In the morning, Zain stretched his body, feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep.
His bed was soft. It was different than the one he used in his past life, which was a hard wooden board.
He had almost forgotten what comfort felt like. "Not bad. I guess reincarnation has its own perks."
He soon dressed up and went downstairs.
He could see that his sister had already been awake and was sitting down on the dinner table.
There were dark circles under her eyes, signifying that she had cried all night.
She soon saw Zain and gestured toward the chair across from her. "Sit down, Zain."
Zain only smiled and sat down on the chair. "Sure, sis."
She exhaled deeply, resting her elbows on the table. "I want to talk."
Zain leaned back, crossing his arms. "Alright. Let's talk."
Now... it was time for them to have a real conversation.
---
Zain smiled, leaning back slightly in his chair. "You can talk first, sis. Just tell me what's on your mind."
He also reminded her about his current feelings. "I won't hate you for it."
His sister trembled slightly before smiling and relaxing her body a bit. "Thank you, Zain."
She took a deep breath before speaking. "It's just… too overwhelming."
She clenched her fist on the table. "To think that I… that I killed Father."
Zain sighed, resting his chin on his hand. "Don't blame yourself, sis."
He glanced at her, reminding her about a fact. "You know the truth, don't you? That I was the one who killed him."
She hesitated, lowering her head. "I know but... I stabbed him again after he was already dead."
Her hands trembled slightly. "I just… I can't believe I did that."
Zain watched her quietly for a moment before standing up.
He walked behind her and, without a word, wrapped his arms around her.
His sister stiffened for a second before relaxing into the warmth of his embrace.
"Don't beat yourself up too much. He was a bad father. You know that better than anyone."
Zain could feel her shaky breath on his arm.
"If we hadn't done something... maybe we would've been the ones to die instead."
He glanced at the dogs outside. "He deserved it."
For a long moment, she was silent. Then she fell asleep and whispered—.
"Thank you, Zain."
Zain smirked slightly, resting his chin on top of her head.
"We're family, aren't we?"
Then a thought appeared in his mind. His system. The Hero Hacker.
It allowed him to hack heroes, manipulate them, control them.
But... will it work on his sister?
She wasn't a hero. At least, not that he knew of.
But what if the system didn't require a person to be a registered hero?
What if the term "hero" was broader than he thought?
"Let's see if this works."
---
[Hack Initiation: Emotional and Physical Adjustment]
[Target: Zelia]
[Effect 1: Inducing deep, comfortable sleep]
[Effect 2: Removing grief and negative emotions related to father's death]
[Cost Required: 20 Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
---
Zain was a bit surprised seeing the system respond immediately.
"Huh? It worked?"
He glanced at Zelia. Her stiff shoulders slowly relaxed and the faint furrow in her brows disappeared.
She looked a bit more peaceful than before.
Zain rubbed his chin, contemplating. If my hack worked on her, does that mean she's a hero?
He doubted it. His sister had never mentioned anything about being a registered superhuman.
She didn't even have time to play as a hero, saving other people, thanks to her father.
Then... was his system's definition of "hero" broader than he originally assumed?
He slowly pulled away, watching her sleep soundly. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter.
The hack worked. That was enough.
Zain reached out, brushing his hand over her hair. "Sleep well, sis. I'll be back later."
With that, he turned and quietly left the house. He had a new objective
"If I really want to know the full extent of this system... I need to test it on someone else."
---
Zain made his way back to the ruins from yesterday's battle.
The area was still a mess.
He could see the collapsed buildings and shattered street.
But still, there were some people here.
Some dug desperately through the rubble, searching for the bodies of their loved ones.
Others rummaged through the ruins, hoping to find something valuable.
"Alright… time to test this system properly."
He then glanced at a ma who was kneeling in the rubble.
His hands were trembling as he dug through the debris.
His eyes were red and his face was despairing.
It was clear that he was looking for his loved ones.
Zain tilted his head. "Let's see if this works on him."
He activated his system.
---
[Hack Initiation: Forced Sleep]
[Target: Horv]
[Effect: Inducing immediate deep sleep]
[Cost Required: 10 Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
---
The man suddenly collapsed, sleeping on the ground.
Zain raised his brow. "Huh… it worked."
He crouched down, observing the unconscious man.
"So… does the system consider him a hero? That can't be right. He's just some guy looking for his dead family."
He frowned. He needed more data.
He turned his attention to another man a few meters away.
This one wasn't searching for bodies. Instead, he was scavenging.
The man carefully rummaged through the ruins, pocketing anything valuable.
He was a looter, not a hero.
"Alright, if my system really hacks 'heroes,' then this should fail, right?"
Zain activated the hack again.
---
[Hack Initiation: Forced Sleep]
[Target: Zudrik]
[Effect: Inducing immediate deep sleep]
[Cost Required: 10 Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
---
Just like before, the man instantly collapsed, sleeping on the ground.
Zain blinked. "No way… it worked again?"
He stood up, staring at the two unconscious men lying on the ground.
"What the hell is this?"
Neither of these men were heroes. One was grieving, the other was looting. They had nothing to do with hero work.
Yet… his system still worked on them.
Zain frowned. "Don't tell me… this works on everyone?"
He glanced down at his system's glowing interface, suspicion creeping in.
"If that's the case… then why the hell is it called the Hero Hack System?"