Is this Hero for Real?

“I know.”

The important thing was taking down the guardian protecting the relic.

I’d found the lead.

[Outsider]

[Fairy]

While I was getting beat by the guardian, I could get a glimpse of the orc’s ‘swordsmanship’.

Pull a fantastical fantasy inside a fantasy, that’s all!

If I emptied my head and didn’t think too deeply into it, everything else was simple.

Flash!

[A certain god is bewildered.]

[A certain god widens their eyes in surprise.]

“How’s this, god? Is this similar to that orc?”

[A certain god asks if you’re being for real.]

“Of course I am. I practiced all day since yesterday.”

I gave up counting after practicing exactly 10,000 times.

[A certain god drills you’re a pervert.]

*t/n: ‘pervert’ is often used in Korea to describe someone abnormally good at something

“How rude!”

‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

***

Where was the safest place in the continent of Fantasia?

Nine out of ten random people would answer:

The Saintess’s bedroom.

The story of a legendary thief who could break into anywhere getting caught trying to steal the Saintess’s underwear was a favorite among minstrels.

Currently, the owner of that bedroom was staring at the alien backpack and books in front of her for hours on end.

“Kang Hansoo…”

The name of a person she’d never even met was completely engraved in her mind.

Taking the time out of her day to speak with all of the Heroes was worth it. Thanks to that, she could safely gather information.

“‘Know him a little’. Yeah, right.”

She’d only asked if he was her boyfriend to bait the teenage girl, but Hero Yoo Bora knew about Kang Hansoo a lot more than just friends would.

Hobbies, personality, talents, grades, looks…

Yoo Bora denied it to the very last moment, but the Saintess did not believe the premature girl’s poor excuses.

Anyways…

“Kang Hansoo…”

Not even she knew how many times she’d muttered that name.

But what else could she do?

Even the Saintess, who had been through all sorts of turmoil, had never experienced ‘god’s lies’ before.

Imposing silence after breaking a promise to send him back to his home?

That was something a demon would do. No, not even a demon would do such a thing.

Demons thought very highly of contracts; they only tried to trick people with clever word plays.

That was how shocking ‘god’s lies’ were.

If word of that spread out?

The Heroes who had been compliant that whole time would start to become suspicious and deny god.

That would be the end of the world.

“Kang Hansoo…”

It wouldn’t be a problem if he was already dead.

The evidence had already been collected, and the commander and knight who were the first ones to discover it could be trusted.

And none of the Heroes—including Yoo Bora, who had given her his information—had noticed.

But what if he was alive?

“Kang Hansoo…”

Find him and kill him! Make him disappear from this world without a single trace of his bones!

If she could know where he was, it would be as easy as flipping over her hand as the Saintess, who was called humanity’s greatest weapon.

But was that enough?

“…”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence asks what’s wrong.]

The oracle she’d been waiting for broke the long silence.

“…Dear god. what did you do to the owner of these?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence glances at the objects.]

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence frowns.]

“Did you kill him?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence is extremely uncomfortable.]

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence says it was a small mistake.]

A mistake?

The Saintess knew very well that not all gods were good.

Worshipped by demons, the demon god was the representative of evil, and there was the whimsical god of wind, who was unpredictable.

But they did not mistakenly trick people.

“So did you kill him?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence absolutely denies it.]

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence says he is still alive.]

She couldn’t tell if that was good news or bad news.

Even though she easily took care of nasty political scenes as the Saintess, this time she couldn’t make a judgment.

It would be a problem if he was alive.

It would be a problem if he was dead.

* * *

* * *

In fact, the fact he was still in the world of Fantasia when he was supposed to be back on his home planet was the problem in the first place.

“Where is he now?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence screams for you to kill him fast.]

“Where is he?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence screams for you to kill him fast.]

“Where is he?”

[A certain arrogant god of benevolence abruptly leaves.]

“…so you don’t know.”

If the ‘god of the Heroes’, who knew the location of almost all of the Heroes with their Blessing, could not find him, that meant there was ‘another god’ who was stopping them from tracking Kang Hansoo.

Things just got more complicated.

(Saintess.)

“…”

The voice of an attendant rang from the crystal ball used for external communications.

(I apologize for interrupting your rest, but there is something you must know immediately.)

“…What is it?”

Although the Saintess felt like her head was going to explode from a human she’d never even met before, she still kept her composure.

The attendant replied in a very troubled tone.

(Hero Oh Hanwoo was beaten by another Hero.)

“He is no longer a Hero.”

(That’s true, but…)

“We cannot afford to take care of a scoundrel’s retirement that abandoned his obligations as a Hero.”

Oh Hanwoo…

Finally, she wouldn’t hear that incompetent Hero’s name again!

The Saintess felt a weight come off her shoulders.

(I apologize. I’ve troubled you for a minor issue.)

“It is okay. That issue made me feel better. Thank you.”

(I’m sorry?)

“It’s nothing.”

(Yes, ma'am. Enjoy your rest.)

Beep-

The attendant hurriedly hung up the call so as to not take more of her precious rest time.

But she could not rest.

“Kang Hansoo…”

Would she ever be able to completely rest until she found that human?

First, the most urgent business to take care of was launching a search network without letting anyone know.

Fwpfwp.

The Saintess started to write a letter to send secretly. Those who were in debt to her would be happy to help her.

Her plan was perfect!

[A certain god peeps at the plan.]

[A certain god quietly gets out of the bedroom.]

***

I wanted to train safely until I was certain I would defeat the guardian of the relic.

But I was forced to have a change of plans because of an ‘attack from the goddess’ that came out of nowhere.

[Name] Kang Hansoo [Level] 1 [Blessings] Outsider E, Fairy C, Mercenary B [Curses] Hero C, Slaughter D, Massacre D [Dividend] 14.01

“That’s just too far.”

[Hero]

I’d stayed at rank E ever since my first day landing in this fantasy world, but I suddenly jumped to rank C.

What did I do?

I didn’t know, but one thing was for certain…

“Damned goddess!”

There was no doubt the evil goddess noticed I’d been alive that entire time instead of having been eaten by a gnoll.

That meant staying in one spot for too long was dangerous.

The good thing amidst all the bad news?

[Outsider]

For some reason, my outsider Blessing ranked up one rank as well.

“Respect, outsider god.”

[A certain god acts smug.]

The Blessing effect’s activation period was shorter than when it was F rank.

In other words, my cockroach-like longevity was even more long-lasting than before!

The rhythm of being an F rank went something like this:

Peeew, peeew, peeew…

But as I became an E rank, it got a little faster:

Peew, peew, peew, peew…

I almost died about thirty times from missing this beat while adjusting to it, but that was a minor issue.

“Alright! Shall we get going?”

[A certain god says to teach that bad pig a lesson.]

“Aren’t you excited?”

[A certain god prays for the bad pig’s soul.]

“…You’re very excited.”

Bad pig…

That was from a human’s perspective. After all, orcs used humans as actual farm animals.

But was it okay for god, who was supposed to love all creations, to have such a biased thought process…?

Ah, whatever.

The guardian had not moved an inch, protecting the relic.

But that orc wasn’t attacking me, even though I’d come within his range.

His intentions were obvious.

“I’m not running away this time.”

“Hmph! You think I’m going to believe a cunning human’s words?”

“So what if you don’t?”

“Come in closer. I’ll show you the relic.”

“Heh~”

It was an unexpected offer.

But I could still see his intentions.

Since the guardian couldn’t leave his relic, he was trying to pull me deep into the relic’s territory to get rid of me.

That pig really used his brain, I see.

“Human. Are you coming? Or are you scared of leaving your hiding spot behind?”

The guardian watched me, using petty provocative comments.

“I’m not saying no.”

“Hmph! You’ll come to regret this.”

“Are you sure you’re not trying to drag me into your relic trap because you’re scared?”

“Ha! Do you really think a great warrior like me would rely on mere traps?!”

“We’ll see about that.”

The guardian, who’d promised to show me the relic, stopped in his tracks.

The giant dolmen…

Its impression wasn’t much different than when I saw it from far away, but it was purely a simple relic with no basements or secret tunnels.

The orc guardian stopped near the city exit.

“It’s here.”

“That’s it?”

“Would you come with me if there was more?”

“No.”

I didn’t want to follow him any further, even if there was more to it. He could make a basement or building collapse and bury me.

The fantasy natives watching from afar with worry were also bothering me.

The guardian explained:

“In ancient times, this was the training grounds to safely train Heroes.”

“Orc Heroes?”

“Our species does not have Heroes, we were not chosen by god.”

“Oh, right.”

“Humans were arrogant. We took that as a chance to murder the Heroes and their affiliates and destroyed the training grounds, leaving only this relic.”

“Why?”

“To use it to restrict the strong from entering.”

The rest of the story was simple.

The orcs, after taking over the relic, used the ‘off limits to level 10 and above’ restriction to build their very own paradise.

Danger?

There were absolutely none.

The entrance of the city wasn’t big enough for an army to charge inside, and a small troop wouldn’t be able to handle a city swarming with orcs.

What if they were elite?

The strong ones over level 10 that orcs looked out for so much could not enter.

It was truly an impenetrable fortress!

Until I’d entered, that is.

“Sorry about that!”

“As long as you’re alive, it will be impossible to recover our city, so it appears you will have to die for us here.”

“Before we start, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Are there any treasures here? Like a powerful weapon.”

That was an extremely important issue. It would be meaningless if I killed the guardian and there was nothing.

“There are.”

“Ah! Some good news!”

“Weapons given to rookie graduate Heroes are deep inside.”

“…Well I’ll be damned.”

It looked like they gave out beginner weapons as graduation gifts.

Would I be able to cut the dimension-traveling evil goddess with a tool like that?

Tears of disappointment blurred my eyes.

“Human! This is where I avenge the three hundred thousand brothers you—oiiiink?!”

Bam!

The guardian’s brawny body flew to the exit with my kick.

Pew!

—And he vanished.

“What was that? You can leave the relic site just fine.”

[A certain god is dumbfounded.]

“Why? It’s all the better if we can solve this peacefully without a fight~”

[Outsider]

I was stuck as a level 1 because of my Blessing, what would I get for putting in all that work to beat up the guardian?

All I had to do was get the treasures!

Grinning ear to ear, I entered the relic.