021 WHOSE PHONE IS MINE?
Damen stepped into the testing booth, unaware that Lander and Dorin were monitoring his every move from the control center.
The machine hummed to life, scanning his body with meticulous precision.
Yet the scan lingered longer than usual.
"Is there a glitch? Why is it taking so long?" someone muttered.
Damen's eyes narrowed.
"This isn't a coincidence," he thought, a flicker of unease crossing his mind.
Finally, the results began to appear—first, Strength.
"Strength: 10.0."
"Impossible! How could he have a Strength of 10?" Miss Poney shrieked from her stage, and the murmurs quickly spread among the students.
"Something's wrong with the machines!" some shouted, panic and disbelief mingling in their voices.
"Stop the machine now!" others clamored.
But Principal Dean remained calm, rising to his feet. "There is no problem with the machines. The test will continue."
The second parameter appeared:
"Meta: 10.0."
The hall erupted. "10.0 in Meta? How is that possible? Did he reach G-class in a month?"
"Is that score even possible for a middle student?"
Even Miss Poney's glasses slipped down her nose, her mind momentarily blank. She couldn't process the writing on the board—was it shock, or her farsightedness?
Principal Dean, however, beamed. "Fantastic—a genius has appeared in my school!"
He was also not surprised by the result. "Ah… no wonder. The son of the city's twin Superheroes could be nothing less."
Principal Dean recalled checking Damen's parents' Heroes Medals during the mock test.
"The medals are genuine," he remembered. "This student is a prodigy. I can brag about this for months at the weekly principal's golf meet now."
Miss Poney's emotions were conflicted.
She loathed Damen for defying and humiliating her during the mock test, yet his unprecedented score would lift her class's average.
She sank back into her chair, carefully masking any outward reaction. Neither excitement nor anger touched her expression as she processed the shock in silence.
-----
As shocking as Damen's results were, Lander and Dorin in the back of the hall hardly reacted. To the average person, a perfect 10 in Strength and Meta was extraordinary—but in their world, geniuses like this were not unheard of.
And there were many such people in this world… their meta scores could grow at rates that were extraordinary and shocking to most.
Many of these people went on to become Heroes, even Superheroes.
What caught the duo's attention wasn't Damen's aptitude score—it was his psychic energy.
The machines had been modified for this test: they measured not only basic aptitudes, but also psychic output. They were testing him to determine if he was a psychic.
"Why is his psychic energy only 0.2?" Lander asked, frowning. He had been almost convinced Damen was the serial attacker.
"The readings aren't wrong. I've double-checked the machines. Everything is functioning perfectly," Dorin said firmly.
Dorin was an investigator at the Superheroes Intelligence Agency (SIA), but her specialty wasn't fieldwork or deduction. She was the agency's mechanic—the mind behind the machines.
If she confirmed the readings, they were reliable.
Lander studied the data, his mind racing.
"Have we tested everyone in the hall yet?" he asked.
"There are still a few students who haven't been scanned," Dorin replied.
"Test them," he ordered, eyes fixed on the charts. "The psychic energy in the room is still elevated. He's here… somewhere in this hall. I have to find him."
------
Despite Damen's perfect result, the hall offered no applause.
Shock and disbelief hung heavy in the air. A few students—too prejudiced to accept the impossible—whispered among themselves, their mutters edged with resentment.
Damen didn't care.
He walked straight toward Mikey. "My phone?"
Mikey handed it over, frowning. "Here it is. But seriously… why did you even bring it into the test hall? The signal from a phone can interfere with the machines."
Damen accepted it with a faint smile. "I don't have a locker to keep it," he replied simply.
Before stepping up for the test, Damen turned back and placed the phone into Mikey's hand. "Hold onto this for me."
Mikey was confused, but took it.
Before the test Damen was terrified. He had a bad feeling about the test.
The devices lining the hall were far too elaborate—far beyond anything he'd expected from a school exam. A sliver of caution crept in.
If there was even a remote chance this was a trap meant to expose the powers of his mining app, he couldn't afford to be careless.
And then it struck him.
His phone.
As long as the phone remained on him, there was a risk, however small, that the powers inside could be discovered.
He saw only one solution. He handed the phone to Mikey.
With the phone no longer in his possession, whatever secrets it held, they couldn't be uncovered if the device wasn't on him.
Then he returned to Mikey.
"By the way, middle school's over. You should return the school phone and get a new one," Mikey reminded him.
"Damn it… I forgot the phone is not really mine," Damen muttered.
He couldn't keep the school's phone. It was school property, not his.
Then a solution struck him. "I'll claim I lost it and pay for the replacement. The school can't force me to hand over my own phone", he thought.
With that settled, Damen followed the other students out of the hall once testing concluded.
-----
"Has everyone been tested?" Lander asked Dorin.
She nodded. "All students have been scanned. Except for the principal and teachers, of course. Do you want to test them too?"
Lander shook his head. "No. We've already gone too far by secretly installing psychic scanners here. I don't want to stir trouble with the school…and with the SIA—That bastard Ambrone wouldn't like it."
"Yeah, he definitely wouldn't," Dorin agreed as she began preparing to uninstall the machines.
Lander' eyes stayed glued to the screen—and then he froze. "Wait. We don't need to test the principal or teachers after all. This has nothing to do with them."
"Why do you say that?" Dorin asked, curious.
"The psychic energy in the hall has vanished. Yet the principal and teachers are still here," he explained.
"So… the cause of the psychic must be among the students?" Dorin asked.
Lander shook his head slowly.
"It's not so simple," he thought. This puzzle was trickier than he'd anticipated, even for him.
-----
Damen headed straight for the school's administrative office.
"Hi, I'm here to report a lost phone," he told a staff member behind the counter.
"Name?" she asked without even looking up.
"Damen Dark."
She rifled through the records and pulled out a file. "Damen Dark, huh…"
"I can pay for the replacement," Damen added, trying to sound apologetic.
Then she looked up…and froze. Damen's charm hit her like a wave. Her expression softened, her previous indifference vanishing instantly.
"Actually… your lost phone was found and returned to Lost and Found. Since you didn't claim it, we sent it back to the store," she said, her voice tinged with surprise.
"You found my phone? When?" he asked, astonished.
"About a month ago," she replied casually.
Damen's eyes narrowed. "If the school already has my phone… then what's this damn phone in my jacket? How did it get here?"
------
022 THE STOLEN RING
Damen walked toward the principal's office, summoned for a meeting.
The hallway outside buzzed with activity—people he'd never seen before filled the space. He frowned, assuming he'd have to wait in line.
"Damn it… this is going to eat up my whole afternoon," he muttered under his breath.
But before long, the secretary glanced up and waved him over.
"Damen, go right in. The principal is waiting for you," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, straightening his posture as he entered.
The office was even more crowded than the hall. Teachers, administrators, and strangers stood around chatting. Among them, he spotted Miss Poney.
"That woman's going to cause me trouble again?" Damen thought, bracing himself.
But to his surprise, Miss Poney approached with a beaming smile instead.
"Congratulations, Damen! You scored a perfect mark on the aptitude test. Only four people in all of Melrose City this year achieved this," she said warmly.
Damen blinked, stunned by her sudden shift in attitude. The same woman who had dismissed him now acted as though he were royalty.
"So that's how it is," he thought. "In this world, strength and success always have the final word."
"Uh… huh," he replied, still processing.
"Oh, Damen, over here," Principal Dean called from across the room.
He gratefully escaped the awkwardness with Miss Poney and crossed to the principal.
"Yes, Principal," he greeted respectfully.
"Damen," Dean said with a smile, "these are recruiters from various high schools. They're here to meet you personally and discuss admission options."
A tall man stepped forward first, with his hand extended.
"Hi, Damen. I'm Stone from Melrose High School No. 11. We're one of the top Meta High Schools in the city. We can offer you a full scholarship with unlimited access to our training facilities. Ninety percent of our graduates go on to become Heroes—some even Superheroes," he said with a confident smile.
Before Damen could respond, another man shouldered his way in.
"I'm General Kang from the Military High School of Melrose," he declared.
"We offer a full scholarship, a starting salary, and unlimited training resources. Our graduates become leaders—the pillars of society. Even the city's governor is an alumnus."
One after another, recruiters took turns presenting their offers.
"Thanks for the offers," Damen said politely, again and again. "I'll think about it."
He couldn't help adding under his breath, "My theory exam results aren't even out yet… but look at this. Nobody cares about theory…they only care about aptitude and Meta scores."
The afternoon stretched into evening.
Damen was exhausted but exhilarated.
All his life he'd been looked down on by his family and society, treated like trash. Now he was being courted like a prodigy, a godsend.
He thought back to the start of it all—the DemCoin mining app.
It was a real puzzle. "Who gave me that phone?" he wondered. "It definitely didn't come from the school."
Maybe someone had been helping him in secret all along, answering his unspoken pleas.
A guardian angel? But then he thought of how the app hurt people.
"No," he decided. "Not an angel. A guardian devil is more likely."
-----
When the meeting ended, Damen found Mikey waiting outside the principal's office.
"Mikey, why are you still here?" Damen asked.
Mikey looked down, sadness clouding his face. He hesitated before speaking. "Damen… I don't think I'll be joining you in high school."
With his results, Damen could get into any high school in the city. To him, it didn't matter which one he attended.
Mikey, on the other hand, was his best friend—his only friend.
"Where are you going?" Damen asked quickly. "I'll come with you. I can enroll in any school I want."
Mikey forced a smile, tears welling in his eyes.
"Of course you can. You're a genius. But where I'm going… you can't follow."
Damen's chest tightened. "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving the city," Mikey said softly. "And I probably won't come back."
The words hit Damen like a stone.
He hadn't expected this. His only friend—leaving. Just like that. The world suddenly felt much emptier.
Still, he swallowed his disappointment and forced himself to smile.
"I can't leave Melrose City right now," he said. "But one day I will. And when I do… I'll find you. We're friends forever, no matter where we end up."
Mikey wiped his tears and nodded. "You're right."
He sent a contact file to Damen's phone. "That's how to reach me in Solar City."
Damen saved it.
Without another word, Mikey turned and walked away.
Damen watched him go, his heart heavy, as if an entire chapter of his life had quietly closed. Everyone he cared about was gone now.
He was alone.
Yet somewhere beneath the weight of loss, something else stirred.
A future.
He had perfect grades. A secret DemCoin mining app running quietly in the background.
And a path forward—one he would walk by himself.
------
Damen left the school grounds. For most students, that meant going home. But he had no home waiting for him.
"Huh… right. Forgot I don't even have a place to go," he muttered bitterly, hands stuffed in his pockets as he wandered aimlessly.
Lost in thought, he drifted into one of the alleys behind the school—the same alley where he had taken down Stephan King and his gang.
The air there was colder, heavier, carrying the stench of smoke and rust.
Then, a prickle ran down his spine.
His senses had sharpened ever since his Meta and Command scores improved. He froze, instantly aware of danger.
He sensed several figures lingered up ahead.
Damen slipped behind a tree, narrowing his eyes.
"This is the third time Big Boss asked us to check this dump. There's nothing here but a broken road," one of them complained.
"Gangsters," Damen thought grimly. "And they're searching for something."
"Mad Cat's been dead a long time," another said. "Anything he had is probably gone."
"Shut up," their leader snapped.
"The night Mad Cat died, he was with Stephan. This was Stephan's hideout. There has to be a connection. Big Boss wants this for a reason."
Damen's pulse quickened. "Mad Cat? What could they want from him?"
He remembered checking the body himself. Aside from a few Aur cards and worthless junk, Mad Cat had nothing of value.
Then it hit him.
"The ring," Damen whispered to himself. "Could that be it?" Mad Cat had a ring on him which looked expensive. Damen kept it.
Questions raced through his mind.
"What does the ring do? Why is it so important? Could it be… a treasure?"
Damen was just about to slip away when more footsteps echoed into the alley.
"Did you find it?" A bulky man stepped forward, his chest half-bared beneath leather straps. Behind him came a pack of thugs and a few scantily dressed women, likely dragged in from a local bar for show.
"Big Boss, we found nothing," one thug reported nervously.
"Nothing?" the man roared. "Idiots! I've sent out half the city, and none of you can find a damned ring?"
"Maybe another gang already took it," someone muttered.
"Impossible," Big Boss snapped. "I spoke to every rival gang myself. None of them killed Mad Cat. This wasn't their work."
A sudden gust whipped down the alley, making Damen's hair stir.
In the blink of an eye, several knife-wielding thugs materialized around him, cutting off every escape. They'd used Flash Dash—the same trick Mad Cat had pulled.
Damen's pulse spiked.
Big Boss turned and narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell are you?"
Damen raised his hands and forced a shaky laugh. "I—I'm just a middle school student. Took a wrong turn after class and came here… that's all."
"He's just a kid," one of the thugs said, noting Damen's school uniform.
But Big Boss's scowl didn't ease. His instincts told him not to trust so easily.
"He heard us talking, we can't let that out in the open," he growled. "Kill him."
"What?!" Damen shouted. "You're gonna kill me for no bloody reason?!"