Is this Hero for Real?

[Act 13] Demons

“God? Hey, god? Outsider god? You there?”

I couldn’t see them with my inferior human eyes, but they would always make their presence known through messages.

But there weren’t any messages anymore.

It was the first time that had ever happened, I was almost feeling awkward about it.

“Are you for real…?”

Apparently, in fantasies, gods can run away if they’re uncomfortable.

I didn’t worry about it too much, though. It was just a little baffling.

[Outsider]

After all, my Blessing wouldn’t be safe and sound like that if the outsider god had really left completely.

There was a chance they kept it there as a parting gift, but that wasn’t possible because of the second effect of the Blessing.

[Outsider]

▶ The outsider will be reset from all statuses except for death.

▶ A scary thing will happen if the lone wolf leaves the wilderness!

The main reason god ran away was because I went astray from the path of a lone wolf.

Yet they still left me with the Blessing?

Their actions weren’t adding up, so it could only be seen as them going out for a bit, not an escape.

I was sure they’d come crawling back as if nothing happened once they got some fresh air and felt better.

But..

“It feels empty all of sudden…”

Maybe the silence was intimidating me.

As expected of a lively city with the biggest slave market in western Fantasia, it was bustling, but I couldn’t hear anything.

“#@! Thank you! %#!”

“%^? $#@ please.”

“Sir! You can’t %# $.”

Even as an alien who wasn’t fluent with the language, I could start to pick up some of the fantasy natives’ conversations. Although they were all just meaningless noises if I didn’t concentrate too much.

The only one I could have a normal conversation with…

“Still in deep slumber.”

Wasn’t budging after passing out.

I didn’t think she’d notice even if someone snatched her away!

[Outsider]

[Fairy]

I didn’t have too hard of a time thanks to the powers I’d acquired from the Blessings. If it weren’t for them, I would have thrown that stubborn demon to the streets already.

“Move! $# move!”

“Passing by! #$ #!”

“#$! #%$ way!”

Rumble.

Clank clank.

Soldiers in full metal body armor made their way through the busy streets towards the city exit.

What was happening?

My past self would have ignored that, but I couldn’t after I’d almost murdered the prince of the nation.

It was possible those soldiers were dispatched because of me.

“Excuse me.”

“Hm? What ##?”

So I decided to ask a passing resident!

Although my linguistics were improving by the day, I couldn’t form sentences that were too complex. I kept it as short and concise as possible…

“What those soldiers?”

“Ah! Are you % #$? There were #[email protected] outside of the city not too long ago. They’re trying to #$ that.”

“Thank you.”

So, in short, it looked like they were going to #$ for #$%.

‘…What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

Instead of telling resident A to cut it out with the proper nouns, I asked resident B.

“Excuse me. What those soldiers?”

“Hm? #$% accent. The soldiers are going to hunt the #$% monsters outside the city.”

“Aha! Thank you.”

After that, I asked residents C and D to fill in the information that I’d missed.

It felt like putting together a jigsaw puzzle!

There had apparently been a loud noise outside of the city, and the soldiers were ordered to hunt down the monsters who’d made the noise.

“Outsider god, how’s that for my perfect deduction skills…? oh! You ran away…”

It felt awfully empty.

I was always annoyed because the god would talk to me non-stop, but it seemed I’ve already become familiar with that fantasy lifestyle.

‘I wonder when they’re coming back. One week? One month? One year? A decade…?’

“Welp.”

It wasn’t something a mere human could do anything about even if they tried.

It’s not like I could ask a mercenary guild to find a lost god.

All I could do was do what I could and wait for them to come back.

“Zzz zzz.”

“....”

First things first, I had to drop my things off at an inn so I could move freely.

***

The Saintess declared the first round of the tournament had ended; the Heroes who refused to participate in the tournament were to pack their belongings.

“Round one…? Ah!”

“Oh my! Could it be?”

The Heroes who wanted to participate quickly processed the situation:

This tournament wasn’t a ‘choice’ but a ‘duty’ from the beginning.

Just as a student was required to take tests at school, Heroes couldn’t ignore a Heroes’s responsibilities.

If they did, they were no longer Heroes.

“Saintess?”

She may not have been the class president representing her class anymore, yet Yoo Bora cautiously raised her hand with her leaving classmates in her thoughts.

A small smile was drawn onto the Saintess’ lips as she watched the girl.

“Go on.”

“What will become of the Heroes who are no longer here?”

“Not much will change, they will simply have less support than before. The extra funds will be reinvested in one of you.”

“The victor, right?”

“That is correct.”

“Thank you for the kind response.”

“It was a good question, Hero Yoo Bora.”

* * *

* * *

Just then, one boy’s voice broke the sibling-like, friendly atmosphere between the two.

“Saintess, you said a holy sword was the winning prize, but doesn’t the holy sword choose its own owner?”

It was ‘ex Hero’ Oh Hanwoo, who’d barged in to declare his participation in the tournament.

The Saintess’s smile was wiped off her face as she responded in a curt manner.

“You can see for yourself after you win.”

“What I’m trying to say is… maybe there isn’t a need for the tournament if the holy sword chooses its own owner. Oh! Of course, I’m going to stay in the tournament even after I become the holder of the holy sword.”

He sounded certain the holy sword was going to choose him.

Choi Kangmin finally exploded at that arrogant attitude.

“Oh Hanwoo! Don’t act like you’ve already won!”

It was the arrogant, impudent attitude of an ‘outsider’ who wouldn’t even have held his head up in school back on Earth.

Choi Kangmin, knowing full well that he provided grounds for his confidence, felt like he was going mad.

‘I shouldn’t have let my guard down!’

It wasn’t that he let his guard down in particular, but he regretted not crushing him with more caution. That baffling situation wouldn’t have started in the first place if he had.

“Oh! Sorry if you feel uncomfortable. I was only telling the truth.”

“You bastard..!”

Just before things took a turn for the worse, Prince Alsus got involved.

“Hero Oh Hanwoo. You are not yet fit for this position.”

“What? What are you saying…?”

“Before you talk about being the holder of the holy sword, you must be a Hero first. Did you already forget about our agreement?”

“Oh…”

“Follow me. If you are truly the owner of the holy sword, you would have the power to guard it as well. I’ll look forward to it.”

“W-wait!”

“Follow me. Are you not going to participate?”

“Of course I’m participating! But isn’t it too early to spar?! There still isn’t enough time or the budget…!”

Oh Hanwoo was no fool. In fact, he thought himself to be well-informed regarding fantasy worlds.

Even if he was the overpowered main character, he was still in the developing phase.

He didn’t have the skills to defeat one of the absolute rulers, the representative of a nation.

“Follow me.”

“Prince Alsus, can’t we push back the sparring by one year? It’s hard for me to defeat you right now.”

“Were you trying to win? Don’t worry about that. Defeating me isn’t part of the agreement.”

“Then why…?”

“You gave up your Hero status with ease. Someone like that would give up easily again even if they return.”

“I will not!”

As long as Celebless the fairy wanted a ‘Hero’, he didn’t plan to give it up anytime soon.

“Is there any way you can prove yourself?”

“That’s because I’m the main charac… Ahem! Anyways, just trust me!”

Oh Hanwoo cried out, full of the ‘groundless confidence’ that countless protagonists in fantasy genres showed.

[Special]

“Prove it right now.”

Yet Prince Alsus didn’t bat an eye.

[Resistance]

[Politics]

[Courage]

It wasn’t as much as the Heroes who were chosen by the gods themselves, but Prince Alsus was a nation’s heir trained since birth to acquire various Blessings.

His level, Blessings, achievements, abilities…

Although the Heroes would one day surpass him, it was not yet that day.

“Follow me.”

“Agh…”

Instinctively knowing what he wouldn’t be able to get out of it no matter how hard he tried, Oh Hanwoo’s expression turned grim.

Wouldn’t the plot be too infuriating if the main character was in a losing, one-sided fight?

It would be nice if there was a twist where he could get a blow in like he did with Choi Kangmin, but the problem was that there didn’t seem to be any hope with Prince Alsus.

He couldn’t imagine himself winning.

“Are you giving up?”

“No.”

“Then try and get a blow in against me. Even the level 1 boy who crushed your face was able to do so.”

“Really…?”

Oh Hanwoo thought of the bastard bully’s mean face.

It couldn’t be!

That loud coward hiding behind a muscular slave was able to strike the prince?

He couldn’t believe it, but it was undeniable when the Prince, whose reputation was highly regarded, said it himself.

“Enough with all the preface. If you don’t follow me, I’ll take it as you giving up your Hero status and the tournament.”

“I’m coming!”

If a mere extra could do it, so could he!

—Was what Oh Hanwoo thought.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

That was before he was beaten until his bones rattled.

[A certain evil god complains there isn’t enough popcorn.

[A certain battle god watches harmoniously.]

[A certain impatient demon god urges you to hit harder.]

[A certain god…]

Having quite a bit of resentment towards Oh Hanwoo, Prince Alsus did not go easy.

It didn’t matter if he died because the Saintess was nearby.

As a result, ‘Hero’ Oh Hanwoo acquired a new Blessing!

[Survival]

> The chances of you not dying in every instance greatly increases!

> The only answer you’ll get if you wonder how you survived will be a headache.

“A-as I thought, the main character has to fall to get back up stronger…”

Plop!

Oh Hanwoo, a tattered mess covered from head to toe and covered in dirt, jabbered to himself as he passed out.

In the meantime…

[A certain god takes a close look at the schedule.]

[A certain god takes a detour around the tattered mess as they sneak out.]

***

[A certain god sneaks back in.]

[A certain god peeks.]

“Hm? Oh! You’re back earlier than I thought.”

I figured the god with a very loose concept of time wouldn’t be back for a ‘brief’ couple of years.

But already?

It was like a kindergartener coming back after hiding in the neighborhood playground! I wasn’t even sure if they’d really run off.

[A certain god praises themself for the lonely adventure.]

[A certain god urges you to compliment them.]

“Yeah, yeah. Good work.”

I didn’t know where they had run off to, but it was a relief to see they were feeling better about the ordeal with the female demon.

And with good timing, too.

“Whew.”

I’d just arrived at the inn I’d reserved before running away from the city.

I’d wandered around for a while because the rude navigator Kogmos wasn’t there anymore, but it was fine. I came back safely, after all.

Toss~

I carelessly threw Diaroka onto the bed.

[A certain god is now comfortable.]

[A certain god compliments the outsider.]

“I don’t know if that’s really something to get praise for, but thanks anyways.”

Maybe the beds were extra soft because the inn was luxurious.

“Zzz zzz.”

The female demon didn’t wake up even though I threw her with personal force.

It must’ve meant that was how bad the aftereffects of our fight were. Unless she was pretending to be asleep to look for a chance to run away.

“Hm…”

She was just like a golden calf.

I was starting to get an extremely bad feeling about leaving that slave who’d tried to run away before alone at the inn…

But I had no choice but to get going.

It would feel worse if I let even one of those slave stealers that tried to kill me go.

[Massacre]

[Slaughter]

I felt the curses spurring my soul every time my murderous intent grew.

It felt electric—a sensation I couldn’t possibly describe, but it was as if I was secretly drinking a carbonized drink that wasn’t good for my bones.

In other words, it felt awesome.

[A certain god asks if you are finally leaving that demon.]

“Nope. I’m just her in the inn for a bit.”

[A certain god expresses regret.]

[A certain god asks where you are going.]

“Thief hunting.”

[A certain god asks where you’re headed after that.]

‘After that?’

“I’m not sure. I didn’t think that far ahe—”

[A certain god nags you to go to the Academy.]

“The Academy…?]

[A certain god drills you into going to the Academy.]

“....”

It looked like god got hooked onto the Academy after going out(running away) for a bit.