A soft ding echoed in his mind.
And a blue translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
[HERO SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
Adam blinked.
"…Ha?"
Another line appeared.
[Because of your sincere good deed and heroic intention, the Hero System has recognized you.]
"…Ha?????"
Then the final line:
[Welcome, Adam Al‑Hantakour. Your journey as a Hero begins now.]
Adam stared at the familiar blue holographic interface. He knew this sight. He had seen it thousands of times...
in webnovels, manhuas, fanfics!
He had even made systems like this for his own stories.
So he knew exactly what this 'system' thing means.
He could hear it, he could see it, "Arise!!! MY Life is Gonna ARISE!!!!"
Adam's brown eyes widened, shining with overflowing excitement, hope, and expectation.
"I..I..I...Ya Rab, I didn't expect the blessing would come instantly!!!"
"ALHAMDULILAH!!!!"
He quickly determined west, since he is in Japan, the east of Mecca, the qibla (direction of prayer) should be in the west, and knelt on the hot sand, His eyes and mouth were full of grit, but he was too ecstatic, too grateful, to care.
He stood up, lifted his index finger to the sky, and shouted with all the strength in his lungs:
"TAKBIRRRRRR!!!"
"AllahU Akbar!!!"
"TAKBIRRRRRR!!!"
"AllahU Akbar!!!"
Fortunately, the beach was empty, or else he would've been tackled by the FBI assuming he is going to explode or something.
After performing the necessary politeness and showing his gratitude, Adam sat on the sand and asked excitedly:
"Hero System? Hello? Can you please tell me what you are? Are you the one who brought me here? And why? How do I return home?"
He waited with a huge smile.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Thirty.
A minute.
Not a single ding.
His smile slowly faded.
"Konishowa, system-san, System-Sama? Do I need to speak Japanese for you to understand me or what? should i call You Daddy System? Grandpa System? Hello?"
Silence.
"Playing the cold and mysterious system, huh? Fine. I'll figure it out on my own."
"I've read too many novels and manhuas, and wrote so many fanfics. Even without a system, I know how to use one! Look at me… STATUS!!!"
He yelled the classic command every protagonist uses.
The previous blue screen vanished, another appeared instantly.
"See!!! Ore wa Hantakour-sama, the smartest otaku in existence! This kind of difficulty is a piece of cake for me."
---
- Name : Adam Al Hantakour
- Age : 15
- Hero Rank : F (1/10,000 Exp)
- Heroic Titles : none
- Superpowers: none
- Skills: none
- Items : none
- Gacha : 1 (tap to buy)
- Missions : (tap to see)
- Merits : 0
---
Adam, a veteran webnovel reader and newbie fanfiction writer, needed only one glance to understand the system's structure.
"Hero rank, heroic titles, missions, Gacha, merits…"
Adam lifted imaginary glasses on the bridge of his nose and tapped his chin, connecting dots like Detective Conan.
"Apparently the Hero System wants me to be some kind of hero. Through doing heroic things, probably listed under missions, I can earn merits and probably Exp to increase my hero rank."
"that gacha thing, superpowers, skills, items all come from it. And since it says 'tap to buy,' gacha chances are bought with merits. Hmm, seems the system is generous and gave me a free roll… the newbie gift package huh. Or a hook to make me spend everything on gacha."
"Tsk, boring. Easy to guess. The systems I made in my fanfics were more complicated than this."
Adam could be stupid in many things, but when it came to creativity, fiction, and imagination, he knew he was one of the best.
Without pride or arrogance, just fact.
"But… how am I going to go back home? There's no 'world travel' or anything. Seriously, what's happening here?"
Panic began creeping up his throat. He had pinned all his hope on this system for a way home, yet none of the functions hinted at it.
"Hmm… maybe I need to increase my hero rank? Or maybe the gacha will give me some kind of world-traveling reward?"
Still, Adam refused to give up hope.
"Hero System… I don't know who made you. Maybe you are a gift from God, or something else. I don't know why you chose me. I don't have the desire nor the confidence to become an honorable hero. I'm a selfish, cowardly, irresponsible person. But my hope of reuniting with my family, even if slim, lies with you. So I'll do my best to achieve your wish."
He tapped open the missions section, in hope to gain some information.
He wasn't in a hurry to see the gacha.
…He was lying.
He was absolutely dying to open the gacha. But sometimes leaving the best for last makes the anticipation sweeter, and the dopamine hit explosive.
So Always keep the best thing for last.
A new screen popped beside the previous one.
"Huh? There's only one mission?"
---
Missions :
- Clean Takoba Municipal Beach Park
- Mission Difficulty : F
- Mission Description :
Takoba Municipal Beach Park used to be a clean, beautiful scenic spot,
A place families gathered, kids played, and depressed people and lonely dogs came to watch couples.
A breathing space for Musutafu's citizens.
But junk accumulated over the years,
either drifted by ocean currents or thrown by irresponsible citizens.
The government isn't paying attention.
Heroes don't care.
Your goal is to clean the park, remove all the junk, and restore this breathing space for the citizens of Musutafu City.
Task Reward : 100 merits
Task Penalty : None
---
After reading the description carefully, Adam, sharp-minded when it came to things he cared about, caught a single word out of place.
"Heroes? So this world does have superpowers… hmm… that explains the alien-like people I saw. Probably Superpowers must be the norm here, and they alter people's appearances. And since heroes exist, villains must exist too. So… I was brought to a world where heroism is a profession? That's dangerous. And exciting."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"I always dreamed of being like Superman, not to save people, but to feel extraordinary, to show off, to beat bullies, to impress girls…"
He inhaled sharply.
"But since that massacre on my fellow brothers and sisters happened… since my eyes opened to real evil, worse than in fictions, I just wished I had the power to defend them. To avenge them. To destroy those inhuman demons. To inflict pain and humiliation on them like they inflicted upon the innocent. I'm not a saint, nor a prophet. I can't forgive. I can't forget!"
He exhaled slowly.
"tsk..." Adam suddenly stopped, his feelings which had been suppressed in the bottom of his heart, got triggered by the simple word, HERO.
"Alright. Let's check this gacha. At least maybe I'll get something to help me survive here. Some OP power, a heaven-defying treasure, a bloodline, a fate-changing technique… hell, even a beautiful strong bodyguard woman would be fine, hehehehe…"
He tapped the gacha section.
The new window is simple, it's like a list.
First on the list, a plain black wooden box icon. besides it reads :
F-Rank Gacha : Minimum 10 Merits — Maximum 100 Merits.
Below it several other Treasure box, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS...all of them were dimed, the information about them is hidden, he couldn't see their price. He guessed because he doesn't have the corresponding heroic rank to use them.
But Adam's eyes didn't linger there, Instead, they locked onto the last colorful glowing treasure box at the bottom of the list.
Ex-Rank Gacha : Minimum 1,000,000,000,000 Merits — Maximum : Infinity. (Free Chance To Draw)
Adam's heart hammered like a festival drum.
"E-E-EX RANK Gacha!! Damn it!!! it cost 1 Billion or is it Trillion? i don't even know what this number is...i just know i can't probably get it unless i saved the whole world. the rewards must be cheat level! i'm sure! that's how most novels i read are wrote!"
He swallowed.
His finger trembled.
He pressed the colorful box icon.
A low hum vibrated through the air.
Then...
A treasure chest of impossible colors materialized before him, floating gracefully above the sand. It wasn't simply "colorful." It was as if someone had opened a crack into the unseen spectrum behind reality.
The chest radiated an ancient, sacred, mythical aura.
Adam felt as if he were standing before a heavenly artifact lowered from the Heavenly realms.
His breath caught.
His skin tingled.
"…This… this could change everything...maybe, Maybe the hope, The way to Return home, Lay within this treasure chest!"