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# Infinite Talent's Reset Life — Chapter 3
Along with the incident where the doctor saw his scars and called the police, the boy spent two days in the hospital undergoing a thorough examination.
“There are parasites, but they're at a level that should be easily treated with medication. Other than that…”
The doctor looked over the chart, his expression becoming serious.
He has a lot of muscle.
Not only did he have an unusually large amount of muscle, but it was densely packed, almost as if he had undergone professional training.
On top of that, he had extremely low body fat and unusually high bone density.
Aside from those things, he had no other illnesses, and both his blood pressure and blood inflammation levels were normal.
“He could go very far if he takes up exercise.”
“Whewww. Thank you.”
“It's nothing. You can take care of the payment and leave now.”
Larry nodded, took the boy's hand, and left the examination room.
The child-protection officer who had been in the examination room with him spoke to Larry.
The boy's existence had become known to the authorities not only because of the search for Larry, but also because of Ada's report.
“You're planning to take him to your home.”
Under normal circumstances, the boy would have been handed over to child protective services and placed with a foster family.
But the boy's situation was unusual.
He was a boy who had lived with wolves in the wilderness.
A complicated city and countless people—things that were completely normal to ordinary people—would all be unfamiliar and frightening to him.
In such a situation, if Larry, the person who had led him into the outside world, wasn't by his side, he would inevitably experience severe emotional distress.
That was why the agency had no choice but to grant Larry's request.
“For the time being, I, as the supervising officer, can stay at Mr. Jefferson's residence and…”
“No, that's all right. I'm a lawyer, so I'll stay with him and keep an eye on him.”
“…Hmm. Understood. However, I'll call twice a day, so make sure you answer.”
It was a warning that if Larry failed to answer even once, they would take the boy to child protective services.
Even if the boy experienced anxiety and fear, they believed that staying with Larry was better than being left to fend for himself.
“Of course. Don't worry.”
After the agency official nodded and left, Ada Wong looked at the boy.
“Hello. Nice to meet you.”
Ada had spent the past two days running around taking care of one thing after another.
Only now did she finally get the chance to properly face the boy and introduce herself.
“I'm Ada Wong. As you can tell from my surname, I'm of mixed Chinese descent. My grandfather was Chinese. And I'm this idiot's friend. You can just call me Ada.”
She's pretty.
It seemed this was the first time the boy had really looked at her face properly.
He was going to become her best friend's adopted son.
Her friend's son would also be a son to her.
There was no way her eyes wouldn't shine.
“Ahem. Anyway, we need to decide on your name now. We don't have a choice if we're going to register your birth.”
“Couldn't find?”
“We don't record physical characteristics when registering a birth.”
Unlike his father, they didn't even know whether his mother was alive or dead.
If he remembered anything at all, they could use it as a clue to find her, but he couldn't remember either her name or her face.
Still, the boy had extremely distinctive features—bright brown eyes like topaz and dark blue hair with a hint of gray.
They had mobilized detectives and all sorts of connections, so they would probably find someone who knew something about the boy soon.
“Even if we restore your identity later, we need to register you now if you want to receive any benefits immediately.”
For that, he needed a name.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Eyes, hair. Changed.”
His eyes had changed color after he had lifted his head while he was still living among the wolves and some kind of liquid had fallen into them, causing unbearable pain as though his eyes were burning.
The color of his hair had changed as well.
The boy suspected that it had been some kind of poison.
“Don't know original color.”
Ada and Larry both grabbed their foreheads.
At this rate, they would have to investigate every Asian child who had ever been reported missing or lost.
It was giving them a headache.
“Well, for now!”
That was a problem for later.
“I looked up some names commonly used by Asians.”
Jason, Jackie, Mason, John, Ken, Daniel, Eric.
“Pretty ordinary. Anything else?”
“Chris, Joseph, Johan, Eugene…”
The boy flinched.
Larry and Ada looked at the boy, who was staring intensely at them.
“You like Johan?”
“Yes.”
Johan was an incredibly meaningful name to the boy.
It felt almost like fate.
If he was going to choose a name, this one was the right one.
Once he had thought of it, he couldn't think of any name other than Johan.
“Johan… Johan Jefferson.”
It rolled off the tongue pretty well.
Ada nodded and turned around.
“Okay. Then we'll go with Johan. I'll go register your birth, so don't go anywhere and stay inside the house. I have to move my luggage in too.”
“You're really moving in? Isn't pretending enough? There's no reason for you to actually live in my house with me if it's going to be inconvenient…”
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Just shut up and do it. I'm not doing this for my own benefit.”
“…Yes, ma'am.”
“Hmph!”
The boy, who would now be called Johan, looked at the bewildered Larry with an expression of pity.
“Larry. Lots of sins.”
“Huh?”
Johan shook his head and headed toward the parking lot.
---
The car carrying Johan headed toward the outskirts of Los Angeles, one of the major cities in California on the western coast of the United States.
Larry had built his business in LA.
I've seen this place before.
It was a city he had seen several times while observing the lives of various people.
In some people's lives, it looked almost exactly as it did now.
In others, the clothes of the people walking through the streets or the shapes of the buildings were slightly different.
But it was the same place.
A library containing everything that had ever been recorded, from eras when civilization didn't even exist to the present day.
After only seeing these landscapes through the lives of others, seeing them directly with his own eyes gave Johan the strange sensation of déjà vu.
“The seat belt might be a little uncomfortable, but bear with it. We'll be there soon.”
Johan stopped thinking and looked out the window, startled by the sudden change in scenery.
“Larry, rich?”
Until just moments ago, there had been buildings everywhere.
Now, large two-story houses lined the streets.
The walls weren't particularly high, but the entire atmosphere of the neighborhood was quiet and warm.
In the forest, when it was quiet, it meant a major threat was nearby.
There wasn't even enough tension here to suggest that a single wolf could come down and bite everyone to death.
“Haha. I guess you could say I've done pretty well. Though it's hard to compare me to those businesses in New York that are in the same line of work.”
“Larry, what work do?”
“That's right. I never told you, did I? I'm…”
Larry stopped speaking.
His eyes shook when he saw the people gathered in front of the house.
“Larry friends?”
“…No way. Where did they come from? Did it leak from the agency? Or the rescue team?”
Seeing Larry's confusion and panic, Johan quickly figured out who they were.
Tsk. Can't be helped.
This decision seemed better than becoming a clown.
“Stop, Larry.”
“What? No, no. There's no need to stand in front of them…”
“It's okay. It's something we have to face at least once anyway.”
“That's true, but… Huh? Wait.”
Larry's eyes trembled.
Johan gave him a small smile.
Larry stared at that smile for a moment before stopping the car.
Johan got out.
“It's Larry Jefferson!”
“Th-then is that the kid?”
A crowd rushed over.
“Mr. Larry Jefferson! Is this the Mowgli you rescued from the Rocky Mountains?!”
“Kid, are you Mowgli? Ah, should I talk like a wolf? Grrr? Awooooo?”
“Puhahaha! Don't tease the wolf boy too much!”
Larry gritted his teeth and was about to speak after seeing the reporters' behavior.
“Larry, in a situation like this, we can apply laws concerning defamation and intimidation through the power of a group, right?”
The clear, ringing voice silenced the reporters.
Larry's mouth fell open. He looked at Johan, then nodded.
“Th-that's right? Probably?”
Johan looked at the confused reporters.
As soon as his gaze met theirs, they realized they might have crossed a line and became cautious.
“Um… kid?”
“It is true that I lived in the Rocky Mountains with my father. The wolves were my mother and siblings when I was lonely. Then I met Larry, and that's how I came out into the world. Is that the answer you wanted?”
“…My God.”
Their expectations were completely shattered.
“W-we heard that when the rescue team first found you, you were wearing clothes made from animal hides and carrying a spear and bow. Is that true?”
“What else was there for me to wear in a mountain where no one ever came looking? There wasn't even anywhere to live. My father made the spear and bow so I could hunt for meat and protect myself from threats.”
Wrong.
They had misunderstood.
Although the boy before them had lived among wolves in the mountains, he was clearly an educated child.
There was no point writing an article about him like this. No one would read it.
The reporters rapidly lost interest.
Feeling awkward under Johan's gaze, they asked a few more questions, and Johan answered each of them logically and clearly.
“Ahem. Then, finally, can we take some pictures?”
“If you pay a fee for the use of my likeness.”
“Hahaha.”
The reporters smacked their lips.
They took several pictures of Johan, apologized, and dispersed.
Johan shrugged as he looked at Larry, who was still standing there in a daze.
“I completely remembered now. English.”
No.
It was thanks to the "Being Who Became a Star" he had absorbed two days ago.
A person who had belonged to a secretive American agency and sacrificed himself for the United States, yet whose name had never even been recorded.
A person whose name had merely been engraved as a star on a memorial wall.
A person with the gift of oratory that allowed him to blend perfectly into any environment.
There were many other talents as well, but for Johan, who had never lived among people and had very little experience actually talking to anyone, this person possessed exactly the talent he needed most at the moment.
There had also been linguists, interpreters, politicians, and others.
But he had been drawn to the word "star" and chosen him.
The fact that his name had never been recorded, while his life was recorded not by his profession but by a nickname, had piqued Johan's curiosity.
He had been slightly worried because of the man's profession, but in the end, it had worked out.
Thanks to it, even while surrounded by a crowd of reporters, he had been able to remain calm and get through the situation without becoming nervous.
“…That's a relief.”
God!
A chill ran through Larry's entire body as he stared at Johan.
He had known the boy wasn't ordinary.
And it wasn't simply because of his unusual upbringing among wolves deep in the forest.
The fact that he had somehow retained language despite all that was even more remarkable.
But that wasn't it.
This boy, Johan, is far more than that!
But something else shocked Larry even more.
He opened up!
The reason Johan had spoken so awkwardly until now was probably because he had been testing whether he could trust Larry.
A person's true nature comes out when the other party is weak.
That was why he had deliberately acted clumsy and inarticulate to test Larry.
To see whether he was truly someone he could trust.
Whether he could trust him enough to follow him.
Being brought out of the forest and being someone he could trust were two separate matters.
Johan was a genius who even possessed that level of psychological insight.
But Larry couldn't continue thinking about it.
A wave of emotion swept over him.
It felt as though all his effort and sincerity had finally reached the boy, making his entire body tremble with excitement.
But Larry forcibly calmed himself down.
“L-let's go inside! To my house!”
“Come on! From now on, this is your home, Johan!”
My home?
Johan's expression changed as he looked around the house.
The moment the front door opened, he saw a living room with photographs of various people hanging on the walls.
There was a sofa.
A television.
Johan moved along, led by Larry's hand.
“What do you think? Isn't it awesome? You can swim in the backyard and grill meat!”
The walls are low.
And it's right next to the neighboring house.
At that, Johan let out a dry laugh.
He had absorbed a spy's talent and was now thinking like a spy.
Johan shook his head and headed upstairs.
“This is my room, and this is the study!”
The study had been set up at some point, but Larry had been so overwhelmed with work that he hadn't even been able to read the books he'd bought. They had simply gathered dust.
Johan's eyes lit up when he saw the books.
“You can live in this room from now on!”
A room that had been separately prepared for guests.
My room…
“Thank you, Larry.”
Thank you for giving me a room.
And thank you for believing my clumsy excuses.
“Haha. Get some rest for now. I think I need to contact the company.”
He hadn't been able to contact the company for more than two weeks.
He had contacted them as soon as he met the rescue team Ada had brought, but he had been so focused on Johan that he hadn't properly received a report.
I'm dead.
He'd probably have to bury himself in work for at least a week.
After Larry left, Johan looked around the room.
“So this is my room from now on…”
White-toned wallpaper and a natural-wood desk.
A bed covered with beige checkered bedding.
The processed wood smell brushing against his nose was a little irritating, but overall, the room had a bright atmosphere.
Thanks to the memories of the various people whose lives he had read, a house like this wasn't unfamiliar to him.
But it was still awkward.
It seemed it would take quite some time to adjust.
Johan walked over to the window.
“Swimming pool.”
A swimming pool filled with blue water.
Crystal-clear water without even a trace of algae.
His attention was drawn to the palm leaves swaying high above.
“At least upper-middle class.”
The atmosphere surrounding the house was also bright, just like the other houses.
That meant the people living here hadn't experienced any threat to their lives.
“And the forest is far away…”
He wouldn't have to worry about threats from wild animals.
“Then the question is what I should do with my life from now on…”
Larry felt responsible for him, so he would probably provide him with whatever support he reasonably could.
But ultimately, they weren't related by blood.
Just as he had eventually needed to become independent from his wolf mother, he would have to become independent someday.
Before then, he needed to prepare himself to live in that city, in this world.
“No. It would be better to establish myself completely.”
What would be good?
What should he start with?
Johan closed his eyes and entered the library.
“Huh?”
Johan was surprised.
Only after entering the library did he clearly notice the change.
“My capacity limit… increased?”
If his previous maximum capacity had been 100, it had now increased to around 105.
An increase of approximately five percent.
Confused, Johan thought about why this phenomenon had occurred.
And soon, he reached a conclusion.
There was only one thing that had changed from before.
“I met Larry and left the forest…”
After going through various experiences, he had even met the reporters before entering this house.
“It was a new experience…”
And not just a little.
The more experiences I have, the more my capacity limit increases?
More precisely, it must be new and diverse experiences.
His instincts told him that was the answer.
If it weren't, it should already have increased while he was in the forest.
Hunting with his wolf mother and siblings.
Skinning animals.
Making weapons.
Training.
The Rocky Mountains changed with every season, revealing a different appearance in spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
The environment itself was constantly changing.
But to Johan, all of that had been his daily life.
They were simply experiences he could overcome and make use of with a little caution.
There hadn't been anything particularly stimulating about them.
“Interesting.”
He had thought he understood everything about the library.
Apparently, he hadn't.
He had discovered a way to artificially increase his capacity limit.
“Then I need to have all kinds of experiences…”
If he continued increasing his capacity limit, eventually he would be able to absorb lives he currently couldn't absorb.
What kind of experiences should he have, and how should he have them, to increase his capacity as quickly as possible?
That was when Johan fell into deep thought.
Rumble!
When the library shook, Johan opened his eyes.
He saw a man standing beside Larry.
He wondered when the man had arrived.
For some reason, the man's face was filled with excitement.
His eyes had the look of a predator stalking its prey.
Just as Johan tensed his body, the man opened his mouth.
“Let's make him a model!”
“…What kind of nonsense are you talking about—!”
Model?
Johan blinked.