A Data Master Starting from Zero

Dubayic was only one of five amusement parks in Tani City. Its location was out of the way, and with other Pokémon amusement parks on the rise, an aging park like Dubayic, which had little new to offer, faced more competition than ever.

The park director had held a pep rally not long ago and spoken passionately for an hour and a half.

Listening from the audience, Dian had felt strangely sad. The pressure was crushing no matter where you went. Even a wealthy man like the director had been driven to baldness in his prime. It was enough to bring tears to your eyes.

The director himself was full of drive, but his staff looked listless. One by one, they gazed mournfully at the sky, artists in the grand tragedy of everyday life.

Anyone could see that Dubayic's glory days were long gone.

As the two doors hung with brass bells swung shut, a red-eyed, bloody-mouthed monster appeared on the Haunted House entrance. Its hideous face did lend the place a frightening air.

But then a bleak gust sent a faded poster spinning straight onto its eyes, making the whole thing look downright pitiful.

Dian returned to the Lounge, silently opened his computer, and pulled up the revenue report. Then he reached a conclusion that concerned his very survival.

Dubayic Haunted House might—quite possibly—be about to close. Which meant he was about to lose his job. A serious problem indeed.

Bang!

Dian took his frustration out on the innocent computer, slamming it shut.

Why did everyone else who crossed over either get a system or land in a good family?

Not him. He had been dumped here with the miserable three-nothings package: no home, no system, and no powerful patron to lean on.

"Whew..."

A cold breeze suddenly brushed his back. Dian sighed, turned to the expectant Misdreavus, and said, "Miss Misdreavus, that breeze wasn't cold enough. Bad review!"

Little Misdreavus froze. Then she finally snapped!

Her eyes flashed. A shadow raced across the floor, reached Dian from behind, and bound him tight.

"This is... Shadow Sneak!"

A tingling ache suddenly ran through Dian's right eye, and understanding surfaced in his mind. At the same time, a frame appeared before that eye.

A line of large text soon appeared inside it.

"Shadow Sneak."

The moment Dian saw it, a detailed explanation of the move sprang into his mind.

"Extends the user's shadow to attack the target from behind. Always strikes first."

"God-tier! Easy win! I'm set!"

Dian drew a deep breath, looked at Misdreavus beside him, and called, "Come forth, cheat power!"

Misdreavus watched his strange behavior with curiosity in her eyes.

"..."

Dian raised an eyebrow. Did he have to say the password aloud? He shouted, "Come forth, cheat power!"

"Mis?!"

The shout startled Misdreavus, but when she looked around, there was nothing there.

"Come forth, system!"

"Come forth, mighty master!"

"Come on out, Great God..."

Dian picked up the all-natural Sprite Water beside him, supposedly sourced from Vaporeon, and took a long drink to soothe his throat. Then he resumed shouting.

Misdreavus was curious at first, but the longer she listened, the sleepier she grew. She yawned, floated over to the soft bed, and fell asleep. A little bubble rose from the corner of her mouth.

"Snore... snore..."

Dian was still shouting when he heard breathing. Only then did he notice that Misdreavus had fallen asleep.

He sighed, then breathed a sigh of relief.

He still had no idea what his cheat power was, but at least Misdreavus could sleep normally now. That was good news.

Dian looked at the sleeping Misdreavus and suddenly smiled.

In the mirror beside him, he could see that his smile looked perfectly normal.

He reached out and tried touching Misdreavus. Unlike before, when his hand had passed right through her, she felt cool and soft.

Suddenly—

Another frame appeared before his right eye. A three-dimensional image instantly took shape inside it.

A tiny Misdreavus appeared in the image, with information about her species beside it.

"Misdreavus — Ghost-type. The Screech Pokémon. It startled humans late at night and gathered their fear to use as energy.

Ability: Levitate."

As Dian focused on the Ability, another line of small text appeared.

"Unaffected by Ground-type moves."

Dian withdrew his hand, and the frame soon vanished.

"So that's how it works."

He was starting to understand his cheat power. It might not be terribly useful, but it was decent enough.

After all, human memory was unreliable. He was no genius with a photographic memory. He had once put together his own Pokémon index, so he remembered some things clearly, but others were still hazy.

This cheat power could serve as a reference and a tool to help him.

"It's a bit like the Pokédex I used before, except there's too little data."

Dian was dissatisfied. He would have preferred a stat sheet listing things like HP, Special Attack, and Special Defense.

On second thought, though, this was no Pokémon game. It was a real world, and every Pokémon was a living being with thoughts of its own. Reducing them to numbers might not be such a good thing.

Dian quietly took a red-and-white Poké Ball from the drawer beside him and was just about to touch it to Misdreavus.

Pop.

The little bubble at the corner of Misdreavus's mouth suddenly burst.

Dian's heart lurched. In a flash, he slipped the Poké Ball into his sleeve and hid it.

As though nothing had happened, he sat at the desk, opened his computer, and began casually browsing websites.

The writing on the sites was neither Chinese nor Japanese, of course. It was an entirely different script, yet somehow he could read and use it.

"Even if it were Japanese, I'd have no trouble. I've got a Level One certificate, after all. What a waste of my talents."

As his mind wandered, Dian recalled that Misdreavus fed on fear and was therefore keenly sensitive to emotions. He must have let his thoughts slip a moment ago and woken her.

"I wonder if the Pokémon World has literary awards. Maybe I should write a few novels. One of them might be a hit."

A thought struck Dian. "If I weren't worried about being dissected, I could invent two entire languages myself. Hmph!"

He didn't even blush as he claimed the work of countless other people as his own.

"Mis!"

Misdreavus darted around the room, clearly delighted.

That was the best sleep she had had in a long time.