To Be Hero X

After being fired from his job at an ad agency for making a commercial claiming "anyone" can be a hero, Lin Ling is about to jump off a building when the fifteenth-ranked hero Nice suddenly walks past him and commits suicide himself. Nice’s manager, Miss J, then appears and kidnaps Ling to prevent news from spreading. Realizing Ling resembles Nice, Miss J forces him to impersonate the hero while covering up his death by releasing an article claiming Ling was the one who died. Ling pulls off the act quite well, to the point that the Trust system physically changes him into Nice and gives him his powers. Soon, Ling goes on a talk show run by the hero Enlighter with Nice's girlfriend, the hero Moon. Enlighter attempts to slander Nice by bringing out Ling’s old boss, who became a villain empowered by fear, and blaming him for Ling's supposed suicide. However, the boss goes on a rampage, demanding payment for his services to Nice's agency. Though initially scared, Ling perseveres and defeats his former boss. Afterward, Ling goes to sleep in Nice’s house when he finds Moon lying on the ground, seemingly dead.

Waking up to find Moon is okay, Ling concludes that her death was a bad dream. However, Moon deduces that Ling is an impostor and reveals her relationship with Nice is a fabrication. While Moon wants out of her contract, Miss J announces that they plan for the two to get married and locks them inside Nice’s apartment until they agree. However, after bonding with Moon, Ling proposes an alternate plan to Miss J: faking Moon's death. They stage a fake proposal and plan to have it attacked by Wreck, Nice’s best friend and fabricated nemesis. Unfortunately, Wreck sees through Ling's impersonation and goes on a rampage upon learning of Nice's suicide, forcing Ling to defeat him for real and resulting in Wreck falling to his death. Ling and Moon then successfully fake the latter's death by pretending she was hit during the battle. Afterward, Ling says goodbye to Moon as she uses her powers to teleport herself away. Elsewhere, Enlighter deduces Ling is impersonating Nice when he is approached by a group of villains known as the Spotlight Organization, who offer him the power of Fear, which he accepts, becoming the villain God Eye.

To break into the top ten heroes, Miss J tasks Ling with apprehending Wolf Girl, the nemesis of the current tenth-ranked hero—Firm-Man. Discovering Wolf Girl's hideout, Ling uncovers that she plots to bomb a statue of Firm-Man. The bombs explode, causing the statue to almost fall on a child until Firm-Man stops it. However, Wolf Girl captures and threatens the child unless Firm-Man lets the statue fall. Fortunately, Ling arrives and reveals that Wolf Girl is, in fact, the first person Firm-Man ever saved and that she wants him to lose his power—unbendability—so he can stop suffering from its side effects. This causes Firm-Man to cry publicly, plummeting his Trust Value and removing his powers. The statue begins to fall, but Ling stops it, causing his own Trust Value to skyrocket, making him the new number ten. Afterward, Ling meets with the now-retired Firm-Man and confesses that he is not Nice, but the latter claims not to care. However, God Eye then publicly broadcasts that he has kidnapped Moon and threatens to expose Ling.

Ling wants to save Moon but is stopped by Miss J and the public's will. Instead, Miss J’s boss—CEO of hero agency TREEMAN, Shand—sends the hero Blankster, whose punches erase memories, to cover up the situation. However, God Eye defeats Brankster after plummeting his Trust Value by exposing his past as a cheating boxer. Miss J’s goons interrupt God Eye's broadcast with the same commercial Ling made the day he was fired. This inspires Ling to go against the will of the people, which undoes his powers. Arriving at the scene, Ling publicly comes clean about Nice's suicide and tries to fight God Eye, but gets repeatedly beaten. However, Ling’s determination and confession of love to Moon inspire the audience, giving him his own Trust and power of super strength, allowing him to defeat God Eye, though the captive Moon is revealed to be a fake. Afterward, God Eye is arrested, and Ling develops his own hero persona—The Commoner. Later, Ling visits the real Moon, only for her to then be assassinated by the ninth-ranked hero—E-Soul.

Yang Cheng is an orphan working as an E-Soul actor at a children's theater under the employ of ice-ko shop owner Rock. He gets hired by his school crush, Xia Qing, who cannot tell it is him under his costume, to be a personal entertainer for her little brother, Pomelo. Cheng and Pomelo bond as the latter helps him prepare for a competition to be a part of E-Soul's hero anniversary presentation. However, his zero Trust Value results in him losing. Still too afraid to confess his feelings towards Qing and sad over his loss, he leaves. Pomelo finds him but gets kidnapped by two of Cheng's former co-workers. Cheng gives chase and causes the kidnapper's vehicle to crash. Though no match against the kidnappers, Cheng refuses to give up, and Pomelo places faith in him upon seeing his determination. This gives Cheng his first trust value, unlocking electric power similar to E-Soul's, allowing him to defeat the kidnappers. Afterward, Cheng brings Pomelo home to Qing when he is confronted by one of the competition's judges—Shang Chao.

Note: This story occurs before Nice's in the timeline.

After getting Pomelo checked out, Chao shows that Cheng has gone viral as New E-Soul. Chao offers to become Cheng's manager, even building a small HQ for him in a warehouse, and his Trust Value continues to increase as he begins working as a hero. However, as Cheng's popularity starts eclipsing the real E-Soul's, the latter's manager attempts to frame him for being behind Pomelo's kidnapping to increase his Trust Value, causing Cheng to get arrested. Fortunately, Chao hires Enlighter to gather evidence of Cheng's innocence, and he is cleared of all charges. The next day, Cheng and Qing go to meet with Chao at the HQ—only for one of the same assailants who tried to kidnap Pomelo to kill Chao as Cheng and Qing watch on in horror.

Cheng blames himself for Chao's death, believing he could have stopped the assassin but hesitated. Learning from Enlighter that the culprits have a powerful benefactor, Cheng assumes it is E-Soul trying to sabotage his hero career again and publicly challenges him to a duel; E-Soul is convinced to accept by his manager. Qing repeatedly tries to talk Cheng out of fighting E-Soul, but he refuses, causing the two to fall out. During the duel, Cheng uses a strategy devised by Rock to get around E-Soul's electromagnetic shielding: forcing him to use his signature move—Lightning Slash—by starting an online campaign against him. With E-Soul's Trust Value plummeting, he is convinced by his manager to use Lightning Slash, but Cheng counters, killing the hero in the process. Afterward, Cheng—now the sole "E-Soul"—absorbs his predecessor's Trust Value and becomes the 9th-ranked hero, unaware that Rock—actually the CEO of hero agency Mighty Glory—is the true mastermind behind Pomelo's kidnapping and Chao's assassination; all to prop Cheng up.

A young girl miraculously survives a plane crash and is found by journalist Liu Zheng. Suspicious that no hero intervened in the incident, Zheng smuggles her away before leaving her with a friend, who is the dean of an orphanage, naming her Cyan. She is soon revealed to be incredibly lucky, which the other orphans, the caretakers, and eventually even the dean begin to exploit. As a result, five years later, the orphanage has become a cult centered around her. However, this leaves Cyan isolated from her peers until she meets a new boy named Luo, who is said to bring misfortune. Confiding in him about her desire to be "average", he helps her feel normal, and the two bond. Another six years later, the now-teenage Cyan and Luo attempt to escape from the orphanage but are intercepted by the dean, who reveals himself to be a former hero with intentions of raising the orphans into heroes as well.

Note: This story occurs before Nice and E-Soul's in the timeline.

Despite the dean's attempts to stop her, Cyan escapes when a combination of her luck and Luo's misfortune causes a truck to crash into the orphanage. However, Luo gets injured and is left behind. With her luck gone due to her Trust Value collapsing, Cyan becomes a street performer to earn money and afford necessities, finally giving her a semblance of a normal life. She soon becomes popular, causing her powers to return, and is scouted by hero agency DOS in exchange for their help in saving Luo; however, bitter over losing custody of Cyan, the Dean lies that Luo is dead while keeping him confined at the orphanage. Two years later, Cyan is now a famous idol by the name "Lucky Cyan". Luo learns about Cyan's new life and is happy for her until the dean whispers something in his ear, shocking him. Afterward, the orphanage's inhabitants are seen having been transformed into zombie-like creatures.

The zombification of the orphanage's inhabitants is revealed to stem from public fear after their connection to Cyan is exposed; the populace learned about her surviving the plane crash, spreading rumors that her luck comes at others' expense. As the negative press impacts Cyan's Trust Value, her colleague—the hero Queen—comes up with a plan: unveil the truth behind the incident using the plane's black box, which Zhen salvaged and entrusted to the dean. Returning to the orphanage, Cyan takes the recorder after defeating the zombified inhabitants, including the dean. However, she is then attacked by a zombified Luo, who reveals his parents died in the crash. Fortunately, Cyan manages to replay the recording, revealing that her luck originates from the passengers praying for her survival, causing Luo to come to his senses, and the two reconcile. Afterward, Cyan becomes the 7th-ranked hero once her name is cleared, unaware that Zheng and DOS's CEO—Mickey—masterminded everything to unveil the existence of the power of Fear to the public. Elsewhere, Shand begins his own Fear experiments.

Liu Yuwei is a prodigy who announces during her university graduation at the age of fourteen that she intends to become the number one hero and change the current Trust system. Four years later, she has signed up with DOS and is now the youngest hero to ever break into the top ten, with the public naming her "Queen." Her debut also generated support for heroines, which gave her colleague, Bowa, enough Trust Value to win the 16th biennial Hero Tournament and become the first female top-ranked hero in over twenty years. However, Queen and Bowa do not get along, since Mickey treats the latter as a stepping stone for the former. Another four years later, Queen participates in the 18th Hero Tournament. While it was expected to come down to a match between Queen and Bowa, both are easily defeated by a mysterious participant who instantly becomes the new first-ranked hero; with his true identity unknown, people refer to him by the top-ranker's epithet—"X". Afterward, Queen becomes depressed as she is faced with failure for the first time while Bowa succumbs to the power of Fear after learning that Queen is Zheng's daughter.

Note: This story occurs concurrently with Lucky Cyan's in the timeline.

Queen snaps out of her depression upon learning of the controversy around her junior—Cyan—leading to her formulating the plan of recovering the plane's black box. Shortly afterward, Queen begins working harder than ever as a hero. Conversely, Bowa becomes a Fear-empowered villain as she deludes herself that Queen's rise stems solely from Zheng's connections with Mickey. Two years later, on the night before the 19th Hero Tournament, Bowa ambushes Queen to eliminate her competition, even though she cannot compete due to dropping out of the top ten. In the end, following a fierce battle, Bowa is defeated and taken into custody. Unfortunately, Queen is also injured and falls unconscious for several days, causing her to miss the tournament, which X once again wins. Although Queen is devastated, Cyan comforts her and tells her to stop overworking herself. By next year, Queen has fully recovered, but Mickey forces her to take a vacation with Cyan. However, while on a road trip together, they stumble upon a monster.

After hearing Queen's university graduation speech as a child, Luo Li gained aspirations of becoming a hero. Unfortunately, she struggles to gather people's Trust since her cute appearance does not fit the stereotypical view of heroes. Not giving up, she builds a mechanical suit using spare parts from her scientist father's lab to fight crime while hiding her appearance as the vigilante "Loli." However, when her helmet accidentally comes off and she gets called "cute" by a girl she saved from a stalker, she nearly reaches her breaking point. Fortunately, Loli's father recognizes her genius and arranges for her to work under him at the technology firm Glimmer Lab. There, Loli reunites with the girl she saved—Wang Nuonuo—and bonds with her as they work together to improve the former's suit. However, after returning from a night out, the lab is suddenly attacked by former first-ranked hero-turned-villain DJ Shindig.

Note: This story occurs after E-Soul and Lucky Cyan's, concurrently with Queen's, and before Nice's in the timeline.

Shindig's objective is revealed to be a power of Fear container that Glimmer Lab has been experimenting with. However, he is confronted by Nuonuo, who drunkenly mistakes him for her stalker, and Loli in her upgraded suit. A fight ensues, resulting in Loli throwing Shindig into the Fear container, causing the substance to break free and corrupt him. Loli's father then arrives with a response team led by the hero Ghostblade. However, although they contain the Fear, Shindig escapes. Seeing that Loli is unaffected by the Fear, her father deduces that her suit is resistant to it. Later, Loli's father reports to the hero agencies' regulator—the Hero Affairs Commission—where he reveals that the suit's components originate from a crashed UFO and requests permission to investigate the craft, which he is granted. Elsewhere, Shindig flees back to his benefactor—the Spotlight Organization—and is given a new mission.

Since young, Wang Yi has had antisocial tendencies. Still, his silent demeanor caused others to view him as "cool," resulting in the Trust system rendering him mute. He eventually got scouted to be a hero by Mighty Glory—taking the name "Ghostblade"—with his primary work being assassinating rogue heroes. During one job, he saved a girl—Zhang Lan—who was as antisocial as himself, and they soon got married. However, Lan changed after their daughter—Nuonuo—was born, wanting Ghostblade to quit being a hero and start a family with her. Unfortunately, he was not ready to take that step, causing her to divorce him and take Nuonuo with her. Unable to be with his daughter conventionally, Ghostblade shadowed her throughout her life, himself being the "stalker" Loli saved her from. In the present, after the attack on Glimmer Lab, Ghostblade volunteers to be security for Loli's father's planned excursion to the crashed UFO upon learning that the incident's other witnesses, including Nuonuo, will be joining as well.

Note: This story acts as a continuation of Loli's arc.

A research team composed of Ghostblade, Nuonuo, Loli, Loli's father, and the hero Little Johnny and his pet Big Johnny travels to the UFO crash site. Unfortunately, complications arise when Loli deduces that Ghostblade is Nuonuo's "stalker," culminating in everyone bearing their feelings while camping. However, Ghostblade realizes something is wrong and discovers that they have been followed by Shindig, who has been empowered by Fear and is causing everyone to become overly emotional. Ghostblade proceeds to fight and kill Shindig with ease, though this seemingly causes him to get infected by the power of Fear himself. Afterward, Nuonuo finds Ghostblade's journal and deduces from it that he is her father, while Loli realizes that Little Johnny and Big Johnny have disappeared. Elsewhere, Cyan is contacted by Queen regarding their upcoming vacation together.

Many years ago, during a mission to explore the crashed UFO, first-ranked hero Ah Sheng captured an animal-like alien. Fearing it would otherwise get experimented on, he brought the creature back home with him, resulting in his son—Ah Johnny, A.K.A Little Johnny—taking it as his pet—Big Johnny. After his wife passes away from terminal illness, Sheng retires as a hero and moves to the countryside with Little Johnny and Big Johnny. There, they lived quietly as a family, with the Johnnies training to become heroes like Sheng. However, three years later, they were suddenly visited one day by Sheng's old colleague—the then-top-ranker Vortex—who requested that he come out of retirement, but he refused. That night, the Johnnies found Sheng dead outside their house, with Little Johnny assuming Vortex to be the culprit. Overwhelmed by anger, Big Johnny then transformed into a giant monster and attacked a nearby village, prompting Vortex to come to the inhabitants ' aid, while Sheng's true killer—Ghostblade—watched on.

Note: This story acts as a continuation of Loli and Ghostblade's arcs.

Big Johnny ultimately defeated Vortex, though fortunately, Little Johnny then arrived and calmed him down. In the aftermath, news of Little Johnny "taming" Big Johnny spread, skyrocketing his Trust Value, and they got scouted by the hero agency FOMO. Afterward, Little Johnny vowed to become the top-ranked hero and make Vortex reveal what he knew about his father's death. However, Vortex later died in the same plane crash that orphaned Cyan. In the present, following the Glimmer Lab attack, FOMO's CEO—Zack—assigns the Johnnies as security to the UFO research team. Meanwhile, Mickey has a conversation with Zheng, revealing that the Spotlight Organization works for DOS and Zheng is their leader. Interested in the UFO, Mickey sends Queen to the area under the guise of a vacation. Back with the Johnnies, during Shindig's attack, Big Johnny runs away upon sensing something, and Little Johnny follows. This leads them to find the aftermath of Ghostblade's fight with Shindig, with Little Johnny recognizing it as the work of his father's murderer.

As the research team recovers from Shindig's attack, Little Johnny becomes suspicious of Ghostblade, but ultimately dismisses it. Continuing their journey, the team reaches the UFO wreckage and begins excavating it when Big Johnny suddenly runs inside, with Little Johnny and Ghostblade giving chase. Unbeknownst to the others, Ghostblade has been given a secret mission by his superior—Rock—to kill Little Johnny and retrieve Big Johnny. However, he misses his chance when he and the Johnnies discover a room that seemingly once housed alien passengers. Just then, the two are attacked by E-Soul, who was sent to kill them all by Rock, as the latter suspects that Ghostblade has become disloyal due to the latter continually going behind his back to watch over Nuonuo. Elsewhere, Nuonuo explores the UFO with Loli's father when they are confronted by the original Nice, who attacks after revealing that Shand sent him to dispose of the research team, since the discovery of a material capable of suppressing Trust Value could crash the hero industry. However, he is stopped by the timely arrival of Loli.

Mickey approaches Shand and proposes an alliance to blame the events at the UFO on Rock, whom the latter is aware orchestrated the murder of his son—Chao. At the UFO, Loli holds off Nice while her father and Nuonuo flee, before escaping herself. However, she is then met by a group of dark-clad men—the results of Shand's Fear experiments—who critically injure Nuonuo and kill her father alongside the other research team members; Loli defeats them all, but Nice then catches up with her. Meanwhile, E-Soul defeats Ghostblade and Little Johnny, causing Big Johnny to go berserk, destroying the UFO in the process. Fortunately, Queen and Cyan arrive, having been drawn to the commotion, and the former single-handedly subdues everyone, ending the battle. One year later, as a result of the incident, the 20th Hero Tournament gets cancelled, Loli signs up with FOMO and becomes a successful hero, Ghostblade resigns from Mighty Glory, and Nuonuo is in a coma. Elsewhere, Rock—revealed to be a worshipper of Zero, the original hero who became corrupted by Fear and nearly destroyed the world in the past—continues his own plans alongside the hero Dragon Boy.

Note: This story acts as the conclusion to Queen, Loli, Ghostblade, and The Johnnies' arcs.