I Became a Hero With a Lot of Experience

1 – 001: The Chaste Hero

I had a dream. No, it feels like I dreamt.

When I opened my eyes along with the strange sensation of my body and soul separating, I found myself on a street.

I didn’t remember, but I aimlessly continued forward with no idea where I was left alone on this nostalgic street where a familiar fragrance lingered.

The name of the street, the direction I was heading, even whether it was day or night at the moment was unclear. However, strangely enough, there was no hesitation in my steps moving forward.

After who knows how much time had passed, at an unfamiliar intersection with an unclear pedestrian crossing, I spotted a girl holding a sign.

Perhaps because it was a dream, I couldn’t clearly recognize her face, but one thing was certain – the girl was crying.

Even without being able to recognize her face, I was able to perceive her eyes filled with a pleading look.

I didn’t need to ponder why this girl covered in wounds was crying alone.

The reason for her tears was written on the sign she held, like a plea for help.

“Please save my world.”

It was a bewildering and incomprehensible request, but without realizing it, my hand approached the girl and wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“It’ll be alright now.”

Was I always this kind-hearted? Or is it because this is a dream, or just a show? It’s strange how these words, which I would never say normally, burst out of me.

But those words seemed to bring comfort as the girl’s face lit up.

The sign fell from the girl’s hand. As she stood up, brushing off her tattered clothes, she placed her hand on my chest and spoke with an unexpectedly touching voice.

“May the protection of the maiden’s purity be with you…”

“……?”

What did that bastard just say?

“Ah!!”

The first thing I felt was pain.

In my head, back, and waist. It wasn’t difficult to deduce that I must have fallen. As I swallowed the pain, taking in a breath along with the unusually clear air, my mind cleared as well.

Did I fall off the bed? I shielded my eyes with one hand, furrowing my brows at the slightly intense light that could only be called a lamp.

Slowly getting up and opening my eyes, I found myself being stared at by dozens of eyes, as if they were seeing something fascinating.

“What…what is it?”

It wasn’t unreasonable for those words to come out suddenly. It was a run-down building that did not match the solemn atmosphere.

Dozens of people wearing expensive-looking clothes were staring at me, as if their gazes could pierce through. Of course, the gazes were far from friendly. Disappointment, and even despair, were reflected in their pupils.

There was only one old man flashing his eyes astonishingly and smiling ecstatically, but his appearance was far from impressive.

＜Experience Acquisition: 5 people＞

In addition, there was a sentence and a number written in the air above their heads.

It was undoubtedly a strange phenomenon that didn’t seem like a natural occurrence. There was something artificial about it. Turning my attention to this peculiar scene, I naturally asked the question that needed to be asked.

“…Who are you?”

I barely managed to change “Who are you?” to a formal address.

Although I asked that, was it even possible for Korean to be understood here? The appearance of the people gathered here all had Western features.

It would have been more appropriate to speak in English, but I wasn’t calm enough to confidently speak English in this situation, nor was I good at English.

“For now…rest assured. We are not your enemies. (Experience Acquisition: 79 people.)”

“Huh?”

The old man wearing a crown and a shaggy beard that could be seen in a fantasy movie spoke with a tired expression.

However, despite receiving the answer I wanted, instead of feeling relieved, it only increased my confusion.

First, the fact that he, who definitely looked like a Westerner, spoke fluent Korean at a local level.

Second, the statement that we are not your enemies. If we are not enemies, does that mean there are enemies? Or is it just something he said to reassure me?

Without grasping the real intention of his words, the old man sighed and turned his back on me.

“It must be very confusing. Let’s calm your mind first. Priest Jarvis will explain the situation. Well then, let’s get going. (Experience Acquisition: 79 people.)”

“Yes, let’s do that. (Experience Acquisition: 8 people.)”

As the man who appeared to be a subordinate responded, the people gathered in the narrow space all turned their backs at once.

As an actor following the script, or a soldier-like figure, I was taken aback by the sight of a shabby old man who didn’t move with me and a woman who stared at me with a fierce gaze.

“…Huh?”

“……. (Experience acquired: 1 person.)”

Her fierce gaze seemed as if she was looking at an enemy like a parent’s sworn enemy. If one could kill a person with a glance, my body would have trembled in the presence of such a threatening gaze that could make one’s throat dry up instantly.

I have encountered casual arguments, minor disputes like accidentally bumping shoulders that escalated to enemies, but this was the first time.

It felt like a sensation I had never experienced in my entire life, called a chilling hatred, leaving my mouth dry.

One could argue that she was just giving me a menacing look, but if the person staring at you had a sword at their waist, even if they were smaller than me, they were still threatening enough.

“Is that a real one?”

Most likely. The marks left on the sheath were clearly from being used countless times.

Even though it wasn’t my profession, I have handled kitchen knives frequently, so I could clearly recognize it.

“Excuse me….”

“……. (Experience acquired: 1 person.)”

As I spoke, the woman who had shown animosity coldly turned her back and walked forward along the illuminated path.

The hand I had extended toward her back, gradually moving away, soon lost its strength and fell downward, pulled by gravity.

Why did she show such intense animosity towards me for no apparent reason?

Needless to say, today was our first encounter. I didn’t even know where we were or what situation I was in.

“The priest said he would explain everything….”

Those bastards just blabbed their own words and left on their own. I should be able to understand what’s what.

With everyone gone and only an old man in shabby clothes left in the room, it was likely that this old man was the priest.

I, who could be called a geometry from a geometric figure that could be called a magic circle, asked the tearful old man as if I would cry any moment.

“Sir, what is happening here?”

“Oh, ohh…!!!”

The old man’s body began to tremble. Like a child meeting a beloved star, the excited old man, unable to hide his excitement, suddenly kneeled down and bowed his head while shouting.

“Jarvis, the pitiful servant of the goddess, greets the hero!!”

“What?”

What did I say?

*****

“I’m going crazy….”

My head hurts. I reflexively held my forehead as the headache felt like someone was stabbing my temple with a needle.

The story the old man told me was too absurd to be reality, yet too lackluster to be fantasy.

To accept the fact that this is the reality that actually happened to me, first of all, I had to admit two things.

First, I had traveled to a different world.

Second, this world was facing a crisis of destruction, and I was the one to prevent it.

“Damn, I don’t want to accept both…”

Bravery. Patience. Love. Wisdom. Innocence.

In this world governed by gods who oversee the five virtues, there is a being that leads the world to destruction every hundred years, a demon king who invades.

No, according to Jarvis, it would be better to express it as an occurrence rather than an invasion.

The demon king, as well as the creatures called demons, are not beings that come from somewhere else, but are born cyclically in this world.

When deaths pile up due to war or plague and the world is filled with souls, the wandering souls follow the order of the world and are reborn as demons.

And during the era of the demon king’s advent, which occurs every hundred years, they invade this world as the demon king’s vanguards. It was like a story from a game that I had heard so often but was now a reality in this world.

“So the demon king becomes stronger as the population increases…”

“Yes! This time, the demon king is the strongest in a history of 1,000 years!! If such a being appears, this world will certainly be filled with death!”

“How am I supposed to stop that?”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, how am I supposed to stop that when the only weapon I’ve ever held is a kitchen knife?”

Now I understood why those authors had looked at me with such eyes.

The calamity that only appeared in fairy tales, the demon king, had actually manifested, and if I, the summoned hero, were such a person, it was certainly disappointing.

The only fortunate thing is, are there not four heroes other than me?

According to Jarvis, there is one hero for each god, so there are four heroes other than me.

Suddenly, I became curious about which god’s hero I am. Although I don’t particularly have the duty of a hero, still, knowing wouldn’t be a bad thing, right?

“So, what god’s hero am I?”

“Yes! You are the hero of the goddess of innocence! In other words, you are the Hero of Innocence!!”

“Hero of Innocence….”

As I repeated those words in my mouth several times, I finally realized why that girl had emphasized her virginity.

With such a convenient name like Hero of Innocence, it seems like I’m just a virgin-loving hero, isn’t it?

I kept the loyalty overflowing for this goddess to myself without uttering the words of blasphemy, even though I had considered it a sacred insult.

“Why am I a hero? I’m not particularly fixated on being a virgin…”

The moment I recalled the word virgin, a clear feeling of resolution seemed to solve one of the lingering questions that had been swirling in my mind.

The experience acquisition that appeared above people’s heads, if it is related to me becoming the Hero of Innocence, could it be that it was not the experiences of others, but my own?

“…Do you have a mirror by any chance?”

“Yes, of course.”

Jarvis pulled out an old mirror from the drawer and handed it over cautiously.

“…”

I looked at the mirror with tension for the first time. Unlike what had floated above their heads, there were no letters or numbers reflected on my head in the mirror.

“Why is that?”

“…”

Even Jarvis, who serves the goddess of purity, seemed perplexed.

Amidst so many people gathered, it was only me and no one else who was ‘Adad’.

“Mother…”