[System Online]
[Initializing…]
[Please do not end your life when this icon appears to avoid corrupting your auto saves.]
[First mission received: Kill your stepfather.]
"What?"
Blaze is dumbfounded. His eyes are wide, and his mouth is opened.
Water is still running in the sink, and Blaze is in the middle of cleaning the dishes.
Somehow, a transparent window appeared and showed him all of those previous messages and also gave him a bizarre mission.
A mission that he has been dreaming of doing for years.
Suddenly, a white ceramic cup flies over from the living room and hits Blaze's head.
The cup was not soft, and he can feel the pain stinging into his brain. Blaze grimaces like an old lady and grabs his head.
"What are you doing standing like an idiot? Do the goddamn dishes, you fucking idiot!"
Phuc yells in from the living room.
Yes, his name is pronounced exactly like you're thinking, but instead of an 'f,' his name starts with 'ph'. And he has been the one who terrorized Blaze and his mother for five long years.
Blaze breathes in deeply, holding his rage, and then continues washing the dishes.
Phuc sees the boy finally stop loitering around, so he continues watching the television. His fat belly swells forward and bounces like jelly. His head is ninety percent bald with only a few strands of hair around his ear.
Phuc is an F grade Awakened.
An awakened is simply someone who can naturally awaken a superhuman ability without making any alteration to their body.
F is the lowest of the low of the Awakened. It means that your ability isn't even useful for everyday life and is completely pointless to exist.
But, even if you are the lowest of the low in the Awakened grade, you are still better than trash genes, also known as trashies for short.
Trashies are people who are so unlucky that they don't even have a special ability nor are able to awaken one. They are even lower than the F grade and aren't considered proper citizens of Ranas.
Trashies can't own land, can't use public facilities, and can't even be registered for credit usage.
Unless one of the people in their family has superhuman ability. Then every trashy of that house is now considered a proper citizen with constitutional rights.
Blaze's family was once in a similar situation, and his father was the only Awakened in the house. This was enough to keep them from being torn apart by this cruel society.
But then his father died.
And as anyone can imagine, to save Blaze's future and her own, the mother was forced to remarry to anyone that was available.
Marrying a trashy is considered pathetic for the Awakened, so only the loser will do so. Such as 'Phuc'.
And he's always thinking that he's giving Blaze and his mother a favor. Without him, they would be homeless and probably have died somewhere already.
This mindset obviously has caused Phuc to do as he pleases to the poor mother and son.
Blaze sneakily glances to the living room.
Phuc is now completely focused on watching some kind of reality TV show with Awakened celebrities, giving the boy time to check whatever this semi-transparent window is.
Phuc did not react to this weird hologram at all. This means he cannot see it.
Blaze knows that at least. He then tries to click on the mission to see if there's anything else to it.
[Mission: Kill your stepfather.
Mission Detail: Phuc has been abusing you and your mother too much and for far too long. He is not worthy to live on this Earth for any seconds more. Kill him and receive your reward!
Mission reward: A surprise gift for Beginner; your very own customizable weapon; 1x Superpower Blindbox.]
"What's a superpower blindbox?" Blaze mumbles so only he can hear.
And as if the transparent window understands his words, more information shows up.
[Superpower Blindbox: Receive any random superpower from grade S to F.]
Blaze's heart skips a beat. A superpower means he will no longer be the disposable trashy and can finally become so much more.
With superpower, he will climb to the top of this world, not like that loser Phuc that only knows to eat, sleep, and abuse him and his mother.
Phuc doesn't even go to work these days, and only Blaze's mother does. A luxury only an Awakened can have.
Blaze and she are nothing more than slaves to him.
Calm down! Calm down! This may not be real. This can be some Awakened trying to prank me. They even know Phuc, and both of them are just trying to find a reason to kill me legally.
You can kill trashies with probable cause. No court needed, no investigation. The probable cause is also only an excuse, and nobody cares if that cause is reasonable or not.
This society is cold-blooded like that.
Blaze finishes washing the dishes and puts them into the cupboard. His hand is shaking nonstop from the fear and excitement.
Images and images of Blaze ending Phuc's life keep materializing in his head. It makes him exhilarating and high as a kite.
All that anger, all those sadnesses and desperations can be stopped with just one simple life.
But Blaze questions himself also.
Assuming whatever the window says is real, does Phuc really deserve to die?
Blaze goes out to the living room, his eyes glaring at Phuc without blinking, a kitchen knife is carefully tucked behind his back, concealed under the shirt.
"What are you looking at, trashy?"
Phuc moves his chin up high, looking ridiculous like a high school boy trying to be intimidated.
How did this man even grow up? He's not even a proper man. But that doesn't mean he deserves to die.
Blaze thinks.
Then, there is the sound of a door opening. Blaze's mother, Kana, goes home after a long day at work. She's working as a waitress in the diner up the street, not too far from here.
Kana is only in her early forties. She has curly black hair and a nice pale complexion.
She used to look very beautiful, but since Phuc moved in, wrinkles started showing up on her face like worms, and the black bags under her eyes never left.
"Hi, Mom!"
Blaze smiles wholeheartedly. Even though mother is not like she used to be. She will always be the most beautiful woman in his eyes.
"Hi, kiddo!"
Kana smiles. The smile hides a sky of sorrow and misery, but it is as bright as ever toward her kid.
"Ah, woman! You came back just in time! I am extremely horny!"
Phuc grabs his groin and starts shaking it in front of Kana. He licks his lips and looks at her chest.
"Take your clothes off, woman!"
"Ah, dear! Blaze is still here! Can't we wait for a bit, or can we go to the bedroom?"
Kana tries to smile but it only gives out a burden look.
"You shouldn't treat my mother like that, stepfather."
Blaze says.
Phuc turns to him immediately and slaps his greasy, stinky palm on Blaze's face.
"Who the fuck are you calling step-father, trashy? I ain't your father.
Haven't you understood already? I took you in because of this bitch. If it weren't for her nice tits, do you think you could live here, boy?
I'm doing charity work here. So know your fucking place. Do the chores and shut the hell up."
Phuc's veins bulge on his temples, and his face turns bright red. He roars loudly, spitting everywhere.
Blaze stands still, doesn't even lift his hand to rub the red cheek that becomes swollen due to the slap.
Kana pulls Phuc's arm repeatedly and drops to her knees. Her face is distraught, and tears fill up her eyes.
"Please forgive him! He didn't mean it! Whatever you want to do, I will do it!"
"I need you to get naked, woman! Let me show this ungrateful child how I fuck his mother!"
Phuc grabs Kana's blouse and rips it off in one swing, leaving the woman with only a bra on her upper body.