Okay. You can do this, Adam… remember your goal.

Adam stepped through the glass doors of the Hero Evaluation building, bracing himself for chaos. He'd imagined crowds, noise, the kind of intensity that surrounded anything related to Heroes. He'd met several Heroes already, but most of them were trying to kill him inside the Game.

So, he was slightly interested in how most of them truly were if they weren't forced to actually kill people. The ones he'd met outside were… eccentric.

Susan was… well, a human trafficker. Clementine and Sylvie were born billionaires. Bjorn was a secret agent. The only normal ones he'd met were the Heroes from the Nightraptor Guild—and they seemed like decent enough people with very peculiar skill sets.

So, he was actually curious.

But instead, silence greeted him as he got inside the building. The lobby stretched wide and clean, all polished marble, and not a single corner wasn't covered by bright light.

It… just looked like a normal building.

Except for the bronze statue that dominated the center of the entrance—Gerald, the First Soldier. Adam looked at it for a moment, thinking the one at the museum was better.

Adam circled it slowly, searching for an information desk.

The space felt emptier than he'd expected. A handful of people sat scattered across leather chairs, most absorbed in their phones or tablets. This… wasn't what Adam expected.

They glanced up as he passed, casual looks that lingered just a moment too long. A few shifted in their seats, leaning forward slightly as if wanting to approach him, before settling back down.

Adam didn't notice that, however. He just went straight toward the concierge.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?"

The receptionist smiled warmly from behind a curved desk. She wasn't even using a phone at all, and was just sitting there before Adam approached her.

These people must be paid well here.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am. I'm here to register," Adam said.

"Register…?" The receptionist blinked a couple of times before lightly pushing her chair back. "Oh. As a Hero…?"

"Yes…?"

"Oh!" She lightly clapped her hands, then reached for a clipboard. "Sorry about that, Sir…"

"Adam. Adam… Smith." Adam was still not used to using that surname. Although if he remembered it correctly, his… contact once gave him an ID with that surname already, way back.

"Mr. Smith." The receptionist typed Adam's name into her computer, and she attached a form to the clipboard. "Sorry about that, Mr. Smith. We haven't had a new Hero register for three days straight now."

"I see."

"Hmn." The receptionist nodded before sliding the form to Adam. "Please fill this out and have a seat in the lobby. Someone will be with you shortly."

"Thank you."

Adam took the form and turned back toward the seating area. Only then did Adam finally notice everyone there staring at him. They weren't even being subtle anymore. He counted maybe fifteen people, all watching him with varying degrees of interest.

Are these all Heroes? They… don't look like it.

He found an empty chair and started filling out the paperwork.

"Excuse me."

A woman had approached, mid-thirties with short auburn hair and expensive clothes. She didn't introduce herself, just stood there looking down at his clipboard.

"Uh…" Adam glanced up but said nothing.

The woman's eyes widened as she saw the form, and a smile spread across her face. "Are you a new Hero?"

"Yes?"

"My name's Cindy. I'm from—"

"Oh, shit! Finally!" Before Cindy could even finish her introduction, the lobby suddenly erupted.

People rushed toward him from every direction, pushing the poor woman away as their hands thrust forward, clutching business cards and some other things.

"Dragon Ball Guild offers the best benefits package—"

"—thirty percent cut of all Leak earnings…"

"...private training facilities and equipment."

"...signing bonus of two hundred thousand and a condo—"

Adam sat frozen, overwhelmed by the sudden assault of… attention. Contracts were scattered across his lap and the floor around his chair.

And did he just hear 200,000 dollars and a condo as a signing bonus? He knew that Heroes earned real money. But that much?

So, why was Susan even trafficking monsters and women? Or perhaps… she was already like that before the Games?

"...we offer unlimited Korean BBQ and—"

[Attention to all recruiters: Please do not harass registrants. Give them appropriate space to complete their paperwork.]

Adam turned his head back to the receptionist as he heard her voice from the speakers. She signed 'okay' with her eyes, winking and nodding to him before returning back to her work.

As for the crowd, they all reluctantly backed away from Adam. Though most of them waved and smiled at Adam, pointing at their business cards, which they left on his table.

…So, they weren't Heroes at all?

Does that mean he was the only one taking the evaluation today? But then again, that made sense. Clementine had explained it once—becoming a Hero was rarer than being struck by lightning.

Adam looked down at the scattered business cards. These people don't even know what he was capable of, and they were already risking offering contracts and such. Being a Hero… truly is the most in-demand profession on the planet.

He sighed and continued filling out the form, ignoring the eyes boring into him from every direction.

"Mr. Adam?"

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to be the subject of everyone's eyes for long, as a man in a crisp IBAA suit approached him, making Adam suddenly remember the IBAA officer in his first Game.

"My name's Noah," the man introduced himself. "Are you done with that?"

"Oh, uh… yes." Adam handed the form.

"Thank you. I'll be handling your evaluation today. If you'll follow me?"

Noah started walking toward one of the hallways, leading through a thick automatic door.

"You're... twenty-seven? That's… interesting," Noah muttered, glancing at Adam as they walked. "And it says you've only been to two Games?—I'm assuming this is a mistake? There's no way you were able to become a Hero in two Games."

"Th—"

"Hm… and your ability." Noah… was talking to himself. "Your special ability is listed as Regeneration…? What do you mean by that exactly?"

Adam was going to answer, but noticed Noah was just muttering to himself again. The thick automatic door also opened with a soft hiss, so Adam just decided to quietly follow Noah.

"This is your SEAPS evaluation form." Noah pulled out another sheet of paper. "Strength, Endurance, Agility, Perception, and Special Ability."

"Oh…" Adam looked at the paper and was about to grab it, but Noah pulled it back.

Was… that not meant for me?

"Each of those categories will be rated according to your performance," Noah continued to explain. "From F through S, then we'll tally everything for your final grade, which would also be your Hero Tier. It's simple and clean. Shows where you are, but not all that you are."

Adam squinted, then quietly summoned his status window. The order was different—Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception. SAEP, not SEAP. He kept that observation to himself, of course, and followed Noah down a long corridor lined with cameras.

"Please do take note that your final tier would not account for your actual combat ability, only your raw output and potential." Noah continued to explain, his tone slowly becoming monotonous.

He looks bored, Adam. How many times do you think he's done this before? You still want a simple corporate job?

"If you have any complaints about your final tier, you may submit a petition. However, as I explained, your final tier does not take into account how well you fight. I assure you, Mr. Adam, that all our tests and machines may look simple, but they are highly accurate, and the margin of error is less than one percent."

Noah gestured to Adam as they turned to a corner.

"I am also obligated to tell you that everything from here on out is recorded," Noah pointed at the cameras on the ceiling. "And since we are complying with HART regulations, the records are publicly accessible by our lovely citizens."

"HART…?" Adam blinked as he saw Noah waving at one of the cameras.

"Hero Accountability and Registration Transparency Act. HART," Noah explained. "And of course, due to this, millions of people are potentially watching you right now. Everything you do, everything you say from here on out can be viewed by everyone in the world. But please do note that the IBAA has no responsibility for any media or content that would be released by the public—everything that would happen here is strictly professional, and our recording is for evaluation process only."

…But the people who are watching could basically turn this into entertainment.

Of course.

The world was dead… and humanity had turned it into entertainment.

Adam sighed. This was just another layer of the spectacle.

The corridor ended at an even larger metal door. Several people in lab coats waited in front of it, clipboards and tablets in hand.

White coats…

Adam's pulse quickened, but he forced himself to stay calm.

Don't be a pussy, Adam. This isn't the Hospital.

"These are our field experts," Noah introduced the group, and each of them was eager to shake Adam's hand.

"They will be the ones responsible for your SEAPS sheet, guiding you through the process and taking measurements along the way."

The massive door began to open, revealing an enormous space. Not quite a gym, not quite a track field. Obstacle courses and testing equipment filled the area, all under bright fluorescent lighting.

"Okay, then…" Noah gestured for Adam and the field evaluators to step inside. "...Mr. Adam, we would need you to wear a specialized suit that would track your vitals and performance. The changing room is there, and there will be people to assist…"

And as they walked inside, one of the evaluators paused, his fingers subtly pointing at Adam. He hesitated to speak, but then had to in the end.

"Wait…" he whispered, his mouth slightly opened. "Your hair… aren't you that Hero Killer from the last Ga—"

But alas, his voice was too quiet. The other experts ignored him completely.

But of course, he wasn't the only one who was slowly starting to realize who Adam could be.

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