Life was unpredictable.
Just the day before, he had been your typical university student, but after a Special Power Examination, he became an Ability User.
Officially certified as an E Rank Superhero, Esper-type.
That was the current situation Henry found himself in.
Sitting on a chair outside the Superheroes Registration Bureau, Henry held the certificate carefully in his hands, momentarily stunned and unsure of what to do next.
He tried his best to recall the education about superheroes from his high school teacher.
("At some point in time, humans started to evolve again.
Less than 3% of the population manages to born with special genes, which can be awakened when they grow up, giving them access to special abilities or enhancing their physical capabilities.
In this current society, superheroes are the most sought-after occupants. They say that the moment you get your certificate, your entire life changes.
But they also say, 'With great power comes great responsibility.'
The wealth this career brought carried more than just benefits; there were dangers and the risks of dying, too.")
That was also why Henry hesitated, uncertain about the path ahead.
'Should I continue with my studies?'
'Should I leave the school and start as a Superhero from now on?'
Henry questioned himself.
He wasn't like fighting, mostly because he was smart and tall; none of his peers wanted to pick him as their bullying target.
His parents were also a lovey-dovey couple, whispering love words to each other nonstop; he had only ever seen them argue about who loved the other more, which was ridiculous in his view.
In short, Henry became an adult without any interaction with violence.
'No... There was that one time.'
As he was wondering, a distant memory resurfaced.
It was two years ago, the first time he visited the bar near his university, curious about all the new experiences only adults could access.
Clueless about what to do, he relied on the friendly bar-tending uncle for his first experience.
Unexpectedly, he trusted a black-hearted person.
That bartender ruthlessly drained his wallet with drinks, making him so drunk that he didn't remember what happened next.
But the memories, though blurry, remained.
Under the influence of alcohol, his usual timidity faded. When he saw a beautiful woman being harassed by a group of men, he stepped in to protect her.
He won the first fight of his life, and it was one versus three.
That was also when he realized he wasn't half bad at fighting. The lessons from martial arts school had finally paid off.
But the story didn't end there.
The beautiful woman pulled him outside the bar; they kissed, and then she led him to a hotel.
What happened next was better left out.
But it was the greatest night of his life.
Won his first fight, had his first kiss, and lost his virginity—he became a real man the night before college started.
'It was also her first time, I saw blood on the mattress... I wonder where she is now?'
Thinking this far, Henry suddenly felt sad.
When he woke up that morning, the woman was already gone. She left only a piece of paper behind.
'If we's fated, we'll meet again,' she wrote.
He still remembered that typo—she was obviously in a hurry to leave, or maybe she just didn't want to face him yet.
Either way, it's been two years. Henry hasn't seen her since.
From visiting the same bar to wandering the university streets, he kept doing it—over and over—hoping to see her again.
But maybe...
"Maybe I need to move on. Try something new," Henry muttered, then put the certificate into his backpack, carefully arranging it between a big notebook to protect it.
He'd put it into a plastic cover later.
Then he starts wondering about his Special Power.
He was an Espert Type.
Meaning he was likely to awaken some sort of special ability later—but to be honest, Henry preferred Physical Type more.
After all, despite Physical Type can't use flashy abilities like controlling fire and water, as long as his body was strong enough, he could engage and retreat as he wanted.
That was also the reason why Physical Type Superheroes tend to have lower mortality rates than other Types.
"Well, there's no point in regretting what can't be changed. I've had enough of regretting these two years, let's just roll with what fate has designed for me." Henry shook his head, then he took out the white medicine capsule from his pocket.
"An awakening serum," Henry muttered, his heart beating fast.
He hesitated for some seconds before decisively putting the entire medicine capsule into his mouth. No need for water, the capsule instantly melts into his tongue as cool liquid pours onto his throat.
A strange sensation rises throughout his body.
'So this is the awakening process...' Henry thought, trying his best not to show any discomfort on his face.
The examiner told him that the serum needs one night to take effect, so after getting used to the strange sensation inside his body, Henry stood up and left the Superheroes Registration Bureau.
"Let's return for now. Also, I need to check out my new home."
As a benefit of awakening, Henry was issued a small villa and one million Mil—the universal currency used by superheroes.
Mil, or Millon, wasn't something ordinary people had access to.
Each country still had its currency, but Mil was exclusive to Ability Users, regulated by the Superhero Union.
If Henry converted this one million Mil into his country's money, he'd have over twenty-five million in cash.
That's just how insane a superhero's wealth is compared to a normal person.
With those thoughts in mind, Henry hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address to his villa.
The driver, recognizing the address—and seeing the Superheroes Registration Bureau behind him—was silently jealous. Still, he smiled and drove professionally.
...
After more than fifteen minutes on the road, Henry now stood in front of his new villa. The whole thing felt unreal—this big, luxurious building was actually his.
He wasn't poor by any means. His family was well-off, and he'd never lacked anything growing up.
Still, for the past two years, he'd been busy with his studies and wandering around in search of the woman from that night. Looking back, Henry realized he'd been a bit lacking in ambition—never once had he imagined something like this could happen to him during that time.
In such an anti-climactic mood, Henry casually toured around his villa before dropping onto the bed in a random bedroom.
It was a dreamless night.
...
The next morning.
Henry woke up—and saw another him. Not in the mirror on the wall, but sitting right next to him on the bed.
His mind was screaming, but his body reacted differently.
Normally, when you see a stranger, you instinctively guard yourself. But what Henry saw in front of him wasn't a stranger. It was him—blood and flesh.
"Take a deep breath first…" Henry muttered, eyes staring holes into the other him.
As his thoughts cleared, the realization hit.
"You're my ability?"
The other nodded.
"Damn, could it be a cloning ability? Can I control you?" Henry asked, his face slightly red as he shifted to kneel, inspecting the clone up close.
The clone looked exactly like him—down to the mole below his eye.
A handsome man: high-bridged nose, blade-like brows, sharp eyes, and pale lips. His body was sturdy too—Henry had kept up his routine of exercise and martial arts every day.
In short, with his good looks and grades, Henry was pretty much a campus celeb. But that was then. Now he was a registered Ability User, and everything had changed.
After that small interlude in the morning, Henry had breakfast with his clone, then began testing his ability.
He also started searching online for other clone-type ability users.
That's when he found a pleasant surprise.
"My ability is different from theirs!" Henry shouted happily in the villa's living room.
Most clone users could only create illusions of themselves, or at best, physical clones they had to control simultaneously with their own body—an ability classed as one of the hardest to master.
But his was different.
His clone was independent—it could move on its own, think on its own, and had its own memories, separate from his.
The best part? Henry could still take control of his clone whenever he wanted, even sharing its vision like it was part of his own body.
Though, as the online information warned, simultaneously controlling two bodies was incredibly difficult—and Henry finally understood why.
It was like trying to play two games on two monitors at the same time.
If he and his clone were doing the same actions, it was easy enough. But the moment he tried to make them act differently, everything fell apart—their movements got awkward and uncoordinated.
At one point, he even tripped over his own feet and gave himself a bloody nose.
Giving up for now, Henry handed control back to his clone and rested his head on the sofa, waiting for his nosebleed to stop.
His head was still spinning from just a few minutes of controlling two bodies.
While resting, Henry began to think.
'This clone control thing might take a while to get used to. After that, I still have to report my ability to the bureau…'
At that thought, Henry suddenly became cautious.
"Should I tell them the truth about my ability?"
"Or would it be better to keep it secret for now?"
He muttered to himself. He didn't want to stand out too much, and more importantly, he figured reporting a new ability would be a hassle. It'd probably mean cooperating with the bureau, going through endless paperwork, and visiting some lab to get poked and tested.
"Yeah, I'll keep this to myself for now. I'll just say it's a physical clone that needs to be controlled—that should be enough to hide my real ability."
With the decision made, Henry stopped hesitating and devoted the entire day to testing his power.
The bureau had given him a 3-day deadline to report back, so he still had plenty of time to figure things out and perfect the cover for his ability.
Just like that, three days passed.
...
Today was the deadline for Henry to report his ability. If he delayed any further, the bureau would send its staff over to check on him.
There wouldn't be any punishment, but who knew what they might quietly add to his biodata?
You know—just like when a teacher secretly slips a bad comment into your student record.
...
Sitting on the main entrance of the villa, Henry was putting on his shoes when he suddenly realized something.
"Ry-Two, I forgot the jacket in the bedroom. Go grab it for me, please." He glanced at his neatly dressed clone in the same outfit as him.
"Okay."
The clone nodded obediently and swiftly made its way to the second floor.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door.
"Eh? Is the bureau staff already here? I should still have some time before the deadline, right?"
Curious about who'd show up this early, Henry hurriedly tied his shoelaces and walked to the door.
"Hey, who is th—"
He was about to speak, but the familiar figure standing before him shut down his mind completely.
It was a beautiful woman—right in front of him.
The blurry figure from his distant memories surged back and overlapped with the one before him. The same long black hair, the same faint scent of perfume, a white one-piece dress, and a teal jean jacket.
She was as gorgeous as the night he spent with her.
But now she looked tired.
Her hair was slightly messy.
'Are you okay?'
'I missed you so much.'
'Where have you been?'
There were so many things Henry wanted to say, but when he saw the two babies in her arms, the words died in his throat.
…
At that same moment.
The woman's expression was complicated. She was fighting her thoughts, trying to steel herself to face the father of her children.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Her eyes scanned him—his shoes, his pants, his shirt, and finally, his face.
'He's even more handsome when I look at him this close,' she thought.
She remembered waking up that morning two years ago, after losing her first time to him. This was the face she'd committed to memory.
There was an important thing she needed to announce to him.
But now that she was here and saw the confused look on his face, she felt scared inside.
'Will he accept the children?'
There was hesitation in her eyes, and her arms, which were holding her two daughters, were shaking a little.
…
One minute later.
"Are they… my children?"
Henry was the first to speak.