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

When Satoshi first looked at the matchups for the third round, he already expected to be in the first fight and Yun Zhe in the last fight. That's why it didn't surprise him when he saw that he was in the first match. It was a running trend of the Official Beast Tournament and at this point, it didn't shock him at all.

To his relief, his group wasn't matched with someone he knew, which was a good thing since he wanted his acquaintances to reach the fourth round. If they were to win the third round together, then the quarterfinals would be like a tournament among friends and acquaintances.

He also wasn't surprised when he realized that Yun Zhe was still in the mix. After all, he did promise to see Satoshi in the finals. Of course, he's got the skills to back up such a promise.

"And then the plane went babam~! And I gripped my seat, thinking that we were about to crash. The rattling was insane, you know, so I thought that we were all going to get marooned on an island in the middle of nowhere. Then the pilot announced that it was just turbulence, whatever it was." Midori continued blabbing about his first time on the plane. As usual, Midori didn't pay attention to him.

"By the way... you remember I also have a tamed beast with me, right? I left it at home since I didn't have a Gren with me. As it turns out, there's this thing called Grens that allow you to store your tamed beast when you're going somewhere." Midori went on, and this time, Satoshi paid attention since the topic was about tamed beasts. "Honestly, I actually don't know what my tamed beast is called but I know for sure that it's a grass type. With that said, how do you, you know, activate that skill called Beast Integration? I've seen other participants do it... it's like fusing with your tamed beast and using its power as your own, right? How do I do it?"

For once, Midori was asking a legitimate question, that's why Satoshi felt a bit of seriousness within before he answered his question. Clearing his throat, Satoshi then patted Midori on the shoulder. "If you want to know, I can teach you," Satoshi said, giving him a thumbs up. "You'd have to wait until after the Official Beast Tournament though... we can have a couple of lessons before the new semester starts."

"Ah, that's right! We still have school. For some odd reason, I forgot that we're still going to school once the break's over. Sigh~" Midori heaved a sigh before he looked Satoshi straight in the eyes. That drastic change in his gaze made Satoshi flinch and look away.

"By any chance... how does it feel to beast integrate with a tamed beast like your Copycat?" Midori asked, blowing smoke out of his nose. "Does it feel like, she's on your back or something? Or maybe it feels like a hug? What is it?"

"Dude." Satoshi gave Midori a condescending stare as if he was some sort of a hopeless case. Midori responded by letting out a chuckle.

"Eh, Satoshi?" Hiroshi called out, appearing out of nowhere while eating a candy apple. "Shouldn't you be preparing for your match? You're first on the roster, right?"

"Ah, right! I figured I'd step out of the waiting room and take a break. I guess I should go back now. Who would've thought that a lot of time has passed already." Satoshi said, glancing toward Midori.

"As expected of Midori, his mouth can run off for hours on end. It's simply a waste of time." Hiroshi let out an exhale before grabbing Midori by the shoulder. "Hora~ you shouldn't bother Satoshi right now, he's got a match  to win. We'll be cheering for you."

"I'll be going then," Satoshi nodded along before heading back to the waiting room.

On his way back, Satoshi decided to search for the stall which sold candy apples. Somehow, he wanted to eat one before the match began, thanks to Hiroshi who showed up holding one. 'Now that I think about it... I never really go to festivals back then since I had to train my body double time just to keep up with everyone. When was the last time I ate a candy apple?' He asked himself. Then he realized that his nostalgia was useless since he ate one three weeks ago.

Even then, he decided to buy one. After going around the stalls for the second time, he found the stall he was looking for. And by pure chance, Shiroi was there, buying a candy apple as well.

"Eh, Shiroi? What are you doing here?" Satoshi asked since he was caught off guard. And now that he thought about it, he just asked a ridiculous question. After all, what could a person be doing in front of a stall if he or she's not going to buy anything?

"Satoshi, there's only five minutes left before the match starts... are you here to buy a candy apple as well?" Shiroi confirmed while glancing at the two candy apples she bought. "This is the last of the batch, you can have one."

"No, it's all right. I can buy—" Satoshi stopped short as his face reddened in embarrassment. Of course, there won't be enough time for him to get another one since the store owner was still waiting for the second batch to arrive.

"T-thanks," Satoshi muttered, getting the candy apple from Shiroi.

"Ganbatte~ Satoshi," Shiroi cheered before turning away.

"Ou~" Satoshi's voice trailed off as he watched Shiroi disappear into the crowd. Smiling, Satoshi then turned around and headed back to the training room.

Before he arrived there, however, he noticed a familiar figure sitting by the corner of the hallway. There was no way Satoshi wouldn't notice the striking orange-colored hair sticking out of his head. With a hair color like that, he was bound to stand out one way or another.

At the same time, the announcement of the first match reverberated all over the American Dome. It was time for the first match.

...

Unlike the other beast tamers in the White Mist Faction, Shoyo wasn't the least bit discouraged to join the Official Beast Tournament. Thanks to Satoshi who had been guiding the entire faction and teaching them the ways of Dual Beast Integration, the combat power of the entire group rose sharply. However, two weeks wasn't enough time and they knew that they couldn't stand on even ground against the Black Fog Faction.

Nevertheless, Shoyo decided to sign up for the Official Beast Tournament. In the end, he was the only one who signed up. And by a stroke of luck, he managed to reach the third round without any problems. So far, one could say that he's on par with White Mist since the two of them were still in the tournament.

Shoyo was actually celebrating his hard-earned spot in the Official Beast Tournament... that is until he saw the pairings. If it were any other person, he would've brushed the pairing off. But as it turned out, he was actually teamed up with Satoshi, the one and only beast master whom he looked up to.

For once during the entire Official Beast Tournament, Shoyo felt like backing down. He wanted to just forfeit his participation in the match since he knew that he'd just pull Satoshi down. Compared to the others in the White Mist Faction, he was decent. After all, he could already control his Dual Beast Integration albeit only for five minutes or so.

Compared to the participants in the tournament, however, Shoyo felt like a kid challenging an adult in an arm wrestling contest. Some of them could even perform a Trinity Beast Integration, and they didn't have any difficulty keeping that skill activated for more than ten minutes. There was no way he could match against any of them.

He knew Satoshi was strong, but no matter how strong he was, he'd be up against two high-leveled beast tamers. There's just no way he could take two people at once, and then there's him as deadweight as well.

"If I back down... would they let someone else take my place. I'm sure Satoshi-sensei would understand." Shoyo muttered to himself as he sat down by the corner of the hallway. He couldn't even bring himself to walk toward Satoshi's waiting room so they could go together for their match.

Then the announcement of the first match resounded throughout the hallways, and Shoyo's shoulders flinched up as he heard it. Nervousness crept up within him, and he forced himself to stand up... but to no avail.

"Shoyo? What are you doing here? We have a match, remember?" Satoshi questioned, seating himself down beside Shoyo. "Are you feeling all right? You're not sick, are you?"

Shoyo shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'll just drag you down if I participated. A teammate like me would surely make you lose... and I know that it's an important tournament for you, Satoshi-sensei." Shoyo continued.

"What are you talking about? It would drag me down even more if you didn't participate. I'd have to go up against two people at once. Come on, we only have three minutes." Satoshi said, pulling Shoyo up before he could continue complaining.