My System: An Evolved Computer I Made With My Unique Ability—

When the announcement for the third round was posted on the live-stream television, Satoshi and Yun Zhe's eyes widened in disbelief. While they were expecting a surprising twist for the third round, they weren't expecting such a normal outcome at all.

"Paired battles... called it. I knew they were going to choose that." Yun Zhe's eyes twitched as he scanned the matchups for his name. He couldn't believe that the third round involved something he was inherently bad at— teamwork.

"This would be fun." On the other hand, Satoshi was grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. He had the exact opposite reaction to Yun Zhe since he believed that he was actually decent when it comes to working with someone.

Finally finding his name amongst the list of sixteen participants, Yun Zhe was oddly surprised that he was partnered with someone familiar. He felt like he had just won a consolation prize though since there was no way he could work with someone no matter how familiar he was with that person.

After all, he was raised in the woods by an old man. Growing up, he got used to solitude, and he never really did outgrow that personality of his. Even now, despite having an entire faction under him, the Black Fog Faction, he still preferred working alone. He did that by passing his teachings to Black Fog and in turn, Black Fog was the one who handles the entire Black Fog Faction. There was no doubt that he was more than capable of leading the Black Fog Faction, but he chose to stay in the shadows as a secret master or something of the sort.

"Wow, who would've thought? To think that he managed to pull through to the third round. There was no way that was just pure luck." Satoshi smiled to himself as he looked at the name of the person he was partnered with.

...

There was still at least half an hour before the third round starts. According to the schedule, this was the last round for the day. The quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals would happen the day after. In the past, everything happened right after the other, but that led to anticlimactic fights since the participants were already tired to the bone. Hence it was decided that the quarterfinals leading up to the finals would be separated, and it would happen on the next day so the participants would have time to rest even if it's just a little bit.

It was getting rather stuffy inside the waiting room so Satoshi decided to head out to the stalls in hopes that he'd run into someone he knows. After all, his entire class was there was well as his family. He's bound to run into them if he wanders around. And if that didn't happen, then he could just go to their seats and catch up with them.

After a couple of minutes, Satoshi ran into Midori. He was eating ramen in front of a very famous ramen stall. Glancing sideways, he noticed that Satoshi was waving at him, and he immediately stood up to greet him.

"Hey," Satoshi greeted. He didn't really know how to open up a conversation since this was Midori they were talking about.

"Ah, Satoshi! Long time no see! I'm kidding, haha~!" Midori enthusiastically greeted back.

"Congratulations on your win. I knew you could do it. That Black Fog sure is strong though. I saw him defeat Jean Grey as if he was playing with a kid. Wait... if Jean Grey defeated the beast master White Mist... and Black Fog defeated Jean Grey during their fight in an Official Beast Tournament... and then you defeated him... does that mean you're the beast master now?" Midori pointed out out of nowhere before grabbing him by the shoulders.

"I'm just curious... but how many tamed beasts do you have at the moment, Satoshi? Fifteen? Twenty? I'm sure you have more than that."

Satoshi started gesturing at himself. "About nineteen... I think... if I didn't miss anyone..." Satoshi trailed off.

"Wow, you have a lot. And here I am, with only one tamed beast." Midori continued. "In any case, is there any chance I can meet... you know..."

As Midori muttered to himself, he began fumbling with his thumbs as if he was too shy to continue what he was saying. He coyly looked at Satoshi like some weirdo, causing Satoshi to flinch and step back as Midori went on.

"What are you talking about? Who?" Satoshi asked, confused. This was the first time he saw Midori act bashful and it didn't really sit well with him. Rather, he found it a bit off-putting— no, it was very off-putting.

"You know... who was that again... I think you called her Copycat. Is there any chance I can see her?" Midori asked. There was no harm in asking, after all, but his reputation went down by a notch from Satoshi's point of view.

"Dude." Satoshi gave Midori the look before turning away.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Midori laughed out loud as he tightened his grip on Satoshi's shoulder.

...

Meanwhile, in another dimension,

A tense atmosphere enveloped the Managers who were gathered by the round table. It was certainly a miracle, no, one can even call it a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The man with long white hair stood up and pounded his fists on the table. "Who was it?!" He snapped

No one answered his question, but some of the Managers flinched when they heard his voice. This was the first time he snapped, after all, and everyone was not used to seeing the calm and collected Manager lose his temper.

Gritting his teeth, he returned to his seat, but not before glaring at everyone in the vicinity.

"You should relax, Gandalf," The man clad in all black teased as he waved his hand in the air. The name of the white-haired man wasn't actually Gandalf. "You do know that getting angry won't do anything, right? Besides, it's not like anyone here broke any rules. You left it unguarded, and now someone got it."

"And even if you knew who it was... what are you going to do? It's not like you can kill a Disciple as you please." The man tipped his hat as he wore a satisfied smile on his face.