2025-06-02 18:46:57I burst awake.
My body jerked up with a yelp, my heart— or whatever was inside my chest now —hammering wildly. Breathing hard and ruggedly, I clutched at the sheets beneath me, feeling their familiar softness. Wait. My sheets? I blinked rapidly, trying to steady my vision. I looked around me. The ceiling above me was the same one I had stared at for years before drifting into sleep. The bed I was on was mine. The posters, the shelves, the cracked corner of my desk where I'd once tripped and slammed into it during an overzealous practice session. I was in my room. I frowned fearfully. How was I in my room? Still half hazed, I slowly pushed myself up, the movement oddly fluid, my limbs moving easier than I had expected. A chill ran down my spine. Did I not die? I had broken all the bones in my body when I struck that pole. Did I... dream the whole thing? Why do I feel strangely complete? I looked down at my hands, stretching my fingers wide. They looked like my ordinary hands. Normal. Unscarred. But they felt different. I couldn't put a finger on it at first, but there was a strange density in my fingers, a weight in my palms that hadn't been there before. I clenched my fists. It felt firm. My bones... my muscles... they were stronger. Much stronger. Throwing off the covers, I rolled off the bed and landed cleanly on the ground, smoother than I usually would. It was like every movement I made was smoother, controlled. I felt so replenished and fit. Desperate to understand what was happening, I walked to the mirror and my breath instantly trapped in my throat. My eyes widened. Was that me in the mirror? This muscular, toned and chiseled person. Me? My body had changed. I wasn't the slender boy with no definite muscles, and I wasn't the battered, half-broken frame left behind by the Snake King's brutal assault either. Instead, my form looked like something sculpted from marble; lean, athletic, but packed with strength. A superstar model's physique, built for both speed and power. I ran my fingers down my torso, expecting pain, scars — something — but my skin was flawless, unmarred. I had died? And now I wake up like this? My heart pounded. How? Of course this wasn't normal, so when I forced myself to remember what could've happened, it hit me like a ton of bricks. The spaceship. The alien woman named Q'urtona. She had spoken about the Forever Core. About my injuries. About my heart— My fingers trembled as I pressed a hand against my chest. Brmmmm. Brmmmm. The rhythm was steady, but not natural. Not like before. It didn't feel at all like a heartbeat. It felt like a pulse. Like a living energy. Deep and resonant, thrumming beneath my ribs. No. 'No, no, no.' The words came back to me, crystal clear. "You lost your heart in battle. The Forever Core — a fragment of a special asteroid we found — has taken its place," My stomach twisted. That alien was the one who did this to me. That core she had spoken about, it was inside me now. What did this mean? Was I even still human? Ding! A sharp chime rang in my ears, and suddenly, a golden interface flickered into existence before me. Sleek, futuristic, alive with energy. > [Host synchronization complete. [Forever Core: 100% match.] [Please declare the command word to activate the Forever Armor.] I frowned. The Forever Armor? What the hell was that? And what's a command word? Then, a single word materialized on the glowing display. [INITIATE]. I raised a brow at the word, then read with no expectation. "Initiate?" Suddenly, the pulse in my chest became stronger, and before I could even react to it, something jagged shot out from my sternum. My breath hitched. It was the Forever Core, and it protruded out of my chest: a small, glowing sphere, crackling with golden light. Then it started to extend outward, releasing thin, shifting strands of some metallic substance. I watched, frozen and terrified, as those strands spread rapidly, crawling over my body, wrapping around my arms, my torso, my legs. My limbs burned. My skin tingled. Out of nowhere, lines appeared on my arms and legs, and they began to glow, forming intricate pathways of energy that pulsed in rhythm with the Core. "What the hell is happening?!" I groaned out loud. The strands became metal, and they stretched and solidified, morphing into plates of golden and black armor. The metal didn't cover the lines that had appeared in my arms, but they continued to cover the rest of my body. I tried to step back, but the transformation moved too quickly. The armor climbed higher, encasing my shoulders in large, angular plating. I felt it tighten around my arms, my chest. When it had formed a full armor, it reached for my neck, creeping toward my face. Panic flared in my chest. I lifted my head up, stretching away from the encroaching armor. "Noooooo..." But then, it stopped. I swallowed hard, breathing heavily. Stumbling back toward the mirror, I looked at my reflection and what I saw made my blood run cold. My body was completely covered by a suit of futuristic battle armor, fitted perfectly to my form. The helmet covered my neck but stopped just above my jaw leaving my face exposed. My shoulders were covered in segmented plating, while the chest piece was form-fitting, layered with overlapping plates that gave it both structure and mobility. In the center of the chest piece was a round glowing energy source which I knew was the Forever Core. Glowing conduits ran through the suit, the lines on my arms pulsed between the plates. The entire armor looked both solid and ethereal at once, like something forged not just from metal but from energy itself. I flexed my fingers. The metal gauntlets responded. I could feel power surging through me, a great deal of it. I had no idea what to think, how to react. And even as I was still trying to make sense of it all— Ding! The interface flickered again. > [Forever Armor has been initiated.] [Armor must be tested to determine host compatibility and allow the host to gain a proper understanding of the power bestowed on him]. I stared at the words, my breathing still uneven. Power bestowed on me? What the hell was going on? I clenched my fists, my mind racing. Are you telling me... I just had a real Enlightenment Event?
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Chapter 8
Classes and Ranks were very important. The entire superhero system was built around these two things.A hero's Class was determined at the time of their assessment. Once it was assigned, it was considered permanent, a direct reflection of the meta-energy inside them. S-Class, A-Class, B-Class, and so on. It was a label that determined how strong they were, how much recognition they'd receive, and how much impact they could have.Ranks, on the other hand, were fluid. While a hero's power couldn't grow stronger, their proficiency could. The better they became at using their abilities, the more skilled they were in the field, and the more missions they completed, the higher they could climb. Rank was about skill. Class was about power.This was why there was a popular saying: Heroes can't get stronger, only better.This was also mirrored in the absolute law which was: Superheroes couldn't break the Class Barrier.Once a hero was placed in a Class, that was it. They could climb up th
Chapter 7
As I watched, Yelena Darkov stepped forward. She was an eye catching character, I had to agree to that. Even among the many hopefuls in the room, she carried herself with an unmistakable air of certainty. Her hips swayed, her dark air flowed, and her posture was precise. She wasn't nervous. She wasn't excited. She simply knew.The Power Measurement Unit stood before her at the center of the hall. It was a massive, spherical construct made with gleaming silver and black plating, suspended slightly above a reinforced pedestal. The machine was used to measure meta-energy.Just like mana in the fantasy novels and RPGs, meta-energy was the core energy of superheroes. But unlike mana, meta-energy was an umbrella term.It simply meant any sort of energy that fueled a hero's meta ability.There wasn't a particular energy source for all heroes just like mana in RPGs or Ki in cultivation novels.For Yelena, her moment had come.Her pale fingers stretched out and met the smooth, cold surfac
Chapter 6
The International Superhero Association — the ISA — was the world's governing body for heroes, the institution responsible for licensing, monitoring, and regulating our actions under a set of laws known as the Heroic Law. It kept us in check, ensured we weren't running wild like some lawless vigilantes, and determined who was officially recognized as a hero. But the thing was, the ISA wasn't a hero organization in itself. It didn't dispatch us into the field, didn't train us, and sure as hell didn't fund us beyond the basic stipend every licensed hero received.These were done by Guilds.In the world, superheroes weren't just people with capes and flashy abilities running around saving lives. We were assets — brands, resources that could be mobilized, marketed, and, to some extent, owned. This was done under Guilds. They contracted different heroes, branded them with superhero names and characters then dispatched them for a monthly funding from the ISA. There were four major Gui
Chapter 5
An Enlightenment Event is the moment that changes everything. It's the action — the spark — that turns an ordinary person into something more. A hero.Most heroes bragged about their Enlightenment Event. Who wouldn't? Anyone that had the cooler story of how they got their powers was bound to be generally liked by the civilians.But Enlightenment Events don't always mean getting powers. They were any occurrence that led to a person gaining the abilities or the mentality that leads to them to use it to be a superhero.Some, like Excelerator, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was a scrawny college kid who bumped into a chemical experiment during a thunderstorm. One explosion later, he could move at supersonic speeds. Others, like Knightguard, never needed powers. He lost his parents to a mob, and that tragedy shaped him into a symbol of justice, a force of sheer willpower.For me? My first Enlightenment Event wasn't nearly as dramatic.I was eleven. The city had bee
Chapter 4
I burst awake.My body jerked up with a yelp, my heart— or whatever was inside my chest now —hammering wildly. Breathing hard and ruggedly, I clutched at the sheets beneath me, feeling their familiar softness.Wait. My sheets?I blinked rapidly, trying to steady my vision. I looked around me. The ceiling above me was the same one I had stared at for years before drifting into sleep. The bed I was on was mine. The posters, the shelves, the cracked corner of my desk where I'd once tripped and slammed into it during an overzealous practice session.I was in my room.I frowned fearfully. How was I in my room?Still half hazed, I slowly pushed myself up, the movement oddly fluid, my limbs moving easier than I had expected. A chill ran down my spine.Did I not die? I had broken all the bones in my body when I struck that pole.Did I... dream the whole thing?Why do I feel strangely complete?I looked down at my hands, stretching my fingers wide. They looked like my ordinary hands. Norma
Chapter 3
All I could see was the darkness. Floating. A weightless abyss where time had lost all meaning.But in the daze of near death, I could still hear.The cheers. The voices. The shuffling of boots against concrete."The Guardian Corps saved us!""Thank you, Golden Guardian!""It's Lady Phoenix in all her blazing glory!""We thought we were going to die!"Somewhere in the distance, the little girl was sobbing, but this time, with relief.I could still hear the people — my people. The ones I had fought for. The ones I had died for. But their words weren't for me.They were for the real heroes.Golden Guardian, Lady Phoenix and War Man.Their voices were close. I could hear them standing near the wreckage of the battlefield, near the bodies of those who had fallen. Including me."What brave heroes these ones were," Golden Guardian said with his gallant voice."They fought with everything they had," I heard Lady Phoenix add.War Man let out a scoff. "Snake King was only an S-Class Villain. U
