I had already equipped five girl companions. I died, and in this new world, I am going to find my other five girl companions to bring the total to ten. Though, that still leaves more than 990 girl companions to go.
I was contemplating all of this while walking down the street of this new world. Just then, I heard the sound of people joyfully applauding and gathering around someone or something. Massive, tall buildings towered all around me. Wherever you looked, it was clear this was a very wealthy world, but middle-class families lived here too—and I was currently a member of one of those middle-class families.
I rushed over to the crowd because a sudden realization hit me. Struggling to push my way to the front, I finally reached the center with a smile on my face. I was a guy now.
There, I found a beautiful girl with long marine-colored hair wearing a very stylish superhero costume. Her eyes were a light, shiny yellow. Standing right beside her was a guy wearing a matching superhero costume.
A metal railing kept the crowd back so no one could get too close to them. A reporter eagerly asked the boy, "Jade! Jade-san! Tell us, what is your relationship status?"
Jade took the reporter's microphone, pulled the marine-haired girl close to him by grabbing her arm, and announced directly into the mic, "We're going to get married. See? You should know that our engagement is already official, okay!"
They both raised their hands and showed off the matching rings on their engagement fingers.
Then another reporter chimed in, "Miss Marine! Is there someone else you've loved before?"
And yes, the girl was Marine. Judging by the way she watched him, she seemed to confirm it. For a reply, Marine simply said, "Oh, no! There was no one else, only Jade."
"Thank you, guys, but we have to leave for a commercial advertisement shoot for 'Xinglu Perfumes,'" Jade stated.
The black-suited bodyguards opened a solid steel gate, stepping down from the railings and the red carpet toward a long, shiny black car. The bodyguards blocked the fans and reporters, but suddenly, someone shouted from right next to a bodyguard:
"Marine-san!... Will you marry me?!"
The reporters all turned around in absolute shock.
The person who rushed out and shocked Marine and Jade was me. A reporter immediately asked, "So you are in a relationship with Miss Marine?! For how many years? Who are you?"
With every reporter desperately throwing the same questions at me, I replied, "I'm Aqua Sato. And... actually, I have never met her before, but I love her so much, so I screamed it."
Then, absolute silence fell. I froze, terrified.
Suddenly, everything became clear to the crowd. The reporters walked away happily, completely ignoring me without asking any further questions, realizing it was just a bit of spicy news or a fan's bad joke.
Jade ordered coldly, "Bodyguards! Take him."
Two bodyguards instantly grabbed me and dragged me away. The car departed from the scene with Jade and Marine, while the bodyguards pulled me by my hoodie into a dark alleyway and beat me up.
Then, they left.
I had taken a lot of damage; my nose was bleeding, and my cheeks were swollen and hurting like hell. I muttered to myself, "Heh. Does a hero do the work of an evil man? Whatever, I will surely marry her! Because Marine is one of my girl companions! She is Kurohara Ai!"
This was the moment I realized I had been reborn for the second time into a middle-class family. It was a hospital where I was born, but my mother didn't survive; she died giving birth to me. My dad, who was a doctor, raised me until I was 15. But then, one day, he died during a villain attack at his hospital. Many other people died that day too. So, I joined a part-time job and went to high school. Now, I was 19 years old.
I had left my school because there was a distinct reason: if I wanted to make Marine or Ai love me again, I needed to become a hero.
In the center of this town, there was a massive, flashing triangle building called the 'Z HERO TRIAGRAM,' which contained the cool hero base and the top heroes' homes. The top hero's name always stays the same, no matter who comes and goes—they are called 'Z'. Because of that, the tower's name is the Z Hero Triagram. 'Z' lives on the topmost, pointy floor of that pyramid.
Eventually, I reached my home, which was wedged right between two massive buildings. The owners of those buildings had asked me to sell my house to them because they wanted to tear it down and expand their own properties. But I disagreed. My house looked very unfitted there, but I refused for two reasons: one, it was my second birth-giver dad's house and it held memories, and two, I wanted to tease them, heh.
Inside our normal home, the walls were painted yellow. No need to explain the entry light—it was a yellow light made by Thomas Alva Edison, and the color of the bulb itself was a yellow tint.
I washed my face and body in the bath, and washed my clothes too.
In the drawing room, I sat down on a ripple-seat pink sofa and started thinking. To become a hero, what kind of power could I use...? I didn't know whether I even had a power or not, but it was very important to me.
Okay, think, Ahiro... think...! Um... wait! I know! I know what power I have!
When I was 10, one day after work, my dad bought a set of playing cards. We were playing with them at night when suddenly, one card in my hand started glowing with a sharp, purple-blue-white light. Suddenly, it started moving by itself and cuffed the TV! And the card also locked onto things that we both shock-tested. I tried to do the same thing with other cards, but it didn't work. It only happened when I touched the King card.
Then the King card turned into something else entirely! Since then, my dad never let me touch any cards for my own safety.
Hm... I pulled my index finger under my chin and thought to myself, Hm... so my power is using the King card for attacks. It's very good, but can I beat an up-level villain with it? Um... whatever, let's go buy some cup noodles!
I stepped outside wearing a white striped blue t-shirt and black trousers, heading out to buy a few items. The department store was very close to my house, so I didn't have to walk far. After buying them, I found that it was already night—7:30 PM on the store's wall clock. I walked straight toward my part-time job at a grocery shop, which was a little far from my home.
But before I could reach it, I heard someone calling out to me from an alley beside the foot path: "Hey! Boy! Come here."
I looked over and saw a fat man sitting there, strangely dressed in a costume that looked exactly like a villain's.
I felt something strange about the situation but obeyed him anyway because I didn't care. The street was dead silent. A few cars passed by occasionally, but not many, since this neighborhood belonged to middle-class families.
The alley was dark but illuminated by faint red and yellow lights coming from the roofs of the buildings. Those lights were used to inform outsiders and the police about who lived inside: yellow indicated middle-aged people, and red indicated people over 45 years old. This system was designed to shorten rescue times during villain attacks.
For your information, this area was also known as a villain's residence. Within about 50 meters, you could easily find villains.
When I walked up to him, the man demanded, "Gimme everything you've got!"
I replied normally, "Heh. If I say... 'No'?"
He smiled wickedly. "Then... get ready to die!"
— To Be Continued —