I WAS The Rank–1 Hero

"Is this the Versions you speak of?" I whispered to my right to where Maria stood.

I gazed at the hellish scene in front of me with a bitter smile as I watched numerous rocks being thrown at that lifeless version of me through this mist.

The pain and anguish in their eyes blazed with the most intense flames. And this made me wonder about—what had this 'me' done to deserve this?

Maria lightly nodded before her gaze drifted away from the mist.

"This is but a glimpse…..a flicker of one of the infinite possibilities you have or you might have had. And this hall—"

Her gaze lingered on the surrounding mists.

"With this hall, time doesn't move forward or back."

As she said along those lines, hundreds of other scenes of different timelines appeared one after another, painting my entire vision with lives I have never once lived.

In one of those scenes, I saw a younger 'me.'

He was quivering at what appeared to be an alley corner, his clothes tattered and covered in mud, the hairs on his head growing longer and framing his sides. And yet, I recognized him.

In a different mist, I glimpsed an elderly man with grey hair and silver eyes, seated on a throne as he passed judgment upon the gathered crowd. Just as before, I recognized him.

Just below the mist, another scene played. It featured a boy of my age with black hair and silver eyes lying flat on a bed, scrolling through his tablet.

"Uu… no."

I turned my head to the sound. It was Ruby, to my left, masking her face with her hands as her gaze trembled, fixated on one particular scene in the mist.

I followed her eyes.

And what I saw left me reconsidering life itself. I saw a version of her not even my nightmares had dared conjure.

Through the mist, I saw a warrior. Her crimson hair was disheveled, soaked in ash and sweat, and her body was trembling like a leaf caught in a storm.

Her face was a pure portrait of pain I had never imagined she could wear.

She was screaming. Screaming so loud, the sound itself shattered the stillness around them.

She knelt over a charred corpse, her hands clawing at what had remained of that corpse—bones burnt black, flesh ripped clean. The world around her was aflame, skies red and cracking like burning embers.

My gaze shifted to the finger of that corpse.

There was a ring, a silver-red gemstone attached to a platinum-polished band. It was faintly glowing.

My breath hissed.

I looked down at my hand. The same ring with a silver-red gemstone was on my index finger.

"H-How…" Ruby's voice came, broken, from my left. I didn't dare to look at her face.

How could I?

I know exactly what kind of face she was making. And I don't want to witness it.

Lifting my head, I dared to look at the mist, at that scene, once more.

The scene instantly shifted. In a blink, the burning scene snapped, shattered into pieces. And the sight I beheld next sent chills down my spine.

A head.

Just a head—burnt, bloodied, half rotten, mounted like a trophy on the end of a broken sword, stabbed deep into the burning ground.

Its lifeless eyes stared back at me, the face twisted in an intense agony.

It was the face I knew. I have seen it a few hundred times.

It was a face I despise the most.

Markus Bloodstone. The president of the Hero Association.

A figure strolls from behind Markus's head.

She raised the head higher so all could see.

"You dare take something precious to me."

Ruby's voice was like a frost on glass. Her eyes wore an expression of hatred.

"Watch me destroy everything you created."

Flames danced behind her, reflected in her burning crimson eyes. Her hair flowed with the hot wind, a queen crowned by rage and grief.

I parted my lips, turning to Maria on my left.

"Wha-What is all this?! This can't be her!" I retorted, my voice broke.

Those eyes, that expression. I wouldn't dare to believe it was her. No matter the world.

"You're telling me this would be our lives in another world?!!" Anger crunched me, "I dare you to say—"

"Zane," Maria said my name, her voice steady but devoid of any warmth.

"These… were the outcomes that would have happened—" She explained softly, her voice almost drowned beneath the scenes in the mist, "—if not for the choices you've made."

I clenched my jaw. Anger slowly consumed me.

"And now what, huh? We have to live through all of these worlds?"

I turned to Ruby. Ruby's eyes remained fixed on the scene—on herself—on the agony of it all. She was strong, but this… this was something else. Something I couldn't let her endure.

No.

I would never let her experience this.

"We're going out," I commanded, grabbing her wrist.

But before I could move another inch, Maria's hand met my shoulder, stopping me.

"Once you enter the Door of Endless," she said, her tone turning grave, "you won't return until all the trials are completed."

"...!"

She was telling me this now?

What the hell is wrong with her?!

The fury churned inside me. My breath turned heavy, and my vision tingled with violet flames. Rage leaked out of me, turning to raw essence. Faint purple flames are leaking from within me.

"You don't know what it means to care for someone." I hissed at her, my voice raw. "You left your people on the ship to walk in here alone! I care for her. And for her, I'll do anything—"

But I stopped.

Because Maria was looking at me.

Not with contempt. Not with anger.

With pity.

Maria looked at me with pity.

Why?

She's the one who's pitiful.

Why does she—?

"Zane," Ruby's grip softened around my hand.

She bit her trembling lip, steadying her breath, and turned toward me with those determined crimson eyes.

"I'll be fine," she said, speaking each word slowly and deliberately, as if trying to soothe a feral beast. "You need the answers this place holds, no? So… please, don't worry about me."

She turned to Maria, bowing her head slightly.

"I apologize on his behalf. Please forgive his words. He's the kindest man I know."

What…?

What was she doing?

Apologizing for me?

I hadn't done anything wrong… Had I?

"Mhm." Maria only nodded.

Then she turned her gaze back to me.

"Zane," she said, and for the first time, her voice held a tremor. "I forgive you this time. But know this—"

She stepped forward, pushing the mist against her frame.

"Don't mistake solitude for selfishness. I care. I do care. So deeply, I forgot what love felt like. I once loved people so much… it hollowed me out. I left just as a shell. Empty. Time stole them from me…."

She took another step forward. Her heels tapped on the white light emitting from the floor.

"Era by era, life after life, I carried their memories so they wouldn't fade. My love didn't die—it just became quiet."

Then, she ever so slightly peeked back at me. Smiling.

"I may walk alone now, but once—I burned like you."

"..."

I couldn't speak. The anger that was building up inside me was gone. Like it never existed.

Maria turned from me, her shiny black hair waving with pride, guiding us to follow behind.

"Enough talking now," she said, her voice presently back to its usual coldness. "The trials await."

She placed her final foot on the last tile that was shining white. And as she did, the scenes of the mist replayed in backward.

As if time were itself reversing in those scenes, I saw them age back to their younger selves. They reached the point where everything seemed fine.

The white light dimmed down, and for a brief second, only darkness loomed.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

The floor blinked to white light again, but this time it crafted three different paths, leading each to three different mists.

One mist on my right had Maria's figure resting on a grand royal bed, and the mist to my left had Ruby's while she happily giggled, her flushed cheek resting on the back of a black-haired boy with silver eyes; he lifted her up.

I couldn't help but smile at that heartwarming scene.

Then, I saw myself. In another mist that hung in the space between them, a faint glow of white light beckoned me forward.

Shadows flickered in the dim room, where crumpled papers and scattered snacks lay abandoned. The TV glowed in front of a boy—me—as I gripped the controller. My eyes, despite the thrill of the game on the screen, felt hollow, devoid of any hope.

I gulped at the scene.

Maria looked between Ruby and me.

"Each one must choose their own fate. Let him see that fate can be rewritten. Come—join me in this adventure. Let us craft our destiny with our own hands."

Without hesitation, she turned and began walking toward the mist on her right—toward her alternate verse.

—Zaaap!

She vanished into the mist.

Ruby and I exchanged glances.

"I know that look," she said, reading me too easily.

"Don't forget what I'm capable of." The corner of her lip curled into a faint smile.

Then she turned.

—Zaaap!

The mist swallowed her whole.

I was left alone. My hands trembled slightly as I reached out to the central mist.

I extended my hand.

—Zaap!

The light consumed me.

Darkness.

For a moment, I couldn't even feel my body. But then—

Ping—!

A transparent blue window flickered into view.

— — —「Act #1 Initiated」— — —

Status: Powerless

Memory Access: Restricted.

Power Access: Severely Limited

Elemental Affinity: Ice

Fate's Interface: Complete Synchronization

Primary Objective: Find the true self.

Bonus Objective: Uncover the Death

Warning: Death within this trial is permanent to this Version

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