Chapter 2 The Retro Computer

Last Night,

It was late past dinner time when Satoshi headed back to his room. He reasoned that he needed to prepare a few things for school which will be starting tomorrow. But then again, Satoshi wasn't the type to prepare anything so his parents already concluded that he wasn't physically preparing himself— he'd done enough of that— but rather, he was mentally readying himself for what seemed like the longest school year yet.

Another reason why Satoshi headed back to his room at that time was that he stopped watching television. Most days, an interview of his parents will be featured in a majority of all channels on television. That's why no matter how badly he wanted to chill on the sofa, there was no way he could do it. Not only will he just feel out of place, but his parents will also feel awkward given his reactions.

Satoshi's room was neither cramped nor spacey. It was an average room with a bed, a bookshelf, and a study table. Hailing from a family of superheroes, Satoshi was aware that he's living a well-off life. He should've been more contented about it... but why does his mind keep urging him to become more than what he currently is?

Sigh~

After wearing the Headgear and a few thimble-like metal caps for each of his fingers, Satoshi decided to play the recently launched video game called 'Laser Fingers'. Laser Fingers is a simple game. On the ceiling, a few targets will light up, projected from the headgear, and you have to hit them with the lasers that came out of your hand. The only catch is, the laser continuously goes through a straight line unless you specifically told it which direction it should go. With the help of the Headgear which can safely utilize brain activities, it then sends signals to the thimbles, indicating where the laser should head next. The laser will then travel through the air and hit the target on the ceiling— of course, the targets are mobile, and the lasers are constantly extending as well. That's why it needed precise control to finish a level. You can manually order the laser to move left, right, zigzag, and so on and so forth.

The best player of the game was someone who could easily control four lasers at once in endless mode. But as for Satoshi, he could easily control ten. He never recorded nor showed anyone how he played the game though.

For the next two hours, he would just fire away at the targets, not missing a single beat as he carefully maneuvered the lasers. But boredom overcame him once again and he stopped playing. The thought that tomorrow is the first day of school haunted him, and he presumed it would even haunt him in his dreams.

"If only my superpower would just come out already." He kept on telling himself as he moved to his study table and turned on the retro computer that sat there.

Compared to the futuristic headgear that held the game 'Laser Fingers', the retro computer held a few ancient games which are considered relics. Games that have existed for more than a thousand years could be played on that retro computer, which makes it one of the priceless items in the modern era. But after contemplating on whether he should play or not, he decided to just hit the sack.

"It's not like it would give me any ideas. For the past four years, I've desperately searched for my superpower but it never appeared. I guess my school experience tomorrow would be just like before... except worse. This is high school, for Pete's sake. Of course, it would be more hellish than ever."

Heaving yet another sigh of surrender, Satoshi slumped on his bed and stared at the ceiling, extending his hands as countless thoughts invaded his head. He was well aware that it wasn't his fault. It was his nonexistent superpower which is at fault. But somehow, he blames himself for being too weak. In a physical sense, he is in tip-top shape... but what of it if he didn't have the superpower? No matter how strong he got, in a physical sense, there was no way it could go head to head with everyone in the school.

p Since his readings showed that he had the Alpha-gene, he managed to get into one of the most prestigious hero schools in the country of Japan. But even with that label in his school uniform, he's still an outsider in everyone's eyes. Even with the name of his parents backing him up, he's still a fish in shark-infested waters. Without the strength to back him up, his parents' reputation is useless.

There's only one thing Satoshi needed to graduate from being an outsider— a superpower.

As sleepiness kicked in and his eyelids drooped, Satoshi stared at his retro computer once again and thought of playing another game. A stupid thought came into his mind and he laughed it off. "What if my superpower is a System or something of the sort, wouldn't that be crazy?" He said to himself.

But before slumber fully overcame him, his eyes shot wide open and a blue haze appeared in front of it. Just like his eyes, his hands were also enveloped in the same blue haze. It was akin to a flame, but it was neither cold nor hot. As Satoshi rolled his hands around, he could tell that the flames were dancing all over his palms.

"Wait... is this... ?!"

Before he knew what was happening, the flames in his hands shot towards his retro computer. For a good second, it was engulfed in flames. Satoshi flinched as the mere thought of the retro computer turning into ashes appeared in his mind. But to his relief, nothing happened.

"Wait, nothing happened?!"

"After all these years of fruitless searches... and now that I finally found it... there's nothing! You mean to tell me that these flames are just for decoration?" Satoshi wanted to slam his head against the wall or better yet, jump off the window. But he knew that wouldn't be a good idea.

[Ting]

[Welcome owner]

The letters flashed on the computer screen. Flummoxed, Satoshi stood up from his bed and cautiously approached the computer. "What's going on... "

[Hello, owner! I'm your exclusive System!]

[Please grant me a name.]

Satoshi gulped, staring at his retro computer as if it was an alien that descended on the earth. Right now, he couldn't believe that he finally found what his superpower is... but even if he did, he doesn't know how to use it. "Ah, so we're back to square one, huh."

Thus, for the remainder of the night, Satoshi tried to exploit his superpower as much as he could, fully knowing that it would at least be useful by tomorrow. Somehow, he's slightly prepared for the first day of school.