Is this Hero for Real?

“Kang Hansoo. ^%$#^%$# ^%$#.”

“^%$# Kang Hansoo ^%$#^%$# ^%$#^%$#^%$# ^%$#?”

“^%$#^%$# ^%$# ^%$#^%$#”.

“…I’m a science nerd.”

A second language was my weakest subject that destroyed my average grade.

I’d be more confident if I were told to learn calculus or chemical formulas of this fantasy world.

[A certain god firmly states that you’re not acting like an outsider.]

“Okay, okay.”

[A certain god grumbles at you not to answer half-heartedly.]

“God, you’re bound to speak lightly to someone you’ve gotten close to.”

[A certain god firmly states not to act close.]

“……”

Though I’ve finally met people, this god was the only person that I could properly converse with.

How sad.

But I was relieved that I met friendly humans.

I couldn’t view their status windows, but there was no way these well-equipped mercenaries would be weaker than a level 1 like me.

Gary, Cole, Misa.

Those were the names of the mercenaries that I was accompanying.

“^%$#^%$#.”

“^%$# ^%$#^%$#^%$#!”

“^%$# ^%$#”

The hairy man walking up front was Gary.

He was the leader of this party.

From how he was carrying a huge sword on his back without any sign of fatigue, he seemed to be very strong.

“He can probably cut down even an elephant.”

His weapon was similar to a broadsword, a double-edged weapon specialized for slashing, but its thickness and length was completely different.

So this is what fantasies are like!

It should at least be that big to hunt giant monsters.

“I wonder how strong Gary is…”

[A certain god firmly states that he’s very weak.]

“……”

The young mercenary, full of smiles, who was slightly smaller than the burly Gary was Cole.

He had normal-sized swords on each side of his leather belt.

They were bastard swords which had the benefits of both a light one-handed sword and a heavy two-handed sword.

Was he a dual-wielder, one of the ideals of fantasy?

I’d have to wait and see.

Knock, knock.

“Yes?”

“^%$# ^%$#^%$#.”

The young woman who called me as she touched my shoulder with her fingertips was Misa.

She had quills attached to her outer thighs and slung a large crossbow on her back.

She was the sole long-range damage dealer of this party.

I could tell from the crossbow’s size that it wasn’t meant for fighting people.

“Misa, I don’t understand what you’re… ah!”

As I turned my head in the direction that she was pointing, I let out a cry of relief.

Smoke!

If it wasn't a wildfire, then it was coming out from a house’s chimney.

It meant that a place where humans lived was around that area.

[A certain god points out that you’re not acting like an outsider.]

[A certain god is anxious.]

“I’m just pretending to be nice to them to get out of this forest.”

[A certain god is very anxious.]

“……”

Rustle!

At that moment, just as I was overjoyed by the fact that I was going to a human village, dozens of gnolls ambushed us from the bushes.

“Meat…!”

“Hand over your bones!”

“My meat!”

It was the first time so many of them attacked at once since losing them at the cliff.

“^%$#! Kang Hansoo ^%$#^%$# ^%$#^%$#!”

“Gary! ^%$# ^%$# ^%$#^%$#^%$#!”

“^%$#^%$#^%$#! ^%$#^%$# ^%$#^%$#^%$#^%$#!”

“Misa. Cole! ^%$#^%$# ^%$# ^%$#!”

The mercenaries who thought up a strategy in a language that I couldn’t understand started to face the gnolls.

Fling~

Pierce! Slice!

Gary broke the gnolls’ formation as he swung his broadsword, and Cole killed the ones who were separated from the pack one by one with his longswords.

“^%$#^%$#!”

While the two swordsmen faced the gnolls in front, the archer Misa shot her crossbow from slightly farther back.

Swish-!

Though bows are often used in fantasy manhwas and movies since drawing the bowstring looks cool, you can tell how practical and brutal crossbows are just from going through some history books. Its power is on a whole other level.

Smack!

A gnoll collapsed without being able to do a thing.

“Meat?! What’s wrong?!”

“Female meat! Fast weapon!”

“Weird bow! Strong!”

Though bows that require you to draw with your own strength require training, all there is to crossbows is to wind the pulley at the end of the arm and pull the trigger.

The crossbow bolts that can be considered miniature ballista bolts penetrated all kinds of knights’ armor that was considered iconic of the Middle Ages.

That’s why there was a time when crossbows were called the weapon of demons, or the power of heretics without honor…

In other words,

“I want a crossbow too…”

I never learned martial arts or archery on Earth, after all.

Therefore, I was charmed by the crossbow, which didn’t require as much skill to use.

In any case, I got in the way of the gnolls trying to get close to Misa, who was reloading her powerful crossbow.

“Meat!”

“Male meat!”

“Out of the way!”

In exchange for having enough power to penetrate knights’ armor, crossbows had the flaw of a long reloading time.

That’s why I planned on protecting her as she reloaded her crossbow.

Stab-

I stabbed and slashed the gnoll’s neck with the Blue Butcher that I had in my pocket.

“Kekek?!”

Though we were neither comrades nor friends, I needed their cooperation to join the fantasy residents’ village due to the language barrier. I wanted to earn some trust by fighting alongside them.

“Gimme meat~!”

“Meat? Meat!”

“Strong meat!”

Even while excluding such a calculating reason, there were too many to face on my own.

Of course, if I were alone, the careless gnolls wouldn’t perform a pincer attack like this.

[A certain god is anxious.]

The god must really not like me helping people.

“Outsider god. Please allow this much. Humans are social animals that can’t live alone.”

[A certain god firmly states that they don’t care.]

“Well… I suppose not.”

There are many occurrences in fantasy works where monsters recklessly ambush without fear.

But this is reality.

Because they have homes to get back to and families that love them, like humans they value their own lives.

Therefore, they do not ambush until victory is certain.

Just like this situation.

The gnolls waited until a sufficient number had gathered, and then ambushed us.

“^%$# ^%$#^%$#…!”

“Cole! ^%$# ^%$#^%$#^%$#!”

“ ^%$# ^%$#^%$#?!”

Because of that, the battle that I thought would be over quickly was very fierce.

There isn’t any purpose to hunting prey if the sacrifice is too big, is there?

Because of that, the gnolls that ambushed us were well-prepared.

However…

“Weak meat!” Strong!”

“Scary meat!”

“Is this meat a monster?!”

Underestimating me was their mistake.

As a level 1, I was the weakest one here.

However, thanks to my broken trait, I was stronger than a mere level 1.

The gnolls that didn’t take that into consideration were caught off guard by major losses, and decided to quickly retreat.

“Give up! Meat!”

“Give up on meat!”

“Bad meat!”

I let out a deep sigh as I watched the gnoll pack retreat like an ebbing tide.

“Phew…”

It would’ve been bad if I were the only one left alive. Thankfully the gnolls retreated before the mercenaries died.

“^%$#^%$# ^%$# ^%$#.”

“^%$# ^%$#. ^%$#^%$#^%$#.”

Gary and Cole seemed to be alright.

It was because the gnolls’ shabby weapons and claws couldn’t penetrate their armor.

However, they were full of injuries large and small, and were on the verge of exhaustion.

And Misa, who I had been protecting…

“^%$#^%$#♪”

…was aiming her crossbow at me.

“Why…?”

Fling-

The bolt that flung at me in close range stuck itself into my chest.

* * *

The mercenary Gary who almost died from the gnolls’ ambush smiled as he looked at the stranger on the ground.

“There was a slight deviation in our plan because of the gnolls, but you handled it well, Misa.”

“I agree. I thought he’d be weak since his body was all bones, but he fought better than I expected.”

Cole agreed as he held the canteen from his belt in his mouth.

Misa jokingly replied as she lowered her crossbow, “Him talking to himself in an unknown language was disgusting.”

Gary licked his lips. “I told you to endure it until we sold him as a slave.”

“He’s right. The priests love to frame people like this as the demons’ pawns and burn them to death, though he’s dead now.” Cole grumbled with an unfortunate expression.

“Hmph!” Misa sneered at the two’s light criticism.

Their original plan was to dispose of ‘Kang Hansoo’ after accompanying him to the village.

Him following them obediently while trying to become their friend without knowing that fact was hilarious.

Gary took stock of the situation.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t sell him as a slave, but it’s true that he was stronger than we expected. Your decision wasn’t bad, Misa.”

“Hey, Misa. Weren’t you happy that he protected you like a black knight in a fairy tale?”

“Oh my! How did you know? I was smitten by him as he protected me without sparing himself, you know?”

“I see, so that’s why you killed him before he became a slave! I’m getting jealous!”

“Don’t sulk. We can go all night tonight.”

“Really?! You promise?”

“But wash up first. I’ll kill you too if you don’t.”

Misa and Cole, who were in a relationship, joked around.

Though they had almost died earlier, they accepted the situation calmly since that's how the life of a mercenary was.

Including the fact that they betrayed a stranger that they fought together with.

“Cole, take Kang Hansoo’s dagger.”

“You said it was expensive, right?”

“I’m sure. The engraving that looks like blue deer antlers aren’t antlers, but a miniaturized family tree of a heroic clan. It is the crest of a royal family that only royal elves can use.”

“In other words, it’s an elven artifact?”

“No way. It’s not that rare, but it’ll sell for a lot.”

“Understood.”

“Hurry. More of the bastards might gather from the smell of blood.”

Cole, who was ordered by Gary, approached Kang Hansoo.

“It should be around… huh?”

As he was looking around for the dagger, he cried words of admiration as he looked at the stranger’s right hand.

“Wow! This guy didn’t let go of his weapon until the very end! Isn’t that amazing?”

“Cole, don’t let your guard down. Though my bolt directly pierced his chest, it didn’t pierce his heart. He might still be alive.”

Cole nodded as he listened to Misa’s warning.

“There’s no problem if I do this then, right?”

Stab! Stab!

Cole stabbed Kang Hansoo’s blood-covered back twice.

Even if he miraculously survived until now, he would definitely be dead from that attack.

“Now then, let’s… huh?!”

Cole, who bent forward to pick up the dagger, widened his eyes.

It was because he saw something that he shouldn’t have.

[Name] Kang Hansoo

[Level] 1

[Blessing] Outsider F

[Curse] Hero E

There are two main conditions in which you can see someone’s status window.

Either they made it public for someone to see, or you can peek with a special blessing.

And the prerequisite of both these conditions is that the subject is ‘alive’.

In other words,

“This bastard is still ali…!”

Slash-

The cry of the distraught Cole did not finish.

The body of the young man, whose neck was sliced open while in a defenseless state with his upper body bent forward, fell forward in failure.

“How?!”

“Cole~?!”

Even after losing their comrade so suddenly, the two mercenaries’ responses were swift.

However…

“Sh-shit!”

The movements of Gary, who was tired after just fighting the gnolls, were sluggish.

On the other hand, the stranger Kang Hansoo was unbelievably in tip-top shape, as if he didn’t just have a fierce battle.

Stab!

A dagger pierced Gary’s neck, which was unguarded because he had taken off his helmet for a break.

“Kugh…!”

“If only I wasn’t so tired…!”, thought the extremely vexed mercenary Gary, who couldn’t close his eyes, even in death.

“^%$# ^%$#^%$#, Misa.”

The stranger who removed the dagger from Gary’s neck turned around.

“S-stay back!”

The fear-stricken Misa warned Kang Hansoo with her crossbow aimed at him.

“I’m sure I killed him!”, she thought.

But she could not believe that the stranger was completely fine, and that Cole and Gary were killed instead.

It felt like she was having a nightmare.

Fling-

Misa shot her crossbow at Kang Hansoo, who ignored her warning.

As he was protecting his head and heart, she shot his leg to take away his mobility.

Pierce-!

Kang Hansoo, who could not avoid the bolt, swayed and collapsed.

“The next one is the end for you!”

“^%$#^%$#?”

However, he got back up as if nothing had happened.

“H-he recovered…? No way! A healing blessing?!”

Turn!

Misa chose to abandon her heavy crossbow and run.

Her choice wasn’t bad.

However…

Grasp!

“Kyak?!”

As she was just as tired as the two other mercenaries who passed away before her, she was caught soon enough.

“Misa. ^%$#^%$#^%$# ^%$#.”

The stranger who grabbed her by the hair showed a smile filled with lunacy.

“F-forgive me!”

“Misa. ^%$# ^%$#^%$#?”

“I was wrong! I’ll do anything you want, so please spare me! Please! Please…!”

“^%$#^%$#^%$#. ^%$#^%$# ^%$#.”

At this moment, the two broke the language barrier and communicated with each other.