The world had been turned upside down in the blink of an eye. No one knows what happened. One minute, reality was just... reality. The next, it became a game. A game. The HERO.EXE system.
Level-ups. Skills. Abilities. Boss fights. People woke up one morning to find that everything they had known, everything they had been, is now governed by RPG mechanics. Everyone got a class, a rank, and a power. All of it came with a leaderboard that decided your worth in society. From the elite S-Ranked heroes, capable of incredible feats, down to the E-ranks struggling to survive.
Takeru Inoue woke up like he always did: late.
"Congratulations," the voice had said when he first logged into the HERO.EXE interface. "You've been chosen to be a hero."
It was supposed to be a dream. Heroes. Villains. Powerful abilities that could defy the laws of nature.
People unlocked elemental powers, telekinesis, super speed. Governments formed Hero Guilds, schools became combat academies, and the strongest heroes climbed the World Ranking Leaderboard. Everyone was supposed to level up.
Everyone but Takeru.
Takeru sat up in bed, glancing at his status screen, which floated a few inches in front of him. It was a simple thing, no flashy colors or bold animations like everyone else had. His screen was just... blank.
[Welcome, Hero! Starting System... Please Wait]
His eyes narrowed. This was the fifth time today it had said that.
"Come on," Takeru muttered, tapping the air in front of him. "Let's get this over with."
The first time he saw the screen, he thought maybe it was a joke. A glitch. Surely, he'd just gotten unlucky, right?
He wasn't destined to be some prodigy like Akari Itsuno, his rival who he's known for a long time, who had been granted the ability to control multiple elements. People like her were the heroes that everyone looked up to. Powerful. Untouchable.
But Takeru? He got the short end of the stick.
His screen flickered again, showing a simple line of code.
[Welcome, Beta Tester. Unlocking Debug Mode...]
Takeru blinked, staring at the words. He'd seen enough of the system to know that wasn't supposed to be there.
But the system had given it to him. He'd tried everything, from restarting his screen to swiping his hand through the air, but nothing worked.
His phone buzzed on the bedside table, pulling him out of his thoughts. With a sigh, he grabbed it. A text from Akari.
Akari: Where are you? The Hero Trials start in 30 minutes. Don't be late.
Takeru groaned and tossed the phone back onto the bed.
Hero Trials were a big deal, especially for students like him, those hoping to rise through the ranks, gain recognition, and eventually make their way onto the World Ranking Leaderboard.
The top-ranked heroes were like celebrities, and Takeru had always wanted to be a part of that world. But his screen... his power... they were still glitchy. His system didn't even show what his ability was, let alone give him a class or a rank.
He wasn't interested in playing catch-up with Akari Itsuno, the perfect hero student, but there was no way around it. The academy was expecting everyone to show off.
I'll just get it over with, he thought.
The Hero Academy was already buzzing with activity when Takeru arrived, his late entrance drawing a few glances. The students were lined up in rows, all dressed in combat-ready uniforms, radiating power with their auras.
Every one of them had a visible skill, sand, lightning and more. Every rank had its own flair, from the elite S-Rank heroes who could alter the very landscape with a single move to the E-Rank heroes, struggling to prove they even belonged in the academy.
Takeru stood in the back, hands in his pockets, watching as everyone prepared for the trial.
Akari, as usual, was at the front, calm and collected. Her eyes scanned the crowd with the air of someone who had seen it all before. Her power had grown with each passing day, and now she was a top-tier hero, close to ranking S.
"Oi, Takeru!" she called, waving him over when she spotted him. "Are you going to stand around or join the trials?"
"Sure, sure," Takeru replied, shuffling over. "You know I'll catch up to you eventually."
Akari gave him a flat look. "Don't start with that attitude. You know how the rankings work. You need to make an impact. Today is your chance."
He barely looked at his status screen again, frustrated by the constant emptiness. Rank: Unclassified. No Class.
It was a constant reminder that he wasn't like everyone else. He wasn't a prodigy. He wasn't the type who would rise up and be celebrated. He was just another face in the crowd.
The Hero Trials began, with each student taking turns fighting drones programmed to simulate real battles. The idea was to show off their abilities and climb the Hero Rankings.
Akari was first, and her battle was nothing short of spectacular. She summoned a torrent of fire, manipulating the elements to burn through the drones in a single, controlled motion.
The crowd cheered.
But when it was Takeru's turn next, things didn't go as smoothly.
He stepped forward, trying his best to keep a confident face. His screen still said the same thing, "Beta Tester: Debug Mode." It had to work, right? It had to.
As the drones activated, he stood still, watching them charge toward him. He raised his hand, waiting for something, anything, to happen. He wasn't sure how to fight. He wasn't sure what his powers even were.
"Come on," he muttered, his fists clenching.
Then, without warning, the world froze for a brief moment. A line of code appeared before his eyes.
[Error Detected: Energy Disruption.]
Takeru's heart raced as the code flashed, and instinctively, he waved his hand. The air around him shimmered for a split second.
The next thing he knew, a bolt of electricity shot from his palm, striking one of the drones dead center. The machine sputtered and collapsed, sparking as its systems failed.
Takeru's jaw dropped.
"What... was that?" he muttered under his breath.
[Welcome, Beta Tester. Debug Mode unlocked.]
His screen flickered once more, but now something was different. He could feel it, a connection, a glitch in the system.
It wasn't a normal power. It wasn't an element, like fire or ice. This was something else entirely. Something that felt... wrong.
The drones regrouped, charging again. Takeru instinctively raised his hand, and once again, a blast of energy shot forward. This time, he didn't just shoot; he rewrote the way his ability worked.
The bolt of electricity split into smaller streams, arcing between drones, disabling them with minimal effort.
"Whoa," he muttered, almost impressed with himself.
The crowd was silent. They hadn't expected anything like this. Takeru wasn't supposed to be special. But somehow, he'd hacked the system.
The leaderboard updated, and for the first time, Takeru saw his name on the screen.
Takeru Inoue – Rank: E
It wasn't much, but it was a start.
He looked up to see Akari watching him from the sidelines. Her expression was a mix of surprise and intrigue. "What was that?" she asked, voice low, an eyebrow raised.
Takeru grinned, feeling a rush of adrenaline. "You've got your flames, Akari. I've got... well, whatever this is."
The other students began to murmur, their eyes turning toward him.
The E-Rank kid with the glitching power. Some were skeptical, others curious. But to Takeru, it didn't matter.
For the first time since the HERO.EXE system had been implemented into this world, he felt something other than frustration.
Takeru felt like he could carve his own path, one that wasn't defined by the system or anyone else. He was going to use this power to climb higher than anyone ever thought possible.
Akari stepped forward, giving him a challenging smile.
The crowd fell silent again. For a moment, he felt the weight of their gazes, not with mockery or pity, but with the flicker of respect. They were watching.