I was focusing on that boy for no particular reason.
It was just that….
“Hero detected.”
My Hero sensor was going off, signaling that a Hero had indeed appeared in the wild.
“Huh? Huh?”
The trembling gaze belonged to Ah-jin.
“Sis, is that kid really a Hero?”
“Well, the chances are high. At least that kid…”
Her whispering made her seem like she wanted to create a fuss, yet asked in the most timid manner, which I found quite cute.
Instead of being delighted, her expression showed clear signs of embarrassment. It made sense since she had unexpectedly found a Hero.
The emergence of a new Hero is always rather confusing.
Da-young had that same look when I first met her.
“This one bears a curse so openly. It must be human from this side.”
“Yikes!”
I didn’t expect the intense, just-try-and-get-rekt kind of curse to be so impactful.
It had been quite a while since I had seen someone in that state up close.
I closely observed the subject again.
These days, zombies in movies are depicted as running, yet this one walked with such fragility, it felt rather unusual.
With the vibe of possibly infecting anyone nearby with a touch, the aura was quite eerie.
Disheveled hair and dark circles. A film of griminess covering the face and clothes.
Even from a distance, you could feel the stench, embodying the true essence of filth and disease, making it hard to see this as a Hero.
Normally, I’d throw something like a ball to capture the Hero, but a different thought suddenly popped into my head, and I turned to Ah-jin.
“What do you want to do?”
“Huh?”
“Should we go check it out? Or just leave?”
For Ah-jin, it wouldn’t be a problem to leave.
This kid could simply move into my house, slowly lift the curse, and enjoy a peaceful life in the modern era after all the hardships of being a Hero.
To be blunt, whether that kid rotted away due to the curse was none of my concern.
But the reason I asked such a question was… maybe I was hoping.
I wanted to see if more Heroes kept popping up if those already on board wouldn’t feel rejected.
When Da-young was alone, it was easy to recruit Ah-jin.
All I had to do was get Da-young to understand.
But the more people join, the more complicated the web of understanding becomes.
In the worst-case scenario, there could be splits among the Heroes leading some to stray.
Thinking of such a future, I wanted to clearly hear Ah-jin’s stance.
“Uh, well…”
As she rolled her eyes around, I could almost hear her brain working overtime.
A cool spring breeze swept by, and she was so heated up that sweat dripped down her forehead.
It must have been that Ah-jin was really engaging her mind.
“Um, I think we should at least listen to what she has to say!”
“Really? What if she’s a Hero? Should we save her?”
“Huh? Why the sudden question?”
I gently smiled back at Ah-jin’s shaky question.
“If we keep increasing the number of Heroes, wouldn’t I have less time to pay attention to you, Ah-jin?”
“Eek!”
Ah, her pupils trembled, and her face went pale as if she had developed a panic disorder?
“Oh, um, I mean…”
“……”
As I stared intently at her, she couldn’t withstand my gaze and hung her head.
She just kept fidgeting, unable to grasp a response to my sudden question.
But this was also a test for me.
If Ah-jin refused here, what would I do in turn?
What if even Da-young opposed it?
Should I let Da-young and Ah-jin go their separate ways and recruit more Heroes?
Despite my outwardly calm smile, I felt my heart racing a bit.
Facing an enemy isn’t the same as this, yet this tension felt quite fresh.
Then… just before the student vanished from view, she said,
“I really hope you’d save the Heroes.”
“……!”
The moment she lifted her head, her eyes were red-infused for some unknown reason.
It seemed like she was struggling to articulate something, carrying an emotional turmoil that she didn’t want to admit but had to accept.
What kind of answer should I give seeing that look?
So, instead of hastily agreeing, I just stared deep into Ah-jin’s eyes.
“If we’re Heroes… then you should stay in the hearts of those Heroes as one. So please, save them.”
“Are you sure? I have no idea how many Heroes there will be. It could be dozens. If everyone asks for my help, it means I won’t have much time to be with you.”
My voice slipped out, slightly more heated than I intended, and you could hear the emotion distinctly even to my own ears, leading to a flood of regret from me.
“Yeah, it’s okay. Because….”
Yet, despite my words, Ah-jin nodded with a kind smile.
“When you saved me, I was genuinely happy…”
Her eyes, possibly reflecting her heightened emotions, wiped away the tears that surfaced, and with a bright and radiant smile—like a star shining in the dark night sky—she said,
“There’s no way I could dislike you for such a reason.”
Ah, I see now.
You thought of me like that.
You weren’t only focused on the hope of lifting curses tied to the keyword Hero.
“Thank you, Ah-jin. Meeting you and Da-young… it’s salvation for me.”
“Hehe.”
Gripping Ah-jin’s hand tightly, I proclaimed with vigor.
“Shall we go? To rescue the Heroes.”
“Yeah!”
Ah-jin replied, and there appeared a new Hero right in front of us.
With no further hesitation, I stepped forward firmly.
* * *
“Ah, my stomach hurts.”
His belly, complaining loudly from hunger, was more than just a little dissatisfied.
But what could he do? He was completely out of money and had no job available.
In other words, procuring food was quite difficult.
‘Should I just beg?’
As a Hero, living properly as a Hero, he couldn’t even think about doing something as shameful as stealing.
Just because he was broke didn’t mean he had no pride.
At first, he tried to hold on with sheer willpower, but he desperately realized he was reaching his limits.
Hunger truly was torturous.
If he starved to death, would that be the first in this dimension?
What a funny story. A Hero who died from starvation.
There probably is no worse bad ending in any tale.
As he walked weakly down the street, he caught his reflection in a glass door.
Ah, what an unremarkable and pitiful sight.
Who could call that a Hero? They’d think he was a beggar.
But, what hurt him even more was something else.
“I wish I could return to my original self…”
What he saw in the reflection was a well-muscled, quite bulky man for his age.
That was his body, yet it felt foreign, as if it didn’t belong to him.
The one who shattered his belief that inside mattered more than appearances.
The tightly fitted, muscular physique was like a sponge stuffed all over his body, making him feel oddly awkward.
‘If only the Hero’s power remained intact, it wouldn’t be so hard.’
He wouldn’t be on the brink of starvation, lost to his original self.
Somehow, he would have been able to reach out to his family and return to normal life.
No, setting that aside, with a strong Hero’s physique, he wouldn’t die from months of hunger.
Maybe that’s why.
“…Ugh.”
Seeing his pitiful state in the glass, feeling like he’d lost everything, tears began to well up.
“Uuugh!”
Even as he cried, his voice resonated like a bear’s roar, and instead of lifting his spirits, it only increased his gloom.
Usually, when someone cried like this, someone would come over and check on them.
But maybe it was because he looked so dirty and pitiful, and cried in such an abnormal manner, that not a soul approached him.
That voice wasn’t even how he truly sounded.
This wasn’t him.
He was once the proud and magnificent Hero himself.
“Mom! Dad! Uuugh!”
As he bellowed like a bear, he sensed footsteps approaching from behind.
“Excuse me.”
With a beautiful voice calling to him…
“Uuugh… Uh, yes? Yes, yes?”
His eyes, opening wide in surprise, quickly forgot his sorrow.
Which was understandable.
In this world, he had never seen a beauty like this.
Golden hair melted like pure gold, elegantly shaped features, and eyes that seemed to be impossibly crafted from blue sapphires.
It was a beauty that perfectly matched the voice that just echoed in his ears.
Overwhelmed by the purity of this person, he felt shy and started stumbling over his words.
“Uh… me?”
“Yes, what’s your name?”
As the dazzlingly beautiful woman asked, he couldn’t help but respond.
Regardless of gender, she had an aura that naturally made anyone want to engage and be friendly.
Even the Hero himself was captivated by her appearance.
“My name is… Lee Yu-ri.”
A name quite pretty for a muscular man standing at 180 cm.
* * *
