Exam Day

"He was one of us. A true warrior, the strongest of us all. We fought together, we risked our lives together, protecting each other from danger, and protecting this world from serious danger. We were Enders, the strongest superhero team in all parts of the world, with our home base being Seoul Korea…"

(Inside of a dungeon)

(Outskirts of Seoul, Korea)

Body parts of Minotaurs went flying in the air, along with the sound effects of grunting, grunting, and pain.

"To your left!"

"On it!"

KATHOOM!

THOOOM!

CLANG!

Down below!

"Under you!"

"I see him!"

Body parts fell on the floor even more, and 5 warriors stood there together, covered in blood. They were:

Gore - (Male, 27 years old, frizzy short brown hair, scars on his face shaped like an X, dark yellow eyes. Wearing a skinny black armored suit with fingerless gloves.)

"Tch. These bastards weren't worth my time at all. I coulda stayed home. Actually, fuck this, I'm leaving.)

Myong - (Female, 27, long dark purplish black hair, and red eyes with spiral-like pupils.)

"Imagine leaving like a wussy."

Gore replied to Myong, "Huh? You wanna say that again? I'll kill you right now!"

"Oh no I'm so scared."

Gyeong - (Male, 32, muscular, orange and white braided long hair mixed with a straight ponytail, dark orange eyes, and scarred up body.)

"Haha! We showed those other worldly things our true and mighty strength! I'm ready for the next challenge as a warrior!"

Jintao - (Male, 30, blindfolded eyes, short gray hair, and wearing a trench coat.)

And lastly, the strongest out of all of them, the #1 hero, the strongest hero in the world, was Sun. He was 24, long brown hair in a flowing ponytail, golden eyes, and golden horns on his head, holding a large glowing dark gold and white sword on his back.

He said, "Maybe this was a set up. This was way too easy. Let's keep going, shall we? I think the leader is up here."

He vanished, and Gore said, "Pfft. I hate when he does that shit. Such a show off."

Jintao says, "….Jealousy is a mindless reaction to reality…"

"Stop that. Stop that proverb stuff. It's annoying."

Gyeong slammed his fists together, explaining, "HAHA! This is getting interesting for us warriors! Once we defeat the leader of the dungeon, there will be no more dungeons!"

Myong responded, "We shouldn't be so unaware that we could lose. Keep an eye out. I need a drink."

"Drinking mead is for after the hard battle has ended!"

"Mead? Really? This isn't the old days, Gyeong."

The four of them ran through the dusty, rubble filled dungeon, and they reached a set of red double doors, hearing a large KATHOOM!

Jintao says, "Behind this door…"

Gore smirked, "Is the boss! Finally! A challenge!"

Gore kicked the door open, and standing there was a large and fancy throne room, with Minotaur knights in heavy red armor standing around the room. The king/leader of the dungeon was a giant red fat Minotaur with 5 heads, but he was dead, laying on the ground, with Sun standing on top of him.

Gore said, "You couldn't have waited until we came here?"

Sun replied with a smirk, "Fools."

Everyone gasped.

Sun continued, "You're not aware of what's happening. You see these soldiers are for me, not against me, for their leader is dead, unlike me."

Gyeong says, "Sun! What is this?!"

"What isn't it? What does it look like? A betrayal? Who exactly am I betraying? You? The Ender team? No. Eventually I will save this world and become the god of it. All I'm asking from you, is to save it with me."

Myong asked, "You're not making any sense. What are you really saying?"

Sun explained, "I don't need to explain it all, since there is no time to explain. The leader of this dungeon is dead, so this place will be destroyed any second. I just want to know if you are for me, or against me? We've saved the world plenty of times, with me mostly taking all of the credit because of my bloodline being the strongest to ever be in existence. The little people of the world already see me as a god anyway, they love and respect me. Once I become a true god, I'll bring those people into paradise. There will be deaths and lives taken for this to happen, but it will be worth it. Now I ask you guys again, are you going to stop being super annoying and join me-?"

Gore dashed forward, pulling out a red sword with wind blasting from it; he said, "Stop fucking with us! Snap out of it!"

The Minotaurs jumped in the way, but Gore spun straight through them in mid-air, slicing them all in half, killing them. He gritted his teeth as he got closer, but he was blasted back by a strong wind.

Gore thought, 'He manipulated my power…'

Gore flew back, sliding back to the others.

Gyeong said, "Sun! What is going on with you, warrior?!"

Sun answered, "Ughh, stop saying that. Now THAT right there is annoying. Warrior this, warrior that, like, shut up."

Jintao says, "Whatever possesses the body…has the possible outcome of having the soul in its free hand…"

Sun replied, "And YOU. I'm sick of those stupid proverbs you say that no one understands."

"Stupid…is just a facade of a fool…"

"And to clear everything up, I'm not being controlled, I'm doing this out of my own free will."

Myong says to her team, "We need to kill him."

Jintao and Gyeong gasped, saying:

"Kill him?!"

"That's extreme!"

Gore smirks, "I'm all for it!"

Jintao continued, "Killing him is extreme. We should look for an alternative."

Myong replied, "We came here to defeat the boss of the dungeons that kept popping up all over the world. These monster bastards used the dungeons to try and draw energy from our sun, which is the source of our awakened abilities. And now we face a new threat…"

"He may be being controlled…"

"He's not…"

Gore said, "Yep. He's not! Killing him is the only option! Here and now before he does anything stupid!"

Sun smiled, "Haha! You wanna know what's stupid? Everything. Everything is super duper dumb. Like how this wretched world is. Day in, day out, we're always fighting for the safety of this realm, this world. We-I mean I just defeated the one behind the dungeons appearing and now we saved the realm, again. Everything would be less life threatening if only someone made a change to change the realm itself, to manipulate existence. And I shall be the god to let that happen. I will bring about a new era of life. For our realm's sake. I've been planning this for 7 years. I was just waiting for the right time to set it into play. No matter how many people and landmarks I have to sacrifice to achieve my goal…every little thing will go how I planned it."

Myong replied, "You've gone mad.."

Gyeong exclaimed, "We've been betrayed!"

Sun said, "I guess that's a no. How boring. We could've been like, the god squad or something."

Gore, Myong, Gyeong, and Jintao dashed forward at the same time, and all of the armored Minotaurs attacked.

Sun thinks, 'I'm the world's strongest hero, that's how everyone sees me. One on one, none of them could beat me. But altogether, it would take me at least 15 seconds to kill them all, and I don't have the time. No worries. The dungeon will kill them.'

Sun vanishes, as the dungeon starts to crumble.

Gore slashed down two Minotaurs, exclaiming, "The dungeon is collapsing!"

Myong says, "Forget about killing these freaks, our lives are what's more important. This dungeon is made up of ancient magic. If these dungeon walls fall on us and overwhelm us, they become heavier as they fall, and we're done. That's how every dungeon has been towards the other awakened heroes all over the world."

Jintao said, "The walls fall on top of those who seek the edge of righteousness…but it's up to the spirit of them to sneak through the creases of the air between the rubble…"

Gyeong answered Jintao, "THAT-Actually made sense! Kinda!"

Gore was killing Minotaurs left and right, with blood splashing everywhere, "We're getting the hell out of here! Now!"

(2 months later)

(Jeju Island)

There was a large white base sitting in the middle of the large island, with armed guards walking around.

On the rooftop of the tallest building there, stood Gore, and a new guy replacing Sun, his name was Kim Yoo.

Kim Yoo was 26, male, brown eyes, always wears a beanie on his head with a suit, and white fingerless gloves. And he was always drinking a juice box.

Kim Yoo asked, "So like, what happened next?"

Gore answered, "Tch. That bastard Sun got away, but we managed to escape with an inch of our lives."

"Damnnnn."

"Ever since then, we haven't heard of him. We're still doing everything in our power to find him and kill him."

"Kill is such a drastic world, ya know?" Kim Yoo takes a sip of his juice box.

"Heh? You're nerd ass is going to learn that killing is necessary in times like these, especially if we're going against the world's number one hero."

"Ahhh, makes sense I guess."

"Huh?! You guess?!"

"No! No! I mean, yeah you're right. And it's been two months since anyones heard of Sun. Sooo why haven't you told the world that he's a bad guy now?"

"How dare you question me? One, we wanted to avoid worldwide panic. Two, if the world knew that Sun turned heel like a damn model on a walkway, there's a probability that Sun would come out of the woodwork causing havoc. What if it's what he wants? What if it furthers his unknown goals? We've seen that bastard's power, but I'm getting this damn feeling that we haven't seen all of it; the extent of his power is probably limitless. The day we awaken, the day the sun's power chooses us to have power, thats the day we decide whether we want to be a hero or not. I'm not with all that corny hero shit, but I have no reason to be a villain. Just like how you have no reason to be useless to us."

"Wow. Then I have a huge weight to carry then, huh?" Kim Yoo sips his juice box more.

"No. Just do what you've been doing as a ranked hero in Seoul, fight bad guys. But now since your part of the Ender team with me, Gyeong, Jintao, and Myong-."

"I'll do whatever it takes to impress you all!"

"Don't just impress us, nerd. Be better. We recruited you to be Sun's replacement because you've never lost any of the power tournaments that were being hosted to make awakened power users like yourself stronger, going up against the toughest opponents. If you let us down even once, I'll kill you horrifically."

"R-Right!"

"Did you check in with Gyeong to see if the exams were already set up? If so, then we can go ahead and call it in."

"Uhh, yeah I did. They're ready."

"Good. Now go away before I crush your skull."

"Y-Yes! Got it!"

(Seoul, Korea)

(Hospital)

In room G7, monitors beeped within the silence of the room's atmosphere, the silence was loud, but aesthetic.

Laying in the hospital bed, was a woman with long brown hair, sleeping. And sitting in a chair beside her, was an 18 year old named Joon. He had wavy/messy dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a small scar on his left cheek. And he was about 5 '9.

Joon clenched his fists, saying, "If you were awake, you'd probably be really really proud of me. Maybe, I don't know. Would you? I don't know. Yes? Yeah, I think so. So, Um, the Enders have a hero academy that they made, and whoever passes the exams gets to go to the academy and be taught by the Enders themself! Isn't that cool?! Like, ever since I was younger, I looked up to them, dreaming I could be like them. My red flame power isn't all that, not even close to the level of the Enders, but I've been training by myself to try and make my flame bigger.

Joon held his arm halfway up, and snapped his fingers, and a small red flame sprouted out.

Joon gasped in amazement, saying, "Whoa! Look! It got taller!"

The flame was only 2 inches tall.

Joon sighed, saying, "Oh, right. You're still asleep. Don't worry though, I'm recording this conversation and I'm gonna send it to your phone, so you'll listen to it when you wake up. If dad was still around and didn't disappear out of nowhere, he'd be able to leave you voice messages too. Anyway, um, the helicopter will be gone any minute, they have helicopters all over the city that will take people to the academy in Jeju Island, whoever's interested."

Joon stood up, leaned over, and kissed his mother on the forehead, and walked out of the room.

Minutes later, Joon was walking on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. The city of Seoul was busy, with electronic billboards all over the place, with most of them having a picture of Sun, saying:

"Where has Sun gone?"

"Where did Sun go?"

"Since two months ago, the world's number one hero, the world's strongest hero, the world's most powerful awakened, Sun, has not been seen or heard of."

"Could he be dead?"

Joon read them, thinking, 'Dead? Yeah right. Sun is literally impossible to kill. He's the strongest in the world! He's a dragon human hybrid, they always say the hybrids are the broken ones anyway. Maybe we might see him at the academy! Maybe his disappearance is all an act to surprise us for the grand opening of the hero academy! Yeah, that makes sense. When I was younger, I used to watch tons of Sun's hero clips. Watching him save millions of people without breaking a sweat. I remember the day I awakened, the day I got my powers. I felt like I belonged.'

More billboards and signs around Joon said:

"Hero academy exams starting in less than an hour. Make your way to the next helicopter to participate and register."

Around Joon, there were many awakened people, all displaying a small fraction of their powers out in public, saying:

"I'm pumped up! I'm gonna pass these exams easily!"

"Damn right!"

"I heard whoever attends the hero academy, will possibly have a shot at joining the Ender team, the strongest group of heroes in the world, and also getting trained by the Enders to be stronger, and also getting a lot of money after you graduate!"

"Man! That sounds nice!"

"I'm gonna crush everyone in my way."

"This is going to be easy. I'm going to show the Enders that I'm better than everyone that'll be attending."

Joon thinks, 'Seems like everyone is excited for it. I'm more excited to meet the Ender team than anything else. And also getting stronger. Maybe if I'm stronger, I'll find a way to cure my mom and all that.'

Joon saw a helicopter at a nearby helipad, and it was almost full. The helicopter was covered in a blue aura, meaning it was being controlled by someone's skill.

'The aura is big. Someone's manipulating it, guess it's gonna go faster than a normal helicopter.'

Joon walked up to it, and asked the pilot, "Can I get on?"

The pilot looked at him up and down, thinking, 'He looks weak. The sun chose him to have powers and to become an awakened human? Eh, I already know how this is gonna turn out.'

The pilot gestured for Joon to get on, and there was one seat left. Joon hopped on the helicopter, and sat between two buff men.

Everyone looked at Joon, thinking, 'He's gonna die.'

Among them was a 19 year old named Nari. She had black hair in a long braid with a curling bang over the right side of her forehead, and she had on circular glasses.

Her and Joon made eye contact, and Joon was flustered, thinking, 'She's pretty!'

Joon slightly waved, and Nari rolled her eyes looking away.

Joon said, "Damn."

Sitting beside Joon, was an 18 year old boy named Jin Lee.

He said to Joon, "Don't even bother, brat. She's way outta your league. And she hates everyone, no even dares to try and talk to her because they know they won't get a response from her. Don't waste your damn time."

"…Um thanks. Who is she?"

"Her name is Nari. Ranked 190 on the world heroes board. Her brother is Gore, an Ender. That's all you need to know."

"Rank 190?! She's beaten 190 villains?!"

Joon thought, 'The way the ranking is is different than anything. If you're ranked number one, then you're at the very bottom. And multiple people can share a rank at once. But if you're number ONE like Sun, then that means you're actually ranked in the hundred thousands. The higher the number, the higher the rank, all monitored by the hero association created by the president and his subordinates.'

"Duh. Now stop yelling. It's hurting my ears. Lemme guess, you're probably here because you're a big fan of the Ender squad. Brats like you die easily."

"I've been training! I have!"

"Bullshit. Have you ever even fought anyone?"

"Uh…no. B-But, I've been training to fight people! I may not have a lot of power, but-."

"Show your power right now."

"Right now?"

"That's what the hell I just said, didn't I?"

"Hmph. Okay!"

Joon stuck his hand out, and a small red flame popped out, and everyone started laughing and pointing, saying:

"THAT'S IT?!"

"WHAT IS THAT?!"

"HAHA!"

Nari watched as well, just staring without any reaction.

Joon said, "I mean it's not that bad."

Jin Lee responded to Joon, "It is that bad. During the exams, just stand back and watch. You might get yourself killed."

Joon thought, 'Am I really…weak? Was it a mistake coming?'

(20 minutes later)

(Jeju Island)

There were dozens of helicopters hovering over the base of the academy, and everyone was looking down at it, saying:

"Whoa!"

"It's huge!"

"So many people here too!"

Joon was looking around at everyone, thinking, 'Everyone looks strong. There's even some high ranked heroes here. Maybe I'm way in over my head. They started laughing at me as soon as I showed my red flame. Damn. Nope! Nope! Don't doubt yourself now, Joon! You've worked too hard. Did I? Yes! Okay..'

The helicopters were landing at the helipad, the doors of it opened, and everyone started hopping out of them, with the academy's guards escorting everyone.

Jin Lee had his hands in his pockets, saying, "Don't touch me, I'll rip your arms off."

One guard was walking beside Nari, saying to her, "I'm a big fan of your brother, Gore. He may be hot headed, but he's strong as hell."

Nari ignored him, without saying a word.

The guard continued, "Yep, got it. Yep."

The guards were escorting everyone to the exam site in the academy, and watching from a distance inside the large arena-looking exam site.

It was a regualr dome with no rooftop, enough to fit at least 500 people.

All of the heroes were walking into the exam site, and standing on top of a platform above it all, were the 5 Enders: Gore, Myong, Jintao, Gyeong, and Kim Yoo.

Kim Yoo was sipping on a juice box, asking, "So like, am I gonna be a teacher or what?"

Myong responded, "Based on exam performances from the heroes, and after all the exams are finished, all of us will have all the attendees stand back here in the arena, and we'll all choose who we want to have in our class."

Jintao added, "Teaching them now…will surely prepare them for the future…"

Gyeong says, "Yes! We'll make them into warriors!"

Gore interrupted, "We're training them to be as strong as us, our main objective…is to kill the world's strongest hero."

The Enders watched the heroes walk into the arena.

Gore said, "Damn brats.."

Gyeong says, "A lot of them are from the hero association! Strong heroes among us indeed'l

Jintao said, "Yes..there is a good batch of strong heroes…an impact will surely be made."

Myong didn't say anything, until she noticed Nari in the crowd of heroes.

"Is that Nari down there?" Myong asked Gore.

Gore saw Nari, and said, "What the hell is she doing here…? I told her not to come.."

"Are you going to say anything to her?"

"…Tch!"

Gore jumped off the balcony, and speed walked towards Nari. The heroes around saw him, saying:

"That's the Ender, Gore!"

"He's much taller in person."

Joon saw him, and said, "Awesome…"

Gore stepped up to Nari, saying, "I told you not to come, fool."

Nari answered, "I don't have to listen to you. I'm an adult."

"I'm your older brother, it's my job to keep you safe. I can't do that if you're walking aimlessly into fucking danger."

"Yet..you still allowed me to join the hero association."

"To give your ass a little bit of freedom, to not have a tight leash on you, but new things pop up, new life threatening stakes show up, this is too much for you."

"…."

"What?"

"There's something you're not telling us."

"…We'll get to that. I need you to go home. Now."

"I'm not going."

"Dammit, Nari. Can you listen to me for one second-."

Nari started walking away as Gore was still talking, and Gore's jaw dropped, saying, "Y-You bastard!"

Gore stopped forward, but Gyeong was down there, and grabbed Gore.

Gyeong laughed, "Haha! Come on, Gore!"

Gore growled, "Let me go! I'll teach her snot nosed ass a lesson!"

"The brotherly love is consuming you! But, you can't hold onto her forever!"

Gyeong jumped up high with Gore, landing back to where they were before.

Jintao said to Gore, "I understand your feelings, Gore. But harboring her from doing what she desires will only make her despise."

"Tch…shut up. The academy was created for one specific reason, a reason no one down there knows yet. If it's that broad and shallow, then that means it's dangerous."

Kim Yoo says, "I don't wanna be like, an intruder on family stuff and all that, but maybe she's joking the academy to get stronger to protect you or something?"

Gore looked at Kim Yoo with a malicious look, and Kim Yoo sipped his juice box some more, replying, "My bad! My bad! I'm just trying to fit in!"

Myong stood up, and said, "Let's go, we'll start the exams."

Down below in the open arena, Joon stood by himself, thinking, 'I'm so nervous, I'm so nervous, I'm so nervous, im so nervous! What if I like, mess up! Is it too late to go home? No, think happy thoughts. I trained hard for his.'

Joon looked to the left, and saw Jin Lee. Some girls were trying to talk to him, fawning and blushing all over him:

"Jin Lee!"

"What's it like being ranked nunber 1,000 on the hero board?"

"Do you wanna stick together in the exams?"

Jin Lee replied to them, "Hmph. Go away, snobs."

The girls blushed even more, cheering:

"He replied to us!"

"Stick with me!"

Jin Lee rolled his eyes.

Joon looked around and saw everyone had someone to talk to, besides Nari who was standing by herself.

Joon thought, 'It was like this in school too. I stood away from everyone, watching them talk to their friends while I stood alone. Ugh. Why am I reminded of it again? I haven't been here an hour, and everyone is already judging me and looking at me like I'm some kind pitiful person. Am I?'

Myong said out loud, "Everyone."

All the heroes in the arena looked up at Myong, getting silent, and some of the heroes were fawning over her and the other Enders as well, being fanboys and ran girls. And some of the heroes didn't know who Kim Yoo was, so they just said:

"Who is that?"

"Some random?"

"Is he filling in for Sun while he's away?"

"Maybe so."

"An intern? Trainee? Some kind of assistant?"

"Looks like it. He's a grown man sipping on a juice box."

Myong had the other Enders stand with her, and she continued, "Thank you for coming. It is truly an honor for the worlds most notable and potential warriors to gather here among us in our presence. As you all know, this academy is for heroes who have a passion for being true heroes, and for getting stronger. If you manage to pass the exams for this academy, you will be placed in a class under one of the Enders being your teachers."

As Joon was fanboying, he heard something in the walls. Like whispers of some kind, he thought, 'Voices?'

Nari looked around, noticing the feint voices too.

Joon shook his head and shrugged, looking back up at Myong.

Myong continued, "You were chosen as an awakened hero for a reason. It still a mystery how the sun gives us our skills and powers, literally choosing us unknowingly. As soon as you were awakened at a certain point in your life, you decided to join the hero association, climbing the ranks and defeating people or beings or monsters that abuse their power. Doing that, you gained money, and even some fame along the way. What I am saying is, everything you've worked for is going to be tested here."

Suddenly, some other heroes started to say:

"You guys hear that?"

"Yeah, like rumbling…"

"And talking.."

"It's getting louder.."

The arena walls around them were cracking, and everyone was looking at them.

Joon's heart was beating hard, thinking, 'What is that?!'

Myong and the other Enders just stared down there.

Nari and Jin Lee was looking at them as well.

Suddenly, the walls of the arena fell, and there were dozens upon dozens of men and women standing there wearing orange jumpsuits.

They said:

"Hell yeah!"

"We're gonna be free after this.."

One of them pointed at Joon, saying "That one right there with the messy hair looks weak,

I'll kill him first haha!"

Joon gasped, "Huh?! Me?! No…no no. What? Are we being invaded or something?"

Myong said, "These prisoners are on death row, meaning they will be killed for their crimes they committed. With most of them being apprehended by ranked heroe. We promised them if they successfully killed all of you, then they will be granted a pardon, and they will be free. You can't escape either, there is an invisible dome over the arena which will block your escape. Your job is to kill them, or you will be killed by them. They are criminals who've done all of the above in what refers to most brutal and cruel of crimes. Whoever is still alive, whoever side wins gets to proceed to the next exam test. Going up against Sun will take those who have the guts to take the life of one who threatens the life of their world. This academy does not accept those who are pussy-made little girls."

The heroes gasped, saying:

"What?!"

"We're being hunted now?!"

"Was this a set up?!"

"Kill them?!"

"Sun turned heel?!"

"Kill the number one hero?!

"This is outrageous!"

"Impossible!"

"I wanna go home!"

"We're surrounded!"

Nari said, "Tch.."

Joon was scared, he started backing up, saying, "I-I wanna go home too…no…I..can't…"

Jin Lee said, "Damn bastards…so this is what it comes to?"

The other heroes continued:

"Why aren't the Enders saying anything?!"

Myong said, "This Academy is called the Hero Killer Academy. It was specifically designed for one thing only: to kill the worlds strongest hero, the number one hero of the world, Sun. He has turned against us, threatening the fate of this world, in which many will die if he is not stopped."

Everyone was in shock, speechless.

Joon was on his knees, with his eyes and body shaking, "I can't do this…im scared.."

Nari, Jin Lee, and other heroes were getting their powers and skills ready, and some other heroes said:

"We have no choice now!"

"Damn this…"

"Looks like we have to fight to survive.."

Joon was still on the floor, in shock, saying to himself, "Shit..shit..shit…this isn't real…this can't be real.. this is not what I expected…this is all wrong…!"

Myong said, "Begin."

The prisoners had their powers and skills brewing up as well, and they dashed forward towards the heroes with a snarling and malicious grinning battle-cry.

The heroes dashed towards them as well, giving out their battle cry as well.

Gore watched Nari the entire time.