned to Navy SEAL Team 1, he carried out classified operations in the Mekong Delta region. Paradoxically, due to his skill in silently neutralizing enemies, he earned the codename 'Saint.'
Return: Honorably discharged after the war ended in 1975, but while wandering aimlessly due to war trauma, he answered his father's call and returned to establish the Devenger family security team centered around Henry.
Henry Devenger struggled for a full three days, going back and forth between his room and the study. It was something that would have been settled with a few web searches in 2026, but creating an elaborate fake life in 1979 New York without the internet was truly an ordeal. Knowledge could only be conveyed through old records or word of mouth, and even that was hopelessly incomplete.
Joshua's military career settings were especially troublesome. The books gathering dust in the study alone had limits in realistically filling in the operational areas and details of the Navy SEALs. The system constantly displayed red text about insufficient plausibility, often rejecting his settings.
In the end, Henry awkwardly left his room. He ran into Butler Bart in the hallway and requested related books and records under the excuse of 'materials to satisfy my curiosity.' Bart made an extremely reluctant expression at the young master—who should have been steeped in grief—suddenly looking for Vietnam War records, but Henry put on his best performance as a 'wounded genius immersed in intellectual inquiry' and overcame the crisis(?).
Truthfully, Henry had wanted to make Joshua into a far more overwhelming human weapon. But having used up his remaining points and even drawn on a Knowledge stat of 1, this was the best cost-effectiveness he could squeeze out. The 'Navy SEAL' part of the biography was unusually expensive; if he had changed it to ordinary military service, he could have saved 40 points and his precious Knowledge stat of 1. But Henry boldly opened his wallet for the sake of his own safety.
'Physical ability, 12 points... I can't quite grasp how strong that is.'
He didn't know what the maximum for Physical Ability was, but the system did provide an explanation for this part.
The average adult male was exactly 10 points.
According to the system's explanation, the average adult male was 10 points. Joshua's ability score, created by investing 5 points in the Health stat, was 12. It had only risen by a meager 1 point compared to when the stat was 4. Compared to the overwhelming efficiency of the Knowledge stat, the Health stat was like a famously lavish feast with nothing to eat. Henry vowed internally: if he earned more points later, he would definitely go all-in on Intelligence and avatars.
On the other hand, the intellectual design of Joshua, into whom he had invested 1 point in the Knowledge stat, was truly killer content.
Henry carefully examined the complex intelligence indices presented by the system. From the Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) to EQ (Emotional Quotient), AQ (Adversity Quotient), MQ (Moral Quotient)... there were countless concepts that didn't exist or were unfamiliar in 1979. Reading the system's concise annotations, Henry meticulously assembled Joshua's brain structure.
The fortunate thing was that despite using the Knowledge stat 1 in the biography section, all the values were brought above the system average. However, wondering if MQ (Moral Quotient), which indicated moral judgment, really needed to be high for a bodyguard, Henry shaved a bit off and dumped it into other abilities.
He had especially put effort into the personality section. To use the Knowledge stat efficiently, Henry exquisitely mixed 'Plus' and 'Minus' traits like a cocktail.
Plus Traits: Diligence, Precision, Courage, Leadership, and Blind Loyalty.
Minus Traits: Cold Rationality, Elitism, and Moral Blindness.
Cold Rationality was a peculiar trait calculated at 0.5 points; since a bodyguard needed to judge situations with a cool head, it seemed like a bonus instead, so he selected it without hesitation. Elitism would also be converted into pride in the Devenger family, so it could only benefit Henry with no chance of loss.
The crowning jewel was Moral Blindness. A fanatical attitude that prioritized the family's orders over social norms. From Henry's perspective, there was no more reliable insurance than this.
'I customized him however I liked, but... I just hope he doesn't cause an accident.'
He filled every available slot to the brim. Through a soul-crushing process of editing and bargaining down every word, the creation cost finally matched his current entire fortune of 105 points with ruler-like precision.
Now, all he had to do was press the 'Confirm' button at the bottom, and everything would begin. But the moment he brought his finger to it, Henry was engulfed in terrible hesitation.
'The life story settings are so expensive because they manipulate social perception too, right? But what if not? What if the moment he's created, Bart draws a gun and shouts, "Who is this intruder!"'
From the Social Security number to the national database. Even if it was the outdated administrative system of 1979, he was overwhelmed with anxiety at how the world would accept a hulking man popping out of nowhere. Yet Henry eventually squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the button.
A moment later, a heavy, blunt male voice resounded in the room that had been silent until then.
"Young Master."
Instead of answering, Henry stared, frozen, at the notification window that had newly appeared. His mind began to spin faster than ever before.
[The avatar has been successfully created based on the user's location.]
[Due to the avatar's existence, when the user character's body is in a state of mortal danger, consciousness will automatically transfer to the avatar's body.]
[Caution = In the case of voluntary suicide, consciousness will not transfer. Even if the avatar dies or consciousness is transferred to the avatar, the creation cost of available avatars will not be recovered.]
'Consciousness transfer? W-wait a minute... does that mean this is an extra life for me?'
Henry's pupils shook violently. Precious spare lifelines of which there were only two. And now he had summoned one as a bodyguard to protect his main body, throwing it right onto the front lines.
'No, this is a worthwhile endeavor. To seize control of the family, first... No, you idiot! If I had just made a five-year-old younger brother and hidden him somewhere safe, I would have secured one bonus life! Ah, fuck...'
Henry's inner scream—fitting for the petty commoner from his previous life—echoed wretchedly inside. Elite agent of 1-Star grade, bullshit. Now, in Henry's eyes, Joshua looked like nothing more than a walking, precious spare life rather than a reliable bodyguard.