Zhao Yao patted Matcha's head and took his phone, causing Matcha to meow hysterically.
"Alright, go to sleep now, you can play when you wake up."
"No!" Matcha screamed, grabbing onto Zhao Yao's leg and cried, "Let me finish this game, I beg of you, I was about to win."
Zhao Yao slowly pulled the cat away from his leg and said, "no, you have been playing every day from morning to night, if you continue this your eyes are going to spoil."
"Just this last round! I beg of you, Zhao Yao!" Matcha looked at him with his large bright eyes and pitiful expression begging, "if I get reported for going AFK again, I will be banned!"
Seeing how adamant Matcha was, Zhao Yao gave in, "Just this one game."
"Long live!"
As Matcha once again regained his focus on the game, Zhao Yao rolled his eyes and tucked into bed.
Perhaps due to overworking, he fell asleep instantly.
While Zhao Yao was still groggy from the sleep, he thought that the entire world had started to shake, and some furry thing was brushing across his face.
When he was finally awake, he realized that it was an earthquake. The chandelier was swaying violently, and things were falling all over the place.
Pressing onto Zhao Yao's face with his paws, Matcha urged, "Earthquake! Wake up! Zhao Yao!"
Zhao Yao, still groggy from his sleep, stoned for a moment before grabbing Matcha and tried to rush out.
At that moment, "clinkkkk!" the ceiling lights shattered into pieces.
The crystal lights in the bedroom were the landlady's, weighing a full 10 pounds, and they flew towards Zhao Yao, putting him in a precarious position.
Zhao Yao was too close to the falling lights, and he did not have enough time to react to it. It instantly appeared before Zhao Yao's eyes.
At this crucial moment, Matcha's pupils constricted into the size of the tip of a needle.
Zhao Yao could not believe what he saw, the falling lights stopped right in front of him, only a few centimeters away from hitting him.
If Zhao Yao had looked around his surroundings, he would realize the phenomenon was not exclusive to the falling light. The shaking tables, dropping cups, the tremors and everything in this world had stopped. Only Matcha and Zhao Yao were able to move.
Simultaneously, Zhao Yao's pupils dilated, and he felt many waves of signals pulsating through his brain as if an invisible hand was squeezing them into his mind.
With his lightning-quick reflexes, Zhao Yao managed to take a step back, and when he regained consciousness, the broken lights were already on the floor, shattered into pieces.
"Just…"
"What just happened?"
Amidst the chaos, the apartment had stopped shaking and Zhao Yao and Matcha both stared blankly at the broken pieces.
Soon after, Matcha grinned "Zhao Yao, I have awakened my superpower."
"I awakened my superpower!!"
"Hahahaha." Matcha exclaimed, "Am I a god?"
Zhao Yao, still confused, sighed and looked at Matcha's excitement while trying to recall what exactly happened. In his mind, all sorts of signals and the unknown power he felt were mixed, and it transformed into a book.
With their safety at the back of his head, Zhao Yao brought Matcha out of the apartment to check on the earthquake.
Residents were gathered in an open area and chatters filled the air.
"Earthquake in Jianghai city? It cannot be. The last time it happened was a few decades ago. Just my luck." Zhao Yao muttered while carrying Matcha on his shoulders and checking his phone for local news about the catastrophe.
Suddenly, more tremors struck Jianghai city, causing an unprecedented chaos. Luckily, there were no injuries or deaths.
Instead of the tremors, Zhao Yao was more concerned about the whole situation with falling lights stopping in midair and the mysterious book in his head.
"Could it really be a superpower?"
"Of course it is." Matcha grabbed onto Zhao Yao with his claws and exclaimed excitedly, "I am a god!"
Zhao Yao gave Matcha a doubtful look and thought, "Firstly, we need to confirm whether this power is yours or mine, and just what kind of power it is."
In case of another earthquake, Zhao Yao and Matcha stayed in the area until the next morning and spent the time testing out the possibilities of their superpowers.
Within a few hours of experimenting, Zhao Yao's eyes were filled with excitement.
Matcha stood upon Zhao Yao's shoulders, wagging his tail and proclaimed, 'Haha, I am invincible, I am invincible.'
"Time freeze! It's time freeze." Zhao Yao's hands were shaking, and his legs almost gave way. The next moment, thoughts about time freezing and all matter coming to a standstill pulsated through his mind. He activated his power again.
The world and everything in it came to a stop, besides Zhao Yao and Matcha. Be it the clouds in the sky, trees and leaves on land, people on the roads, the insects in the gardens, everything came to a standstill, only Zhao Yao and Matcha were not affected.
Three seconds later, everything returned to normal. Covering his face with his paws, Matcha laughed, "Hahahaha, hahahaha, Zhao Yao, we are invincible."
Three seconds- this was the time Zhao Yao and Matcha can freeze time for, and for every time the power stops, they had to rest three seconds before using it again.
"Freezing time for three seconds, cooldown time of three seconds- both Matcha and I can pull this off. It is a power we both share. If Matcha freezes time for three seconds, I also face a cooldown time of three seconds before I can use the power. Is this a power we have to share?" Zhao Yao, in deep thought, touched his chin and said, "we have tried being a kilometer apart, but we both still can freeze time. Is there a way to train and increase the power? And what is being depleted from us when we use this power?"
Although many questions lingered in his head, Zhao Yao was filled with excitement.
"Oh yes, what about the book?" Zhao Yao recalled, focusing on the image of the book in his mind.