Everything is in chaos.
"No! Please don't!"
I hear guns firing everywhere.
"I beg of you, please let them go!"
Bombs loudly exploding.
"I'll do as you say... Please!"
Everyone ran frightened,
screaming in despair.
[ Bang ]
[ Bang ]
[ Bang ]
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
I quickly opened my eyes and jolted up, awoken by the sound of my alarm clock.
"Ah.. "
I woke up from a bad dream.
I slowly folded the curtains, letting the sunlight pass through my window. I noticed my hand trembling, maybe from the terrifying nightmare I just had. I clenched my fist and breathed slowly. I confidently yelled,
"Alright!"
I started getting my stuff ready.
....
Six years ago, a devastating war occured within the boundaries of the Central City where I live in. The infamous villain organization known as the Crimson Knights, led an all-out attack with the purpose of obtaining the territory.
Fortunately, the International Heroes Association (IHA) managed to overcome the attack. Many people fought and died that day, along with my parents.
Now that everything has settled after the war, I'm off to take an entrance exam to Denver Heroes Academy, the second best academy in the vicinity.
Since I am known as the only ability-less student in my previous school, you can agree that I wouldn't make it to the best hero academy in the entrance exams, the Central City Heroes University.
I will do my best to pass the exam and protect everyone like my parents.
After a few minutes of walking, I could already see the academy's gate. I entered the huge metal gate of the academy with other students from high schools across the city. I gasped, mezmerized at how majestic and wide the academy is.
As we slowly walk through the large pathway to the school faculty's front, we heard a woman's cheerful voice on a microphone announcing,
[ Good morning examinees! Welcome to Denver Heroes Academy. Please head to the academy's convention room for the orientation of the entrance exam. You may refer to the ground floor map to your left for directions. Thank you very much! ]
We were led to a large semi-circle room full of chairs all faced to a stage. There are six rows of connected chairs and tables in total. I silently went downstairs and sat at the third row, beside me is a stuttering cyan-haired boy.
His eyes are moving rapidly from all directions and his face is drenched in sweat. He is trembling so much as he mutter the words "I'm gonna fail" or "I'm gonna die" and "I knew I shouldn't have come here".
I patted his shoulder in an attempt to help him calm down but he shrieks in shock instead, causing everyone look at our side.
"IIIIIEEEEE!!! I knew it! I just can't do it! I shouldn't have come here! I'm gonna fail! I'm gonna die!"
"H-hey... Please don't say that. We will never know the outcome of the exam unless we try and take it right?"
I tried reasoning with his statement but he only replied with a series of muttering about his unfortunate life.
"N-no way... I'm screwed. I'm gonna die. I'm really gonna die..."
I shifted my eyes to the stage, noticing a tall lady walking towards the stage and an old man silently enter from the door beside the stage. He gazed at the beeming students before clicking his tongue.
The room fell in silence.
"A pleasant morning to everyone. I am Begonia Chiaki, a professor and today's facilitator for the entrance exam. Beside me is Mr. Raghnall Denver, the chairman of Denver Heroes Academy."
Ms. Chiaki then discussed us the history of the school and how it is established 47 years ago, with the help of a large screen that is displayed at the stage wall. After that, she told us how the exam will be done.
"There are two divisions of exam that you will be taking. The first one is an academic test division done by written exam and the physical test division done by a certain activity that we will initiate after."
The screen shifted from the events of the past to the physical and academic exam. The academic division consists of major subjects like science, mathematics and others of their sort. The physical exam is held in a large city-like facility, and we will play a game called White Flag.
[ White Flag Rules and Procedure:
- Examinees will be given small, triangle-shaped white flags each and take it to the other side of the 2km (Kilometer) city and reach it for half an hour.
- examinees may take flags from other examinees for extra points. The extra points may be used to increase your chance to be placed in a higher class.
- Less casualties in the facility is equivalent to extra points.
- The use of abilities are allowed in the examination.
- Examinees are also allowed to use whatever weapons they have in their expertise.
- Examinees may not venture outside the facility to reach the finish line.
- four exit doors are placed on different places. But once exited, the examinee are considered failed.
- Do not kill. ]
Kill?
Has something like that happened in the exam before?
Sir Denver proceeded,
"Medical staff will be stationed in every exit of the exam hall. Students who are unable to proceed the test will be rescued and taken for medical care. You may refer to your examination card about your destined exam halls in both the Academic and Physical Division. If that is all, we wish you all good luck."
After both Ms. Chiaki nd Sir Denver left, all the examinees left as well. I proceeded to Academic Exam Hall no. 2 along with other students. I also lost sight of the cyan-haired boy that I met earlier.
I hope he had calmed down.
....
I hope I can calm down.
A tense aura suddenly engulfed me as soon as I checked in for the examination. Everywhere I look, everyone looks very anxious it makes me nervous as well. I sat in the back row as I was told. I tried recalling the subjects I reviewed yesterday in my mind when the man beside me whispered.
"Psst."
He has a black hair, brown eyes, red-framed pair of eye-glasses, and a frighteningly menacing look in his face. This guy looks trouble.
"I have this paper I just bought earlier. Someone must've peeped at the entrance exam papers and recorded the answers in sheets like this. You wanna share?"
He sneakily showed me a portion of the piece of paper under his table and smiled at me, prompting me to join him.
How troubling.
"...Err, No thank you."
I bluntly rejected his offer. He frowned, and then tried pursuing me once more.
"Oh, come on. Do you think they'll see us if we try cheating right now? Besides, we will surely pass the test using this treasure I just found."
What's with this guy?
I answered him, seemingly displeasured and uninterested in his behaviour.
"No. Thank you very much for your concern but I must decline."
He backed down, looking displeased. He spoke,
"... Hmmm... Tch. How boring. Fine then. I wish you good luck in your exa-- oouuchh!"
The receptionist who seemed to be spying at him pinched his hand with the 'cheat paper' and took it, angrily lecturing the guy.
"Mr. Denver, how many times are you going to cause trouble today?!? Where did you get this? If your grandfather hears--"
The receptionist took a closer look at the paper and noticed something. The supposed cheat sheet is blank. The student reluctantly apologized,
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry for buying cheat sheets at the west gate earlier this morning from the purple-haired guy on the right."
My eyes widened. I looked at the right side of the room to see a nervous purple-haired examinee flinch. He must've heard the guy--
Wait.
Grandfather?
Mr. Denver?
?!?
The receptionist walked to the right and escorted the examinee to inspect his belongings. The guy beside me chuckled and cheerfully stared at the scene in entertainment.
"Thank me later!"
I quietly stared at him in disbelief, as I try to get some words out of my mouth.
"Y-you..."
"Shh."
He happily winked at me and gestured me to keep silent. I simply looked at him with a distorted face as the exam sheets are being carefully distributed.
When the bell rang loudly, the exam began.