14 figures sat in the classroom.
Jin was one of them. He didn't dare lift his head.
"Look at that fat guy. He is wider than the table HAHA!"
Hearing some of them giggle, he imagined them saying as such.
Back in the day, whenever he went grocery shopping someone would always mock him like that.
Those people wouldn't be any different.
- - -
A girl. Average looking. Shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes. She had no business being here with the other "students".
Naturally all of them signed up.
What was her reason?
When she was still out there:
"Look here!"
She glanced over to her friend and saw some kind of ad. A flier, distributed by the government.
"Look, Yuna! Wouldn't it be cool to be one?"
To become a hero.
I am sure people would like me more if I was one. so she thought.
That is where it begins and ends.
A truly average person, an average life, ended just like that for... someone?
Who even was this friend of hers... she couldn't remember.
Believe it or not, but friendships came very easy to her. She talked up someone and like magic they were friends.. most of the time.
From an outside perspective it might seem like a power in itself.
People simply have goodness in their nature, if you give them a chance they give it back. so she reasons her abnormal friend count.
If you tried to number them, it would be in the thousands.
She didn't have even one acquaintance. All of them were friends to her.
Their interests, goals, quirks, she knew them all.
That notebook she carried with her at all times was like Yuna herself.
Without it, it would be difficult to say she was truly alive.
In it she wrote "Become a hero".
After a week she forgot why she wrote so. But if the notebook said so.. it must happen.
For what else does Yuna live for but to follow her own advice?
Just what really is a friend to the girl made out of paper?
She found herself in said classroom. Jin was sitting over there in a corner. His long bangs hid his face, or at least it looked like it... upon closer inspection, he had his face buried in his arms on the table.
He sure is.. large, she thought to herself, not a hint of malice present within her.
It looked as if Yuna would soon make another friend, unbeknownst to Jin.
I am sure he will be happy when he finds out. she smiled to herself.
Now, where should she sit... oh? This boy is staring at her. Another friend?
He looks so angry.
"Why are you smiling, looking at him?"
Was that why?
"Oh, I just thought of something nice.. um.... I am Yuna..."
She stretched out her hand to greet the grumpy boy.
With a sigh, the boy greeted her normally.
"Len."
"Oh that is a nice name!"
She clasped her hands together with a beautiful smile.
"That looks good."
She blushed hearing that.
He.. likes me? she thought.
"How long did it take for you to make it look like that?"
What?
Forget it.
She turned and tried to find a place to sit.
"Oh wow!"
There was a very pretty boy talking to an equally pretty girl.
"Your family profited from our support more than vice versa. The least you could do is give me a smile."
The pretty boy said with a smug grin.
"Your family? You are barely human right now."
She pointed out what everyone knew.
With the signing of the contract, was anyone of them really a person?
It was difficult to think about, it made Yuna's head spin.
"Don't be like that~"
He placed his hand on the pretty girl's.
"We are equal here. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
She pulled her hand away.
"Just... leave me alone, ok? I just want to do my duty."
The boy shrugged, still smiling. He was really handsome. Not only that, but his voice was like honey. If it was Yuna, she wouldn't be able to resist his charm.
However, those two are clearly on another league... Yuna is too shy! she tells herself.
There are a few others... is it worth talking them up? Eh, what am I thinking. It always is.
"Hi..."
The blonde girl glares at her.
"What."
Making that word sound more like a statement than a question.
"Um... I am Yuna."
She stretched out her hand to greet the mean girl.
*Slap*
"Why did you suddenly stop talking to that other guy?" She asked.
"Um.. we simply finished our greeting... it isn't a big deal..."
Yuna rubbed the back of her hand. The slap stung slightly, as if the mean girl meant to hurt her... or maybe Yuna was just sensitive... no it surely was the former.
"You are a pretty shitty liar, you know that?"
What?
Forget i—
"People like you are the reason this world went to shit. Don't annoy me again."
Who... WHO does SHE think SHE is???!!!
"Hmpf!"
Yuna turned her head quickly to show how upset she was.
It was a conscious gesture.
What was it with those two.. no one she talked to so far seemed to like her...
"Hey..."
Someone came to talk to me? Wow...
"Hi! I am Yuna!"
She happily stretched out her hand to greet the nice girl.
Though, the girl seemed shook about the sudden and loud greeting.
Ah. I didn't do it right. she thought. There was an order to these things.
"Hi.. um..."
before she could say another word, the nice girl shook her hand.
"Hehe, I am Anya."
She really was nice!
"About that girl... the blonde one. Don't worry about her, she is always like that."
"What... um... do you mean?" Just like that. This is how to do it. Everything will work out now.
"I went to the same school as her. I don't know why she signed up but maybe she also wants to become a hero! Hahaha!"
Wow, she sure is loud. All the better. I was waiting for this kind of person.
"Oh, if you don't mind... could you tell me more about her?"
"It's not like we are friends or anything...." There it is!
"Um.... we could be friends.... if you don't mind....."
Yuna pressed the tips of her fingers together. It truly looked adorable for someone of her age.
The minimum age for signing up for the Hero Integration Complex is 18 years old.
"Uhh... hehe... maybe later....."
Huh... did I do something wrong?
Yuna opened her notebook to check something.
#77. Nothing out of the ordinary.
#177. Nothing out of the ordinary.
#277. Nothing out of the ordinary.
.
.
.
Maybe only the mentally disturbed are gathered here.. but she seemed nice though.
I could try again later.
She turned around to find a place to sit just to find more people to talk.. ugh.
What are those things supposed to be?
A girl was chatting with a boy just like before, but these two had strangely colored hair. The dark roots of her hair showed that her hair was bleached. She also had a mean look to her.. a delinquent?!
And the boy had pink hair.. ew.
No thanks.
There were some more but none really worth— wait... was she there the whole time?!
"Hi."
A blonde muscular woman with a tan sat right next to her.
Wearing that tight school uniform made her look so absurd, Yuna overlooked her completely, like she was some kind of statue.
"Isn't it a size too small?"
Yuna asked without thinking.
"Hmm?" The muscular girl checked for herself. Indeed, raising her arms was a bit difficult.
"I was told it looked fine."
Someone should be fired for this. Yuna thought.
"You want friends right? I can be your friend if you want."
Hmm... sure.
She clears her throat to get rid of the awkward air.
"Um.. thank you...."
"I do think it's strange though, the way you act.. but I guess everyone here is kinda strange anyway."
The woman giggled to herself.
Well it was true. Yuna herself knew as much.
To rely on this book all her life...
The floor felt like it was rumbling. An earthquake?
"Something is coming."
The muscular girl remarks.
Yuna turned to the door next to the blackboard.
Talking to them, she forgot why they were all even here.
The door handle turns.
- - -
The man known as the Conman entered the room.
Jin still had no idea what he looked like since he never lifts his head high enough.
He could just tell its him by the voice.
"I will be your teacher for the time being. You are to be given our newest serum."
The classroom grew restless.
The loud marching noises of soldiers fill the room as they assembled outside, waiting.
Chairs screeching over the floors.. they must be getting up.. time to get up too.
"Let's go."
- - -
The school was barren. Only the 14 of them walked these halls, not counting their new teacher and those soldiers.
He walked further back from the others, though to his surprise, Jin wasn't alone.
4 dark haired individuals walked closely in front of him.
One had a purple-ish tint to him. One had longer hair than Jin himself.
A kindred spirit? Jin thought, but he shook his head. Away with false hopes!
He smirked.
They all are here for the same reason.
Maybe trying to connect might be worth it...
But if it went badly he would need to hang around people that hate him...
No. It is too risky after all.
This is where he will burn the rest of his life away.
That is what he decided.
Look forwards.
Those people are your new family now.
As if it was that easy to imagine.
Can it be a family when you can't trust a single one of them?
Strangers...
The two others walking close to him, they seem closer to each other than the rest.
He smiled to the other.
What was it like to have friends... back when he didn't have to worry about anything, back in school.
In a hallway just like this one, he was just some kid.
Laughing with his friends... it is so long ago, he forgot what it was like.
They reached the end of the hallway.
The Conman led his students through 3 gates, each protected by a different method of unsealing it.
Fingerprint, eye scan, code word.
He whispered it into a microphone away from the students. No one could hear it.
They were led into a laboratory.
All the walls and the ceiling were glaringly white.
It wasn't like the light in the hallway was dim, but the light here was abnormally bright, it took a while for everyone to adjust.
"Change into this and each of you wait in one of these rooms."
So the Conman directed.
The soldiers that followed them all this time handed the students a change of clothes.
- - -
4 walls, one of which was see-through.
*knock knock*
It didn't feel like glass.
The door's mechanism can be seen through the non-glass material but Jin wouldn't be able to do anything with that information. He was just killing time.
What is about to happen? Jin thought, knowing the answer full well.
"The serum has been prepared. Strap your arms to the chair and don't move."
So directed the voice from the speakers in the room.
Jin strapped himself as he was told. Sitting there, he noticed other rooms like his in the distance. It really was one large laboratory.
Animals were living here. So many scientists in lab-coats walking about.
However, he couldn't hear anything.
The droning sound of silence pierced his ears as he sat in the middle of the small white room.
Eventually, robotic arm descended from the ceiling, holding a syringe with an amber colored liquid.
The time had come to become a Hero.
What kind of power will it be?
"Why can't it be a pill or something..."
He steeled himself as the needle penetrated his skin and injected the cold liquid directly into his veins. He could feel it wandering into his body going further and further in,
until it reached his heart.
*Badum*
Ugh!
The needle is retracted and the arm vanished back into the ceiling.
"What is happening!"
Jin ripped his arms free from the straps on the chair.
Blood ran down from the wound left by the needle.
The world turned in front of him.
An abnormal heat gathered in his guts and his heart beat stronger and stronger.
His organs were melting.
He ripped his clothes open to expose his skin in an attempt to cool himself down.
Shredding his clothes with his bare hands left his fingers somewhat bruised, enough to hurt with each move they made.
He bashed his head against the see-through wall.
"MAKE IT STOP!"
If his brain was removed, maybe then this headache would lessen.. and everything else.
Suddenly: darkness.
When Jin opened his eyes again, it was as if no time had passed at all.
He felt ok.
His shirt was still torn, and he was on the floor.
Looking outside, all the scientists had left.
How long was I asleep for. he thought.
His mind wandered to what he felt before fainting. He can barely remember any of it.
Just that his arm was bleeding.
Sure, there was a hole there, though the bleeding had stopped a while ago judging by the dried blood.
Looking around, he must have bled a lot.
He touched his forehead to find that he had blood all over his face too.
"Hehehe..." He giggled to himself.
It was like a dream.
What kind of power would he now possess?
He tried to get up, but moving his legs made him feel a stinging pain.
"They fell asleep..."
*Bam* He slammed the see-through wall in front of him.
Nothing happened. So, no super strength.
He tried to focus intensely.
Nothing happened.
Did it fail? Surely he had to have SOME kind of power now.
It was well known that the government always made improvements to the serum since it was invented years ago, to counteract the old samples that leaked into the underworld. Surely he would have some kind of powerful ability to defeat villains now.. right?
Maybe this is just how it is.
Jin Hakuva.
The most unfortunate man alive. the 1% of the 99%.
It was a self fulfilling prophecy. However, he was proven right one too many times.
Maybe this was another one of those times.
He was lying there on his side as his legs slowly regained their luster.
Simply staring into the glaringly white laboratory.. something was hurting his eyes.
I thought I adjusted to the brightness. he thought.
But no, it was a piece of glass outside his room.
Was that always there?
His gaze focused on the glass shard, and he saw movement in its reflection, though it was very distorted.
The others were in the rooms next to him, surely.
No... that wasn't glass.
From the right side view, outside, a girl came into frame.
She had a very average look to her.
Her arms were drenched in blood, more so than his own. Her knuckles looked very bruised.
Her feet were leaving a trail in red, stepping over the shards on the ground.
Her mouth moved but Jin couldn't hear a word she said. Her eyes turned to him.
A.
Wha.
O.
Her mouth formed shapes. If Jin really focused, perhaps he could read her lips.
A.. ay.. ai.. I... I wha.. wa.. o.. ho...
Eventually Jin recognized at least one of the things the brown haired girl in tears tried to convey.
"I want to go home."
Her body suddenly convulsed.
Just once, like something just hit her.
"What..?" She glanced to her right shoulder.
Jin couldn't tell what really happened as Yuna kept on walking to the left side of the frame.
Her body convulsed again.
Left leg. Right leg. Arms, chest, neck, head.
She was riddled in darts.
It kept going until she collapsed on her back, amidst the shards on the floor.
It happened so fast.
From the left side of the frame, a man towards the girl.
He was holding some kind of gun-shaped tool
It was clear what happened.
Jin would have gotten to a reasonable conclusion too, if he had more time to think.
The Conman walks into the frame, also from the left.
Jin can't hear what he says but it is:
"Guess he is a failure."
Several partitions opened in the walls of the small white room and small, thin steel barrels come poking out.
His eyes widen.
They shot her dead.
And I am next.
Shortly after, the silence in the room is replaced with the sound of Jin being riddled with holes.
- - -
5 minutes passed.
There was some room for error with any serum, no matter how perfect it is.
True perfection is simply impossible in our world.
In an ideal world, I would get myself a toy that won't ever break. so the Conman thought.
Disappointed with one of the 14 being a failure and another being disposed of, with a yield of only 12 heroes... what a horrible day to be a conman.
He giggled to himself watching the body of Jin.
"Hey you." He talked to one of the many scientists.
"Get rid of that for me. Ok? Thanks."
He usually enjoyed doing the dirty work himself, but Jin was simply too large for that.
The door opened and the smell of blood wafted out of the small room.
"Ugh.. the one part I hate about this..."
He pulled a handkerchief out of his chest pocket and covered his nose with it.
The scientist hesitated.
"Maybe we can just wait for the janitor to clean this up?"
That is the usual procedure. But the Conman had an important duty here.
It was to enjoy his hobby to break people and dispose of them.
He lived for this. To get rid of the scum of the earth, which happens to also apply to just about any hero applicant.
Why else would they sign their life away?
They must not have any alternatives because of what they are: filth.
"I pay you double this month. Pretty please?"
"Huh, sure thing then!"
With glee the scientist grabbed Jin's lifeless flabby arm to hoist him out of there.
But then suddenly—
*Dun*
He dropped to the floor.
"Huh?"
The state the scientist was in was ghastly.
He was riddled in holes, though no blood flowed out of them.
Like a honeycomb.
"No way."
He knelt down to shake the scientist awake.
"Wake up, man. I pay you triple."
He was dead.
Jin began to lift himself up.
All the discomfort he felt before was gone.
He was completely fine.
The Conman grinned widely.
"Transfer." So he dubbed it.