Chapter 59 National Broadcast

Chapter 59 National Broadcast
Hours later, I sat in a dimly lit safe room deep inside the IHA headquarters, watching the footage dominate every television screen and digital platform in the country.

The images played on loop across multiple monitors mounted on the wall. Me standing in the plaza with my arms raised, holding the entire collapsing facility in the air like it weighed nothing. The building frozen mid-fall. The dust. The flames. The moment I finally let it drop.

Soren stood beside me, arms crossed, his face tight as he watched the coverage. “It’s everywhere. Every channel. Every social feed. They’re calling it the Miracle of the Eastern District.”

I stared at the screen, my body still aching from the strain. “Miracle? They’re not calling it that. Look at the headlines.”

A news anchor’s voice filled the room as the footage replayed again. “We are seeing this moment for the tenth time tonight, but it still defies explanation. An unidentified hunter… now confirmed as Elias Verne, the sole survivor of the recent Abyss Gate expedition… somehow held an entire collapsing facility in the air for nearly four minutes. Lives were saved. But questions remain.”

Another analyst cut in on a split screen. “This is not standard hunter ability. This is something new. Something dangerous. We need answers from the Association immediately. Is this man a hero or a threat?”

Public opinion split instantly across the country.

On one channel, a panel debated heatedly. “He saved hundreds of lives tonight. That makes him a hero. Plain and simple. We should be thanking him, not questioning him.”

A different expert interrupted. “Thanking him? He held a building in the air with his mind. No known S-Rank can do that. This is Abyss-level power. We need him contained before he becomes the next dungeon breach.”

Social media feeds scrolled rapidly on another screen. Comments flooded in faster than I could read.

@CitySafeNow: HERO!!! He risked everything for strangers. We need more like him!

@GateTruth: Weapon. The Association created a monster and now they’re pretending it’s a miracle. #MonsterVerne

@RealHunterFan: Threat. If he can hold a building, what else can he do? Lock him up before he turns on us.

@AbyssWatcher: He’s not human anymore. That power isn’t normal. Eliminate the risk.

I felt my stomach twist. “They’re tearing me apart on live television. Some call me a hero. Others want me dead. No one sees me as a person anymore. Just a weapon or a monster.”

Soren turned down the volume on one of the screens. “Public reaction is always like this at first. Fear and hope fighting for the same story. But the government is moving fast.”

The screen switched to an emergency press conference. A government spokesperson stood at a podium, flanked by officials in suits. Cameras flashed constantly as he spoke.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Hunter Association and federal authorities have been working together since the incident. After careful review of all available data, we have reached a decision regarding the individual known as Elias Verne.”

The room fell silent on the broadcast. Even Soren stopped moving.

The spokesperson continued, his voice steady and official. “The individual known as Elias Verne is now under federal supervision.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut.

I stared at the screen, feeling cold spread through my entire body. “Federal supervision? They’re making it sound like I’m a criminal. Like I’m dangerous. Like I need to be locked away.”

Soren turned off the monitor completely. The room went quiet except for the low hum of the facility systems.

“They’re trying to control the narrative,” he said quietly. “Catastrophe classification was already on the table. This is their way of keeping you contained while they decide what to do with you. It buys us time, but it also puts you under their thumb.”

I pressed my hands against my face, breathing shakily. “I saved people tonight. I held a building in the air so hundreds could escape. And now they’re treating me like I’m the problem. Like I’m the disaster they need to manage.”

Soren sat down across from me, his expression heavy. “This is how the world works when it doesn’t understand something powerful. They fear it. They try to control it. Or destroy it. You’re in the middle of that now, Elias. And it’s only going to get harder.”

I looked at my trembling hands, still feeling the ghost of the impossible weight I had held earlier. “I don’t want to be controlled. I don’t want to be destroyed. I just want to be left alone. I just want to figure out how to stay me.”

Soren didn’t answer right away. He just watched me, the weight of everything we had been through hanging between us.

The system interface appeared faintly in my vision.

\[STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 70%\]

Another drop.

I closed my eyes, feeling the Core inside me stir quietly, almost amused by the world’s reaction.

They called me a hero on one channel.

A threat on another.

A weapon on the third.

And now, officially, I was under federal supervision.

I wasn’t a person anymore.

I was a problem to be managed.

And I had no idea how much longer I could keep fighting to stay human before the world decided for me.