Why Hesitate?

As his name implied, the Shrouded Hero used stealth. He sneaked around undetected by everyone, save for Nathan, as he took down threats to humanity and captured criminals. One of the many things that annoyed the Shrouded Hero about Nathan was Nathan's ability to see through the stealth that could bypass every other skill.

But the Shrouded Hero's stealth hadn't been that powerful at this point in time. It also hadn't been powerful enough for Nathan to forget the Shrouded Hero's name.

So, even if he regressed and grew weaker, he should still know the Shrouded Hero's name.

But he was drawing blank after blank.

However, Nathan didn't give up that easily.

So, instead of using his name, he searched for the Shrouded Hero's traits and accomplishments to see if he could find him.

After several hours of scouring the internet and various hero-related forums, Nathan didn't find shit. He did, however, discover that some of the Shrouded Hero's accomplishments in his youth had been taken over by other heroes.

It was like the Shrouded Hero didn't exist. It wasn't that his stealth was superior in this timeline or whatever. A person that would become the Shrouded Hero didn't exist at all.

Nathan frowned.

'Not only did he not regress, but he also ceased existing entirely? Is my regression related to the Shrouded Hero, then?'

Nathan had died to the Shrouded Hero and then regressed. Now, the Shrouded Hero was missing. It had to be related somehow.

Unfortunately, that was all Nathan could figure out.

'Wait…'

Nathan was about to jump back in bed when he realized something.

If the Shrouded Hero was missing

'...Who's going to save the world?'

The Shrouded Hero had been the strongest person in existence before Nathan's regression. He was the only one who had any hope of stopping the world from ending.

Before he regressed, Nathan had been trying to speed up that ending and interfere with the Shrouded Hero's efforts.

But that was because his only reason for living was to annoy the Shrouded Hero.

Now, he didn't have the Shrouded Hero. Instead, he had his parents, whom he would do his best to protect and keep alive.

Nathan's eyes widened as realization dawned on him.

'...No way!'

Nathan promptly ignored reality and hopped into his bed, closing his eyes and falling asleep a moment later.

The following morning, he woke up wondering if the Shrouded Hero was the only one missing from the records of the world. It didn't take long for Nathan to confirm that so was indeed the case. Out of all his rivals and rival candidates that he remembered, the Shrouded Hero was the only one he couldn't find a trace of.

Nathan paused for a moment as he thought about the error message he got when he tried to use his skill the other day.

'Can I still…?'

Almost as if to respond to his thoughts, the holographic rectangular screen popped up again.

[Rivalry Reconnaissance has qualified for evolution. Proceed?]

'Fuck it.'

Nathan pressed the square with 'YES' that followed the question.

Instantly, it felt like his eyes caught fire.

Nathan had experienced worse pains, but his current body technically hadn't, and his nerves and senses weren't numb yet. He ended up on his knees with tears pouring through the gaps between his hands and eye sockets.

The fire spread into his brain and through the rest of his body little by little, molding and preparing it for greater things.

Eventually, the pain faded as a cool sensation swept through him like ice on a burned finger.

Nathan opened his eyes.

[Rivalry Reconnaissance has evolved to Peerless Perception.]

Nathan locked his eyes on the short, succinct, but important message since his view was a mess.

The only thing he saw clearly was the message telling him about his new skill. However, it faded before long, and Nathan had to experience the world of Peerless Perception without any buffers.

His eyes were the primary source of irritation since it felt like he saw everything in excruciating detail.

He saw into the hair-fine cracks in his wooden floor, the fibers of his blanket, the particles of dust behind his desk, and the shadow of a bird flying close to the sun glide past his window.

He heard his heartbeat, he felt the breeze his breath stirred up, he tasted his mother's cooking, and smelled his father's aftershave.

Nathan frowned and calmed his mind as he took control of his senses one at a time.

This much wasn't enough to impede him. After all, before his regression, when he was at his peak, Nathan had been able to do all those things and more. It had been a gradual improvement back then, but he had experienced it once. That was all he needed.

Nathan stood up and took a deep breath.

There was a horrifically wide smile on his face.

The hypersensitivity of his senses was just the tip of the iceberg of his new skill. He couldn't draw out the full depth of the skill with his current body and the lackluster durability of his sense organs.

"Why the fuck did I even hesitate?"

"Are you swearing in my house?"

Anita interrupted Nathan's wondrous musing with a stern question. Nathan turned around. He had been a little distracted, but his senses had still picked up her arrival. He was happy she still treated him like she used to now that she had taken some time to process everything.

"Of course not."

"Yeah, whatever. You have a visitor."

Nathan looked at the floor and with an excited glimmer in his eyes, he followed behind his mother. When his mom entered the kitchen, he entered the front of the store where his visitor sat with a glass of untouched water.

"Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in."

Nathan greeted his guest with a smile and arms spread wide. It sent chills down Linus' spine. He started regretting his decision to come here.