"Mr. Adam! Is it true..."
"...files revealed that..."
"...how many patients are there and..."
The noise was... insane. The journalists’ voices were loud enough to pierce through his ears. Dozens of voices erupted at once, each journalist shouting their questions over the others, hands waving frantically in the air.
The noise made it impossible to distinguish individual words—just a wall of sound that seed to press against his skull.
Adam blinked, trying to focus on a single voice, but another would imdiately drown it out. His eyes darted from face to face, each one demanding his attention, their mouths moving rapidly as they competed for answers he hadn’t given yet.
"Wait..."
The cara flashes ca in rapid succession, white bursts that left spots dancing across his vision. He squinted, raising a hand instinctively to shield his eyes. The lights were relentless—every few seconds, another photographer would fire off a shot, adding to his growing nausea.
His leg started bouncing under the table. He gripped the edge of his chair, almost crushing and twisting it, as everything seed to spin around him.
This was his idea. He had specifically requested this press conference, insisting to himself that he wanted to step into the light, to finally face the world openly instead of hiding in shadows.
But he hadn’t expected this much light. Literally.
Was he truly this famous now? The thought struck him as almost absurd. A few months ago, he was just another scavenger picking through ruins. Now caras flashed every ti he breathed.
The questions kept coming without pause. He still hadn’t answered a single one, yet more voices joined the fray, desperate to be heard first. His breathing grew shallow as he scanned the chaotic scene.
His eyes started darting randomly everywhere, and his throat beca dry even though he hadn’t even said anything yet.
And then, finally, he spotted them.
Near the back of the room, Beatrice held up her phone, clearly recording the entire spectacle. Harvey stood beside her, pointing excitedly at the phone and grinning. When they noticed Adam looking their way, Harvey excitedly waved at him, while Beatrice just waved calmly.
"Guys..." The familiar faces grounded him. His breathing steadied, and he managed a small sigh before raising his hand and pointing directly at a journalist in the third row.
And to his surprise, the entire room fell silent after that. Every other reporter imdiately sat down, their voices just cutting off. Only the woman he had pointed to remained standing.
"Thank you," she said, adjusting her glasses. "Kitty Park, ABZ-CBN News. We’ve all reviewed the leaked files, and what the Hospital did to you was completely inhumane—beyond torture. So why is it still open? And why are you the one keeping it open? Is the governnt threatening you with sothing?"
Adam blinked. "No. I made a deal with the President to keep it open. To be clear, the Hospital will completely change its mission—it will now serve as a rehabilitation center for those who need it, and for the Heroes who abuse their power and break the law."
Kitty opened her mouth to ask another question, but a conference coordinator gestured for her to sit. Imdiately, hands shot up across the room again.
This ti, Adam pointed to a man in the front row before they could all start wildly waving their questions again.
"Clark Henderson, TNN. Are reports of other special humans like you in the Hospital true? Did that affect your decision to keep it open?"
"Yes," Adam said without hesitation. "They’re individuals who can’t live with the rest of the world just yet. As I said, the Hospital will be a place for rehabilitation—no one is forcing them to stay there, but it’s the only place right now where they can be."
Another reporter stood. "What sort of mutants are the other patients?"
"That..." Adam hesitated, his jaw tightening slightly. When he spoke, his voice was softer. "They’re misguided people, treated differently because they are different. That doesn’t excuse what they’ve done before, but everyone needs help—it’s just a matter of how."
And soon, the questions and answers ca smoothly.
"What was the full deal with the President?"
"I’m afraid you’d have to ask him."
"Why not create a new establishnt instead?"
"The Hospital’s original goal was to help people. Along the way, that was corrupted. The rehabilitation isn’t only for the patients, but for the entire system itself."
"Why step forward publicly instead of controlling this system from the shadows? You could reap the benefits without being judged and seen."
"I don’t want to control anything. I want this as public as possible so it can reach more people and help more people."
"You’ve only beco a Hero two months ago, and didn’t get summoned this month. That ans you will be summoned in one of the coming Gas—wouldn’t the Hospital impede in your ability to prepare for the Ga?"
"I believe it’s the other way around." Adam shook his head. "It’s the Ga that will impede my ability to help more people. I... don’t want to prepare for the Ga, there’s only death there."
A reporter sat, and another stood imdiately to replace them.
"What about the Church of Administrators? There have been nurous sightings of people carrying your photo, standing outside IBAA facilities wanting to et you. Are you aware that they’re also outside the building now?"
"That..." Adam blinked, clearly uncomfortable. "I don’t know anything about that. I... also won’t be answering that since that’s a different topic."
Questions continued flowing, many repeating earlier ones. Then, finally, soone asked sothing that made the entire room go dead silent.
"Do you think Heroes will willingly submit to imprisonnt at the Hospital? Governnts worldwide have tried jailing Heroes before—it only worked on D-tier and below. C-tier and above are nearly impossible to contain. What makes the Hospital different?"
"That’s... a good question." Adam straightened. "The Hospital has rooms designed to contain . One of the doctors was certain I was alive and would one day beco a Hero. They made the walls incredibly thick."
The sa journalist raised his hand again. "Permission for another question?"
Adam glanced at the conference coordinator, nodding his head.
"I an no offense with this, but many Heroes are stronger than you. Your strength is only listed as B-tier. Do you really expect to cage people stronger than yourself?"
Adam sighed. "I asked to be reevaluated yesterday. The results should be out now."
"W-what?!"
And just like that, every person in the room, journalists, caran, conference staff, frantically pulled out their phones. Even Harvey and Beatrice’s eyes widened in shock.
Harvey’s phone was already in his hands, fingers flying across the screen to check the IBAA website. His face went white, then he scread, pointing directly at Adam.
"S-TIER! Adam, you’re S-tier now?!"
The room exploded. Journalists leaped from their seats, so trying to push forward despite security barriers.
Harvey’s voice, however, carried over the chaos.
"Why didn’t you tell us?! Why would you reveal it here without any celebration or grand press conference?! What the fuck, man?! Think of all the chickas we could’ve invited!"
Conference staff struggled to maintain order as reporters surged forward. Several IBAA agents who had been stationed around the room stepped in, forming a protective barrier around Adam.
"We need to go," one agent said firmly, taking Adam’s arm.
"Is... the conference done?" Adam asked, genuinely confused by the commotion.
"Yes. We need to leave. Now."
And as they managed to escort Adam out into the hallway, another IBAA agent looked at Adam with obvious awe.
"Could... I shake your hand, Mr. Endless?"
"Huh...?" Adam awkwardly shook the man’s hand without thinking much about it while walking. "Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?"
The agents exchanged shocked glances. Does... Adam not know how rare S-tier Heroes were? But then again, with how casually he revealed it just like that... probably not.
They rushed through the building’s corridors, but as they stepped out the main exit, Adam saw sothing that made him stop dead.
A crowd had gathered outside—dozens of people holding Administrator figurines and enlarged photos of his face. One woman managed to slip through the crowd, throwing herself at his feet the mont she spotted him.
And then, to add to Adam’s shock... the woman pressed her lips on his shoes.
"What..." Adam blinked, imdiately crouching to help the woman up. "Please, don’t do—"
Before he could reach her, the IBAA agents pulled him back into their formation. Fortunately, they were all taller than him, so they kept his head down so that no one could see him as they pushed through the crowd.
"Don’t look up," one whispered. "Just keep your head down, Sir."
A few grueling monts later, they reached their vehicle and practically shoved Adam inside. The driver struggled to navigate through the crowd pressing against the car, but eventually they broke free onto the main road.
Adam looked back at the crowd, so of them even crying as they called for his na.
What... was that?
He leaned back in his seat, staring down at his hands. He hadn’t even told his story yet. He had planned to talk about Tomoe—about the woman who had saved him, who had given him his na. All of that was supposed to be the real purpose of this conference.
He sighed deeply. The driver kept glancing nervously at him through the rearview mirror.
Soon they were in regular traffic, moving through the city streets. Adam finally started to calm down, closing his eyes and letting his breathing return to normal.
A loud thunder echoed from above.
The driver looked up through the sunroof, frowning.
"The news said it wasn’t going to rain," he muttered to himself... then his eyes went wide. "What the fuck is—"
Sothing crashed down onto the hood of their car, shattering the windshield completely. Well, not sothing—soone.
"You—?!" Adam’s eyes turned wide.
It was Carn, the Berserk Fairy. She landed on the crumpled tal, her crimson wings spread wide, her fluttery skirt ballooning everywhere.
Her dark eyes fixed on Adam through the shattering glass.
"Ah," she whispered loudly.
"Finally found you, you tiny little puto."
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