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

A drone swooped in towards the Grand Stage in the middle of the American Dome, then rose up to have a bird's eye view of the audience. A panoramic view of the American Dome exterior was then shown on the live stream, and the announcement about the recent changes for the second round.

"Let the voting begin!"

The first slot on the screen started scrolling through the names of the participants, all thirty-two of them that were left. The name then continued to scroll until it eventually slowed down. The names of the participants were clear now, and the people gasped since there were a couple of familiar names on the screen. Even Satoshi and Yun Zhe saw their name as it slowed down, and they gulped in anticipation.

Ting!

A familiar name appeared on the screen. It was none other than the winner of the last match, Black Fog. As it turned out, the randomly generated name, chosen by the computer, was Black Fog, and the people started cheering like madmen. He was one of the few participants who was a fitting candidate to win the finals.

When the second slot started rolling forward, the crowd grew quiet. Even Luke Skyrunner, temporarily taking over the commentator's job, suddenly felt chills up and down his spine as he watched the crowd. There was a certain heavy atmosphere revolving around the Grand Stadium as the voting session began.

Together with the audience, Luke Skyrunner watched with eager anticipation as the people tried to pick Black Fog's enemy.

Even without looking at the audience, Satoshi could more or less feel the stares of the people boring down on him despite the fact that he was in his waiting room. It was impossible for the audience to see him, yet he felt as if they were watching him intently.

The polls started going up in number as more and more audience pressed their vote. It wasn't surprising when people saw that only two names were on the board. Midoriyama Satoshi and White Mist.

"I knew it," Satoshi muttered to himself as he and Yun Zhe watched the live stream together. This was only the first voting, and Satoshi could already tell that he'd be picked more often in the later rounds if he won't be chosen right now. He'd rather fight Black Fog in the first round than continuously experience the churning feeling in his stomach every time the voting session begins.

"Well, if you get picked, it's obvious that you're going to win. The people may be cheering Black Fog on right now, but he's weaker than I am. You'll easily defeat him. Honestly, I'll feel bad if you ever get chosen. The people's expectation of my student is so high. How sad." Yun Zhe heaved a sigh as he shook his head.

"There's no guarantee yet, and I think White Mist is going to get chosen..." Satoshi's voice trailed off as he realized why Yun Zhe said that. Black Fog is a household name when it comes to the Official Beast Tournament. Moreover, there were already plenty of times when Black Fog and White Mist fought with each other. Of course, the people would pick someone new, or rather, there's a good chance they'd pick someone other than White Mist.

And seeing that there were only two names on the screen, Satoshi had already concluded that he was going to be fighting in the first round.

"As you may know, Black Fog is the current dark horse for this tournament. For years, he had been challenging White Mist here and there, and their fights were always close." Luke Skyrunner began as the percentage of the votes continued to increase.

"But right now, he had proven himself to be a better beast tamer in this Official Beast Tournament. We all know that Jean Grey defeated White Mist by a landslide during the exhibition match two or so weeks ago. And that very Jean Grey, who was unofficially crowned as the beast master, was defeated by Black Fog. There are only two names on the board right now..."

"Correct! It's more or less safe to assume that  Black Fog will be fighting one of them, right, Luke?" The other commentator chimed in, his eyes glued to the huge screen in the middle of the stadium.

"I heard White Mist had undergone intense training since he lost to Jean Grey. I'm sure he's really eager to get his title back. It would be the match of the century if we were to see the two of them fight. White Mist and Black Fog had been rivals for years. Would this year finally end their prolonged rivalry?"

"We can't overlook this young up-and-coming star, Midoriyama Satoshi. Apparently, he's the son of Japan's number one and number two superhero, also known as the Midoriyama Duo. And during his first match, did you see how he managed to fend off the Hero Disciple? That was one of the most intense fights I've ever seen in all my years of organizing the Official Beast Tournament."

The commentator nodded; the numbers were reaching their maximum, and the timer that would indicate who would fight against Black Fog was in its final seconds. A majority of the audience held their breath as Satoshi's name and White Mist's name evened out and sat at fifty percent.

They had equal votes. It all comes down to the last few votes that would be put in before the five seconds were up.

Five... Four...

Three... Two... One...

There was a sudden spike in the votes, followed by a series of gasps as the timer ran out. The two names on the board, which both sat at fifty percent, finally separated— with one name having more votes than the other.

Sitting at forty-nine percent was White Mist, then Midoriyama Satoshi rose up at fifty-one percent. He had overtaken White Mist in total votes, making him the first match in the second round.

Satoshi wasn't the least bit surprised. He had already mentally prepared himself for the match that would soon happen. It was just the second round. There were still three or four more rounds after this before they reached the finals. To Satoshi, this was just another stepping stone for him.

Black Fog or whatever, Satoshi had already decided to win and sweep through the first rounds. Once he gets to the finals, that's when he'd reconsider using his full power as a beast tamer.

"Heh, I knew it. Now, don't you go beating him up too badly, all right? You're going to answer me if something bad were to happen to him." Yun Zhe reminded Satoshi while patting him on the back. Deep inside, he felt a bit nervous that Satoshi would be fighting his student. He clearly didn't stand any chance. But on the side not, he also felt excited about the match. While there was little to no chance that Black Fog would be able to overcome Satoshi, Yun Zhe couldn't wait as to what he going to do once he backed into a corner.

The desperation would surely make it possible for Black Fog to reach greater heights. Furthermore, when it comes to years of using his superpower and his combat experiences, Satoshi was no match for Black Fog— or at least that's what Yun Zhe assumed since Satoshi looked weak underneath. What she didn't know, however, was that Satoshi had also been training, albeit physically. This natural superpower of his snagged him in the top fifty of every competition he participated in. Without the superpower, though, he was easily bullied, but that didn't get to him. In his mind, he was too focused on making himself stronger so he could at least have a fighting chance if someone were to gang up on him.

And now that he had awakened his superpower as an Upgrader, his physical strength now greatly compensated for his lack of control when it comes to his superpower. Long story short, Satoshi couldn't be underestimated, either.

"I'll be going." Satoshi firmly said, letting out an exhale before he headed out of the room. "Ryoko, are you coming with me?" Satoshi asked, thinking that Ryoko might not want to go with him.

Ryoko enthusiastically stood up, to his surprise, walking towards Satoshi's side before she gestured for him to start walking. Somehow, Satoshi was expecting such development to happen, but he realized a little too late that Ryoko would follow through with the image Satoshi had in his mind.

"Let's go," Ryoko called out, locking arms with Satoshi.

"Don't hurt him too much, all right?" Yun Zhe called out just as the door swung shut.

"Ou~" Satoshi answered. Together the two of them headed toward the Grand Stage.

Meanwhile, Black Fog confidently strode to the center of the Grand Stage. He was sure that Satoshi was a strong participant, but even then, he believed tha he'd be able to win the second round nice and easily.

"So, I'll be fighting you, huh, Midoriyama Satoshi?" Black Fog said, extending his hand, to which Satoshi replied with a handshake.

"Let's have a great match," Satoshi said, seeing the referee as he skittered to his original place by the center of the Grand Stage.

BEGIN!