Location: Heroa Camp – Baghdad, Iraq
Time: 2:30 PM
Date: January 24, 2023
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The atmosphere at Heroa Camp was somewhat terrifying…
It was a huge, strange building, and clicking sounds came from the closed windows...
Despite the eerie feeling, the camp seemed to be built in an old-fashioned style... but gloomy nonetheless.
Ryan (with surprise and confusion): "Oh… This Heroa training camp looks scarier than I expected..."
"They say this camp trained fighters who feel nothing but the urge to kill villains..."
The moment Ryan stepped into the camp, he spotted a receptionist with a chilling gaze...
His eyes were as cold as a shard of torment.
Ryan approached him with heavy, quiet steps.
Ryan: "Hello…"
Receptionist (interrupting harshly): "What do you want?"
Ryan (slightly nervous): "I came to apply for the camp…"
The receptionist froze for a moment… then slowly leaned in with a totally emotionless tone.
Receptionist: "Everyone who's come here to train has lost their emotions… their psyche...
Once you walk in here, you'll taste torment, and your feelings will die...
So I suggest you reconsider and leave now."
Ryan trembled at those words. It felt like each word pierced his chest…
Was this really what would happen to him? Would his heart truly die?
But Ryan stood his ground. He wanted to appear strong…
Ryan (with forced resolve): "I don't care… I can handle it because I…"
(now speaking passionately like a real man)
"I believe in myself… I have the blood it takes to fight alongside heroes!"
Receptionist (sharply, as if testing him): "But I warned you!! If you choose to back out, then you never had a shred of courage!"
He then pointed towards a special interview room required for officially joining the camp…
It was Room B-4.
Receptionist: "Remember, not just anyone gets accepted… so be cautious with that interview."
Ryan: "Got it…"
Ryan headed toward the interview room, but as he walked, he noticed several people whose emotions were truly dead…
Some of them looked terrifying...
Eventually, he reached Room B-4, where a seemingly normal trainer waited… though he looked a bit intimidating.
??? (coldly): "Welcome, new soldier…"
Ryan sat down on one of the chairs.
The desk was made of dark, scratched-up wood…
Behind it, there was a cabinet filled with old figurines…
And a small window behind the trainer let in a dusty light that shone directly onto his lifeless face.
???: "My name is Kern Baier…
I've been a general and trainer in the Heroa Unit for 34 years, and I've trained some of the best fighters in the world."
Ryan (curiously): "But… where are they now?"
Kern (with internal sorrow and disappointment): "During a war called 'The Forbidden Blood War', around 20 years ago…
All of them died—every single one—because of just two enemies!"
Ryan's eyes widened in shock.
It was the same war his father had once told him about…
But Ryan took a deep breath and looked firmly into the trainer's eyes.
Ryan (with passionate determination): "I will avenge them the moment I become the strongest in the world…!"
Kern: "You really are an ambitious teenager… But not everything is that simple.
Many who said the same words ended up dead."
Ryan: "But my blood is black!!"
Kern (shocked): "W-What!?"
Ryan pulled out a blood and ability test paper, officially stamped by a certified private hospital.
Ryan (proudly): "This is proof!! I want to join the camp right now!!"
Kern's expression suddenly changed…
As if a spark had been ignited inside him…
Kern: "Hah… Alright then, you cursed king…
You'll be joining the camp.
But we don't have any curriculum for cursed blood training!"
Ryan (his eyes widen as if time stopped):
"Huh?!"
Kern (seriously): "I'm not joking…
Cursed blood techniques are extremely difficult, and very few master them…
But I studied the basics of curse manipulation 37 years ago, so don't worry…"
Ryan (relieved): "Aah… My heart was about to jump out of my nose…"
Kern: "We will begin your special training with 11 other students, all with random abilities…
And you're number 12…"
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Time: 3:12 PM
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Ryan had changed into special training gear, tailored for practicing unique magic. On the upper chest was the emblem of Hirawa...
He entered the vast dirt training field. It was massive… But as Ryan stepped forward calmly, he spotted two trainees… who seemed strangely familiar.
Ryan (whispering to himself): "Am I hallucinating again?"
But as he got closer… no. He wasn't hallucinating at all.
Shiro (staring at Ryan, shocked): "H-How???"
Lucas turned around, wearing a sun-shielding cloak.
Lucas (raising an eyebrow): "What?"
Ryan (surprised): "How did you two get into the camp?"
Shiro (explaining): "It all started yesterday… We were walking together when Lucas spotted a bank explosion near the public park. He rushed in, I stayed back to observe… But after Lucas took down five criminals, Marco Van showed up, and we both fought him. The police arrived later, and one of them had connections to the training center. That's how we got in."
Lucas (curious): "And you… how did you get in?"
Ryan (cautiously): "I found out I have… a rare kind of blood. So I came here to become stronger."
Lucas: "Oh, nice!"
Before he could finish the sentence, the air trembled with heavy footsteps… louder than the wind.
Kern (coldly, like rising from a forgotten tomb): "Playtime's over… Time to test your endurance."
The general approached the students with unwavering steps, his gaze void of mercy. His eyes didn't see humans… only lab rats. Then he pointed at the massive dirt arena behind them.
Kern: "Before you is a field 300 meters wide and 600 meters long… This land has seen blood, screams, death… and now? It will witness your weakness."
Some students flinched in fear…
Kern (raising his voice): "Five laps around this field… NOW!! Anyone who stops before completing them is expelled immediately!"
His shout cracked like whips across their backs. Everyone started running… and the hellish journey began.
Ryan ran with all his strength, breathing hard, his face torn between determination and exhaustion. Dust flew behind his feet, hot air burning his cheeks.
Ryan (panting): "No way… It's too far… My legs are burning!"
But he refused to stop. And Lucas?
He looked calm. His eyes glowed faintly red, as if time around him warped. His steps were unnaturally fast—he had discreetly used his ability:
{Time Slowdown – 15 seconds}
Smartly, every 30 minutes, he'd slow time, catch his breath, then resume as if nothing happened.
One hour passed… then two hour…
The sun began to dip, sweat drenched every student. Some collapsed… but Lucas?
Kern (checking his watch): "Student Lucas… five laps in two hours flat…"
Murmurs echoed among the guards. Even Kern raised an eyebrow.
Kern (stoic): "A rare example…"
A few minutes later…
Kern: "Student Shiro… two hours and forty-two minutes."
Shiro dropped to the ground, coughing dust.
Shiro (laughing tiredly): "I think my soul fell to my feet…"
And finally… after a full three hours…
Kern: "Ryan… exactly three hours."
Ryan could barely stand. His knees shook, his breath ragged, his heart pounding like war drums… But his eyes?
They locked on Lucas—full of awe… admiration… and hunger.
Ryan (thinking, gaze blazing):
"That guy… he's not normal… He runs like the world has no walls. If there's one person I must beat to prove I'm the strongest… it's him!"
"I'll fight you one day, my friend Lucas… And when that day comes? I'll be the undisputed King of Blood!"
Then Ryan raised his head to the sky, dust swirling around him, a faint smile spreading across his tired face…
"This is just the beginning… But me? I'll make the ending legendary."