A week passed.
Matt had settled back into normal life as if nothing had happened. Kora was now living with them, and on paper she was enrolled in his college.
Of course, Matt knew it was just a name on a file—she didn't actually have to attend classes, write exams, or submit assignments. If she didn't feel like going, she wouldn't lose anything. She could even get a degree without stepping foot in a classroom.
And Matt… was very jealous.
He had even asked Coulson if he could get the same treatment.
In response, he received a half-hour lecture about responsibility, fairness, abuse of authority, and "not making me regret getting you involved in S.H.I.E.L.D."
So that answer was clearly a no.
But there was something else weighing on Matt's mind—something even more depressing.
His system.
It had changed.
Ever since he copied the abilities from Kora, his system had "rebooted," and now the tutorial mode was gone.
That meant:
• He now needed 80% affection from someone before he could copy anything from them.
• He could copy only one ability per person instead of previous three.
• And the amplification rate—the strongest part before—was now only 1x to 100x.
Matt had stared at the system interface for nearly an hour when he first saw the restrictions.
"…Seriously?" he muttered to himself.
A nerfed system.
A weakened copying mechanic.
Basically—reduced to easy mode disabled, extreme mode enabled.
He felt cheated.
First he thought he was getting overpowered abilities… and now he was downgraded to DLC-demo mode.
Just his luck.
Though… there was one silver lining.
When the system rebooted, the one-year cooldown had also reset.
Meaning—he had another chance to copy an ability before the cooldown started again.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
The problem was… he didn't have a good target yet.
And even worse, with the new 80% affection requirement, he couldn't just walk up to someone interesting and casually copy them anymore. He actually had to build a relationship—friendship, trust, or something deeper.
Still, Matt wasn't in a rush.
Because the system counted "one year" based on the calendar year, not based on the date he copied something.
That meant:
• It was currently October,
• He had three months left before this year ended,
• And the cooldown would only start once he used his last copy of the year.
In other words…
He had three months to find one good ability, copy it, and lock it in for the year.
After that, he'd have to wait until January for the cooldown to refresh.
Matt lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"…Three months," he muttered.
"Three months to pick the perfect first power…"
He closed his eyes, imagining possibilities.
Strength. Flight. Energy powers. Telepathy.
But there was none available right now.
No superheroes around.
No powered individuals he could safely get close to.
No one with awakened abilities—except Kora.
He sighed, rubbing his face.
"…If I don't get anything," he muttered,
"I'll just copy James's dormant Inhuman ability."
James—his classmate.
Quiet guy. Friendly.
Totally unaware that he carried a dormant Inhuman gene inside him.
Density Manipulation.
The power to make himself or anything harder than stone… or completely intangible.
A perfect ability.
Powerful. Versatile. Rare.
Matt nodded to himself.
"Right now we're friends," he mumbled, pulling up the system interface in his mind.
A holographic bar slid into view:
Affection Level – James Gray: 73%
(80% required for copying)
According to the system:
0–50% = neutral / friends
50–90% = Best friends / trust
90–100% = love / devotion (not always romantic)
Kora, unsurprisingly, sat at 100%—completely maxed.
James was hovering at 73%, solidly in the friend zone, but not enough.
Matt rolled onto his side and muttered,
"Seven percent left. Okay. I can work with that. Friendly talks, group study, maybe save him from a falling book or something…"
He scratched his head.
"…Man, this feels like grinding affection points in a dating sim."
Still, the plan was simple:
If no better target appeared in the next three months…
James's dormant Inhuman ability was the backup.
Density Manipulation would make him nearly untouchable—literally.
He exhaled, staring at the ceiling again.
"Three months… I just need one perfect chance."
Before he could sink deeper into thought, a knock hit his door.
Knock knock.
"Matt, are you ready?" Kora called.
"Yeah—coming," he replied, sitting up.
The door opened and she walked in, dressed in tight sportswear that highlighted every curve. Her hair was tied up, her expression bright and energetic—way too energetic for morning training.
"Let's go. It's our morning session," she said with a soft smile.
Matt grabbed his bag and followed her. Ever since the whole… incident… they'd gotten into a routine: secret training every day. They kept their powers hidden from the others, so the two of them trained in an abandoned warehouse near the docks. Big, forgotten, completely empty—perfect for going wild without being seen.
Both of them had gotten much better at controlling their abilities.
Kora could manipulate energy safely now, forming shapes and pulses without accidentally blowing a hole in the wall.
Matt, meanwhile…
He stretched out his palm, remembering yesterday's test.
Even at 1% power output, his plasma-beam could punch a hole clean through steel walls.It didn't just melt the metal—it vaporized it.
Yeah. Control was important.
As they walked toward the exit of the Coulson house, Kora glanced over at him.
"You look tired," she teased.
Matt smirked. "Thinking."
"That's dangerous," she said with a grin.
He rolled his eyes, but inside… he felt that tiny sting of jealousy again. Kora had a clear path—a place in SHIELD, a future, even a college degree coming.
Meanwhile, he was still trying to figure out how to use a broken system that wanted 80% affection, nerfed his copy rate, and only allowed one ability per year.
At least training with Kora helped distract him.
They stepped outside into the cool morning air, ready to head toward the warehouse.
Matt exhaled.
"Alright," he murmured to himself."Let's get stronger."