Chapter 131 – What Should Be Borne Under the Spotlight
【Kimori Kage】, or rather, Mr. Kimura, was a very kind Professional Hero as expected. With just a few words and his unique personal charm, he quickly dispelled the students’ nervousness about their first encounter with a Professional Hero, and they began to interact harmoniously.
Looking at the tall figure walking towards the training ground with a large group in the distance, surrounded by students asking questions, Kazumi’s eyes flickered a few times before she lowered her head and followed the group.
Kimura Shirou, with the Hero Name 【Kimori Kage】, is a newly rising hero belonging to the Forest Hero Agency. Due to his approachable personality and efficient work ethic, his reputation among the public has risen rapidly in recent years, and his ranking in the Association has also been improving correspondingly. Overall, he is a powerful and friendly Professional Hero.
Following behind the group, looking at the hero exuding a disgusting natural aura, Kazumi mentally recalled this information as if by muscle memory, and various related data began to emerge from her mind.
In fact, all those present probably knew Kimura Shirou better than he knew himself.
Is this the tragedy of being a Professional Hero?
As Professional Heroes renowned in the Heroes Association’s rankings, almost all of them have no privacy or freedom. Just like celebrities pursued by brainless fanatical fans in their past lives, their every action as heroes is constantly being watched by others.
Every hero who can appear on the Association’s rankings has the qualification to stand there.
This is a belief that Kazumi has always deeply held. Just like a war that is won through intelligence, information plays a crucial role in the battles of psychics.
For example, if two people are fighting, and you know all aspects of the opponent’s information, then in any case, the chance of victory will be greatly increased.
And the heroes standing on the rankings are basically fighting against evil villainous forces with their “cards on the table.” After all, in today’s highly developed technology, even with concealment, hero activities and battles tend to leave various traces.
Coupled with the media propaganda necessary for social stability, and the adoration of heroes by their so-called fans, Professional Heroes, who are on the front lines fighting to protect the public, have to face these problems after accepting the glamorous professionalization.
Even a student like Kazumi, who is currently studying at a hero academy, can analyze many problems by collecting various clues from online news. Not to mention the villains who are constantly trying to defeat these heroes.
Kazumi never considered herself a genius, and she would not consider the dark forces that have survived for so long without being completely eradicated as a group with the intellectual limitations found in novels and TV dramas. They are definitely capable of thinking of what she can think of.
The fact that heroes can appear in the public’s field of vision and continue to stand firm itself proves their strength.
Or rather, if their strength is not enough to resist the scrutiny and malice of others, the Association would not put them on the rankings. Because this hero ranking, which represents strength, is in a way also a hunting list for those guys underground.
For when you are enjoying the glamorous spotlight, how many unknown gazes in the darkness are silently watching you?
Ability counteraction is a significant but very realistic problem. This is something that every Professional Hero needs to face, and it is also a course that the academy has newly added to the future prospective heroes studying in the school in recent years, following “Hero Emotion Management.”
Every year, there are a few powerful heroes who inexplicably fall into the hands of someone weaker than them. Good luck might mean a minor injury, but bad luck could even cost them their lives.
Hero activities are never a child’s play for their so-called dreams, but rather a belief and duty to protect from the heart.
When opposing organizations began to target these frontline Professional Heroes in a planned and organized manner, the Association implemented targeted measures. This included protecting relevant information, providing training for new knowledge, and controlling the activity range of heroes with obvious weaknesses, all of which effectively suppressed the opponent’s plans.
Of course, both weaknesses and ability counteractions are also based on possessing sufficient strength.
The courses taught at Shikoku Gakuin even include a relatively short extracurricular course on “Countermeasures Against Hero Defection,” which is also Kazumi’s most interesting course.
It details how to deal with different types of hero defections and what kind of power to use. In essence, it’s a sub-course of “Attribute Targeting Studies,” but this novel method of using defected heroes as hypothetical enemies really appeals to the young girl’s nature.
Kazumi clearly remembers that the tutorial even boldly hypothesized how the Heroes Association should subdue the hero 【Thundery】, Hamano Tsukasa, if he were controlled by enemies.
“Design the target to be attracted to a sealed room full of insulators, and subdue the target with overwhelming force by martial arts masters wearing insulated clothing.”
For Hamano Tsukasa, whose main ability is lightning and who uses abilities rather than martial arts in normal situations, this is indeed theoretically still the best countermeasure.
And coincidentally, a small organization with a flawed plan did use this method to try to completely defeat the so-called “Symbol of Peace.”
Of course, the result was that the room constructed of insulating material, along with all the members of that organization, turned into dust under the fierce thunder, leaving not even a speck behind.
Sensing her classmates stopping, Kazumi shook her head and threw the strange thoughts out. She looked up at the sealed metal door of the academy’s third special training room.
As the metal door slowly opened, Kimori Kage clapped his hands, a gentle smile on his face, and his soft, high-pitched voice rang out in the small plaza in front of the door.
“Alright, young men and women, get ready. See you in the training ground~”
His right hand transformed into a mass of green vines, hooking onto a towering tree in the training ground, and he shot into the training ground.
