My name is Art Harty. I'm just an ordinary high school student-at least, that's what I thought until an event changed everything.

It was a bright morning in my classroom,

3-D-a warm and pleasant place for some students, and for me, that was somewhat true. I usually sat in the third row from the back, though sometimes I moved to the front. But that day, I was sitting in the very back seat, right next to the window. Even though it got a bit hot sometimes, it was quite comfortable.

On regular school days, I usually just came and went. You might ask, didn't I study? Well, more or less. Most of the time, I just daydreamed without paying any attention to the lessons. Sounds funny, right? A student who never studies is bound to have no future-at the time, that's exactly what I thought.

Despite my constant daydreaming, don't think I'm a loner! I still have a few friends... maybe five or six who could be considered close. Their names? You'll find out soon enough; it would take too long to tell now. They usually approach me during break time to discuss plans after school or weird things like their "type" of girls and politics. People usually call us the "Stupid Gang," and they aren't entirely wrong-our group usually ranks 15th or lower out of 37 students.

Ah, I'm rambling, aren't I? Hehe, sorry, I might have gotten carried away. Back to the main topic. That morning, around 6:12 AM, I arrived at school earlier than usual. The reason? I didn't even know. Upon arriving, I headed straight for the seat I mentioned earlier, shoved my bag under the desk, and plopped down into the chair-a bit dramatically, I admit.

Since it was still early, I planned to sleep. But just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard the door open slowly. The sound was like a crying baby, "Squeeeak." It turned out the person opening the door was my class president, Theia Proxy. A unique name for a human.

She is arguably the most beautiful girl in school, with dark brown hair and eyes that turn light brown when hit by sunlight. As for her personality, she's kind and friendly; she often helps others with their assignments. It's no wonder so many guys like her.

"Yo, Art! Morning!"

In all my time at this school, she had never greeted me. People say she's friendly? Actually, I was the one avoiding her because I didn't want to deal with her fanboys. But what's done is done. This was the consequence of coming early-I had to return the greeting.

"Yo, morning, Theia! You look beautiful this morning."

"Oh, really?" She immediately touched her own face. Was she flattered by my compliment? Who knows. "Thanks!"

"Sure, no problem!"

She took her seat and... Huh! She sat right next to me? That was quite surprising. But whatever, I wanted to sleep. I took a book from my bag, placed it over my face, propped my feet up on the desk, and closed my eyes. My tense and stiff body began to loosen and relax, and eventually, I fell asleep.

I dreamed of some kind of strange creature that started talking about random things to me. It spoke about a power, but I couldn't quite catch what it was saying because it used a foreign accent I had never heard before. I only caught a few words like "power," "organic," "biological," and "evolution." It sounded nonsensical.

Setting aside its weird words, I tried to focus on the creature's form. It was tall, maybe thirdteen meters, with a body width like a drunkard's, and it was hairy like my father. But the most striking feature was its head, which was shaped like a stingray. I wondered if the strange accent I heard was just the sound of a stingray translated into human language?

I looked away from the creature and tried to observe my surroundings. The place was foggy-or maybe smoky? It smelled like incense and sweet potatoes. The floor was wet with black water, lined with pillars made of flesh. There was a red glow from above, coming from a crimson sun. I looked back at the creature, trying harder to understand its strange speech. Finally, I

understood one sentence:

"You are the perfect vessel for this power."

What did that mean? Before I could

comprehend it, something happened to the place. The creature vanished, the surroundings seemed to rush forward, and that red light pierced my eyes, blinding my vision. I wanted to vomit. All my organs felt like they were melting.

Blood poured from my mouth and eyes. My brain was flooded with information about a power. Something strange moved inside me, pushing against my shattered organs. It felt bizarre.

Everything stopped at once. My body felt as if it were melting, my nerves blistered, and my eyeballs popped out of their sockets. Despite my nerves being scorched, for some reason, I still felt the pain. At the edge of my life, I heard voices appearing one by one in the room until I finally woke up.

"Art? Are you okay? You look pale. Let me take you to the infirmary."

"Your eyes are red, Art, and your nose is bleeding. Let's go to the infirmary!"

"Yeah, they're right. Come on!"

"Ugh, don't worry, I'm fine! Just haven't had enough rest. Besides, you guys just want to take me to the infirmary so you can skip class, right?"

"Good grief, what kind of 'lack of rest' causes that?"

"Enough, I just need rest. Excuse me, everyone!"

After I said that, they all began to back away one by one, though they kept their eyes fixed on my face. Those speakers were four of the six friends I mentioned: James, Arthur, Leon, and Eringel. The other two? Apparently hadn't arrived yet.

I took my glasses from my bag and put them on. I looked at the clock on the classroom wall. It was 6:58 AM, which meant the school bell would ring in two minutes. I began to question what had actually happened to me. Was it just a nightmare? Or an omen of something to come?

It felt strange. My world felt reborn, and somehow my brain held memories I had never possessed betore.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The school bell rang. It sounded different than ever before-clearer and more detailed. The air around me felt more pungent; every sound hit my ears louder. My eyes felt like they could see things that hadn't happened yet. My fingertips were more sensitive than usual; I could even feel small cracks on my desk as if they were deep canyons.

The teacher entered carrying two math books, meaning it was time for mathematics. Theia, next to me, shouted for everyone to sit down, and indeed, everyone went quiet and took their positions. The teacher began talking about today's lesson: a new chapter on Compound Events. If I recall correctly, he told us to open page 346-one of the last pages before the year's curriculum ended.

I opened the page and started reading. Surprisingly, I understood the lesson perfectly. As far as I knew, I never understood math, but now, strangely, I could grasp it all. Every word from the teacher and every sentence in the book started to make sense. I felt both thrilled and confused by how quickly everything was changing today.

BOOM! A loud explosion erupted from outside the school. The classroom shook, and windows shattered. An announcement blared: a Kaiju attack was occurring in a district near the school. All students immediately took cover under their desks, ready to brace for falling debris.

Hearing the news, I didn't worry much because the heroes would surely arrive to fight the Kaiju within 3 to 8 minutes. However, I noticed something strange. Theia, who was right next to me, stood up from under her desk and walked out of the classroom without anyone noticing. Curious about what she was doing, I unconsciously followed her out.

Wait, we're already at Chapter 2, right? Let me recall where I left off... Ah, right! We were at the moment I followed Theia. I know I'm taking my time, I just forgot for a second. Let's continue.

If I remember correctly, when I stepped out of the classroom, Theia was about 7 meters ahead of me. I tried to follow her quietly to avoid being caught. I made sure to time my footsteps with the sound of the Kaiju explosions outside. Why? If you have a brain, you'd know! Obviously, so the sound of the explosions would mask my footsteps.

I tried not to take my eyes off Theia, but the longer she walked, the faster she became. It seemed like she was sensing my presence. But that shouldn't have been possible. From the way she acted before leaving the class-leaving without hesitation-it seemed she thought no one would notice her departure. Maybe she thought the same about me.

I kept following her without trying to overtake her. If anyone else saw this, they'd definitely think I was a stalker. Due to the Kaiju's impact, the power in the school was failing; the hallway lights flickered on and off, making it difficult to track her. From back here, for some reason, I felt a chilling aura from Theia. She felt as terrifying as a ghost.

I followed her for several minutes, still having no idea where she was going. She seemed to be circling the hallways repeatedly. Was she making sure no one was following her? But with that trick, she should have caught me ages ago.

Dargh! It sounded like the Kaiju outside had been handled by the heroes. Hearing that sound distracted me for a moment, and I didn't realize that Theia had vanished from my sight. I tried running toward where I last saw her. It was a bit stupid; you'd think that by running, she'd notice me, but I didn't care! That's what panic does to you.

When I reached the spot, there was nothing there. I looked left and right. To my right was the door to the school library. I thought there was no way she'd go there now, but then again, maybe she thought the library was safer than the classroom.

I entered the library. Pushing the door open, I saw nothing. I went inside, closed the door, and began searching. Hallway after hallway, but there was no sign of Theia. I was confused but kept looking.

At the very end of the library aisles, I saw Theia standing in front of a bookshelf. She was touching several books as if entering a code for a secret room. She also began muttering in a strange language. Was it an ancient tongue? Babylonian, perhaps? I had no idea.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the room, knocking books off the shelves. The wind pulled me toward Theia until the bookshelf in front of her shifted, forming a doorway to another room. My guess wasn't wrong. I followed her inside.

The moment I entered, everything turned bright, making me dizzy. Then, suddenly, the room went pitch black and transformed into a tunnel. I followed Theia through the dark passage. For some reason, time felt longer in there than outside-like a slow-motion recording.

Finally, Theia reached the end of the tunnel, which was a dead end. However, in the center of that dead end were three elevators leading who-knows-where. I waited for Theia to take the first elevator. As soon as she stepped inside, the doors closed. Immediately after, I took the second one. Inside, there were no floor buttons, only a button to close the door.

Once I pressed it, the elevator began to descend. Strange anthems of the nation's heroes played inside, which felt bizarre. The light was a golden yellow, and the air smelled fishy and a bit musty. It felt damp and eerie.

The elevator opened onto a floor I didn't recognize. All I knew was that this place was weird. It was a single long corridor with dim overhead lighting. The floor was slightly wet, and there was a faint scent of apples and pineapples. I walked down the straight path. Was I in some kind of city sewer? It was creepy, but not filthy like a typical sewer.

A strong wind blew from the end of the corridor. I ran as hard as I could. Gradually, I saw light ahead. Was it the end? I could hear voices talking. I couldn't hear them clearly, but they weren't using that strange accent from my dream.

As I ran, my mind raced. I began to regret following Theia. But finally, the light revealed the end of the hallway: a massive hall with a conference table in the middle. There were about seven people in strange costumes, and one of them was Theia.

I shouldn't be here! Who were they? I immediately hid behind a container near the exit. They were discussing ways to defeat Kaijus. Based on their costumes and conversation, I could conclude one thing: they were The Circle Of Freedom.

The Circle Of Freedom, or simply The Circle, is the national hero association. It consists of twenty heroes from various cities, funded by the government. It seemed my luck had run out; I had stumbled into their secret headquarters. All I could do was wait for the meeting to end and then escape.

One big question burned in my mind: Why was Theia here? Had she been a hero all this time? The Theia I knew was just a beautiful class president. Since when? She often asked for eight minute breaks from class. Was that enough time to be a hero? Since time seemed to move slower here, my assumption might be right.

Which hero rarely appeared in public? Oh right! Rezt Guard! The only hero whose news was rarely heard. There was a high chance Theia was Rezt Guard. But from what I remembered, Rezt Guard was one of the most ferocious heroes in the association-the total opposite of the kind Theia I knew.

Accidentally, I bumped into the container behind me quite hard. The noise alerted the heroes. My heart hammered against my ribs. I heard them standing up from their chairs. I braced myself... 5... 4... 3.. 2... 1... I ran as fast as I could!

Thud! I tripped and fell right in the middle of the heroes' meeting table. My heart felt like it was going to stop. I looked at the faces around me; they looked like they wanted to devour me. A crazy plan flashed through my mind. I immediately screamed at the top of my lungs while flailing my body like a baby. My hands and feet hammered against the table repeatedly. I could hear some of them getting annoyed.

Suddenly, my body went stiff and I couldn't move. My mouth was frozen shut. One of them began to speak:

"Hey! Who are you, kid?"