Sidekick Awakening and the Uninvited Guest
“Whoa...”
As expected from a place that handles all sorts of dangers and manages heroes, it's enormously huge.
Of course, it has to be safe from every villain threat, so its unique security and defense systems are tougher than any ordinary army.
“How did you get here?”
“Ah, for that ability test thing...”
“Oh, one moment.”
Strict security is everywhere.
After waiting a bit, a staff member comes out from inside.
“Ah, you're the childhood friend Nova mentioned!”
“Yeah, that's me.”
“Looking forward to working with you.”
They exchange light greetings and head inside together.
The heavily guarded place suddenly opens up easily with a staff member beside me.
“Feels pretty futuristic.”
“Gotta prepare for villain raids, and it's a place to test all kinds of tech too.”
The staff member turns to stare right at me.
“More importantly, you're childhood friends with Nova, right? How'd you meet?”
“Just knew her from school before awakening. What about it?”
“Yeah, nothing beats old friends.”
But the staff member decides to tease a little.
“Still, you're different genders, aren't you?”
No matter how long you've been close, bodies change.
Wonder if different feelings develop, they probe.
“No special feelings or anything...?”
“Obviously not.”
“Aw... I was hoping for a hesitant 'W-well, actually...' reaction.”
“She's got such a boyish personality.”
“True, she is kinda like that.”
Her fighting style feels aggressive, and her hobbies are boyish too.
“There were times back then I legit thought she was a boy.”
“Yeah, yeah, she's something else.”
The staff member clearly thinks the same.
Hardware's top-tier by attractive woman standards, but the software's a bit off.
Not great for appealing to the opposite sex.
“Still, you're adults now, and the physical differences are clear. No feelings at all?”
“Well, obviously...”
But the immediate answer doesn't come like before.
Nova acts like a guy, but no sane person could see her as one now.
Enormous tits and a sensually curvaceous body.
She's oblivious to it herself, but it's more than enough to stir lewd male desires.
“Ah, no real emotions, but you like the body, huh?”
“W-what are you talking about... haha...”
Not actual romantic feelings, but yeah, I'd love to feel that body.
A bit weird, but they hit the nail on the head—I let out an awkward laugh.
“Alright, we're here.”
The maze-like corridor finally ends.
A room packed with cutting-edge devices, but it feels like no one's touched it in ages.
“What do you think?”
“Kinda creepy...”
And right there, a capsule that screams I'm the one who goes in.
“The guy who made this high-tech stuff isn't big on design...”
I don't want to imagine it, but this design could double as an execution device.
“But surprisingly, it's just the exterior that looks like that.”
“Really...?”
“Don't believe me? You only need a few syringes in the arms and some pads attached.”
If you can't trust the Hero Association, what can you trust?
Sure, the top brass is noisy with corruption scandals, but to citizens, it's still a reliable hero group.
I step into the capsule.
Even if they say it does nothing weird, I'm still tense.
Hmm...
The staff member's expression outside the capsule, waiting for the measurement results, is subtle.
Of course, awakeners generally have better combat ability than normals.
But—
If even a typical awakened person doesn't know their own power...
Sure, not always, but most are disappointed.
Means they don't grasp the difference even after awakening.
The abilities gained from awakening vary wildly.
Some only shine slightly in very specific situations, while others wield free, powerful ones anytime.
Honestly, needing a test?
It's basically saying don't expect great results.
“But there are exceptions...”
The device hums quietly, scanning my whole body.
A large monitor fills with various info.
First, confirmation: awakener verified.
Passed the first hurdle at least.
The machine whirs louder.
Whirr~
The computer chugs away analyzing.
Wait... why's it taking so long?
Measuring an awakener's power shouldn't take this much time normally.
But this genius-invented machine's been running all day.
Either the machine's busted, or this guy's special—one or the other.
Whiiiirrr~
As the machine works harder, the staff fiddles with the emergency shutdown button.
Click.
Then it prints.
But for all that analysis, the output ability listed is surprisingly short.
“What...?”
Even that's weird, though.
The content on the paper leaves even a veteran staffer flustered.
Awakener Confirmed
Ability:Strengthens upon influence from others' abilities
“So, what's the result?”
“Uh, wanna see it yourself?”
Kylun's face shifts from expectation to confusion as he reads.
He glances at the staff.
“What is this?”
“Hm, probably means you get stronger hanging around others... something like that?”
It's a vague ability, hard to rank properly.
If it straight-up said useless, fine—but it has potential, just imprecise.
“There are heroes who copy existing awakeners' powers...”
“So I'm that too?”
“Nah, theirs explicitly says 'copy ability'...”
From the wording, it looks similar to copy powers.
“Then isn't the machine just broken?”
“Oh...!”
That's the cleanest wrong answer to end this quick.
“Yeah, probably hasn't been used in ages.”
“So I'm on hold then?”
“No, qualifying as an awakener means you pass hero conditions already.”
They stand, rummage a bookshelf, and hand Kylun a booklet.
He reads the title.
“Copy abilities are pretty solid too. Can't tell yet, but if accurate, you could hit A-rank as a sidekick.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Copying others means just sticking by a strong hero makes you their duplicate.”
That's why copy heroes usually work in teams or as sidekicks, not solo.
“Read that at home and wait... I'll let you know once it's fixed.”
“Sure!”
Even with the machine glitch and wait, Kylun answers happily.
Above all, he's relieved to pass.
And that the ability isn't bad.
Maybe with Nova?
Excitement bubbles at teaming with his old friend.
Copy ability.
Perfectly replicating a main hero's power? No bad matchups.
As a sidekick, perfect synergy.
“Soon with Nova—”
—You seem pretty hyped?
Then an uninvited guest crashes his happy world.
“Rose!”
The staff yells at the sudden dangerous intruder.
“Shh~ Be quiet.”
A syringe with sedative hits, and they slump over in their chair.
“Now, let's see the face of Nova's childhood friend...”
The abrupt intruder Rose grabs Kylun's cheeks, forcing him to look straight at her.
Her signature cruel smile spreads.
“...Hold up.”
But the smile fades.
“Y-young master?”
“Sis?”
Kylun's shocked too, seeing a familiar face here.
Rose can't hide her panic, backing away hastily.
“The childhood friend with Nova—you're the young master?!”
“Sis, you switched to hero work?”
Unlike flustered Rose, Kylun smiles warmly.
Power dynamic flips in an instant.
No one unaware of Rose's deep underworld ties would be surprised.
Kylun doesn't care personally, but his father— even after pulling out—is still a major player.
They were bound to know each other.
“Uh... doing well?”
Even so, Rose is unusually deferential.
Clearly, something happened with both father and Kylun.