To Be Hero X - Episode 1

Lin Ling, an ordinary marketing employee at Treeman Corporation, is fired after a conflict with his superior, who rejects his idealistic notions of "heroes for everyone." Immediately afterward, Ling witnesses the seemingly suicidal jump of Nice, marketed as the "perfect hero," from a building. The PR manager Miss J forces Ling to assume Nice’s identity to salvage his image. Through the "Trust Value" – a system that generates heroic power from public approval – Ling’s appearance and voice perfectly adapt to Nice’s.

During a live talk show with Nice’s supposed girlfriend Moon, Ling is confronted by the exposé activist Enlighter, who aims to uncover his deception. Ling survives the ordeal through an unexpectedly honest love confession to Moon, which boosts his public standing. Simultaneously, his former boss, mutated into a monster by a "Fear Value Amplifier" (technology that transforms existential dread into physical power), attacks the show. Ling defeats him with the help of the audience’s trust but is confronted with the systemic corruption of the hero industry.

The episode ends in Nice’s luxury apartment: Ling finds Moon seemingly asleep but discovers a pool of blood beside her, hinting at her death. Meanwhile, news reports reveal that the attack is linked to devices from the "Spotlight Organization" – a group using Fear Value Amplifiers for terrorist acts. Miss J warns Ling that he, too, will soon face the same existential crisis as Nice.