After breakfast, they told me to get ready because it was finally time for me to become a full-fledged hero.
Stepping outside, I found a sleek, beautiful white car parked right in front of my house.
Temari turned to me and said, "It's our company car. Let's head to the 'Z-Hero Triagram' headquarters—or 'Z.H.T.' for short."
The interior of the vehicle was incredibly high-tech. I sat in the back next to Temari, while her three guards occupied the other seats.
Hoping to make polite conversation, I spoke up. "Hello, I'm Aqua Sato. Age 19, no parents."
"We already know that," Temari replied smoothly. She handed over a digital newspaper tablet. On the front page, I saw a large picture of myself. Below it, a headline detailed how I loved the heroine Marine and had openly proposed to her in front of the public.
"Whoa! They actually published this in the news?!" I gasped.
"Yes. And because of that viral report, we were able to track down your house using your name," she explained.
"Uh..."
I stared out the window as we reached the main city. Gigantic buildings lined the streets, including a massive complex belonging to *Xinglu Perfumes*, where a vibrant advertisement banner read: *'Jade and Marine's fragrance—love found your scent, just like us by Xin-Xin Xinglu Perfumes!'*
*What kind of cheesy dialogue is that...?* I thought to myself.
### Act II: Arrival at Z.H.T. Headquarters
About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Z.H.T. headquarters. We stepped out of the car and walked directly underneath the floating Z.H.T. facility.
*Whoa! It's my first time seeing it from this close!* I thought, completely amazed.
The city around us was highly advanced, with multi-level overpasses, busy roadways, and crowds of citizens bustling through the town.
We stepped onto a massive, circular platform embedded in the concrete ground. Suddenly, the entire board began to glow with a brilliant blue light.
"Wow! Is this a lift?!" I exclaimed as the platform began rapidly carrying us upward toward the floating facility.
Before I knew it, we were approaching the ceiling at high speed. Panicking slightly, I yelled, "Hey! We're gonna crash!"
"Don't worry," a guard reassured me calmly.
Just as he spoke, a circular portal opened in the ceiling, and our platform entered right into it, plunging us momentarily into darkness.
### Act III: The Secret of the Top Floor
Suddenly, the area illuminated. Temari swiped her ID card against a red square scanner on the circular wall, prompting a mechanical chime as an automatic door slid open.
*"Welcome to the Z-Hero Triagram,"* a smooth AI voice announced.
Inside, we stepped into a massive lobby. The entire floor was completely empty, save for a single girl sleeping soundly at the hero registration counter. Temari started walking toward her, and I quickly followed.
"Hello, Miss Temari. Is he a new hero?" the receptionist asked, blinking sleepily.
"Yes. This is Aqua Sato. He proposed to Marine, and he's also the one who defeated the C-rank villain, Lipid Crusher. So, I brought him in," Temari replied.
"Wow! So you're Aqua! But ma'am, there are no vacancies left here. Every single floor is currently occupied by other heroes."
"What?!" I interjected, a wave of surprise and dismay hitting me. "Then why did you bring me all the way here?!"
"Wait! Don't you know that there is still one floor completely empty?" Temari pointed out, a knowing smirk on her face. "You and I both know about the secret of this world."
The receptionist gasped, her eyes widening. "What?! But is he truly fit for it?"
"Yes, his potential is more than enough. Aqua, you are going to be the **Hero Z**."
A heavy silence filled the room as the shock washed over me. "What?! But what about the current 'Z'?" I asked loudly.
She replied solemnly, "We don't know where he went. It has already been seven months, and he has completely vanished without a trace."
"What?!"
"Yes. Let's head to the top floor, designated as the 'Z' floor," Temari commanded.
*I thought to myself: Hmm... this is actually perfect. It's an amazing opportunity to get closer to Marine if I hold the title of Z.*
"Alright, let's go!" I replied.
We stepped into the high-speed elevator and quickly ascended to the absolute top floor.
### Act IV: Designing the Ultimate Hero Suit
The elevator doors slid open, and a robotic AI voice greeted us: *"Hello, Mr. Z. Welcome back to the Z-Hall."*
Temari stepped forward. "This is the Z.H.T. AI, named Zandran. Go ahead to the dressing room, Aqua. It's time to design your hero costume."
"Lead the way," I said.
She led me down the corridor toward a door labeled *'Z-Cos-Up'*. I entered the automated room, and the lights flickered on instantly. The space was massive—nearly ten feet in width and ten feet in length. It was a pristine white room with nothing inside except a large holographic interface floating in the center.
Intrigued, I approached the console. The system displayed thousands of different Z-hero costume templates, but my vision was entirely different from the standard designs.
*Let's build a truly unique costume,* I thought to myself.
I began mixing and matching various styles, tailoring the fabrics and armor plates to create something completely original. After ordering Zandran to render a few different concepts, the final design was finally complete after half an hour of tweaking.
"Zandran, how can I sew this costume together?" I asked aloud.
The AI responded smoothly, *"There is no need to manually sew it, sir. Just wait and let me handle the fabrication. It is my job."*
"Nice, Zandran! Alright, let's start."
Suddenly, a hidden wall slid open to reveal a specialized chamber. I stepped into the square room, and a massive array of robotic machinery descended around me.
"Sir, please raise your arms. I need to take your precise measurements."
A sharp blue laser swept down, scanning my entire body. The moment the scan finished, the machinery sprang into action. Remarkably, just an hour later, Zandran's mechanical voice chimed, *"Sir, your costume is ready."*
"Oh, wow! My exact imagination brought to life in reality! Great job, Zandran!" I praised.
The robotic mechanical hands carefully handed me the suit. I stripped out of my regular clothes and pulled on the custom gear.
When I finally stepped out of the dressing room, my publisher's jaw completely dropped.
The costume was a masterpiece: a sharp, full-black and white suit. It featured a long-edged overcoat, a sleek black tie adorned with striking red stripes, and black trousers. The most striking feature was the coat itself—it was perfectly split down the middle, half pitch-black and half pure white.
### Act V: Overpowered Accessories
To complete the look, I had custom-designed my own specialized accessories:
* **The Smartwatch & Digital King Cards:** A sleek smartwatch split into black and white halves. It functions as a digital deck for my high-tech King Cards, while also housing custom features like communications, long-range tracking, and various utility apps.
* **The Mismatched Shoes:** A stylized pair where one shoe is solid black and the other is solid white.
* **The Dual-Color Contact Lenses:** * **Right Pupil (White Lens):** This lens locks directly onto the user's pupil, granting the ability to instantly identify and highlight registered villains. (Though standard anime tropes show these kinds of lenses with crazy digital readouts floating over the eye, scientifically, an eye needs proper focal length to process data that close. Because of this, nobody else can see the data interface. It projects an invisible hologram directly into my personal focal perception instead.)
* **Left Pupil (Colorless Lens):** This lens projects a matching invisible hologram that grants me enhanced bocular vision—allowing me to see right through solid structures just like the white lens.
Temari stared at me, completely starstruck. "Wow! You look incredibly handsome and cool! What exactly is your superpower?"
I explained the mechanics of my visual lenses and card system to her.
She listened intently, nodding before asking, "But how on earth did you defeat that massive villain like that? Did you use your King Cards?"
"I replied, "Umm... actually, I just jumped down from the roof and landed on him."
"But... whatever! A villain has just launched an attack downtown!" she shouted, checking her alerts.
"Alright, let's roll!"
**— To Be Continued...**