My System: An Evolved Computer I Made With My Unique Ability—

The first rays of sunlight on a bright early morning finally shone through the windows towards the boys' room, causing Kurogami to wake up. As someone who was attuned to darkness, he was really sensitive to light, that's why just the slight alteration in brightness made him wake up in an instant. There was no need for him to wash his face as well since he was wide awake. As usual, when he looked down, his lower body wasn't there once again. This happens sometimes when he sleeps, he gets too relaxed that his lower body merges with his shadow, or rather, shifts into its shadow form. Somehow, he can't do it that much when he's awake though, but he knew that his potential when he could fully shift his body into the shadow form would make him an alpha-level mutant— or so that's what he wanted to call himself based on a pretty famous best-selling superhero comics.

After all, a shadow has no information compared to the wave-particle light, its polar opposite. Shadow is anywhere and everywhere as long as light exists, which means Kurogami could essentially move faster than light if he were to master that technique.

"All in due time," Kurogami heaved a sigh, glancing at Siril, then at Midori, then at Hiroshi. He immediately realized that Satoshi was missing.  "I knew it, he was acting weirdly last night." He told himself, clicking his tongue. "I should've been more attentive. Where did he go? Hopefully, he comes back before the second round of the Inter-High Tournament starts."

SLAM!

Before Kurogami could even stand up and do a couple of stretches before heading to the bathroom for a quick bath, the door to the boys' room burst open with Fuuka right behind it. She was panting, as if in a mild panic.

"Guys! Check it out!" Fuuka screamed, pointing at the screen on her computer. Just like Kurogami, she just woke up but she had a habit of checking the news first thing in the morning. That's why she was shocked that something like that happened overnight. While they were all participating in the Inter-High Tournament, who would've thought that a worldwide catastrophe would ensue. Of course, there was nothing they could do about it, but then again, timing of all timings, they were cut off from such an important event, being participants and all.

On Fuuka's computer screen was an article that discussed the recent incident about the Gates that seemed to appear on every continent around the globe. These were then handled by a few top superheroes but so far, no one has returned yet except for one exploration team— The superheroes that handled the Gate in North America. They were talking about a certain duo that helped them in their subjugation.

If it weren't for them, we would've been dead by now. Crank Tank said in one of the interviews. He didn't specify as to who helped them though since Satoshi didn't want his cover to be blown. Also, no one would actually believe Crank Tank and the others if they were to reveal his identity.

"May I see?" Kurogami said while the other guys gathered around after being woken up by Fuuka. After scrolling through the article, they also felt concerned, especially Kurogami after seeing that Satoshi's parents were included in the Exploration Team that entered the Gate that spawned in their country.

"No wonder Satoshi looked so worried last night. I'm guessing he couldn't sleep because of this news. Why didn't I notice it earlier, tsk." Kurogami said.

"Wait, where is Satoshi?" Midori asked, looking around.

"He's probably just in the restroom or something," Hiroshi responded but he felt anxious as well that Satoshi wasn't around when they woke up. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Satoshi is the leader and the core member of their team. If he were to disappear because of an emergency, then everything will fall into chaos, even their impeccable teamwork would be ruined in an instant without him in the center of it.

"No, there aren't any shadows in the restroom. He probably went somewhere outside." Kurogami continued. "We still have at least an hour before the start of the second round. Let's wait patiently for him. I mean, he's probably just doing his morning routine or a morning jog."

Fuuka and the others nodded, well, not all of them did. Pursing his lips, Shidou clicked his tongue. "Somehow, I'm getting a bad feeling about this. For now, why don't we look for him? I'll just feel uneasy if we stay here and do nothing. What if he got into trouble or someone wanted to sabotage us during this Inter-High Tournament? We shouldn't overlook every single thing."

"You're right." Fuuka continued. "Everyone's got their phones, right? Let's look around the Stadium. I'll also tell Cherry about it. After half an hour, let's all return here and discuss what we do next. Hopefully, by then, Satoshi had already returned."

Everyone nodded.

A few minutes later, all of them got out, not even eating a single bite of breakfast since time was of the essence. They could only wonder where Satoshi went.

...

As mentioned before, the live stream of the Inter-High Tournament was on for twenty-four hours every day, broadcasting every single movement of the participants except when they needed to do some personal stuff. Right now, it was still morning so no one expected any action when they turned on their television to watch the live stream. Those who were watching in the comfort of their homes thought that every school left would be in the common area, discussing their strategy for the next round. Of course, that's the most reasonable approach since there were only a couple of schools left in the bracket. Getting into the third round is as hard as running with one leg.

But to everyone's surprise, the candidates of the United Superheroes Academy were rushing outside as if they were being chased by a ghost. The viewers thought that it was some sort of promotional or something set up by the higher-ups themselves.

And then, as soon as they got outside, they started using their powers as if to practice— but it was obvious that they were looking for something.

[What are they doing, lol]

[Looking for your mom hahha]

[Maybe a training session? I don't know, it's probably one of the training sessions]

[No, I think they're looking for a person.]

[They seemed panicked, are they all right?]

[Something's happening all right]

[Why were they the only ones who were participating in this event?]

[How would we know, we're also tuned in just like you.]

The comment section became lively once again as soon as some new action appeared on the screen. With great joy, the commentators gave his feedback to the live stream crew, telling them that people were starting to get engrossed in the current unknown incident.

"It seems like, USA Candidates are having a bit of a problem right now, what do you think about this?" The first commentator asked the second commentator. Just like the viewers, they also had no idea what exactly is going on. But they decided to follow through with their job all the way since it's their sworn duty to report every single detail they could obtain from people and the others."

"I think... ahha! I got it!" The second commentator said with a huge grin on his face. Without further ado, he grabbed the mic closer to his mouth so he can say what he thought about the situation. As a commentator, it is their job to look for any details that would make it interesting for the viewers if they were to hear about it.

"Look again, do you see something amiss?" The second commentator asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Just... take a look!"

While the second commentator was arguing with the other commentator,  the comments section suddenly burst into a few thousands as soon as he stopped speaking.

[Hey, that guy was right,]

[You mean the commentator?]

[Yeah, there really is someone missing!]

[Wait... you're right! Satoshi is missing!]

[That's why you shouldn't wander around kids.]

[I don't get they can't just contact him by phone though, it's not like he doesn't carry one, right?]

​ [No, maybe his phone died or something. That's why they can't contact him]

[The second round starts in an hour, right?]

[You're right!]

[Will they be able to find Satoshi? Hopefully so, I'm watching the live streams because he's there.]

As the clock ticked by, the USA Candidates weren't the only ones who grew anxious. Even the viewers and commentators were nervously awaiting the results of the search since they've already chosen to be invested in the live stream. They wondered why Satoshi had to leave without telling anyone about it. Was there internal strife between them? Was Satoshi going through something? One could only wonder.

One thing's for sure, however, that the spotlight was once again focused on the USA Candidates because of his disappearance.