I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

"Why are you two here? Shouldn't the pair of you be home playing soccer?" I asked.

My eyes followed the two figures approaching me. I knew that Rain and Afenos would not come for me inside the dangerous forest, not without their father's consent. However, here they were, waltzing in the woodland without fearing the unknown.

I did not want them to come here, knowing that Aferous would blame me for their injuries. A parent who lost a child in the forest, claiming to escort someone else, would come out bitter. And I did not want them to come for me, and yet… we were in this position.

"I told you, Arthur. We have been looking all over for you! Dad is really worried about you." Rain answered.

I glanced at Afenos, wondering what made him quiet in this situation. Usually, that boy would insult my face whenever he had the time. But right now, he stared at me in silence, as if watching my every move.

I brushed Afenos' icy glare and continued to where I had left from the conversation.

"He and the villagers are only worried because I'm an adventurer that they could rely on! If I'm not an adventurer that could defend that village, nobody could bat an eye for me. NOBODY!"

I shouted at the twelve-year-old kids and lashed out my frustration at them. I was slowly becoming a horrible person, and I knew it right after I screamed. And that was when I knew I messed up.

With teary eyes, Rain careered in the forest without looking back. My words made her feel like that, considering that I yelled at a teenage girl. Afenos, Rain's brother, kicked me in my thigh and cried out.

"You did this to my sister! You should apologise to her! We don't care if you're an adventurer or not! We just want you to come back home!"

After saying what Afenos wanted, he raced towards Rain, hoping he could catch her back. His figure became smaller at every passing minute as I knelt on the ground, wondering if I should chase after them or remain idle on the floor.

"Am I really this low? Those two are in danger… we are inside a damn forest, and yet…"

My heart had turned into a balloon, hovering in a land full of needles. One wrong move. I knew that my entire body would pop. Nothing would remain inside of me if everything I held dear could explode at any forsaken minute.

However, the wail coming from afar shattered my train of thought. A glimmer of hope paved my road as I stood up and sprinted onward. Despite my feet becoming chilling as ice, I commanded my body to move.

"Rain! Afenos! Where are you!" I shouted.

The two siblings left footprints on the mushy ground. But as I scanned my eyes in the area, there was nothing but gigantic trees obstructing my view. There was also the wind that hummed a sinister tune through my ears.

We had gone so far inside the woodland that the trees became an exceptional wall to block the road.

As I proceeded to the creeping plants, the shrieks that came from Rain shuddered my body. My only reaction was to find her and Afenos on time, before everything was too late.

After cutting through the panels of plants, what greeted my eyes made me almost pee my pants.

"O-O-Ogre!" I shouted.

[You have encountered an Ogre!]

[Ogre's level: 30]

[Statistical Power-1,000]

[Because of your inferior state, you cannot view other information besides the basic ones. You need at least to be at a certain level to learn this.]

The beast was at level 30, compared to me who was only level 1. Despite not knowing the information about the ogre, I knew that my current state would not win against this match-up. I was up against a feral monster that nestled above the clouds. I was a rat that did not know how to fly.

It was my first time to see an ogre this gargantuan in front of me. The beasts had an inhumanly disproportionate head and abundant hair that looked like vines in the forest. It had an unusually coloured skin with his hands brimming with pulsating muscles.

The ogre wore tattered, hazel-coloured clothing wrapped around the lower part of his body. It had an acrid smell that whiffed through the air as if I was near a garbage can full of one week's worth of turd. Clipped on the ogre's hip was a make-shift blade made of a stone, with a bough as its handle.

As I crept closer to the scene, the ogre's size welcomed my eyes. With a height that reached around fifteen metres, a punch coming from my hands would only tickle the ogre's abdomen.

If I had a word to describe the monster, terror would fit into that description.

As I shifted my gaze to the side, the two siblings tried their best to fend off the beast while using their stark hands. Afenos stood tall in front of her wounded sister, Rain. He planned to protect her as he tossed himself in front of the mammoth-sized beasts.

However, it only made the monster grow more feral, wishing to eat their meat within the next few seconds. The ogre painted all of those killing intentions on his face while leering at the two humans.

"Leave my sister alone! I will hurt you!"

"Afenos! Please… run and ask dad for help… I'll be fine..."

"How could I leave you in that state? If I'm going to run away, I'd bring you with me!"

"No, Afenos! That ogre… might follow us to the village… And the only one that could stop that monster… is Arthur…"

"Do you still believe in that coward? Come on, Rain. We have little time!"

After their exchange, Afenos hurled a pebble at the ogre and ran towards Rain. He placed her body behind his back and hoped for the best that the creature would not attack them. But Afenos had thought wrong as the monster rushed towards the two and raised his weapon. Afenos knew nothing about the scene, since he had turned his back to the creature.

My body turned into an ice statue, refusing to heed my commands. No matter how hard I tried forcing myself to jump into action, I couldn't. It was as if my feet pressed themselves on the soil, sinking it through like nails hammered underground.

"Is this really the end? I thought I wanted to become a hero?! This is the time that I could prove myself as a hero! WHY WON'T YOU MOVE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, but my voice did not escape my mouth.

The world muted me and forced my eyes to watch such an unbearable scene. But like the light reaching from the tunnel, something caught blinded my orbs. A twig flew at the monster, with a recognisable voice coming from behind me. With a loud thud coming afterwards, the branch distracted the attention of the beast.

"Thanks, Arthur! If I did not see your back, I wouldn't be here to save my children!"

A farmer blindly went to the battlefield and risked his own life for the sake of his children. Aferous was the one who flung the stick towards the ogre and attracted its attention. Now that Aferous distracted the beast, he guided the kids away to safety with the little time that they had.

"Go! Afenos, carry Rain towards Arthur!! He'll protect you! Go to the village now and warn the others!"

"No! Father! I can't leave you behind!"

"I am proud of you, son. But right now, this ogre is a problem for us! If I could not stop this monster from going to the village, nobody could. I need Arthur to escort you back to the village. I want you two to be safe… I'm sorry... "

Aferous scolded his son to run away with Rain. He would gladly use his life to protect someone he loves. The words that Roger told me echoed inside my brain. It tried pushing me forward between the monster and the family, and I could only wish the same.

"If you have the power to save someone, and terrible things happen in front of you, you need to do it."

That sentence alone was enough to hunt the living daylights out of my body. Every cell inside of my body screamed at me to move…

But I couldn't… I don't know how…

"Be that torch that everyone would believe in you."

I can't do it…

"Even if you can't, try."

But I'm scared… I'm terrified… That's a monster, and I am only human. I was a nerfed hero in this different world. I should not be here… This stuff was not for me…

"Your body might feel afraid, so do it scared."

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"That's what it takes to become a hero."

I gritted my teeth and leapt from the ground as I headed towards the fray. I unsheathed my blade and called forth the power of Clarent hidden inside of me. This world might deem me as an underleveled knight, but that should not stop me from defending the people I cared about…