Cliche Chapter 492-493: A harmless prank

The sun rose, shedding its ray on the world. Asahi, however, only felt a subtle warm feeling within the embrace of Yuriko’s wings.

She stretched her arms as well as her wings. Freeing him from the blissful embrace, she pressed her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

“Dear, I feel like sleeping all day with you.”

The soft feel of her erotic body aroused him again. “That makes two of us, Mother-in-Law.”

As Asahi caressed her wings and her lovely back, the phone inside the room rang and buzzed. He fetched it with his telekinesis and answered the call. “Sekingar, what’s up?”

“Are you coming?”

“Why are you so persistent, geez? At what time?”

“9 o'clock.”

“So in one hour. Fine, I’ll be there.”

Yuriko sighed and revealed her mature, understanding smile. “I’ll scout the city for some business opportunities.”

She decided not to be selfish and let Asahi do his thing.

Asahi cupped her face and showered her face in kisses. “Take someone with you.”

“Rika is free to accompany me.”

Asahi spent some time in shower with Yuriko then left for the Official Superhero Certification Exam Center in City-A. He wasn’t joking about Yuriko paying the bill. She enjoyed supporting him with money, which meant nothing to him.

***

The place where Asahi’s Hero Entrance Exam took place was a dome-like facility. Up-and-coming heroes crowded the area, filling it with an intimidating aura.

“Wasn’t the examination going to be held today?” One woman in a biker’s jacket asked. “Why did it halt?”

“Yes, why did it stop? Answer before I shove my knuckles in your face.”

“Start the test. We, heroes, won’t be stopped by the association’s wild methods!”

A passionate bout of curses followed as all heroes vented their frustration on the meek guard.

The armed lady in a protective vest felt pressured under the glares of nearly a hundred people. “I-I don’t have the answer. Amai Mask came earlier today,” she tried to use Amai Mask’s name to stop the crowd. “He must be here for something important.”

It backfired, hard. The rage and heat grew, and people surrounded her, threats coming from every direction. Amai Mask wasn’t their idol but their most hated figure for having everything they lacked.

The other security staff tried to calm them down but they lacked numbers to hold them off.

Asahi sighed and released a trickle of his aura. The young heroes felt their head buzz then they passed out on the spot.

Asahi drifted over the “corpses” and stopped before the main door. Just a dozen men occupied the entire facility from what he could sense. Two of them emitted strong life force, residing quite far from each other. The stronger and darker life force belonged to Amai Mask without a shadow of a doubt.

‘Who is the second hero?’

Asahi waved at the hidden security camera, which was surely being monitored by an S-Class. The door slid open at his arrival.

“Welcome, Marikawa-san,” Sekingar greeted him with a calm look, which melted as he looked upon the destruction behind Asahi. “What happened there?”

Exma, the black-haired beauty with a unique blue tattoo, carried her usual serious look. “Did you do it, Marikawa-san?”

Asahi didn’t need to explain when the lady guard ran up to Asahi and profusely thanked him for saving her.

Asahi crossed his arms. “I am reconsidering my options if the Heroes Association can’t protect their staff from a bunch of weaklings.”

“This facility is a bit understaffed at the moment.”

The exams went by smoothly every time as they never had to hold off the exams. Today was an exception as Sekingar had to put the regular exams on hold to maximize his efforts on Asahi's test.

“Let’s not waste more time. Follow me,” Exma said. “Come with us, Marikawa-san. We’ll test your physical abilities.”

“You two look like a couple, to be honest,” Asahi humbly said. “Just my opinion.”

Sekingar glanced at Exma and shook his head. The Demon Instructor would be the last woman on his dating list.

Exma looked over her shoulder. “Don’t have time for dates and all.”

Sekingar didn’t flinch. “We don’t doubt your strength but a test would allow us to assess your rating in a more concrete manner.”

Sekingar was a more fluent talker despite his tough exterior that stemmed from his metal prosthetic eye. Exma tended to be more straightforward with her words. The dynamic between them was more cordial than they realized.

“I seriously doubt your equipment can properly get my readings.”

Sekingar smirked. “We have the best-in-class equipment at this facility.”

…

“How did they break?!”

Sekingar regretted his words after a couple of minutes. Asahi managed to break not one but every device with his insane physical strength. They were tested numerous times the day prior by trusted operators.

There was no chance for faulty equipment.

Sekingar stared at the handsome with his single eye. “You’re a monster.”

He meant it in every sense of the word. The man that single-handedly dealt with a Dragon-Level Disaster inspired fear with his power. Asahi broke every single record. And the worst part, the Heroes Association couldn’t catch a whiff of his background. He just came out of nowhere and smashed the Vaccine Man.

‘He must be from a martial artist clan like Bang.’

On the other side, Exma scratched her chin with a strange smile. Sekingar hadn’t noticed what she did. Asahi didn’t utilize his mysterious red gauntlet to achieve this result.

‘His strength is S-Class.’

Any doubts she had were crushed by his strength.

Asahi waved his hand as he yawned. “Is this enough?”

He wanted to get over this boring event and go back to Astraea for a level up.

“We also have a written test…” Sekingar said. “The last test.”

“Written test? Am I a child or what?”

Of course he knew about the written test. The Hero Entrance Exam assessed both the physical and mental strength. It was the most efficient and cost-effective test to check someone’s morality.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

Sekingar heaved a sigh of relief. All the S-Classes were tough nuts to crack. Unique personalities that rarely mingled with other S-Class Heroes.

Asahi sat down to take the test inside a small room with four security cameras pointing at him from each direction. The pen in his hand felt rather strange.

‘It’s been so long since I touched a pen.’

(I use it daily to fill up my diary.)

‘You have a diary?’

It was his first time hearing about Klyscha’s diary. He always thought she noted things on her laptop.

(Ahem, I write down all the things that make me giddy.)

‘For example?’

(Like… Every time my love thinks about me. Every time my love imagines patting me and loving me. And, and, I also write about what you do everyday.)

He could imagine Klyscha in a dark room, writing down stuff with a yandere smile and eyes glowing. The scene inexplicably turned him on.

(Ufufu.)

Asahi finished the written test within a couple of minutes then waved the test at the security camera.

“Done.”

The door slipped open and Sekingar entered, taking the test and giving it a look over. “Sharp handwriting. Can you wait for half an hour? We’ll contact you with the result of the test.”

“Half an hour? It’s just a small test. Check it in ten minutes.”

Sekingar almost buckled under his dignified tone. “I’ll try.”

Asahi sat back on the chair and closed his eyes.

***

In another room, a man with pale blue hair replayed Asahi’s destruction of equipment. He was the handsome Amai Mask, one of the most well-known heroes for his regular concerts.

“He is strong enough for the S-Class and he possesses beauty like me.”

Yet Amai Mask couldn’t pull the trigger on Asahi’s S-Class promotion. He felt a bit off about Asahi. His sudden appearance raised questions, and his unknown background strengthened it.

“I might be overreacting,” he said, spinning a pen. “It’ll be an injustice if I stopped his promotion without a reason.”

Amai Mask hated everything that went against justice.

He dialed Sekingar’s number. “He has my approval.”

He hung up after his statement. Pushing back his chair, he got up and gave a last look at the screen. Asahi opened his eyes and seemingly peered into Amai Mask’s eyes.

“I don’t need your approval.”

Amai Mask froze.

Asahi smiled. “I don’t need a monster’s approval.”

Amai Mask crashed on the chair and his heart rate rose. His muscles tensed up and his breathing hiked. Just the thought of his identity being discovered triggered the fight-or-flee state.

“You aren’t talking to me.”

Asahi shook his head. Before Amai Mask’s horrified eyes, he left the room.

***

Now roaming the corridors, Asahi couldn’t help but chuckle. “He was so scared.”

(You are so naughty, my love!)

‘It was a harmless plan.’

“I don’t understand what happened.”

‘My future dragon wife is always clueless.’

(Hahaha.)

Asahi slid open the door to the room where the second hero resided. A young boy was mashing a keyboard in the room. His brown hair and the backpack on his back bobbed at the intense typing. He was so engrossed in his computer that he failed to notice Asahi.

A bespectacled man with brown hair stood behind the boy, observing every movement on the screen.

‘He must be Child Emperor. What’s he doing here?’

Child Emperor was ranked quite high in the S-Class for his innovative gadgets and strategic mind. He also packed decent strength in his young body, more than the A-Rank heroes by Fubuki’s side.

Bored and with nothing else to do, he decided to stay. He walked up to Child Emperor and observed the lines of programming codes running on the screen. He could understand each command.

‘Never thought programming languages counted among mortal languages.’

The skill ‘Gift of Tongues’ allowed him to comprehend any mortal language.

Child Emperor threw his hands in the air and rocked his chair. “The A.I. base for Okame-chan is almost ready! I’ll be able to scan the heroes and quantify their powers.”

“Oh, nice,” Asahi said with a nod. “Anyways, this command here should be different.”

Asahi pointed at the lines of codes that referred to the maximum limit of the device called Okame-chan. Okame-chan used the word ‘undefined’ for every hero having power in its range.

“Wait, you are right,” Child Emperor fell into deep thoughts before he looked over his shoulder. “Why is there an idol in the Heroes Association? Are you Amai Mask’s friend?”

The bespectacled man also turned to Asahi, carrying an inquisitive look. “I know you. You’re Asahi Marikawa, who sparked a debate in the higher-ups. I’m Jinzuren. It's a pleasure to meet you in person.”

“Asahi Marikawa? I don’t know him.”

Child Emperor was clueless so Jinzuren relayed the information about Asahi.

“You killed a Dragon-level disaster,” Child Emperor, a hint of shock in his voice. He unwrapped a lollipop candy and shoved it in his mouth. “I also won’t lose against them.”

“Moving on, let’s talk about this pet project of yours.”

“Uh uh, what do you want to talk about?”

Jinzuren’s eyes widened. Child Emperor rarely took suggestions from others in his research as he was the best in his field, nearly rivaling the Metal Emperor.

“Your device sucks.”

Child Emperor crunched the candy in surprise. “What? How do you know?”

“You can’t completely record someone’s fighting ability. There are so many factors in play like compatibility, fighting experience, who has more composure et cetera. It’s impossible to record all that into one number. On top of all that, you can’t measure someone’s mind powers like telekinesis.”

His experience with his system taught him that levels weren’t everything.

“Those are valid concerns. I’ll use Okame-chan for a general idea of someone’s abilities. I won't completely rely on it.”

Despite being a ten year old, he was a genius.

Sekingar entered the room and handed Asahi a paper. Asahi ignored everything else and focused on the bold letters that said S-Class Rank 17.

His first goal in this world was accomplished within a day.

Child Emperor hopped off the chair and gave a toothless grin. “Looks like a resourceful hero joined the group. Welcome to the club.”

“Haha, sure. Child Emperor.”