Episode 003
He sat down cross-legged and slowly began circulating qi to regulate his breathing.
Having neither stamina nor internal energy,
the first verse naturally began with the basic mental art, Simjaegong.
‘If I can’t even do this, I might as well smash my face into a plate and die.’
With this shitty body, it was hard to complete even a single cycle of the Small Circulation.
Not even the most basic true qi had accumulated in his body yet.
“Whew.”
Barely finishing his qi cultivation, he took out a cigarette.
Commonly called Five Stars.
, , , ,
An RPG where five heroes join forces to defeat the Demon King.
A tale of dreams and adventure unfolding across a vast, expansive continent, with high degrees of freedom and high-quality illustrations.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Except,
dungeon clears and hidden item acquisition are incredibly difficult,
and because other NPCs have independent AIs, they often block the path of the player, the Sword Hero.
Because of that, it’s a shitty game with absurdly inflated difficulty.
But there were hardcore users who claimed to love that kind of game…
Why hide it?
That was me.
You’ve always been my number one game in my heart, Five Stars.
‘But no matter what, I never wanted to possess a character inside the game.’
“Huh?”
The chair shook violently, and the cigarette in his mouth fell to the floor with a tap.
Hey now.
Why is it doing this?
He lit a new cigarette and spoke to the guy beneath him.
“You not going to do it properly?”
“I-I absolutely… can’t do it…!”
“Don’t slack off. Thirteen left.”
“Didn’t you say… you’d let me go… if I answered the questions…?”
I did.
I needed to check if the knowledge I had was still valid.
Of course, it matched exactly as expected.
“But I never said I’d let you go right this instant, did I?”
“You bastard… daring to mock me…!”
When he slowly lifted the blood-stained ashtray, the Hero clenched his teeth and bent his arms.
“…….”
You should have done that from the start.
Where was I?
Right.
The story and hidden elements had such solid settings that it was a game worth enduring for repeat players or those who liked to dig deep.
I was one of them.
“Huh? Get back up.”
“Grrrrr—”
“Get back up, quick. Still eleven left.”
“I-I can’t… anymore!”
Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
If I had grabbed an ordinary civilian and made them do push-ups with someone on their back, it would be quite cruel.
However,
as the hope of humanity who must stand against the Demon King’s army and save mankind,
you can’t even do a hundred push-ups?
“Let’s do this nicely. Hurry up, damn it.”
“M-My arm is broken…! Just kill me—”
Ah, was it broken?
That’s a bit unfortunate, but
as you wish.
Crack—!
With a cheerful impact sound, the bastard slumped to the floor.
“…….”
A man who grants even his enemies’ wishes.
That’s me.
Should I at least praise him for this much?
Since the Hero lasted longer than that spear bastard.
“…Damn.”
Just as he was about to put out his cigarette, he stared blankly at the ashtray shattered into six pieces.
It felt pretty good to hit him with it; a shame, really.
He got up from his seat, slowly stretched, and looked around.
The blonde man foaming at the mouth and collapsed in the back was that Dario bastard.
He was quite a strong hero in the game, but fighting him in person was disappointing.
It was probably because it had only just passed the prologue, so he hadn’t grown yet.
‘Good for me, then.’
The gray-haired guy who’d been doing physical training with me until just now was the Hero Dmitri.
Even though the magic barrier spread across the entire Royal Capital had restricted holy power and magic power, he had fought quite tenaciously.
…Then again, he hadn’t lasted past the fifth-form technique.
Anyway, having thoroughly shown those two idiot heroes the difference in our strength, they wouldn’t dare jump me for a while.
Besides, there was no need to silence them about my strength.
If word got out that they lost to the Inept Hero, they’d be nothing but laughingstocks.
And the reason I only went easy on them was nothing special:
‘I’m sparing your lives.’
Every time a hero dies, the Demon King grows several times stronger.
From my position of wanting to defeat the Demon King quickly, there was no reason to unnecessarily raise the difficulty.
“……Whew.”
Anyway, the real problem started now.
If no one was hell-bent on interfering,
I could get out without any trouble at this rate, so I needed to plan my route carefully.
Operating in the Royal Capital was out of the question.
Besides the guys trying to frame me, by now the Demon King’s subordinates had likely infiltrated the Royal Capital in disguise; there was no merit to staying.
Which meant
‘If that magic bastard was telling the truth, the protagonist is still active in the Central Empire…’
Since there was still time, the first priority after escaping the capital would be to obtain decent equipment and quests, right?
I wanted to head to the southern desert or the north with all my heart, but
‘with my current strength, it’s a perfect recipe for sudden death.’
I planned to head for the borderlands.
I needed to re-train my martial arts, and there was much to do in general.
It probably wouldn’t take too long.
He nudged the two men sleeping as if they were in their own home.
“Quit pretending and get up.”
I know you’re tired, but I’d like it if you left soon.
If the kingdom’s inspector or the high priest saw this, they might latch onto it thinking it’s a good thing.
“Get up, you bastards. You think this is your house?”
Even though I didn’t use magic reinforcement or holy power, is it really okay for so-called heroes to faint this easily?
“Urggh…”
“…….”
Did I hit them too hard?
Honestly, by ordinary person standards, they fought well.
They were surely renowned warriors in the Allied Kingdoms.
Without a doubt.
It’s just that
their opponent was me.
At that moment,
strength drained from his entire body, and an extreme feeling of exhaustion permeated his whole body.
“Ugh! Krrgh! Cough!”
When the coughing stopped, he vomited out a handful of blood onto the floor.
A sticky, dark red pool of blood.
“Cough! …Ha.”
I might die at this rate.
‘As expected, was drawing on my Innate True Qi a bit much?’
His concern lasted only a moment as he slowly shook his head and wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
No,
that judgment wasn’t wrong.
He looked at the spear bastard and Dmitri sprawled on the floor.
If he hadn’t landed a blow on these bastards here, they surely would have forced a confession,
since it was a situation where he had to show strength just now.
Thinking of it that way, it was a very cheap price.
“…….”
Innate True Qi is the vital energy inherent to humans,
in simple terms, it’s drawing on one’s lifespan.
If I hadn’t learned martial arts, how could just anyone draw on their lifespan?
Even if holy power and magic power were sealed, a hero is a hero.
With the body of the Inept Hero who had nothing, that was the best method available.
‘If I use it sparingly, I can probably use it about three more times.’
And the reason he could use it without hesitation was…
‘Because this isn’t my body.’
Possession and transmigration are different.
“Hero-nim, it is time to move… W-What is this?”
Seeing the two heroes sprawled on the floor, the maid’s eyes widened.
“They must have been tired; they fell right asleep.”
“…I-I see.”
She didn’t look like she believed it, but the maid lacked the courage to ask directly.
“So? Are we going now?”
“Y-Yes… I shall escort you back to the courthouse.”
Wait, let me put out my cigarette first.
Sizzle—
He stubbed the cigarette butt out on the spear bastard’s head and left the room just like that.
“Let’s go.”
“…….”
Why are you looking at me like that?
**********
“Is this for real…”
Did they really have to go this far?
When I glanced to the side, the kingdom’s inspector and the high priest were looking at me with sinister smiles.
Behind the judge’s bench, the Hero already had a bow drawn at me.
On both sides, heavily armed royal knights stood waiting with hands on their scabbards.
There was no way to escape in my current state.
…More than that, the most absurd thing was those guys sitting in the witness stand.
Betrayal usually
“To the criminal, Tanas,”
comes suddenly.
“I sentence you to death.”
Bang-bang—bang!
Just like now.
“Your Honor, do you think it makes sense that witnesses who weren’t there until just now suddenly appeared?”
Let’s use our common sense here.
“Death immediately…? Something is strange.”
“Indeed.”
Of course, it wasn’t just me thinking that; murmurs were gradually growing louder from the gallery.
“Silence! Do not think to cloud public opinion any further with that clever tongue of yours!”
Wow.
This inspector bastard.
Look at him latching onto my words.
“…….”
“K-kuh! Y-you bastard!! What do you think glaring will accomplish! You’re finished, you Heretic Hero bastard!”
As if lacking the guts to meet my gaze, he turned his face away.
The reason the situation had deteriorated like this was none other than
the fact that girls with blonde, chestnut, and blue hair were sitting in the witness stand, sniffling and forcing out tears, as if putting on a color show.
…Weren’t you guys my party members?
The hero’s emblem engraved on their capes left no doubt.
“The Hero would call us out every night and make us serve him…”
“H-He touched us like this.”
“That night too, he tried to force something terrible on us, and when we refused, he left in anger… We never thought he would do such horrible things to the Imperial Princess…”
What a fine performance they’re putting on.
“Wait, I’ve never done such things. And this is merely a matter of conduct; it can hardly be considered direct evidence, can it?”
“Filthy wretch! You still mean to deny it! The victim’s tears are the proof!!”
“Inept Hero Tanas, cease defiling the Goddess’s name any further and pay for your sins!”
The inspector and the high priest pointed their fingers at me, raising their voices.
“Take the criminal Tanas to the execution grounds!”
These bastards.
It seems they intend to kill me right here, even if they have to force it.
“Are you carrying out the execution right now?”
“Ah, no matter how you look at it, this is too fast.”
They don’t even care about the crowd’s gaze anymore.
The Hero in the back, the Royal Knights on both sides.
I was cornered.
‘If I draw on my Innate True Qi in succession, the backlash will definitely kill me…’
“…….”
As expected, is there no other way?
It will be quite painful, but it’s better than dying right now.
You sons of bitches…
Just you wait.
“Wait.”
“Are you going to try to cloud public opinion again with that wicked mouth!”
No.
I intend to claim my right.
“I will receive the Goddess’s Trial.”
“What!? You mean the Trial!”
Upon hearing those words, the high priest’s face twisted as if he’d eaten shit.
The Trial: a ritual where a criminal is offered as a living sacrifice to the Goddess to purify their sins.
It was not something just anyone could receive; it was a privilege permitted only to chosen individuals such as the Pope, the Saint, or a Hero.
‘Either way, I die, but…’
“Nonsense! Quietly offer your neck—”
Cutting off the inspector’s words, he shouted boldly.
“I am a Hero, an agent of the Goddess. If I must die, I offer my life to the Goddess.”
“Soldiers, what are you doing! Drag the criminal away at once—”
“To deny the will of the Goddess… Surely, Inspector, you are not a ‘Heretic’?”
Heretic.
In this kingdom, that word was clear.
“T-that’s not what I meant… I-I misspoke.”
“Good. Then shut your mouth.”
“…….”
“Hero, the Trial shall not be light. You may well think death would have been better after enduring the hundred-day purification ritual. Do you truly accept the Trial…?”
“I accept.”
“…….”
He’s flustered. He’s flustered.
High Priest, why are you the one worried about that?
“…If that is your will, so be it. This concludes the trial.”
Bang-bang—bang!
Somehow, I survived.
“Come along.”
While being led by the knights toward the exit,
a voice, sounding extremely flustered, pierced my ears.
“Eck! Tanas…!”
“T-this isn’t right?”
“What do we do?”
When I glanced back, I saw the ashen faces of the three girls.
Just you wait.
##