Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and summer was almost over.
For the past few days, it had been raining nonstop in the small town of Smallville. Thick gray clouds covered the sky completely, blocking out every trace of sunlight.
Daniel stood by the window, staring at the rain outside with a miserable expression.
"When is this rain ever going to stop? It’s already been four days. Four whole days without sunlight!"
Lately, he had become completely addicted to sunbathing. Missing even one day made him feel uncomfortable all over, let alone four days in a row.
He was annoyed, restless and overly unhappy.
The entire person just felt... off.
His strength had been growing at a terrifying speed recently. After three months of daily sunlight exposure, he could now snap a tree with a single punch.
He had tested it personally.
Didn’t notice the missing tree in their backyard?
Yeah... Daniel did that.
The moment he punched it and the tree crashed to the ground, even he got scared. He hadn’t realized he had already become that strong.
Thankfully nobody had been home at the time. That evening, he had barely managed to make up an excuse and smooth the whole thing over.
At least it counted as revenge for the injury from before.
Last time, his fist had hurt for a long while after hitting the tree. He had almost cried from the pain.
’What a shame. Guess I need to find another punching bag now.’
That had been Daniel’s only thought as the tree fell.
He was absolutely heartless.
That poor tree had stood in the yard for nearly ten years, shielding the family from wind and rain with silent dedication, only for him to punch it into the ground.
Because of the nonstop rain, the whole family had been staying home together these past few days.
"Come to think of it, school’s starting soon for Carol, right?" Mary casually brought up the topic.
"Yes, Mom!" Carol answered excitedly, almost bouncing in place. She had actually been looking forward to school starting again.
School was fun for her.
Her classmates were all great, everyone talked nicely to her, and she absolutely loved it there.
Well... that was what happened when you were the queen bee of your class.
To be fair, Carol really was at the top of the elementary school food chain in town. She had quite the reputation among the kids.
"Daniel should be old enough to start school too, shouldn’t he?" John continued naturally after Mary.
"I think Carol started school around his age," John added uncertainly.
"Really?" Carol immediately turned toward Daniel with wide eyes. "Daniel’s going to school too?"
She repeated the question again, clearly excited.
"Yes," Mary answered while glancing at Daniel near the window. "It’s time for Daniel to start school."
"That’s awesome! Then I can go to school with Daniel from now on!" Carol cheered happily. "I’m so excited. What do you think, Daniel?"
Meanwhile, Daniel stood there trembling internally, not daring to move.
’Dear god... you’re telling me I have to sit in a classroom full of little kids? Just imagining it is horrifying.’
One Carol alone already exhausted him daily.
A whole classroom full of Carols?
That was enough to make someone explode.
Sure, not every child was as mischievous as Carol, but there was strength in numbers.
Just imagining himself trapped among a crowd of elementary schoolers made him wonder how he was supposed to survive.
Besides, in his previous life, he had at least started going to college.
And now he was supposed to go back to elementary school?
What was he supposed to study?
1 + 1 = 2?
Daniel shook his head desperately.
The mental image was too horrifying. He didn’t even dare continue imagining it.
"Can I not go to school?" Daniel asked with a pitiful expression. "I can study at home."
"No."
Carol had just opened her mouth to ask why, but Mary answered immediately.
"You need to go to school. There are things there you can’t learn at home."
Mary had already been worried enough about Daniel. He was too quiet, too withdrawn.
Other than Carol, he didn’t have a single friend or playmate. She had spent who knew how much time worrying about him already.
And now he didn’t even want to go to school?
Absolutely not.
She was still hoping he would make a few friends there and become more outgoing.
"Daniel..." Carol walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder seriously.
"Are you scared someone at school might bully you?"
"..."
Daniel was speechless.
’Bullied?’
’Elementary school kids are that terrifying now? They would bully Superman?’
Daniel could confidently puff out his chest and say that, barehanded, he could beat ten normal adults by himself.
Even a young Superman was still Superman.
His combat strength already surpassed ninety nine percent of the people on Earth.
Well... on this planet, anyway.
He could literally stand still and let elementary school kids hit him all day without losing a drop of blood.
If anything, their hands would hurt first.
Ever since awakening his abilities, Daniel’s confidence had skyrocketed.
’I am Superman.’
Hands on hips pose.jpg.
"Don’t worry," Carol continued proudly. "You’re my little brother. I’ll protect you."
"I still don’t want to go..." Daniel tried struggling one last time.
"No." This time it was John. "You’re going to school. End of discussion."
Daniel knew there was no escaping anymore.
Looks like he really was going back to school.
"Daniel, look around. Everyone goes to school. Don’t you think it’d be strange if you didn’t?" Mary tried persuading him gently.
"I think it’s fine," Daniel replied while pretending to be clueless. "I have fun playing by myself."
Mary suddenly felt the urge to ground him.
’He’s usually such a well behaved child. Why is he suddenly so stubborn about school?’ she thought helplessly.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to speak in the gentlest tone possible.
"Sweetheart, everyone has to go to school. It’s an important part of life. At school, you learn new things, make friends, and when you grow up, you’ll treasure those memories."
"You see? Your father and I both really miss our school days. Right, John?"
"Absolutely!" John instantly got energized when the topic shifted to his youth.
"Back then, I was one of the most popular guys in school! Let me tell you..."
He launched straight into storytelling mode.
"...Anyway, I almost ended up with that junior girl back then..."
"That junior girl?" Mary repeated slowly.
John froze.
"Cough, no, no, no! Nothing like that!" he hurriedly corrected himself. "She just asked me to tutor her in math. My math grades were amazing back then!"
"Oh really?" Mary narrowed her eyes. "Just tutoring?"
"Yes! Just tutoring!" John nodded frantically.
"Honey, you know the only person I’ve ever loved is you. You’re the one I’d been waiting for my whole life.
Before I met you, I didn’t even know what love was. But the moment I saw you for the first time, I knew I had fallen in love."
Sensing danger, John immediately unleashed a barrage of cheesy romantic lines to save himself.
"Hmph. I’m too tired to argue with you." Mary rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Daniel.
"Anyway, Daniel, you’re going to school. Tomorrow I’m taking you to meet the principal and finish your enrollment."
Daniel had been secretly rejoicing inside after John successfully drew all the attention away.
’Escaped disaster today,’ he had thought.
And then Mary brought the topic right back.
Those cheesy love lines were surprisingly effective.
At that moment, John was secretly wiping sweat from his forehead where Mary couldn’t see him.
That had been way too close.
If he had slipped up any further, tonight definitely would not have ended well for him.
Deep inside, John silently praised his own quick thinking.
"Fine... I’ll go." Daniel finally gave up resisting.
Not like he could win anyway.
’Never thought I’d have to go to school again...’
The more he thought about it, the more miserable he became.
’I shouldn’t have said I didn’t want to go. If I stayed quiet, maybe they would’ve forgotten about it. But the second I mentioned it, Mom immediately decided to take me for enrollment tomorrow!’
Daniel cried internally.
’This sucks!’