“Alright. Just consider this as your home and do as you please. The food is in the fridge near the kitchen. Make something yourself if you’re hungry. I need to have a patrol again right now, so I will help you deal with your side-effects at night if you need to. Also, call me if you need something. Bye!”

Bam!

Ami closed the door after she said that and walked away with fast footsteps.

How should I say it? She was like a storm. She just decided everything by herself and left me alone in her apartment, or rather our apartment. She didn’t even know my personality well, but she seemed to trust me not to steal anything.

Heck, she even transferred $500 to my account after I said that I was mugged before I met her.

“Is she one of those easy women?” I muttered to myself as I faced the closed door. “Anyway… Let’s look around this room.”

I turned around and looked over the spacious room inside this apartment room. The living room was connected directly to the hallway; it was easily more than 10 x 15 meters big with a good view from the wall made from glass.

There were stairs that led to the second floor of this room on the left. Ami said the bedroom and bathroom were the only rooms on the second floor.

The kitchen was on the right side of the room, and the second bathroom was connected to the door on the left. Near the second bathroom was a swimming pool facing the glass wall. The pool was large enough to fit a few people and could also be turned into a sauna.

In the middle of the room was a U-shaped couch facing a massive TV on the wall. If I needed to describe this room, it was a luxurious one that befits a celebrity house.

“This is too much…” I muttered as I dropped myself on the couch. I had already put my luggage inside the bedroom with a king-sized bed on the second floor. There was a closet in that bedroom, but it was filled with Ami’s clothes, so I was a bit confused about where to put my clothes.

“Getting used to this apartment will be a bit hard. Well, for now, I should read about the panel more. If I remember correctly, I managed to get Ami’s superpower last night.”

I opened the half-transparent panel. The way to open it was somehow engraved in my mind without even being taught. I just needed to wish for it.

And as expected, new sentences popped up in the superpower section of the panel.

Superpower:

- Fire Manipulation (F)

Allow you to create and control fire. (Source: Yomemiya Ami)

“This… Is this really real? I can get a superpower just by drinking milk?”

I couldn’t believe it. While the lifespan thing was something bad, I just needed to get points by drinking milk.

Ami had offered to help me. For now, it would be foolish to reject her offer. That meant I could focus on surviving.

“But I can’t do that for a long time. It will burden her. Also, this Upgrade shop…”

Upgrade Shop:

Skill:

Lv 1 -> Lv 2 = 500 Points

Superpower:

F -> E = 500 Points

E -> D = 1500 Points

“I can even upgrade the superpower that I get, huh? My skills are also useful, like the Snake Eyes. I can make women fall to me with that skill, and I will be able to milk them all I want.”

I didn’t want to be a scum. But if that was needed for my survival, then I wouldn’t hold myself back.

I knew I could upgrade my skills and superpower using points, but I couldn’t seem to upgrade it higher than what was written on the shop. So I needed to level up my System to unlock the next upgrade, but…

What the heck is this? 10 Points in exchange for 1 EXP. And I needed 1000 EXP to level up? Upgrading the level of my System could wait until my condition was stable. Surviving was the main goal.

“However, I am curious. Can I really use this superpower?” Muttering so, a smile appeared on my face as I stood up from the couch. “Only one way to find out.”

***

“I am here.”

If you asked where I was, I was at a gym. Yes, a gym.

You might be wondering why? I said that I wanted to test my newly acquired superpower, but I went to a gym.

The answer was simple. The gym now had a space for people to train their superpowers. It was built after many people awakened their superpowers.

Every safety equipment was ready, and there were supervisors if something went wrong. So the gym was the choice of the people who wanted to try their superpower for the first time.

I just needed to pay $300 for membership for a month. Yes, $300. Now my money left in my bank was only around $270. I was broke, but I wasn’t that desperate anymore after I moved to Ami’s place.

“Well, let’s just think of this as an investment. I better get a job quickly, so I won’t burden Ami too much. At least I can do that much to repay her.” I muttered to myself in the changing room as I tied my shoes.

When I was ready, I exited the changing room and was greeted by a spacious room with metal coating on the wall. The room was around 5 x 7 meters, enough for an individual to move freely.

I stood in the middle of it and stretched my body. I wore easy to move clothes, consisting of a black t-shirt and black training pants.

When I was stretching, I heard a voice from the speaker in the corner of the room.

[Test, can you hear me?]

The voice belonged to the supervisor. He was the one who supervised the training in this room and would interfere if something bad happened. It was a course that came with a $300 membership.

“Ah, I am ready anytime,” I answered, giving an affirmative.

[Good. You can use this room for 2 hours straight. We can’t allow you any longer to prevent any accident, got it? You may use it again after resting for 6 hours. Also, if you think you are in danger, just yell. I won’t be able to see you, but I will still be able to hear you. Anything you need to ask?]

“Nothing. Thank you.”

[Alright then, I will leave you alone. Have good training, Mr. Imamura.]

“Yes.”

Click.

The speaker got turned off with a clicking sound. I looked at the speaker for a moment before turning to the metal wall.

“Now… How do I use this superpower? Should I just wish for it like what I did to open the System’s panel?”

I tried to extend my right arm, facing the palm against the empty space, as I held the upper arm with my left hand. Then, I tried to imagine fire coming from my palm, and…

Fush…

A small fire appeared from my palm, only to disappear right away.

“Huh?” I looked at my palm in confusion. “Is that it?”

How do I say it? It was… underwhelming.

“No, maybe I did it wrong. Let’s try it again.”

Still optimistic that it was not my all, I tried it again.

‘I did it wrong, for sure. There is no way the new superpower that I get is this lame. I even spent $300 to get the membership!’

My hope was higher than ever. Heck, I even prayed to just let what I did earlier be a beginner's mistake. I could do it. A fireball! That was my goal.

But once again, it was useless.

Fwush…

Indeed, I had created a fireball. But it was only 1 cm big, and it disappeared after 3 seconds this time.

“FUCKK!!!”

I thought that I would finally be able to get a job easily after I got a superpower. But this… this was useless.

“I can use this superpower to light my boss’ cigarette! So useless!”

Was drinking milk my only option? I had never hoped to get a superpower, but now that I had one, I wanted to use a stronger one. Was it what people called greed?

One never hoped for power, but when they got a hand on one, they desired more. I now understood why people said those things.

I wasn’t satisfied with this flimsy fire thing. I wanted to upgrade it. At least I wanted to look cool while wielding this superpower. Besides…

“Drinking milk was fun… I should steel myself. This system is a part of me. It is my original superpower. Getting Ami’s superpower is a bonus. Yes, it is a reward for completing a mission, drinking milk.”

Yes. While I was disappointed with what I had currently, I could upgrade it.

‘So my goal has been decided. I should no longer hold back and act like a saint. I need to drink milk to survive. I will get stronger so no one will look down on me as those corporate people did on me. I have enough of being looked down upon.’

Being a Hero or Villain didn’t really matter. I would do my best so people wouldn’t look down on me.

I had no goal in life before. I only wanted to have a stable job. It was something that people needed, not wanted. So I was quite happy that I had a goal now, even though that goal was ridiculous, such as getting stronger so people wouldn’t look down on me.

The fastest way to get stronger was by using my System. I would abuse it and do whatever I wanted. I meant that was the only way. Hiring a prostitute was one thing, but most of them were powerless, so I wouldn’t get stronger fast.

Then, the target was clear.

‘Either a Hero or Villain. I need to target them if I want to get stronger.’

Yes. It was dangerous, but I was confident that I could do that with my skills. A combination of Milking Room and Snake Eyes would make me invincible against a girl.

But before that…

“I should just train my body while I am here. I need stamina so I need to maintain my body if I want to be able to drink a lot of milk. Alright, I am pumped up!”