Chapter 1:

Sho Hashimoto

HotHero: Into the Another World With a Face No One Can’t Resist but That’s All I Have

The sky was dark, heavy with clouds, as if rain could fall at any moment.

At Toukei High Academy, classes had just ended. Students poured out of the building, chatting with friends, walking in groups, some laughing, others eager to get home before the storm.

Among them was a boy, running down the street as if in a hurry. A face mask covered the lower half of his face. His messy, uncombed hair bounced as he moved, and his glasses sat crooked on his nose.

His uniform was untidy, and he seemed like someone who didn’t care about his appearance --or much else, for that matter.

Focused on whatever task was on his mind, the boy didn’t notice the group of bigger students ahead of him. He crashed into one of them, and both of them fell to the ground.

The bigger boys weren’t from Toukei High. Their uniforms were different, worn loose and sloppy. One glance was enough to know -- they were delinquents.

The boy scrambled to his feet, flustered.

“Ah… s-sorry! I was in a hurry, I didn’t see you--”

One of the delinquents sneered as he spotted the Toukei Academy uniform.

“Huh? A Toukei kid?”

Another cracked his knuckles, grinning.

"Didn’t we have trouble with those elite Toukei brats the other day?”

The boy shook his head, his voice trembling.

“Y-yeah, I’m from Toukei, but I’m not part of the elite group! I swear I’m not involved!”

The first delinquent smirked.

“Well, well. Doesn’t matter. You’re from Toukei -- that’s reason enough.”

The one he’d bumped into grabbed the boy’s collar and yanked him close.

“Tch… Watch where you’re going, idiot. That wasn’t an accident, was it?”

The boy’s hands shook.

“N-no! I swear, it was an accident! I was just in a hurry!”

The others chuckled darkly.

“Come with us for a bit.”

They dragged him to an empty lot --an abandoned patch of weeds and cracked concrete hidden from view.

Without another word, they started beating him. Punches to his stomach. A kick to his side. The boy tried to shield himself, but it was no use.

After a while, one of the delinquents grabbed at his facemask.

“Oi, what’s this for? You hiding something under here?”

Before the boy could stop them, they tore it off.

For a second, they froze, staring at his face--

The one he spent years hiding.

The face that made strangers flinch, and classmates whisper behind his back.

Then they burst out laughing.

One of them laughed louder

“Pfft… so that’s what you were hiding? Damn. Mann! I almost feel bad for hitting you.”

He raised his fist again.

“Almost. Maybe my punches will fix that ugly face of yours.”

They kept hitting him until they lost interest, then let him fall to the dirt. His glasses were cracked, his clothes filthy, blood dripping from his lip.

As they walked away, they talked among themselves.

"Damn, that felt good. Been a while since we got to beat up a Toukei kid.”

“Yeah. That really lifted my mood,” another said, laughing as they disappeared down the street, leaving the boy lying alone under the darkening sky.

The boy lay on the ground, covered in dirt, as the rain started to fall. His uniform was soaked within seconds, and his cracked glasses hung crooked on his face.

He stayed still for a moment, feeling the cold rain hit him. Then, slowly, he pushed himself up. His arms and legs ached. His body felt heavy.

“Man… that really hurts,” he muttered.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, smearing blood and mud without caring. His knees shook as he stood.

“I almost forgot… I still need to go.”

This wasn’t anything new.

The boy started walking, slow and unsteady. The rain fell harder, but he didn’t bother to run.

By the way I’m Sho Hashimoto.

I was born with a face that never quite drew kind looks.

Ever since I can remember, my face has made people look at me with pity… or disgust.

“At first, I didn’t understand why people treated me like this… why everyone was always looking away from me.”

Since I was little, I had this one small wish. Just one.

I wanted a friend. Someone who’d smile at me. Someone who’d talk to me.

So I kept trying. I’d smile. I’d wave. I’d walk up to people and say it, over and over.

“Want to be friends?”

“My name’s Sho. What’s yours?”

I really believed if I just kept trying, someone would say yes. That maybe, just maybe, someone would see past this face.

But no matter what I did, they always walked away. Pretended they didn’t hear me. Some even laughed as they turned their backs.

Soon, I realized it was only natural.

Just as people with appealing features draw attention,

Those of us born without them are simply… overlooked.

I happened to fall into that second kind--the kind people’s eyes slide past without a thought.

Of course, everyone faces their own struggles in life.

Even if you’re born with plain or unremarkable looks,

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’re blessed with kind souls who see past it all.

But in my case…

I guess I wasn’t one of the lucky ones.Maybe it’s because of the way I look.

Or maybe because I never quite blended in with the rest.

Since the first day I stepped into elementary school, something about me made me stand out--and not in a good way. I didn’t talk much. I didn’t know how to smile the way others did. I didn’t have the kind of face people were drawn to.

So they picked me.

As the one to mock.

To push around.

To ignore when I tried to speak.

To laugh at when I walked by.

It didn’t happen all at once.

At first, I thought maybe I was imagining things.Maybe I was overthinking it.

But the stares never softened. The whispers never stopped.

And before I even knew what I had done wrong, I was already labeled--the weird one, the loner, the ugly one.

Oddly enough, I never learned how to hate them.

Even when they laughed.

Even when they pushed.