Captain Man sighed and stood up.
"Alright. It's time you see a bit... how things work."
One blinked.
"How things work?"
"Hunters. The ranking system. The missions."
"Ah! Like a game! Cool!"
Captain Man shook his head, half-amused.
"Not really, no..."
They left the apartment.
The city was quiet, but everywhere, surveillance screens blinked, analyzing One's every move.
In the district's control room, the officers were left speechless.
"What?!"
"It's him... the kid?"
"Power level? Impossible."
"And yet... the sensors say 'One'."
One walked behind Captain Man, his nose in the air.
"Hey, these displays... can we play with them?"
The officers sighed.
"He doesn't know what he's doing... and yet..."
Captain Man looked at him gravely.
"You realize what you just did out there, right?"
"Uh... saving the lady and... picking up her card?"
One smiled cheerfully.
"Yeah! It's all normal!"
The screens still showed power spikes, energy anomalies, unexplained effects.
"How is this possible?" murmured one officer.
"This kid is a complete anomaly," replied another.
One looked at a screen blinking red and tilted his head.
"Oh... it's blinking... it's like Christmas lights!"
Captain Man gritted his teeth.
"Yes... but Christmas is going to scare the world if you keep smiling like that."
They arrived in a large, simple white room. Scanners everywhere. Boards with numbers. People in official uniforms taking notes.
"Stand here," said Captain Man, next to the scanners.
One nodded.
"Like this?"
"Yes... perfect."
He placed his hands on the sensors. Immediately, everything blinked. The machines beeped. Red alerts lit up everywhere.
"BUT... THAT'S...!"
"Impossible," murmured a technician.
"We've never seen that..."
"...Even the strongest... never..."
One smiled.
"These beeps are funny!"
He pressed a button, and a light turned off.
"Oops... sorry..."
Captain Man pinched the bridge of his nose slightly.
"You really don't understand anything..."
"Nope! But it's fun!"
The officers took notes, looking panicked.
"He's a global danger... but he's... adorable?"
One yawned, looked at Captain Man and asked innocently:
"So... do we play now or later?"
Captain Man sighed.
"Later, kid... much later."
⸻
After the incident on the street, One was brought back to the base by Captain Man.
He walked behind him, hands in his pockets, head tilted toward the ceiling as if everything was normal.
"Alright..." explained Captain Man, "now we're going to see what the system thinks of you."
One blinked.
"Huh? The system? Like a video game?"
Captain Man sighed.
"Yes... exactly like a video game."
They arrived in the control room. Screens everywhere, blinking numbers, power diagrams. The officers didn't take their eyes off One.
"Very well..." began one of the technicians, "let's analyze the data."
The sensors beeped, lights flashed, alarms remained silent but red on all screens.
"Impossible..." someone murmured.
"He... he's... exceeded all planned measurements... but he's... calm?"
The officers looked at each other, perplexed.
One shrugged, a big smile on his face:
"So... am I strong?"
No one answered.
The system finally displayed an incomplete, neutral, almost white result.
"Ranking... undetermined."
"...Undetermined?" repeated Captain Man, incredulous.
The technician nodded.
"Is he... already registered as an official hunter?" asked another.
"...No. And yet, he has all the maximum data... but none of it matches..."
One looked at the screen.
"Oh... uh... is it normal not to know where I am?"
Captain Man sighed.
"Yes, kid... exactly."
The system kept beeping, but no one dared touch the controls.
One crossed his arms, satisfied.
"So... I'm... special?"
"Very special," replied Captain Man, wondering how he was going to handle this global problem... with this naive kid.
The screen remained frozen on the neutral / undetermined result, leaving One with no idea of the scale of what he had just done, and the system completely in a panic.
After the test, Captain Man sighed heavily and said:
"Alright, come on, let's go. This isn't over yet."
Accompanied by One, Captain Man headed to the training room in this base of the Association.
The training room was immense.
Hunters of all levels had gathered.
They were talking among themselves, evaluating the street incident thanks to video recordings.
Captain Man entered with One by his side.
"This is... One," he announced simply.
Instantly, all eyes turned to him.
Murmurs swept through the room:
"That's him?"
"The chaos kid?"
"He... neutralized a daemon all by himself?"
One looked up, intrigued by all these people.
"Oh! Hello! Are you... on a mission?"
"...Uh... no, kid... it's just... the official gathering," replied Captain Man.
A B-rank hunter stepped forward, frowning.
"You... you're the famous One?"
"Yes! I am One."
"...You don't look very... impressive."
One smiled cheerfully.
"Thanks! I don't think I'm very impressive either."
Another A-rank hunter, much more serious, approached.
"The system says you neutralized a high-level daemon... with no apparent effort?"
"Oh... uh... yes... I guess?"
The hunters exchanged incredulous looks.
"Is he mocking us?"
"No... I think he just doesn't understand anything," someone murmured.
Captain Man sighed.
"Exactly. And that's what makes the situation... delicate."
One sat on a bench, crossed his legs, and observed the room.
"So... are we going to play at training?"
Silence fell.
The hunters looked at each other, confused, not knowing if he was a genius, a threat, or a complete idiot.
"...It's official," murmured an officer behind the screen.
"Ranking?"
"Undetermined..." said another.
"...Perfect," concluded Captain Man, looking at One, who was chewing gum. "It's going to take... a lot of patience."
One looked up at him, smiling innocently.
"Are you ready for the adventure?"
The world had just met One.
And no one yet knew how to survive this kid.
Captain Man pulled One into a corner of the room.
"...Hey... kid, listen. You're going to do what's called a practical test. Your abilities are still unclear. All we want to know is how you managed to defeat that daemon, nothing more."
"Okay..."
"I haven't finished talking. You don't play the hero. You don't put yourself in danger."
"Alright, I got it, no need to bark."
"Good."
Captain Man looked at an agent of the Association who told him:
"It's ready."
Captain Man and One walked down a black corridor. At the end of the corridor, a huge iron door opened.
Captain Man turned and said:
"The world saw what you were capable of today. You should never have. You could have stayed in the shadows, One... Listen, this world is cruel. If you go through that door, you'll find yourself trapped in it. Are you ready?"