Chapter 4: Chapter 4 : An Unparalleled Genius

Rocs Media Company…

In his office, seated behind his wooden desk, James' eyes moved quickly through the articles being displayed. He was tasked with the job of writing a piece on a certain individual and was currently doing his research.

James hadn’t come into this project ignorant. Not only did he know about the person of interest beforehand, but he was also well acquainted with the person’s life story. And so, when this project was put on his desk, he was overjoyed. Doing research had allowed him to fill in the gaps of knowledge he had. It was fulfilling.

*Knock* *Knock*

Hearing the knock, James’s eyes left his laptop. Removing his earbuds, he watched as a rotund middle-aged man with a mighty moustache entered. He recognized this person as his superior, Paul.

"How are things coming along?”

“Good,” James replied.

“Hmm, did you get in contact with him already?”

“Yes…I did.”

“And?”

“It's a no.”

Paul sighed. “Well, it was a long shot anyway. He’s always been a clammy one.”

“Yeah, but I don't blame him. Looking into his history, everything makes sense. Abandoned at an orphanage, and that orphanage of all places then shuffled from home to home, abused, taken advantaged of and rejected. It's no wonder he’s as frigid as he is now. No one’s gotten more than a few words out of him. He lives in his own world.”

Paul nodded.

“What now, should I still write the article?”

“Of course!” Paul's moustache quivered violently as his voice rose. “We can’t miss out. He’s a hot commodity. Just having his name in the article will draw countless eyes. James, I’ll leave it to you. Feel free to get flowery, readers love that.”

“Sure sure. I’ll get to it.”

Nodding, Paul made his exit. Soon, James' fingers began their tap-dance across the keyboard.

***

*Step*

Moving down the street, many eyes tracked Rei's figure. His handsome face was certainly an attention drawer, but more eye-grabbing was his unusual hair and eye colour, both of which were silver in colour. It naturally stood out; he wasn’t in an anime world after all.

The silver on display didn’t come from dye or contacts. It had just naturally become like that. Over time, his blonde hair and blue eyes faded until it was this colour. The doctors had no clue as to why, and Rei seemed to be the first in history to show this biological phenomenon. Much was made of his condition. Rei didn’t think much of it though, from what he could tell, it was purely cosmetic. The colour change hadn’t increased his power level an iota.

Finding an empty bench, Rei sat down. Pulling out his smartphone, he scrolled through the latest stories. Seeing his moniker in the title, Rei clicked on the article.

‘Mistakes, everyone makes them. Even the heavens aren’t immune to mistakes. Every now and then, when divvying up talents, something goes awry and an individual will end up with more talents than normal. We call such individuals gifted or geniuses. Rei Winters is no doubt a product of such a mistake, but instead of a few extra, the number of talents he’s been blessed with, number in the thousands. Many only know him as a prolific chess Grandmaster with engine-like prowess, but this, in fact, is only the tip of the iceberg…’

Rei’s eyes ceased their advance. He backtracked a bit and honed in on the claim about his number of talents. ‘Thousands of talents huh.’ His mind sank deep as he pondered this phrase.

While Rei didn’t have thousands of talents, the gist of the statement was undoubtedly true. Rei was overflowing with talent. He excelled in everything he put his mind to, and very quickly at that. Martial arts, weaponry, coding, animation, video game creation, art, gaming, languages, board games; his prodigious nature had allowed him to become extremely proficient in many things.

It also brought him great wealth. At age 23, he was a multimillionaire and his riches were only climbing. In RPG game terms, his character would have maxed out stats. In the eyes of society, he was a winner among winners.

If one looked at only these aspects, one might come to the conclusion Rei lived a happy life. But this was the furthest from the truth. He was well acquainted with momentary pleasure, but happiness? This was an emotion most unfamiliar to Rei.

Three days after his fourth birthday was the first time he could say he experienced this emotion. It was the day he left that cursed orphanage. The man who adopted him was a middle-aged man by the name of Roger. He lived a comfortable life with his much younger wife, Rachel.

Rei didn’t take to them immediately. His abandonment as a child, his life at the orphanage, and his natural reticent nature made him slow to warm. Rachel quickly gave up trying to connect, but Roger was different. He was persistent in his kindness and consideration, and slowly but surely thawed away the ice wall around Rei's heart bit by bit.

Then, one day, the wall collapsed. Rei left the confines of his room to find his foster father. Rei found him in the living room. Roger was wearing a serious face as his eyes were fixed on a chessboard. The middle-aged man’s mind worked hard to solve the chess puzzle his coworker had given him earlier that day. Noticing Rei's eyes on him, Roger flashed a kind smile.

Interested Rei?

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These words began what would be the longest span of happiness Rei would experience. Learning the game’s rules, the distance between him and his adopted father shrunk. It became the two’s thing. Wanting to impress his father, Rei actively tried to improve on the game. When this dedication combined with his prodigious talent, his chess ability skyrocketed. Roger was very quickly caught up to and then surpassed. Roger was overjoyed and praised Rei’s smarts.

The two began branching out into other activities, and again, Roger was left impressed by the ease with which Rei took to things. Their relationship grew stronger and stronger day by day. Rei, who had sheltered his heart for so long began opening up.

But this proved to be a mistake.

Rachel’s two children from her previous marriage started living with them after something had happened in their father’s household. Rei wasn’t privy to the details. His new siblings consisted of a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. Rei didn’t think much of their arrival. He was nervous, as he was still bad with people, but at the same time, he was excited to increase the number of his bonds.

This wouldn’t happen though.

Instead, the house began filling with noise. If it was the two children, he wouldn’t have minded, but it was between Rachel and Roger.

There was a stark difference in the way Roger looked at Rei and her children. Even as Roger tried to treat the children equally, it couldn’t be more obvious where his affection lay.

Rei’s overflowing talent had garnered Rachel and her two children’s jealousy and animosity. She hadn’t been on board with the adoption at the start and she made it known with her screams. Another thing that was thrown out into the open was Roger’s infertility issues. Rachel wasn't done though. She then tossed an ultimatum his way. With Rei and his wife on the line, Roger made his choice.

Sorry.

Rei would never forget the moment Roger uttered these words to him. His sharp mind blanked. Only when he was back at the orphanage did his idle mental cogs begin turning again. Registering what had happened, and what was going to happen; the sound of something breaking echoed in his mind, and then the dam in his heart burst. Sadness, despair, sorrow, anger, and a slew of other emotions were felt as his tears poured from his eyes.

In retrospect, he pinned that fateful day as the moment his trust in others was shattered. From that day forth, a cold indifferent light made itself home in his gaze.

This property had earned him the moniker, The Silver Devil.

‘Just as the advantaged have disadvantages, the disadvantaged have certain advantages. Rei's childhood was tougher than most, but his early years provided the pressure needed to form the diamond he would later become…’

Reading further, Rei’s eyes dimmed. Feeling the memories of his past stir, he swiped at the screen, dismissing the article.

‘Tsk, I’ve put myself in a bad mood.’

Putting away his phone, he stood up and strode off. His mood was lowering as his mind lingered on himself. Repressed emotions saw an opening and lunged to the surface.

Rei’s face flinched. ‘Ah, this again.’

With no warning, it happened. He entered the silver world. His crisp vision from a second ago had become blurry. The sound that reached his ears sounded like it passed through a water filter. The silver was smothering and oppressive. Breathing became difficult, and so did moving. He felt like he was trudging through mud. Rei hated this place. When the matter of his life came up, he was susceptible to entering this state.

To avoid it, he kept his mind busy with activities and tasks, like learning or honing a skill, but there were times like now, where he would slip up.

Moving through the silver world, Rei felt a sense of hollowness pass through his being.

What was he missing?

The answer was obvious in his eyes. It was the thing he had always wanted. Yet, despite having a clear understanding of what he wanted and the steps he would need to take, Rei was incapable of achieving it. It was just impossible for him.

‘This is happening more and more frequently. How long will I have to live this way? I should just…’

Not finishing the thought, his mind honed in on the image of a certain desk in his house, before delving into the first draw. Focusing on the singular object in there, Rei’s hand began gripping at the air in a certain way.

…Don’t!…

This thought sounded from the deepest recesses of Rei’s mind. The enormous distance between this place and the surface made hearing it impossible for Rei. But while the words themselves never reached him, the feelings conveyed by them managed to. Striking his heart, Rei was jolted awake and the silver world was shattered.

‘Hmm, perhaps it's too soon for that. There are still many things left to try. I want to experience them first.’

Not a second later, Rei’s eyes lit up. He moved to the shop, and a minute later he was out, now with a milkshake in hand. Sipping it, pleasure flooded his being. The colours in his world became more vibrant.

‘Ah, this is straight from heaven. I should keep these on hand more often. This is what makes life worth living.’

Overseeing the traversing of the two extremes, Ralf ‘smiled’ bitterly.

I...diot.

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