Blood Nemesis-Chapter 108: Debut

Though the mayor rambled about a lot of stuff, some was new information to Oliver.

For example, the attack on Instaheal, the corporation that was developing a healing accelerant with the help of the military, the same company that was being merged into the biotech division of Trinity Tech, surprised him.

Then there was the high number of casualties seen across the city.

For some reason, when he heard it, he turned to look at Thunder Emperor.

Although the Mayor said it was a terrorist attack by the demons, Oliver has his doubts.

Then he remembered the old codger was a little late to the party. Although he sent the Mechs and Behemoth, he was late to arrive.

’Did he?’ Oliver’s eyes focused on the old man calmly staring at the hundreds of reporters before him.

Thunder Emperor seemed unfazed by the new information. But that doesn’t mean he did it.

’Could he have conducted a demon elimination operation in parallel? After all, he had the testing technology to verify if they were demons.

Kill demons, say they were humans, and put the blame back on demons. It’s simple if you think about it. With his power, he could also find a way to destroy the evidence.’

Oliver’s eyes sharpened.

While everything he thought remained just a conjecture, a half-baked theory of how everything might have occurred, he realised it might be closer to the truth than he imagined.

His eyes then softened, and he looked at the Thunder Emperor as if he were a kindred spirit.

’A fellow like that is always welcome in my team.’ Oliver nodded.

The Thunder Emperor ignored him.

Soon, Everyone on the stage talked, one by one, explaining the details about the incident.

Despite facing sharp questions from reporters who often accused them of mismanagement and security lapses, they navigated the scrutiny with the poise of seasoned politicians, leaving Oliver amazed by their adept responses.

What if one of those questions were directed at him? Would he be able to answer it like that?

Most likely not.

He was still a little weaker on the lying front compared to his murdering skills.

’I should find a good tutor. Should I ask the damn mayor to teach me.’

—

After the others had their say, the spotlight turned to Oliver. Following a brief introduction from Kumara, Oliver leaned into the microphone, ready to address the waiting media.

"Hello, I am Oliver."

He said even though no one asked.

"...."

A short silence ensued. It was completely different from how the briefing went.

’Should I say something? Or are they going to ask?’

Oliver was not really accustomed to it.

"Hello, Mr Oliver. How old are you?" One of the reporters raised his hand and asked.

"Eighteen," Oliver replied.

Immediately, camera flashes filled the space.

"Are you saying that you are not even a Hero Academy student?"

"I will be. But not yet."

Oliver kept it short.

Immediately, one after another, reporters began to raise their hands. They asked a lot of useless questions like...

Whether he have a girlfriend?

What kind of training does he do?

What kind of food does he eat?

Does he have a master? If so, who?

They were looking at him like an ideal specimen. Their only interest was to learn everything about his training regimen, copy it and spread it to lead children astray or turn them into his clones.

Oliver, annoyed, almost lashed out at a few who asked about his height and weight.

What the heck does all that have to do with being a hero?

’Wait a minute, they don’t want a hero. They want an idol. Someone to worship and prostrate to.’

The realization almost blew Oliver’s fuse. Steam was coming from his head, showing his anger.

Normally, high value heroes are media trained by their guild before placing them in front of reporters. However, Oliver didn’t have any of those advantages. Thus, he was overwhelmed by the reporters.

Finally, when he was about to lash out, he received a slightly interesting question.

"What would you like to say to children who might want to be a hero like you?"

Oliver paused for a second when he heard it.

"Don’t be."

He replied honestly, shocking everyone.

Only the Thunder Emperor and Kumara were sitting nearby; even they were shocked by his answer.

The reporter who asked the question raised his hand and asked for clarification.

"What do you mean?"

Oliver realised he had made a mistake. Although he saw being a hero as something totally unnecessary, everyone else begged to differ. This was not a time and place to convince them otherwise. So, he quickly thought to salvage the situation.

"I mean. They should be better than me, right? Today, someone asked me, "If I can’t be a hero, who else can? The ’I’ here means me, yours truly, Oliver Thorne."

Oliver glanced at Achara, who was standing far away. His eyes lingered on her body for a few seconds before continuing.

"What does the person mean by that?"

"Was the person confident in my character and strength?"

"Or was it a sarcastic jab, saying that if I can be a hero, any Tom, Dick and Harry can."

"Or does this person mean that if I can’t be a hero, no one else should be called one?"

"It was a confusing bunch of words. So, I went on a voyage to find its true meaning."

"Finally, I realised that it was talking about a set threshold. A benchmark."

"The person who said this to me means that they expect great things from me. They believe that I will surely become a hero. I can agree with half of it. I can be a hero."

"But where does this benchmark lead me? What is the benchmark of what a hero should be, and what kind of threshold do I have to cross to become one? I asked myself this question many times."

Looking at the history. I can see many great examples of heroes. There are people like Thunder Gramps over there who fought for the people even before the Federation was formed. Then there exist many great people who sacrificed for the future of humanity."

"So, were sacrifices, martyrdom, and battle scars the measurable qualities of a hero?"

"This implies that a person who made great sacrifices for their people, who fought in many battles, and finally died is a symbol of the greatest hero."

Oliver took a short pause, letting everyone absorb what he was saying.

Then, he continued.

"So, coming back to my point. What did the person mean when they said, "If I can’t be a hero, who else can?"

"Obviously, I am not the greatest hero. But they surely mean I am good enough to be a hero."

"In that sense, I believe I crossed the bottom threshold to be a hero. Even though I didn’t have any battle scars, even though I didn’t risk my life, even though I didn’t make any sacrifices, even though I didn’t die. Still, I can be a hero. Hence, it must certainly be the bottom threshold."

"If everything I thought up to this point is correct, I am just a hero. Or the watered-down version of what it once meant."

"Now that I think about it, the word hero is becoming more and more meaningless as time passes due to its overuse. Nowadays, there are even those who are undeserving of that title using it."

*Sigh*

"Anyway, I rambled on and wasted a lot of time. Sorry about that."

"What I want to say to the young kids who want to be a hero is that, don’t look up to me. There are other heroes whom you could learn from. I will never make sacrifices. I will never risk my life. I will never die. So, I don’t deserve to be called a hero. Therefore, I am the bare minimum of what it can be."

The moment Oliver ended his rambling, the entire venue went silent. The report that asked the question was looking at him like he was some kind of mysterious zoo animal. The rest were also like that.

Thunder Emperor and Kumara were giggling over to the side, whispering something funny.

Meanwhile, Oliver looked around, expecting more questions to come his way. But none did. They seemed to be slightly afraid to ask more about what he said.

’Well, none dares to question heroes these days. No one want to explore the meaning behind what I meant.’

Oliver looked down the prople before. The last remaining respect he had for the so called journalists disappeared in that moment.

After that, Kumara ended the briefing session.

It was time for Oliver to return home.

[[VOLUME 1 - Do it better]]