Bab 2: Rebirth
The air was crisp as Maro ambled down the cobblestone path that led to Derrington Academy, a public school nestled on the border of one of the more shadier parts of the city.
Vibrant autumn leaves crunched beneath his shoes, their colours contrasting the grey of the morning.
He exhaled, his breath visible in the morning chill.
The incident, the one that had pushed him to the very brink of death, lingered like a bad aftertaste in his mind.
Maro could only hope that his day back wouldn't be filled with another oddity.
He had woken up that morning and called out the status screen, just to affirm it was real. To his chagrin, the blue digital light glowed forebodingly at his beck and call.
He half convinced himself that it didn't mean anything.
That he could just live as he had always been living, albeit more carefully.
The promise of routine, of school and mundane normalcy, pulled him forward. Maybe, just maybe, things could return to how they used to be.
Still, his mind drifted, inevitably, to the Hero System.
It had saved his life—given him a second chance—but what did it want from him? Why had it chosen him, of all people?
If he had to make full use of his intelligence stat, and use all 9 units, he could arrive to the most obvious answer.
It wanted him to perform heroics.
Though he hadn't a clue why, when, where, and who he was supposed to perform them on.
From the deep recesses of his mind, he recalled hearing about a figure making the rounds. A name whispered in the night, a budding urban legend. They called him The Batman.
Maro couldn't help but wonder if he had been a recipient of the Hero System too.
He certainly hoped not. Skulking around at night dressed as a bat hardly appealed to him, and he'd sooner die than be forced into following his footsteps, system be damned.
Though if The Batman was thrust into vigilantism—much like Maro suspected he would soon be—he supposed the gimmick befit the dark and gothic city that he called home.
Maro shook his head, admonishing his train of thought, before pushing through the large doors and into the hallways.
Inside, chaos reigned. Students rushed between lockers, exchanging jokes and whispers as they prepared for another day.
Fliers were ripped off the walls to the annoyance of the monitor who had just placed them there.
He craned his head as he walked closer to his locker, smirking as he saw one of his year mates get scolded for shoving a teacher on accident.
Maro, with his bookbag slung over one shoulder, weaved through the crowd like a ghost, unnoticed.
It was the usual hustle of teenage life, but today, it felt oddly foreign.
Almost irrelevant.
His thoughts were elsewhere, still tethered to that strange system.
By the time he reached his first class—Mathematics—he was already half-lost in thought.
The teacher, Mr. Birbon, droned on at the front of the room, his chalk squealing against the blackboard as he explained simultaneous equations.
Maro stared at the board, his mind focused and lasered as he furiously copied the formula and solution into his book.
Then, without warning, something shifted.
[Int +1]
He flinched in his seat. "What the—?" he muttered under his breath, his eyes widening as the notification flickered in his vision. The Hero System had just... granted him a stat point?
"Maro!" Mr. Birbon snapped, his voice cutting through the air like a whip. "Would you care to share what's so fascinating that you're not paying attention?"
Maro shook his head quickly. "No, sir. Sorry," he mumbled, sinking lower into his seat as a few students snickered.
But his thoughts raced. The system had rewarded him, even during something as mundane as math class.
He frowned. What else could it affect?
Hours passed, each class offering a new opportunity for Maro's stats to grow, though no one else could see it.
He had even deigned to attend Gym class, motivated to test his hypothesis.
Once upon a time, Maro had been an attendee of Coach Mersey's class, barely participating, clung to the wall like a cockroach.
Until one day, he just stopped showing up. And fortunately for him, he hadn't received a single sanction—Coach Mersey hadn't even stopped signing him in as present.
Though this time, it was different.
Now, under Coach Mersey's intense glare, he found himself struggling through a brutal series of exercises. Tire flips, rope climbs, sprints—things Maro had never even attempted before.
Sweat dripped down his brow, his muscles screaming for relief.
He couldn't help but feel as though his gym teacher was exacting some sort of retribution.
But he welcomed the pain nonetheless.
He remembered the alley. The blinding pain, the helplessness. He wasn't strong enough then—wasn't fast enough. If only he'd been a little quicker, a little tougher, maybe he wouldn't have—
[Str +1]
[Agi +1]
[End +1]
Maro gasped, the stat increases flooding his body like a wave of energy.
It was subtle—too small to notice if you weren't paying attention—but he could feel it.
Perhaps the feeling was more pronounced due to his pitiful stats?
Though he had no gauge or measure to compare his own metrics with that of others, he just knew having only 2 stat points in Strength and Agility was deplorable.
As he wiped the sweat on his brow with his t-shirt, Maro couldn't help but smile to himself.
'Maybe this system wasn't such a bad thing.'
After gym, he wandered the halls in silence. Students passed him by, caught up in their own worlds of gossip and friendship.
He watched them from a distance, feeling the isolation creep in.
It wasn't just the incident that had changed him—he had always felt like an outsider, especially since his mother's death. And with his father's illness worsening, there wasn't much room left for typical teenage concerns.
'What would they understand?'
His thoughts often circled like this—silent conversations with himself, reflections on the things that made him different.
He wasn't like the others. He had responsibilities, burdens that weighed on his shoulders.
He was only 13, but some days it felt like he had lived far longer. He paid for his own things, avoided being a burden to his dad, and drifted through life without truly connecting to anyone.
But that's how it had to be, right? There was no alternative, not for him.
The final bell rang, signaling the end of school.
The hallways exploded into a river of students, eager to escape the day's confinements. Maro took his time, a lot brewing on his mind.
He thought about joining a club—something to fill the empty hours after school and perhaps increase his meagre stats—but the idea of rejection gnawed at him.
'Not today.'
He exited the gates, the city stretching before him in the golden light of the setting sun. The crisp air brushed against his skin, gentle yet cold.
As he turned down the street, Maro stopped dead in his tracks. A figure stood a little ways ahead, half-shrouded in the shadows. His breath caught in his throat.
'No... it can't be.'
The man—that man—the one who had shot him, stood there, staring back at him with cold, unfeeling eyes.
Maro's pulse quickened, fear gripping him like a vice.
The memories of that alley, the pain, the sense of impending death flooded back.
But the man didn't recognize him. His gaze flickered briefly over Maro before he turned and disappeared into the shadows.
Content to watch the school from his vantage point near the dumpsters.
Maro stood frozen for a moment, his mind racing.
'He didn't remember me.'
Maro meandered home, his thoughts heavy.
The stat points he had gained today were small, but they meant something.
They were proof that he was changing—that he was growing. But it was a slow process, and Maro wondered how long it would take before he could truly protect himself.
The Hero System, however, had other plans.
[Quest: Stop the mugging nearby!]
The notification hit him like a freight truck. He froze, eyes darting around the darkened street.
'Mugging? Where?'
He listened, and soon enough, the sounds of a struggle reached his ears.
Maro's heart pounded. The system was urging him to act, to intervene. Was this his first test? The first quest, the one that would determine whether he was worthy of the System's gifts.
[Countdown until quest expiration. 10, 9, 8...]
[Failure to accept will result in status acquisition: Death]
"Left only with one option. Great! ," he lamented. His legs moved on their own, carrying him toward the sound of the altercation.
He spotted the mugging in a nearby alley—the same criminal from before, towering over an innocent man with a cruel sneer.
Maro swallowed hard. His palms were clammy. He wasn't ready for this—was he?
[Final choice. Do you accept?]
He clenched his fists, staring at the figure of the criminal who had once taken everything from him.
"Yes," he said, voice firm despite the fear crawling inside him.
'There's no going back now.'
The Hero System reacted instantly.
[Skill Unlocked! Valor]
[Vit +1]
[Congratulations, User. You have taken the first step to becoming a Hero. The Hero System has now bonded with the User. What is your name?]
Maro blinked in surprise. "Valor...? No, that's not—"
[The Hero System welcomes you, Valor.]
Before he could argue, the system flooded his body with power.
[Stats Temporarily Upgraded! Strength +4, Agility +4, Endurance +4, Vitality +4, Intelligence +4]
-
Maro Dumont (Valor)
Race: Human
Strength: 7
Agility: 7
Endurance: 6
Vitality: 8
Intelligence: 14
Luck: 1
-
The criminal spotted him, . "You!—Get out of here! You saw nothing—got that?!"
But before the man could react, Maro moved, faster than he ever had before. He pushed the victim out of harms way.
The dagger in the criminal's hand slashed through the air, but Maro sidestepped it with a fluidity that surprised him.
His feet, however, betrayed him. He slipped, tumbling onto the slick cobblestones with a grunt.
"Not again!" Maro hissed, rolling to the side just as the dagger whistled down where he had fallen moments before.
Desperation fueling him, he kicked out, connecting with the criminal's knee. The man stumbled, eyes widening in pain.
Maro scrambled to his feet, barely dodging another wild swing. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he shoved the criminal's midsection, sending him staggering backward.
The criminal, winded for a second, let out a growl in frustration.
But as the two clashed again, Maro could feel the difference between them, he was vastly out classed.
He tussled with the man many times bigger than him - with extensive difficulty.
As Maro grappled with the criminal, the alley became a battleground, sun tinted cobblestones bearing witness to the showdown.
The Hero System had given him something—a spark, a boost, but it gave no insinuation that the surge in his stats would be permanent.
Who knew how long the skill lasted?
He had to.. endure. Just as long until he could finish it, or he was screwed.
But he had hope in himself. He wasn't the weak, helpless boy from that night anymore. He wouldn't run this time.
[End +1]
Maro gritted his teeth, enduring the pain of each blow that landed.
It wasn't graceful. It wasn't heroic.
But it was enough.
With a final, desperate kick to the criminal's groin, the man dropped to the ground with a yelp, clutching himself in agony.
The knife clattered uselessly on the cobblestones.
The system chimed in his mind, calm and satisfied.
[Quest Complete: Stop the mugging nearby!]
[Rewards: 5 Renown, 3 Available Stat Points!]
[Lvl 1 Valor, Exhausted. Stats returning to default.]
Maro stood there, chest heaving as rain began to fall, first slowly, then with earnest.
He looked down at the defeated criminal, the one who had once held his life in the balance.
The man's eyes, wide with disbelief, locked onto his. "You...!"
Before the criminal could say more, police sirens echoed through the alley. The authorities, summoned by the near-victim, arrived to take him away.
The man had no fight left in him, thoroughly undone by Maro's last attack.
Maro watched in silence as the handcuffs clicked shut, his mind still processing what had just happened.
The system's voice echoed one final time.
[Your first quest is complete, Valor. You have defended the innocent, and your journey as a hero has only just begun.]
The rain continued to fall when the cops finally let Maro go.
He turned and walked away from the alley, a new resolve settling in his chest.
There was no going back. This was just the beginning.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
SavingSorrow
SavingSorrow 2/4 of the rewrite chapters.
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone