A few hours later, the doctors returned to the room with Eri’s lab results. They explained that her body was healthy enough for discharge. Her primary issue was severe malnourishment. As long as she started on a proper, nutrient-dense diet, her body would recover fine in the next few weeks. The medical staff still felt incredibly tense with Gray standing over them, but they professionally reminded him that if Eri experienced any sudden issues, they could return to the hospital at any time.
Gray collected all the discharge papers and walked over to the bed. He woke Eri up softly. She rubbed her eyes, and as Gray explained that they were officially leaving the hospital for good, her face completely lit up.
"So... that means I can go with you?" she asked, clutching her shirt tightly.
Gray smiled down at her. "Yes." He extended his open hand. "Let’s go."
Eri grabbed his hand, a genuine smile breaking across her face.
Looking out the hospital window, Gray noticed the massive swarm of media vans, reporters, and police cordons waiting at the main entrance. Deciding to bypass the entire circus, he scooped Eri up securely in his arms, pushed the window open, and flew straight out of the building into the open air. Eri gasped, gripping his weighted vest tightly and closing her eyes. After a moment, she built up the courage to peek. Seeing the vast city layout stretching out below, her eyes widened in pure amazement.
Noticing her looking around, Gray intentionally dialed back his flight speed. He cruised slowly through the sky to give her a chance to take in the aerial views as much as she wanted. Thinking back to the doctor’s warnings about her nutrition, Gray realized he needed to prioritize reclaiming his Joichiro Saiba cooking skills through the system shop. He wanted to cook her the most nutritious, delicious meals humanly possible to fast-track her physical recovery.
When they finally touched down inside UA High’s secure perimeter, Gray took a closer look at Eri’s condition. She was still dressed in oversized hospital rags, and the sheer amount of white bandages covering her arms and legs was far too much. The hospital nurses had originally tried to remove the wrappings, but Eri had panicked and thrashed around so severely that they simply changed the bandages to fresh ones to avoid causing her more psychological trauma.
Gray stood in the courtyard, weighing his options. He had massive piles of raw precious ores, fresh tree meats, and crops tucked away inside his system inventory. If he could trade some of his gold, silver, and platinum, he would easily have enough Yen to take her out on a massive shopping spree. He technically could have used his Clothes Beam technique to make outfits for her instantly, but he admitted his fashion sense sucked. He much preferred taking her to a real department store so she could choose high-quality clothes herself.
Since it was still early in the morning, Gray headed up to the administration building to find the principal. If Nezu was willing to buy some of his premium food products and raw ores in exchange for cold, hard Japanese cash, it would be the perfect way to fund their upcoming trip to the city.
Gray made his way to Nezu’s office but found it empty. After looking around the administrative area, he couldn’t find the principal anywhere. Sighing, he simply went back to his room.
In there, he opened the system shop. After looking for a while, he chose to buy Eri a few outfits instead of waiting to cash out his ores. He spent 200 gold to purchase around 4 outfits for her for now. It was barely 9:00 AM. Checking his gold balance, he saw he had 9,197 gold left, which meant that in exactly one hour, he could buy his next massive income upgrade.
Putting the fresh outfits on the bed, Eri’s eyes widened in surprise. "Are these for me?" she asked softly.
Gray smiled and nodded. "How about you take a shower so you can try them on?"
Eri hesitated a bit, looking nervously at the clean clothes, but finally nodded. She went into the bathroom and came out about 30 minutes later wearing one of her brand-new outfits. Seeing her acting incredibly shy, Gray simply smiled warmly. "They look good on you," he said.
As he looked at her, he quietly pondered what he was going to do with Eri long-term. All he had ever initially planned for was saving her from the Yakuza, but seeing her refuse to trust anyone else but him was going to be an issue down the line. He knew he had to leave this universe at some point to continue his multiversal journey, but he didn’t yet know whether he’d take her with him or leave her behind in a peaceful world. He still needed to try a few things, and bringing a young child to completely unknown, hostile worlds would undoubtedly cause safety issues. So far, his system hadn’t dropped him off in any truly high-tier dangerous worlds yet, but that could change at a moment’s notice.
Leaving those heavy thoughts behind for now, Gray started showing Eri around her new home. He took her around the secure UA high campus so she could walk around. Once the clock finally hit 10:00 AM, Gray opened the system interface and bought the next upgrade. Seeing that he had more than enough gold left, he also bought the next multiplier, bringing it to 1.15x.
[New Upgrades]
(10000 Gold) 1000 Gold/Hour ✔
(200 Gold) +0.05x✔
[New Hourly Rate]
2,257 (1,963) Gold/Hour
Gold: 56
Satisfied with his upgraded passive income, Gray closed the system interface. Eri had grown physically tired from her weak, recovering body, so Gray gently scooped her into his arms. As he started walking back to the teacher’s dorms, he began mapping out his future power goals.
So far, he had grown extremely powerful physically, but he was still potentially weak to magic. Someone from a high-tier world could technically trap him in a magical seal, and he would be powerless to break it with raw muscle alone. He also started thinking about the powerhouses of this current world, like Captain Celebrity over in America, and Star and Stripe. Star’s reality-bending New Order quirk could be a problem if Gray was ever caught off guard. However, if she was exactly like he remembered from the anime, his speed was high enough that he would easily be able to speed-blitz her before she could declare a rule on him.
Deciding on his next course of action, he started thinking about all the anime, movies, and TV series he had watched in his past life, trying to brainstorm some specific powers to add to his build. He was already a Saiyan with pretty much unlimited growth, had his Training Dimension locked down, and had his food supply sorted out. Next, he needed mental protection against mind control or psychic manipulation.
After thinking it through, he came to a conclusion. The best passive skill for it would be The Gamer’s Mind. But thinking about it some more, he realized he could technically buy the entire Gamer system package from his shop. With it, he would also unlock The Gamer’s Body, allowing him to actively gain levels, allocate stat points, and dungeon-grind his way into infinite progression. Deciding to make a final choice once his new hourly rate generated enough gold to afford those god-tier abilities, he closed his interface as he opened the door and entered his room.
Seeing as Eri had fallen asleep in his arms, he lowered her gently onto the bed, covering her up with some warm blankets. He walked over to the kitchen, sat down on a stool, and pulled the laptop out of his inventory.
He immediately started searching the news. As he had hoped, the Madam President had already given a live press conference addressing the chaotic events from the night before. Some reporters had been openly skeptical of the sudden "secret operation" narrative, but Gray didn’t mind. The president was cunning enough to ignore the difficult questions while skillfully moving the subject along.
"She’s pretty skilled," Gray murmured, watching the broadcast.
Checking the local online forums, he saw that some internet users were calling him a ruthless killer. However, the general population seemed split right down the middle, 50/50. While half called him a dangerous vigilante, a large number of citizens fiercely defended his actions after seeing the heartbreaking, bandaged state Eri was in when he carried her out.
Satisfied with the public reaction, Gray closed the laptop. He walked back to the bedroom and continued staring at Eri while she slept. He knew from the anime that the heroes would eventually be capable of taking care of the world’s threats, but he also remembered that in the original timeline, it took them a little over a year to finally get rid of All For One.
"That’s way too long," Gray muttered to himself.
He was fully planning to change the timeline even more. Thanks to his direct intervention and the complete erasure of Overhaul, the Quirk-Destroying Bullets would never be mass-produced. This meant Mirio Togata would never lose his quirk this semester. But it also meant Gray had permanently removed a major villain chess piece from the board. The remaining threats would be much simpler to handle. Still, he wanted to see just how much stronger he could make the main UA characters using his Training Dimension. Could they step up to his training, or would they fall down and fail? Either way, he was fully prepared to step in and handle things himself if necessary.
Letting out a soft yawn, he lay down on the mattress next to Eri, his eyes slowly closing as he drifted off to sleep.
Gray woke up a few hours later. The TV was on, and Eri was completely glued to the screen. Not minding the background noise, he got up from the mattress. Remembering what the hospital doctors had stressed, he knew he needed to feed Eri some healthy food right away.
He opened his system interface and checked the time. It was a bit over 4 PM. He had accumulated a little over 13,000 Gold. If he didn’t spend it, he could easily afford his next hourly upgrade by midnight. However, refusing to ask Nezu or anyone else for help, Gray decided to invest in his independence. He opened the system shop and purchased {Advanced Cooking Skills} for 10,000 Gold.
The familiar, nostalgic information dump of elite culinary techniques instantly flooded his mind. Feeling his precision return, he willed a variety of fresh ingredients out of his inventory and got straight to work at the kitchen counter. He carefully tailored the menu, knowing Eri’s stomach couldn’t handle an overwhelming amount of heavy food right away.
Gray had a beautiful spread of different dishes ready in less than 30 minutes. Smelling the incredible aroma drifting from the stove, Eri started salivating. But the second she realized she wanted the food, her past trauma flared up. She remembered that whenever she asked for anything from her captors, she would get punished. Conditioned by fear, she kept quiet and forced her eyes down. Gray definitely noticed the sudden shift in her demeanor, but he chose to leave it be for now. He knew she would eventually open up to him in her own time. Once she experienced day after day of safety, she would finally feel secure enough to voice her wants.
Plating everything beautifully together, Gray finally called her over. "Eri, come here. It’s time to eat."
Eri walked over tentatively and sat down on the stool opposite Gray. He handed her a plate filled with fresh vegetables, fluffy rice drizzled with savory soy sauce, and tender cooked meat. Eri had never seen that much food in her entire life. Still, paralyzed by her nerves, she didn’t reach out her hand or make a move.
Gray, seeing her hesitation, gently grabbed a spoonful of rice and meat and brought it right to her mouth. The second those rich, masterfully crafted flavors touched her tongue, her restraints completely shattered. She couldn’t hold back her hunger anymore. She grabbed her utensils and started devouring every single piece of food within her reach.
Gray smiled warmly, watching her eat. "There’s plenty more on the stove, so don’t hold back. You need to eat well to grow healthy."
Eri stuffed her face with as much food as she could, her small hands moving quickly. Gray continued watching her quietly from across the counter. The more he looked at her frail form and desperate hunger, the more a dark, venomous thought crept into his mind; he genuinely wanted to revive Overhaul using his system just to kill the bastard over and over again.
Suddenly, a faint metallic crack snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking down, he noticed that his grip had unconsciously tightened. The metal spoon in his hand had twisted and crumpled so severely from his strength that it didn’t even look like a spoon anymore.
He let out a slow, tired sigh. ’And here I thought I finally had my temper under control...’ he thought to himself.
Tossing the ruined piece of metal straight into the trash can, he reached into the drawer to grab a fresh spoon. But before he could even take his seat back at the counter, a knock echoed from the front door.
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