I WAS The Rank–1 Hero

"Hope will die."

I was sure of it… that this wouldn't affect me. That I wouldn't care about that name anymore.

My throat dried as those words left Emily's lips. For a moment, I just stared at her trembling lips, at her wavering eyelids that looked too heavy to keep open.

"What—what do you mean…" Anna asked. "Hope? How will he die? And how can you tell? You clearly had a bad dream, right? Yes, that must be it."

She held Emily by both hands, shaking them as she spoke.

"Why di—"

"Anna."

Placing my hand on Anna's shoulder, I stopped her.

"What?" Anna blinked, turning to me. "Don't tell me you believed all that."

I certainly did.

But I wasn't going to accept it.

"No," I said, pointing at Emily. "Just… look at her."

Her entire body was shaking, as if she'd seen a ghost up close. Emily could barely stand—if it wasn't for Rika, she wouldn't have been on her feet at all.

It wasn't the right time to ask more questions. Anna slowly let go of her hands as she noticed Emily's condition.

"I'm sorry," Anna apologized.

"Hey, sit here," Rika said gently, still holding onto her as she guided her to a small boulder.

But before Rika could do anything, Emily's legs buckled, and she collapsed with a thud onto the ground.

"Emily?!"

Startled, I rushed toward them.

"H-Hey, open your eyes!"

Rika was doing everything she could.

Reaching Emily's side, I immediately checked her vitals.

"She's fine," I murmured, feeling her pulse.

A flood of questions surged in my mind as I stared at Emily.

Activating my <Elemental View>, I examined her Essence flow.

She looks fine.

I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, except that she had fainted from exhaustion.

"Everything looks fine to me," I murmured again, helping Rika move Emily to a safer spot.

We didn't know when one of those monsters might attack.

"Let's find somewhere for her to rest."

There was no need to search, though, because I'd already spotted an abandoned cave not far from our position.

"Anna, ignite a flame."

"Alright," Anna nodded.

Walking beside me and Rika, who was supporting Emily by each arm, Anna flicked a small flame to life.

Flick—!

"Follow me," I instructed my very first order to them as a leader.

I had to make sure none of my teammates got hurt.

I pretended to wander mindlessly at first, before finally stopping at a small cave.

Inside, I laid Emily down on the dry floor. Then, turning to Anna, I gave her a small task.

"Keep the flame up for a few minutes, until we gather some wood."

Anna, squatting beside Rika with the flame still steady in her hand, nodded.

"It's alright, I can keep the flames up for as long as you want."

"No need," I said sharply. "Fire Essence won't hold in Aquadore. And we don't need another one passing out."

Thirty minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Emily waking up.

"Will she be alright?" Rika asked. "Should we call the professors?"

"No," Anna said before I could respond.

Rika blinked, stunned. "Anna…? W-What do you mean? Emily hasn't woken up yet. Don't you feel even a bit worri—"

"I'm not against it," Anna said quickly.

"It's just… we don't know how this trial reacts to emergency calls. For all we know, contacting the professors might disrupt our group dynamic, or worse, disqualify us."

She was right. From what little we knew, sending an SOS could lead to immediate disqualification.

"Let's give it a little more time," she added. "Keep her warm. Monitor her Essence. If she doesn't wake up soon, we'll call them together."

We agreed on that, and after a few minutes, we gathered several pieces of wood to light up a small fire.

Sitting side by side, surrounding Emily, I took a breath, trying to recollect what had just happened.

"Glimpse of the future, huh?" I murmured to myself.

Thinking through the events, I consulted Sera.

'Hey Sera, do you know anything about this whole glimpse-of-the-future thingy?'

Not long after, Sera spoke in my mind.

'In our time, there were people who could see glimpses of someone else's future. But they were the rarest of the rare.'

'Wait, so it's real?!'

'Precisely.'

I thought Sera would reject it, but she didn't.

'Can you tell me more about them?'

With that, Sera informed me about the past.

Mortals… especially humans. In the old era, they didn't possess any supernatural powers, nor did the concept of Elementals exist for them.

As such, there were only a few humans… let's say, one out of every billion. Those humans were the only ones who had powers. And not just any powers, the kind that could alter the fate of the world.

The very few humans who had these powers could see future events. And some even had the power to alter them.

They were treated as the divine children of gods, the few chosen ones who would one day climb the stairs of godhood.

'What do you call those chosen humans?'

After listening to Sera's story, I curiously asked.

'They were called… The Visionary,' Sera answered.

"Visionary?" I said it out loud.

"What?"

Noticing me muttering to myself, Anna, who was sitting beside me, poked my right hand.

"Did you say something, Zane?" Anna whispered.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

As we were chatting, I heard a faint moan.

"Mmhm."

I lowered my head toward the source.

It was Emily. Her lips were quivering as she bit down on them.

"No… don't go… h…e…" she murmured in her sleep. It was so faint, I could barely make out what she was saying.

Seeing Emily like this, Rika and Anna exchanged glances.

"She seems to be fine," Anna said, looking at Rika.

"I got scared for a second," Rika said, gently stroking Emily's head. "I wonder what she's dreaming about."

"Tha… save… me…" Emily mumbled again.

This time, I heard her.

'What is she saying? Save who exactly?'

Curiously, I leaned in a little closer, trying to hear her clearly.

"H-Hey Zane, back off a little," Rika said, startled at how close I was to Emily's face. But I ignored her.

Then, I heard Emily loud and clear.

"Thanks… for saving me… Hope."