Even If I Try - To Be Hero X (Reader Insert)

All Because I Care

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The walk led me somewhere familiar, the park. The same one where I’d first stumbled into Wreck and Nice.

The fountain gushed in the center, its spray catching rainbows in the sunlight. Joggers circled the paths, vendors waved small flags and shouted about limited-edition hero merchandise. Kids darted past, squealing, their parents trailing behind with exasperated smiles.

I sat on the fountain’s edge, watching the city breathe.

And suddenly, the homesickness hit.

Back home… what are they doing right now? Do they even notice I’m gone?
My throat tightened. I miss my comfortable bed. My room. My phone, God, especially my phone. What is life without scrolling at 3 a.m.?

Before the ache could spread too deep, the air in front of me shimmered.

A glowing box blinked into existence. Metallic. Polished. Letters etched in sharp script hovered above it.

Quest Box: Operational Reality

1. Practice Resonance ability in real-time.

Category: Training

Difficulty: Easy

Conditions: Use ability with at least one individual.

Time Limit: 3 Days

Reward: ¥X2500

Penalty: None

A grin stretched across my face.
Finally! A quest that doesn’t sound like I’m about to die. And the reward was money. I wouldn’t even need to get a job if these boxes kept coming.

Just then, a man pushing a cart stopped by me, holding up a stack of folded papers. “Latest hero magazine! Updates, rankings, scandals! Want one?”

I bought it without hesitation. Information is power, right?

As I flipped through the glossy pages, bold letters caught my attention,

The 16th Heroes Tournament – Coming Soon

My pulse quickened. That meant… Smile would be stepping down from the X rank. Bowa would climb. And Queen would finally rise. I remembered the episode where Liu Yuwei’s speech shook the entire nation, earning her the name Queen.

I almost laughed. This is insane. I’m literally living in To Be Hero X. Meeting Nice, Wreck, even Smile already… who's next?

Then the realization crept in.

My stomach twisted, a cold knot tightening under my ribs. But if I’m here… does that mean I can change things? Or is everything already written?

My hands balled into fists on my lap, nails digging into my palms. Like I could almost see it, the faces of the characters I cared about, their stories already set in stone, their deaths inevitable. Am I supposed to just sit back and watch? Watch them suffer, and... watch them die?

The thought burned through me like acid, leaving my chest hollow and raw. I pressed my lips together. Maybe… maybe the safest move was distance. If I stayed away, maybe I wouldn’t have to carry the weight of it.

But then my gaze flicked to the faint shimmer of the Quest Box still hovering in my memory, its cold letters like a chain tugging at my wrist. It wasn’t letting me drift away. It was pushing me closer. Toward them. Toward the plot.

And the more I thought about it, the more suffocating it felt, like the world itself wouldn’t let me choose.

“Whatcha doing?”