Air Hero

Pyrogen

This is the first time for Kalina and Max to visit the Rising Star Agency. When they entered through the main entrance, in front of them, Max and Kalina can see a big logo of Rising Star Agency in neon lights style. A white reception desk was placed neatly on the left side. As for the right side, there are pictures in frames, and Yuna’s photo is placed in one of them. It seems to showcase the Rising Star Agency’s contracted heroes that worked with them.

Max finally sees what it means to be under a company or agency as a hero. The heroes are like celebrities and the face of the company. He himself is under an individual sponsorship of Kalina, so there’s no office like this or a place to show off his photo. However, he doesn’t feel jealous at all since he is satisfied with his current situation.

Max can be said to be lucky to have met Kalina, who is willing to sponsor him. If not, just like anybody else without a sponsor, he will need to struggle alone. Not to mention registering for the hero examination alone is expensive, and the process is tedious as there is a lot of paperwork to be filled.

Preparing for his costume will be hard too. However, he has his prepared by Kalina beforehand, and she didn’t force him to do anything at all. As for the heroes whose face is displayed on the wall of the Rising Star Agency, there should be jobs that they need to take, which is necessary by the agency. In other words, getting into an agency will give a lot of benefits, but working on individual sponsorship gives out more freedom.

“Since this is your first time here, let me give you a brief tour of this place, teacher. On the right side, these are the heroes that have signed a contract with the Rising Star Agency. The most famous one right now has to be me, but I am not someone to brag about myself, so I will tell you that the most famous one is someone else. This is the brightest star of the agency, Pyrogen.”

Max never sees him before, as for the past three years, he is focusing on his training, and before that, he hated anything that has something to do with the heroes' world. That is why he is unfamiliar with the heroes that are active now.

“Oh, is he famous?”

Max asked casually, and the receptionist is surprised. But, to tell the truth, there is nobody from the younger generation of heroes that don’t know about Pyrogen.

“You don’t know him? Teacher, as usual, he doesn’t watch any heroes’ news, isn’t he?”

“You know him. Even when he met you three years ago, he doesn’t even know who you are.”

“That’s right. I can be said to be one of the most famous newcomers back then, but he doesn’t even recognize me. Well, the same thing is happening again. Okay, I will tell you this. Pyrogen is the fastest hero to reach the A-rank. In total, he only needs four years to reach this rank which means his rank is increased every year.”

“Wow, he is that amazing?”

Max finally realizes why Pyrogen is famous. For a normal hero, to have his rank increased every year is almost close to impossibility. For example, Yuna’s rank is being promoted to C-rank after staying in D-rank for three years. It is still impressive nevertheless to have it at her age, but Pyrogen record is something else.

Usually, a hero will be able to increase his rank from D-rank to C-rank in a year at the fastest. From C to B, it will take two to three years on average. From C to B, it will take even longer as other than increasing their own ability, the mission and achievements requirement is enormous. From B to A, it is something that everyone could dream of. It takes special recognition from the people to be admitted as an A-rank. For S-rank, that is a particular case where there might not be new S-rank heroes after years. In fact, there haven’t been any new S-rank heroes since the bombing incident thirteen years ago.

This is why Pyrogen's feat of reaching A-rank in four years to be impressive. He might even be called the closest heroes to be promoted to the S-rank as there is a high probability of him achieving that feat if anyone is looking at his track record.

“You finally realize why Pyrogen is famous? Now, do you also understand why I’m famous?”

Yuna can also be said to be a star by herself as she managed to become a C-rank hero at the tender age of eighteen. Usually, teenagers this age just finished school, and even if they took the hero examination test, they would only get D-rank. Therefore, she can be said to be ahead of her peers by one to two years.

 “To be honest, none of the heroes that have their photo displayed here is normal. They all have special fields which they excel in. but, one thing we have in common, we are all rising stars, just like the name of this agency, Rising Star Agency. It is a truly fitting one.”

Yuna then explained to Max briefly about whose pictures are on display and their achievements. Once again, Max learned how vast is the heroes’ world and how many amazing heroes out there. But, of course, the title of most amazing ones still belongs to Pyrogen and Yuna.

“Alright, let’s continue the tour of the agency. Please come this way.”

Moving past the entrance, they are now heading towards the common area of the first floor. This can be said as a lounge where the agency receives their guest as there are several private rooms for business talk and open-air couches.

“If you look over there, there will be a meeting room where we usually held our press conference. The small private rooms usually used when talking about contracts for commercial or advertisement.”

Looking at the first floor rooms, Max realizes another difference between a company and private individuals sponsorship. The size is definitely different. The building seemed to consist of many different parts; meanwhile, he only has his one-room apartment. A company has also been systematically built to push effectiveness as different people will handle other things. As for Max, there’s only Kalina that will take care of everything for him.