Ch.4343. Wrist

During his time on Earth, The Hero Gwon Heejin was the son of a prosecutor.

His father was no ordinary prosecutor. He passed the bar exam at a young age and had excellent grades at the training institute.

He was even good at his job, so from his youth he was repeatedly called to teams investigating major cases, and eventually began to be known as an ace in special investigations.

To Gwon Heejin, his father was an extremely convenient and reliable presence. Someone who could clean up after him no matter what he did.

In fact, whenever Gwon Heejin caused trouble, his father stepped in as a fixer.

When he got into trouble for committing fraud on a secondhand trading site in high school thinking he could earn some pocket money,

When he was in crisis because of somewhat inappropriate DMs he sent to female influencers,

And when he jumped into the cryptocurrency market as an adult and caused various incidents, his father cleaned up everything.

Of course, he got scolded each time.

“…Son, I just paid off your debt. I handled it quietly through a junior colleague I’m close with, so there won’t be any talk about it later.”

“Gwon Heejin, this is really the last time. If you get caught again, I absolutely won’t help you.”

“You need to get your act together now. …Stop hanging around with those people playing with scam coins. Don’t even dream of using your father’s name.”

When his father was genuinely angry, Gwon Heejin would quietly comply. He knew he must never lose the umbrella of protection his father provided.

However, whether he truly reflected on his actions was another matter.

He clearly knew that his father only said “This is the last time” but would help again when problems arose.

‘Dad would never abandon me.’

Anyway, thanks to his father’s protection, Gwon Heejin was able to live while being recognized publicly as a very diligent student.

Though not a genius like his father, the chief prosecutor, or his brother, a medical student, he attended a fairly prestigious school and even had a good reputation. This was due to his father’s forceful management.

One day, while living a relatively pleasant life, Gwon Heejin was chosen as The Hero.

He hadn’t posted a 5,700-character complaint comment, nor had he been hit by a truck.

He simply accepted when a goddess appeared in his dream asking him to save the world after briefly considering the offer.

She said he could receive special benefits and return to Earth after defeating the Demon Lord, or he could settle down and live in that world. He also quite liked the fact that The Hero would receive honorable treatment in that world.

Right after he answered that he would go, an indescribable floating sensation enveloped Gwon Heejin.

‘Wow, am I really going? Really going?’

While he was excited, a faint voice reached his ears.

“…Heejin, wake up for a moment.”

It was his father’s voice. He couldn’t understand why he was hearing his father’s voice while being transferred to another world.

“Son, please save me. …You might not see it this way, but your father has lived a really clean life. At my age, I’ve never played golf with someone else’s money, and I’ve barely even been to room salons. But because of you… *sigh*,”

He couldn’t understand why his father was acting this way.

‘I stopped investing in mining operations like you told me…?’

‘Ah, right. Shit. Could it be about the consultation fees I received after giving some advice to those BJs? It doesn’t seem like a big deal.’

‘It’s not like I told them to front-run. I just piggybacked a little.’

Gwon Heejin wondered what could possibly be too much for his incredibly capable father to handle—a father who might even become the Prosecutor General soon.

He knew that scam coins occasionally caused trouble, but he questioned how serious it could be when cryptocurrencies didn’t even have proper legal foundations.

Though Gwon Heejin felt a twinge of guilt as a human being, he wasn’t given time to apologize to his father.

At some point, his father’s sobbing faded away, and Gwon Heejin’s consciousness was abruptly cut off.

When he opened his eyes again.

Before him were humans swarming with expressions full of awe and anticipation. Some were kneeling to show the highest respect, and even the most dignified-looking among them somehow maintained a humble attitude.

“…Wow, he really came.”

The life that began afterward as “The Hero.”

It didn’t take long for Gwon Heejin to forget his father’s sobbing.

Instead, what caught his eye was a childish world operating on a gold standard.

The economic scale was small, and the wealthy foolishly just hoarded gold coins. The concept of credit currency existed only in a rudimentary form. It was thanks to this that he could set his plans in motion.

At that time, he truly couldn’t have imagined.

That he would be severely beaten by Erick, who used to run errands for him,

That he would be lynched by middle-aged and elderly men,

“It’s an old custom to cut off the hands of thieves and swindlers. Making them unable to fight makes transportation easier too.”

“Shouldn’t we cut right above the wrist? Look at the carpal bone position.”

…That he would hear such horrifying words.

While The Hero blinked in disbelief as he came to his senses, a middle-aged knight raised a well-sharpened sword above his head.

The face taking a deep breath with gleaming eyes filled him with terror.

No.

These words of The Hero only echoed inside his mouth.

Soon, the sword fell upon his wrist.

***

After the “operation” was finished.

“…This is too much. Too, much.”

The Hero was mumbling incoherently with his face completely battered.

His face was so damaged that it was difficult to discern his expression. However, one could sense that The Hero was engulfed in a sense of deprivation and victimization.

He was still sitting on the ground, blankly staring at his severed hand.

It was the hand that the eldest knight (a senior in the Royal Order) had cut off with a single swing of his sword. And it was his right hand.

“Maybe we should have… cut off his left hand?”

These were the words uttered by the senior Royal Order knight as he looked at The Hero, whose mind and body had completely collapsed.

He didn’t particularly look regretful, but seemed unsettled by the fact that he would go down in history as the knight who had cut off The Hero’s hand.

“It’s fine. This person had no chance of recovery anyway.”

If The Hero had shown himself even right after his false reports were discovered, he wouldn’t have ended up in this miserable state.

Of course, he would have faced tremendous criticism, but if he had knelt down, apologized, and actively offered compensation, there might have been a possibility of recovery.

The moment he missed that final timing and went into hiding, The Hero’s fate was sealed.

Anyway, we should get moving now.

“Let’s move now. I apologize for the delay because of me.”

We were currently staying temporarily in the village where The Hero’s party had been hiding.

It was foolish to keep lingering after having engaged in battle at the border. Moreover, we were a group that had massacred fifty beastmen on our way here.

Despite knowing it was foolish, there was one reason we delayed:

I had entered mental training because of the “progress” I gained while fighting The Hero.

I didn’t suddenly realize some mysterious principle and become one with my sword. Rather, I struggled for a while to suppress the aura that was raging wildly, penetrating my entire skeletal structure and nerves.

This thrilling pain meant one thing: my body was being reconfigured into the most suitable form for using aura.

At the same time, it meant that I had entered the next stage as a knight.

Actually, there had been signs of this before.

I had consumed all kinds of elixirs with the money I made from striking it big with coins, and I was able to confirm their effects to some extent when I defeated a minotaur alone. And today, I finally saw results while facing The Hero.

No matter how important it was to leave the border, I couldn’t postpone an opportunity like this, so I asked for understanding from the pursuit team members.

Fortunately, no one in the pursuit team expressed displeasure. Rather, many people looked alternately at The Hero and me with hollow laughter.

“That thing actually contributed to society for once. Congratulations, Inspector.”

“Thank you for saying so, but one more Master can’t fill the void left by The Hero. And I can’t even be considered a complete Master yet.”

“Who said anything about filling it? Just that one Master is much better than ‘that kind’ of Hero. By the way, at that age… hehe, I’m envious.”

The atmosphere was enthusiastic among not only the knights but also the mages. Someone was even spreading the false information that “You’re a year faster than Commander Waynelight!”

While I appreciated the congratulations, I had to correct the truth immediately.

“Commander Waynelight reached this level at the same age as me. If we count by months, he was probably faster than me.”

“Hmm…? As far as I know…”

“I heard that he forgot to report to his superiors right after entering the initial stage of Master. Please don’t ask me how a person could do that. I just happened to learn about it.”

“Wow, seriously… I heard rumors, but he really was that kind of person.”

We shouldn’t be gossiping about the Royal Order Commander in this serious situation, but everyone seemed to enjoy it a little.

Of course, I was the protagonist who had entered the initial stage of Master. Consequently, it was a foregone conclusion that my position in the imperial capital would rise.

However, the pursuit team had strangely bright expressions after confirming my growth.

They were probably comforted by some positive news after feeling empty about merely beating The Hero to a pulp and taking just one of his wrists.

“Anyway, we shouldn’t delay any further. Let’s go.”

We decided to take The Hero’s party and leave the border.

Meanwhile, The Hero was still mumbling about grievous bodily harm and uncivilized bastards. This was despite not knowing how many people had died or would die because of Cordana. He showed no signs of moving voluntarily.

‘At this rate, we won’t be able to move.’

After thinking briefly, I collected his severed hand and entrusted it to the mages.

Immediately after, I whispered in The Hero’s ear.

“I’m thinking of asking them to cast a preservation spell on your hand. You know what that means.”

“……!”

The Hero, who had been dazed for a moment, choked out that he understood. He probably thought that if he behaved obediently, his hand might be reattached.

While growing a new hand was impossible, the priests here could reattach a severed hand.

“If you understand, move, Hero.”

The Hero shakily but hurriedly got to his feet.

Of course, I had no intention of asking for a preservation spell on The Hero’s severed hand. I just knew that false hope could make people move.