"Do you want to become a hero?"
The bustle of the activity room was instantly pushed far away.
The laughter and shouting of the children drawing, the clinking of volunteers stacking plates, the muffled traffic outside the window... all of it receded into a blurred backdrop.
All Lance Blue could hear was the sudden thunder of his own heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump, pounding against his ribs.
Did he want to?
Of course he did!
What child had never fantasized about it while chewing on day-old bread and staring at the pitiful blue number on their wrist?
He had imagined that one day, several more zeroes would appear after that number. He had imagined becoming like those glamorous figures in the news, believed in and watched by countless people.
Becoming a hero meant never having to worry about tomorrow’s pancakes again. It meant truly "existing" in this world, instead of being a theoretical ghost.
But he pressed his lips tightly together, his lake-blue eyes fixed on Elliot, and did not nod right away.
"What’s the price?"
He asked again, his voice more wary than before.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
Ten years of street wisdom had taught him that the more enticing an invitation was, the sharper the hook hidden beneath it might be.
Elliot seemed to have expected him to ask that.
He picked up his tea, now cold, and took a sip without any hurry.
"The price is becoming a hero itself."
He set down the cup and tapped the completed form on the table with a fingertip. "What do you think a hero is? Someone who wears a cool uniform, enjoys flowers and applause, and then the world is at peace?"
He shook his head, his tone carrying complicated emotions that Lance Blue did not quite understand.
"Trust Value is a double-edged sword. What people believe you to be is what you become—sometimes even against your own will."
Lance Blue unconsciously touched his messy blue hair.
When he imagined the words "against your own will" applying to himself, it felt as though a tiny thorn had pricked him.
"Then why become a hero?" he asked.
"Because this world needs balance." Elliot stood up.
"Come on. I’ll take you somewhere and explain as we walk."
...
Instead of heading out of the activity room, he went farther down the corridor. Lance Blue hesitated for a second, then followed.
The corridor was much quieter than the lobby, with only the echo of their footsteps.
Posters covered the walls. One bore the title "The 12th Hero Ranking Tournament," depicting several indistinct but imposing figures.
He pushed open a door with a sign that read "Archives."
The room was small, with several bookshelves against the walls and a long table in the middle. Elliot gestured for Lance Blue to sit, then pulled several heavy volumes from a shelf.
"Two forces maintain the balance of this world."
He spread the volumes open on the table. On the first page, written prominently, were the words "Hero Office Registration Directory (Union Year 23 Edition)."
"One is ordinary order: the police, firefighters, community services... people like me."
"The other." He paused, running a finger across the gold-embossed title in the volume.
"Is heroes."
"To Be Hero X?" Lance Blue read aloud, puzzled by the words on the page.
"It’s just a slogan. It means becoming Hero X."
"It isn’t important." Elliot flipped through the book quickly.
"Let me explain some common knowledge about our era. Union City is divided into seventy-one major districts. Districts One through Eleven are the absolute center of Union City, containing Hero Tower, the Hero Association, Hero Office headquarters, and more."
"We’re in the suburbs of District Seventy."
"The rest consist of Districts Twenty-three through Thirty-two, the city’s largest livable area; the industrial ghost city of Districts Thirty-three through Forty; the port districts, Forty-one through Fifty-one; the technology hub, Fifty-two through Fifty-nine; the gambling city, Sixty through Sixty-five; and the suburban districts, Sixty-six through Seventy-one."
"All seventy-one districts together are called Union City."
"A few years before the Union Era, people discovered the effects of Trust Value, and it gave rise to many heroes. But no one managed those heroes, so in Union Year One, the Hero Association emerged at the right moment." Elliot began introducing Lance Blue to the history of heroes.
"A Hero Office is, just as its name suggests, a place that creates heroes, handles hero-related affairs, and develops the hero industry."
"Hero Offices seek out promising newcomers or sign heroes who are already famous. They build public personas for heroes and gain Trust Value."
"Every hero registered with the Hero Association has a place in the Hero Association’s rankings. The higher their rank, the more Trust Value they have, and the stronger their abilities are."
"The top fifty heroes earn the right to live in Hero Tower."
As he spoke, Elliot’s wristwatch projected three images directly into the air.
"These are the three most famous and powerful Hero Offices today: DOS, MG, and FOMO, the dark horse of recent years."
Lance Blue barely listened to the names of the Hero Offices. Instead, he stared curiously at the blue holographic display.
"In Districts One through Eleven, this kind of technology is everywhere." Elliot smiled. "This technology has existed since Union Year Eight, but it has never become widespread among the public."
Elliot looked into Lance Blue’s sapphire-like eyes. "Well?"
"As a hero, not only will you have a vast number of fans smashing into walls for you, but you can eat anything you want. Whatever you desire can basically be made a reality."
"On the condition that you fulfill a hero’s obligations."
"Actually, it’s nothing much." Elliot quickly revised himself, afraid of putting too much pressure on Lance Blue. "You just need to meet the hero task quotas your Hero Office gives you, or complete the assignments they arrange for you."
"So?"
"Any thoughts?"
...
Lance Blue looked at the [109] on his wrist, then recalled the heroes on television and in media promotions, whose Trust Value easily numbered in the tens of thousands. Suddenly, he felt somewhat discouraged.
"Becoming a hero means being restrained..."
"Besides, isn’t my Trust Value way too low...?" Lance Blue sounded dejected.
"Hero Offices never look at how much Trust Value you have right now," Elliot said. "What they value is your potential to become a hero."
"After you sign with a Hero Office, you can leave everything related to managing your Trust Value to them. A rapid surge in Trust Value over a short period is very common."
"Take Carnival, a hero who has been extremely popular lately." Elliot spoke unhurriedly. "He’s a hero under FOMO. He is currently ranked first on the Trust Value leaderboard, and it has been less than two years since he signed with FOMO and became a hero."
"In less than two years, do you know what his Trust Value is now?" Elliot looked at Lance Blue, seemingly asking him.
Lance Blue stared blankly at him. Once he realized Elliot was asking him, he belatedly shook his head.
—How would I know? I don’t even have a phone.
"His Trust Value has reached four million," Elliot said calmly.
"What did you say?" Lance Blue’s soul miraculously fell out of the world.
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