Ch.61Chapter 61. Murderers

A Hero is a being revered as a savior in this world.

But unlike her current glorious days, Kang Sujin’s previous life was nothing extraordinary.

Born into an ordinary family, raised in an ordinary neighborhood, with decent friendships and grades at school…

Such a persona is common everywhere, but ironically, society condemned such ordinariness as sinful and branded her a failure.

A life that fell short of society’s claimed “average” despite all efforts.

Isn’t it natural that the appreciation for specialness grows stronger when one finally grasps it after thirsting for it so desperately?

‘Still not enough. To climb higher from here, this level is insufficient.’

Perhaps it reminded her of the society that condemned average as sinful?

Though she felt impatient thinking that even her current achievements fell short of other Heroes’ average, she needed to produce results to gain support from this world’s residents.

For Kang Sujin, who considered even that progress too slow, the fact that those with valuable equipment shared her destination was becoming a powerful temptation…

‘Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? If we’re talking about precious equipment, wouldn’t it benefit the world more if Heroes like me used it rather than ordinary adventurers?’

In a world where people die like garbage, everyone calls her a hero, so what’s wrong with clearing away those who couldn’t even become Heroes and moving forward?

Moreover, the place they were about to enter was a lawless zone outside the Empire.

Since it wouldn’t violate any laws, as long as there were no witnesses, her actions wouldn’t be problematic.

‘When the opportunity comes, I’ll just take everything. Not just from the obsolete Heroes but from everyone I meet.’

Hiding these intentions, she arrived at a VIP private room in the guild’s tavern.

Waiting there were adventurers specially selected and recommended by the guild.

“Ah, Hero, you’ve arrived.”

“Hehe, yes. Is everyone here?”

Each one had a high rank, and they were veteran talents with success rates exceeding 80%.

With such people accompanying her, unlike the obsolete Heroes who went around begging, she could prove to the world the majesty and high expectations she commanded.

“Nice to meet you all. Since we’re meeting like this, let’s start with introductions.”

And since they understood a Hero’s status, they would surely understand her intentions and spare no effort in assisting her.

With such confidence, Kang Sujin proudly opened her chest and spoke before them.

“My name is Kang Sujin, the Hero who will be working with you all from now on. Let’s join forces and successfully complete the upcoming dungeon conquest.”

An introduction as confident as the equipment she wore.

In response, the adventurers who would be accompanying her introduced themselves with courtesy.

“I’m Conan.”

“I’m Kim Jeonil.”

****

The next day.

When I set out to explore the scheduled dungeon, I discovered a pile of corpses presumed to be the Green-footed Woman and her party members.

The corpse of a Hero presumed to be from the same world as me.

“Eek!!”

The party leader gasped in terror at the sight of the corpse.

Looking back, I saw a fragile girl whose legs were trembling as if she might collapse at any moment.

“P-person. Dead…”

“Look away for a moment.”

Judging by her reaction, she might faint.

As a precaution, I signaled the monk in our party, who nodded and stepped forward to shield Garam’s view.

The other party members seemed accustomed to such sights, showing no hesitation in approaching the corpses.

I passed by the mage and vanguard who were guarding the surroundings as a precaution, and approached the scout/sniper to examine the bodies scattered on the ground.

“How’s the condition?”

“Ah, if it isn’t the spearman brother.”

Snickering, the sniper with a vicious appearance pointed at the fallen bodies one by one and spoke quietly.

“Well, as you can see, they’re in quite a neat state for those who died in a dungeon.”

“Neat state… meaning they weren’t killed by monsters or traps?”

“Oh, you got it right away. Usually, if they died from those, there wouldn’t even be a recognizable corpse left.”

The sniper rummaged through the bodies that were already showing signs of rigor mortis and decomposition.

The way he unhesitatingly opened the corpse’s eyes showed that he was accustomed to handling human remains.

The same could be said for me, who was examining the bodies alongside him.

“By the way, you could just guard the front, but you came to check the bodies too. You seem quite familiar with this kind of thing, brother?”

“…Well, yes.”

In the two years and some months since I came to this world, I’ve seen hundreds of corpses with my own eyes.

Among those experiences, I’ve had roles that involved retrieving items from corpses or the bodies themselves, so I’ve become thoroughly accustomed to handling the dead.

“A fatal blow to the back of the head, huh…”

With almost no visible external injuries except for a depression in the occipital region.

Just by looking at that, I could immediately deduce that her cause of death was “instant death from a surprise attack from behind.”

“Tsk, tsk, that lady over there seems to be a Hero, but she passed away quickly without much pain.”

The sniper noticed the same thing and smiled.

He was probably mocking how such a supposedly powerful Hero died so pathetically, but I couldn’t help but feel there was something off about his words.

“No, this is rather a death befitting a Hero.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Heroes typically don’t die in gruesome ways.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, that’s certainly true.”

Yes, all the Heroes I’ve met so far had one thing in common in their deaths: “carelessness.”

They might have the power to gain the upper hand against even the most powerful monsters, but they overlook the fact that the bodies wielding that power are merely ordinary humans.

The less one truly knows, the more arrogant they become, thinking they’re something special?

Of course, in a previous life, they might have had the luxury to realize such foolishness, but this world is a dark fantasy on the brink of humanity’s extinction.

It’s not a place where one can expect enough mercy to allow time for realizing such mistakes.

“Um, Hero. Are you alri—”

“Eek!”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I startled you by approaching too suddenly, didn’t I?”

Conversely, the Hero who currently serves as the leader of this party is an adolescent girl not even accustomed to a single corpse.

She lacks the typical boldness of a Hero, but in return, she’s become more cautious, which means she’s unlikely to die as pathetically as the Hero lying before us.

It’s somewhat displeasing that such an attitude developed because of me.

“Well, brother. You probably understand what this means, right?”

As I turned my gaze away from Garam, the sniper, who had finished examining the corpses, directed his attention toward me.

Recognizing what his look meant, I nodded quietly and answered.

“…That there are also many ‘Murderers’ in this dungeon.”

Murderer

That term, which means criminal or traitor, is used as a similar slang in this world.

Mainly in places outside the Empire’s oversight, especially in dungeons like the one we’ve entered now, they’re not there to conquer the dungeon but to kill parties that are conquering it and steal their possessions or harvested items.

Naturally, in a world without CCTV or black boxes, finding evidence in lawless zones is nearly impossible, and if they sell the collected items as stolen goods in the black market, they can essentially commit a perfect crime.

In some ways, they’re a group that should be guarded against more than monsters or traps when conquering dungeons…

No, given their explicit malice and obsession, they might be qualitatively worse.

“Well, in a dungeon that’s been somewhat conquered, it might be different, but in unconfirmed dungeons like this where human hands haven’t yet reached, such guys are more abundant~”

Damn, this has become troublesome.

A situation where Murderers capable of wiping out a party with a Hero through a surprise attack could appear from anywhere.

“Everyone, come here! There’s a corpse over here!!”

Amidst all this, the female mage’s voice rang out.

Immediately heading in that direction, I saw a corpse lying at the bottom of a slope below a corner.

Perhaps a member of the same party as the deceased Hero?

“Black tights covering the entire body and bald… a suspicious appearance by anyone’s standards.”

“But he’s holding a blood-stained blunt weapon?”

“There are signs of a struggle too… Is he the culprit?”

Party members gradually gathered with interest.

Among them, I examined the corpse alongside the sniper, focusing particularly on the weapon he held.

Yes, the shape of the blunt weapon somewhat matches the fracture pattern on the back of the Hero’s head.

“This one has several arrows embedded in his body. Seems like after ambushing and wiping out the party, he stepped on a trap while leaving and met his end?”

“My, how unlucky~”

“Unlucky? He’s an idiot for letting his guard down in the middle of a dungeon full of traps, thinking he was done after taking out one party.”

I agree.

It’s not easy to rob adventurers, and one must also be wary of dungeon traps and monsters. Additionally, if one encounters another plunderer like oneself, there’s a risk of losing what was just stolen.

For a momentary greed, this world is not an easy place to commit evil deeds with peace of mind.

“Oh, treasure found~”

The sniper, who was rummaging through the plunderer’s corpse without hesitation, let out a cheer.

Interested in his words, the vanguard and mage looked at what he held and unanimously expressed admiration.

“A jewel stolen from that Hero… No, a mana core?”

“That looks quite rare. Is that all he had?”

“It can’t be helped~ When carrying a corpse, the amount of luggage one can carry alone is limited.”

Indeed, in a state where safety is not guaranteed, the amount of luggage one can carry is limited.

No matter how valuable the armaments, to keep oneself light, the items to be plundered must be limited to small items that can fit in one’s possession.

Yes, up to that point, it might not seem too strange, but…

-Creak, creak.

A subtle noise from the armor as soon as the jewel is faced.

The subtle twisting of the armor’s seams means that this armor is reacting to the power of that mana core.

Why… No, I understand now.

If that’s not an ordinary jewel but a mana core, it’s likely one of the “mana cores” that’s one of the reasons I joined this party.

It seems the guild processed it and gave it to that green-footed Hero, but to be ambushed and killed by a Murderer right after receiving it… I don’t know her name, but she was truly an unlucky woman.

“By the way, you’re not planning to keep that all to yourself, are you?”

“Haha, if I wanted to take it for myself, I wouldn’t have mentioned it. I’ll entrust it to the Hero for now, and we’ll distribute it according to our contract later. Here, Hero, take it!”

“Y-yes?”

The sniper approached clumsily and handed over the jewel. Garam, who hadn’t yet calmed her mind, looked around at the other party members with a bewildered expression.

It’s correct to first entrust valuable items to the party leader, but Garam, unfamiliar with such matters, was tense as she looked around at the party members.

The gaze that eventually fell on me still had faint traces of the fear she felt when facing the corpse.

“But this… it belongs to someone else…”

“No need to feel guilty.”

I approached Garam and spoke quietly.

“We’re just picking up an item from a corpse, not looting it. Leaving it would only let it rot, so it’s better for the dead if someone who can use it properly takes it.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yes, so for now, you keep it.”

I wanted to explain the situation and claim rightful ownership, but since the current perception is that it’s not my property but something recovered during dungeon exploration, I decided to let it pass without pointing it out.

Well, there’s no need to be hasty.

I don’t know how yet, but if Irie’s prophecy is correct, the moment to fully acquire it will surely come soon.