"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves!" the announcer shouted, his voice broadcast across large screens, phones, and neural links. "Today, humanity is saved! The System has chosen a new Hero!"
The screen showed a bright young man with blond hair, slicing a wyvern in half with a massive sword. He smiled confidently at the camera.
Fans screamed. Camera lights flickered. His name echoed across the world.
Jace Arclight Pendragon.
The System interface glowed behind him:
[HERO DESIGNATION: Jace Arclight Pendragon — Successful.]
Fireworks erupted in New Tokyo. A priest in Rome wept tears of joy. Across the globe, humanity felt a collective sigh of relief. A Hero had been chosen to stand against the rising tide of beasts, monsters, and rifts.
Except—the interface flickered. Just once. A single glitch:
[System Alert: Hero Node Mismatch. True Candidate: Elias — Failed.]
And then it vanished.
---
Somewhere in New Tokyo.
A cracked terminal blinked in a forgotten classroom on the academy's outer wing. Elias sat alone, staring blankly at the broadcast.
The other students hadn't shown up—they rarely did. Class Z was where they dumped the undesired: rejects, anomalies, errors. Elias simply never left it.
He looked out the window. Towers pierced the skies, and the distant cries of beasts echoed beyond the city—but humanity had long learned to treat them as background noise.
Outside, the streets began to fill with people preparing for Jace's welcome festival. Elias watched in silence—until suddenly, he felt it.
Twelve o'clock.
At first glance, everything seemed normal. But a closer look revealed otherwise. The air was unnaturally still, like someone had paused a video. The wall clock's long hand had frozen mid-tick.
A flaw. A bug. A glitch in reality. Something Elias had grown used to—and learned to fix.
Was it the stubborn universe refusing to die? Or something else?
Elias knew the answer. But it didn't matter.
He reached out and pinched the air. And released it.
Everything resumed. The clock ticked, the particles moved, and the world breathed again.
Elias lowered his hand and looked back at the screen.
"The System made a mistake." He paused. "I am the intended node."
He fell into thought. His expression subtly shifted—like a calm lake disturbed by a single falling leaf. His eyes, empty as the void, glinted faintly.
"Interesting."
---
[Detention Room.]
A young man sat at the center of the room. His name was Shun.
He had a lean, athletic build, stood tall, and wore his long black hair tied into a bun. He stared blankly at the ceiling, mind devoid of thought.
Eventually, he got bored and looked around, just trying to distract himself.
That's when he noticed her.
Rakina.
The most popular girl in school. She was good at everything—academics, sports, you name it. And to top it off, she was beautiful. The kind of girl you couldn't help but glance at.
Long black hair draped past her shoulders. Soft, voluminous waves and curtain bangs framed her face. She looked elegant. No—majestic.
'Why am I staring at her?' Shun blinked, then shifted his gaze. 'Why would someone like her be in detention?'
He didn't bother speculating.
Then he noticed the strange symbols on her pen. Odd. But he quickly dismissed it.
A sudden thud broke the silence.
Everyone turned.
Across the room sat a scrawny kid, barely visible behind his desk. Short hair, glasses, and no mana presence—clearly a mundane human in a school full of Hunters.
Surrounding him were three others. One of them, a bulky figure in the middle, Shun recognized:
Haraki.
"Oi. I need some cash. Hand it over, would ya?" Haraki asked cheerfully. His friends laughed.
"But I don't have any more money," the kid replied nervously. "You took it this morning, remember?"
Haraki slammed the desk. The kid flinched.
"You don't have money, but you still show your face here?" Haraki sneered. "Getting bold, aren't you? You're just a mundane. I could break you with one hand!"
"Eek!" the boy yelped.
Shun stood up—calmly. He walked over—calmly. But the desk he carried above his head didn't match his calm demeanor.
The trio turned just in time to see it.
CRASH.
The desk came down like a judge's gavel.
It didn't hurt them, of course. Even low-tier Hunters were durable enough to shrug off such things. But it did piss them off.
Which was what Shun wanted.
Before they could react, Shun launched a fast jab straight at Haraki.
But—
Nothing happened.
No impact. No groan. Not even a flinch.
Then, the System's cold truth struck him:
> [Fujiha Haraki — Level 30.]
[Osamu Shun — Level 7.]
'I didn't think this through…'
"You little—!" Haraki shouted, then drove a powerful kick into Shun's gut.
Too fast to dodge. Pain bloomed. Shun's breath was stolen.
He flew across the room, slammed through the wall, and tumbled out onto the academy field—falling from the third floor.
He rolled before coming to a stop.
Moments later, Haraki landed beside him with a thud that shook the ground.
Shun stood up weakly, still smiling. Determined. Unfazed.
"Come."
Haraki's smirk faded.
He charged.
But just before he struck, he felt it—a heavy pressure. His breath caught. His instincts screamed at him to stop. To run.
He turned.
Rakina descended gracefully on a flying sword.
Rift gear, Shun thought.
"I suggest," she said, voice calm yet commanding, "you leave."
Haraki hesitated, then fled.
Rakina turned to Shun. "Are you alright?"
"No need to worry. I had it under control."
"Getting flicked away like an ant is your idea of control?" she replied dryly.
"Part of the plan," Shun grinned.
Rakina said nothing. Instead, she pulled out a pouch and handed him a glowing blue pill.
A top-tier healing pill—reserved for elite talents.
Shun shook his head. "I'm okay. I've had worse."
Rakina nodded. The pouch vanished into white particles—stored into her inventory.
Every Hunter had one. A small spatial space for personal items. No weight, no burden, until retrieved.
Shun's eyes drifted to the flying sword. He imagined himself riding one.
'Someday.'
Rakina noticed his gaze. She was about to speak when something caught her eye.
She stepped down, picked up an old, tattered notebook.
"Is this yours?"
"Yeah," Shun replied, reaching for it—but she pulled it back slightly.
"Hey, what gives?"
"Where did you get this?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
"I don't know. Some homeless guy gave it to me after I helped him. Why?"
"If you want it, you can have it. I'm not into chuunibyou stuff."
Rakina shook her head and handed it back. "No need. But it's better if you don't know."
Shun opened the notebook. The writing inside wasn't from this world. The language was alien, but somehow… familiar.
It unsettled him.
He couldn't read it, but the warning only made him more curious.
"You're making me want to read it even more."
Rakina pinched her chin, then asked solemnly:
"Are you sure you want to learn the truth?"
"Yeah," Shun replied without hesitation.
Rakina studied him for a while. His expression didn't change.
Then she asked:
"Do you believe in gods?"
Shun looked up at the sky. At the giant floating panel that proudly declared Jace as the new Hero.
"If you count the System as one… I guess, yeah."