Pop! Boom!
Celebratory fireworks erupted, decorating the interior in brilliant colors.
[Congratulations: Hero Nova Awakened]
“Kuahaha! Come on, eat and drink to your hearts’ content!!”
“Woof!” “Meow!” “Caw!” “Hee!”
The moment I returned home through the warp device Makina had made for me, I threw a party.
Of course I did, and I personally treated our animal companions to a lavish feast for the hard work they’d put in performing with me on the bridge.
It was truly a sight to behold: just moments ago, they’d been clad in massive armor and thrashing an S-Rank Hero, but the moment they deactivated their Core Relics, they inevitably turned back into puny, adorable little animals. I never got tired of watching it.
Just as I’d made Nova into a compatible user through my Resonance ability, I’d decided to try it with the animals on a whim, and who knew it would actually work.
Was this also the power of the Core Relic?
I couldn’t help but marvel at the bizarre application that hadn’t even appeared in the original work.
“Using a Core Relic on animals instead of humans. I just can’t wrap my head around it no matter how much I think.”
Meanwhile, my Makina was still sulking, her lips puffed out in displeasure.
“Jeez, is this little brat still going on about that?”
“Gah! Don’t call me a brat!”
What a little runt.
I smirked and pointed to the sauce smeared at the corner of her mouth.
“Wipe the sauce off your mouth first before you talk.”
“U-uek?! What are you doing?!”
“Hold still. Eating so clumsily that you get it all over your mouth—if that doesn’t make you a brat, what does?”
After I lightly wiped it off for her, Makina’s face turned beet red, and she roughly scrubbed her own mouth with a tissue.
“Y-you should just tell me that!” she yapped, but teasing her further would probably mean suffering all night, so I smoothly changed the subject.
“Anyway, I’ll say it again: I used the Core Relics on the animals solely because I can control them perfectly.”
I can already command animals with my Resonance ability, so why bother using people whose true intentions I can’t know?
“Makina, we only have three years left. That’s not a short time, but it’s nowhere near enough to find compatible candidates for eight Core Relics one by one.”
We’re talking eight people, not one or two.
Making people who’ve gained the immense power of Core Relics not betray me and follow my plan to the end requires that much time and effort.
In the original story, they were all the protagonist’s acquaintances with established relationships, but I don’t have anyone like that.
Persuading even a single Makina had been grueling enough for an introvert like me; the mere thought of doing it eight more times made my head spin.
On the other hand, animals don’t need such a complicated process—they become absolutely loyal with a single snap of my ability, right?
Besides, take our little Nyang-sik, currently inhaling salmon like a storm—borrowing the Core Relic’s power, he sent the S-Rank Hero Flare flying in a single blow.
Whether it’s a person or an animal, the Core Relic lends its power all the same, so is there any need to insist on humans?
At my logic, Makina gaped her mouth but ultimately couldn’t refute it.
“Ugh, but… still……”
Looks like the regret still hadn’t faded.
Well, she’d suffered so much coming from the future to the past to find compatible users for Core Relics, so seeing dogs and cows using Core Relics through my ability must have shattered her common sense.
I wasn’t unaware of her struggles, but at this point it was getting ridiculous.
“But this, but that—they don’t look particularly dissatisfied either, so just roll with it.”
I pointed to the tin cans—no, the Core Relics—floating in the air, chirping and chattering away in a language only they understood.
Even the Relics looked excited, so Makina finally ran out of things to say.
“Uuugh… the longer I’m with you, the more I feel my common sense shattering.”
“Keke, look forward to it, Makina. There’s plenty more common sense to shatter where that came from.”
“Ueeeeek……”
In the end, Makina melted limply onto the sofa.
She really never got old to watch.
Since I’d been dropped into this world out of nowhere, had there ever been another day as joyful as today?
The Nova protagonist-making project I’d longed for so dearly had finally taken its first step.
The Core Relic—Stella—that the protagonist of Peerless Transformation should have had was now in Nova’s hands.
What a thrilling act of sabotage.
*Kekeke, how’s that, Danakka! You must be absolutely livid, right?*
The glory that should have gone to the protagonist had been snatched by an extra; if the original author was watching, his guts would surely be twisted in knots as he screamed.
Of course, we’d only just taken our first steps, so there was still a long way to go.
But that was fine. Over the remaining three years, I’d push her thoroughly so she could grow strong enough to defeat the Absolute Evil that would destroy this country.
Stealing the protagonist’s role and protecting Korea from the destruction he tried to bring—that was the ultimate “fuck you” I could present to Danakka.
*So Nova, you look forward to it too. I’ll mobilize every trick from my stray dog life to show you clearly what a protagonist’s trials truly mean.*
So grow strong, Nova.
To protect this country and defeat the Absolute Evil.
And to feed the creator’s son of this world a great big, satisfying “fuck you”!
@
Maybe it was because it was the first alcohol I’d had since coming to this world.
When I opened my eyes, it was already morning.
“Ugh… did I drink too much? More importantly, something feels heavy—do I have sleep paralysis or something……”
I grabbed my throbbing head and sat up—dear god, it was a total pigsty.
“Snrk……”
From Makina, still in dreamland while lying on my stomach, to the animals—they were all asleep beside me.
No wonder it had felt heavy; I must have been used as a pillow.
“Well, putting that aside……”
Seeing the state of the room after that made my head throb for an entirely different reason from a hangover.
I’d gotten so happy about Nova becoming the protagonist that I drank myself blind, and though I didn’t know what happened after the film cut out, at least I knew what I had to do.
“……I should start with cleaning.”
Was this a home for humans or a barn?
Life sure was tough.
“Huwaaah~ good morning……”
“What morning. The sun’s already at high noon.”
I pointed this out to Makina, who’d risen with a disheveled face, but she was still swaying, seemingly not fully awake.
“Uuuuuu… me food. Hungry……”
“Jeez, you slept the whole time I was cleaning, and the first thing you say when you wake up is food.”
I grumbled, having suffered through a task that could rightfully be called a major cleaning, but still handed over a freshly toasted slice.
“It’s hot, so eat slowly.”
“Give me coffee too.”
“What coffee for a brat. Drink your milk quietly.”
“Gaaah…! Who are you calling a brat?!”
“Who do you think?”
“Shiiii……”
Perhaps the word “brat” had snapped her fully awake; Makina clicked her tongue but quietly sat down and started eating the toast.
Only after looking at her did I sit down and take care of my late breakfast.
After cleaning, I’d had no time for breakfast because I was feeding the animals.
“Hey, give me coffee too. How am I supposed to start the day without morning coffee!”
“Keke, shoo, kid. You’re still far too young for an adult’s coffee.”
“Tch.”
As we ate our late breakfast and chatted about this and that, our attention was drawn to a news report on the TV.
It was roughly about yesterday’s escort mission having failed, a large-scale attack by unidentified villains, and although the bridge had collapsed due to the villains, there hadn’t been a single casualty by some miracle, and the OOPArt was safe, praising the heroes of South Korea.
After watching the news, I scoffed.
*So the OOPArt is safe. Well, it is safe, technically.*
It hadn’t been sent to a government or association research lab, but since it now belonged to Nova, you could say it was safe.
We’d protected the OOPArt from the villains, but things might be hectic over there for a while too.
“You’re really something.”
“Something? Me?”
After gulping down the warmed milk, Makina continued.
“To pull off such an absurd assault without a single death. I see you in a new light now.”
“I was wondering what you were getting at, and that’s all it was?”
She’d set the mood so much that I’d expected something profound; what a letdown.
“Listen well, Makina. My goal is solely to awaken Nova; I don’t care about anything else.”
“You say you don’t care, yet you secretly healed the injured one by one?”
She’d pinpointed my actions of healing the people immobilized by the bombardment.
Yes, if I’d planned without regard for human lives, the scale would have been bigger, and Nova might have grown stronger from the anger of seeing people die.
But still.
“Creating unnecessary sacrifices for my goal is something a third-rate villain would do.”
Besides, what if seeing dead people made Nova collapse mentally or develop trauma instead of awakening?
There was no need to bear the risk of her becoming a shut-in from unnecessary trauma.
That was part of it, but above all.
“And sacrificing for the greater good is something you hate, isn’t it?”
“……”
She’d witnessed countless sacrifices “for humanity” and “for the world”—how could I do such a thing?
“…Tch. How do you even know that?”
Having had enough of this, Makina got up with a fed-up look on her face.
“The toast was good. It was delicious, despite appearances.”
“Don’t talk about appearances, and do the dishes properly.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
With that, Makina whipped her head away, but she couldn’t hide her reddened ears.
What a dishonest little brat.
Anyway, we’d more or less finished breakfast, so maybe it was about time I started thinking about the next plan?