Chapter 2: Superpower Verification (1)
“Huff, huff, pet me more!”
“…Alright.”
A soft, small fist was pushing its tiny head between my palms, asking for more.
As I gently petted Cotton Punch for a while, Ha-eun’s mother’s nagging barrage was slowly coming to an end.
“Ah, seriously, can you stop nagging already? Su-hwan’s right here, what is this?”
“Heh, embarrassed just because your man’s around? You sly fox. If it weren’t for Su-hwan, you’d be yelling right back at me.”
“Enough.”
To be precise, the nagging ended because Ha-eun, half-pouting, turned her head away from her mother, avoiding eye contact.
And just as Ha-eun turned her head and sulked, the sound of the door lock beeped from the front entrance.
*Beep, beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep-*
“You’re back?”
“Who’s at the front door?”
The person entering through the door was Ha-eun’s father.
As soon as he saw me sitting on the floor in the living room, he immediately shouted.
“What the! Boy! I’m not giving you my daughter!”
Just like Ha-eun’s mother’s greeting, Ha-eun’s father had his way of saying he wouldn’t give me his daughter. Of course, it was something I hadn’t quite gotten used to, so all I could do was smile awkwardly.
“Dad!”
“Do you want to skip meals forever? Are you seriously trying to block your almost 30-year-old daughter from getting married? If Ha-eun can’t get married because of you, the dinner that night will be your funeral meal.”
At Ha-eun’s and her mother’s attack, her father let out a huff, patting my shoulder a couple of times.
Even though he said that, he was someone who liked me the most. In fact, he was the one who started calling me his son-in-law.
“So, what brings our son-in-law here today?”
“Well… it’s, uh… something about an animal communi… communicator? I came to do some tests on it?”
“Animal communicator? What’s that?”
Ha-eun’s father looked at me, full of curiosity, and I explained the situation again, just as I had done for her mother.
“Ohhh, so that’s why Cotton Punch is clinging to you?”
“Yes.”
At my words, her father clapped his hands with amazement.
As soon as he clapped, Cotton Punch, who had been stuck to me, quickly turned around and ran to her father, settling between his knees.
“Seems like Cotton Punch prefers Dad over you.”
“Of course! After all, do you know how much time and money I’ve invested in this little guy?”
Her father laughed brightly at Ha-eun’s comment, roughly petting Cotton Punch.
Though it seemed like a rough touch to the eye, Cotton Punch absolutely loved it.
“Master, Master! I love this! More! Ahh!”
Wagging its tail back and forth, Cotton Punch showed clear joy towards her father.
Of course, it was only natural since he was ‘that dad.’
‘I still vividly remember him saying, “If we bring this dog home, I’ll move out!”’
Although her father had reluctantly allowed them to bring Cotton Punch home after being outvoted by Ha-eun and her mother, he ended up pampering the dog even more than they did.
He even watched YouTube videos to train Cotton Punch himself, showing just how dedicated he was to the dog.
Thanks to her father’s efforts, Cotton Punch was more trained than most well-behaved dogs.
As I was lost in memories of her father and Cotton Punch, Ha-eun lightly tapped my shoulder.
“Su-hwan. So, when are you going to do the superpower test? You’ve already filled out the application form, so it seems like it’ll be soon.”
“Well… tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? On Monday?”
“Yeah. It’s better to just get these things over with right away.”
Ha-eun seemed to hesitate for a moment at my response.
“Hmm. Su-hwan, can I come too? I really want to see it…”
Seeing her smile brightly as she asked, I couldn’t help but smile and nod in return.
I couldn’t flatly refuse my girlfriend’s request, and the superpower test allowed one or two observers, so there was no problem.
○ ◑ ● ◐ ○ ◑ ● ◐ ○
“Your superpower test application is completed. Please wait in the waiting room over there, and we’ll call your number shortly.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded as I received the small number ticket from the city office employee in charge of superpower assessments.
Since I had already filled out the application in advance, there wasn’t much of a wait.
“Oh! Since your superpower is somewhat of a special type, your number might be called a bit later! Please understand!”
“Okay!”
Turning to head toward the waiting room, I nodded to the employee, who shouted out as if they’d almost forgotten. Then I approached Ha-eun, who had already taken a seat in the waiting area.
“Did you finish the registration?”
“Yeah. It looks like there’s a lot to prepare, so it might take a while.”
“I hope they call you soon.”
“Yeah, same here.”
Seeing Ha-eun’s excited face, even more excited than mine, I couldn’t help but laugh as we chatted away, just like we did in her café.
We talked about the usual things like what happened yesterday, and of course, the special topic that had become central to our conversations—my newly discovered ability.
Just as the conversation started to die down, my number was finally called.
“Number sixteen, applicant number sixteen! Are you here?”
“Here!”
I approached the employee who was sticking their head out of the testing room, holding my number ticket up.
After checking the ticket, the employee casually stuffed it into their pocket and gestured for me to follow as they opened the door to the testing room.
“Ah, I’d like to have my girlfriend as an observer for the test.”
“Damn, couple’s hell, single’s heaven…”
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?”
“Oh, nothing. She can come in. Observers are allowed if the person being tested approves.”
At the staff member’s words, I nodded, but couldn’t shake off the feeling of oddness.
‘He definitely mumbled something.’
There was a slight sense of confusion, but since verifying my abilities was more important, I decided to ignore it.
As I followed the staff member into the testing room, I noticed a few machines and several animals in place.
A Golden Retriever sat calmly with a leash on, a cat slowly nudged a pen off a table, and a small bird chirped in its cage.
“To start, the tests we can conduct here are just basic verifications. For detailed evaluations, including grade assessments, I recommend you visit a higher institution or a specialized company after completing this check.”
“Understood.”
Since I was already aware of this, I nodded lightly and sat down in the chair the staff indicated.
On the table in front of the chair, there were various items such as what looked like pads for physical therapy, or sponges typically used for electrotherapy.
“This is a combined device for detecting superpowers and lie detection. Due to the recent increase in superpower-related fraud, we hope you understand why we have to go through this process.”
The staff briefly explained, assuring me that there wouldn’t be anything too uncomfortable, and then proceeded to attach various pads to different parts of my body.
The pads felt cold as they adhered to my skin, just like those used in low-frequency treatments, giving off a refreshing sensation.
“Let’s start the test. I’ll ask you some questions, and I need you to alternate between giving truthful and false answers. First, are you wearing a white T-shirt?”
“Yes.”
“Truth. Now, are you wearing shoes?”
“No.”
“Lie. Confirmed.”
As I answered, the staff member glanced at the monitor and nodded.
And so, the test began with a few light questions.
“I see from your application that you possess multiple superpowers. Today, you’re not testing the ability to control water temperature, but rather a newly developed power, correct?”
“Yes.”
“The new ability you’re testing is called Animal Communicating, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
I kept nodding in response to the staff’s questions.
The staff marked something on a piece of paper and continued with a few more questions.
They asked if I’d used the ability before, how often I’d used it, and at what level I thought I could utilize it.
“As there doesn’t appear to be any discrepancies in your answers, we’ll proceed to the next step. For this phase, we’ll use common household pets.”
I had answered all the questions truthfully, and now, with the staff saying we were moving on to the main test, I felt a bit of tension.
The staff first brought over the cat that had been nudging the pen off the table.
“Your first task is to find out this animal’s name and the gender of its owner.”
The staff placed the cat in front of me, watching both the device’s readings and me, clearly waiting for me to begin.
Even Ha-eun was watching me with anticipation, similar to the staff.
There was no way I could disappoint Ha-eun, so I focused my gaze on the cat.
“Hey, ca-”
“What are you staring at? You wanna die?”
“-t, you little punk.”
“Hmph.”
The cat had a really bad attitude.
Really.
But I couldn’t let the test be derailed by its rudeness, so I calmed myself down and continued.
Even though the cat was licking itself without sparing me a glance, which irritated me, I held back and pressed on with the conversation.
Despite its rude tone, the cat was surprisingly cooperative.
“Hey, what’s your name, you little punk?”
“I’m not some punk. I have a name: Fernandio Alexo Diablanca Jonathan IV!”
“…Right.”
I was too dumbfounded to respond as the cat rattled off its long, absurd name. I suddenly became very curious about who its owner might be.
“Is your owner a man or a woman?”
“I have no owner!”
“…Then who’s your caretaker?”
“I do have a caretaker. They bring me food every day and call themselves my servant.”
“Okay. So, is this servant a man or a woman?”
“They’re standing right in front of you, what kind of dumb question is that?”
At the cat’s words, my eyes automatically turned toward the staff.
“…Why in the world did you name your cat Fernandio Alexo Diablanka Jonathan IV? It’s so hard to remember.”
“Ahem, let’s move on to the next test.”
The staff member awkwardly cleared his throat and avoided eye contact, quickly returning the cat to its original spot.
The cat, now back in place, seemed unfazed and continued selecting objects to push off the table.
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