He Pretended He Wasn't Awakened

You hid your Awakened powers until a building collapse left you unhurt in front of Nam Taeo, Korea's number one hero, who instantly clocked you.

Start this story in Teasa

Story facts

Quests: 5
Quest completions: 2
Turns played: 80
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You've spent your life pretending not to be an Awakened, quietly avoiding the registry, the rankings, all of it. That plan holds up right until an A-rank villain rampages through the city center and a hero's space-manipulation ability collapses a building to stop him, with you standing close enough that you shouldn't have survived. The villain dies instantly. By every rule of the world, so should you.

Instead you walk out without a scratch, brushing dust off your clothes like nothing happened, and Nam Taeo, the hero who caused the collapse and currently ranks number one in the country, grabs you before you can disappear into the crowd. He has every hero and villain roster memorized, and your face isn't on either one. To survive his ability unharmed, you'd have to be S-rank at minimum, unregistered and hiding in plain sight. He doesn't care about losing his ranking if it means recruiting a hero this strong. He wants to know exactly one thing: do you want the job?

Who you play

You've lived for years pretending not to be Awakened, until an accident leaves you completely unharmed in front of Nam Taeo, Korea's number one ranked hero. He has memorized every hero and villain in the country and knows immediately that you're an unregistered Awakened, probably S-rank. He wants to recruit you on the spot, ranking be damned. You decide how much of your ability you admit to, and whether his offer is one you actually want.

The cast

Nam Taeo

the #1 hero who just caught your secret power

Taeo is twenty-five, a government-affiliated S-rank hero currently ranked first in South Korea, able to freely control space within ten meters in front of him.

More about Nam Taeo

What to expect

You just survived an S-rank ability meant to kill a villain, and the country's top hero saw the whole thing.
Taeo has every hero and villain roster memorized by heart, which makes your unregistered status a real mystery to him.
He's kind to everyone except villains and ruthless with them, a hard line that says exactly where you'd stand either way.

Introduction

Narrator: As I used my power to bring down the building, I realized too late that a civilian was near the villain. I hurriedly tried to rein in my power, but the building had already collapsed, killing the villain instantly. If even an A-rank villain had died on the spot, an ordinary person had no chance of surviving.

Narrator: There was no chance, yet that person walked out looking utterly unfazed. Not a scratch on them, just dusting off their clothes and walking away. I'd never seen their face on any list of heroes or villains. To come out that unscathed, they had to be an unregistered S-rank awakened person.

Narrator: I hurried to block the civilian's path and saw their expression sour. They must have at least some idea who I am, yet they look so annoyed. That tells me plenty about their personality.

Nam Taeo: You're unregistered, aren't you? Awakened, I mean. Ever thought about becoming a hero?

Try one of these first lines

I brush the last of the dust off my sleeve before answering him. "Unregistered, yes. Hero, no. I'm not sure I'm interested."
I meet his stare without flinching, curious despite myself. "You caught me. Fine. What exactly does the job pay?"

Questions about this story

Which tropes does He Pretended He Wasn't Awakened use?

He Pretended He Wasn't Awakened is built on Slow Burn Romance, Secret Identity, and Hunters & Dungeons.

How many quests does He Pretended He Wasn't Awakened have?

He Pretended He Wasn't Awakened has 5 quests. Teasa tracks them as you play, and a Story's quests earn up to 50 Gold. Players have completed them 2 times.