May 25, 2025

"I was just turned into a challenger... am I the protagonist?" said Stephen with a smug look on his face

"STEPHEN?!" Stephen's mother yells.

"Yea! What's the problem?" Stephen yells back.

"Are you okay? There was a terrible storm outside... It was weird, it lasted around 2 minutes, but the neighborhood got thrashed..." Stephen's mom exclaims.

haha... I guess I am the root problem of the storm... she doesn't need to know.

"Yea I'm fine nothing really happened up here" I yell back.

I looked down on the ground where the glass balls should be... but there was nothing there. All the glass balls, the box, they are both gone.

I finish cleaning whatever I can in the 2 hours I have. Now was this cleaning session worth it? Barley... I basically made no dent in the cleanness of the room...

After I finished cleaning I headed downstairs and hurried back to my room.

I wonder how much my body changed from that encounter with Daruma. Right off the bat, I can tell you that I can hear so much more, I can see so much more, I can smell so much more... Basically, my five senses were enhanced to an abnormal level. Or perhaps this is normal for a challenger?

"STEPHEN!" Stephen's little sister calls.

Oops, I forgot to introduce my family, my mother dearest is named Cynthia Wilson, and my sister dearest is named Shella Wilson. They are my everything, if one of them ever gets into trouble, let it be with the most powerful man in the world or let it be the heavens, I Stephen Wilson will always be with them.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Have you seen the news? If not, bring your butt downstairs!" Shella yells in an excited tone.

She may be my younger sister and I love her to death, but man... Can she be annoying sometimes.

As Stephen takes his time, he goes downstairs to the living room to see his mom and sister on the couch ferociously looking at the television.

"Hurry up! It will start soon!" Shella yells.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You came just in time to look at the TV," Shella responds.

Through the television The President of The United States was saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, today I have some terrible news... In approximately 1-2 months, the world will forever change from the peaceful planet you once knew." said The President.

The number of reporters on the site was beyond anything I've ever seen on National television. As soon as he finished his sentence the number of camera snaps and people talking was just overwhelming to my new ears. I tilted my head from the sheer screeching.

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The President starts once again, "For thousands of years, we the human race have been in a war with an outside species, they call themselves the "Ethereal" and might I tell you, they are very hostile. This war was kept from the public for 2 main reasons: the first being that we didn't want the world to fall into a deep panic, the second was because the humans weren't strong enough to fight this war."

Once again as soon as he made this remark, the thousands of reporters on the scene just made it irritating to listen.

The president with a worried look on his face says, "Now, you may ask how we are still alive if humans can't fight? The simple reason is that there are superpowered humans, these people are called, "Challengers"."

This time the crowd was dead silent... after they heard this piece of news, there was nothing... just a dead look into all the reporters' faces.

I peered over to my family, they too were stunned beyond their mind... I'm guessing I wasn't affected since I had a conversation with a being that seems more terrifying than my own mother.

Back to the television.

"Sadly, because the planet had very little energy for the challengers to absorb, their growth rate was terribly slow. Thus resulting our fighting force to slowly become weaker and weaker." Says The President.

"But that isn't why I called this emergency broadcast. Believe me, I would've liked to keep this a secret, but the situation calls for a different action." The President claims.

"Back then, long before you, long before your moms and dads, long before their moms and dads, there was a war, one so devastating, it had to be kept a secret from the public's eyes. The people back then who fought the war— too were called challengers, but they were stronger, they were a league of their own. We called them, "Guardians". They were powerful, they were able to retain the planet's chastity. They placed a bond, we will call it a "veil"; this veil was what kept the Ethereal from mass invading our planet. It has stopped them for thousands of years, but the veil grows weak. With no more Guardians protecting the veil and supervising the Ethereal, the enemies grew stronger, stronger than what the veil could handle. Now our sacred veil is on its last threads, but with this calamity came a gift. One so powerful, it can end this thousands-year enmity between the two races." The president says with a proud voice.

The crowd was still silent, but instead of dead faces, all of them were shocked, surprised, and some looked even excited?

I looked over to my family, Shella looks just like everyone on the television, but mom looks worried, more than that she has a gloomy aura around her.

The President with a fierce look says, "The world has been blessed with an abundant amount of energy, this energy will allow even more people to awaken, will possibly allow you to awaken. These people who become awake can now challenge the odds, they now can become a challenger and protect what's right from wrong."

The president says, "In 1 week, I will open 4 schools in every state: 1 for kids who are in elementary, 1 for the kids in junior high school, 1 for the kids in high schools, and 1 for the young adults and adults of our country. More schools will be opened in due time, but for now, those who want to become a challenger can attend those schools, gain insight from top masters, train, and one day protect this world from the horrid of the outside. God bless us all, and God bless America."

As the president walked off the stage, the crowd became loud, so loud, the reporters were beyond shocked.

Me? Well, I sort of guess that this would've happened. Daruma already said that the world would be changing. I didn't expect this huge of a change, but it wasn't too surprising to me. If anything, I was ready… I wanted to do something useful, be someone useful, now this is my time.

"Mom are you alright?" I said.

"Oh yes, honey! It's just a lot to take in at one time… you seem to be holding up well." She claims.

"It would seem so… I guess it hasn't hit me yet… haha…" I anxiously remark.

"Stephen… If you awaken, do you plan on going to this school and learning how to fight?" Mom said.

"Yes," I replied.

There is no reason for me to lie or say anything else, I want to fight for this world, I want to become someone important, I want my family to live their best life.

With sorrow written all over her face, she says, "Okay sweetie, just make sure you are safe and when you need to, you can always come back home." As she finishes she gets up and leaves.

I won't be coming back home. Not until I am someone who you can be proud to call your son, not until our name becomes worldwide, not until the crisis ends.