Chapter 759: The Center of the World

The next attack never came.

A week passed.

Then another day.

The reports remained quiet.

No mysterious explosions.

No ambushed convoys.

No destroyed routes.

The force that had kept the human domain on edge had seemingly disappeared.

Yet Zero became more cautious.

Earth Zero had already proven that silence could be just as deliberate as action.

So Zero waited.

And while he waited—

Hiro continued becoming the center of attention.

**********************************************

It happened without anyone forcing it.

The people simply continued talking about him.

Every recent crisis had given them something to remember.

Not the attacks themselves.

Not the unknown enemy.

Hiro.

The man who appeared.

The man who responded.

The man who brought people home.

Even after the danger disappeared, the stories remained.

And stories traveled further than fear.

Zero noticed it during his visits to different parts of the capital.

At guilds, adventurers discussed Hiro’s next assignment.

At markets, merchants spoke about whether he would accept another request.

In restaurants, people debated his decisions as though they had personally witnessed every event.

Hiro had become part of everyday conversation.

It wasn’t forced.

That was what disturbed Zero.

Earth Zero hadn’t simply ordered people to praise him.

He had created circumstances.

Then he stepped back.

The people did the rest.

**********************************************

Zero stood on a rooftop overlooking one of the central streets.

Below him, several children were playing.

One raised a wooden sword.

"I’ll be Hiro!"

Another immediately objected.

"Why do you always get to be Hiro?"

"Because I’m stronger."

"You’re not stronger."

"I am!"

A third child pointed toward another.

"Then you can be the mysterious enemy."

The child immediately shook his head.

"I don’t want to lose."

The others laughed.

Zero remained silent.

It was a small scene.

Something he normally wouldn’t think twice about.

But he remembered Earth Zero standing in the forest.

Watching Hiro.

Not the people Hiro had saved.

Not the danger.

Hiro.

Because he always does.

Zero’s expression hardened.

"What exactly are you expecting from him?"

**********************************************

Later that day, Hiro arrived at Tech Genesis.

Zero was sitting in Aidan’s office when the door opened.

Hiro entered.

Then stopped.

"Why are you here?"

Zero looked at him.

"This is Aidan’s company."

"I was talking to him."

Hiro glanced toward Aidan.

Aidan was standing near the window.

"Technically, I invited him."

Hiro looked back at Zero.

"That explains nothing."

"It wasn’t supposed to."

Hiro sighed.

"You two are becoming annoying."

"Becoming?"

Aidan smiled.

Hiro ignored him and sat down.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Zero asked.

"How many requests did you receive today?"

Hiro looked toward him.

"What?"

"Requests."

"Why?"

"Answer."

Hiro frowned.

"Seven."

Aidan’s expression changed slightly.

"Seven?"

"Yes."

Hiro leaned back.

"Three guild requests. Two military recommendations. One request from a local noble."

"And the last one?"

Hiro looked toward the table.

"A personal request."

"From who?"

"I don’t know."

Zero immediately became more alert.

Hiro noticed.

"What?"

"What was the request?"

"Someone asked me to investigate a problem near the western district."

"Did you accept?"

"No."

Zero relaxed slightly.

Hiro watched him.

"Why?"

Zero didn’t answer immediately.

"Because you don’t need to respond to everything."

Hiro stared at him.

"That’s not what you wanted to say."

"No."

"Then?"

Zero looked away.

Hiro leaned forward.

"Zero."

"What?"

"Something has been wrong with you for weeks."

Zero remained silent.

Hiro continued.

"You’re following me."

"I’m not."

"You are."

"I’m nearby."

"You’re terrible at lying."

Zero glanced toward Aidan.

Aidan immediately raised both hands.

"I’m staying out of this."

Hiro looked back at Zero.

"Every time something happens, you’re there."

Zero didn’t answer.

"And somehow, whenever I ask you why, you suddenly become very interested in the weather."

"I don’t."

"You did yesterday."

"It was raining."

"Exactly."

Aidan turned away, trying not to laugh.

Zero ignored him.

Hiro’s expression slowly became serious.

"Is someone targeting me?"

Zero looked at him.

For a moment, he considered telling him.

Not everything.

Just enough.

But the words stopped.

Earth Zero’s existence was still known only to him.

And Zero still didn’t understand what Earth Zero wanted.

Telling Hiro now would only make him another part of the situation.

Perhaps that was exactly what Earth Zero wanted.

Zero shook his head.

"I don’t know."

Hiro stared at him.

That answer was more honest than Zero’s previous ones.

And Hiro seemed to recognize it.

"You really don’t know."

"No."

Hiro leaned back.

For the first time, he looked uncertain.

"Then why does it feel like everyone suddenly expects something from me?"

Zero didn’t answer.

Because he was beginning to feel the same thing.

**********************************************

That evening, Zero returned to his room and spread the reports across the table.

He had stopped searching for attack patterns.

Instead, he studied Hiro.

Not his strength.

Not his mana.

His position.

Every major event since the mysterious force appeared had placed Hiro somewhere important.

At first, Zero had assumed Earth Zero was simply creating opportunities.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

It felt more deliberate than that.

Earth Zero wasn’t creating a new Hiro.

He wasn’t changing Hiro’s personality.

He wasn’t making him stronger.

He wasn’t even directly forcing him to act.

Hiro was still Hiro.

The only thing changing was—

where people looked.

Zero stared at the words written across one of the reports.

Public interest in Hiro continues to rise.

He placed another report beside it.

Military confidence in Hiro’s leadership has increased.

Another.

Hiro’s actions have become the primary focus of public discussion regarding the recent crisis.

Zero slowly leaned back.

"What does attention have to do with anything?"

He had asked the question before.

But now it had become impossible to ignore.

Earth Zero had taken enormous risks.

He had attacked the peace.

Manipulated events.

Created fear across the human domain.

All to change something as simple as attention.

It made no sense.

Unless attention wasn’t simple.

Zero stared at Hiro’s name.

"Why does it matter who people are looking at?"

No answer came.

**********************************************

The next clue arrived unexpectedly.

Aidan placed a small stack of documents on Zero’s desk.

"What’s this?"

"Reports you requested."

"I didn’t request these."

"You did."

Aidan sat down.

"Three days ago."

Zero looked through the documents.

They were older records.

Public reports from the months following the battle against Aamon.

Zero’s expression changed.

"I didn’t ask for these."

Aidan frowned.

"You asked me to collect information about how public opinion changed after the war."

Zero remained silent.

He remembered asking for something similar.

But not these exact reports.

Still, they were useful.

He began reading.

The first weeks after the battle were predictable.

Fear.

Relief.

Celebration.

Then came the names.

Mia Frostine.

Hiro.

The others.

The reports showed how the public image of the heroes had developed.

Zero continued reading.

Mia’s name gradually became more prominent.

Not because anyone deliberately pushed her forward.

She had simply become the easiest symbol of victory.

Her strength.

Her involvement.

The public story surrounding the final battle.

Everything had slowly gathered around her.

Hiro remained recognized.

But over time—

the focus shifted.

Zero placed the papers down.

Aidan watched him.

"Is that important?"

"I don’t know."

"That seems to be your favorite answer recently."

Zero ignored him.

He looked back at the reports.

There was something strange about seeing it written down.

Mia had not taken anything from Hiro.

Nobody had chosen to remove him.

Nothing dramatic had happened.

The world’s attention had simply moved.

A little at a time.

Until people began associating the greatest victory of their generation with someone else.

Zero’s expression became serious.

Earth Zero had noticed it.

He was sure of that now.

Somehow, the other Zero had looked at this gradual shift and decided it needed to be reversed.

But why?

**********************************************

That night, Zero found Earth Zero.

There was no attack.

No trap.

No mysterious message.

Zero simply found him.

Earth Zero stood on the roof of an abandoned building outside the capital.

He didn’t turn around when Zero arrived.

"You’ve become better at finding me."

"You’re letting me find you."

"Sometimes."

Zero walked closer.

Below them, the city lights stretched into the distance.

For several moments, neither spoke.

Then Zero said—

"You’re restoring Hiro."

Earth Zero’s expression didn’t change.

"Am I?"

"Don’t play games."

"I’m not."

Zero stepped beside him.

"You created situations where people would look at him."

"Yes."

"You knew he would respond."

"Yes."

"You knew people would begin talking about him."

Earth Zero looked toward the city.

"Yes."

Zero’s voice became colder.

"Then you’re restoring something."

For the first time, Earth Zero was silent for longer than usual.

Finally, he spoke.

"Maybe."

Zero frowned.

"Maybe?"

"You’re assuming I know exactly what I’m restoring."

That answer made Zero pause.

Earth Zero continued.

"I know what changed."

His eyes remained on the city.

"I know what disappeared."

Zero watched him carefully.

"But I don’t know how much of it can still be brought back."

"What disappeared?"

Earth Zero didn’t answer.

Zero stepped forward.

"Why Hiro?"

The other Zero finally turned toward him.

"Why do you think?"

"Because you believe he belongs at the center."

Earth Zero’s expression changed slightly.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

"You’re getting closer."

"Closer to what?"

"Understanding the question."

Zero’s patience disappeared.

"Stop talking like that."

Earth Zero smiled faintly.

"You really haven’t changed."

"Answer me."

For several seconds, Earth Zero looked directly into his eyes.

Then he spoke.

"You think attention is meaningless."

Zero didn’t respond.

"People praise someone. Then they praise someone else. A hero becomes famous. Another is forgotten."

Earth Zero turned away.

"To you, that’s all this is."

Zero frowned.

"Isn’t it?"

Earth Zero remained silent.

The wind moved across the rooftop.

Then he said—

"That’s what I thought too."

Zero’s expression hardened.

Earth Zero continued.

"Until I saw what happened when someone stopped being remembered."

Zero froze.

"What?"

But Earth Zero had already stepped backward.

Space distorted around him.

Zero immediately moved.

"Wait."

Earth Zero disappeared.

Zero stood alone.

The words remained in his mind.

When someone stopped being remembered.

He stared at the empty space where Earth Zero had been.

Then slowly looked toward the city.

"What does that have to do with Hiro?"

**********************************************

For the rest of the night, Zero couldn’t sleep.

He kept returning to the same conversation.

I know what changed.

I know what disappeared.

I don’t know how much of it can still be brought back.

Earth Zero wasn’t speaking like someone who simply wanted Hiro to become famous.

He was speaking like someone who had already lost something.

Something connected to being remembered.

Zero sat beside the window.

Below him, the city was quiet.

People slept.

Tomorrow, they would wake.

They would go to work.

Visit guilds.

Read newspapers.

Talk about the heroes.

Talk about Hiro.

Talk about Mia.

Ordinary things.

Yet Earth Zero had turned those ordinary things into something important.

Zero looked at his reflection in the window.

"Remembered..."

He whispered the word.

Why did it matter?

He didn’t know.

But for the first time, Zero began to suspect that Earth Zero wasn’t trying to decide who should become a hero.

He was trying to prevent something from disappearing.

And somehow—

Hiro was connected to it.

*************************************************

Across the capital, Earth Zero stood inside the unfamiliar room.

The papers remained spread across the table.

Names.

Events.

Dates.

This time, however, he didn’t look at Hiro’s name.

His eyes rested on an empty space beside it.

A place where another name had once been written.

He reached toward it.

Then stopped.

His hand remained suspended above the paper.

"Not yet."

His voice was barely audible.

The name remained unwritten.

Earth Zero slowly pulled his hand back.

Outside the window, Edolas continued moving toward morning.

He looked at the horizon.

For now, Hiro was being remembered again.

That was enough.

But Zero Elea was beginning to understand.

Not the truth.

Not yet.

Only the shape of it.

Earth Zero wasn’t fighting to give Hiro attention.

He was fighting because he believed attention could be lost.

And whatever happened when it was—

he was afraid it would happen again.