My name is Kenji. I'm just an average Japanese highschooler student from Tokyo. I enjoy playing games and reading web comics from the internet. I'm a pretty shy person, so I don't really have a lot of friends. Because of this I get bullied a lot at school.

'God today was a long day' I say to myself as I'm walking home from school.

While walking home in my usual route I see a strange person in front of me. It was a female. She looked to be in her 20s and was quite pretty, but she was wearing very weird clothing that made her look somewhat angelic, almost like a goddess.

'Hello there young man, does your name happen to be Kenji perchance?' she said to me while I was standing in front of her. I was completely confused. I have never met this woman in my life, how could she know my name.

'Um...yes. How did you know?' I said with a very confused ancautious facece.

'Please don't feel suspicious of me, my name is Gina, and I'm the protector of inner realm' she said. At this point I've just been completely baffled by her words. Protector of the inner realm? What the hell is she even talking about.

As I try to process the situation I finally regained focus and could speak again. 'Um, what do you mean by protector of the inner realm?'

She smiled at me after my question and said 'All will be explained if you just follow me Mr. Kenji' .

'Follow you where?'

She smiled at me again and said 'allow me to show you'

And suddenly she created a huge purple portal. Out of shock, I fell to the ground and crawled away from fear. The sight of the portal was mezmarising, it almost didn't look real. It was something not from this world yet this person in front of me was able to create such a thing.

'now follow me Mr. Kenji'

'Why should I? I don't even know you and now your suddenly trying to get me to go into that weird ass portal? What the hell do you expect me to do?!'

'Calm down Mr. Kenji. If you enter this portal with me, it will change the arc of your life and turn you into one of the most powerful and greatest people on the planet! I believe in you Mr. Kenji, I believe you can become the greatest hero of all time!'

Her words were filled with so much conviction. I felt like I could become better, like I could somehow change myself from being a weak shy high-school student to a great hero with amazing strength. And with a move that rejected all logic, I listened to her request and entered the portal.

After entering the portal, Gina and I were in a strange looking room. Gina continued to walk and I followed. After exiting the room I looked outside to what looked like a monk temple with many monks there training and very traditional looking houses and places.

'Where are we Gina?'

'We are in the place where you'll be living and training for the next 3 years'

I was confused by what she said and was a little discouraged but still continued walking.

We eventually got to a shrine. And in front of me were 4 people, 3 of them were guys and 1 was a girl. Once all of them noticed me, one of them gave me a very unimpressed look.

'Huh? Is this kid really the 5th hero?'

'Yes Mr. gonzo.'

Once Gina confirmed that I was the 5th hero the 4 people in front of me all looked at me with doubt and 1 of them even looked at me with anger.

'What?! How the hell is this small kid one of us heroes!?'

I was still confused on what was happening and looked to Gina for answers.

'Gina can you please explain what's going on right now'

'Yes Mr. Kenji, allow me to explain'

She then took me away from the 4 other men and started to explain to me the reason for being here.

'There are 2 realms. The inner realm and the outer realm. The inner realm is where we reside in now. And I am the protector of the inner realm. The outer realm consists of a world called "Voltican". This world has magic, monsters, elves, and other species. For centuries both realms have had many conflicts with each other. But peace has been found by the creation of the tournament of Versailles. It is where 5 heroes from both realms are chosen to fight in a tournament to see which is the stronger realm. This event happens every century. And you Mr. Kenji, has been chosen as one of the 5 tos to to fight for the inner realm.'

I was confused. All these concepts felt like a fantasy story. But the one thing that confused me the most was the fact that I was chosen to be 1 of the 5 heroes.

'Gina, why would I be chosen for something like this? I mean I'm just a small average kid with no ability to fight. Also, you said before that I would be living and training here for 3 years. There's no way I could do that when I have parents at home waiting for me.'

'Even if you are weak now, your potential exceeds all expectations. You have the opportunity to become the inner realm's greatest hero. And worry not about your parents. This temple transcends time and reality. Every 6 months here a day passes everywhere else in the world. So if you were to be training here for 3 years, it would only be 6 days for your parents.'

I was conflicted. My whole life was the same everyday. Even if it was a little boring, it was comfortable and relaxing and I never felt like I needed to do more than necessary. So why would I say yes to something so dangerous that I didn't even understand? But something inside me was telling me to say yes. Deep inside I want to be better, stronger even. It was a dangerous path to go but...

'So what do you say Mr. Kenji?'

'Gina.'

'yes?'

'I want to be a Hero.'

It's been 5 months since I started training. It has mostly been extremely ifficult martial arts training and meditation with the monks at the temple. Even though it was simple it was still very hard. After the first week I genuinely thought I would die but now, I've mainly gotten used to it, and I've even gained some muscle. For the first time ever, I was finally making progress.

The martial arts we have been training in is regular Chinese Kung fu. It is divided in 5 grades:

Grade 1: beginner

Grade 2: intermediate

Grade 3: advanced

Grade 4: advanced +2

Grade 5: mastery

As of now I'm only grade 2,the lowest of the 5 heroes. I still question why I was chosen, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'll become stronger no matter what. One thing that remains a mystery to me is reason for training simple martial arts. We are supposed to train for 3 years until the tournament of Versailles against the outer realm. Gina has made it clear to us that Voltican(the world that resides in the outer realm) is a world of magic with many species like elves, and dwarfs. What would our martial arts do to an experienced mage or an excellent swordsman? I've tried telling this to Gina,, but she assured me that this is the correct thing we should be doing.

Even after 5 months, I still haven't met my fellow heroes. We all train in and live in different places so we never get to meet each other. I don't even know their names. But I have been given one piece of information about them, their grades. And I am by far the weakest.

Hero #1(me) : grade 2

Hero #2: grade 3

Hero #3: grade 4

Hero #4: grade 3

Hero #5: grade 5

One of them had already gotten to grade 5! How could I ever keep up with that?! I thought that I was making good progress but compared to them, I'm a weakling! But there's no point in being negative, i made a promise to myself that I would become stronger, and I'm not stopping now!

While I was in the middle of meditation, I heard an unusually loud sound

[Attention heroes, gather at the shrine in exactly 5 minutes.]

This was very unusual. I never thought that announcements Could be made at the temple. What's even weirder is that the announcement stated for all of us heroes to gather at the same time, this might be our first proper meeting.

When I got to the shrine I saw 3 people there standing in front of the shrine. They all looked much stronger than me which confirmed that they indeed were my fellow heroes. I went and stood next to them. The atmosphere in the room was very scary. They had seemed very serious and intense. 1 of them was a man who was gigantic and was towering over me. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and gave me a terrifying look that shook me to my core. There was another man who was pretty tall and lanky. He was wearing a bandana that covered most of his face except his eyes. And lastly was a girl who looked very cute but still had a very serious look on her face. She was the only person that eased my anxiety. The moment I stepped beside them, the gigantic man immediately started talking.

'Hey guys! Let's get to know each other. How about we take turns introducing ourselves. Hi! My name is zeppelin and I'm from Russia. I'm 26 years old and I'm currently a grade 3 martial artist!'

I was completely shocked. This massive and muscular guy was acting all kind and cheery, I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover. What was more surprising was that he was only a grade 3.he looked so strong, yet there were still 2 heroes stronger than him. I'm still wondering who that grade 5 is.

'Alright weaklings, My name is Eva, and I'm a grade 4 martial artist. It's a shame that I have to associate with you losers but whatever, I don't really care.'

Suddenly the girl spoke. She sounded extremely confident about her abilities. I mean she was a grade 4, Her strength is amazing. Out of all of us, she looked at me the most with disgust. I guess it's my turn now

'Um hi, my name is Kenji, and I'm a grade 2 martial artist. I hope we can all get along.'

'Huh?! Grade 2? You're so weak and you look so young. Why the hell are you a hero?!'

Whatever confidence I had been completely erased by what she said. Now I've finally been aware of our differences as heroes. Now I'm back to doubting myself. There was still one person left. He was the guy with the bandana and hoodie.

'Oh I guess it's my turn now. My name is Gaiden, hi'

He looked very quiet. I could barely hear him because of his bandana. He had this aura around him that made him look very menacing. But that could just be me being paranoid. Throughout all this time I realized something, there are only 4 people here including me. Aren't there supposed to be 5 heroes?

'ahh! Sorry for being late guys. What did I miss?!'

Suddenly another guy ran in the room. I think he's the 5th hero. That means he's either a grade 4 or 5. I'm still not sure about Gaiden though.

'Don't worry man. We were just introducing ourselves.'

'Oh ok. Well I guess I'll introduce myself now. Hi! My name is Gonzo, and I'm gonna become the strongest hero of all time. No one's gonna stop me! I'm a grade 4 by the way.'

He looked very passionate. He had a snarky look on his face. It was as if he was the main character in his own show. At this point I don't care anymore. I'm so weak compared to all these people. Later today I'm telling Gina that I want to resign. I'm just not fit for the job. And I just realized that the only hero who was grade 5 was gaiden. Maybe that's why he was being so quit.

After we all introduced ourselves again to Gonzo, Gina finally came in.

'Hello heroes. I'm assuming you all have introduced yourselves to one another. Today will be a little break for all of you. We are all going to a local restaurant that is run by a former monk. We'll be leaving in an hour, make sure you are all prepared until then'

Going to a restaurant? That's extremely unusual. But I don't really care anymore, I'm resigning anyway. I guess I'll break the news to Gina after we're done with the restaurant.

After everyone was prepared, we all went to the restaurant. It was very crowded with a lot of people. After our food finally arrived, we started eating. It was the most delicious food that I had eaten in so long. It's refreshing to finally eat some good food for once. We were all enjoying ourselves, and we're engaging in conversation. Zeppelin was chugging beers left and right. Gonzo and Eva were constantly getting into fights with each other. I was mainly just enjoying my food. And gaiden just stayed silent the whole time. It was nice for a while until something happened.

Suddenly all the windows were broken and men in very weird black ninja-like clothing entered the restaurant and started terrorizing the place. They were breaking tables and chairs and scaring people. And they all seemed to be looking for someone.

'GINA! WHERE IS GINA?!'

All my fellow heroes immediately got up from their chairs ready to fight. And once the men found out where we were, They immediately started fighting. All my fellow heroes were absolutely destroying those guys. Zeppelin was picking them up and throwing them around. Gonzo and Eva were teaming up reluctantly and let out a fury of punches and kicks. And Gaiden could fight 6 people at once and defeat them in 5 seconds max.

I feel so hopeless. They don't need me. They can just do the tournament themselves. I'm completely useless and pathetic.

While I was thinking suddenly the tides were turning. Gonzo and Eva were getting hurt badly and almost couldn't keep up. Zepplin was being hurt because the men started using weapons against us. Gaiden was still fighting strong. 2 men suddenly came in they looked different from all the other Men. They looked like they were the bosses and that was when all hope was lost. Gaiden tried to fight them but was completely overpowered and was injured severely. Zeppelin was completely defeated. Gonzo was stubborn enough to challenge the 2 bosses and got severely injured himself. They also took Eva captive.

I don't know what to do. I'm definitely too weak to do anything against them. Gina was nowhere to be seen. God-damn it. If I wasn't so weak I definitely could've helped. No, I'm tired of making excuses for myself. I keep trying to run away from my problems. That's it, I don't care any more I'm gonna fight those 2 bosses no matter what, even if I get killed, it doesn't matter I have to save my friends!

'H-hey you two, have a piece of me'

They both looked at me and laughed as loud as they could.

'Awww look at the little boy trying to fight back. How adorable hahahahahhahaha'

'What are you doing kenji?! Run away!'

Eva tried telling me to run away, but I refuse. I stepped forward, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I know that somewhere within me, there was potential for me to become really strong that I haven't tapped into. That's what Gina always told me. So now I'm going to tap into it! I immediately start charging at them with my eyes closed and my fists ready to punch them. I knew what I was doing was stupid, but I don't care. Somehow I'm going to defeat them!

'Is he really charging at us with his eyes closed? What a joke ahahahahaha'

I kept charging, and I just screamed as loud as I could

'ahhhhhhhhhhhh!'

[SKILL ACTIVATE:THUNDER PUNCH]

'wait. Why are his fists lighting up!?'

I felt electricity surge throughout my body. I had an unexplainable feeling. But I had a gut feeling that told me that this would be the punch that would make me reach my potential. And I instinctually kept charging at them and screamed...

'THUNDER PUNCH'

And punched them and sent them flying. Eva managed to avoide the attack somehow. But she was in shock of what I had just done. I had hit them with a punch that was overflowing with electricity. Everyone in the restaurant was completely shocked by what I had just done.

'What the hell did you just do kenji?'

'I... Don't know'

It's amazing... It feels truly amazing... My eyes are closed,, so I have no idea what I just did. I just punched them, and it felt amazing. I had put my whole body and soul into my fist. It created a punch that gave me a euphoric feeling, The feeling of power. But before I knew it, I had fainted.

As I slowly open my eyes, I look at the unfamiliar ceiling. My eyes are still half closed and can barely see anything. All I can see is the color white everywhere, and I can hear a lingering beeping sound. Out of my peripheral vision I can make out a figure almost resembling a human beside me. As time passes by the more awake and conscious I become, and I can finally muster up the will to speak.

'Where...am I'

'you're in the hospital jackass'

'Oh. Is that you Eva...what happened to me?'

'I'm the one who should be asking you that question. What the hell did you back there?!'

'All I remember was that I was charging at the 2 boss guys and... OH Yeah THOSE GUYS THAT WERE MESSING UP THE BAR! WHAT HAPPENED IS GINA SAFE?!'

'Calm down jackass, everyone's ok. Turns out it was just a test to see if we were ready for our next stage in training. And we all passed with flying colors, especially you Kenji...'

I was the best... It's like Gina predicted... Hahaha.. Ahahahahahahaha... Ahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhaahaa!

'Stop grinning like a dumbass. Just because you won one time doesn't mean anything'

'Oh sorry hahaha. Anyway, why are you here Eva?'

'O-oh u-um me?! I just wanted to thank you for saving me yesterday. Even if it was just a test I still want to thank you.'

She says this while slightly blushing. Well I guess even she has a heart. Maybe she's starting to grow a soft spot for me.

'I told you stop grinning dumbass!'

'Ouch!'

She hits me on the shoulder and crosses her arms. After what happened, suddenly 2 familiar looking people enter the room. I finally realized that they were the bosses from yesterday.

'Hello Mr. Kenji'

'Hi'

'I'm sure Eva has already made it clear to you that the incident at the bar yesterday was a test to see how much you've honed your skills in the past 5 months. And all of you have done greatly. But you Kenji, has done amazingly. I mean you instinctually tapped in to your spirit core!'

'A-amazing?'

That weird comment he made about spirit cores or whatever completely went over my head. All that mattered was that I did something amazing.

'But now that you all have passed, it's time to start your real training.'

'Real training?'

'Yes, everything you've done up until now has been preparation for your true training. Everything that you've known before, throw it out the windows. It's time to start training for the tournament for real'

'I see'

This is it. This is the start of my path to greatness. I've spent my whole life being mediocre. But now, I've seen a glimpse of my true greatness. This... Is the start of my journey to become the strongest hero of all time.