I'm Turning Into Gacha Characters?!

Chapter 490: Turned Into Gacha?! - 490

"What should Alice do?"

Since Sweet Mask raised no further objections, the physical test naturally proceeded without a hitch.

As usual, the staff member led the young girl—who was highly likely to become a top contender in A-Class, or perhaps even an S-Class hero—into the center of a spacious, empty room.

There was nothing here, but in response to Alice’s question, the staff member tapped twice on the tablet in his hand.

Then, with a low rumble of the shifting floorboards, a punching power tester slowly rose, finally coming to a halt right in front of Alice.

"Please strike this machine with all your might within this designated area."

As the staff member spoke, he glanced at the expressionless Sweet Mask standing nearby.

This was the first time Sweet Mask hadn’t either slammed the door in disgust or left in satisfaction after witnessing a hero’s evaluation.

Why is he staying? Is there something special about this robot girl?

Neither Alice nor Sweet Mask paid any mind to the staff member’s curiosity. Upon hearing the instructions, the girl set her Sword of Light aside, then raised her fist toward the machine.

"Hero Punch!"

Boom! A sonic boom and a blast of wind pressure erupted along the trajectory of her fist. Utterly unprepared, the staff member was nearly blown off his feet by the sudden gale.

The specialized machine, anchored firmly to the spot and built to withstand a direct missile strike without a single scratch, didn’t even make contact with that fair, slender little fist.

The sheer force of the wind enveloping her hand alone caused the metal to splinter into fine cracks. And when the fist actually connected, the machine, unable to endure any more, shattered into pieces that flew everywhere like pudding struck by a heavyweight boxer.

Yet, that wasn’t the end of it.

The residual wind pressure, having lost its barrier after tearing through the machine, slammed heavily into the reinforced wall behind it, leaving a crater roughly thirty centimeters in diameter.

"...This...!?"

The staff member stared open-mouthed at the scene before him, then blinked at the girl, who was still holding her punching posture.

This was a level of destruction that even Tanktop Master couldn’t pull off...

Sweet Mask nodded slightly. Although his most critical criterion for judging a hero was character, raw power was equally indispensable.

If someone lacked the strength to protect others, then even the noblest character wouldn’t suffice to save anyone.

"This...! Alice will find a way to pay for it!" Pulling her fist back, Alice said with a face full of panic.

"Ah... err, there’s no need for you to compensate for this, Hero."

Finally snapped back to reality by Alice’s voice, the staff member pushed up his slipping glasses. His hands trembled slightly as he logged the score. "In any case... we’ll have to move to a different testing room..."

Besides, he had a sneaking suspicion that another S-Class hero might just be born today...

--+--

Meanwhile—

A sharp, grating screech filled the air. The high-frequency noise was incredibly piercing, setting teeth on edge and assaulting the eardrums like countless needles frantically scratching against glass.

Accompanying it was a sustained, low-frequency hum, vibrating like the chest cavity of a massive beast, punctuated by the occasional dull groan and snap of buckling steel structures.

Standing on the open floor, Fubuki took a soft breath as she looked at the iron sphere she had just crushed together.

Then, she turned her gaze to the staff member nearby.

"N-Next!" Completely blindsided by such a spectacle occurring during a B-Class hero evaluation, the staff member could only blankly instruct the materials department to bring over a higher-grade metal.

However, the result was exactly the same.

The air seemed to be squeezed by an invisible, giant hand, and the sharp edges of the metal were the first to twist visibly to the naked eye.

It wasn’t a bend caused by an external impact, but rather a slow, relentless deformation, like hot wax meeting heat.

The metal, originally meant for tank armor, offered absolutely no resistance as it was wrung into a steel rope under this power.

It feels like... I didn’t even use much effort.

Fubuki now had a rough idea of her own strength. Rather than calling this Wind Sephira Crystal a tool for utilizing wind, it was more accurate to say it granted the ability to dominate the wind itself.

Under her control, an inconspicuous breeze could become a razor-sharp blade that tore through metal, or an invisible hand that bent solid steel.

After conducting a few more high-intensity tests and checking the limits of her crystal-enhanced physical body, Fubuki finally stopped.

To her delight, her performance had indeed caused quite a stir for a B-Class testing room, drawing the attention of many people around her.

Though the Blizzard Group wasn’t lacking members at the moment, this feeling of being looked up to because of her power was exactly what Fubuki relished most.

Satisfied with the outcome, she concluded her session. Ignoring the testing official who rushed forward to ask if she wanted to apply for a hero rank promotion, she asked around for directions and made her way toward the testing room where Alice was currently located.

This place... isn’t for A-Class, it’s for S-Class, isn’t it? Walking down the corridor, Fubuki wasn’t particularly surprised by the realization.

After all... just a casual gemstone from that great Herta was enough to make her this much stronger. As a creation of Herta, even if Alice looked like a little girl, she probably possessed unimaginable power.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Fubuki frowned.

A little girl combined with unimaginable power—even though she hated to admit it, the combination easily reminded her of her overbearing older sister.

Better not think about that. Shaking her head to banish the unpleasant thoughts, Fubuki walked straight to the door of Alice’s training room.

Before she could even explain her presence to the staff outside, a massive sound of destruction echoed right through the walls, which were supposed to be heavily soundproofed.

What she didn’t know was that she wasn’t the only one startled.

At that very moment, quite a few people inside the Hero Association looked up because of the commotion, their expressions filled with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

A pillar of blue light just pierced right out from the Hero Association building... It feels a lot like the ones that appeared in M-City and L-City yesterday, doesn’t it? Could it be a new high-tier hero? Looks like it might be an S-Class?

Right now, although the disaster in M-City hadn’t been heavily reported due to an information lockdown, the blue light stretching straight into the heavens had still been captured by many people’s cameras.

Coupled with the fact that a similar beam had appeared in L-City before, people naturally linked the events together.

Over the past two years, while there was a boundary between heroes and idols, the line wasn’t all that distinct.

Many heroes had their own fan clubs and passionate followers, and S-Class heroes were naturally the center of attention.

Realizing that this might be a nascent S-Class hero about to be born, many people were already beginning to wonder what they would look like.

"To think... you actually blasted through the wall of the Hero Association...?" The staff member stared in sheer disbelief at the sunlight streaming in from the outside. Instead of feeling thrilled by the display, a massive headache washed over him.

What kind of excuse could they possibly use to placate the wealthy investors now?

’The Hero Association is the safest place in the world’—that was what they had always told the billionaires. Yet, looking at the situation now...

"Very good, Hero, Alice." Seeing this play out, Sweet Mask slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to leave. "I will be keeping an eye on your future performance."

--+--

T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL