“Urgh?”

Suddenly, the core that Kaeld was holding began to vibrate.

It pierced into Kaeld’s body in an instant.

“What, what the hell—?”

Kaeld writhed in agony.

Blood gushed from every hole—his eyes, nose, mouth—thick and dark red.

A few seconds later.

His eyes had turned golden.

And with Kaeld’s voice—but not his voice—he spoke.

“What a dull conclusion.”

“What the hell are you?”

“Did you think I played dead just to watch it end like this? I merely stepped off the stage for a moment to become part of the audience—but I was so disgusted, I climbed right back on.”

“……”

“You’re all fired. Actors who can’t entertain their audience have no reason to exist.”

Someone muttered in a daze—

“The Demon King…?”

The Demon King of lies and deception—Idria.

No, wait.

His head had clearly been cut off…

No, I’m the one who said we shouldn’t assume that was enough to kill him.

But to come back to life?

So quickly?

And he says he voluntarily stepped down from the stage?

Because he wanted to watch how we played around?

Kaeld’s schemes, my desperate struggle—were they just entertainment for him?

“Lies must be eternal. A lie that doesn’t last, a lie that gets exposed, is no longer a lie.”

“……”

“That one named Mide did something I despise most. He’ll have to pay. I’m not the forgiving type.”

The Demon King of lies and deception, Idria, raised his index finger.

And at that very moment—

Flash.

It felt like something struck my pupils.

Neril whipped her head around and screamed—

“Mide! Get aw—”

But she couldn’t finish her sentence.

Her entire body disintegrated in an instant, vanishing.

Just like the other party members.

Just like me.

Ah… I see.

Only a true hero can kill the Demon King.

But the real hero, Bion Kunze, is dead. Kaeld killed him.

‘Which means, from that moment…’

The continent’s fate was already sealed.

Stupid bastard Kaeld.

If you deceived the entire continent, then you should’ve taken responsibility for it.

If you couldn’t, you should never have killed the real hero, Bion Kunze.

Because of you, all my glorious retirement plans were destroyed.

‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have done that.’

[Then what would you have done?]

‘I’d have taken responsibility. I would’ve actually killed the Demon King. Not stepped off the stage—I would’ve thrown him out of the whole damn theater.’

[Oh? But wasn’t the Demon King only able to be killed by the true hero?]

‘Then I’ll become the true hero myself.’

I burst out laughing the moment I said it.

Become the hero? What the hell does that even mean?

A hero is someone blessed by the gods to oppose the Demon King.

A miracle determined from the start.

Kaeld was still a fool, but even if I were in his place, nothing would’ve changed.

But the voice rejected my thoughts.

[That’s an excellent idea.]

“What?”

[Become the hero. Not a half-wit like Kaeld, but a real hero.]

……

Uh, now that I think about it—this is kind of a weird thing to say at this point, but—

‘Who are you?’

And with that thought, my memory cut off.

—

Fwoosh.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was brilliant flames.

Ah. So it really is Hell.

Through my eyes, I can’t see the sins I’ve committed.

Still, I thought I’d tried to live sincerely and decently—but I guess that wasn’t enough.

I let out a small sigh.

‘The flames of Hell, huh. They really are scarily ho—’

…they’re not?

The flames are weaker than I expected?

Rather than hot, they feel… warm.

What the hell?

Is this some kind of special section of Hell reserved for model prisoners?

[It’s a campfire. Not Hell.]

Startled, I jumped to my feet.

The scenery slowly came into focus.

A deep forest.

Thick trees and underbrush.

From the chill, it looked to be somewhere between fall and winter. Get full chapters from nοvelfire.net

[Let’s have a little talk.]

Then came a heavy voice, echoing in my ears. Huh?

‘Wh-What is this?’

[Calm down.]

‘You try calming down in this situation!’

[…]

‘What is this?!’

[Calm down.]

‘You try calming down!’

The voice chose silence.

I wandered about, breathing heavily, and after a while, I finally calmed down.

Then I quietly sat down and crossed my legs.

‘Whew. To think you got me so worked up… you’re not ordinary, are you?’

[I didn’t even do anything.]

‘Ever since I started mercenary work, it’s been a while since I met someone of your caliber. In honor of your skill, I’ll spare you a moment for conversation.’

[Even now, you won’t admit you got excited all on your own.]

‘What the hell are you? Why don’t you show yourself first?’

The voice replied calmly.

[Don’t you already know? You can tell where my voice is coming from. And besides, you’re not speaking out loud either.]

“……”

[Anyway, take a look at this.]

I summoned every ounce of my life experience and mental discipline to barely keep my expression from faltering.

‘What… is this.’

A translucent screen floated in front of my eyes.

At the top, it read:

<How to Become a Hero: You Can Be a Hero Too!>

<User: Mide Mohan>

<Level: Novice>

<Reputation Points to Next Level: 120/1,000>

The voice returned.

[Didn’t you say this before you died? ‘Then I’ll become the true hero myself.’]

‘…I did. But just saying it doesn’t make it happen, does it? Wanting it, trying—none of that matters.’

[Who says it doesn’t?]

‘I mean, heroes are chosen by divine prophecy!’

[Then how do you explain that Kaeld, or whatever his name was, became a hero?]

……

That bastard wasn’t even a real hero.

Which is why he couldn’t kill the Demon King.

[Half right, half wrong. He was a half-baked Hero. In other words, he was half a proper Hero.]

‘I don’t get it.’

[You said a Hero is someone who receives an oracle, right? But that doesn’t mean the gods of the heavens directly bestow the power of a Hero.]

‘…….’

[The oracle’s role is simply to inform everyone that ‘this person is a Hero,’ so that they can build up ‘fame.’ The fact that a god personally guarantees it is what makes an ordinary person a Hero.]

It’s only half making sense.

The voice continued on calmly.

[In other words, what makes someone a Hero is the recognition and belief of the people on this continent. I call that fame.]

‘You’re saying someone becomes a real Hero just because people believe he is?’

[Yeah, sounds easy, right?]

‘…….’

[Of course, it’s easier said than done. Gaining that belief and recognition… in other words, building fame, is a grueling task. We’re not just talking about a knight commander or general here, but a Hero. You need to build a truly unparalleled level of fame.]

‘…….’

[Well, you don’t have to understand it all right away. You can learn it step by step. For now, just memorize the main point—‘To become a Hero, you need to accumulate fame.’]

Fame, huh.

It didn’t quite click with any strong sense of conviction.

And just then—

Rustle.

Along with the sound of bushes being disturbed, someone’s voice rang out.

“Heh heh. What do we have here?”

“Seriously. Boss, our luck’s finally turning around.”

“Hey there. I’m not asking for much—just leave us two things: the money pouch and your head.”

Before I knew it, more than twenty rough-looking thugs had surrounded me.

…….

Wait a second. Déjà vu?

I’m sure I’ve seen this scene before, long ago.

[Of course you have. It happened seven years ago.]

‘What are you talking about now?’

[It means we’ve gone back in time. The Demon King hasn’t even appeared in the world yet.]

‘Wh-What did you say?’

[Calm down.]

‘Would you be calm in this situation!?’

[Ah, this again……]

Anyway, just like the voice said.

I clearly remembered this scene.

Seven years ago.

When I was starting to make a name for myself as a wandering mercenary.

I’d been staying in one place too long and was about to move on to the next territory when I ran into this scene.

To put it simply, it was your typical group of bandits.

“Tch. Look at the punk flinch.”

“Don’t worry. Our bro’s got a sharp blade. Won’t hurt a bit.”

“Got any last words?”

They sneered as they slowly closed in on me.

Just like I did seven years ago, I instinctively checked the blood letters over their heads.

‘Hmm. My name’s not on any of them. As expected.’

[What were you planning to do if it was?]

‘I’d have made sure to destroy them more thoroughly and mercilessly. I don’t forgive anyone who commits a crime against me.’

…….

But wait a second?

‘Do you even understand what I’m saying? Can you see the letters too?’

[No idea what you’re talking about. I’m just reading your thoughts like usual.]

‘Yeah, sure. “Usual.”’

Just then, the most hot-headed-looking guy charged at me.

“Die! Uhaaaaaaaaargh!!!”

His laughter turned into a scream.

Thud!

I had launched a front kick straight into his stomach.

He flew through the air and slammed into a giant tree.

Boom. Whoooosh…

The tree, already weakened by the weight of deep autumn, couldn’t withstand the impact and gave up its leaves.

It wasn’t until the fifth maple leaf landed on the fallen man’s face that the rest of the bandits snapped back to their senses.

“Huh? Wh-What the hell, Dreil!?”

“Bastard! What did you just do?!”

I slowly lowered my raised leg and said,

“I was in the middle of interrogating this fool, you know? Don’t interrupt.”

[Hm? Are you talking about me?]

“Come at me all at once. I’m already in a foul mood.”

When faced with an unbelievable situation, most people start with denial.

Even though they had just seen a clear display of my skill, the idiots foamed at the mouth and charged.

“This bastard’s hiding some moves, but it won’t work—urk!”

“Die! Guh!”

“Arrogant little—hek!”

“Deht!?”

“Het!?”

“Thwok?”

“Swoosh?”

Who knows how many colorful screams rang out.

After about five minutes, twenty grown men were sprawled on the ground before me.

I casually dusted off my hands.

The bandits sobbed like children and rolled around on the ground.

“Ughhh… It hurts… it really hurts…”

“Sniff… Mom…”

“Grandma… I miss you…”

“Shut up.”

At my final words, the wailing stopped.

Now it was finally quiet.

‘Alright. Let’s continue the conversation.’

[You’re really something. Your skills are no joke—doesn’t match your appearance.]

‘That’s kind of a backhanded compliment.’

[I wasn’t trying to hide it.]

‘Anyway, let’s move. This isn’t a good place to have a deep talk.’

I gathered my things and was about to put out the campfire.

That’s when the voice hurriedly stopped me.

[No no, wait wait. Hold on a sec.]

‘You don’t have to repeat yourself. I get it the first time.’

[You’re just going to walk away from this golden opportunity?]

‘Opportunity?’

[Sigh From the look of it, even before the regression, you just beat those guys up and left. Try a different approach this time. Before your death, your total fame barely hit 10,000. Not even close to the soles of Kaeld’s feet.]

‘…….’

[If you live your life the same way as before, your fame will just hover around that same 10,000.]

I didn’t know if 10,000 was high or not.

But the transparent screen I saw earlier definitely said this:

< Fame points needed for next level: 120 / 1,000 >

In other words, my current fame was 120.

If this really was seven years ago, then it was a time when I was already known in the field as a fairly skilled mercenary.

And yet I only had 120. That made it easy to imagine just how impressive the 10,000 from right before my death was.

But even that 10,000 wasn’t enough to reach the soles of Kaeld’s feet?

[Remember this. When raising your fame, you always need to consider the happiness of the greatest number of people.]

‘That’s suddenly very philosophical.’

[It’s practical advice. In a single event, you need to bring happiness to as many people as possible. That’s the shortcut to quickly raising your fame.]

‘Easy to say. But how am I supposed to know which choice makes the most people happy?’

[I don’t know the right answer either, but I can give you hints.]

At the word “hint,” my ears perked up.

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