I WAS The Rank–1 Hero

Core Hunt — Day 1 [1]

"Hey, drink some more."

Rikka carefully brought a cup of warm water to Emily's lips.

Emily took slow and steady sips from the cup before apologizing to everyone.

"I... I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you guys. Because of me, you—"

"Hey, don't say that," Anna scoffed. "It's fine. We still have time. Rest your body, we'll call the teachers."

"No!" Emily instantly sat up. "Please don't. I don't want you guys to suffer during this practical session because of me."

While they were arguing, I just sat on a rock not too far from them.

According to Emily, she had seen a glimpse of the future, where [Hope], the current Rank-1 hero, would die.

And that too, on this very island.

I found it a bit weird.

'Why would a Rank-1 hero be here on this island?'

It was clear that this island was property of NOVA, so there shouldn't be any danger here, right?

Still, I took out my communication device and sent a text to Ruby explaining the current situation I was in.

She didn't see my message. I assumed she must be in a meeting or something.

"Mue wants to know, what's a Visionary doing in this era?"

Mue whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

I answered,

"I want to know that as well."

Anyway, right now, my main objective was to keep the others far away from Emily's powers.

Who knew what other abilities a [Visionary] might have?

Standing up, I walked towards the girls.

Anna saw me approaching, and without letting me get too close, she asked,

"Zane, you decide whether we inform the teacher or not."

After hearing Anna, the first thing I noticed was Emily mustering the strength to sit up.

For some reason, she was avoiding my gaze.

'It still feels weird to hear her call me Hope...'

I didn't think she had figured out my secret. But still, I had my doubts.

'Let's not discuss Hope while the others are around.'

Getting a little closer, I simply asked Emily,

"Can you walk?"

Every head turned toward me.

"Huh?"

"What did you say?" Anna blinked.

I knew exactly what I was talking about.

Ignoring Anna, I looked into Emily's eyes.

"...Umm."

Emily forced her legs to stand.

"H-Hey, Emily."

Rikka tried to hold her, but she pushed her hand away.

Standing, Emily met my gaze and said in a reassuring voice,

"As you can see, I am completely fine."

Her legs were wobbling, but I didn't point it out. Instead, I asked,

"Can you fight?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Would you feel like a burden to us?"

She paused for a second before answering.

"No."

Great.

That's all I wanted to hear.

If Emily didn't want to give up and was willing to fight until the end… then who was I to stop her?

If this were a real battlefield, she wouldn't be getting this much rest.

With that in mind, I made my decision.

"We won't be calling the teachers. It's my decision as the leader," I addressed the others. "Any objections?"

I looked around.

It seemed like Anna wanted to say something, but she stopped after seeing Emily's face.

"None?"

"..."

"..."

"Great. Collect your belongings. We'll be moving out in ten minutes."

No one objected, as Anna and Rikka began packing their things.

Surely, this cave was the safest place we had found after teleporting here, but… that was in the past.

I had sensed a monster getting close to our hideout not too long ago.

And from the looks of it, it had a red Monster Core.

According to my theory, it wouldn't be difficult for Anna to take it down on her own.

So, my plan was to lure the monster far from our hideout and finish it there. That way, our cave wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

We still needed this place to spend the night, so we would only take the necessary items with us.

— — —

It was past 4 AM, and we had walked pretty far from our cave. As for that monster, it had been following us ever since.

From its precise movements, I deduced that the monster somehow knew which direction we were going. It always adjusted its pace to match ours.

'No wonder NOVA called them Biologically Engineered.'

NOVA must have installed some type of tracker in every student's suit, allowing the monster to locate them no matter where they hid.

'Impressive...'

That way, every team had no choice but to face it.

And by the looks of it, our assigned monster was just a few hundred meters away from us.

It would hardly take five minutes to catch up.

Maintaining my pace, I walked beside Emily.

Anna and Rikka were taking the lead, while Emily and I followed behind them.

Ruby still hadn't seen my message, so until then, Emily was my responsibility.

As I walked, Emily spoke.

"You remind me of him."

I wanted to object, but I didn't.

"Who's him?"

"Someone very brave."

Brave, huh?

I was never brave. From the time the Hero Association picked me up, I did nothing but follow their orders.

You wouldn't call that bravery...

"..."

As I looked ahead, Emily took something out of her coat.

"What's that?" I asked.

It looked like a bracelet.

A silver band, with different colored gemstones attached to it.

It looked familiar to me.

"Hope gave this to me."

"Ah."

I nearly choked.

No wonder it looked familiar.

It was a bracelet Ruby had made for me when I was just sixteen.

She made it as a gesture of our friendship.

Unknowingly, a small smile formed on my face.

It felt... pleasant.

"You're blushing."

"Cough...!"

I quickly adjusted my expression.

"Hehee, it's my first time seeing you blush," Emily teased. "Thinking about your girlfriend?"

"Wha—? No. I don't have one."

'How the hell did she know?'

"What? Seriously?" Emily tilted her head. "I was sure you, of all people, had one."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just... my intuition."

'Scary intuition she's got.'

Changing the topic, I asked her,

"Have you met Hope before?"

She paused, and her expression shifted to a more somber one.

"Mhm." She nodded. "It was when he saved me."

I listened.

"I was the only one he saved."

"Hm?"

Only one?

Why couldn't I recall?

"It was four years ago, when Hope wasn't even publicly introduced."

"What?"

What the hell was she talking about?

In that instant, she suddenly stopped and turned to face me.

The hair on my body stood on end when she spoke.

"It was when my father had you by your collar."

My eyes widened, but still, my lips moved to ask,

"Who's... your father?"

She leaned closer to me, then whispered in my ear,

"You sure that's what you want to ask?"

No.

What I really wanted to ask was—

"What's your name?"

Emily chuckled slightly before answering.

"Emily… Emily Bloodstone."