《Am I The Only One Who Is Not Forced to Migrate Across Worlds....?》 Prologue PROLOGUE¡­. In the dark corners of a certain city, gambles and fights were very common. In the backyard of an old building, some middle aged and young men were enjoying themselves by gambling on a chess match played between two men. One of them is bearded, fat and a bit untidy and the other looks exceptionally handsome with his long dirty blond hair properly tied up. Baam!! The chess board was turned over by the brute force exerted by the bearded man. ¡°Now, Bers, you can¡¯t just destroy the chess board because of your anger of your own loss,'''' said a skinny young man who was involved in gambling. ¡°Hmph! You don¡¯t have to worry about the chess board or the table. I will order a new one.¡±, said Bers while grumbling. ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less about that. Give the cash first.¡±, the handsome young man said with an annoyed expression. ¡°Calm down, Lin. Let¡¯s celebrate your 578th victory,¡± said an enthusiastic middle aged man who was gambling for Lin. ¡°The cash first,¡± replied Lin straightforwardly. ¡°I know but let¡¯s...¡° ¡°Cash first.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± The middle aged man collected the money and handed over Lin seventy percent of the total money involved to Lin. ¡°Guys! Let¡¯s celebrate my victory!¡± Lin exclaimed with an excited look. Others present were simply speechless. ¡°And by the way, the drinks are on you, Scott.¡± Lin said to the enthusiastic middle aged man. The man was no more enthusiastic about celebration While the group were having their celebration, a thump sound came from their surroundings. ¡°Who is there?!¡± Bers shouted on top of his lungs. ¡°Woah! Bers. Calm down. I doubt that the person would not flee from your shout,¡± said a bulky young man named Takashi. ¡°Shut up, you pregnant c*nt!¡±, cursed Bers. ¡°What did you say?! If I appear pregnant, then you must be a pregnant c*nt with octuplets!¡± Takashi cursed back. While the two of them already started wrestling, Lin went to the direction from where the sound came from. There, he saw a small figure. Seeing it close, he found a little boy of probably not even 5 years old wearing a torn grey cloth that doesn¡¯t seem to cover much of his body. ¡°Woah, come here and take a look.¡± Lin lightly said to his friends. All the others present there went over to where Lin was, and saw the little figure. The boy, despite being dirty, looked very fair and cute. ¡°That¡¯s rough¡­ Should we take him to a nearby police station?¡± Bers said after he took a good look at the boy. ¡°That¡¯s the most we could do. From his state, I could only say that he was probably kidnapped and escaped or he was miraculously saved from a car accident or perhaps¡­.he is a beggar¡±, deduced Scott after examining the boy¡¯s wounds that were not so serious.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. While Lin and his friends were discussing what to do about the boy, the boy opened his eyes. He looked around finding this place foreign. His cold, lifeless eyes could be noticed clearly. Even in such a state, he didn¡¯t lose his power of reasoning and thought. He, then, noticed Lin and his friends who were looking at him with a curious expression. ¡°Where am I?¡± - was the first thing the little boy asked. ¡°Lil boy, this is one of the colonies of XXX city. What happened? Why do you have such wounds on your body ? Did you have an accident?¡± Lin crouched and asked the boy with a worried look. ¡°¡­.¡± The boy stood silent. ¡°Did something happen that you don¡¯t wish to tell us?¡± Lin asked again. ¡°Kid, if you don¡¯t open your mouth, we can¡¯t do anything.¡± Another middle aged man named Dave said. ¡°¡­.Is there something called ¡®orphanage¡¯ in this world?¡± The boy asked with a curious expression but the lifelessness in his eyes could still be seen. ¡°Orphanage? Sure, but can you give us more details about yourself and your family?¡± Lin¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t looking too good but he continued asking. ¡°¡­.¡± Again, the boy remained silent. But nobody complained this time, cause they could guess that his family must have been dead. ¡°I don¡¯t have any family¡­.I was abandoned a few days ago¡­.¡±, the boy said with no emotions. The atmosphere turned more serious and they were stunned at the boy¡¯s state of mind. It didn¡¯t seem that they were talking to a five-years-old kid. ¡°Such an awful family! I now think that ¡®blood is thicker than water¡¯ is an absolutely nonsensical idiom. Lin, I think we should take him to the nearby orphanage as he himself said.¡± Bers said with an annoyed expression. ¡°Yes, but-¡± ¡°Lin? Who is Lin?!¡± Lin was interrupted by the boy with. ¡°I am Lin. Do you know someone with a surname Lin?¡±, said Lin himself. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s my surname as well. Are you also Lin?¡± The boy asked Lin with a curious and nervous look. ¡°No. I don¡¯t.¡± Lin replied straightforwardly. The boy dropped his shoulder and seemed disappointed. ¡°You don¡¯t have a family?¡± The boy shook his head. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± Lin said with a soft smile. The others present in the scene all choked by Lin¡¯s words. He didn¡¯t mind them and extended his right hand towards the boy with a smile. The boy looked at Lin¡¯s eyes that seemed as clear as sky and extended his hand but brought it back again. With a meek expression, he asked. ¡°B-but will I not be a burden to you?¡± The others present were shocked to the extreme this time again because of the boy¡¯s state of mind. It now seemed that they were talking to an adult. ¡°Maybe. But that¡¯s not for you to worry about.¡± Lin replied with his usual smile and extended his hand again. The boy thought for a while. ¡°Then, I will be in your care. If one day, you will think that I am a burden , you can abandon me¡­..¡± The boy then fainted. Lin caught the boy and carried him in his arms. After the boy fainted, Lin¡¯s friends looked at Lin seriously and were about to ask questions when Lin sighed and answered ¡°Don¡¯t worry, guys. I am not being impulsive here. I thought about it very seriously. All my life, I wandered around finding purpose in my life. The moment I saw this kid, you could say it was the moment I found my purpose in life. It''s tough to be an orphan ,you know. In an orphanage, you can perhaps lead a life that¡¯s not too shabby. But I know what it feels to not have parents. I picked up this kid mostly because of pity but I can see a few resemblances in him¡­..Ahh..enough of this!!¡± ¡°Lin, are you sure about this?¡± Bers asked with a serious expression. ¡°I am super-duper ultra-hyper mega-super sure.¡± Lin seriously replied. Scott, Bers, Takashi and the other three sighed. ¡°Remember Lin, if the boy ever has any problem, be sure to remind me.¡± Dave was a rich guy. ¡°Woah! Never knew you guys can be nice too.¡± Lin replied playfully. Then, the other continued their party and the party seemed to have brightened due to the presence of the boy. After the celebration was over. Each of them went their own way. Lin, along with the boy he adopted, went to Lin¡¯s residence(rather than residence, home would be suitable cause Lin lives alone). On the way, Lin asked the boy who had already awoke, ¡°Do you remember your name?We talked to you all day long but we never asked for your name.¡± Lin laughed out loud. ¡°Xie,¡± replied Xie unenthusiastically and with the same lifeless eyes. But now, deep inside those eyes, a fire could be seen within him. Lin, then patted him and said. ¡°Xie, it is then.¡± Chapter 1 Something seems wrong.....(Part 1) *Xie¡¯s POV* "How much is it?", I impatiently asked the girl in the counter about my purchases in a normal bookstore. Looking at me with round and perplexed eyes, the girl forced out a smile and said,"Tw-two hundred twenty bucks, sir." Come on guys, is it that unusual to buy a p*rn magazine in the early sunday morning? By the way, the girl seemed familiar¡­.Oh¡­well. She might be one of my hidden follower . While I was wondering about the her , I took out my wallet and handed over the required amount to the woman in the counter. "Who knew that one of the hottest guys in our class is such a pervert~", said the counter girl. I was stumped at her words. Wait¡­. Wait!! What?!! Fellow readers, please give me some time to collect my thoughts. Okay¡­.first of all, she is bold! I might have fallen for her if I was a normal person. And just look at those 1.3067kg of meat at her chest¡­..let me calculate¡­.. is it D?...or perhaps E??.... Definitely a E!! But¡­. "Umm...first of all, who are you? And the most important of all, its not ''one of''....it was the biggest insult in this life. ",I said while giving the expression like that of an innocent man who was labeled as a criminal.... I sighed and decided to forgive her this time and looked at the girl hoping to clear my confusion but she had an expression that looked like she was about to vomit because of someone''s shamelessness. I looked around looking for the shameless person but my search was soon interrupted . *The girl¡¯s POV* ¡­.Xie¡­.why do look like your finding a shameless person who almost made me vomit from his/her words¡­.? Wait¡­is it really possible that he doesn¡¯t know me¡­? I lamented myself for having foolish thoughts. "It was a bad joke. Don¡¯t make your face like you really don¡¯t me. Remember , we just went to a mixer last Thursday?¡±. Although I think its impossible for him to not know me , I wonder why I was trying to make him remember! It must be because of his idiotic face! *Xie¡¯s POV*Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. So she replied while ignoring the last part of my last sentence. Like me and my face said, I am really confused!! but didn''t voice that out cause it will troublesome to keep the conversation keep going. "Damn! You still managed to see through my acting. I need more practice.....",I replied while appearing to be in deep thought. The girl looked a little relieved after my reply. I suddenly heard a creak sound coming from the bookstore¡¯s backdoor. After a while, an old man walked in , turned to the girl and said while smiling," You can go now, Liana. Thank you again for helping this old fellow ." Sure enough, he does look old enough to leave this world. By the way, Thanks old fellow for revealing the ''girl''. I will make sure that in your next reincarnation , you will be a great character written in web novels or manga. I was getting tired with the ''girl''. "No problemo~ But are you sure that you ate your medicine today?", Liana asked with a worried look. "Hoho. Dont worry about it. U can''t waste your precious sunday this way.", the old man replied with a smile. The way he ¡®hoho¡¯s make me doubt that he might be the one who gifted me in my 6th Christmas. Liana, then, took the old man to a corner and gave a box full of something I had no idea of. I stretched my ear and listened to them. Hm...oh....naruhodo...got it. Apparently, Liana will be out of station for a few days. So, she was bidding her farewell to the old man. After a while, the two people looked to me with a weird expression. I tried to deduce the reason for giving such looks to me. Then, I realized that I was in a very shameful posture with my front body tilted towards the direction where the two of them were chatting, my right hand beside my left ear. I coughed and then stood straight with my chin pointing towards the heavens. I hope that they would understand my curiosrity. ¡°Haha¡­..I was just interested in that box¡­..It seems heavy¡­.¡± *Liana¡¯s POV* Xie-kun¡­.even if you say that¡­.it doesn¡¯t help me to not believe that you were not listening to our conversation¡­.you were in that posture for about 1 and half minute¡­. Also, that cough seemed weirdly the most faked cough I have ever seen. ¡°Ah¡­the box has melons. Want some?¡±, I replied with a forced smile. *Xie¡¯s POV* I want ¡®your¡¯ melon instead. ¡°No, thank you.¡± ¡°O-ok ¡±, said Liana. ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± The old man looked at me and Liana with a peculiar expression. ¡°Who are you , young man?¡±, asked the old man. ¡°He¡¯s my classmate¡±, replied Liana. ¡°Hoho¡­classmate¡­.huh¡­¡±, the old man replied while pondering. ¡°What?¡± , asked Liana who seemed to tell that ¡®it¡¯s not what you think¡¯. ¡°Nothing, I was just wondering that this young man should not be here¡±, the old man replied with a smile. F*ck. What did you say??!!! Although I am not the type to get angry at a mortal¡¯s words, the way you smile creeps me out. No, wait. Could it be that he is in a forbidden relationship with the chick?....Oh my¡­.. this must be reported to Chisato-san(the Prez of the Newspaper Club). While I was having my wild fantasies about them, I was interrupted by the chick. ¡°Ah¡­Xie-kun, don¡¯t mind him. He is rude to strangers¡±, said the chick with a worried look. Well, ¡®strangers¡¯ right? However, he is not. And another thing, could you stop putting ¡®kun¡¯ to my awesome name. ¡°Is that so? I don¡¯ mind then.¡± , I replied like a nice guy. ¡°By the way, young man , I wonder if you know the meaning of your name¡±, said the old man with a creepy smile. ¡°I do. What about it?¡± , I replied seriously. ¡°Nothing, I was just wondering if it was the name your parents gave?¡± ¡°Does it matter? ¡± , I asked with an annoyed expression. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t . Pardon me. Hoho ¡±, replied the old man with the same creepy smile. ¡°Ah!! Its 9:30 !! I have to go to the supermarket before it gets late¡±, shouted Liana. My ears are about to burst. Seriously chick, can you not shout so loud?!! I am wondering something for a long time. Why the heck am I still here?!! F*ck, my ¡®little brother¡¯ is waiting for me to use the p*rn mag. I apologized to my ¡®little brother¡¯ in my mind. ¡°Oh. It reminds me . My little brother is waiting for me to go home¡±, I honestly said. Chapter 2 Something seems wrong....(Part 2) Alzemann Kingdom, West of The Five Kingdom Alliance, Nomero On a planet, about 261.7 ly away from Earth, there was a certain palace. The palace was so breathtaking that every 2nd or 3rd person would look at it for awhile even though they are locals and see the palace almost every day. A ¡°peace¡± symbol was written at the top centre of the palace. But ¡°don¡¯t judge a book by its cover¡±. Although, we heard this idiom many times and nowadays, people could not help but laugh when someone says the proverb righteously. This palace has long history of 550 years approx. This palace was built in honor of the Great Otherworldly Hero, Reuken. He was known for his contribution for defeating one of the greatest Demon Kings of his time. It was said that the demons of that time occupied more than half of the total land of Nomero. The ruler of the Five Kingdom Alliance(human region), the Beast King of the Unified Beast Temporary Alliance(Werewolf, Dragon, half-breed,etc) joined hands and called upon the best Magic Summoners from that time and summoned the Great Otherworldly Hero, Reuken after a total of 8 failures. Although, they lost five 5-star magicians out of eleven, they got the fruit of their sacrifice. Reuken, within 2 months after he was summoned , he could already fight head-on with a 4-star Swordsman. It takes 35 years even for a talented Swordsman to reach 4-star. That can only be explained by Reuken¡¯s monstrous talent. After, two years, Reuken finally defeated the Demon King. But, he vanished soon after defeating the Demon King. Many expeditions were sent to find Reuken, but not even a hair of Reuken could be found. Even nowadays, his heroic victory is celebrated every 27th March(according to Earth¡¯s calendar). *Xie¡¯s POV* Even though this huge palace was made for Reuken, I don¡¯t think that he will be happy if he were to look at the interiors of the palace. Don¡¯t get me wrong , I¡¯m not talking about the designs or decorations, rather the feel and ¡°demonic¡± vibe¡­. I sometimes wonder whether humans are really ¡°humans¡±¡­.. From what I saw and experienced, it makes no difference to me whether one is human , an angel ,a demon or other races¡­. Because there will always be humans who will act inhumane, angels who will act like demons and demons who will act like angels. But if someone asked me, ¡°Which race do you want to be in your next reincarnation?¡±, a white haired dressed white(also C-cup) beauty asked me. First of all , does that mean you can guarantee that I will be reincarnated? From what I have learned, the stronger a person is , the lesser chance that person has of reincarnation. There are a lot of factors that depends. For example, for your reincarnation, you must atleast have a wisp of soul after your death. Although, even if not a single wisp of your soul is left, there are several other solutions to that nowadays. Modern problems require modern solutions. Without going off-topic anymore ,I truthfully answered, ¡±Of course , an angel.¡±, I said that with a straight face. The white haired beauty¡¯s eyes were already narrowed. And I could already feel some eyes staring at me¡­. I kinda like this feeling¡­.. ¡°Ok. Next question . Your preferred class?¡±, asked the whit¡­.F*ck it!! Its annoying to call her ¡®white haired beauty¡¯ again and again. ¡°What is your name?¡±, I asked with a neutral face. The whole palace: ¡°¡­..¡± It was a pin-drop silence. My classmates were looking at me with a queer expression. And the beauty¡¯s face infront was priceless. Though, I feel very proud making everyone stunned like this, I am a bit confused. Eh? Did I ask something wrong?? While I pondering about the reason of the silence, a bald knight in blue armor shouted, ¡°Foolish peasant!! You dare to be rude to the holy priestess?!! You committed a crime big enough to be hanged!! Do you even know that?!¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°¡­.¡±, Now, I am silenced. First of all, how am supposed to know your world¡¯s rules?? And secondly, is asking for someone¡¯s name that big of a crime¡­.? I was always taught by pops to ask for someone¡¯s name before talking to them¡­..I never thought that there would be a day where I will be sentenced to death just because I asked for someone¡¯s name¡­.. And stop shouting baldy!! Otherwise , I will make sure to make your next generations bald too!! ¡°Apprentice mages!! Put that insolent brat to prison!¡±, another bald knight who looked younger than the first baldy and resembled the latter. F*ck , you are bald too?! I, now, pity them¡­..Such a kind hearted man I am!! But alas, those who are kind, die young¡­.. I could feel those third-rate mages surrounding me. They wore long sleeved red shirt and has an emblem on their chest that has an unknown letter printed on it. Although I said ¡°unknown¡±, I can read that. Let me look closely. I looked at one of the female mage¡¯s chest. Ahh¡­.low ranks¡­.3-star¡­ Suddenly, a green light came infront of my eyes, I leisurely dodged it but¡­. ¡°Ahhh!! My eyes!!! Wh-what did I do?¡±, I asked the female mage who seemed shot the green beam of light. I acted like I was about to cry. ¡°Y-you dare to ask?!!¡±, the female mage seemed to be at the verge of explosion. ¡°Enough! Rita. Lets capture him first!¡±, a red-haired mage said while glaring at me. While the apprentice mages surrounded me and was about to catch me, ¡°Stop¡±, the white beauty infront of me lightly said. ¡°Everyone, leave this man.¡±, the beauty continued. The mages didn¡¯t look very stunned but still continued to surround me. ¡°B-but, priestess, that brat dared to ask for your name when you asked him a question. We know that your majesty is kind, but, he can¡¯t be excused!!¡±, another knight in blue armor shouted. Ah! I see. So, I was being rude. In that case, I must apologise. But before I could say a word, ¡°Yes, fellow knight Cezas, he ought to be punished¡±, the older baldy shouted. ¡°Priestess, you must punish that brat!¡±, sounds like this are being echoed in the palace room right now. I am now completely cornered. People are the same. Be it humans, angels, devils or some other race. All are the same. It makes no difference. They are three kinds of people in this boundless universe. First, the parrots . They never dare to speak individually and always speak when he\she knows that the other person(s) will speak after him\her. ¡°Priestess, just make a sentence. I swear I will not kill this brat. I will punish him so that he doesn¡¯t make the same mistake again.¡±, the younger baldy said righteously. The second, the false heroes of justice . This kind of people has further classifications. For example, a devil showing that he\she is the ¡°real¡± warrior of justice and is perhaps cool, an angel showing that he\she can be cool too by breaking the stereotypes that most of the time, demons are the ¡°good¡± guys¡­.On top of that, the beauty herself is a demon and we(me and my classmates) are ordered to not harm the minions and directly kill the Demon King. Third¡­ ¡°Halt! We know that this man has committed a crime that¡¯s punishable by law. But, its also true that this man didn¡¯t knew the ways of this world. So, it seems understandable. And also, even though this man doesn¡¯t seem to be strong, he could be atleast of some use to Us¡±(the priestess referred to herself by ¡®We¡¯) The hypocrite¡­. ¡°Oh lord! Hail priestess Latisha¡±, the older baldy shouted. After that, everyone, along with the crowd, followed his suit. ¡°Hail Priestess!¡± ¡°Hail Priestess!¡± So, Latisha was her name. I lightly smirked to Latisha, and then with a pained expression, I got on my knees and shouted, ¡° No La- priestess, you cannot forgive me. I ought to die.!!¡±. My fake tears spilled out vigorously. Anyone who would call this an act would deserve to die. Yes! I have that much confidence in my acting skills! ¡°¡­..¡±, the palace was again silenced by me. The people present has strange expressions on their faces. Seemed like I struck their weak point . Friends from my class seemed to be shocked by my sudden declaration. I could already hear my classmates saying that they will arrange a proper funeral for me after my death¡­..F*ck! Just let me get over this!! I will take care of you guys next. Hmph! I went to a nearby knight and took his dagger that was in his waist belt and stabbed myself in my upper abdomen. I could feel hot blood oozing out of me. I gritted my teeth and howled, ¡±AHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡±. The silenced prevailed once again. Howling in pain, I walked haphazardly like a drunken man and fell down. Tears(fake) came out of my eyes . I saw the surroundings around again. I could see Latisha¡¯s ashen face, the knights in panic and the crowd¡¯s disappointment. Hahahahhahaha. I laughed in my mind. Do they really think that such a cheap trick would work on me?!! The intelligence of mankind has really decreased. Let me explain why exactly I stabbed myself. The reason is simple. Its because the people around don¡¯t want me to die! Hahaha. Sorry , if you didn¡¯t find it funny. And you¡¯re wrong if you thought that I would save myself. I looked at my childhood friend, Ren, who was looking at me with panic filled eyes. I could already guess that if my classmates didn¡¯t hold him back, he would definitely come to my aid. Good reaction! Ah¡­.so much love¡­.I can¡¯t handle it. I lightly smirked to him and fell into deep sleep¡­.. Chapter 3 Something seems wrong....(Part 3) Mondays are something that almost everyone hates unless it¡¯s a national or international holiday. And it¡¯s very common to be late to school or office on that day of the week. Several students who were late to school were running round a oval 90 yard inside a certain school. There were other students who were looking at the students running and were mocking them lightly. Among those several students who were punished for being late, only two black haired boys looked like they were enjoying it. The atmosphere of the school was very lively despite the punishments. But it seems that this lively atmosphere would get even more lively¡­.. *Ren¡¯s POV* Uhh¡­how long do I have to run like this¡­.? Although, I have lost my shame long ago, I can¡¯t help but feel a bit embarrassed for this. I looked at my childhood friend beside me. He appeared to be very serious. But I can bet a thousand bucks that this guy, who is running with me, doesn¡¯t have any sense of guilt and shame! Brother¡­.you can deceive other people but not me! ¡°Ok. Stop!¡±, a rough voice came behind me. Upon seeing the owner of the voice, I stopped running. It was Rambo, our Senior Sports Teacher. He is like a macho man. This is the simplest way I can describe him without wasting time. Also, he has a scary face. It¡¯s probably because of the scar on the left side of his face. I heard that he used to be in military. His name fits his character and body! ¡°You can go to your respective classrooms now. Don¡¯t be late next day. Or else, I will make it 20 laps from 10.¡±, Rambo said in a rough voice. Scary! But its not my fault! I have the duty to wake up my childhood friend, Xie. Its damn annoying! Though, it would be would be a different case if you were a cute childhood tsundere childhood friend. Why aren¡¯t you Xie Xiannu?!! ¡°Finally, its over ¡±. Speak of the devil and here he is. ¡°Its kinda annoying to run like this. ¡°, Xie continued. ¡°Heh¡­Lets hurry. Kitakami-sensei is scary¡±, I said and ran away after which, Xie followed me. Suetsu High School, Class 3-A The classroom was as usual, lively. This lively atmosphere would continue unless Sensei walks in. I went to my seat which was at the 2nd last row and 4th column. Xie sat behind me. ¡°Ren, do you know Liana? Is she from this class?¡± , Xie asked me. I sighed in my mind. This time I am not going to be surprised. But still¡­..I have my limits!! How much of an idiot are you?!! Liana and you went to the same middle school and you even went to several mixers along with her! I would not be surprised even if you two started dating!! Brother¡­you never fail to amaze me¡­.. ¡°Hey! Answer my question. Do you know her?¡±, Xie asked again after seeing me muted. ¡°Yes. I do. Why?¡± ¡°Do you know her whereabouts?¡±, Xie asked a question which made me a bit confused. ¡°Hm? Yes. I remember going to her place on an occasion. But w-wh-why?¡±, I replied shuttering. But why am I shuttering? I looked at my surroundings and everyone seems to have the word ¡°panic¡± written on their faces. ¡°Ren, an earthquake of 8.7 magnitude came!!¡±, Xie shouted in my ears. That¡¯s weirdly accurate!!After hearing him, I also had the word ¡°panic¡± printed on my face. I saw our homeroom teacher, Kitakami , dragging two female students under her desk. Wh-what should I do? Should I run away or stay under my desk¡­? No, running wont help and I don¡¯t think my frail desk could save me from this earthquake. Now, its all upto fate . I silently prayed to God even though I call myself an atheist. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be happening¡­.I was sure to block all the gates¡­..I must get to the end of this.¡±, my childhood friend was muttering something. But I couldn¡¯t care less about that right now. While I looked down and was silently praying to God, a white light came from the floor and it seemed to devour me. I was scared but decided not to scream. Is this the vision everyone sees before their death?? The white light embraced me and I finally accepted my sad death¡­.If I was given another chance, then.¡­¡­what should I do then?! I don¡¯t seem to have any grand ambitions other than making a harem¡­.F*ck! I don¡¯t care anymore! I sobbed closing my eyes. ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t panic. Although, I think it is normal for you to panic. But please listen to me. This is important.¡± Suddenly , a beautiful voice entered my ears. I finally opened my eyes and looked at the owner of the voice.Ah¡­I never thought that the Death God would have such a gorgeous beauty. She wore a clean white kimono-like clothing with golden earrings on her left ear. She was so fair that¡­..enough of this!! Why am I even describing her appearance? Is it a webnovel or something? ¡°Oi. Get up!¡±, soon a familiar voice reached my ears. It was my childhood friend. I frowned upon seeing him. Why do you have to follow me everytime?? While I was cursing Xie in my mind, I looked at the surroundings and found all of my classmates. Eh? Did everyone die along with me? Ah¡­.such good classmates¡­. ¡°Is it something like defeating the Demon King trope?¡±, Satou,an influential student of our class spoke up. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s as you said. You must train hard from now on to defeat the demon king.¡±, said the white beauty. Eh? Demon king? Isn¡¯t it something which we often read in LNs? Cool!! So that means we get super OP magic powers, right? ¡°B-but we don¡¯t have any powers¡±, said Satou. Though he is shuttering, I don¡¯t think that the shuttering was genuine. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. The moment you people came to this world, God has already given you some unique abilities.¡±, she continued. Unique abilities?Awesome!Now, my dream of constructing a harem may come true. But it depends on the unique ability she mentioned. If the ability I get is something like , then my dream will collapse. Anyways, what is my unique ability? ¡°How do we know our unique ability?¡±, Satou asked the question which was in my mind. ¡°Good question. You all seem very adaptable. Can you see the white crystal placed there?¡±, the beauty asked while pointing to a crystal which was placed at the centre of this huge room. A hall would be more suitable. Now that I look closely at the hall, the word ¡®beautiful¡¯ won¡¯t be enough to describe. The hall was painted in white with golden strips. Is there anything that could be as beautiful as this? I am not over exaggerating.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That crystal will show you which elements are you compatible with and also your unique ability.¡±, the beauty said as she smiled. ¡°Elements? Like Fire, Water, Earth and wind??¡±, I voiced out. She nodded. ¡°Can we go home?¡±, I asked again. ¡°Yes, of course. I want to apologize to everyone present for bringing you all out here without respecting your own wishes.¡±, she bowed courteously after apologizing. Its pointless to apologize though. There¡¯s no crying over spilled milk¡­..Though I always wanted to transport to another world and make a harem, it¡¯s only on the condition that I will be super OP. Besides, I have parents and a sister to worry about. That¡¯s why no matter what I can¡¯t buy your apology. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. We will glad to help you. Besides, we always dreamt about transporting to another world and fight demons. But in turn, what do we get?¡±, Rumi, a pony-tailed girl of my class said. ¡°Yes. Nothing in our world was for free.¡±, Satou said after which most of my classmates followed. Seriously guys¡­.what do we get?? I would be plenty satisfied just by sending me to my home. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m not greedy. Just that I have got my priorities first. ¡°Yes. Of course. But you were wrong on one part. You were summoned here not to defeat the demons, just the demon king.¡±, the white haired girl said. Eh? Just the Demon King? Why???Were the demons brainwashed by the Demon King? I am confused. And it¡¯s not just me. ¡°What do you mean?¡±, Mamoru, one of my classmates, asked. ¡°It¡¯s as the priestess said. A few years after the previous Demon King was defeated by the Great Otherworldly Hero, Reuken, the demons and the humans were united. But alas, the Demon King still managed to survive¡­..¡±, an old man in white clothes said. So, before us, a guy named Reuken was transported. I wonder if he has a harem. ¡°But, just because the Demon King managed to survive doesn¡¯t mean to can¡¯t be defeated by Reuken again, right?¡±, I voiced out. ¡°Right. But the Hero mysteriously disappeared after defeating the Demon King. And we were not strong enough to defeat the Demon King without Reuken¡¯s help. ¡°, this time, a knight in blue armor said. I understand. It all makes sense now. ¡°We understand. But what do we get?¡±, Satou asked. ¡°You get everything you would get from this world.¡±, the priestess replied with a smile. Everything we get from this world? Like superpowers, harem, everything?? I am suddenly super hyped. ¡°Deal. We would be glad to help you¡±, Satou, our class representative, replied again. Suddenly, discussions among us started. Everyone seemed to be very excited¡­.except Xie, who had an annoyed expression. But I couldn¡¯t care less about him. ¡°Everyone. We would be grateful if you all form a queue. We want to find y¡¯all¡¯ affinities for elementals.¡±, a bald knight in blue armor said. After a while, we finally formed a queue. There are a total of 39 students present. Liana was absent today. I heard that she is on a trip. Such luck¡­..By the way, my position is 8th from the last in this queue. Behind me, is Xie, who apparently seemed very annoyed. ¡°Congratulations! You have an affinity of B-level with earth.¡±, an old priest said. ¡°Congratulations! You have an affinity of C-level with fire.¡± ¡°Congratulations! You have an affinity of B-level with water.¡± ¡°Congratulations! You have¡­¡­.¡± ¡°Congratulations¡­¡­.¡± ¡°¡­¡­..¡± ... ¡°Congratulations! You have an affinity of A-level with water! A rare talent.¡±, the old priest, who seemed very excited, said to Rumi-san. I am envious now. But will I have an A-level affinity?? Now, I am worried. ¡°Oh Lord!! Another talent! Child, you have an affinity of A-level with fire! With these talents, we could definitely be saved from the clutches of the Demon King.¡±, the old priest said while referring to Satou. After waiting for two minutes, finally my turn came. I walked upto a platform where the old priest was standing. ¡°Child. Keep your dominant hand on the white crystal.¡±, the old priest explained. I did as he told me. After a second, the white crystal turned black and then slowly turned yellow. Eh? What element is this? I looked at the old priest looking for answers. He seemed deeply immersed in something. After a while, he turned to me and said, ¡±Child, you have a rare elemental affinity, lightning. Rare affinities are generally stronger than the common ones. But it¡¯s just that¡­.¡± HAHAHAHA. I am the god of thunder, Th*r! ¡°Just that¡­..?¡±, I am in clouds nine right now. ¡°Just that your affinity is at the level of D. But as I said, rare elemental affinities are generally stronger than the common ones. So, your talent won¡¯t differ much from your peers.¡±, the old priest said. I was about to faint when I heard the first line. Anyways, although I didn¡¯t get an A-level talent, I am not disappointed. Then, I was about walked towards the direction of the white haired priestess who was asking questions to everyone who has finished the test for affinity. But decided to wait for Xie. Xie walked up to the platform and kept his right hand on the white crystal. The white crystal first turned red, then slowly turned dark-blue. Woah! An A-level fire affinity! Now, I feel proud for him. I walked upto him who still seemed annoyed and said, ¡°Bro. Now that you have talent., you have to protect me Don¡¯t betray me in a dungeon. Otherwise, I will make my hairs turn white and come to kill you for betraying me.¡± ¡°Heh¡­.this A-level could not be classified as a ¡¯talent¡¯ in my encyclopedia.¡±, Xie said with an arrogant tone. Brother¡­can you stop bragging? I know that you have talent¡­..He is probably being arrogant after getting power. We headed towards the direction where everyone again formed a queue for some QnA hosted by the priestess. It was Rumi¡¯s turn for QnA. She walked elegantly to the priestess. Then, the priestess asked some common questions like her dream, her will, her preferred race in her next race¡­What? Preferred race in next life? What kind of question is that? Rumi seemed to be in deep thought. After 2 seconds, she finally answered, ¡°A demon. I don¡¯t deserve to be a human after all the sins I have committed¡­.¡± Huh? You want to be a demon because you don¡¯t deserve to be a human?? That makes zero sense. Ah¡­I am such a fool. Who said that everything one says is the truth? ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA¡±, a wild laughter came from beside me. I looked around saw Xie laugh like a maniac. In a second, he gained everyone¡¯s attention. Even the priestess was looking at him with a grim expression. After realizing what he did, he bowed and said, ¡±Everyone. Forgive me for my shameful behavior. Just that my friend beside me cracked a very funny joke.¡± Oi. Do whatever you want but don¡¯t drag me into your mess. I awkwardly laughed and said, ¡±Xie, c¡¯mon it was not that funny¡­.¡± ¡°No, it was very funny.¡±, Xie replied. After 2 seconds, everyone finally lost interest in us. Xie heaved a sigh of relief. I wanted to scold him but decided to talk about it after the QnA. After standing in queue for about fifteen minutes, I noticed a very weird thing. For the question,¡± What race do you want to be in your next reincarnation?¡±, most of my classmates replied, ¡°Demon.¡±¡­..Is being a demon that cool?? Finally, my turn came. The priestess asked all the common questions and finally asked, ¡±What race do you want to be in your next life?¡±, I simply replied, ¡±Human¡±. The priestess sighed and said,¡± You can go now.¡± ¡°Excuse me, where is the washroom?¡±, I asked. I have been holding it in for about five minutes. Also, I can¡¯t ask the servants previously because I was in a queue and my turn was near when I thought about it. ¡°Huh? It¡¯s on the 2nd floor. Ask the servants there for the accurate location.¡±, the priestess gave a professional answer. ¡°Thank you¡±, I said while rushing towards the washroom. I came back in the hall room after two minutes and saw¡­¡­.what? Why is Xie lying on the floor? Also, what¡¯s with the blood in his abdomen???? Then, I saw a few men and women dressed in blue armor in his surroundings. No! It ca-can¡¯t be¡­. ¡°Why did you kill Xie?!!¡±, I howled. Don¡¯t die, Xie¡­.otherwise how am I supposed to face Uncle and Aunt¡­.Don¡¯t you dare die!! ¡°Calm down, Ren. I know that he is your childhood friend. But he himself committed suicide.¡±, Satou said to me in a consoling voice. Huh? Committed suicide?? Heh¡­that¡¯s the last thing Xie would do¡­..but looking at Xie¡¯s right hand which had a dagger, I had no choice but to believe that committed suicide.I looked at Xie¡¯s eyes that was still open. No matter what, Xie is like my brother¡­..He was there with me when I had no one¡­¡­I can¡¯t see him die like this. I wanted to rush to him but my classmates caught me from my back. ¡°I get that he committed suicide but why are you not letting me go?!¡±, I asked my classmates who held me back. I looked at Xie which was finally losing its color. Just when his eyes were about to close, he lightly smirked to me. Eh? Is that how you say goodbye? I remembered the moments we had together. Although, he is a bit intolerable, he was still a good friend¡­..That¡¯s not what I should be thinking right now!! ¡°Priestess, can he be saved?¡±, I looked at the priestess with a panicked expression. ¡°We would do our best to save him.¡± ,the priestess said with a solemn expression. A middle-aged man came in right at that moment and seemed to check Xie¡¯s condition. After a while, he said,¡± He is alive for now. But he will die soon if he isn¡¯t operated on.¡± I heaved a sigh of relief at the physician¡¯s remark. ¡°Then, operate him right away.¡±, the priestess replied. After few minutes, I finally got to know what had happened in my absence. But I still wonder why he stabbed himself¡­..He is not someone to act on impulse. Something seems wrong¡­.. Chapter 4 Are you a God? In a certain room of a certain palace, a black haired boy, who looked approximately around 17 years of age, was sleeping comfortably in a soft bed. Beside him, a few physicians were discussing about the boy¡¯s condition. They had already treated him and he seemed to survive. In other words, their operation of successful. But the reason why the physicians were still concerned about the boy is because he is still not conscious even after two days after the operation was performed. There were rumors going around that he was asleep because at night, few of the servants had hear him snore. But according to the physicians, that was not possible. Although, the longest a person had ever slept was 11 days and 25 minutes, that was just an exception. And exceptions are not to be generalised. While the boy was asleep, another black haired boy was training in one corner of the palace. He could be seen doing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups,100 squats, sprinting 10 km everyday. Does this boy seriously thinks that he could become that famous bald OP character? Anyways, he was desperately trying to train his body. Why would he not though? Although, mana makes one¡¯s body as well as inner strength stronger, one should not always depend on mana. Because the increase in inner strength as well as physical strength is temporary. No matter how much mana one has, it will deplete one day. That¡¯s why the Heroes must learn to convert the mana to energy and store it in their dantian. Then, the energy stored in the dantian will gradually increase one¡¯s inner strength as well as physical strength permanently. Ren was exactly trying to do that. After training for four and half years, he was finally at his limits. He was doing push-ups and could be seen gritting his teeth. Thump! ¡°Why? Is my body¡¯s potential only this much? And where is my willpower that I always love to brag about??¡±, Ren asked himself. Ren gave up on thinking about training and decided to visit Xie. Ren knows that Xie is actually conscious and is sleeping, as the rumor says. After the operation, when the physicians left the room where Xie is present, Ren visited the room to check his friend''s condition. Xie was yawning when Ren entered the room so the former was caught. Just when Ren was about to ask questions, Xie told him, ¡°Go back for now. I will explain everything the next time you visit me.¡± Ren walked upto the door of the room where Xie was sleeping. He knocked the door, then called himself an idiot and went inside the room. The room was clean and it gave a holy feeling. At the centre of the room was a white luxurious bed upon which Xie was sound asleep. Ren walked upto the bed and slapped his head. ¡°Owch. You became strong.¡±, Xie woke up.from the pain from his head. ¡°Heh, of course. I trained my body like a madman for 2 days.¡±, Ren said with a proud look. ¡°I can see that. But that¡¯s not enough. Although, you have got the fruits of your hard work, it won¡¯t last long. You know that, right?¡±, Xie asked. Ren dropped his shoulders and seemed disappointed. Although, he thinks that he isn¡¯t interested in becoming strong, he is a perfectionist in nature. Whenever he does something, he makes sure that he will get to the peak of the work he is doing. In this case, it was becoming strong. ¡°I know. But for now, I can only do this¡­.but how do you know this?!¡±, Ren suddenly realized that Xie should not know this. The instructors had explained him and his classmates about the working of this world. But, Xie was not present that time. ¡°Don¡¯t mind small details. Anyways, do you even want to know why I stabbed myself?¡±, Xie said as he shrugged his shoulders. Ren¡¯s eyes narrowed. He wanted to know the ¡®small details¡¯ but didn¡¯t bother about it much because his ¡°priorities comes first¡±. ¡°Alright. Tell me.¡± ¡°Ok. Here it goes...but where do I start from?¡± ¡°...Why did you stab yourself?¡± ¡°You already know what happened in the hall, right?¡±, Xie asked. ¡°Yes. I do. That you offended the priestess by being rude to her¡±, Ren said. Ren heard from his classmates. ¡°Yes. But before I answer your question, there is something you should know. Don¡¯t ask me how I know this, or else I will stop answering your questions.¡±, Xie said seriously. Ren was a bit perplexed about this but decided to follow Xie. ¡°Fine. What is it?¡± ¡°You already know that the priestess and more of half of the knights are demons, right?¡±, Xie asked straightforwardly.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Yes. What about it? Do you want to say that they are the bad guys and are just playing the role of good guys? I also thought it. Reuken obviously defeated the Demon King for humans to dominate the world. But here it is, the world is ruled by the demons. What an irony. But well, it doesn¡¯t matter because the demons are not causing havoc like they used to. And besides, the only thing I care about is to go home. ¡±, Ren said as rolled his eyes. One can¡¯t judge a book by it¡¯s cover. Even though Ren looks stupid and playful, he is surprisingly cunning when he needs to be. Ren already did he studies about the world in the first day he came to this world. ¡°Bingo! You might think that I am just making a hypothesis. But listen to me. Latisha is the Demon King.¡±, Xie said seriously. ¡°Ok. I understand.¡±, Ren mechanically nodded his head and said. Xie didn¡¯t seem satisfied with his expression and continued,¡±I am serious about this. The aura from Latisha is too powerful to just be a priestess.¡± ¡°I wonder~ Then who is the ¡®Demon king¡¯ from your story?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±, Xie replied seriously. Ren sighed and asked,¡±Ok. But what does it have to do with you stabbing yourself?¡± ¡°You should have already heard that I committed a ¡®crime worthy of death¡¯, right?¡± ¡°Yes. But you were also forgiven.¡± ¡°Heh...think about it. What would have happened if I did nothing after I was ¡®forgiven¡¯. They would have used this ¡®crime¡¯ as an excuse to bound me. It would be wrong to say that ¡®they don¡¯t they don¡¯t want me to die¡¯ but rather ¡®they don¡¯t me to die for now¡¯. What guarantee do you have that I won¡¯t be betrayed after we defeated the ¡®demon king¡¯. It often happens in novels.¡± ¡°That makes no sense. How will they betray you? Even this world has some laws.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem. Do you think I have committed a crime which can be excused by the law? They can always say that I am punishable by law and can¡¯t be excused since it will be written in records. I am touched by such righteousness¡± ¡°Ahh...but do they have a reason to do so? And I don¡¯t think that I as well as our classmates will keep quiet about you being punished.¡± ¡°The reason is a bit complicated. But it is as you said, you and our classmates won¡¯t be quiet about it. But that is provided that they have enough power to not be quiet about it. Anyways, even if I explained to you about it, you will not understand even half of it.¡± Ren, this time, is very confused. Although, he didn¡¯t fully believe what Xie is saying, he can¡¯t help but think that there might be the possibility ¡°Ahh¡­.but then again, why did you stab yourself?¡± ¡°I stabbed myself in order to ¡®purify my sins¡¯. I don¡¯t think I need to explain further, right?¡± ¡°No, I got it.¡± Ren now was completely clear about why Xie stabbed himself. But now, he worried about another thing. ¡°Xie, what should we do if what you said is the truth?¡± ¡°That¡¯s simple.¡±, Xie smirked.as he continued. ¡°We must get strong. What else can we do?¡± ¡°....¡± ¡°....¡±, Xie kept smirking. ¡°Stop smirking, idiot. Even, I know that the only way to avoid it is to get strong. But how exactly? I have a feeling that we eventually become strong enough to at least defeat the knights, but is that enough?¡± ¡°Of course not. You are so narrow-minded. The ¡®Demon King¡¯ is at least stronger than Latisha. And Latisha is...believe me...strong enough to rule this world by her own.¡± ¡°But how do you know th-¡±, Ren was about to ask the forbidden question. ¡°That¡¯s because I am stronger than Latisha.¡±Xie said seriously. But Ren did¡¯nt buy his serious look and said,¡± I understand¡± Xie pouted and said, ¡°Look at this then ¡±as he lifted his hand up and pointed his palm to a closed window. Suddenly, green colored gas-like flames started gathering at the palm of his hands and it formed an oval-structure which was rotating anti-clockwise. It looked like it would jump out of his palm at any moment. Xie, then released the green flame from his palm in the direction of the window. Smash! The glasses of the window broke without any pieces remaining. The green oval flame then went up to the sky. Boom! Badaboom! Blam! An earth shaking explosion occurred in the sky. The explosion¡¯s magnitude can be compared to an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude. From the sound of the explosion, several 5-star mages from the hall came out. Even Latisha who was first to come out has an ashen and a confused face. The crowd was in a huge uproar. This is the possibly the biggest explosion they had ever seen in their life. ¡°Oh Lord! The Demon King finally woke up from his sleep¡±, said an old woman who was selling vegetables. The one who made this explosion indeed woke from sleep. ¡°Now, the only one who can save us from this disaster is the Goddess herself¡­¡±, said another civilian. ¡°Heh...isn¡¯t this beautiful?¡±, Xie asked Ren while admiring his explosion. ¡°...¡± Brother...there were other ways to prove that you are indeed stronger than the priestess¡­And beautiful? I have created a new hypothesis. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the Demon King?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t compare me to those small fries.¡±, Xie arrogantly said Grand Hall of the Reuken Palace ¡°Priestess, could it be that it was the Demon King?¡±, a SSS-ranked adventurer asked. ¡°No, even the Demon King doesn¡¯t have that much capability to create an explosion of that magnitude.¡±, the priestess answered as she looked at the other members present in the hall who were seated in a round table. ¡°Then, who could it be?? Could it possibly be done by a being from higher dimension?¡±, a 5-star ranked mage asked. ¡°That¡¯s the most possible answer.¡±, the Leader of the Knights order said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think we did anything to provoke them!¡±, the baldy knight said. ¡°Everyone. Please calm down. Whoever it was, We would get the answer very soon. We are going to research about the explosion. We might be absent for few months.¡±, the priestess said.(She referred to herself as ¡®We¡¯) The priestess then disappeared in smoke. ¡°This meeting turned out to be fruitless.¡±, the King of the Alzemann Kingdom said while sighing. On the same day, Xie revealed that he was unconscious. The physicians were finally relieved to see that there was nothing wrong with Xie. He later found out that all of his classmates, excluding Ren, already left for their journey with their party members allotted by the Knights Order. Xie and Ren, being late, didn¡¯t get a single party member. So, they left for the palace on their own. While the two of them were travelling in a cart, Ren asked,¡±Can you at least tell me one thing?¡± ¡°It depends on the ¡®thing¡¯.¡±, Xie replied. ¡°Are you a God?¡±, Ren asked seriously. Xie suddenly laughed out loud and said,¡±I wonder~¡± Chapter 5 First Battle It was midnight. At this time of the day, most of the people in an average populated town were asleep. The streets were very cold, empty and silent. It was so silent that even a dog¡¯s barks couldn¡¯t be heard. But weirdly enough, a weapon shop still has its light on. Inside the weapon shop, a burly middle-aged man was polishing his one of his swords with a serious expression. He, then looked at the weapon he picked up in the morning. It was very dirty and rusty. He was debating on whether he should throw the weapon. He finally decided that he would throw it tomorrow morning. Casade Town, South of Alzemann Kingdom In a certain cart, two black haired boys could seen sleeping soundly on the cart. The cart driver was driving leisurely when one of the black haired boy woke up and asked,¡±Are we there yet?¡± The cart driver replied,¡±Yeah. Very near. Do you have your identity passes?¡± ¡°Identity passes? But we are Heroes, right?¡±, Xie asked while Ren was still asleep. ¡°Heroes?! Do you have any evidence?¡±, the cart driver asked. He wasn¡¯t being rude. He just asked it because it was natural to ask. After all, there are many scammers present who are faking as Heroes. ¡°Evidence? We do have a card. Will this work?¡±, Xie asked while showing a card printed in gold. Before leaving the palace, Xie and Ren were given these cards. The cart driver looked closely at the card and said,¡± Forgive me if I was being rude. Where would you like to travel after reaching Casade Town?¡± ¡°Eh? Just reaching the Casade Town is more than enough?¡± The cart driver smiled at Xie and said,¡±It¡¯s not a big trouble for me even to tour you Heroes to this whole Alzemann Kingdom. But it¡¯s a huge trouble for me if the Demon King destroys this huge kingdom.¡± Xie understood what the cart driver was intending to say. Although, the Heroes get certain privileges across the whole world, they have their own insecurities and dangers. For this, the civilians will try their best to help them. Xie was surprised to see this kind of mentality among citizens. ¡°Then, I won¡¯t hold back. Is there any good weapon shop in the town?¡±, Xie asked. After leaving the palace, Xie decided that he himself would train Ren. And for Ren to get strong, he needed to get a weapon. Though, learning magic is an alternative. Xie was against it. After half an hour, the cart stood beside a weapon shop. Xie and Ren get off the cart. ¡°Take your time, I will wait for you.¡±, the cart driver said. Ren and Xie nodded after which they entered the shop. Though, they decided that they will get a weapon. They didn¡¯t decide on ¡®weapon¡¯. ¡°Welcome, customers! What weapon do you want?¡±, a blonde haired girl greeted us. ¡°Uhh...which weapon do you want?¡±, Xie asked Ren. ¡°What are my choices?¡±, Ren asked back. ¡°Hwando, Liuyedao, Sabre, Talwar, Katana, Spear, Small sword, Ruler, Haladie, Zweihaender, Sho-¡±, Xie was cut off. ¡°Stop! Which one is recommended for me?¡±, Ren asked. Beside them, the blonde haired girl was smiling awkwardly. ¡°Spear and longbow¡±, Xie said seriously. ¡°Reasons?¡±, Ren asked curiously. ¡°Spear has both offense and defense and longbows can be lethal weapons depending on its use.¡± ¡°Then, spear. Though, I wanted a cool sword.¡±, Ren replied. ¡°Can you show us the best spears you have?¡±, Xie said as he turned to the blond haired girl. Xie and Ren didn¡¯t worry about the price of the spear because they were given enough coins from the palace. ¡°Please come this way.¡± They followed the girl and soon got to the 2nd floor where spears were kept for sale. ¡°These are our best spears. If you finish selecting a spear, go to the man sitting there¡±, the blonde haired girl said as she pointed to a middle aged man who was polishing a spear. Xie nodded after which the girl left. Xie was looking for a suitable spear for Ren while Ren was looking a spear which looked cool. ¡°What kind of spear do you want, child?¡±, the middle aged man asked. ¡°I want a spear which is light but not fragile, hard at its edges but sharp, long but not beyond my height.¡±, Xie replied seriously. ¡°I see. Let me look for it.¡±, the middle aged man said as he got up from his chair with the spear he was polishing in his hand. Xie¡¯s eyes narrowed at the sight of the spear in the man¡¯s hand. The spear perfectly matched his criterion but it¡¯s very rusty and dirty. So dirty, that more than ninety percent of the spear was painted in brown. ¡°Can I see the spear for a moment?¡±, Xie asked. ¡°Ah...it¡¯s rusted. I can get you a better one.¡±, the middle aged said as he handed over the spear to Xie. !!This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°This¡­¡±, Xie eyes narrowed, He noticed that the letter ¡®W¡¯ was printed in the handle of the spear. ¡°Sir, I want to buy this one.¡±, Xie said. The middle aged man as well Ren was shocked at him. ¡°Broth-¡±, Ren was about to refute when Xie said, ¡°This spear is the best you can get. I will explain everything later.¡± Ren obediently nodded his head. ¡°Are you sure?¡±, the middle aged man said. ¡°Yes. What is its price?¡±, Xie asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t decided on its price since I was about to throw this spear today. But it seems like this spear got its owner. You can take it for free.¡±, the man said as he smiled. ¡°Then, I will do as you wish.¡±, Xie smiled and soon after Ren and Xie bid goodbye to the man. Getting out of the shop, they saw the cart stood at its place. The cart driver seeing them asked,¡±Where is your next destination, Heroes?¡± ¡°Is there any isolated field nearby? Even a forest would work.¡±, Xie replied as he and Ren get to the cart. ¡°There is a nearby forest but I can¡¯t enter the forest. I will wait for you at this town.¡±, the cart driver said. ¡°Hm? Then, please take us there.¡±, Xie said. ¡°Here you go.¡±, the cart driver said as he started driving. Inside the cart, Ren asked a serious question,¡±Is this some kind of divine spear?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s normal.¡±, Xie replied seriously. ¡°...¡± Ren was about to go mad when Xie added,¡±But it has been used by a divine person.¡± ¡°Woah! Then, why did you its normal?¡±, Ren asked after heaving a sigh of relief. ¡°Because it is. This is one of the thousands of spears used by the 28th War God from the Yang family.¡±, Xie replied lazily. ¡°Huh? War God? Yang Family? Who are those?¡±, Ren asked with a confused face. ¡°You won¡¯t understand even if I tell you. The point is that this spear might have the War God¡¯s soul remains. And I think you have read enough wuxia novels to know what soul remains means, right?¡±, Xie said while smirking. ¡°Soul remains?!!...Indeed¡­¡±, Ren said with a excited face. While the two of them were conversing, they reached the forest entrance. They get off from the cart and started walking inside the forest. After few minutes, they finally found a place suitable for training. Without wasting anymore time, Xie said,¡±Look closely¡±. Ren nodded. Xie went near a huge tree, took a stance, pushed the spear through his left hand with his right hand until his hands met. Creak! A small hole could be seen in the bark of the tree. Xie turned to Ren who was seriously looking and said,¡±You have to this. This is a basic long strike.¡± ¡°Huh? That¡¯s boring! What about the mighty spear dance?¡±, Ren complained. ¡°Ren...if you are thinking that you will turn super OP after I teach you something ¡®cool¡¯, then you better forget about becoming strong. You have to grow by yourself. Oh..and I forgot to mention one thing. I have some business to do. So, you have to train here by yourself.¡± Ren was stumped at his words. ¡°B-but how will I survive here?!¡±, Ren asked with a loud voice. ¡°There are beasts around.¡±, Xie said. ¡°Huh? That makes my survival chance less than zero!¡± ¡°What? Can you not cook?¡± ¡°Cook what?¡± ¡°Beasts. What else?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Anyways, goodbye. I will be waiting for you at the Heroes¡¯ Festival.¡±, Xie said as he disappeared in air. *Ren¡¯s POV* Fu*k you!! How am I supposed to survive in this forest??! Should I go back? Yes, of course. Do I even need ask that? But what about my training? Nah, let it be. There are other places I can train. I picked up my bag and took the spear in my hand. I looked at the spear and wondered,¡¯ Is this really a spear used by a divine person?¡¯ But that¡¯s none of my concern right now. While I was heading back to the entrance of the forest, I heard a scream,¡± AHHHH!!¡± Eh? That sounds like a little girl. I cautiously walked at the direction of the scream and saw a girl of not more than five years old hugging the bark of a tree while a wolf-like beast slowly walked towards her. Seeing it, I quickly hid behind the bushes. Heh¡­I am scared¡­..Although, I trained my body, I am still far away even from an unranked knight. And why is this scene happening in front of me¡­? I am not a protagonist neither a sidekick. I am just a common man who has his priorities first. Should I escape while I still have time? B-but what is this feeling¡­? I don¡¯t believe that its guilt¡­.No! Its not guilt! Rather, a huge burden of responsibilities¡­..I laughed dryly at my own thinking¡­.While, I was having such thoughts, the spear I was carrying fell from my hands. Thump! The sound of the spear falling was crystal clear. The wolf-like beast¡¯s eyes were now fixed at my direction. Then, the beast started walking at my direction. My heart skipped a beat at the first step the beast took while walking in my direction. My face became white and sweaty from the thought that my death is near¡­..Heh¡­.what should I do?....Running won¡¯t help since I¡¯m not as agile as the beast¡­.and forget about fighting¡­¡­My skin will be ripped off the moment I get up¡­.Will I die just like this¡­.? Or should I fight to my death¡­? Forget it¡­.either way, I¡¯m gonna die¡­.. The distance between the beast and me was less than half meter. But as I was hiding behind a thick bush, the beast still can¡¯t see me. Hahaha¡­.You can¡¯t see me¡­..The beast then took one more step. I closed my eyes as I accepted my death¡­. But just as the beast was about to take one more step, a small stone hit his head. The wolf looked back. There stood the girl with tears in her eyes, gritting her white teeth and stood there shaking¡­. ¡°E-eat me if you can. Do-don¡¯t bully others!¡±, the little girl shouted with tears in her eyes. The beast howled at her and reversed his direction. I looked at girl while sitting motionlessly. My mind is in complete chaos right now. There was a girl who was more than thrice my age saved my life and will die within a few minutes. Though, fear could be seen in her eyes, she neither ran away nor has any intentions of giving up her life. I broke up¡­..Hot tears slowly ran down my cold face¡­..Why is an adult like me crying¡­.? Is it because of fear? Is it because the girl¡¯s bravery and courage exceeds mine? Or is it because of the gratefulness I am feeling towards the girl for saving my life¡­? No¡­.the reason is simple. It¡¯s because of shame¡­. I don¡¯t think I can show my face to others if I let the little girl die just like this¡­.If she dies, I will die with her¡­.I bitterly laughed at my own thoughts. I wiped my tears off my face, slapped my cheeks two times, fixed my eyes on the beast that was moving towards the little girl and grabbed the spear with my right hand. I got up from the bushes slowly without any sound. I made my first step. The little girl looked at me with confusion. I held my spear with my left hand, took a deep breath and started walking towards the beast that was right in front of me. The distance between me and the beast closed up from 9 meter to 1.5 meter. The more distance between us closed up, the more petrified I became. Many thoughts came into my mind. Even at this moment, my mind is telling me to run away¡­..but I couldn¡¯t do so because of the little girl¡¯s eyes. Even though, she was showing me signs to run away, her eyes was telling the opposite. I don¡¯t know if I should become glad at the fact that someone is expecting me to save his/her life. After the distance between us was one meter, I prepared to attack at the next step. But, suddenly the beast turned around. It was probably due to the shadow and my footsteps. My heart skipped a beat looking at hungry wolf¡¯s face. F*ck! It¡¯s do or die. I took a basic stance. Pointed the spear towards the beast, and pushed it with the help of both the hands. Damn! This won¡¯t work!! The most this can do is a stratch¡­..While the spear was about to hit the beast, I added all of my mana stored in my dantian onto the spear. Slash! Rip! The sound of the slash as well as the beast¡¯s skin¡¯s ripped off skins could be heard. Its skins was peeled off like that of an onion. But my fear didn¡¯t get away. I took a step back with my right leg that and prepared for an attack again. This time, I poured all of my strength. But as it was about the beast¡¯s face, the beast dodged it and backed off. It howled in pain with its blood oozing out and one of its eyes blinded. But this was no time for me to feel proud, I again prepared for an attack. But again, the beast dodged it by a hair¡¯s breath. However, this time, the beast didn¡¯t give any time for me to prepare. It jumped off in my direction. I am dead. Once the beast is over me, I will die¡­..The distance between us is now less than one meter. Although, I have enough time to attack, my legs were not in proper stance due to the recovery from the last attack. But even if I can¡¯t attack¡­.I quickly pulled back my spear and aligned it parallel to the position of my left hand and my right left. The beast, who had already jumped, bit the spear. Defense is the best offense. But it didn¡¯t help much because I was being overpowered by the beast. I balanced my legs by positioning my right leg far away from my left leg. Then, grabbing the spear with my hand, I pulled it out from its mouth. But, it¡¯s no good this time too because I was caught open by the beast with both my hands upwards holding the spear, my body about to with my legs unbalanced. Damn! Seems like even luck isn¡¯t on my side. I am going to die for sure now¡­.. As my body was falling, I closed my eyes once again¡­.At least, I tried this time. I could rest in peace now¡­.But is this really it¡­.? Although, I repeatedly complained during my fight, I was feeling an emotion which can¡¯t be described in words. It was something I never felt in my whole seventeen years of life. If I remember my expression correctly, my lips were curled up. Heh¡­.why the heck was I smiling¡­.? Even now, my lips were still curled up¡­..My body suddenly feels hot. It¡¯s as if I was the sun itself¡­..With these thoughts in mind, I opened my eyes and looked at the beast which was at a distance of 15 cm from me. My eyes, unknowingly, became ferocious. I must kill this damned beast- was the only thought in my kind. But how exactly¡­.? I am about to fall in less than 2 seconds. I don¡¯t think I can dodge the beast in front of me.¡­.Heh¡­.Why am I not scared now¡­.? No, I am still scared¡­.But this unknown feeling exceeds my fear. As my body was about to hit the ground, I left the spear which was in my left hand, and with my right hand, I touched the ground and rolled right in air with the help of my right hand, and fell on the ground. In short, I dodged. The beast fell right in the ground missing my body. I quickly grabbed the beast¡¯s paws with my legs, sitting on top of it, penetrating the beast¡¯s eyes with my fingers. The eyes are the only part I could damage. ¡°AHHHHHHHHHH¡±, the beast howled in agony but didn¡¯t stop digging deep into the eyes. After a while, I got up while the beast was screaming, grabbed the spear and attacked on its torso. The scream stopped abruptly. Thump! My body fell on the ground. I d-did it! This was the strongest feeling of accomplishment I have earned till now¡­..Even though, hot tears again started flowing from my eyes, my lips were still curled up. I was scared¡­..very scared¡­..But even so, I defeated a beast all by myself and saved the little girl. I turned and looked at the little girl who seemed to be in a daze and tried to call her out but I couldn¡¯t. I wonder why¡­..? I¡¯m feeling dizzy¡­.. ¡±I should probably get some sleep¡­.¡±, I said in a low voice as I closed my eyes. Chapter 6 Hospitality The first thing I saw after I woke up is a cool game-like system window in front of my eyes. I was startled. After all, I was supposed to have a good sleep after defeating a legendary beast. I think a month has already passed since I had already used all of my powers. And to defeat someone as strong as that beast, one needs to have legendary abilities like mine! Anyways, I decided to keep my praises(self) for later and take a look at this. Stats Name: Ren¡­??? Race: ??? Class: Hero Level: 2 Marital status/Relationships: None(poor virgin) Status: Alive(barely) Charm: 7(Average) Strength: 12 Speed: 15 Stamina: 13 Dexterity: 14 Passive abilities
  1. Warrior¡¯s Instinct (Level 1) - Used in heated combats. Activation depends on the user¡¯s state of mine. Adrenaline rush increases by 15 times. Also useful when the user is panicked and nervous. Time limit ¨C 1.5 seconds.Time of recovery ¨C 2.5 hours
  1. Aura of a sidekick (Level 6) ¨C Always activated. Extremely useful if the user is an assassin. It makes the surroundings feel that user is ¡®normal¡¯. All in all, useless.
  1. ???? (Yet to be unlocked)
Active skills
  1. Element thunder (Yet to be unlocked)
  2. Spear Arts (Level 1) ¨C Basics of spear techniques. Techniques: Long strike(Level 2), Spear thrust(Level 1)
Unique Abilities
  1. Rapid recovery(Level 1) ¨C Healing speed of wounds or injuries increases by 1.5 times.
  2. ????(To be unlocked at level 96)
  1. ????(To be unlocked at Myriad Tribulations Realm)
--------------------------------------------------- Hm¡­.I understand. I nodded my head with my hand on my chin(pretending to be calm). There is nothing with the stats shown in front of my eyes. Maybe, something is wrong with my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and went through the stats again. F*ck this sh*t!! I am stunned and currently making some new abusive words to swear¡­.. First of all, why does it seem that the one who made this stat seems to have a grudge against me¡­.? I understand if I am in a very poor condition right now but can you not have some mercy¡­? Let me name my problems in order, the first and foremost thing I should mention is the doubt you have on my name! My name is Ren Kashikawa!! I got jet black hair and a face like that of a normal 17 year old(neither handsome nor ugly)! And what¡¯s with that ¡®???¡¯ in my race???!! Don¡¯t doubt my humanity! *Grumble, grumble, grumble* *gasps*Anyways, I have important things to *gasps* look at right now. Be gone! ¡­. Umm¡­how am I supposed to make it disappear¡­¡­? After few seconds, I noticed that there was a red cross button at the right hand corner of the window. Gotcha! The screen in front of me disappeared in thin air. I looked around and found myself in an empty room with wooden pillars. Huh¡­where am I? I looked at my upper body which is more than half covered in bandages with my school trousers still on. Oh well¡­.must have the little girl¡¯s relatives. Since, I have , I should have healed by now, right? I got up by lifting my left leg. After examining my conditions, I sighed in relief. Though, my chest injury is not yet healed and my left arm is still numb, I have no serious issues. After that, I walked up to the door and opened it. The first thing that came into my sights was a group of people that were doing their daily chores. One of the man noticed me and hurried towards me. Noticing the man, I bowed lightly and said,¡±I am extremely grateful to you for saving my life.¡± ¡°Ah¡­that¡¯s no big deal. Anyways, why are you up? You should rest. Lunch would be delivered to you after an hour.¡±, the man said while smiling lightly. ¡°No. It¡¯s fine. As you can see, I am lively as ever. Can you tell me what exactly happened?¡±, I asked without beating around the bush. ¡°err, One of our tribesmen found you and your daughter in the midst of the forest lying beside a dead Canolf beast. He, then brought you and your daughter here and we treated your injuries.¡±, the man said. ¡°Ah..thank you. I am grateful for you and your tribe for treating me and taking care of my daugh-¡­.what?¡± My daughter?? I think I should consult a doctor. My senses are getting weak¡­. Before the man could respond, a sweet voice came from behind me. ¡°Papa!¡±. Such a lovely voice! I also want a daughter who calls me ¡®papa¡¯ like this. By the way, where is the ¡®papa¡¯? I looked around to search for the ¡®papa¡¯ among the crowd but strangely the crowd is looking at me. Before I could ask anything, a small body hugged my legs from behind. I looked back and found a familiar figure. It was the little girl I saved. Eh? I get that this girl must be separated from her parents but she can¡¯t just call anyone ¡®papa¡¯, right? I need to teach this to the girl. I crouched, looked at the little girl and asked, ¡±What is your name?¡± ¡°Cyrola!¡±, said the little girl cheerfully.¡±Cyrola, how come you are here? Where are your parents? Do you want some help?¡±, I asked trying to sound calm and collected.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Cyrola pouted and said,¡±Meanie! You are obviously my Papa!¡± My face twisted upon hearing that. Seriously, do I need to show you my stats now? I am a goddamn VIRGIN!! Hah¡­I don¡¯t have the courage to say it out loud though. While I was contemplating about my situation, a nearby man kept hands on my shoulders and said, ¡°Young man¡­I know young people who are married at young age tend to have a lot of private issues but trust me, your daughter should not suffer for your issues.¡± I could just awkwardly laugh¡­What am I supposed to do in this situation? I looked at cheerful bright girl hugging my legs. Suddenly, a thought struck me! ¡°Hah¡­.that¡¯s not the case. The thing is my wife died a few days ago¡­.Being extremely grieved, I went crazy¡­.killing low-ranked magical beasts and that¡¯s how I came into this forest. I left Cyrola into my aunt¡¯s care but sh-she followed me here.¡± wiping off my non-existent tears from the corner of my eyes, I patted Cyrola. I looked around only to find the tribesmen having complex looks on their faces. They looked at each other, then the nearby man hugged me and said,¡± Y-you have gone through a lot, didn¡¯t you? From the moment I saw you, I got the feeling that you and I similar¡­.just that both my wife and daughter passed away early¡­..I know what I¡¯m saying is easy to say but stay strong!¡± My condolences! But can you please let me go? You have already made my school shirt wet! ¡°Oh Goddess Merila! Please guide this young man and his dear daughter to their paths and may this young man¡¯s wife rest in peace for eternity.¡±, an old woman cried out after which everyone followed. Should I feel sorry for lying to them or feel proud because of my acting skills? -------------------------------------------------------------- Though I was already healed on the day I got my consciousness, I still decided to stay the next day. I was feeling somewhat guilty by getting food and lodging for free. I heard that it was not uncommon that the tribesmen give shelter to people especially adventurers. It makes sense. Adventurers are someone who complete quests given by the guild and the quests are often about hunting magical beasts. Talking to with the tribesmen, I heard that they were not the only tribe here in this forest. There are a total of six tribes in this forest- Shatu, Lokner, Werts, Turett, Klandimer and Rakhwas tribes. Lokner being the tribe I am with. When I asked about the leading tribe, I got the answer that all the tribes are almost equally strong and that they had no conflicts. I was honestly a bit surprised about that because it¡¯s not every time you get to hear that there are no ¡®conflicts¡¯. Also, I heard that this forest is somewhat large and has many mysteries surrounding it. One of them being that there is a small lake whose water is black. Scary! Aside from that, I got some information about this world in general. There are three main continents in this world. Union of Races Realm, the continent where humans and the magical beasts live in. This is the biggest continent in Nomero. There are further two divisions in this continent. Five Kingdom Alliance, Mighty Triplets Union and Jahlui Kingdom. The Kingdom with most military power is the Jahlui Kingdom. Despite it being a single kingdom, the people living out there are ridiculously strong. Even a villager could combat equally with a D-ranked mercenary. It is because the mana present in the kingdom is somewhat mysterious. Noble Demonic Realm, the continents where the demons live. It has no further divisions as the supreme authority of the realm lies in the hands of the Demon King. It was once the strongest power in Nomero but degenerated slowly due to Reuken. It is also said that the demons don¡¯t look any different from humans. Due to that, it is very easy to send spies from the realm. Though there is a symbol imprinted on their back, it is strictly applicable only to the royals. In other words, there was no ways of identifying a demon who is not royals. Nowadays, the demon nobles runs a major part of the Union of Races so due to that they introduced several methods of identifying a demon. Though, even if a demon was found spying, the demon would neither be executed nor be punished. The Lost Continent. It is as the name sounds. At the Primordial Age where all the races coexisted, the only continent present is this continent. But due to a cataclysm, the world was separated. Currently, there are no inhabitants in the continent and is only used for research purposes. While I was wondering about the world, I heard someone knocking my door.¡±Come in. It¡¯s open.¡±A middle aged dark colored woman came in my room. My mind was quite uneasy because of Cyrola. After all I¡¯ve said yesterday, I don¡¯t doubt that they won¡¯t question Cyrola about it. Well, I could only hope that she won¡¯t bother about it. ¡°Ahh¡­I would get my packing done in a few seconds.¡±I said as I got up from the bed I was in and picked up the spear.¡±Done.¡± I replied as I looked at the woman with expectant eyes. ¡°err, do you not have any other items?¡±, the dark skinned woman asked me looking a bit confused. ¡°Uh¡­no.¡±I was not lying about it. The only thing I have as of this moment is my spear. The coins which the palace gave me were with Xie. The woman sighed and asked,¡±Do you not have money? Perhaps, we could lend you some.¡± ¡°Ah..don¡¯t worry about money. I have plenty.¡±I couldn¡¯t owe them more. I already told them a huge lie. Now that I¡¯m thinking about it, I could have told them a ¡®small¡¯ lie and could¡¯ve avoided the situation. But unfortunately, my brain didn¡¯t work that time. Anyways, no crying over spilled milk. Its time to execute the plan. ¡°Umm¡­there is something I have been wanting to talk about. The thing is I will be training in this forest. So, it would be very dangerous for Cyrola to tag along since there are dangerous magical beasts in this forest.¡±I sighed and continued,¡±The fact that me and Cyrola are standing here is in fact no less than a miracle. Due to such, I would be very grateful if your tribe could shelter her for a few days.¡±I spilled out whatever I had in my mind without beating around the bush. The woman was taken aback a little, and then pondered about it. When she seems to reach the conclusion, she smiled amiably at me and said, ¡°We would be glad to only if you promise to not forget us in the future.¡± Though the last sentence sounded like a joke between friends, it was more than that. In other words, you must promise to repay us in the future. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m against repaying debts but I can¡¯t come here anymore. It might sound a bit rude but they (including Cyrola) don¡¯t mean anything to me. Even though I saved Cyrola, it doesn¡¯t mean that I will take her as a companion. I¡¯m just not that cold-hearted to let her die while she died while saving me. And the tribes did something any normal person in Earth would¡¯ve done. Hah¡­.I¡¯m tired of giving excuses. But well, if I have time in future I will repay this debt but currently I don¡¯t have any plans to do so. I laughed dryly and then lied.¡±Of course. I will repay this debt in the future.¡± The woman seemed to be glad that I got her meaning. After some discussion, I left the room with her. After a few minutes, I am standing at the exit of the residence seeing the tribesmen, who were interacting with me. They asked me whether they should bring Cyrola to bid me goodbye to which I flat out refused. After bidding them goodbye, I was walking towards the interior region of the forest carrying a map in my hands. Suddenly, I heard rustling in the bushes. With spear which was already in my hand, I took a fighting stance. After a second or two, a small green-haired girl came out which made my mouth agape. ¡°err, did you come here to pee? Sorry, it would not be lady-like if you do so. If you want, I could take you to the tribesmen¡¯s residence.¡± ¡°No! You are bad Papa!! YOU ABANDONED ME!!¡±Cyrola screamed as she started crying. I gulped a mouthful of saliva and my throat was dried in an instant. My eyes looked like they would burst a fountain of tears in a few moments. The few moments didn¡¯t last long as I got on my knees and burst out. ¡°WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH¡± ¡°WAAAAHHHH¡± ¡­. Chapter 7 Six Months Later... *Satou¡¯s POV* I¡¯m tired. Tired of being a respected B-ranked adventure. Tired of being a Hero everybody looks up to. Tired of being having titles like ¡®The Next Reuken¡¯, ¡®Crimson Hero¡¯ and ¡®Werewolf Slayer¡¯ Tired of pretending to be dense while my girls say,¡± Mou..! You¡¯re too dense!¡± Not that I¡¯m complaining. Just that I¡¯ve read enough harem manga and LNs to not be dense. Six months has already passed since me and my classmates came to this world. Since then, I set out in my journey to defeat the Demon king. And to be honest, I have accomplished a lot. It might seem like I¡¯m being an arrogant bastard but I doubt anyone other than Reuken can accomplish what accomplished in these half year. In those ¡®accomplishments¡¯, my harem also comes. ¡°Your meal is ready. Should I bring it here, dear?¡± Poula said with her usual embarrassed smile. She is a half breed between a human and a werewolf. A bit short but her other proportions makes up for it. ¡°No. I will eat with everyone.¡± Poula¡¯s eyes lit up as she wagged her tail happily.¡±Ok. We will be waiting for you.¡±Poula said as she left the room. I found her in one of the wastelands of the Wuite Town, the capital of Alzemann Kingdom. She was to be sold in an auction but before she was sold off, I jumped in, defeated the bad guys and took her with me. Pretty clich¨¦, right? I got up from the bed I was in, put on a casual gear and left my room. Reaching the dining room, I found four familiar faces. ¡°Good morning.¡±I greeted with a smile on my face after which four similar greetings came to me. I sat on a chair beside Rumi-san, who is also in my harem. She is a tsundere. Even before coming to this world, she seems to like me. She was also the prettiest girl in our class. The only one who could combat with me is her. She is not only a B-ranked Master water mage but also a C-ranked journeyman knight. The only thing that holds her back is her clumsiness in battle. If she overcomes that, even I would be in a tough spot. ¡°Where are we going next?¡±Flora, the princess of the Alzemann Kingdom asked. She is also a top-class beauty with her jade-like face and her elegance. She makes most of the decision and handles the paperwork in our party. ¡°How about Loper Town located in the north of Zanber Kingdom? I heard that there are many ferocious magical beasts lurking around recently. Hunting those beasts could give us experience an also coins by selling them.¡± Cicele, an enthusiastic ponytailed girl said. ¡°That sounds good. But isn¡¯t it pretty far from here? Besides, the Heroes¡¯ Festival is in a month. I don¡¯t think we have the leisure to waste much time.¡±I said thoughtfully. The Heroes¡¯ Festival is not to be taken lightly because a sparring contest would be held in the festival. I can¡¯t afford to embarrass myself in front of thousands of people. I must prove that I¡¯m the only Hero. ¡°Geez¡­you¡¯re already so strong and you still think you should train.¡±Cicele seems to get the wrong idea. Well, it¡¯s not like I have any plans to correct her. ¡°How about the forest beside Casade Town? Recently, I have heard that many magical beasts are running wild in the forest causing heavy damage to the tribes living there.¡±Flora suggested this time. ¡°Hm? Fine by me then.¡±To be honest, I don¡¯t have problems with any place as long as it¡¯s not too far away. And besides, I have heard that Casade Town is quite close from here. ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s get ready!¡±Cicele hopped around cheerfully. ----------------------------------------------- *Ren¡¯s POV* I swallowed a mouthful of blood as I looked viciously at the Canolf King in front of me. I looked at my body which is full of bruises and a notable scar beside my waist. How much could a normal man change in half a year? My shirt was already drenched in blood. My vision was getting blurry as every second passes. Without wasting any time, I used which I obtained a month ago from defeating three hundred canolfs. Swish! In a few seconds, I am already standing a few centimeters away from the monstrous Canolf King. It has the size of an adult bear, its teeth no less ferocious than a lion, its fang-¡­enough!! Why am I even describing its appearance? Anyways, focus! While I was preparing a , its fangs was directing straight to my chest. Shit! takes too much time. I immediately went forward twisting my body a bit just enough to avoid its fangs and successfully dodged it but now it¡¯s even a greater danger to me. For a spear user like me, maintaining a distance is absolutely necessary. It¡¯s do or die now. I lifted my spear which was in my hand in the air but my gaze was fixed on the beast eyes. Just as the beast eyeballs went upwards, I activated after which I punched hard on its face. Thump! But I had no time to rest. I jumped up catching the spear I lifted and used the skill on its face taking advantage of the beast¡¯s instability due to my punch. Buzz! The spear broke through the beast¡¯s cerebrum oozing out dark blood. It screamed painfully but I pushed my spear more deep inside its brain. And after a second or two its scream finally stopped. A notification rang inside my bell. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. I grinned upon hearing that. But before I could comment, a new notification rang inside my head. Wow! Sounds cool. I decided to learn it later and take a look at my stats. Stats Name: Ren¡­??? Race?? Class: Hero Level: 38 Marital status/Relationships: None (poor virgin) Status: Alive Charm: 7(Average) Strength: 34 Speed: 37 Stamina: 31 Dexterity: 36 Passive abilities
  1. Warrior¡¯s Instinct (Level 3) - Used in heated combats. Activation depends on the user¡¯s state of mine. Adrenaline rush increases by 20 times. Also useful when the user is panicked and nervous. Time limit ¨C 6 seconds
Time of recovery ¨C 2.5 hours
  1. Aura of a sidekick (Level 6) ¨C Always activated. Extremely useful if the user is an assassin. It makes the surroundings feel that user is ¡®normal¡¯. All in all, useless.
3. Spear Heart (Level 2) ¨C This skill is obtained only when the user has grasped profound ?? understanding of the spear. Helps the user in creating spear techniques. 4. Dodge (Level 4) ¨C Activation depends upon user¡¯s state of mind. Increases user¡¯s ?? reflexes by 3 times. 5.Parry (Level 3) ¨C Activation depends upon user¡¯s state of mind. Luck increases by 2 and ??dexterity increases by 2.Time Limit ¨C 3 secondsTime of recovery ¨C 1 minute 20 seconds 6. ???? (Yet to be unlocked) Active skills
  1. Element thunder (Yet to be unlocked)
  2. Spear Arts (Level 2) ¨C Basics of spear techniques.Techniques: - Long strike (Level 5), Spear thrust (Level 4), Vertical slash (Level 2),Horizontal slash (Level 2), Air Slash (Level 2), Spear Dance (Level 1), Two-step thrust (Level 1), Meteor Slash (Level 1)
Unique Abilities
  1. Rapid recovery (Level 3) ¨C Healing speed of wounds or injuries increases by 2 times.
2.Thunder Strike (Level 1) ¨C Amplifies every strike the user makes by 1.5 times. A single ?? time use. Time of recovery ¨C 2 hours. 3.???? (To be unlocked at level 96) 4. ???? (To be unlocked at Myriad Tribulations Realm) ********************* I rubbed my beard on my chin in satisfaction. I should cut my beard soon otherwise people may mistake me for a rogue. The beast¡¯s flesh looks delicious. I carried the beast in my shoulders and walked towards my hom-¡­no, more like a hut. Thinking of home, I thought of my parents and my sister and wondered about them. Are they alright? I hope they are not worried much about me. That¡¯s a lie and I can only keep my melancholy aside for now. Thinking about my close ones in Earth, I arrived at my hut. It is made of barks of trees and has single room and bathroom. But looking at the small hut in front of me, I sometimes refuse to believe that it¡¯s made by me alone. I went inside where a small green-haired girl was sleeping soundly in the bed. After she decided to follow me, I flat-out refused countless times but this little imp didn¡¯t give up and continued following me. Getting fed up with her, I decided to flee away while ignoring her cries. Her cries brought six canolfs surrounding me. I somehow managed to flee away with her with all of my limps intact. That was the incident where I got a deep scar in my waist. Since I had no options, I decided to let her follow me. I walked up to the bed, tapped Cyrola¡¯s shoulders lightly and said, ¡°Get up. I brought our breakfast as well as dinner. It¡¯s a great catch this time.¡± Cyrola seems to gain consciousness as she stretched her arms and legs and got up rubbing her eyes. Her gaze landed on me and then my surroundings. Appearing quite dissatisfied, she mumbled, ¡°Where is my breakfast and dinner?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to say ¡®Good Morning, Papa¡¯? I kept it outside. It¡¯s huge.¡± I said with some dissatisfaction in my voice. ¡°Good Morning, Papa! You look very charming today!¡±The little imp said cheerfully. Do you really think such empty praises will work with me? Impertinent brat! Although I¡¯m thinking this, my lips were already curled upwards. ¡°Hmph! Bring some Kerikule leaves and treat my wounds.¡±I ordered her after which she ran outside hopefully bringing the leaves. I waited and waited¡­..What is taking her so long?! After few minutes, she returned with the leaves looking happy and said, ¡°Wow! The beast looks delicious!¡± ¡°¡­.¡±I decided not to reply. I made up my mind to reprimand her after I take a rest. After treating my wounds, I lied down in bed taking rest thinking about my future plans. The Heroes¡¯ Festival is around the corner and Xie still hasn¡¯t returned. Well, if he doesn¡¯t return within the next fifteen days, I will depart alone. Hopefully, he won¡¯t miss it. I also need to unlock my elemental ability. When I asked about it to the tribesmen, they said that to unlock it, I need to learn a skill. But the problem is that my elemental ability is rare and skills of thunder element are hard to be found. So, I could only rely on the palace. Wait a minute! If I depart now and reach the palace within a day or two, I could get enough time to practice on the skill! Yes, nice plan! I¡¯m proud of this little brain I have. But what about Xie? Since Xie left me in this forest, I began harboring a deep grudge against him. So, I decided to leave him be. --------------------------------------------- While having breakfast with Cyrola, I suddenly thought of the little imp in front of me. What should I do with her now? Should I leave her to the tribe or take her with me to the palace? I sighed and lamented myself for thinking such a stupid question. Even if I leave her to the tribe, she will still follow me¡­But I decided to give it a try. ¡°Cyrola, I will depart from the forest today.¡± She appeared to ponder about it for a while and finally replied with a neutral expression, ¡°Okay.¡± As I expecte-¡­what?! Did I hear something wrong? If she really means what she says, then I¡¯m on clouds nine! ¡°Then, let¡¯s go to the Lokner tribe¡¯s residence. Be a good girl there, okay?¡± ¡°Eh?? Why?¡±She looked at me with confusion written on her face. ¡°Who will take care of you otherwise? Do you think you can survive here??¡± ¡°You will obviously take care of me. Who wants to stay here?¡± I staggered backwards in confusion. After thinking a bit, I finally realized what she meant when she said ¡®Okay¡¯. I awkwardly laughed and said, ¡°I was hoping I would go alone.¡± After I finished completing the sentence, I looked at her face which was twisted and would burst out water at any instant. I quickly closed her mouth with my hands and hurriedly said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry! O-ok, I will take you with me! Now, stop crying or else the Canolfs would come!¡±She nodded after which I brought back my hands to myself. In an instant, the little imp¡¯s face was full of smiles. ¡­.. Chapter 8 A bad omen The next day, I woke up early since I had not made any preparations to leave the forest last night. Hah¡­I should think twice before bringing a Canolf King to eat. It exceeded my wildest imaginations. I thought that it would be just enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner but it¡¯s meant to be eaten within three days. Almost half of the meat remains still remained. Though I don¡¯t like wasting food, I have no other choice. Just as I was warming up outside the hut, a voice came from behind. ¡°When will we go?¡±Cyrola said while yawning. She is unusually early today. Guess she is pumped up to view the world. ¡°Did you brush?¡±I asked while ignoring the fact that she didn¡¯t said ¡®Good Morning¡¯. ¡°Uhh¡­I did!¡±Cyrola said averting her eyes from me. This brat is such a pain¡­.I already regret bringing her along. But it is not without reason that I¡¯m bringing her to the capital. I will ask help from the capital to search for her parents. I already asked her countless times about her parents, but the only answer I got is ¡°You are my Papa!¡±After showing her my embarrassing stat, she was seemed confused about the word ¡®virgin¡¯ but I¡¯m not that shameless to explain her that. I made a very serious face.¡±Go brush!¡±Hurried footsteps of a small child and slamming of a wooden door could be heard. I should get ready now otherwise it would be night the time we leave the forest. I looked at my tattered, dirty school uniform I¡¯m wearing right now. I frown and lamented on myself. I should have bought some clothes. People will take me for a beggar if I go this way¡­..A Hero like me dressed as a beggar. What an irony! I picked up my spear and started swinging it. I wonder whether this spear is really divine or not. It is still rusty. This is normal spear but there is something that bugs me. Even after killing countless Canolfs, it didn¡¯t break. Even now, when I take a closer look at the spear, the spear seemed to reach it limits and would break anytime soon. It is indeed mysterious though I¡¯m not fully convinced about the story Xie told about the spear. After a while, Cyrola came out again showing her white teeth to me, then slowly sticking her tongue out. Hmph! I showed my maturity to her by taking my tongue out as well. While I was engaging in a tongue with Cyrola, a rustling sound came from the bushes. My eyes and expression abruptly changed as I put on a fighting stance while gesturing Cyrola to move to the hut. Although I don¡¯t know who is behind the bushes, the possibility of it being other than a beast is very slim since the location I¡¯m in is far away from where the tribes are located. As I preparing my first strike, a female voice came from the bushes. ¡°Ouch! The bushes here are not less than the cactus. It hurts!¡±A blue haired girl who was struggling in the bushes due to her long dress was the source of the voice. I was taken aback since she was someone I know quite well. She was one of the three people who had A-grade elemental affinity. But why is she here? While I suppressing my laugh seeing her struggling with the bushes, another female voice came from the same direction. ¡°That is why I told you not to wear long dresses. We are not on some vacation!¡±This time, a short beast girl with a ponytail wearing revealing dresses came. Huh? Why are they here? Did God finally noticed my hard work and sent a few girls to me to join my harem? Haha. In that case, I must be polite to them. But my dream was short-lived as a handsome black haired guy along with two other beauties arrived. Looking closely at the guy, I recognized him. He is Satou, a mysterious loner in our class. I don¡¯t have any memories of talking with him since he doesn¡¯t talk much and isn¡¯t in any clubs. Is this his harem?! Damn! While I was here hunting and taking care of a brat, you already created a perfect harem for yourself? After grumbling for a while, I finally noticed that the short beast girl was giving me an incomprehensible look while knitting her eyebrows. Noticing me, she gestured others to look at my direction. ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± We silently stared at each other for a few seconds. What is wrong with these guys?? Shouldn¡¯t Rumi and Satou greet me? And their gazes are moving up and down between my upper body and my face. A thought suddenly stroke me. I¡¯m not wearing a shirt! But c¡¯mon, is it that much of a big deal? ¡°Who are you? I don¡¯t have any intentions of fighting you. So, I would advise you to move away.¡±Satou said with a serious tone. ¡°Urgh¡­Satou. Can you not recognize me?¡±Though I¡¯m a bit pissed off at him for telling me to move away, I don¡¯t want to start a fight for that. Satou can¡¯t recognize me probably because of my beard and took me for a rogue adventurer. Satou knitted his brows and looked at me closely after which his face had the word ¡®shock¡¯ written. ¡°Ren¡­.?¡±Beside him, Rumi was also taken aback. ¡°Yup, me. How come you are here?¡± After recovering from the shock, Rumi exclaimed, ¡°We should ask that question! Why the heck are you here?¡± ¡°To train and hunt?¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°Umm¡­excuse me. I am Flora, princess of the Alzemann Kingdom. Are you also a Hero like Satou-sama and Rumi-san?¡±This time, a black haired girl dressed elegantly asked. Satou already has a princess in his harem?! I¡¯m so jealous¡­. ¡°Yes. I am a Hero. I am Ren Kashikawa. I came here to train my physical abilities since I have a rare elemental affinity. Umm¡­does the palace have skills related to rare elemental affinity?¡±Without chatting idly, I came to the main point.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°err, we do have such skills but it¡¯s not for free. Aside from that, I have a few questions for you.¡±Flora said with a serious look. ¡°Not for free? Why do you think I¡¯m training my ass off for? It¡¯s obviously to protect the palace and its people. But nevermind my words. What questions do you have?¡±I said while making an annoyed expression. Flora shot a look at me to which I shrugged my shoulders. After some QnA, I finally got a rough idea of the situation. Apparently, the magical beasts are rampaging in this forest for a few months. Due to which, canolfs are often seen in the tribal territories. To neutralize the situation, Satou and his party (harem members) came. Listening to the story, I went in deep thought. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s bad news. But that doesn¡¯t explain as to why you are here.¡± ¡°We were just looking for an open place to rest just to find a rogue living here.¡±A blonde haired ¡®small¡¯ girl answered with an annoyed expression. It seems that I am interrupting her quality time with Satou. Whatever. I don¡¯t have any plans to help them in neutralizing the beasts. While I talking to them, Cyrola who was hiding in her room came out. Seeing her, Satou and his harem¡¯s expressions got strange. ¡°Oh! Meet her. Her name is Cyrola. I found her alone in this forest. I thought it would be dangerous to let a child like her roam around in this forest full of canolfs. So, I decided to take care of her and find her parents after reaching the capital.¡±I didn¡¯t lie. Cyrola, who seemed to be uncomfortable with strangers, stood motionlessly behind me. ¡°Poor child¡­.Let¡¯s take her with us and search for her parents. If we can¡¯t find her parents, we will raise her ourselves.¡±Rumi said giving a doting look towards Cyrola. Heh....did you already decide to make her your sister? Nice! But¡­. ¡°Umm¡­.I have some serious business to do. So, I have to depart from the forest today. How about this? After you guys come back in the capital, you could take ca-¡­I mean search for her parents. Since, I¡¯m not familiar with the working of the government of this world as much as you guys are, I will have problems in doing the search. Can I rely on you for that?¡±I asked with a usual smile. ¡°Eh? Of course. For a moment, I almost forgot that you are Ren and not some rogue adventurer who kidnapped a child.¡±Rumi chuckled. This isn¡¯t funny at all. But it can be excused since Rumi is-¡­.no was my friend. Although I¡¯m annoyed enough to counter her words, I chose not to do so since it will only make the situation more troublesome. I could just awkwardly laugh for a while. ¡°Oh. That reminds me. Isn¡¯t Xie friends with you? Where is he?¡±Satou asked giving a thoughtful look. ¡°He went on in his own way but told me that he will show up at the festival.¡±Though I doubt that. With his strength, he can freely move around this world. Its highly doubtful that a guy like him would come to a mere festival. I must ask about his level the next time I meet him. Rumi snorted derisively.¡±Troublemakers like him don¡¯t have much time to live. Thanks to him, several people in the town became wary of us. ¡± ¡°By the way, how is your progress? I see that you use spear. You must be quite good in combats.¡±Satou said smiling. ¡°Although I don¡¯t like to brag, I did gain some basic understanding of the spear but it¡¯s not worthy to mention in front of two Heroes who has an A-grade elemental affinity.¡± ¡°Hahaha. You jest. We have a long way to go. The only thing we did in these six months is mastering some elemental skills.¡±Satou said giving a good-natured smile. ¡°At least you have some elemental skills unlike me¡­..¡±I mumbled. Hearing me, Flora exclaimed. ¡°Cheer up! The palace has all you need.¡± ¡°I guess¡­.Anyways, what are your plans?¡±I asked them evading the topic. ¡°err, we will visit each of the tribes to get a more detailed view of the problem then hunt them.¡±Satou explained. It was a simple and short plan. Though Canolfs are not to be taken lightly, they are nonetheless low-ranked beasts. Beside him, Satou¡¯s harem members were discussing about something. As I was talking to Satou, Flora came to me with a troubled expression. ¡°Do you mind if we take Cyrola with us...?¡± ¡°I do.¡±I replied as soon as she completed her question. ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°¡­..¡± I stared without blinking my eyes at Flora who was giving troubled looks every now and then. It doesn¡¯t make any damn sense to take a little girl like Cyrola to a dangerous expedition. I already noticed that something was going on after you guys gave such doting looks to Cyrola.¡±Can you girls not wait for a few days?¡±I asked in a joking tone. Flora, Poula and Rumi awkwardly laughed for a while Cicele snorted and cried. ¡°I¡¯m hungry!! Do you have something I can eat?¡± Satou shot a look at Cicele gesturing her to zip it. Wow! Satou has good control over his harem. Cicele averted her eyes snorting. She snorts way too much. Now, I¡¯m hungry too because I didn¡¯t have my breakfast. ¡°I do have something to eat but care to help?¡±I asked the other group smiling. ¡°Sure!¡±Cicele jumped in excitement. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. ¡°Did you catch this by yourself?¡±Poula said while eating the fried Canolf beast. ¡°Yes. Hunting is the only thing I¡¯m good at.¡±I said shrugged my shoulders. ¡°You are strong. I would like to fight with you someday.¡±Satou said giving a friendly look. ¡°Sure. But I will only disappoint you.¡±I couldn¡¯t understand this guy. Though living in this world made me learn that power is everything, I¡¯m still a pacifist. Yes, I don¡¯t like fighting. But I had no other options. Getting a cheat is another thing. But I¡¯m absolutely normal! How am I supposed to fight with a guy like Satou who has probably mastered many A-grade elemental skills? Oh! I forgot a factor. ¡°Can I ask for your level if you don¡¯t mind?¡±Looking at Satou, I asked. ¡°78.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± I¡¯m not even half of your level! I won¡¯t be surprised if you said that you received a cheat from the Gods. Seriously¡­.how am I supposed to fight with you? I guess that he is the ¡®Chosen One¡¯ (There is no such title). Are all people with A-grade elemental affinity that strong? Let me check it out. ¡°Wh-what about yours, Rumi-san?¡± ¡°87¡± ¡°¡­.¡± Eh? How should I react to this? I thought that the strongest person in the group is Satou but didn¡¯t expect Rumi to be stronger than Satou. They are way too overpowered! No¡­.maybe I¡¯m the weak one¡­..I didn¡¯t mind much when I heard that I have a D-grade elemental affinity but it makes a huge difference. I should start taking my training seriously. But the question is how exactly? I can¡¯t get strong just by hunting. I guess the only one who could help me is Xie. I wonder where that bastard is! ¡°Umm¡­.can we take Cyrola with us? We promise she will be safe with us. Besides, the expedition within a week.¡±Satou asked with an troubled expression. Thinking momentarily about it, I sighed and concluded with a ¡®fine¡¯. I could hear Cyrola¡¯s agony from behind but I paid no heed to it. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. Casade Town Six days later, I was peacefully sleeping in a room of an inn when loud door knocks destroyed my peaceful sleep. I got up angrily and opened the door vigorously. In front of me were Satou and his harem. Looking at them, my expression turned serious.¡±Where is she?¡±Though I didn¡¯t mention the ¡®she¡¯, they understood what I meant. There were no signs of Cyrola around them. ¡°We found her parents. She is from the Shuta Tribe.¡±Satou explained. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s good news. I guess I should visit her tribe to bid her farewell.¡±Even I¡¯m not heartless enough to not bid farewell to a little girl whom I considered as my own sister. But somehow, I have a bad omen about this¡­ Chapter 9 Surprising Benefits Standing in front of a 4 feet tall entrance gate, Ren looked for the security guards. Looking at a corner of the gate, a bearded muscular man was looking at him suspiciously. Why would he not be suspicious? After all, it is not every day you see a young adventurer in dirty clothes standing in front of the Shuta Tribe¡¯s main residence gate. When Ren was about to say something, the man suspiciously asked, ¡°What business do you have, young man?¡± ¡°err, I came here to bid farewell to a close friend of mine.¡± ¡°And who might be that close friend of yours?¡±The man didn¡¯t seem to lose his suspicion. ¡°It¡¯s a small green haired girl whose age is not above five.¡±Ren answered calmly. ¡°You are the young miss¡¯ friend?¡±The man was a bit taken aback by Ren¡¯s response. ¡°Young miss? Ah..yes. Can I go in now?¡± ¡°Yes. But let me first inform the Tribe Leader about this.¡± After few minutes, the guard came back with an old man. The old man is probably the Tribe Leader. I greeted the old man and asked,¡±I heard that Cyr-...the little girl¡¯s parents are from this tribe. Can I see her? You see, after spending time with her, I have come to regard her as my own sister.¡± ¡°Oh! Sure, you can. However, today, we have an important ritual to perform and it''s already night. Why don¡¯t stay the night?¡±The old man replied as he smiled good-naturedly. ¡°Sorry for troubling you.¡±I said apologetically. ¡°Haha. It¡¯s no big deal. After all, you are my grandchild¡¯s friend. It will be my pleasure to look after you since you took care of my granddaughter for half year. Tell me, is there something you want?¡± ¡°Ah...no. It¡¯s fine.¡±I hurriedly refused. ¡°You sure? This is a big chance for you. We have many unique skills and pills.¡±The old man gave a mysterious smile. Ren thought about it for a while, and then replied.¡±Um...do you have elemental skills of thunder element?¡± The old man stared at Ren and said.¡±Thunder element? Hm¡­.we do have a few. But are you sure it¡¯s of any use to you?¡± ¡°Yes. I have thunder elemental affinity.¡±Ren answered honestly. The old man looked surprised at Ren¡¯s reply, and then nodded his head.¡±Come with me. Since you saved my granddaughter, I must repay this favor, ¡°The Tribe Leader took Ren to an isolated room and gave him three middle-ranked thunder skills. Ren thanked the Tribe Leader and a servant took him to an empty room for him to stay the night. *Ren¡¯s POV* It was a good decision after all coming here! Now, I don¡¯t have to worry about spending my precious coins on buying skills. Also, each of them are middle-ranked! The only thing that is bugging me is the question: Will I be able to learn this? It is not weird for me to have such questions because my talent in elementals is limited. I¡¯m a poor D-grader...Hah...I think I should sleep for now. My little brain can¡¯t handle this much pressure. Having such thoughts in mind, I slept peacefully. ¡­ ¡­ Boom! Kyaa!? What happened?! I woke up from bed without a tinge of drowsiness remaining in my mind. What¡¯s with that sound of explosion? I looked through the window only to find a forest fire in less than half kilometre distance from the residence. Crap! I must inform the tribesmen. I rushed out of the room to find a servant to inform him about the situation. But my search was in vain as I didn¡¯t manage to find even a single servant. Not even the guards were present. I wonder what has happened. ¡°Is there no one here except for me...?¡±I mumbled. ¡°It seems like there is, young man.¡±A gentle voice entered my ears. Looking back, I was surprised to find long-haired handsome man posing at a nearby tree. He looks cool though...I should as for a picture of his. What am I even thinking!? Shaking my head, I looked at the handsome man and said.¡±Are you a part of this tribe?¡± I know that it¡¯s extremely foolish to ask this since there are guests hardly come in the tribes aside from a few occasions but he doesn¡¯t look one of them. The tribesmen in this forest are usually short and tanned but he, on the other hand, is tall and fair. ¡°I am indeed not from the tribe. I have come a long way here just to meet you.¡±The handsome man chuckled as he said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this isn¡¯t as simple as a meeting. Are you working for the kingdom or something?¡±I guessed. The man broke out in laughter.¡±HAHAHAHA¡±. Eh? Did I said something funny? I don¡¯t remember being that humorous.¡±Who I am working for is none of your business. I¡¯m here for business with you.¡±He pisses me off!! ¡°What business do you have? Make it quick.¡±I said annoyingly. I can¡¯t just have a chat with this man while the forest fire is still active. ¡°Woa, have patience young man. Your worry is baseless. That isn¡¯t a forest fire. The tribesmen are having a important ritual.¡± Ritual? Oh. I do remember the Tribe Leader telling me that they are planning to perform a ritual today.¡±Is that so? I should head back then.¡± ¡°Are you sure you want to head back?¡±The man said mysteriously I got confused at the man¡¯s question.¡°Yeah. What else would I do? The ritual is none of my business.¡± "Maybe, it is none of your business. But what if the ritual isn¡¯t that simple as it sounds.¡± ¡°What do you want to say?¡±I got even more confused. ¡°What would you do if the ritual is a sacrifice ritual where the tribesmen sacrifice a human every year for their God?¡±The man mysteriously smiled. What....? Is he simply spewing nonsense or¡­? I can¡¯t be sure about it unless I see it for myself. However, even if it is a sacrificial ritual, what does that got to do with me? Although it is very inhumane and I should stop since I¡¯m a Hero but it was not my choice to become one. Returning home is my primary goal. I don¡¯t care about anything other than that. I don¡¯t have any good feelings towards anyone in this world besides...but then, a sudden thought struck me. ¡°Is the one being sacrificed a little green-haired girl?¡±I asked seriously without beating around the bush. ¡°See for yourself.¡±The man chuckled in amusement. The moment I heard him, I rushed towards the direction of where the fire was burning. It took me few minutes to finally reach it. The location was right before a cave. Every tribesmen regardless of age or gender are here. Some of them sat at a corner eating meals, some doing their duty as a guard, some busy drinking, some chatting among themselves, some dressed in white were in the middle of a serious discussion, two men holding a little girl who was dressed in white with her eyes dead. DAMN! It is Cyrola after all! What should I do...? I am sure to die if I fought with them. I heard that the strongest tribesmen, Tribe Leader are at least level 45. That¡¯s seven levels above me. A beast could be defeated with a lower level since it doesn¡¯t have high intelligence but for a human....it¡¯s difficult. Besides, there are more than thirty men with at least level 35. I¡¯m sure that I will die if I pick a fight. It¡¯s obvious what I should do - Run away from the residence. It is very dangerous for me stay here since they will probably attack me tomorrow morning. I now get why the Tribe Leader was so generous. He was sure that he will get those skill books back. But what about Cyrola? ¡±I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t have the strength to save you¡­It would be a suicide to save you.¡±I muttered to myself. I lamented myself for giving excuses. The real reason is because I¡¯m simply scared to die. I turned back with heavy feelings only to find a familiar man smiling mysteriously at me. I sighed. I¡¯m not in any mood to get annoyed. I simply walked past him. But after walking a few steps, a voice came from behind. ¡°I came here for some business with you. I have a offer for you.¡± Looking back with uninterested eyes, I said.¡±Make it quick. I don¡¯t have the luxury to have a friendly chat with you. Not that I even want to.¡± He pouted.¡±Youngsters these days....Anyways, please hear me out. I work for a organization and have been sent here to make a soul pact for you. I guess that you have heard stories about a human selling his soul to a demon to become strong. Its like that except for the fact that we¡¯re neither demons nor wish for the world annihilation. But the thing is¡­¡± ¡°The thing is¡­?¡±I was a bit intrigued by his story. Though I¡¯m only half-convinced, it would be hard to call it a ¡®lie¡¯. Coming in this world made me doubt if anything is impossible. The man looked at me for a moment, sighed and continued.¡±I¡¯ll be direct. Your soul cannot be sold.¡± ¡°Even my soul is a useless¡­?¡±I muttered without emotions.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The man seemed to be amused at my response and continued with a business-like smile.¡±Priceless would be more accurate.¡± ¡°Huh? Priceless...? I think you have got the wrong person.¡± I¡¯m confused at his words. After all, if my soul was really priceless, I got to have talent (I guessed since I don¡¯t have any knowledge about souls). ¡°No. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen a multi-layered soul. Aside from you, there is also one with a two-layered soul among your classmates. I wanted to talk to the other person first but the other party was early for that.¡± ¡°Is that so? But how does having a ¡®multi-layered soul¡¯ help me get strong? Also you said that I couldn¡¯t have a soul pact.¡± ¡°What I meant was that your soul is too strong to be sold. We don¡¯t have the strength to make a soul pact with such a soul.¡±He shook his head and said. Eh? I¡¯m proud of my soul. ¡°But what¡¯s the use then?¡±I said what I had in my mind. ¡°Not making a soul pact doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t give you the power.¡± ¡°I see. But why would you?¡±I raised my suspicions. ¡°Out of goodwill.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± The man kept giving a business-like smile. Like hell I¡¯d believe that!! Moreover a shady organization like yours buying souls. Only a dumbass would trust you! ¡°How could I trust you?¡± ¡°Obviously after getting the powers you want from me.¡±The man said in a matter-of-factly way. I can¡¯t hold back my nerves any more. Why do you think I asked the last question!? Obviously, it is make yourself show me that the powers you give could be trusted. Somehow holding back my anger at him, I asked, ¡°How would I know that the powers you give are safe?¡± The man gave me a weird look before sighing.¡±Just don¡¯t then.¡± My expression turned grim at the man¡¯s ruthless reply. But I¡¯m not in any position to lash out. In order to get something, I must risk something. The man in front of me was giving me the powers I need to save Cyrola in exchange for nothing. No¡­not nothing¡­just trust. It is highly possible that he may just be a scammer but I don¡¯t have enough right now to choose my own way. I might as well take the risk. I looked at the man who was giving me a neutral look, walked towards him and pushed my hand forwards for a handshake. Looking at my hand, he smiled lightly, and then shook my hand. ¡°Thank you for trusting our humble organization. Here forth, you are now a official member of our organizati-¡° ¡°That can be discussed later. I don¡¯t have much time left.¡±Cyrola can be dead at any moment. I can¡¯t waste time in chatting. ¡°Ah. Yes yes. Listen to me carefully. This might be a bit painful for you. But you have to bear with it. Have you ever seen a main character getting a power up without pain?¡± ¡°¡­¡±I don¡¯t even have energy to counter him. He placed his index finger in my forehead and suddenly a white light transferred from his finger to my finger. I gritted my teeth in preparation of fighting the upcoming pain but I felt nothing¡­.After a few seconds, he took his finger back and I was left without a scratch. I smugly smirked at him thinking that it might be because of my extraordinary soul but the shady man¡¯s expression looked neutral. Was he not impressed by m- ¡°Arghhhhhhh!!!¡±I suddenly got on my knees and crawled pathetically. My eyes looked like they would gauge out at any moment. Damn it! If I don¡¯t get the power equivalent to this pain in return, I will seriously kill this man and destroy his shady organization! The pain I¡¯m feeling isn¡¯t like a torture but more like your body would burst out any moment. Even so its unbearable. But then again, why am I describing my pain!? After a few seconds, my eyes became dizzy and was about to lose conscious. ¡°Don¡¯t lose consciousness or else you die.¡± It was a simple sentence which the shady man said with a calm voice but the words he said vibrated in my mind. I will die if I lose consciousness¡­.? It doesn¡¯t make sense. Why would he want me dead..? It makes no damn sense! I joined his organization. Why would the organization want me dead? Is it because I have the ¡®multi-layered soul¡¯? Are they scared because of it? I know that I might be over thinking things but I have seen many plots in anime or anywhere to think deeply about this situation. It might just be that the shady man is testing me but I don¡¯t have the luxury to think like that. Gritting my teeth in agony and pain, I looked up to the man who was looking at me with a composed expression. ¡°W-w-why d-did you d-do this¡­.?¡±I tried my best to bring out some words. Ignoring my question, he calmly explained. ¡°Listen to me carefully now. I will be going now. If you somehow manage to survive even though I don¡¯t think you will, a new skill would be added to the list of ¡®Unique Abilities¡¯ in addition with the primordial mana which will be stored and created inside your dantian. The skill which I was talking about has several stages. Remember to activate only the first stage for now. It will be useful for you to save the little girl. But then again, I don¡¯t think you will survive even though you have a multi-layered soul.¡± He then turned back and walked away. ¡°W-wait¡­.¡± I cried out but he has no intention of even looking back. ¡°W-wait! I h-have a q-question¡­¡± He stopped in his tracks, then looked back and said, ¡°What is it? Make it quick.¡± ¡°W-what do you m-mean by a ¡®m-multi layered soul¡¯?¡± The man looked at me, sighed and said, ¡°It is a very complex topic in soul mechanism. I don¡¯t have enough time to explain and neither do you have enough time to listen. Let me explain it in this way. A person¡¯s soul is layered when his/her soul went through a special type of reincarnation. This ¡®special¡¯ type is only for a minority of people. In other words, you were a man of great caliber in your past lives. Notice how I used ¡®lives¡¯. Yes, you underwent the ¡®special¡¯ reincarnation more than two times. That¡¯s why you soul is multi-layered. That ends my answer.¡± He said as he vanished away in darkness. My soul underwent a special type of reincarnation more than two times¡­? And it can only be done with a person of great caliber? Then why is my talent so average!? My eyes looked dead, my limbs lost all its strength and my mind was complete chaos. I looked just like a dead corpse lying on the ground. I laughed dryly for my own foolishness. What difference does it make¡­? I couldn¡¯t save Cyrola either way. At least, I could have saved myself if I had not listened to the man. As I was thinking such, I felt cold water sprinkled upon my body. Is it raining? Looking up, I found that it is indeed raining. Though I hated rain, not anymore cause the cold water is making my body which is in extreme heat calm down a bit though the pain is still there. To be completely honest, the pain is not exactly unbearable but you get feeling that you will die surely if this continues. Rumble! Boom! Oh, well. The thunderstorms are coming along with rain. Even if I manage to stay alive, I will surely die because of these thunderstorms. It seems like the Death God wrote my name in his note today. I joked completely ignoring the situation I¡¯m in. Boom! My body shook vigorously as I screamed on the top of my lungs. After screaming for a few seconds, my eyes closed as I lay down in the ground calmly¡­My last thought was ¡°Never thought I would die from the thunderstorms. Haha¡­¡± ¡­. ¡­. A few moments later, I slowly opened my eyes in order to greet the Death God. But all I saw was a clear night sky with stars twinkling. I am at a complete loss now. This is not what I¡¯ve expected the heaven/hell to look like. I looked around only to find several trees around me which looked surprisingly familiar to me. Let¡¯s see if I can get up. Hmm¡­I could. I nodded my head in approval as I got up after which, a notification rang inside my head and a system window appeared in front of my eyes. I replied ¡®Yes¡¯ and ¡®No¡¯ consecutively. for use> ¡­ ¡­ ------------------------------------------------------- Should I be happy about this¡­? After all, I luckily managed to survive and it would be a lie if I said that I¡¯m not elated about this but more than that, a grudge spouted inside me. Anyways, even if I get angry nothing¡¯s going to come out of it. I really wonder how the first stage of is going to help me. I took a look at the stats only to find that nothing changed except for the which is present in low amount¡­.only 610¡­. Besides, I expected a power up in levels. I am honestly very disappointed. If I¡¯d known this earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have agreed with that man. Furthermore, he brainwashed me into trusting him¡­.no...it was my own foolishness. But as the saying goes ¡°No crying over spilled milk¡±, I just have to make full use of what I obtained. With that in mind, I again walked towards the site where Cyrola would be sacrificed. No, I¡¯m not even sure if she is alive or not because I have no idea about how much time has passed. I can only leave that to fate and run. After I reached the location, I looked around for Cyrola. I found her with the same two men in the same white clothes. The only difference is that there is a huge cauldron placed a few meters before Cyrola. I guess they are going to kill her in the cruelest way possible but this is news to me. I never thought people resorts to this sort of sacrifice in rituals. Anyways, I have very limited time but I still don¡¯t have any idea as to what I am supposed to do. Should I just activate the ? Will it even work?? What if it failed?? Again, I¡¯m in a pinch. I must be decisive¡­.but then again, I doubt any normal person would¡¯ve been any better if not worse if they were in the same situation as me. After all, I¡¯m not a main character or even the sidekicks¡­.but I can¡¯t use this excuse every time. I made up my mind to fight. Although I¡¯m sure that I will fight to the end, I still planned to run away if anything happens out of my expectations. I activated the standing from the gate of the ritual site in order to remain hidden. Two seconds passed by but nothing happened. I patiently waited for a while but it¡¯s the same as before. Nothing¡­.absolutely nothing¡­..I should¡¯ve expected this¡­. I prepared myself for a fight just as the cauldron fire was ignited. However, a mysterious phenomenon occurred. The fire in the cauldron extinguished abruptly. The tribesmen tried to ignite it once more but the same phenomenon occurred. After six tries, they finally gave up and started discussing among themselves. Eh? Is that it? I expecte- ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHH¡± My thoughts were interrupted by a chain of cries. My eyes gauged out again this time. But this time it¡¯s not because of pain but because of an incomprehensible thing that is happening in front of my eyes.... All the tribesmen regardless of whether they participated in the main ritual or not were burning¡­.no, turning to ashes would be a more appropriate word. The whole area was painted in red with the color of blood mixed. It was an extremely horrifying scene. Within a few seconds, several men and women already turned into ashes. The sight of seeing several children and woman screaming in pain was pretty pitiful and sad but I felt no guilty. Heh¡­did I become another bloodthirsty main character¡­? I look pretty cool, right? I really wonder why the fuck am I joking in this situation!? After a few minutes, the area which was previously filled with several tribesmen now is empty with only a single girl in white clothes crying while hugging her knees in the middle. I walked towards her with my legs shaking. I don¡¯t dare to look around at this moment because I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ll break down if I do so. Hearing my footsteps, the little girl looked up and met my eyes. I expected her to stop crying and happily jump on my arms but she kept looking at my face for a moment. I wonder if there¡¯s something on my face. ¡°Let¡¯s go. What are you spacing out for?¡± I snapped my fingers in front of her eyes and said. But even so, she gave no signs of talking. It must be traumatizing especially for a little girl like her who is not even ten¡­.After a while, her face twisted unusually and I knew where this is going. ¡°WAAAAAHHHH¡± She broke out in tears as I moved to console her but she pouted and moved my hands away from her shoulders. Ahh¡­this is going to take some time¡­. Chapter 10 Heroes Festival (Part 1) Looking into the night sky which was full of stars, I compared this world to Earth. Though I know that I¡¯m being extremely foolish to compare them, I can¡¯t help but think that maybe¡­..just maybe ...our Earth used to look like this in the Ancient Era. It was midnight. The whole atmosphere around me gave me a calm vibe. Maybe because of this, my mind is still in one piece. After all, what has happened was beyond my wildest imaginations. I never actually expected the cheat I was given to be so overpowered. I mean seriously, who would have expected the cheat to work this way? It¡¯s just boom!! And everything¡¯s over in an instant! Woah! I kindly apologize if I sound over-excited but you can¡¯t be a cool ass dude after what had happened! Even my stats have changed drastically. Stats Name: Ren¡­??? Titles: Rogue, Babysitter, Canolf Slayer, Tribe Annihilator Race?? Class: Hero Level: 77 Marital status/Relationships: None (poor virgin) Status: Alive Charm: 7(Average) Mana: 85 Mana: 72 Strength: 75 Speed: 77 Stamina: 79 Dexterity: 78 Passive abilities Time limit ¨C 8.3 seconds Time of recovery ¨C 2.46 hours 5. 6. 7. Active skills 2. Techniques: - Long strike (Level 9), Spear thrust (Level 7), Vertical slash (Level 6),Horizontal slash (Level 6), Air Slash (Level 6), Spear Dance (Level 4), Two-step thrust (Level 5) Unique Abilities 2. Thunder Strike (Level 4) ¨C Amplifies every strike the user makes by 4 times. A single time use. Time of recovery ¨C 2 hours. 3. 4.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. 5. ??? (To be unlocked at Myriad Tribulations Realm) --------------------------------------------------------- I rubbed my beard in satisfaction. I should seriously think about cutting my hair and beard. The probable reason as to why I was given the title ¡®Rogue¡¯ must be because of this. Pondering about it, I looked at Cyrola who was looking downwards with dark marks beneath her eyes. She was crying non-stop for over an hour. And why would she not? If I were in her place, I would have already been crazy. I moved towards her to pat her but she already seemed to notice my movements and moved her head away. Damn girl! Making a naughty plan, I moved towards her and suddenly brought my rough beard in contact with her soft cheek. ¡°Ow-w! S-stop it! Or else, I will call you a pedo in public!¡± Huh? I¡¯m seriously taken aback. Where did this little imp learn this!? Hearing her, I didn¡¯t stop my act and continued. After a while, a sweet laugh came out of her mouth. Hearing that gave me a small feeling of satisfaction. Sighing to myself, I put these thoughts aside and thought about the future. Even though the tribes don¡¯t directly fall under the Kingdom¡¯s authorities, they are still a part of the kingdom. It would be very optimistic of me to say that the Kingdom won¡¯t take any step against me just because I¡¯m a Hero. Running away would be extremely suspicious and could I seriously hide from the Kingdom in the first place? After some thoughts, I broke out in a weird laughter. Hah¡­I am growing stupider day by day. Let¡¯s say that the Kingdom found something suspicious about my situation. Even an idiot would notice something shady if he found my matter too coincidental. The tribes been wiped out the day I came here and people would also know that I came here because I informed Satou and his friends. But so what? I could always put the blame on the shady person I met today. But everything¡¯s not that easy. I might be thought to be innocent for awhile but it¡¯s not going to be forever. The authorities would surely notice another person involved in the incident. I looked at the little figure sitting beside me and lit up my eyes. Having noticed my unusual behavior, she muttered clutching the light clothes she was wearing, ¡°W-what do you want? Pl-please forgive me but I couldn¡¯t let you do this. I al-always thought of you as Papa!....I-I don¡¯t want to make this relationship a forbidden one¡­..¡± My expression twisted and lost all its color.¡±Shut up and listen to me. If you speak a single word more, I will make sure to give the poor Canolfs a fresh and delicious meal.¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°Good. Now, listen to me. What I¡¯m about to tell you to do is not a non-righteous thing. It¡¯s just a smart and tactical lie. Even though it is a ¡®lie¡¯, I believe there is no ¡®lie¡¯ in this world as truthful as this ...¡±I made up a philosophical sentence which I don''t even understand. I looked at Cyrola whose expression was a hard one to decipher and continued.¡±So, anyways. What you have to do is simple. If some baddy asks you about what had happened, you need to tell¡­¡­¡± After explaining the whole thing about the shady man to her, she quietly nodded. Looking at her thoughtful nod, I began to think that the girl is getting sensible day by day. I gave a fatherly (creepy) smile to her to which she went a few steps back. After a few minutes, I decided to leave right now. A few hours later, I along with Cyrola finally exit the forest. Renting the same inn, I directly slumped in bed. Aiyo, today was the most tiring day of my life. I guess I should remember this day. Taking out the smartphone from the pocket, I called Cyrola. "Come here." She obediently came over to my side after which I took a selfie. Cyrola, who was at my side, jumped in fright. Seeing her reaction, I helplessly sighed and then started explaining things. After a few seconds of explanations, she directed a thoughtful look towards my smartphone. Its weird right¡­ No matter how you think of it, having a smartphone in this world is so awesome, though it''s only temporary. After all, my battery is not an undying immortal. After looking through the pictures of my family, I switched it off. "If only there were power supply and wifi in here¡­" After two weeks. I returned to the capital with Cyrola and before I could even explain myself, a horde of knights were verbally attacking me. Thankfully, I managed to convince them into believing that I''m not the perpetrator. I reunited with few classmates of mine and wasted my days in the library. The search for Cyrola''s parents was started but I was told to take care of her till they find her parents. Such a pain¡­ but at least I got someone to talk to when I''m bored. I''m currently in the library reading about the Lost Continent. It''s quite mysterious. According to sources, it was once the only continent present in the world and this world is a bit less than two times the size of saturn. In other words, it''s huge. "Aye, are you trying to become a scholar Hero?"said Yasogu, a delinquent classmate who sat beside me. Rolling my eyes, I replied. "You sure are carefree, aren''t ya?" "It''s not that I''m carefree but rather, you are too much stressful. You are fortunate to have a tolerant friend like me." "Thanks?" "What''s with that rhetorical question!? Anyways, where is Cyrola?" "She''s in her dreamland." "Tsk. I wanted to play with her¡­ " I ignored him and continued to do my usual routine. Yasogu is one of the few friends I have. Though he is annoying, he is not a bad guy. His elemental affinity is B-grade earth and his level being 41. "By the way, Yasogu, what is average level between our classmates?" "Huh? Average¡­ around 38-43?" He replied while appearing to be in deep thoughts. So I''m OP indeed. But alas, there are people who are OP-er than me. Satou Kurihara and Rumi Kajiwara. Both make me go ara-ara¡­ of course, I didn''t mention Lin Xie because I don''t even consider him as just OP. I wonder what he''s doing right now. "By the way, are you going to participate in the sparring contest?" Yasogu asked. "Hm¡­is it mandatory?" "It seems so. But one can reject it by giving appropriate reasons." "Appropriate reasons¡­ then forget it. I won''t participate." "That''s too bad. I heard that the winner gets the Holy Sword." "Unfortunately, I use spear." "Tsk. So uncool." I rolled my eyes ignoring him. "Oye. Do you know about Low Elemental Pill?" "Of course. It''s used to raise the affinity of a person with its elements. It''s useless for an A or B graders. But low graders'' benefits are tremendous. Why the sudden interest though?" "Eh.. It''s the prize for the finalists of the sparring contest." "What did you say!?" I jumped from chair and stared at Yasogu with round eyes. After collecting my thoughts, I spoke in a serious tone. "Are you sure?" Yasogu gulped a mouthful of saliva and replied. "Y-yes." ¡­ Chapter 11 Heroes Festival (Part 2) "Haah!? What do you want? Just scram!" A huge, slightly obese middle-aged man shouted. The shout receiver is of course, Ren. He stood there blankly wondering whose son''s nuts he broke to listen such insults for almost two minutes. "Papa. Why is he shouting?" Beside the pitiful boy, stood a fair skinned little princess-like girl who is nonchalantly asking the same question for the past few minutes. He had set out to participate in the sparring contest which is the biggest event of the Heroes'' Festival. However, before he could even enter the Spring Pavilion, where the Festival would be held, he was stopped abruptly by a Guard who started swearing at him with unknown reasons. Finally Ren''s mouth twitched as he replied in a dry tone. "It must be his that day of the month." "That day¡­?" The little girl didn''t understand the hidden meanings. *Ting* The huge man destroyed the beer glass that he holding in. Ren and several onlookers became horrified and Ren spoke with beads of perspiration on his forehead. "Honorable Guard. This lowly one doesn''t mind dying for someone as handsome and formidable as you but my dear mother always said to ''live for a reason and die for a reason''. Being filial, I can''t disobey my mother. Can I?" "Does your mother not love you anymore, Papa?" the little girl whispered. "Shut up!" "I don''t understand filial piety. I''m an orphan!" Saying so, the burly man got up from his seat with the broken glass in his hands. ''Lady Luck dissed me¡­" Just then, a young man with green hair came and walked to the burly man''s side. He seemed to be bewildered about the current situation. Ren suddenly became excited. When he was about to speak something- "Hmm? Can you tell me what is going on?" He asked directly. He is one of the members of the 2nd Rank Knights Order, Allius. Ren chatted with him a few times and found him quite honest and modest. "This bastard fucking kidnapped the child out there!!" The burly man roared while pointing to Cyrola. Ren naturally wanted to refute his claims but realized it''s unnecessary because- "Ah! No no no! You''ve misunderstood, Terk. That girl''s relatives whereabouts are unknown so Hero Ren is currently her temporary guardian. Where did you get the idea that she was kidnapped?" Allius said in an amusing tone. Ren felt that the answer to the last question was even more mysterious than secrets of the universe. "Urgh¡­ my apologies. I just happened to hear from Hero Rumi and her friends discussing about a little girl being taken by Hero Ren." Terk lowered his head and apologized sincerely. ''Those bastards¡­'' "It''s fine. Just give me the entrance ticket." I waved my hand magnanimously. "Thank you for your magnanimity." Terk''s dark expression turned a little brighter and handed over the entrance ticket to me. ''Good that you know it.'' "If you are participating in the sparring contest, you''ll see me." Allius then turned around and left. Ren was obviously here to participate in the sparring contest to get his hands on the Low Grade Elemental Pill. He tried to learn the two skills he got from the Shuta Tribe Leader countless times but utterly failed. After all, his affinity is awfully low. He hopes to increase his elemental affinity with the pill. Ren and Cyrola entered the Spring Pavilion which is¡­ white¡­ just white. There was no lustrous or beautiful designs. Even then, it made one to be in a daze just like the two of them are right now. A moment later, Ren took out his smart phone and captured the beauty. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Uhm! Uhm! Take my pictures!" Cyrola pulled Ren''s sleeves and requested. Ever since she discovered that there exists an artifact(?) called smartphone, she had been constantly playing around with it. Ren sighed and did what he was told. "If only I had a charger¡­ Maybe I could charge it with my Thunder affinity¡­" Ren sighed again and decided to keep these amusing thoughts for later. As he was looking around, a beautiful attendant came to him. "Hero Ren?" "Indeed." "I''m in a hurry so I''ll cut to the chase. Do you want to participate in the sparring contest?" "Mhm." "Oh, well. Then please come with me to register your name." "I''ll have to trouble you then." She didn''t reply. Ren and Cyrola followed her lead and finally registered his name. Apparently, it''s the last event of the Festival. "Are you going to participate in other events?" The attendant asked staring at me nonchalantly. "No. I suppose¡­ I''ll just watch." "Then I''ll be taking my leave." With her usual expressionless face, she turned around and left. ¡­ .. Hero Satou''s Waiting Room. A cold snort escaped from Cicele who was chatting with Satou and his harem. "Like I said, I''m not sure we can perform the skit very well but I''ll try my best." Opposite to them was the same beautiful attendant who was with Ren few moments ago. "Hero Satou sure knows how to jest. I''ve often seen the rehearsals and I can guarantee that the skit will go as planned if not over our expectations." The attendant flashed a charming smile while talking with Satou which was the not the expressionless face she gave during her talk with Ren. Satou and his harem are participating in a skit. The skit is based of the heroic deeds of Reuken with Satou portraying as Reuken. "By the way, did everyone registered for the sparring contest?" Satou asked with a curious expression. The attendant took out a small piece of paper and looked through it. "It seems that everyone excluding Xie took part in the sparring contest. Tsk. That troublemaker turned into a coward." She did nothing to hide her contempt towards Xie. In response, Satou remained silent. However, his friends are not that kind. "Coward? Scum would be a more appropriate word." This time, it was Flora who spoke. Regarding the incident with Xie, Flora has the deepest grudge on him because of natural reasons. "Y''all stop. It''s not a good thing to talk about someone behind their back." Satou sighed. The others present didn''t continue on the topic and switched to another. Satou took the piece of paper the attendant was holding and looked through it. "By the way, Ruti-san, why are there forty spots? Shouldn''t it be thirty nine?" "Ah! That''s right! One of our friends, Liana, wasn''t able to attend the school on the summoning day." Rumi replied with a thoughtful expression. "Eh? Is that so? I have to inform this to His Majesty." The attendant, Ruti, replied and went off with hurried steps. ¡­ .. Ren was sitting on one of the front seats in the Spring Pavilion concerned over the battery on his smartphone. Cyrola, despite his warnings, pestered him to let her play games. "If only I had a charger¡­" He sighed again with the same thoughts. As he was sighing thinking over such matters, a hand suddenly touched his shoulders. Before he could even turn back, a voice came from behind. "Eh? You didn''t die!?" It was a familiar voice for Ren. Looking back, he found the same old idiotic face. It was Xie. He was dressed in his same school clothes. "Oi oi. Are your desires finally leaking out or something?" Ren said with a murderous tone. "Ah¡­ Let''s talk about other things later, ''kay?" Xie muttered with a forced smile as he took a seat beside Ren. Noticing Cyrola, he seriously looked at Ren. "I didn''t think you have such tastes¡­ The world is indeed a big place to live. Thank you for broadening my horizons." Ren''s face twisted as he smacked Xie''s head as he explained to clear up the misunderstanding. As the misunderstanding was almost cleared up, a high-pitched voice suddenly rang. "Look! Look! Papa! I made a new record in Subway S*rfers!" Before Ren could even respond, Xie said with a loving look. "Aha¡­ so it''s that game! Quick, let me see you re-" But before he could even continue, a word lingered in his mind. "Papa¡­.. " Xie looked at Ren like he was the most disgusting scum alive. The other party felt the need to desperately explain but suddenly, a voice rang I''m the whole pavilion. "Welcome His Majesty and the Queen." An old man dressed formally in a knight''s suit said. Everyone stood up and greeted the King and his wife with respect. Nobody knelt. The king and the queen slowly made their way to the topmost position of the pavilion. "Without any more delay, I announce the opening of the Heroes'' Festival!" ¡­ .. Ren was quite surprised with the events as he, being an Earthling, found them quite enjoyable. The main focus of the Festival aside from the Sparring Contest was undoubtedly the skit Satou and his harem prepared. Although, there were errors here and there, they were admirable for pulling it off because the skit contained "real" use of magic. Balancing them and give dialogues in between shows their hard work. "The sparring contest will begin very soon. So, I request all the participants to make their way in here." The old man said nonchalantly. "Are you participating?" Ren asked Xie with a neutral tone. "No. I''ll just watch." Xie smiled mysteriously. A vein popped on Ren''s forehead. "Just because you are a little strong doesn''t mean you can act cool, okay?" Xie groaned instead of answering. Making his way up to the stage along with his classmates, he felt a little nervous and excited. The contest design was fairly thoughtful. As there were 38 participants, six of them must be eliminated. Twelve of them would be selected randomly and one-on-one would be held where the winner will proceed to the other rounds. Fortunately for Ren, he was not that unlucky to be one of the twelve randomly selected person. He heaved a sigh of relief and made his way to the resting room instead of watching the contest to take preparations. Even though Ren might not look like a smart and meticulous person, he was a perfectionist by heart. "Let''s see¡­ the only problems I''ll be facing in this contest are Rumi and Satou. I''m not confident in defeating Rumi since her level is obviously higher but Satou¡­ maybe I could." He organised his thoughts as took a sip of water. "But¡­ I''d be a simpleton if I think that way. After all, why would Rumi join his harem if he isn''t stronger than her? My thinking might be a bit twisted and chuunibyou-like but isn''t it natural for a woman to like a stronger man?" Ren finally sighed. "Anyways, even if he is stronger than her, he''s going down very quickly. After all, he has the aura of a third-rate villain in an isekai novel¡­" That day, Ren''s chuunibyou-like qualities finally returned to him after three years. Chapter 12 A Rotten Beginning *Ren''s POV* Ah¡­ do you know what one absolutely detests being classified as? It''s not being a peasant, low-life, etc. It is¡­ being a mob. They''re the most pitiful creatures ever alive. No, you''d be mistaken if you think that a mob is an uncomfortable loner with the least presence. A mob is someone who falls even below that! Some people might actually say being a mob is not a bad thing because being one ensures a peaceful and stable life and the people are not necessarily wrong! My ideologies are a bit shallow but let''s just say this: "You don''t feel uncomfortable when you think of yourself as a mob. You only realize the gravity of the word ''mob'' when you are treated as one." I muttered seriously to my classmate who had an average face. And no, I''m not trying to look cool saying out these embarrassing monologues. After all, no matter how you thick-skinned you are, these monologues are too much! As I was monologue-ing, I performed the which I recently learned after reading some books on movement techniques. With that, I quickly closed the gap between us and pointed my spear to my classmate''s throat calmly. He shuddered in fear seeing my spear. "I-I admit defeat." I posed coolly as my hair fluttered through the wind. My classmates and friends looked as if they''re dazed. We-well, that''s what you get for underestimating a mob. Hmph! I made my way through the restroom nonchalantly leaving behind the image of a ''lonely spearman''. But as I was about to go on any further, some knights forced me to watch the contest. ¡­ .. Three days later. I coolly made my way through the empty classroom hoping to find some mates to talk to. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, it was empty. I calmly took my seat and waited for my classmates. What happened, you ask? Oh, nothing special. Just that Xie made a grand entrance right after my duel and opened a ''gate'' which brought us back to this world. When my classmates ask about Xie''s ability, he laughed it off by saying ''it''s a unique skill.'' Surprisingly, the level system and the skills and abilities that I worked so hard to learn didn''t mercilessly disappear in thin air. Only a week has passed in Earth but our parents were still worried about us. I don''t know why but my classmates were strongly against the idea of telling others the ''truth''. So we just had to make an excuse like ''secret trip with my classmates''. Thinking about the looks given by mom and sis when I returned home makes me shudder in fear every now and then. "Wow! Papa is soooo early!" A high-pitched voice disrupted my train of thoughts. "Why are you here!? Go back to your classroom if you don''t want a spank!" I threatened her with a vicious look. "Uwah! Papa''s sooooo scary!" She stick out a tongue and ran away. As for this brat, she wanted to tag along so Xie told me that he had taken her to his custody. It''s not surprising since Xie''s family is quite rich. His parents own a multi-national business company. Just thinking about it makes me feel proud being his friend. What a rotten friend I am¡­ "You''re stupidly early today as well." Speak of the devil. Turning my head sideways, I find Xie heading towards my direction. "Being early isn''t bad at all. On the contrary, it gives me a peace of mind." I spoke the truth. After my half-assed isekai adventure, there are few things that can give me the feeling of calmness. Previously, I was a hardcore game otaku but after coming back, games hardly interest me. Maybe I''ll play for a change of face but I don''t get the same feeling I used to get previously¡­ "Rather than that, you aren''t going to run away this time, are you?" I glared at Xie. "I have no intentions of doing that. Today, I''ll give you as much as you want!" With a foolish grin, he threw out some misunderstanding words and took a seat opposite to mine. Thankfully, no one is here. "I''ll start from the very beginning. Why did you disappear when we entered the forest?" "As I said, the gate of the Earth was cracked for some unknown reasons. For us to Earth, the gate must be repaired. So I had to depart." Xie said without blinking an eye. "So you are a mechanic¡­ anyways, another question: Why didn''t you wait for me to finish the Sparring Contest? I already told you that I need the Low-Grade Elemental Pill, didn''t I?" Xie showed a ''difficult to explain'' expression but I patiently waited for his answer. If he said things like "Kukk. It''d be useless. After all, you don''t intend to work as a street magician on Earth, now do you?`` I''d punch the hell out of him. With a heavy face, he finally said. "You just don''t need it. Don''t ask about the details. I can show you if you really want to." Xie''s face, for the first time, looked serious. I ain''t so stupid to not deduce some things out. As I thought, getting hit by the thunderstorm really increased my elemental affinity. What I don''t understand is the last part of his sentence. "Okay. Show me after you answer this question. Why did you disregard my life?" This is the most important question. For a brief moment, things became quiet. Not even the chirping of lively birds could be heard. "You just can''t die¡­ it isn''t something that can''t be explained but it''s better for you to see it." Xie said with a solemn expression. Even though the answer sounds extremely ridiculous and bizarre, I didn''t flip out. Let''s see what he wants to show me first. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "And how do I see it?" With this, Xie showed a surprised expression and gave a foolish smile. He touched my forehead with his index finger and¡­ urgh.. he took his fingers back. "I have seen nothing!" "I know. You''ll be seeing it in your dreams. In any case, aren''t you going to ask me about the other world?" "Dreams¡­ how cool! About that, although I''m a bit interested, I''d be better off not knowing about it." I vaguely replied. Though I''m not supposed to feel guilty about the matter, it''s inevitable. No matter what, I''m a human. The citizens, there, treated us quite nicely. So it''s natural for me to feel guilty thinking about it. I heard several footsteps coming from outside the classroom. The group which entered our classroom is Satou''s. He, with a gentle smile, talked with his harem members and moved to his seat with the harem members following him. Yes. Satou brought along his other-worldly harem members to Earth. His grandfather seems to be the Director of the school, so it wasn''t a big deal for the other-worldly beauties to get admission in the same class as him. What I do find mysterious is how he managed to take them to his custody¡­ Perhaps noticing me and Xie, he greeted us with ''good morning'' to which, we greeted him back. For some reason, Rumi-san was frequently stealing glances from me. Did she perhaps fall for me after seeing my grand performance at the contest? Hoo¡­ I wonder what will Satou do if he gets NTR-ed by Rumi¡­ However, I don''t remember raising any flags¡­ As I was thinking such things, the person herself came to me. "Don''t let your imaginations run wild. You have the spear, don''t you? Give it to me. It shouldn''t be used by the likes of you." She said with a cold look. Oi oi. What''s with that condescending way of speaking? With a harsh look, unbefitting of a gentleman, I said. "Buzz off! No matter how you plead, I won''t give it to you. If the spear shouldn''t be used by the likes of me, it shouldn''t even be touched by the likes you!" Even after seeing my violent counter-attack, she didn''t back off. "Y-you bastard! I''m not joking!" After saying such useless things, I felt a cold fist on my right cheek. Receiving it, my eyes went cold while she continued. "You deserve it! If you don''t return the spear, I''ll beat you to a pul- kukk!" She couldn''t finish her sentence as I punched her in the same place I got hit. Normally, I wouldn''t have used violence against a woman no matter how much she cursed me but she crossed my bottom line. After all, her fist almost made one of my teeth fall down. The most interesting thing is that my fist felt much more powerful than when I was in the other world. It''s almost as I have practiced punching for several years. Perhaps seeing me counter-attack with violence, she stood there with a baffled expression. The spot where I punched her turned bright red. Feeling satisfied, I spoke with a cold look. "Don''t blame me for hitting you. You are the one who started it. Considering our previous relationship, I won''t ask you to apolog-" Before I could even finish, I was seeing the ceiling of the classroom with my burning nose. Damn her! How dare she hit me right in my face!? Suddenly, I heard a haughty voice with some hatred and anger mixed within it. "Don''t blame me for hitting you. Considering our previous relationship, handing over the spear and prostrating yourself to me w- Before she could complete, I landed a solid kick on her belly. This is becoming dramatic unknowingly. For a moment, she crouched down and I became certain of my victory. However, I was too na?ve. "Y-you!" With a cliched line, she pounced on me and landed repetitive punches on my unblocked face. Ah¡­ a teeth or two are sure to break today but I''m gonna break one or two as well! As I figured out the patterns of her punches, I quickly reversed the position by using as I slowly slipped and used my left leg to bring her down. It is a very complex case of power transfer. First, using her momentum to not let me escape, I slipped slightly which made her more vigilant and put in more effort which only helped me escape more easily¡­ then again, who am I even explaining? It was slowly turning into a catfight. By the way, I was wondering for quite a few seconds. Why the hell is nobody stopping us!? I looked at my classmates who were giving blank looks. Ah...they must be in a state of comprehension. I threw some more punches before my classmates restricted me. My face was extremely swollen and red with my clothes dirtied but I had no reason to feel down. The other party was even more pitiful than me. Struggling hard to get freedom from her friends restriction, she glared hatefully at me. "Bastard! You are going to regret this! Very soon, I''ll strip you and hang you in front of the school gate!" Her hatred gave me a chill across my spine but I still spoke in an intimidating way. "Soon? I''ll do that to you right now! Wanna try!?" After exchanging some vulgar verbal abuse, we were called in the Director''s office. Apparently, some bastard reported the incident to the office due to which, without even getting time to put on bandages, we were made to forcefully head towards the office. The Director''s office. "So, you''re saying she asked for a precious thing of yours which you rejected. In a fit of rage, she directly punched you and break one of your teeth¡­?" A stern and muscular old man took a deep breath and asked. "Exactly. It was her who started it." I spoke in a calm voice. The old man then looked at Rumi who was quietly staring at the Director without fear and occasionally directing killing intent towards me. "Is this what had happened?" "Yes¡­ but the sp- thing that he has is absolutely not his! I don''t know what sorcery he had performed to obtain it, but he isn''t the owner." Rumi spoke in a calm voice but her words were powerful. I wonder if she used some skills to enhance her voice. To counter her, I spoke. "That''s not true. I spent my precious money to buy it. Xie can testify to that." After further interrogation, the Director gave his verdict. "Regarding the incident, I suspend both of you for a week. Shirasaki Rumi is to be blamed for starting it. However, Kashikawa Ren is also heavily at fault for resorting to violence against a woman. I suppose this much is appropriate, isn''t it?" I sighed. I already expected this. Thankfully, this is not the worse senario. "I comply with the punishment you gave and will seriously reflect on myself." I bowed respectfully. Seeing me, Rumi too bowed and said. "I will reflect on my conduct as well." The Director seemed a bit satisfied as he stroke his beard. "Good. Now leave. Your parents are waiting for you." His words made me shudder. "S-sir. Can you send my parents back? There are some important topics that sensei will cover today. I can''t afford to miss today''s class¡­" But I was not the one who said it. It was her. I followed. "Yes, Director. Today, the most important topic in my three years of high school would be covered. Missing it would make me a dropout." I wildly exaggerated but it''d work knowing that it is the simple old Director. The Director made a thoughtful expression and pondered about it. After a while, he made an easy expression. "Sure. You can attend today''s classes after meeting your parents." My brain received a huge damage that day¡­ ¡­ .. Exiting the office, I saw two familiar faces. My mother was chatting with Rumi''s when she noticed both of us and scolded me harshly in front of the students. I even saw a few of my classmates. My face turned beet red as I lowered my head. My mind felt a bit better when I noticed that Rumi''s mother was doing the same to Rumi but then, the verbal abuse became even more unbearable when both the moms formed a duo¡­ Thinking about it makes my scalp go numb. I looked at the bright moon and reminiscent about the night sky in the other world. Indeed. Our Earth''s night sky can''t compare with the other world but it''s beautiful in its own way. Thinking back the things happened till now, I feel extremely weird. Defeating the mob classmate of mine in the sparring contest, I finally felt that real adventure is about to begin but it ended right after. If this is supposed to be the beginning, then it''s crappy and shitty as hell! Every now and then, I feel the urge to shout out and ask: Am I a joke to you!?? Urgh¡­ i-its not like I vented my anger on Rumi-san today. Don''t misunderstand, okay?