"Hello?"

Adam stood in the center of a completely sealed metallic hall. He'd been waiting there for several minutes now, as silence stretched between him and the observation window now visible above.

Behind the reinforced glass, the doctors huddled around themselves, their voices slightly muffled.

"So what exactly are we testing here?" One of the doctors adjusted his glasses, squinting at Adam's file. "His regeneration?"

Another shook his head. "Regeneration isn't really a special ability on its own. It's supplementary—what comes with other powers. Enhanced healing, rapid recovery... it's secondary."

"Then what's his primary ability?" another leaned forward.

"Regeneration?" Dr. Peterson, now with more confidence, joined in on the conversation. "It was quite obvious from the previous tests that his regeneration is off the charts—that's his main ability."

"The intern's correct." The lead technician squinted, reading Adam's file. "The only question here now is how do we test it."

The room fell quiet. Everyone knew what the lead technician was implying. None of them wanted to voice it.

Fortunately for them, none of them had to—the technician himself reached for the intercom.

"Adam," the technician's voice crackled through the speakers. "You may start demonstrating your special ability."

Adam looked around the empty chamber, then up at the observation window. [I need some sharp tools.]

And there it was—the words they were dreading to hear. The doctors exchanged glances, and several gulped audibly.

The technician looked at his colleagues, letting out another sigh. "I'll... provide them."

[Thank you, Sir.]

Adam continued to look around the vast metallic hall… even though there was nothing else there but him and the surprisingly pleasant temperature. But soon, the thick door hissed open, with the technician stepping inside.

…And he was carrying a combat knife and a small hammer.

The technician had a grim look on his face. He glanced at Adam, and then sighed as he gently placed the weapons on the floor, then began removing his white coat and shirt… revealing a body that seemed even more toned than the Silent Brawler's.

The technician's torso was also covered in scars—bullet wounds, knife marks, burns. His muscles were massive, built like a fortress.

"Uh…" Adam squinted, looking up at the observation and waited for them to explain.

"We need to test your regeneration," the technician was the only one to speak. "Take off the upper part of the suit."

"Right…"

And as Adam began pulling his suit open, the technician started laying out some ground rules.

"I need you to verbally consent to the following procedures. Do you agree to allow controlled injury for the purpose of ability evaluation?"

Adam hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

"Do you understand that this test may cause temporary pain and discomfort?"

"Yes."

"Do you consent to having your injuries documented and recorded for IBAA archives?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand that you may request to stop the test at any—" The technician suddenly stopped his words, his eyes widening as Adam pulled down the suit.

Adam's torso was a… painting of horror. Burns covered most of his chest and back—all completely dried. Most of the scars were obviously from all sorts of sharp tools, and if he was seeing it right—there were also several bite marks.

"Hmm," the technician whispered. "I assume... not all of those are from Games?"

Adam shrugged, looking down at himself. "Something like that."

He didn't know where most of the scars came from. As far back as his memory went, he could always heal. So these had to be from before the Hospital got him. Maybe the crypt he had visions of... or even before that?

Adam shook his head before his thoughts could trail further. It didn't matter for now, the Hospital was the only place that could provide answers.

"Hm. Then lastly, do you consent to controlled injury via blade and blunt force trauma?"

"Yes. But, which first?" Adam asked. "Hammer or knife?"

"I..." The technician looked at the weapons. "Knife, I suppose. Please, Mr. Smith. Give me your hand."

Adam extended his palm without hesitation.

"Are… you sure about this?"

Adam nodded.

"Okay." The technician sighed, and with a shake of his head, he drew the blade across Adam's palm. A thin line of blood appeared—

And then it was gone.

The technician squinted, then his eyes went wide. The wound had closed before he could even lower the knife—no. Before even a drop of blood could seep out from the wound.

It was already closing while he was still cutting through his skin.

"Spectacular," the technician gasped, and then looked Adam in the eyes. "Have you... tested the limits of this ability?"

"Tested it…?" Adam's mind flashed through his memories. The Hospital's experiments. All of his injuries in the Game. The car crashing into him. Bjorn's fists smashing his head entirely…

…the giant rat's teeth tearing through his skull.

"Involuntarily, yes."

The technician swallowed hard.

"Tell me immediately if you feel you're reaching your limit." He gently took Adam's hand again and, before Adam could react, drove the knife straight through his palm.

Blood sprayed across the floor as the technician yanked the blade free. And in less than two seconds, the wound sealed completely.

"That was even faster," the technician breathed. "Is your regeneration reactive? Does it speed up based on damage?"

"I don't know about that." Adam shrugged.

"Can you... can you regrow limbs?"

"Yes." Adam nodded.

"Really?" The technician raised the knife, then backed away. "This is too risky. I believe we can't proceed any further—"

"Can you give me the knife?"

"What?"

Adam sighed. "I'll do it myself, Sir."

The technician hesitated, then handed over the weapon. Adam raised it to his finger, positioning the blade—

But then stopped.

"O-oh…" the technician exhaled in relief. "It's okay to be scared. We can end the test here—"

And then Adam drove the knife into his own throat.

"Cut the feed!" The technician screamed at the observation window. "Cut it now!"

***

"What the hell?!" Long Nguyen shot up from his chair as his stream went black. "Are you kidding me right now?!"

The screen now showed only Adam's SEAPS evaluation sheet and a notice, [Please wait for the Hero's final tier classification.]

<WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREAM>

<Did he just kill himself???>

<i hpoe ur mother dies, Longify! Why did you cut the feed?!>

<This is BS, show us the results!>

"How is this my fault?!" Long's eyes widened as the chat started blaming him for some reason. He then sat back down, trying to think of a way to appease the chat.

"W-while we wait… what do you think Adam's final rank is?"

<D. Duh?>

<I bet he's E-tier>

<Maybe C-tier if they're generous>

<Power is only Regeneration? F. FFFFFFF>

<No way he's higher than E>

"True. But this…" Long crossed his arms. "This is insane! They can't just cut the feed like that! We have rights as viewers! Rights!"

Long and his chat continued to explain, and right when the hype was about to die down, the screen finally changed.

Adam was now on his hands and knees, scrubbing blood from the metallic floor alongside several janitors in hazmat suits.

[Sir, really, we can handle this.] One cleaner said.

[It's my mess.] Adam replied quietly, continuing to scrub.

[Please, you don't need to…]

[It's fine. I'm used to this.] Adam kept cleaning anyway.

And there, in the bottom right corner of the screen, appeared his final classification. As well as the reveal of his full Hero title.

[Adam, the Endless - Overall Tier: B*]

"What…?!"

<B-TIER?!?!?!>

<HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!>

<His agility was E-tier!!! His Perception is literally F! F!>

<RIGGED RIGGED RIGGED>

<Isn't his ability only Regeneration?!>

<This makes no sense>

<HOW????!!!!!>

<The Endless…? Kinda badass ngl>

<Mid C strength + E agility + F Perception = B tier???>

<WOMEN MATH>

<What… happened during the rest of the test…?>

<...Am I the only one seeing the asterisk? Why isn't anyone talking about that??? That's... hte first time I'm seeing that.>

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