An Adult Creates the Secret Organization he Dreamed of as a Child
The Strongest Superpower: Lv.1
Part 1
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"It may be possible to increase the amount of people with superpowers", when I heard this I became so excited that it seemed my brain was about to boil, but even at a time like this Kaburagi-san still showers and goes to bed at 10pm in order to not reduce her health, so she said *oyasumi*1 while applying her makeup remover, and I became alone, so I went back to the study to read her academic chuuni notes by myself. Since she said I could stay I naturally a.s.sumed that we would be up all night talking. I"m surprised by Kaburagi-san"s way of doing things. I got permission to use the guest bedroom and the study, so I guess I"ll read her notes until I get sleepy.
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The theory that was on the page that Kaburagi-san pointed out was difficult to understand, but I was able to understand the general idea of it thanks to her concise summary of the main points. In short, it"s about mutual interference. If you can touch it, you can see it, and if you can see it, you can touch it. Let"s consider an example; an extremely indelicate boxing ghost who has the ability to slip through objects2. But even though the "extremely indelicate boxing ghost" can pa.s.s through objects, it"s not that scary. After all, it can"t interfere with anything if all it can do is pa.s.s through it. Even if it gets angry and attacks with its entire skull. Its angry and alone forever!
On the other hand, consider a ghost that"s able to touch objects and move them. This one"s kinda troublesome. When that ghost gets angry and attacks, its "ghost punch" is going to hit its mark. It"s a nuisance. Also, it"s probably lethal. In order for it to hit someone, it has to cancel its transparency and materialize the moment it strikes. Therefore, if you counterattack at the moment it strikes with a (physical) "octopus punch"3 you can bring the exorcism to a conclusion. This is the principle of mutual interference. Whatever eccentric and unreasonable existence, if it can interfere with things, you can interfere with it.
In view of this theory [Nenrikin] certainly has the potential to be transplanted. When I think about trying to use my psychokinesis, [Nenrikin] starts up and my psychokinesis is activated. From this I realized that using my psychokinesis too much wears out [Nenrikin]. I send information to [Nenrikin], and [Nenrikin] responds to that. [Nenrikin] then sends information to me and I receive it. That is, mutual interference is established. I can interfere with [Nenrikin]. If I can tear off [Nenrikin] via psychokinesis, then it may also be possible to transplant the torn-off [Nenrikin].
I understand the theory. I"m going to try to do it for a moment. I can"t stop my curiosity.
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I turned my awareness inward toward [Nenrikin]. My [Nenrikin] has grown to be quite imposing, I could tell that my body was full to the brim with it. Just how did it manage to grow so much?
Just a little bit from [Nenrikin]"s edge. I grab onto that with my psychokinesis… OK, I got it. It"s easy. I never thought about taking hold of [Nenrikin] using psychokinesis, but once I think about it, it"s a pretty obvious thing to do.
Alright. Now I"ll tear off a piece of [Nenrikin] ⸻
"OWWWWWWW!"
I screamed and rolled around on the floor, there was a burning pain coming from the depths of my brain that caused me to instinctively cut off my psychokinetic connection to [Nenrikin]. The pain immediately lessened, but my heart is still raging and the blood in my body is throbbing. I appeared to be behaving like cold water was thrown on my head after getting hot and excited.
While my head cools down, I try to figure out what happened. [Nenrikin] is a psychokinetic muscle4. And I was trying to forcibly tear off a piece of that muscle, there"s no way that wouldn"t hurt. Having a psychokinetic sense of pain is extremely natural. d.a.m.n, I was careless. As I thought, doing this with only a smattering of knowledge isn"t good. Let"s consult with Kaburagi-san properly tomorrow morning.
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The next morning. When I sluggishly got out of the fluffy bed in the guest room, because Kaburagi-san was already finished applying her makeup, she was speed-reading some foreign language newspaper at the dining room table. Today she has on a pale pink dress. The grandfather clock indicated that it was 8 o"clock, in addition to displaying the year and season. Not having to go to work at all resulted in the time I go to bed and the time I wake up gradually becoming later and later. While eating breakfast I reported about yesterday evening"s "writhing in agony" incident, which resulted in Kaburagi-san making a troubled expression.
"I was expecting there to be some pain, but not that much. I"m sorry. I can"t think of a way to anesthetize [Nenrikin]."
Well then, if Kaburagi-san"s brain can"t come up with a solution, then it"s impossible. Then what? Do I have to just endure the pain when I draw out and tear off pieces of [Nenrikin]? My face distorts in fear when I remember last night"s intense pain that was similar to pinching my spirit. Do I have to endure that in order to do transplanting? That"s too unpleasant.
"To be honest, I was hoping that I could become a magical girl today. But if that"s the case then it can"t be helped. I don"t want Sago-san to get hurt just for my wish. I"ll try to find another way."
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Kaburagi-san"s kind comments were mixed with an extreme depression. My heart hurts.But while there are no physical consequences for drawing out [Nenrikin] and tearing off pieces for transplanting, there is psychokinetic pain. I understand Kaburagi-san"s feeling of wanting superpowers. I sympathize with her from the bottom of my heart.
But please don"t misunderstand.
I can"t help but want Kaburagi-san to become a ESP"er, you know?!
No matter how long I wait or how much I search, I seem to be the only person in the world with superpowers. I can"t talk about it with anyone! I"m forever alone! Do you understand this smoldering emptiness?!
Since becoming an ESP"er will make Kaburagi-san happy as well, it"s settled then! If Kaburagi-san is happy, then so am I.
OK, I"ll do it. If the means to increase the amount of ESP"ers is in front of me, I guess I"ll try to do it, let"s quickly get this over with (trembling voice).
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I put down the croissant I was eating, then decided to get off my chair and lie down on the floor in order to prepare myself to be writhing in agony, while Kaburagi-san watches me with a doubtful expression.
"What? You"re not doing some sort of ritual, are you?"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, IT HUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRTSSSSS!
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! OOH-AAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Eek?!"
I"m screaming in agony and flailing about violently. Kaburagi-san fell out of her chair in surprise. But, look! Don"t you see? I did it. It"s small, but I was able to tear off a piece of [Nenrikin]! Although I was prepared for it to be f.u.c.king painful and feel like my life was in danger, it isn"t like the pain you get from a physical wound. It"s impossible for it to feel anything like a wound in the first place. Now that it"s over, I"m not in pain anymore. While that moment left me exhausted, I returned to my chair with a triumphant look, and Kaburagi-san, seeing it, seemed to guess what happened. Fl.u.s.tered, she said,
"Um, thank you. But, I, I wasn"t trying to indirectly pressure you into doing this you know? Such agonized screams… I, if Sago-san was, dead, I would also die…!"
"Ah, was it really that bad? Well, um, don"t worry about it. Let"s quickly move on. So, how can I transplant this?"
It"s not like I intentionally covered up my grat.i.tude toward her worrying about me. "You misunderstand. I didn"t do this for you, Kaburagi-san. I did this because of the benefits to myself." I don"t plan on spitting out such a tsundere-ish5 line… no, I do somewhat want to try saying something like that. But unless it"s a scene like this, I won"t be able to say it.
"I see. But let me say it again. Once again, thank you. Here"s how to transplant it,"
But Kaburagi-san said such a thing to me, so our conversation quickly moves on and I miss my chance to say it. Well, it"s fine I guess.
"Try repeatedly sticking [Nenrikin] on me."
"How do I stick it on you?"
"You were able to tear off you [Nenrikin], right? Where [Nenrikin] is, Sago-san should at least understand where it is in himself by sensing it. Find that place on me and stick it there."
I see. Since she said it so definitively, for some reason I seem to be able to understand where to stick it. How should I describe it, it"s in the back, inside the body, within a sh.e.l.l, the spot gives off that sort of impression. If I want to sound cool, I"d call it the "soul" (lol). Anyway, it seems like we"re good to go.
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Well, let"s try transplanting [Nenrikin]. Immediately, Kaburagi-san stands up in front of me while clasping both hands in front of her chest as if she"s praying with her cheeks flushed, and [Nenrikin] is… I stop.
"Wait. I don"t know what will happen after transplanting [Nenrikin]. Shouldn"t we do some experiments on animals first?"
"That"s right. But do you want the honor of being the second ESP"er in the world to go to an animal?"
"*Ku~*, that would be terrible!"
I start the transplant. It"s easy. If I do this, it becomes like this!
… It"s this? … Huh? Did I do it wrong?
"Ah, er, it"s all right. It looks like it"s sticking well… no, it"s not. Wait just a minute longer, *gu~* it"s working, OK, it" sticking, it"s attached, ah —! It peeled off! What are you doing, stick! Stick… it won"t do it!"
"… Is it no good?"
"Well, the performance results are disappointing. It feels like I"m trying to tape it onto a greasy plate. It sticks, but it comes off immediately. It"s frustrating."
I struggled for about 10 minutes, and somehow or other managed to transplant [Nenrikin] into Kaburagi-san successfully. However, it seems that just gently nudging at it caused it to immediately come unstuck and fall off. Because it"s not physically attached there"s no problem with doing intense exercise, but if you just slightly graze it with psychokinesis it will immediately try to go *pokan* and fall off.
So I explained this to Kaburagi-san, and she said she would wait and see for a little while. If it"s treated gently, will it spontaneously stick on and become permanently attached? Or is further stimulation needed to fully establish it? Observing what happens now is crucial. I went through a lot of pain for this, so I hope it succeeds.
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Footnotes:
1: Expression meaning "good night"
2: Possible reference to "Super Mario Bros." ⇒
3: I have no idea what this is a reference to. Google was unhelpful.
4: For all of you wondering what nenrikin is, here you go. It"s what he calls the "invisible muscle" that enables him to perform psychokinesis. I leave it as nenrikin because the word doesn"t actually translate and it"s the "name" for his superpower.
5: It seems our MC"s tsundere side has awakened! For those unfamiliar with it, a tsundere is someone who acts like they"re uninterested in someone, while at the same time wanting to get closer to them. For more info, read here ⇒ Wikipedia – Tsundere