I WAS The Rank–1 Hero

"All the teams will be teleported randomly to different locations on the island."

Professor Lukas spoke, holding a microphone close to his face.

"From there on, you have to survive and maintain your group dynamic on your own. Of course, the teachers will be there to help you…"

He raised his right hand.

"From the console, you can send an SOS to us. Soon after, we'll send someone to get you back to the cruise."

Murmurs engulfed the surroundings—some students heaved a sigh of relief, while others just carefully listened to Prof. Lucas.

"But knowing this…" Prof. Lucas' eyes narrowed, scanning each and every student's face, "you and your team will be disqualified from the training the moment you press the SOS button. And this might affect your overall first-year credit points."

The moment he said that, the dull expression on every student's face returned.

"They can't be serious."

"Do they want us to call for an SOS or what?"

"There goes my first year…"

"I don't wanna fail…"

The students surrounding me blabbered their minds out.

I was standing with my teammates, taking notes of Professor Lucas' words.

"Leader Zane, do we have enough food and water?" asked Anna.

I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. "Please don't call me that."

"But why?" She tilted her head, innocently. "Leader Zane."

"…"

We were still on the deck of our cruise. Before we teleported to the island, professor Lucas finished his final speech, and gestured to us to move towards the teleportation room, in groups.

Aria, Rika, and Emily followed behind me.

"I am still uncomfortable using teleportation machines."

Rika spoke with Emily.

"Yeah, let's just hope we don't teleport to the Demon Continent again."

"Ugh, don't bring back bad memories."

As we were on the line waiting for our turn, Emily and Rika started chatting.

To be fair, I too am unsure of what the Island held for us, or those bio engineered monsters were capable of.

But, I am sure that the Nova academy will have it under control, especially for any uncertainty.

"Next, please come forward!"

The operator gestured us towards the teleportation machine.

"Don't get too worked up, it will be a little dizzy at first, but you all will be safely teleported to the island."

The operator looked towards my teammates and instructed them to proceed.

"Ready?" The operator asked finally.

I nodded. "Yeah."

The moment I said those words, my vision was distorted. And after just one blink, I found myself staring at a landscape straight out of the fairy tale.

I was staring at what looked like a river.

The water was flowing smoothly, in slow motion. Various lotus leaves with black lotuses floated on the surface.

'Hm?'

It looked odd, yet those black lotus felt oddly familiar to me. As if I had seen them before, somewhere.

'Those flowers are creepy.' Sera spoke.

Indeed it is.

Leaving that thought behind, I noticed the lake.

The entire lake was covered in an opaque mist, but even through that, all the details were still visible.

The sunlight was casting a net-like web structure across the surface. It looked unreal.

The chirping of birds echoed softly around us, and there was the faint smell of moist soil in the air.

It was all so unreal.

Sure, I had visited even more awe-taking places than this, but still, this was really something amazing.

"Wow," Anna's voice came from my right.

"Black lotuses?" Rika murmured, narrowing her eyes.

I turned my head to them, just to check if they had all arrived safely.

Anna and Rika were both taking in the breathtaking view in front of them.

"Hm? Where's Emily?" I curiously wondered while casually turning my body behind.

I looked in front, and found no one.

But, then I heard a faint weeping sound with jagged breathing coming from my left.

"...?!"

Instantly, my head turned, and on the ground I saw Emily.

Huddled down, she was trembling.

"Emily?!" Without a thought, I ran towards her.

"Huh? Hey—Emily?" Anna and Rika noticing her gasped.

"Hey, you alright?!" I crouched down in front of her, "what happened?"

It was weird, because the teleportation went smoothly.

"Ho…how… can he be…be…. no…. no…he can't… be…"

Emily had her face buried in her hands. She finally spoke, but even then, it was hard to understand her.

"Hey calm down," Rika hugged Emily by her shoulder. "It-It's fine, just breath slowly."

What's happened to her? Emily was the type who was always calm and composed.

She was fine just moments ago, it was only after the teleportation she was acting this way.

Investing the surrounding, I took note of few odd points.

The reason for her acting like this, can be that sudden dizziness, but for a noble like Emily, I don't think, this can be the cause.

'So, then what…'

Did some monsters caused it?

There were no life force detected in a range of 5 k.ms from where we all stands. So, a monster causing this was out of option.

"Here, during this." Anna took out the stamina potion, and place it near Emily's lips.

She discomforted at first, but she drank all the potion.

I watched her as her body finally stopped trembling.

"How do you feel?" I inquired.

I guess was… whatever caused her to freak her out like this must be something psychological.

It's only logical to first calm her down and asked her the reason.

I mean, I have to ask her, as a team leader assigned to maintain the group dynamic, I can't ignore this.

Rika helped Emily to stand up.

"Here hold me," she took her to the giant stone near the river.

Rika was not letting go of Emily's hand.

I gently asked, making my voice as warm as ever.

"Emily, if I may…" I stared at her terrified gaze, "what happened back then?"

She didn't answer.

"..."

I exchanged glances with Rika.

Rika shook her head, telling me that she had no idea.

"Emily," Anna spoke, pressing her hands over Emily's shoulders, "tell us. You can trust us, we can help."

nna seemed to understand that Emily was going through something. Her eyes said it all.

To Anna's words, Emily glanced at Anna at first, then at Rika, and then at me.

Emily's head turned to her right, as she pointed her head towards the lake.

I followed her direction.

What she was pointing, was those Black Lotus.

"Black Lotus?" Anna said. "Yeah they are creepy, but not enought to make you act like that."

Exactly, my thinking.

But, something inside me was telling me that I have seen that black Lotus somewhere.

'Where?'

I can't seem to recall.

Without suppressing my curiousness, I asked Emily directly.

"Have you seen those Black Lotuses anywhere else before… aside from here?"

Emily shook her head.

Pressing the topic further, I asked.

"Then what?"

If those lotuses are not the cause, then what freaked her out this much?

Emily paused, her eyes went vivid, as if she was recalling. Just then, her breathing became rough again.

"H-Hey, calm down," I said, holding up a hand. "You don't have to—"

But before I could finish, she spoke.

"I saw… him."

"Saw who?" Anna asked, her voice soft and cautious.

"Hope." Emily answered.

My mind froze, hearing that name.

"What?" I blinked at her in surprised.

Anna and Emily exchanged glances.

"Hope?"

Why did Hope's name came from her mouth in this place?

It was unexpected to hear my Ex-Hero name out of the blue.

I gently probed.

"What do you mean?" But, what Emily said next, made all of us staggered.

"I have… a skill, wh—which allows me to glimpse at important events which will bound to happen in the future."

Anna's mouth opened slightly, but no words came. Rika stood frozen, her eyes wide with disbelief.

But, I on the other hand, who has witnessed all kind of things this world has to offer, maintained my sanity.

I asked her.

"What did you see?"

She looked right at me, with tears glimmering down her eyes.

"Hope will die."