Chapter 10 - Transfer Day

Yui re-entered the room with a tool in hand to remove the boot, as well as a bucket of soapy water and a rag. The boot had snugly wrapped itself around Yukio's foot, so Yui would need to pry it off. She approached Yukio and spoke.

"Alright Yukio, hold still and I'll have this off of you in a few seconds."

She inserted the tool into the boot and began to pry it off of his foot. It made a few crunching sounds as it opened, and eventually, his foot slid out of the boot. Yui immediately grabbed the rag, drenched it in the soapy water, and washed Yukio's foot.

When she was finished, she threw the broken boot away and retrieved Yukio's right shoe from where she had stored it. She returned it to Yukio, and he put it on.

"How does it feel, Yukio? Can you walk okay?" asked Yui.

"It feels a little weird, but I'll get used to it. I haven't had to use the muscles in a while, so it feels kind of numb."

"That's normal! After a few hours of walking, you should feel back to normal. Well then! I think my job is finished! You can go pack up your stuff, and make your way to your room to wa-"

Yukio then interrupted Yui.

"Yui? I have a question..."

"...yes, Yukio?"

"When we return to Camp Alpha, and I register to be a hero, you said you and Mayumi would stay with me for 14 days, right?"

"Well, possibly. It could be less depending on how you do, and where you rank within the Hero Camp. We wanna help with your training, as early training is an integral part of being a hero."

"Well, after my training, where will you and Mayumi be transferred to?"

"...I'm not entirely sure, why?"

"Well, I wanna be in the same camp as you and Mayumi..."

Yui's eyes widened, and she blushed slightly. She giggled and walked over to Yukio.

"Well, if you want to, you can request to be transferred to the same camp as us, but if you want the chances of that to be increased, you need to do well on your hero placement test. I'm a level 4 medic, and Mayumi is a level 3 combat, so if you place into level 1, you could be transferred away from us."

Yukio gazed at a poster hanging on the wall that read "Join the Hero Camp Today!", his expression shifted to that of confidence immediately afterward.

"I'll try my best. I won't let you or Mayumi down. I'm going to try to be placed into level 2, I know I can do it."

"You won't let either of us down, no matter where you place. Even if you're at the bottom of level 1 we will still be proud of you because regardless of level, you'll still become a hero," said Yui, smiling at Yukio.

"I appreciate that, Yui. But either way, I'll try my best. Cyprus gave me a good idea of which kinds of tests I'll be put through, and they don't seem too challenging."

The Hero Camp entrance exam has 3 parts. A physical test, a mental test, and a quest test. The physical test will test your speed, jump height, strength, reaction time, and evasiveness. The mental test will test your fortitude, and decision-making skills, and the quest test will provide you with a level 1 or 2 quest that you must complete. After you finish, your score will be calculated, and you will be placed into a level.

"Yeah, mine wasn't too challenging, then again, I took the medical test, I can't speak for the combat test," said Yui. Yukio was aiming to be a combat hero, who would slay monsters.

"Well then, I guess I'd better go and prepare. The train should be getting here in an hour or so. I'll see you then, Yui!"

"Sounds good, Yukio."

Yukio exited the medical building. When he stepped outside, he noticed Cyprus and a mysterious man having a conversation. The man in question had slick hair, short facial hair, wore a black suit, and had shades on. Yukio decided to investigate.

"Hey Cyprus, how are you?" asked Yukio, glancing at the man next to Cyprus occasionally. He wanted to make sure he wasn't inserting himself into an important conversation.

"Oh, Yukio, I'm doing well. How's your foot? Has it healed completely?"

"Yeah, it's back to normal, meaning I can apply to be a hero when we get to Camp Alpha. Speaking of which, who's this guy with you?"

The man in black decided to introduce himself, without Cyprus's announcement. He turned, and looked at Yukio, before removing his shades to reveal red eyes.

"My name is Hiroki Otani, I'm an administrator of the Hero Camp. I'm actually glad you showed up when you did. Cyprus and I were just talking about you. I heard you'd like to be a Hero?"

It seemed that Hiroki already knew about Yukio, and was eager to recruit him. His eyes glowed with excitement at the sight of Yukio, almost as if he saw something special in him.

"Well, yes, I'd like to apply to be a hero. I was going to do that when we got to Camp Alpha."

"EXCELLENT! I mean- excellent. I'd love to evaluate your abilities. You see, every year, we get fewer and fewer people applying to be a hero, due to the dangerous nature of the job. Because of this, we try our best to recruit people from all over the country. It's good to know you want to be a hero, Yukio."

"So, tell me, what do you specialize in?"

This was the million-dollar question, and it would determine if Yukio would be a successful hero or not. The issue was that Yukio had no clue what he specialized in. He was sent to this world with no seemingly obvious powers, and he wasn't particularly skilled in combat from his experience back on Earth.

"Well, you see, I'm not entirely sure. That's what I'm trying to find out myself. I thought that perhaps by taking this test, I could figure out what I was good at." said Yukio, apprehensively.

"Not to worry, that's part of what this test is about! We'll figure out what your good at, and bring those qualities out in the best way we can. We want you to be a hero as much as you do, Yukio. By the way, what's your last name?"

"It's Sazuke."

"--!!"

The man in the black suit went silent. He looked at Yukio and analyzed his features intensely. He looked very confused, and almost a little bit shocked. He cleared his throat and proceeded to speak.

"Very interesting... well, when we get back to Camp Alpha, I'll lead you to our exam building, and you can take the hero entrance exam there. You're allowed to bring up to 4 people to watch you take the exam if you'd like," said Hiroki.

"Hey Cyprus, Mayumi and Yui already said they'd come watch, wanna come watch too?" asked Yukio.

"Sure, I've got nothing important to do at the moment, I'll come and watch your exam." replied Cyprus.

"Awesome! I'll see you at camp then!"

Hiroki then walked over to Yukio and placed his hand on his shoulder. When he did, Hiroki closed his eyes and smiled. He had an expression of relief. What was so special about Yukio to make him act in such a way? He then spoke.

"Well, Yukio. The train is coming in 50 minutes. Make sure you pack your belongings, and board on time so that we can get you to Alpha to apply. I'll see you then, okay?"

"Okay! Thank you, sir!"

Yukio gave a salute to Hiroki, and Hiroki chuckled to himself, saluting back. For some reason, Yukio was giving Hiroki strange vibes. Cyprus took note of this and inquired him on the matter after Yukio had left.

"Hiroki, you seem excited to recruit Yukio. Is there something about him that stands out? You were never this genuine with any of the other candidates."

"Deadeye, I can tell he's different than the rest of the applicants. His appearance and attitude speak volumes. I'll make a fine hero out of him... Yukio Sazuke..."

"Well, I trust your judgment. You're one of the finest recruiters in the Camp, so whatever you say goes!"

The two of them continued their conversation, as Yukio re-entered his hut. He was summoned to this world with nothing but him and his clothes, so he had little that he needed to pack. During his week of recovery, he was provided with a few extra sets of clothes, as well as food and water, and a little wood-carved "Y" necklace that Yui gave him. She said it could either stand for Yukio or Yui, depending on what he wanted.

Yukio packed his belongings, despite how little he had, and waited for the train to arrive. While he waited, he began to ponder the reasons why he was sent here and put together all of the information he had learned up until this point. He wrote his thoughts in his journal.

~YUKIO SAZUKE'S JOURNAL - WORLD NOTES~

~It's the 7th day. Today, I met a man named Hiroki who claimed to be an administrator of the Hero Camp. He's interested in recruiting me and hopes to craft me into a fine hero. Also, I'm starting to put all of the information together now regarding this world. Below this paragraph, I will write bullet points for every new piece of into I learn. If you are reading this, I hope your name is Yukio Sazuke.~

Further down in the journal, were some bullet points that Yukio had written down throughout the week. He had gathered much information regarding the world and made it into a non-exhaustive list. It read as follows:

-Summoned to another world plagued by monsters

-Monsters eat humans

-Humans made the Hero Camp to fight the monsters

-Less than 1% of people are heroes

-The strongest hero is unknown, probably won't know him anytime soon

-There are 24 camps, each resembled by a greek letter

-I'm going to be a combat hero, I need to place into level 2 to be with Yui and Mayumi

-Monsters and Heroes are ranked from levels 1-7

-Final Boss is "The Shade", I know nothing about this man.

-My genetics changed, maybe I have a hidden power that I'm not aware of.

---the list went on, detailing info about the world as well as how it functions. Yukio had kept notes of everything he learned so that he would have the highest chance of survival in this world. The one thing he still didn't know, was what this world was called. He was afraid to ask, as it could blow his cover.

Yukio closed his journal and packed it into his pocket. He kept it with him at all times so that nobody would read it, as that too, would blow his cover. After 50 minutes had passed, Yukio heard a train horn approaching.

He saw heroes gathered outside, so he decided to leave the hut. He had everything packed and was ready to go. When he exited, he saw Yui and Mayumi standing next to each other, waving him over. He walked over to them.

"Yukio! Are you excited to register for the Hero Camp?" asked Mayumi.

"I sure am! I think I'll be ready for whatever tests they decide to throw my way. Can I count on you two to cheer me on?"

"Absolutely! Go Yukio!" said Yui, excitedly. Yukio smiled. He then heard the voice of a man behind him.

"You can count on me too, you know?" said Cyprus, walking toward the group. Yukio waved at him.

Cyprus approached the group from behind and joined up with them. The four of them had made arrangements to sit next to each other on the train, which was now arriving at Camp Theta. When the train arrived, the doors opened, and the heroes began to board it. They were about to be transferred to Camp Alpha.

"Alright, Yukio, let's board the train!" said Mayumi.

Yukio, Yui, Mayumi, and Cyprus all made their way onto the train, and walked down the aisles, moving toward the back of their car. When they found four vacant seats, they sat down. Yui sat next to Yukio, and Cyprus sat next to Mayumi. They were facing each other.

"It feels nice to finally get transferred. Staying in a single camp for a month gets old, really fast, especially when there's not much action," said Mayumi. She gazed out of the window, one final time toward the camp, taking in its features.

"Well, we definitely had some action last week, but that was such a rare occurrence, I don't think it would ever happen again," replied Cyprus. He too was looking out of his window. It seemed that all of the heroes were taking one final look at the camp, as they might not return for years, depending on where they get transferred to.

Yukio also looked out of the window. He was looking at Camp Theta and thinking to himself. He had his own hopes and dreams, and was about to see if he could reach them or not. It all came down, to his entrance exam. The train then blew its whistle and began to depart...