Hiro the Spider
Episode 1 — Crawl Before You Kill
The city was a mess of neon veins and cracked stone arteries. Skyscrapers stretched high, bending light into warped reflections of a world that never slept, a world where heroes, villains, and something in between clawed at each other for dominance.
And in that chaos, one voice rose above the static.
"Move, you slow-ass cowards!"
The shout came from a boy scaling the academy's glass tower wall like it was a playground ladder. Black hoodie flapping, shoes scraping glass, Hiro smirked as students and pedestrians below craned their necks. He didn't bother with doors. He never did.
Hiro the Spider. Level 1. Anti-hero.
His gifts? Agility like a predator, reflexes sharper than a blade, and a knack for running walls like gravity owed him rent. His eyes burned with cocky defiance, and his grin promised trouble.
The school bell chimed as he swung himself into a high window, flipping cleanly onto the polished floor. Heads turned. Teachers sighed. Girls whispered.
"Of course it's him."
"He's so damn reckless—look at him."
"Ugh, he's hot though…"
Hiro brushed imaginary dust from his shoulder. "What? Don't stop your little gossip party on my account."
He sauntered past rows of heroes-in-training, villains simmering with malice, and would-be legends. Here, the academy didn't give a damn about morality—hero, villain, anti-hero, it didn't matter. Everyone went through the same halls. Everyone did the same missions.
Because missions were life.
Each mission meant one permanent level gained just for surviving. Two levels if you completed it. Kill another powered being? One level for the kill. The system was merciless and glorious. Infinite dimensions. Infinite missions. Infinite rise… or fall.
And Hiro? He wasn't here for justice. Wasn't here for chaos either. He was here because the grind meant power—and power meant he could do whatever the hell he wanted.
⸻
The Announcement
The floor hummed as the academy's HUD activated, filling the air with glowing data streams. Every student paused. Every conversation died.
[Mission Queue Active.]
[25 combatants selected.]
A ripple of tension coursed through the room. Hiro cracked his knuckles, grinning like he'd just been handed free liquor.
"Aw, shit. First blood already?"
Names began scrolling in blinding light. Hiro spotted his own. "Hiro the Spider — Level 1 — Anti-Hero." He spat the words like they were a middle finger to the system.
Across the room, a hulking brute with horns locked eyes with him. A hero girl in white armor glanced nervously at the board. Another villain licked his lips. Twenty-five. All summoned.
The HUD pulsed again.
[Location Randomized: Omega Slums — Broken Dimension Shard.]
[Objective: Eliminate or Survive until Extraction. Completion Rewards: +2 Levels.]
Murmurs broke into excited chaos. The Omega Slums. A shattered, unstable pocket dimension known for collapsing realities and swarming chaos. Perfect stage for massacre.
⸻
Mission Start
Reality tore like fabric as a rift cracked open in the middle of the academy floor. Students gasped. Combatants stepped forward.
Hiro didn't hesitate. He walked into the glowing tear with his hands in his pockets. "Try not to die too quick," he muttered to no one in particular.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
When light returned, the air reeked of rust and blood. The Omega Slums stretched endlessly, skyscrapers half-collapsed, neon lights twitching on broken wires. The ground shuddered underfoot, as if the world itself hated being alive.
Twenty-four others materialized around him. Heroes. Villains. A few cocky anti-heroes. Every one of them radiated bloodlust.
"Level 1 trash."
"Easy kill."
"Don't blink, Spider-boy."
Hiro smirked, bouncing lightly on his heels, stretching his limbs. His reflexes tingled. He felt the world slow just slightly around him—the calm before chaos.
"Cute threats," he said. "Let's see if your corpses talk as much."
⸻
The First Kill
The mission began with no countdown. No warning. A bolt of lightning split the air as a hero lunged forward, spear crackling. Hiro barely tilted his head before the strike hissed past his ear.
Too slow.
He pivoted, his body flowing like water, flipping over the hero's shoulder. Mid-spin, his foot smashed into the hero's spine with brutal force. The man gasped, stumbling. Hiro landed cat-like, grinning.
"Damn, you felt that, didn't you?"
The hero roared, charging again. Hiro's reflexes sparked, his body moving faster than his mind. He grabbed the incoming spear, twisted, and shoved the weapon back through the hero's chest.
Blood sprayed. The hero froze, disbelief painted across his face.
[Kill Registered. +1 Level.]
A glow surged into Hiro's body, heat searing his veins. His muscles pulsed tighter. His reflexes sharpened. He laughed. "Oh, I like this system."
The Swarm
The kill was gasoline on fire.
"Take him down!" someone shouted.
Three villains pounced. Hiro ducked a claw swipe, springboarded off crumbling concrete, and snapped a roundhouse kick into another's jaw. Bone cracked. Another swung a blade—Hiro twisted his body sideways mid-air, spinning above the slash. His hand caught a lamppost; momentum whipped him around, and he smashed both feet into the attacker's chest, sending them through a flickering sign.
The glow in his body flared again. Level 3.
He landed, chest heaving, smile unshakable. Blood painted his hoodie. His eyes glistened.
"This is gonna be fun."
⸻
Attraction & Tension
A heroine in black and crimson armor landed near him, panting after tearing through a mutant beast. She gave Hiro a once-over, lips curling into a smirk.
"You're reckless as hell," she said.
"And you're staring," Hiro shot back.
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't deny it. "Careful, Spider. Heroes like me don't play with villains."
"I'm not a villain," Hiro said, stepping closer, his grin cocky, voice low. "I'm worse. Anti-hero. Means I play my own game. Means I don't care if you're drooling or not."
Her breath caught for a half second before she scoffed and flipped away into the chaos.
Hiro laughed to himself. "Yeah. She'll be back."
⸻
Cliffhanger
The ground trembled. A scream echoed as half the slums collapsed inward, forming a glowing pit of broken reality.
From the abyss, something massive stirred. Its roar ripped through every building, glass raining from above. The mission wasn't just about killing each other anymore. Something far worse had been unleashed.
Hiro's grin only widened. He licked blood from his knuckles, shoulders rolling loose.
"Perfect," he whispered. "Let's see what breaks first—this world, or me."
The HUD flickered one last time above them:
[Survive.]
And the battlefield erupted.