Choosing Names

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“Judging by your expressions, it looks like you all came prepared. Good. Even if these are only temporary hero names, they’re the names you’ll be called during your field trip from now on.”

Yustitia looked over the class with obvious satisfaction, then handed the pamphlets to the students in the front row and told them to pass them back.

“Come to think of it, we still haven’t chosen a class representative, have we? Hmm. We’ll set aside time for that soon. Today, though, is for costume design and temporary hero names.”

Yustitia gave us an hour and told us to start by designing our costumes.

The kids didn’t seem to have any time for idle chatter; everyone bent over their papers and wrote furiously, all concentration and no nonsense.

When I glanced over at Yeonhwa to see what she was doing, she was drawing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠full-on sketches. Maybe she was being considerate, making it easier for the designers.

Or maybe, since she’d said she’d been preparing since she was young, she already had the whole concept worked out.

Jinhyun wasn’t quite as thorough as Yeonhwa, but he seemed to have his own ideas and was slowly, carefully doodling something on the page.

Huh.

Was I supposed to draw this?

No, couldn’t I just write it out? In the original novel, the protagonist had done just that, so I’d assumed that was all there was to it.

I was a little flustered, but I decided to shrug it off and just do what the protagonist did: write it out in words.

If I only described it well enough, the design would still come out looking appropriately pretty and cool.

So, where to begin.

First, it had to be made of a material unaffected by strong acids or strong bases, and it couldn’t deform even if it came into contact with some toxic substance.

It also needed good ventilation while remaining revealing only to a limited degree, and it had to allow full freedom of movement without causing any discomfort.

At the same time, it had to be durable and not stand out too much.

As for accessories, something like gloves for collecting toxic solutions, and a syringe gun to cover my pathetic long-range combat.

That should be enough.

The rest was a problem for the designers and materials engineers to tear their hair out over.

That’s what they were hired for, after all. And they were getting paid, too. They should be putting in that much effort.

With the design roughly handled, I turned my thoughts to the name.

I’d already decided on one, but I figured there was always a chance I might think of something better.

What I had was related to my abilities and appearance, and honestly, it seemed like the best fit to me.

The other ideas were either too much of a joke or so bizarre that you couldn’t even guess what they were supposed to mean.

So this was the one.

I set the design sheet aside and wrote my chosen hero name in the space for the temporary hero name.

I even put some effort into it, trying out little flourishes in the lettering like I’d actually practiced calligraphy before.

By then, Yustitia called time and told us to hand our papers in from the back of the room. As the stack made its way forward, mine landing somewhere underneath the others, she perked up the mood and said this was where the fun began.

“They’re only temporary hero names, but still… we’re classmates, so you all have the right to know. From this moment on, we’ll begin our hero name presentations.”

This won’t end until everyone’s presented, so please participate sincerely.

Yustitia declared that with a faintly wicked smile.

“W-What?! We’re presenting?!!!”

Then Lapis, sitting next to me, looked utterly horrified and asked the teacher if she was serious.

“Yes. A presentation, Lapis student.”

Yustitia said that confidence and poise were also virtues of a hero, and added that there would likely be plenty of this kind of presentation in the future.

“H-Hwaa…”

Poor Lapis already looked like she’d been wrung dry just from the thought of speaking in front of the class.

Weirdly enough, I don’t really feel like tormenting Lapis. Maybe because she’s so small.

“You can’t stay scared forever, Lapis. You said you wanted to be like your grandmother, didn’t you? Then you need to start trying now.”

“U-Um… I guess I do…?”

She clearly didn’t want to do it at all, but once her grandmother came up, she clenched her resolve, trembling all the while.

Just as she gathered her courage and was about to raise her hand, Yeonhwa shot hers up first, as if she’d been waiting for the chance.

“Me! I want to go first!”

“Yeonhwa student. Very well.”

Lapis looked at Yeonhwa, then stole a glance at me, smiling awkwardly as if to say she could probably speak a little later without any problem.

“The hero name I chose is Pyra! I named it that to honor my father’s hero name, Pyro!”

“Pyro… I remember him. He wasn’t a man of overwhelming power, but he possessed a heart more righteous than anyone’s. That is a fine name, Yeonhwa student.”

Yustitia gave her a warm smile and praised the name as a good one.

There were even a few students looking at her with admiring eyes, impressed that she came from a line of heroes.

Being a descendant of heroes wasn’t something to admire in itself.

Heroes were, in reality, little more than private soldiers for Heros Corporation.

That’s why I respected Yeonhwa even more—both her and her father.

Because their sense of justice was real.

Since the first speaker had gotten the class off to such an energetic start, the other students followed with similarly lively presentations.

“The hero name I chose is Lion! Lion!!”

“That’s refreshingly straightforward, Morgan student. Very nice. Cool, meaningful names are good, but names that make their meaning clear at a glance are good too.”

“My hero name is YukiHana.”

“You translated the word for snowflower into Japanese… May I ask why?”

“It’s pretty.”

“I see. Subjective criteria matter, too. And since this is a temporary hero name, there’s no need to burden it with deep meaning.”

“The hero name I chose is Hecate. The goddess of magic from ancient myth. I’ll become a hero who won’t shame that name!”

As she said that, Aegheha looked straight at me.

“That’s a strong resolve, Aegheha student. Very good. If it’s you, you may well grow into a hero worthy of the name.”

Now the reformed delinquent had gone with GoldenStacks, and the heroine who used command words had chosen PowerWord.

By the time the ones left without names were the only students remaining, Minho finally raised his hand and spoke.

“The hero name I chose is…”

“Mach. The unit of sound speed. Did you choose that in the hope that one day you’ll break the sound barrier?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. All of these names suggest a bright future. Now then… it’s the remaining students’ turn to present. Who would like to go first?”

“I-I will…”

The first of the three left was Lapis.

“Go ahead, Lapis student.”

Shaking so hard she looked ready to come apart, Lapis got to her feet and revealed her hero name.

“My, my hero name is… T-Tera…”

“Tera. So it means the earth. A name that brings your ability to mind…”

“N-No. That’s part of it, but I-I actually named it after my grandmother’s name…”

“Oh? I’ve seen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people use their parents’ names as inspiration, but their grandparents’ names… I see. You’ve managed to capture both meaning and sentiment.”

Once her presentation was over, Lapis collapsed back into her seat as if all the strength had gone out of her.

Now it was just Jinhyun and me left.

After glancing around a little, I realized Jinhyun had no intention of going first, so I took the lead.

I’d spent hours thinking it over, so I was nervous—but I was still confident.

Boss had told me to be confident, after all.

“The hero name I chose is… ChemiCat.”

“ChemiCat. So you changed only the last letter of chemical?”

“Yes. I swapped the l for a t. I wanted people to recognize my ability and appearance the moment they heard it.”

Yustitia seemed to like it, and the rest of the class praised it as pretty good too.

“Excellent. Do you perhaps have another intention behind it, or some deeper meaning?”

I looked at Aegheha for a moment.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hero name with a pun in it. I wanted to try it at least once.”

“I see… Being a hero doesn’t mean you have to be cool and imposing at all times. Sometimes, being approachable to citizens is also a hero’s duty. It’s a good name, Blanca student.”

Aegheha was giving me a rather strange look.

Something like: this is actually kind of nice, but since you said you hated puns before, I can’t quite bring myself to praise it out loud.

I’m good at puns, you know.

I twitched my eyebrows at her in a silent challenge.

I’d have to ask her what she thought later.

Now it was the last one…

I wasn’t particularly curious about that one.

In the game, hero names could be chosen however you liked, so to be honest, I had no idea what he would pick.

If it were something like ButtGiant, at least it would be funny.

“The hero name I chose is Protean.”

“Protean… a word formed by taking inspiration from Proteus, one of the many sea gods in ancient myth. Why did you choose that name?”

“Because of this god’s ability. Proteus, they say, could change his form at will. I want to become anything I can be, just like him.”

“A wish for change, then. And since Jinhyun student’s ability is so versatile, it’s a fitting name. Yes, that’s another good one.”

At last, after Jinhyun had finished his presentation too, Yustitia checked the clock and declared that we’d be ending a little early today.

The kids cheered and headed home, but I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had somewhere to go.

I had club activities.

* * * * * -

I looked at Blanca’s unlocked profile, then back at Blanca herself.

Even though only the first stage—the most basic information—had been opened…

it was still enough to raise the level of interest directed at her.

Even that basic information was shocking enough.

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