"Now, I want you to explain everything from the beginning. Where did you get powers like that?"
Shogo trembled seeing Kazuki's cold eyes. He glanced at Shun's lifeless body, his blood pooling on the ground around him. "A-Alright... it started a few hours ago..."
◇◇◇
"W-What happened? Where is this?"
Shogo opened his eyes, feeling dizzy. Instead of the classroom desk he usually sat at, what he saw was a vast meadow surrounded by dense forest. Around him, dozens of students from class 2-A also appeared to have just regained consciousness—some still rubbing their eyes, while others were already panicking.
"Where are our teachers?!" shouted one student.
"Were we kidnapped?" whispered another.
No answer. No signs of life except for the sounds of birds.
"What is this?!"
"I don't want to believe this!"
Anxiety swept over everyone. Until suddenly...
"Welcome, hero candidates."
That voice appeared without warning, vibrating through the air.
In the midst of the silence, a woman with silver hair so long it touched the ground appeared—as if she had stepped out of the air itself.
"My name is Sena," she said in a melodious yet authoritative voice.
But what was more shocking—none of the students understood what she was saying.
"What is she talking about?" someone asked.
Sena sighed. "I forgot you can't understand my language. Of course, you come from another world."
Before anyone could react, she raised her hand.
"Let's fix that."
*BZZZT!*
A dazzling white light shot from her hand, enveloping the entire group of students in an instant.
"W-What is this light?!"
Their bodies suddenly glowed in various colors—red, blue, green, yellow—like living lanterns shimmering.
"Children, I think you can all understand what I'm saying now." Sena smiled. "You might think this makes no sense, but this is how this world works."
The students looked at each other, still confused. However, they didn't dare move. They could feel it—that this woman was not someone they could oppose.
"As you realize, you are no longer in your own world. I have summoned you to this world."
Sena observed them with a profound gaze. "The light shining from your bodies right now shows your potential power in this world. The brighter the light, the greater the basic power you possess."
Some students began glancing at their friends—some shone brightly, while others were barely visible.
"I suggest you remember who among you shines the brightest. If you want to survive, you must group with the strongest."
One brave student asked, "Survive from what?!"
Sena smiled. "Oh, of course... from everything in this world."
The students hissed in fear.
Suddenly, before everyone's eyes, a **transparent panel** appeared.
===========================
|| Hero Candidate Status ||
|| Name: Takanashi Shogo ||
|| Level: 1 ||
|| HP: 100/100 ||
|| Power: ??? ||
======================
|| Storage Space ||
|| Maps ||
|| Missions ||
===========================
"I have installed a hero system within you," Sena explained while walking floating in the air. "This will allow you to understand the language of this world, see your own status, and even receive missions."
Some students tried to touch the panel—but their fingers just passed through it like a hologram.
"But not everyone can see their own system. Only certain people with strong enough talent can fully access it."
Then, Sena's face became serious.
"My reason for summoning you here is simple. This world is ruled by heroes—and their numbers are decreasing. So, we need replacements." She looked at them one by one. "You will be tested. Survive. Become strong. If you succeed, you can become heroes of this world."
There was something she wasn't saying—something dangerous—but before anyone could ask...
*Poof!*
Her body vanished in a puff of white smoke.
◇◇◇
Shogo trembled as he finished his story.
"A-And that's what happened... After that, some people immediately got strange abilities, like fire or healing. And some could fly, although only briefly."
Kazuki sighed. "I see. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get a system. I want a system too. Why am I in a different place from the others?"
Yuina glared at Kazuki. "Hey, you have powers, you know! Why do you still want a system?"
"Because I like playing games," he answered flatly. "I think systems are similar to playing games. So, I like that."
Yuina frowned, her eyes looking at him with a flat stare that seemed to say, *"You're strange."*
"So, where are the other students now?" she asked, changing the topic.
"They're now walking toward the capital," Shogo explained. "That's one of the missions given to us by the system."
Kazuki nodded. "Alright. Is there another city nearby?"
Shogo thought for a moment. "The closest is of course the city to the north. There's another one to the south, but the distance would make the journey quite far if traveling on foot."
"Yeah, that's quite far if we want to walk," he mumbled. "Let's go to the nearest city first and find a place to sleep."
Yuina nodded in agreement.
But suddenly—
Grrr... GROARRR!
The ground behind them shook. Kazuki turned quickly, and—
"Hehe... finished! Die!"
Shogo's triumphant voice was heard in front of them.
A three-meter-tall Earth Golem appeared, its body made of fused stone and soil. Its large hand swung toward Kazuki—
But...
WHAM!
Instead of attacking Kazuki, the golem hit Shogo himself!
"W-What?! No—!"
CRUNCH!
The golem's hard hand slammed Shogo to the ground, crushing him like broken glass. Blood spurted, and in seconds, his body was completely crushed under the soil.
Yuina covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide.
Kazuki just sighed. "I knew you would do that from the start." Kazuki turned toward the place where the dead Shogo lay. "You fool. You were silent all this time because you were creating an Earth Golem. Of course it takes time to prepare it."
After killing its master, the golem collapsed, returning to an ordinary pile of soil.
But something strange happened.
From the dead bodies of Shogo and Shun, several items came out of their bodies like gold coins and other things rolling out.
Kazuki walked closer and picked them up.
"Wow, you're now acting like a thief," Yuina commented, watching his behavior.
"Can't be helped," he replied while examining the coins. "It seems this is the currency in this world. Similar to our world, but these coins are bigger." The coins were pure gold, different from the coins in their world of origin which were mostly silver or gray.
It seemed these items came from the storage space in their system, because they were dead, the items came out by themselves.
Kazuki could tell because he could see Shogo's system, but he didn't tell Yuina about that.
"Unfortunately, I can't carry other items." Kazuki lifted his school bag that was still hanging on his back. "This is all I can carry."
"By the way... you look calm seeing Shogo's body crushed like that."
Yuina shrugged. "Ehh, I don't know why I can be calm either. Maybe because they deserved it or because we weren't close, so I don't feel anything except being shocked, yes," Yuina answered.
Kazuki was silent, then sighed. "Well then, let's go to the nearest city. Find a place to sleep."
They began walking along the path in the middle of the forest. The journey toward the northern city.
Along the way, Yuina kept glancing at Kazuki.
"Hey, what kind of power do you actually have?" she suddenly asked. "You didn't explain anything about it at all."
Kazuki paused momentarily. "My power? I'm not sure. I don't know myself."
Yuina immediately widened her eyes. "HEY! What do you mean 'don't know'?! You're deliberately not telling me, aren't you?!"
"No way," he answered while continuing to walk.
"YOU'RE LYING!!"
Kazuki smiled slightly. "You're kind of funny when you're angry."
"Uhh—!" Her cheeks reddened. "You're trying to change the subject!"
"No way," he answered again, this time while holding back laughter.
*Sorry, Nomura-san...* he thought to himself. *It's not that I don't want to tell you, but if you knew my power, you would definitely hesitate to be close to me. So, I'm sorry.*
Yuina's face clearly looked unsatisfied.