Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Supernatural powers weren’t considered to be that strong at lower levels. This was why I completely ignored Heinrich and his Pyrokinesis ability.

When a new ability awakened, the initial burst could be quite powerful, but afterward, in a stabilized state, its power would not reach the same peak.

“Did you feel your grip strength improve at all?”

“Yes, my palms are tingling, so it seems like it.”

I definitely felt that my grip strength had actually increased. If not, my palms wouldn’t be hurting as if they were about to tear apart when the only thing I did was clench a stone.

“Alright then, now let’s try running from here to the other end of the swimming pool at full speed.”

“Okay.”

Since it was essentially an ability that enhanced the physical attributes, the assessment turned out to be no different from the physical training I’d been doing. I was already doing so much of it that I’d gotten used to it and didn’t really resent the idea of exercising.

I sprinted with all my might from one end of the swimming pool to the other. Honestly, this small bit of exercise wasn’t enough to tire me out at all.

The teacher seemed to check something, then yelled, “Now, sprint back here at full speed again! But this time, use your abilities! Run as if you are believing that you are extremely fast!”

This time, it was a test of speed.

She was measuring the time it took me to reach the other side without using abilities, and once again when I used my ability.

As I prepared to take off, I thought to myself, ‘I am Usain Bolt.’

I did another 50-meter sprint at full speed, and the teacher slowly nodded.

“I see. Interesting, Reinhart.”

Had something changed? I definitely felt my grip strength increase in the previous test, but the change wasn’t as noticeable when it came to running.

“Before using your ability, you clocked in at 8.3 seconds, but after using it, it’s exactly 8 seconds.”

“... Honestly, I can’t really tell.”

I knew that it would be difficult to notice the difference when it came to something like running, so I wasn’t sure if it truly was a significant improvement. That little bit of improvement could have simply been human error.

The teacher continued to put me through various tests. They were mainly strength, endurance, and agility tests.

As we proceeded, my mental state seemed to become more and more peculiar.

Self-Deception meant that the deception I gave myself would become a reality.

So, while running, if I truly believed and thought to myself, “I am Usain Bolt,” and my supernatural power was strong enough, I could technically achieve Usain Bolt’s speed, or perhaps even surpass it.

Essentially, in order to use my power, I had to keep thinking “I am XX” or “I am doing XX.”

It basically felt as if I was back in my elementary school days, when kids would make outrageous claims like “I’m a dinosaur!” just because they believed themselves to be so.

This power almost seemed to be bringing a child’s unreasonable tantrums and stubbornness into reality, and the more seriously I indulged in these tantrums, the more effectively my abilities manifested.

So, the bottom line was... this power felt less like Self-Deception and more like “Self-Brainwashing.” This made more sense, since I had basically brainwashed myself into thinking I was going to win “somehow” in my duel with Mayaton.

A power that manifested only when you managed to successfully brainwash yourself... Leaving the effectiveness of the ability aside, it seemed rather pathetic.

“....”

“What’s the matter, Reinhart?”

“Well, it’s just that... the fact that I have to seriously hypnotize myself into believing that punching this tree will break it is kind of... unbearable.”

It felt like I was saying, “Haha, my punches are strong enough to shatter trees, just watch!” when in reality, all I was doing was tricking myself. Why did I have to trick myself like that?! Why couldn’t my thoughts just become reality?!

It was ridiculous! Not just ridiculous—it was the actual required mindset!

Since I had discarded this power in the original story, I hadn’t considered what kind of mental damage someone would take from actually using this ability.

But now that I was actually using it, I realized that this power... was pretty embarrassing.

“What can you do? That’s the kind of power it is. Now, give it a try.”

Anyway...

It sounded like something a holy knight would say, that believing in yourself would make you stronger, but in reality, it wasn’t like that at all.

It was like having a religion where I was my own object of faith. A crazy religion where the worshiper and the worshiped are the same. A religion where I believed in myself.

It really felt like I was going to go insane.

***

In my current state, I was only able to enhance my physical abilities, but in the future, I would be able to perform actions that surpassed these limitations. At that point, individually applying these detailed aspects would be a waste of time.

Therefore, instead of specifying and enhancing each part one by one—like strengthening my fists, speeding up my legs, et cetera—it was better to enhance my abilities in a more comprehensive sense.

However, this required focus and prioritization.

If I used my supernatural power to enhance my whole body, it would be less efficient than just enhancing my fists. Instead of an overly-broad belief, it could be better to believe in something slightly more concrete, such as becoming accustomed to a body fit for melee combat.

If my abilities gained strength, then I might also be able to make myself believe that I was proficient in grand magic battles, or exceptional in close combat situations.

In the end, this power really suited me.

I was a web novel author, and ultimately, this wasn’t much different from creating a character sheet.

At that moment, I was jotting something down in my notebook.

Type A:

Settings: Overall increase in muscle strength, improvement in swordsmanship, enhanced cognitive ability, faster reaction speed.

I knew better than anyone that doing this was necessary. After establishing standards for Type A, Type B, and so on, I would not need to think about what specific parts of me were to be enhanced.

For example, if I thought to myself, “I’ve become Type A,” and if I remember this setup, my body would become stronger accordingly. Self-Deception was, literally, the ability to become the version of myself that I held in my mind. If I memorized the physical state that came with thinking ‘I am Type A’ and I brought out the thought “I’ve become Type A,” it would become so. It was an optimal way to use my ability with ease.

In other words, I was setting up presets for my supernatural power, and summoning the necessary settings whenever I needed them.

“....”

As I continued to write, though, I felt a sense of self-derision.

Ms. Rolendria was worried about my eighth-grader syndrome, and I was doing exactly that at the moment. It was no different from a middle-schooler giggling while writing down their imagined powers in a notebook during lunchtime.

Eventually, I might even end up with something like “Type Z: Can summon a black flame dragon with my right hand.”

I might actually end up doing that kind of crazy stuff!

I never even did this back when I was in middle school! But to think that, at my age, I was now writing a settings notebook, spelling out things like “Lol, sick, I have this power now”...

It made me want to die.

‘I should look on the bright side and think positively, but I just can’t.’

Although I was supposed to be more mature than anyone else here, here I was, the school’s biggest troublemaker, cooped up in the dormitory, immersed in creating my own character with “cool” settings.

My heck of a personality was one thing, but my ability was the icing on the cake.

‘What even is the meaning of life...’

While I was absorbed in character creation, the communication device in my room suddenly started blaring.

Buzz!

It was called a communication device, but it was basically no different from an intercom.

Someone was calling me.

‘Who could it be?’

The only person I could possibly think of was Ellen, but she wasn’t the type who would intentionally come looking for me, especially through a device.

I turned on the communication device. I heard a familiar voice, with an unfamiliar tone.

“Come to the main lobby.”

It was Charlotte.