2 Pathetic

[And... the winner of today's bout is...]

[The new National A Champion!]

[The Fire Man..., ROJA!!!]

the announcement of the winner of the match, followed by a large cheer from the audience can be heard from my computer.

I was laying on my bed. with my messy long hair and unkempt facial hair, I used one of my arms to cover my eyes. I don't know why I decided to put that on my computer screen. I despise fighting. Or maybe, deep inside me, I've always wanted to be strong enough to be able to stand independently. These fighting systems made me suffer throughout my life. I pondered on whether I could achieve such accomplishments if I made better decisions in the past.

When I was around five, I found out that I was blessed with the ability to teleport. I was happy with it. I thought that it will be a very convenient ability, but, I can only teleport for a short distance of 10 cm.

I know that you can strengthen your ability by fighting. But, I was weak and I couldn't fight back. My body looked almost like a skeleton wearing human skin. I don't have any experience in martial arts.

And the important thing to note about these weird fighting phenomenon is that a fight can only happen between those who are blessed with abilities. The prompt will appear even if the other party do not consent to the fight. That's why there were a lot of cases of assault reported from people who didn't have the intention to fight.

I was often used by my classmates as a punching bag to strengthen their power. Even sometimes a stranger just approached me to find out whether I have an ability or not, and oftentimes, they immediately tried to beat me up, seeing how I looked like a fragile little man. I was afraid of meeting people and letting them find out that I was blessed with ability.

Those misfortunes led me to the fear of meeting strangers. I always tried my best to avoid people that I have never met or trust. We could just go to therapy to fix my problems, but we could not afford it.

It's been 15 years since the waves happened and 13 years since the World Governments decided to establish the <Super Fighter Arena>, and throughout the 20 years of my life, I've only wasted it by being a shut-in ever since I graduated from high school.

Without a job nor continuing college, I spent most of my days staying in my room, playing video games, and staring at my ceiling mourning over my regrets from my past.

If only I was stronger. If only I was braver. These kinds of thoughts kept appearing inside my mind.

"Mika! Dinner is ready!"

Sound of my mother from downstairs. I slowly lift my body from my bed, and immediately headed downstairs.

as I headed downstairs, I saw a spectacle of a room dimly lit with a flickering lightbulb. My father was still in his security uniform and my mom was moving the food from the kitchen to the table.

We should change the lightbulb months ago but we couldn't afford to waste any money on such trivial things. If we can see the food then it's still working, said my father every time I take a look at how poor the condition of our home is. It is as if he knew that I was not fully satisfied with our living conditions. But, I couldn't complain about it since I contribute nothing to changing the condition of my family.

I immediately took a seat right in front of my father. My mother sat right next to him. It was quiet. All a could hear was the sound of fork and spoon clashing with the plate.

Though frozen food and canned food has become a staple in our diet, an expression of dissatisfaction was still painted on our faces.

"Hey...," my father suddenly broke the silence with his tired voice. "I know that you've been through a lot and I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything about what happened in the past because our financial is not really the best out there," he stared at me with compassionate eyes.

"But, a friend of mine offered me a part-time job and I think it is time for you to change a little bit. I can assure you that you can trust him. what do you think?" he continued.

I stayed quiet. Not knowing how to reply, I only made eye contact with a man in his fifties who looked desperate.

I know that my father had worked so hard for our family. But, I don't know whether it's because of fear or shame, I still couldn't bring myself to talk with my father about my life and my future.

During the silence between our talks, my mother suddenly reached and slowly tried to hold my hand. With her calm and warmth, she said "It's okay sweetheart, you can take your time and think about this."

I was only able to look at her and I immediately looked down at the table. I felt grateful that both of my parents are trying their best to take care of me.

But the fear that I had is like an invisible beast who tried to drown me into the bottom of the sea. It's suffocating and painful. There is no air for me to either breathe or speak. It kept whispering at me that I am weak and pathetic. I hated it but I don't know how to fight something that I can't see. I could only reply with silence.

After I finished my meal, I immediately took my plate to the kitchen and cleaned it. Soon, I tried to head back to my room.

As I was heading upstairs, I heard a big thump followed by a sound of a plate shattering on the floor from the kitchen. It was from my father. he suddenly collapsed on the floor.

"Mika! Called an ambulance!!" yelled my mother while holding my father's body.

I was frozen in shock.