My System: An Evolved Computer I Made With My Unique Ability—

Clear skies and the occasional breeze. It was the optimal casual weather as everyone walked towards the entrance gate of the United Superheroes Academy. Since the sun was still halfway up the horizon, the slight warmth mixed by the coldness of the night a few hours ago combined together, producing a pleasurable morning for everyone.

Despite this satisfactory time of day, a tense atmosphere already enveloped the entire school as more students arrived. For some odd reason, most of them were holding their breaths and a good number of them clutched their chests so tightly that their uniforms were terribly wrinkled. And for Midori who's got incredible hearing skills, he could overhear the somewhat loud beating of their hearts as he walked in. This was the fateful day when the candidates, or rather, representatives of the school for the upcoming inter-high would be chosen. That's why even all of the teachers were somewhat anxious as they await the principal's announcement.

When Satoshi arrived, the tense atmosphere had already reached its climax and he almost choked upon feeling it. He glanced towards Kuroe and Shiroi who were kind of nervous as well even though it was just a regular day. Satoshi may very well be the only one who didn't feel any nervousness at all. Quite frankly, he didn't care whether he'd be chosen as a representative or not since he'd done his best in the hero training. If he wasn't chosen, then it happened because someone else was better than him.

"You nervous? I-I-I'm not nervous at all, you know." Hiroshi's teeth chattered as he talked. His nervousness was so conspicuous that Satoshi didn't even have to say anything. Everyone noticed it. "I-it's not like I expect to be chosen. I know for sure that there are only limited spots on the team. Don't expect to be chosen as well, Satoshi. You'll just be disappointed."

With a nod, Satoshi looked away, ignoring what Hiroshi just said. There really is a great chance that he won't be chosen since the criteria of the selection process weren't disclosed. All in all, he did what he could, and the results would just depend on how the principal would view their performance.

While Satoshi's eyes wandered around the place, staring at the different faces of the students in his school, a thought occurred to him that there were actually a lot of students in the United Superheroes Academy. It didn't just revolve around his Class and each of them has their own trials to conquer and problems to face. He then remembered what Siril told him a few days ago during the hero training for all first-years. And honestly, what he said was right. There's no way anyone in Class 3-1 would see the status of other lower classes because they never paid attention to each other. Somehow, a hierarchical system had been subconsciously placed in the school where superheroes of higher standing would not even notice those below them. It was subtle but it was there. No one dared to offend a superpower with a powerful student and those in power could do anything they want as long as they don't break any rules. Inequality had always been present in the history of man but now that superpowers have come into the picture thanks to the Alpha gene, that distinctive line that separated equality and inequality became a blur.

And Satoshi knew how it feels to be on the other side of the spectrum. After all, it's only recently that he's obtained his own superpower.

"What are you thinking about?" Someone called out to Satoshi, tickling his ear since the person spoke too close to his face for comfort. "You're thinking about whether you'll get in or not, right? I'm telling you, Satoshi, out of everyone who participated in that hero training, you're the MVP— most valuable person! I've seen the broadcast and you've done incredibly well. You don't have to be nervous. Also, what's up with your superpower? You were able to blow away an entire class with just a single summon? That's neat! I wish I had a superpower like yours."

It was Midori. Somehow, Satoshi could hear the instability in his voice. He then patted him on the back without speaking so he'd stop talking and listen to him. "What are you doing?" He asked, weirded out that Satoshi was acting in an uncharacteristic manner.

"You all right? You were admitted to the hospital, right?" Satoshi asked out of the blue.

"Wait, how did you know that? Oh— so you were the one who brought those handouts to our place." Midori chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Please don't tell anyone about our place. Actually, I'm still looking for a part-time job so I could finish the repairs to our house."

"You don't have to worry about that. It's already impressive that you can manage your entire family, the expenses, and food at the same time. If I were you, I'd have lost my mind a long time ago." Satoshi said. "I'm sorry you had to miss the hero training like that. But don't worry about that, there's always a next time. I heard from your youngest sister that you actually have a really commendable superpower but she didn't want to tell me what it is because it's your secret. Or so that's what she said."

"You even talked to Miya? Wait... did you go inside our house?!" Midori exclaimed to the point that everyone stared at him for causing such a commotion. Feeling embarrassed, he slightly bowed his head and stuck closer to Satoshi.

"Was I not supposed to when they invited me to go in?" Satoshi cluelessly asked.

"N-not really."

"She also told me about that— you know— the incident. Apparently, she was poisoned. And she wasn't the only one. Did you hear the news?" Satoshi whispered. "My parents are going to look into it,. I'll tell you once I have more information about the incident."

"Yeah, thanks... wait?! How much did you talk about?! Why did she tell you such a— " Midori was already panicking.

"Oh, they even showed me your baby pictures. I thought you colored your hair but it was already green ever since you were born, huh." Satoshi teased, pointing at his crotch. "Is it also green down there?"

"Y-you," Midori grabbed Satoshi by the neck as he tried to tickle his sides. And at the same time he did that, a figure already walked towards the podium.