I became a university junior. It was about time to dial down on the university life, as job search began looming on the horizon. I was told that once I became a senior, I would be absolutely swamped with that. But let"s talk about my telekinesis first.
According to my calculations, I"d already trained myself to the point where I could offset Fat Man, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Modern day atomic weapons are a far cry from the ones in WWII era, so I couldn"t say that I could deflect an atomic bomb. But flip it around, and it could be said that I was unstoppable short of an atomic bomb. I"d become a true to life One Man Mami.
(T/N: Meme based on the phrase "one man army" and Mami from Madoka, who can generate an army of muskets.)
However, I was still weak against anything non-frontal. I couldn"t use telekinesis when sleeping, and I couldn"t block light, which meant I was still susceptible towards radiation. I wouldn"t notice it if someone attacked me from a blind spot, and neither could I deal with being poisoned. Even though I had zero intention of doing anything that would cause me to have to face such issues, I couldn"t help pondering on them. And as I did, I eventually came to feel like I might actually have a way to do something about them. Having thought of a few ideas, there was no way I wouldn"t try them out.
Telekinesis is deep. My heart danced with the excitement of exploring as yet unreached depths. How could it not?
Firstly, I took to sharpening my sixth sense through telekinesis. When I say sixth sense, I don"t mean intuition or spirituality, but the unique sense that telekinesis feedbacks to me. If I acquired it, then surprise attacks would become ineffective against me, and clairvoyance would be a pipe dream no more. But as for specifically how to go about it, the key laid in burdening my telekimuscles by lifting something heavier than it can handle in order to grasp the feeling of straining it.
The sensation of strain, or the lack thereof, gives me a general sense of the weight that is being lifted. In other words, through telekinesis, I am able to sense the weight of something. Telekinesis is not just an incredible and invisible muscle. Just like my eyes and ears, it also serves as an organ that can send feedback back to me.
For starters, I dove into the j.a.pan Trench (greatest depth of 8,020 meters), then took to lifting up two ma.s.ses of seawater. The right ma.s.s was barely beyond what I could handle, and the left ma.s.s was barely within what I could handle. My aim was to familiarize myself with the difference between the two.
Maintaining my supply of oxygen with a barrier and line of sight with torches, I lifted up the water, then let go. Lift up, let go. One, two. One, two. One, two. Focus. Gotta focus. Don"t think, feel.
Just like how those aunties at farmers" markets can tell the exact weight of a potato just by picking it up, I wanted to train myself to be capable of precisely determining the weight of something without even thinking about it. To put it in terms of hearing, anyone can tell which is louder between the sound of a roaring motorcycle in the dead of night opposed to the sound of a one yen coin hitting the ground. No one has to consciously go "Sound of a motorcycle and sound of a coin, which one is louder, um, um, let me think for a moment." It"s the same thing. May the sense of telekinesis truly become my sixth sense!
I got so hyped up about it that I bought a bunch of bentou from a convenience store then spent an entire weekend down there in the company of deep sea fish. But upon thinking about it more calmly, I realized that I didn"t have to actually go so far, so I went home and shifted into comparing between a 90 yen apple and a 30 yen orange.
Training at the bottom of the j.a.pan Trench, hah. People who abruptly gain power sure like to go off and do things in an extreme way. This isn"t a Jump manga, there"s no need for an eccentric and incomprehensible training arc. Well, I mean, if there"s actually a "OHH! So that"s what that training was for! Uwahh I"ve gotten so strong!" development filled with cliche and pa.s.sion and youthfulness waiting for me, then I"d have loved to take part. But unfortunately, I had no stage to display the results of my training.
Seriously, why aren"t there espers other than me. I really wanted to say "The world has gone awry!" but it"s my existence that has gone awry, haah.
With a tinge of futility dwelling in my chest, I finished up a report while comparing pebbles and differently-sized spoons. I wanted to really praise myself for thinking of training by comparing the weight of vegetables at the supermarket. Being able to choose bigger pieces meant less stress on my finances, yea.
After doing it for two months, I became somewhat capable of determining the amount of strain felt by my telekimuscles. It was the birth of my sixth sense.
The application of this newly trained up sixth sense expanded to incredible breadth. For example, I could lay a thin layer of telekinesis over the ground in the vicinity. Through it, I would be able to determine the weight of people and cars pa.s.sing by, which would enable me to sense when an invisible a.s.sa.s.sin comes after me. "H-, how could you tell?! My invisibility was perfect!" "Hmph, underestimating the sixth sense of a telekinetic was your downfall." You get it? You get it, yea?! Haah, that"s so fricking cool! But the only problem was techniques to turn invisible don"t exist, and neither did I even have enemies! s.h.i.t!
Another application was to deploy a circular barrier around me with the strength of a piece of tissue, so that I would be able to tell when anyone intrudes close enough to break through the barrier. It would be effective against attacks from my back. In actual fact, I tried keeping this barrier deployed around me, and managed to clinch a beautiful evasion when a friend from university snuck up behind me to do the "tap your shoulder then poke your cheek with a finger when you turn around" prank. I told him "You forgot to hide your presence" with a smug face, but he just ignored me. Sniff.
Putting that aside. I"d successfully awoken my sixth sense, but there was still room for further development. Like h.e.l.l I"d end it with just this much.
The sensation of weight through my telekimuscles was, in effect, a subst.i.tution for the sense of touch. I wanted to expand it to envelope all five senses of a human—namely, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. With my telekimusclues, I wanted to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, and to touch! If I succeeded, then I"d truly become capable of acting like a mysterious power in the shadows who knows everything.
At that time, the range of my telekinesis was dependant on my sight. I could initiate telekinesis wherever I could see, but that also meant I couldn"t activate it in places I couldn"t see. But if I become able to "see" with telekinesis, then:
1) I activate telekinesis where I can see.
2) With the place that I can "see" with telekinesis as the reference point, I activate telekinesis once more.
I would be able to carry out that process ad infinitum.
Up till then, I"d been restricted to a range of about 300 meters. But I thought that if I was able to maintain a sense of sight 300 meters away, but I would be able to extend the range based on that point 300 meters away. Eventually, that would mean being able to extend my telekinesis from Okinawa to Hokkaido, such that I could watch the Sapporo Snow Festival live while sipping freshly brewed guava tea! How awesome would that be? And furthermore, if I added the senses of hearing and smell as well, then it would effectively mean actually being in Okinawa and Hokkaido at the same time.
If a tornado arises in America …… I can send telekinesis to stop it in its tracks while watching the live stream on the TV in the university cafeteria …… a mysterious force pushes back against the tornado on TV …… the other students and cafeteria aunties buzz with astonishment and bewilderment …… and there I would be, grinning nihilistically while enjoying my ¥380 bowl of sanuki udon ……
…… Oh h.e.l.l yea!
But yea, I would probably just be in everyday common places even while initiating long distance telekinesis. If I could have my way, I"d love to do it while wearing a hood and hiding my ident.i.ty while sipping on a tequila inside a dark underground bar. But I was just a normal university student. I didn"t have the money to afford such luxuries.
Please, would anyone please sponsor me? Why am I living such a generic life when I have such an incredible power? I think by now, I can probably fight on equal ground with a superpower"s entire military force. I mean, I admit that I haven"t exactly been spreading the word about me having this superpower, so there"s no one who even knows about me. Ah~ah~ah~ah, here comes the despondency again. LF extraordinary pl0x.
After that, the second phase of my sixth sense training was sight. "I will "see" with telekinesis!" This I wanted to make happen.
With it, I would be capable of not only sensing behind me but would actually be able to see behind me. And my range would theoretically become infinite. It is said that 80% of the input that humans receive is from sight. By learning to "see" with telekinesis, I would be able to add the 80% of telekinetic sight to my usual 100% sensory input. That meant expansion of my sensory input to 180% (rough calculation). But the calculation might not have been that ridiculous. Let alone behind me, I would be able to sightsee in Brazil even while physically remaining in j.a.pan. It would be true clairvoyance.
I was quite torn in regards to the training approach. To be honest, I couldn"t really think of where to start.
The fact that the range of my telekinesis was limited by sight meant that the two were most probably not entirely unrelated. There was a connection between telekinesis and sight. But I didn"t really get it. I didn"t get it, so I decided to start by improving what I did get.
My telekinesis only activated within the range of how far I can see. If I couldn"t see due to distance or due to something obstructing my view, then it didn"t activate. Looking through something like a dirty gla.s.s pane caused the accuracy to drop.
Up till then, I"d yet to attempt extending the range. That"s why I decided to start with that.
What I thought to do was simple.
I would buy a telescope.
I would look at somewhere far away through the telescope. I would activate telekinesis at the faraway place that I see. And that was it!
I thought that if I couldn"t activate telekinesis at the place I see through the telescope, then that was fine as well. It would be relevant data. But if I could activate telekinesis through the telescope, then that would serve as an enormous breakthrough. By using an astronomical telescope, I could possibly even be able to activate telekinesis on the moon.
So I went to a home center and informed a shop clerk that I wanted to buy a telescope. I looked through it as a test and determined that I could indeed use telekinesis through the telescope, so I bought it on the spot. 39,800 yen was quite a hefty amount, but it was definitely worth it.
Every morning, before heading to cla.s.ses, I peered at faraway tree branches and store signs and used telekinesis. This gave me an entirely strange sensation different from anything I"ve felt before. When I used telekinesis through the telescope, I got hit by a dizzying feeling like I was trying to see through a powerful pair of gla.s.ses. From all my experience up to then, I determined it to be a good omen. When things felt tough or strained, that always led to growth of my telekimuscles. The feeling of discomfort meant that there is growth just as long as I get used to it and overcome it.
In actual fact, on the first day I was. .h.i.t with dizziness and headache just by using the lowest magnification, but got used it to by the fifth day, and my range without the telescope also went up somewhat.
One funny thing that happened was that a week after I began this training, the police came knocking on my door saying that "we"ve had reports of someone living here suspected of peeking……" I desperately convinced them that I was bird watching. What a horrible false accusation!
The training with the telescope proved very effective, and my range increased by leaps and bounds.
Firstly, I developed a unique feeling for places so far away that I could only see vaguely. Somehow, just somehow, I became able to feel a certain "weight" in the desired general area. And if I sent telekinesis towards that image, it activated just fine.
The key was "weight." It was against "weight" that I could use telekinesis against. Sight through telekinesis was connected to weight, or in other words, the sensation of touch. This was possible only thanks to the stress training with my telekimuscles.
With the range gradually but steadily increasing, after two months I became completely able to use telekinesis on things out of my line of sight. However, the accuracy was significantly worse. All I could feel was a rough sense of weight in a general area. I could only use it in an imprecise way like that. I couldn"t create barriers, couldn"t make thing float or stop in midair. The only things I could do was fundamental movements like pushing and pulling.
However, that in itself was already great progress. Because it meant that I could use telekinesis on objects hidden behind obstacles.
With that, I could send criminals who were hiding behind fortifications flying with an invisible force. Most likely. I could only determine targets I can"t see by their weight, so I"d have to know the criminals" weight beforehand though.
The sensation of using telekinesis on something that I couldn"t see either due to distance or due to obstacles was kinda similar to squinting to see somewhere faraway. By focusing, and going "nnn," it becomes possible to see just a little bit farther. Once I grasped that sensation, it became a matter of just repeating it. The secret to growth in telekinesis lay in repet.i.tion.
Farther, then even farther. At the start, my range was a mere 300 meters. After familiarizing myself with the sensation of using telekinesis 600 meters away at the first magnification setting of the telescope, I challenged myself to maintain that range without the telescope. I felt for a "weight" at the 600 meters mark, and applied telekinesis on it. If I couldn"t do it, then I simply peeked through the telescope to regain that sensation.
Upon mastering 600 meters, I went up to 3 times the magnification at 900 meters.
Then rinse and repeat.
The telescope that I"d purchased had a maximum magnification of 150 times. Gradually familiarizing myself with increasing degrees of magnification, half a year later found me with a maximum range of 300m x 150 = 45 kilometers. With that, even someone who"s run a full marathon to get away from me would still be within my reach. Though well, I could only target things based on weight, so it wasn"t as useful as it sounds.
With a whole half year of range extension training, I became so used to it that I no longer needed the aid of the telescope to continue the training on my own.
However, one problem remained.
I did succeed in extending the range of my telekinesis. But the all-important goal of "seeing" was yet unfulfilled. I didn"t know what to do so I did it all. I spent a whole day with a blindfold on. I gradually dimmed my room to find the point where I could and could not see. I crossed my eyes. I bought 3D picture books with images that jumped out. I kept one eye closed. I tried to burn an image into my mind then closed my eyes and attempted to use telekinesis based on the image.
As a result, thanks to one of those methods, or a combination of them, I became able to "see" with telekinesis.
Normally when you close your eyes, everything is dark. However, if you direct your consciousness into that darkness, you see dizzying waves of color. As I proceeded with my "seeing" training, that dizzying feeling gradually subsided, shapes vaguely took form, hues turned vivid, and silhouettes became defined. In the end, I acquired a sense of telekinetic sight no different from actual sight.
With this, I"d become able to do absolutely whatever I wanted within my range. Obstacles were obstacles no more! I had complete freedom with angles too!
But at the same time, the width of possible misuse of my telekinesis also leaped up. I could watch movies from the best seat in a cinema without paying for it. I could peek into girls" skirts and baths. I could peek at manga ma.n.u.scripts without waiting for them to be published. Hot d.a.m.n! If I didn"t harden my heart, I would have been swallowed by darkness. So this is the destiny of those who wield power (lol).
But speaking of destiny! This is what it actually is! — is what I cried in half rage as I stepped into the h.e.l.l that is job searching.
Yep, I"d become a university senior. I had to join the working force. I thought it ridiculous how job search was supposed to start in April. Job search while all my time was being taken up by final year reports? Wasn"t university supposed to be a place for studying?
I could wail all I wanted, but I had no way of destroying the distorted (in my opinion) social norms of j.a.pan society. I mean, I could physically destroy the central j.a.panese government, but I didn"t see how that would change the intangible social norms. Rather, doing so would only turn me into Public Enemy Number 1.
Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Karma. That"s how society is made. Or at least, that"s what I learned from manga. Sounds like baloney.
Leaving aside destiny and social reform and whatnot, job searching was an issue that I had to take seriously.
The ideal would be to find a job doing what I love. A job in a field I"m talented at would be fine too, as would a high-paying job or one where I could take it easy.
What I loved was telekinesis. What I was talented in was telekinesis.
I had poured all my efforts into telekinesis ever since high school. With the power of telekinesis, I can contribute to your company by optimizing processes! …… Guess they"d just think I"m mad.
If they said, "Then how about you use it for us to see (provocation)?", then I would reply "Sure thing (activate telekinesis) (interviewer floats in midair) (building collapses) (I laugh at the top of my lungs while floating above the street that has been reduced to mountains of rubble)"
That wouldn"t even be funny.
All joking aside, I could just dial it all the way down and lift a coffee cup or something to convince them of my power. If I was an interviewer, no way I would let go of an applicant with such a newsworthy and convenient skill. So I get the offer. I accept said offer, then there"ll be the company initiation ceremony, rookie training, mountains of work, rising performance evaluation, special bonus, promotion, floods of marriage interviews, then thankfulness that I"d kept up the telekinesis training…… as if.
I came back to my senses in the middle of my delusion.
Am I seriously going for a normal salaryman job despite possessing such incredible superpowers? Isn"t there, like, some place where I could make better use of my powers?
Such as a secret governmental organization tasked with handling supernatural phenomena. Beating back alien invasions and…… well, I already knew that this world doesn"t have anything exciting like that so leaving that aside, if I got hired as the president"s bodyguard I would be able to protect him from even a rain of nuclear bombs. Throw me into a battle-torn area and all enemy soldiers would succ.u.mb to a mysterious force within a few days.
One esper for your country. How about it?
But well, I had no connections. How do presidents even hire their bodyguards? And in the modern world, matters are no longer as simple as defeating all the enemies in battle, what with religion and poverty and political agendas all intertwined.
Just twiddling my thumbs wouldn"t get anything done, so should I just go for it? If I reveal myself flashily and announce that I"m looking for a job, I honestly think I would actually get hired.
BUT! Frankly speaking, I was terrified of the price of fame.
I knew from the internet how quickly people could mob up to wail on someone who quickly rose to fame. An esper who can face off against an army would be a perfect target. My history and relationships would be dug up to the last detail and reported on all the channels, so-called experts would irresponsibly say whatever they want and debate about me, then once everyone tires of the topic I would be thrown away like trash. That"s terrifying! I really didn"t think I could withstand that. My heart would break.
As I wracked my brain thinking of a good solution, time continued flowing by mercilessly. Caught up by those around me, my job search continued on, I went to interview after interview all without revealing my telekinesis, was backed into a corner by final year projects, spent my days being chased by this and that, and before I knew it became accepted by a medium-sized venture company.
I was secretly surprised.
Seriously nothing happened. Even though I trained so hard in telekinesis, no secret organizations and no heroines from other worlds barged into my rosy student life.
What am I supposed to do now? I"ve gone and become a member of society. If you"re coming, then come quickly, extraordinary days! If you come to me when I reach my middle ages then I would have trouble keeping up with adventuring and all that, so you"d better come quickly!
You"re not coming? You"re seriously not coming?
…… It didn"t come.
I uneventfully graduated from university, and started my new job. Everything was so normal that I wanted to puke.
After becoming a working adult, the days pa.s.sed by quickly.
The stormy rookie training. Finding my duties entirely different from what I was told when applying for the job. Being obligated to come to work at 7am even though the work day starts at 8am. Having to punch out at 8pm before going back to my desk. The OT pay that never gets paid as a matter of course. Mandatory attendance even on public holidays (unpaid). Calls to return to the office right when I get home all tired out. Unreasonable claims. Responsibility that just keeps piling on. Cheap wages disproportionate to the work I put in. The client runs away because of a tiny mistake and I get yelled at and my promotion gets cancelled.
It was tough. It was tough, but humans adapt quickly. After a year, I got used to the job, and learned how to relax more and cut corners where I could. The new batch came in, so my seniors" attention and all the miscellaneous tasks went to them.
After two years, my lifestyle gradually became settled.
That night too, I returned to my cheap apartment, fetching a beer from the fridge with telekinesis while undoing my necktie. I threw myself onto the sofa, then turned on the TV.
It just so happened that a late night anime was airing. One of those with superpowers. The protagonist, a kid who was wielding fire, was directing his sword towards a young girl in a scandalous costume while shouting "why did you betray us!" The heroine was crying while being forced by shadows controlling her body to stand up and lunge forward in attack. The protagonist met it with pain in his face. Then there was the mastermind laughing evilly while watching on through a monitor.
It looked so fun……
I crushed the empty beer can into the size of a golf ball, then threw it into the trash can behind me with telekinesis. What"s the difference between me and that protagonist?
I am definitely stronger than him. Ohhh, the heroine used a sword made of compressed shadows to bisect a truck. Sit down you chumps, I can even bisect Mt. Fuji if I wanted to.
But, really, it just looked so fun……
That was the adolescence that I"d wanted to live out.
Why am I watching late night anime with a beer in hand while feeling sorry for myself?
It was me who chose this life. Fearing the price of fame, opting to err on the side of caution, I kept my telekinesis a secret. I was afraid of standing out. Those misgivings were probably founded. But you can"t kidnap a tiger cub without stepping into a tiger den. It was the truth that my choice to not take risks was what led to my absolutely boring life where I lived purely on habit.
Tears streamed down my face.
Am I going to remain like this? My life. Am I really satisfied with this? Just dragging my days on at a company that I don"t love, being taken advantage of by my superiors, desperately holding onto a chair that anyone else can sit in, living a life that would be forgotten ten years after I die, forever remaining a mere cog of a company?
As I questioned myself, I felt the fire that had been doused by two years as a working adult coming back to life.
Surely it was still not yet too late.
That"s right. I just didn"t have enough resolve during my student days.
I had an epiphany.
If extraordinary days won"t come to me, then I myself will make those extraordinary days.
Let"s make myself a fated rival. Let"s make a cute and powerful heroine. Let"s gather companions with unforgettable personalities. Let"s create an organization that fights against the world"s darkness. Let"s create the the darkness to fight against. I have the power to do all that.
I drained my second beer, then stood up with resolve burning in my eyes.
UOOOHHHHHHH!
I have decided!
I will be a corporate slave no more!
I!
Will!
Be the supernatural organization!!!