Hero Hack: Reversing Heroes and Raising Harem-Chapter 273: Room of Finalists

Ashblade slowly opened his eyes.

He sat up and looked around.

There were five seats. Four were taken.

Whisperlash sat across from him, spinning a small thread of illusion between her fingers.

She looked bored.

Next to her stood Sightpiercer, arms crossed.

His visor glowed faintly, and his eyes scanned the room like he was still on a mission.

Ember Striker leaned against the wall, arms behind his head, a smirk on his face.

And Volt Stride sat in the corner, resting her legs on a chair and tapping her finger on her knee.

They had all passed.

The final five.

Whisperlash waved lazily when she saw Ashblade sit up.

"You slept like a rock," she said.

Ashblade nodded once. "I was tired."

Ember Striker scoffed.

"Tired from passing first?" he said. "Or tired from acting humble?"

Sightpiercer didn’t smile. "Doesn’t matter. That test wasn’t a real fight."

Volt Stride raised her voice. "Exactly. Just a bunch of mental games and tricky trials."

Ashblade didn’t speak. He looked at them all calmly.

"We’re all here," he said. "That’s what matters."

Ember Striker stepped forward.

"Yeah, but don’t think we’re equals just because we’re in the same room."

Whisperlash stretched her arms. "Oh, don’t worry. I never thought that."

Ember frowned. "Hey, you—"

"She means it," Ashblade said. "She’s not the type to fake respect."

Volt Stride leaned forward.

"You two... came from nowhere. Just appeared and passed everything."

Sightpiercer nodded. "Strange, isn’t it?"

Ashblade shrugged. "We came from the lower zones. Found a gate by accident."

"Convenient," Sightpiercer said.

Ember grinned. "Sounds fake."

Whisperlash stood up slowly, tilting her head.

"Sounds like jealousy."

Volt narrowed her eyes. "We’re not scared of you."

"Good," Ashblade said.

Whisperlash leaned closer. "You shouldn’t be."

The room fell silent.

Tension, quiet but heavy, filled the air.

Then Volt spoke again.

"We’re not your enemies. But we’re not allies either. If you slip, if you’re weak—we’ll pass you."

Ember Striker pointed at them both. "Fast or first doesn’t matter. When real battle comes, only strength counts."

Ashblade looked around again.

"This isn’t over."

"No," Sightpiercer replied. "It’s just starting."

A voice crackled from the speaker above.

"Congratulations to the five of you who have passed all three tests."

There was a pause.

"However, testing is still in progress. More may join... or not."

Another pause. Then the voice continued.

"Until then, please remain here. Rest. Observe. And prepare."

The speaker clicked off.

Ashblade glanced at the others.

No one said a word.

The quiet wasn’t awkward.

It was the kind that came before something big.

And whatever was coming next... none of them planned to lose.

---

Inside the dim virtual canyon of Stage One, the air sizzled with static traps and shifting walls.

Izzor Valen crouched behind a crumbled rock wall, breathing hard.

His body was scratched. His hand burned.

One of the false platforms had collapsed under him again.

He slammed his fist into the wall beside him.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

The noise echoed.

He checked the timer.

Too slow. No way to pass now.

"This isn’t supposed to happen. I studied this stage. I mapped every trap..."

He stood, growling under his breath.

"I came here to break your little hero team. Not to lose like a rat in a maze."

His eyes flared, a faint ember glow flickering under his irises.

He pulled his coat sleeve back and tapped the small rune band hidden under his glove.

It blinked red.

"Stage One... is broken anyway," he said. "Might as well make it worse."

He activated [Firewall Breach].

A small stream of corrupted fire ether leaked from his hand into the ground.

The nearest node started glitching.

The moving walls froze. Then they jerked. Then they shifted too fast.

One of the flame bridge traps suddenly activated early.

It was crashing down on a group of heroes who hadn’t even reached it.

Screams echoed through the canyon.

Izzor smiled.

"That’s better."

He walked calmly toward the checkpoint area, planting [Rift Spark Trigger] bombs along the floor.

"You like obstacles? Try them all at once."

He spun his hand.

Smoke curled from his fingers.

[Smoke Echo] activated.

A fake version of him sprinted forward, acting like a hero passing the trial.

Nearby sensors tracked it. Cameras followed the fake instead of him.

"Let the staff chase ghosts," he muttered.

Another group of heroes arrived behind him.

They were yelling at the traps.

"Why did the platform reset?"

"The node isn’t lighting up!"

"It says we failed—but we didn’t!"

Izzor leaned on the wall, pretending to be confused, too.

"I think the system’s bugged," he said. "We should leave this zone."

He watched as more traps glitched—some firing nonstop, others refusing to activate.

"Maybe Stage One won’t be passable anymore."

He grinned.

"But if that doesn’t finish the job..."

He turned toward the test border.

"They still have Stage Two."

He opened a side panel and injected another spark into the system.

"If I overload the group detection logic... Stage Two won’t pair heroes correctly."

His fingers danced across the panel as he whispered code.

"They’ll enter alone. But the enemies will come like it’s a group test."

He stood up and stared at the virtual sky above.

"Let’s see if your future heroes can survive that."

He walked toward the edge of the simulation, knowing he would be disqualified soon.

He didn’t care.

Passing wasn’t the mission.

Breaking the trials was.

As the fire in the background grew brighter, Izzor whispered to himself.

"Even if I can’t win... I’ll make sure none of them leave this place ready."

Then he vanished into smoke—his final trick already set.

The countdown on his hidden bombs kept ticking.

And somewhere in the control room... no one noticed yet.

At least, not at first.

But then one of the system officers leaned closer to his screen.

His brow furrowed.

"Wait..."

He tapped a few keys. The screen flickered.

Lines of error code blinked red across the interface.

"How can this be happening?"