Evening. Just before school let out.
William came running over, still wrapped up in his latest obsession—online dating. He rattled off something that sounded important, but Eden barely processed a word. His head was still full of UFC clips.
"Mm-hmm. Yeah, sure. Fine." Eden just nodded absently.
"Good. Then it's settled. This weekend, you're coming with me to Upstate University to meet the goddess of the med school." William grinned, clapped him on the shoulder, and walked off.
For the record, this universe's William was straight—not bi, not gay. Which explained why he and Eden actually hung out so much.
"…Wait. What?"
Only after William disappeared did Eden realize what he'd just agreed to. He frowned, trying to rewind the conversation in his head. Nope. Gone. Whatever. Not worth stressing over.
After class he grabbed five pizzas from the shop by the gate, carried them home, and demolished the whole stack with a two-liter of soda. Somewhere overhead, Eve had been tailing him, but she lost interest before nightfall.
"Amateur," Eden muttered, watching her fly off. Compared to his mom, Nolanne, Eve's tracking skills weren't even in the same league.
Fed and showered, Eden stretched out on his bed. *Simulation, start.*
A low hum answered. The system's voice echoed in his mind:
[Honored host, please choose opponent and location.]
"Do I even have to say it? Run it back with Omni-Man. Location—middle of nowhere."
[Target locked: Omni-Man Nolan.]
[Setting locked: Remote countryside.]
The world blurred. When it cleared, Eden was hanging in the sky again—face to face with Nolan.
Beneath Nolan's boots lay the corpse of some massive alien kaiju, easily a few hundred meters long. The thing could've had a whole career in Ultraman.
"You are—?" Nolan's gloves still dripped with blood. Fresh from battle, he froze when Eden materialized.
"At least this time the system gave me a suit without me asking." Eden flexed his gauntlets. Good. No pajama rematch.
He squared his shoulders. "Earth isn't yours to invade."
Nolan's pupils tightened. Rage flickered in his eyes. "Eager little Viltrumite, aren't you? Sorry to disappoint—I'm not done yet."
Once again, he'd mistaken Eden for one of his own.
*BOOM!*
They shot forward at the same instant, colliding midair. The shockwave cleared a ten-mile radius into vacuum.
Nolan skidded back a hundred meters. Eden only drifted a dozen.
"Looks like I'm stronger." Eden brushed ash from his cape, smirking.
One day. That was all it had been since their last fight. But Eden was sharper now—harder, tougher. Close calls had forged him fast.
"Don't get cocky, kid." Nolan's grin showed teeth. "Strength and speed decide fights, sure. But so do experience and skill."
His eyes burned with killing intent.
The battle raged for fifty brutal minutes. Blows traded, bones cracked, ground split. It ended with Eden snapping Nolan's neck—right as Nolan's final strike punched through Eden's heart.
"Father!"
And once again, Get-Owned Young Hero staggered onto the field. Mark Grayson, beaten bloody, screaming uselessly.
"Perfect," Eden hissed, clutching his chest, blood pouring between his fingers. "System. End it."
[As you command.]
Reality dissolved. He opened his eyes in bed, chest whole, wounds gone. Relief hit like air after drowning.
"God… even knowing it's a sim, dying still feels real."
He sat up, processing. "I actually did it. Beat Nolan without leaning on Kryptonian powers. Just raw fists."
Not bad.
But instead of diving into another round, Eden paused to think. "System. Did my stats just… jump again?"
[Honored host, your body possesses a unique trait. Each battle, each brush with death, evolves you further. Neither Kryptonians nor Viltrumites share this ability.]
"…So basically, I've got Saiyan blood?" Eden groaned.
What a mess. Kryptonian. Viltrumite. Transmigrator. Chosen by OBA. And now apparently running on Dragon Ball cheat codes. The ultimate mash-up protagonist.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter." He cracked a grin. "Run it again. Third sim. Let's go. Because damn—fighting feels *good*."
...
From 7 p.m. straight through to 6 a.m., Eden kept grinding simulations.
At first he needed a ten-minute breather between each match just to recover. But the deeper he went, the smoother it got. Stronger. Faster. By morning, he was dropping Nolan in under half an hour—without touching a single Kryptonian ability.
"Whew."
He opened his eyes to his bedroom ceiling and let out a long breath, feeling lighter than air.
"Thank God it's just a sim. Otherwise, I've honestly lost track of how many versions of Mark I've left fatherless across the multiverse."
Yeah. That was his good-morning joke.
At this point, he figured he deserved the nickname *Dad Destroyer.*
He stretched, muttering, "One step closer to taking down Battle Beast."
Real talk? By now he was probably ranked third in the universe. Behind only Battle Beast and Thragg—the kind of monsters who could annihilate Elite Viltrumites with a single punch.
"Speaking of…" His brow furrowed. "Aren't Mom and Dad supposed to be back today?"
He paced, chewing on the thought. "With my strength now, I could finally tell her everything. But… honestly? I'm not ready. Not yet."
Three days had flown by. Too fast.
His phone buzzed. A text from Nolan—his mom.
*Eden, my sweet son! By the time you see this, your father and I will already be off to Hawaii on our honeymoon. Thanks to the President's generosity… and your father's miraculous luck in winning the lottery jackpot.*
Eden squinted at the message, lips twitching.
"Yeah, sure. Luck. More like Dad's Kryptonian X-Ray Vision rigging every lottery he touches."
He tossed the phone aside with a shrug. "Guess that means I can stall the big reveal a little longer."
But the coincidence nagged at him. When things lined up this perfectly, they usually weren't coincidences.
He padded downstairs. Just as he rounded the kitchen corner, his hand shot out, clamping around a throat.
"You know, breaking into someone's house is a good way to get killed, Director Cecil Stedman."
"Ghk—!" Cecil's face went red as he clawed at Eden's arm. "Let—let me go. I'm not here to hurt you. Just… let me talk."
Wrong move. Wrong house. The legendary head of the Global Defense Agency, once their top agent, caught like a rat.
Eden's grip didn't ease. "Really? Then maybe you should tell the snipers with anti-tank rifles outside to pack it in. And the guys with listening gear five hundred meters out? Yeah, them too."
Cecil blinked. Damn kid had nailed the details. "Fine, fine!" He snatched up his comm. "Everyone fall back! Back to base, now!"
Eden finally let him drop. Cecil wheezed and rubbed his neck, realizing Eden wasn't the easygoing type he'd expected. Polite mouth. Lethal hands.
"Don't exaggerate," Eden said dryly. "If I wasn't holding back, you'd be a pancake. Or a two-dimensional smear on the floor."
He poured himself a coffee, then sat. "Five minutes. I've got school."
Cecil coughed, forcing composure. "You've awakened superpowers. Just like your parents."
"You knew already. You even sent Robot to test me." Eden sipped his coffee without flinching.
Cecil's eyes narrowed. "So you figured that out too." He pulled a tablet, sliding it across. Footage played—Eden following the Flaxans through a dimensional portal.
"Afterward, we cracked their tech, sent agents through. Found nothing but a dead world. Care to explain?"
"Maybe they had a natural disaster. Dinosaurs went out to a rock from space, remember?" Eden yawned. "Civilizations are fragile."
"…Fine. You don't wanna talk, I won't push." Cecil leaned forward. "Point is, I support what you did there. But according to our data, you didn't just awaken last week. More like a year ago. Maybe longer. And yet you've kept it secret. Even from your parents—the two strongest heroes on Earth."
He kept talking. Five minutes of nonstop analysis, speculation, empty air.
Time was up. Eden stood.
"We need you, kid," Cecil pressed. "The world needs you. The people need you. Join the Guardians of the Globe. I promise—on the GDA itself—we'll protect your identity. Even from your parents."
"You can't deliver that, Cecil." Eden didn't even look back. "Your promise means nothing."
He had zero interest in playing superhero. All he wanted was a normal life.
"Five million dollars!" Cecil's voice cracked through the kitchen. "Every mission. Cash. Five million."
Eden froze mid-step.
Then he turned, smirking. "You should've led with that."