episode_0004

Just as light casts shadows, no matter how splendid the imperial city may be, shadows are bound to appear as you wander through the back alleys.

Those who were kicked out of the square because they were dirty and unwashed, and those who were poor among the common people and had no choice but to be thrown out onto the streets.

Or even some other real crime-committing thugs.

And the places where such people gathered were usually back alleys located on the outskirts of the city.

Because there aren’t many guards moving around, the shadows are perfect for hiding.

And unfortunately, I was in the outskirts, and because of that, I ran into some city thugs.

“Hey bro, are you deaf? I told you to pay the toll? Don’t you know the toll fee?”

‘Phew···.’

I sighed inwardly.

Since nothing is going well, everything is going wrong.

“Okay, first, give me the robe you’re covering yourself with. I need to see your face.”

First of all, this can’t be resolved through dialogue.

That’s what I concluded.

If you keep coming closer to me and talking about tolls like this, it looks like you’re trying to pressure me and get as much money out of me as possible.

And to begin with, I don’t have any money right now.

Because the fucking system gave me a shit ton of basic savings.

I even spent all my savings on beer on the first day… I didn’t even eat it. It’s dog shit.

This is why I was in the back alley.

Because I don’t have money, I can’t go to the city center.

Anyway, for that reason I didn’t have a single penny to give them.

If so, there is only one answer.

‘Subdue.’

The judgment was quick and the actions were also quick.

I immediately swung the wooden stick hidden inside my robe.

[‘Swing’ is activated!]

A large, sturdy wooden stick that I found while wandering around outside the city one day.

The wooden stick was pretty good. It was free and had almost no lethal power, so I could swing it around without any worries.

“Eww!”

“Ugh!”

Swish swish!

Two thugs groan as they are struck by my swinging technique.

One guy got hit square in the face and his nose started bleeding.

Even though I was close to failing the quest, my current level was 24, which was definitely higher than that of the average person.

If you put in just a little more effort here, you might be able to earn a knighthood.

They’re the kind of people who obviously can’t even eat properly.

I’m sure you can organize it however you want.

‘For now, I’ve definitely sorted out one person.’

Crunch!

I gave a nosebleed to one of the remaining guys who didn’t have a nosebleed.

So we’ve taken care of those two, and now there are only two left.

The big kid looks like he’ll have a good chin, so I’ll pass on that for now. I’ll go straight for the mean-looking punk next to him.

I saw a guy with his eyes wide open, probably in a state of panic.

So I swung the stick in my hand from top to bottom…

chin.

···It was blocked right away?

‘huh?’

What the heck? When did that happen? The attack was definitely quick and accurate.

I looked up in confusion.

Suddenly, I turned my gaze and saw the big man next to me grabbing a weapon with one hand.

He caught my swing with his excellent reaction speed.

“···That’s fun.”

The guy muttered, frowning deeply.

And then, before I could even react, the guy’s foot flew out and stuck itself in my stomach.

“Cough?!”

Air rushed out of my mouth with a sharp pain.

My body felt a little buoyant, and I couldn’t feel the soles of my feet touching the ground at all.

“Looks like you’ve been in a fight somewhere, bro.”

I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, but more than that, I felt confusion in my head.

How? Wasn’t he just a street thug?

But what was that reaction speed and what was the power of that kick just now?

But this thought only lasted a moment.

Because the guy struck again with his hammer.

Phew!

His huge fist flies in and hits me in the face.

This time, I didn’t even have time to moan. All I could feel was dizzying pain.

“I told you, shit. This is my territory.”

Boom! Boom!

Fists kept hitting my body. I tried to escape somehow, but the guy was holding me by the collar so I couldn’t run away easily.

Damn… wasn’t he just a simple city thug?

Now that I look at it, it looks like he was a criminal who had committed a crime somewhere in the city and was hiding.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain this force at the moment.

Damn, I have no luck.

After being beaten like that for a long time, I was soon thrown to the floor.

It hurts. It hurts a lot.

I was dizzy from the pain. It felt like someone was hitting my head with a hammer over and over again.

I could see my sticky blood dripping down to the floor between my swollen eyes.

In the meantime, the 4th gangster recovered and opened his mouth while holding his nose, which was bleeding.

◦ ◦

“After you’ve roughly stripped them of all the skin, bury them outside the walls. If you leave them alive and bother the guards, it’ll only be a bother to us.”

“Yes!”

The thug 4 answered forcefully and started to approach.

Through the blurry vision, I can see the small dagger in the bastard’s right hand.

This really sucks… This pain I feel right now, this current situation, everything is sucks.

It seems like the tutorial hasn’t even started yet, and I’m about to get defeated by a third-rate villain before the tutorial even starts.

What happens to me if I die here?

Could I log out to the semi-basement room in reality? Or would I just die here without anyone knowing?

As long as the latter possibility existed, I couldn’t just sit still.

“······.”

I had to do something, but I couldn’t think properly because I had been hitting my head so much.

Meanwhile, the guy’s dagger was moving closer and closer to the carotid artery in my neck…

‘Damn, am I really going to die here······.’

That was when such thoughts began to slowly emerge in my head.

“─Yulis! Blessings!”

“Yes!”

Two women’s voices are heard from somewhere in an alley.

At the same time, a silver flash passed over my head.

Crunch!

As if cutting through a dark alley, the icy sword slashed at the chest of the 4th gangster.

I see a blue-haired woman blocking my view with a fountain of blood spraying into the air.

For a moment, I couldn’t help but be flustered.

“···Huh?”

Camilla de Duke Bright.

The heroine of this game, and the woman in charge of the vanguard of the hero party.

Because she was standing in front of me four days before the departure ceremony for the Demonic Crusade.

And that’s not all.

“Camilla bow your head.”

“Okay.”

Immediately afterwards, a huge fireball and an arrow fly over her head.

The flying attacks each took down 2, 3 thugs and a large one.

“Keuaaaak!”

The screams of the thugs 2 and 3 who were eaten by the fireball are heard.

Startled, I turned my head backwards while still lying down.

There, the wizard and thief of the warrior party stood.

With Lily Spencer Beatrice.

Adele.

A red-haired girl and a silver-blue-haired woman stood glaring at their enemies.

Likewise, both are part of the warrior party.

“Ugh! What crazy bitches!”

“You’re the leader of this area, right? Be quiet and come to me. I’ll personally escort you to the guards. ”

Once they showed up, things ended very quickly.

The big guy who managed to block the arrow with one arm fought hard, but even so, he was nothing more than a back-alley criminal.

It was inevitable that the party of warriors would be quickly subdued.

“···Whew, that’s enough. I guess I can just take him like this.”

The thugs, who had been cut and broken like that, were tied together so well that they had no choice but to fall to the ground.

Those guys who brought me to the brink of death were nothing more than that.

Was this something that could be resolved so easily? As I was staring blankly, a person approached me.

“Are you okay?”

Julius von Eugracia.

A member of the warrior party, and the only saint possessed by the goddess of this land.

She, with her golden hair flowing beautifully, was looking at me with a kind smile.

It was just like what I always saw in games.

Although she is a saint with a somewhat sinister side, she is always there to give a kind smile to the weak and help them.

“Oh… You’re hurt. Please wait a moment. I’ll treat you right away.”

Eventually she came towards me and started to breathe life into me.

A brilliant golden aura began to rise from the air and was absorbed into my body.

The pain I had been feeling in my abdomen and face was slowly disappearing.

Her treatment was finally over when the sticky blood flowing from her head stopped and the bruises began to fade little by little.

“Okay… That’s it. The basic treatment is over. There’s still a little bit of swelling, but it’ll probably be better by the evening. ”

I couldn’t say anything and just looked at her.

During that time, I couldn’t react in any way. I was surprised to see the warrior party members before clearing the quest, or I was amazed to see them in real life, whom I had only seen on the monitor.

It wasn’t just for that reason.

“······.”

Because it was simply ugly.

The sight of me being beaten to the point of being defeated by even third-rate villains. The sight of them easily taking care of those people and extending a helping hand to me.

The contrast was so stark that it made me feel embarrassed.

Whether they knew I was frozen or not, they started talking among themselves.

“─As expected, the darkness is deep in these back alleys. Those people are just trying to soak people without any care···.”

“This is all because the continent is in chaos. Because the public order is ruined by the monsters, the evil ones are on the rise.”

“First of all, this person’s treatment is urgent.”

With that said, they began to whisper and discuss something.

It was as if he was trying to keep me from hearing him.

But that was only for a moment, as soon as the saint looked at me, she presented me with a small pouch.

It was a heavy-feeling pocket that seemed like it would make a jingling sound.

That is, it was money.

“Huh?”

“Take this. We just got back from a trip, so we don’t have much, but… we can probably buy a set of clothes and a meal with this.”

It seemed that by now I had already become a pitiful vagabond in their hearts.

Well, I haven’t washed for a few days and my face got ruined from getting hit this time.

I could easily be mistaken for a vagrant.

Only then could I properly examine their outfits.

It wasn’t just a flashy, luxurious outfit. Rather, it was full of a sense of shabbiness.

Their clothes had many worn, torn, and dirty spots.

As she said, she had just finished her trip, and the hardships of the trip were evident.

But I felt beauty when I saw that sight.

Even though they were obviously tired and exhausted, and even though they were probably running low on money for travel expenses.

The sight of him running without hesitation to help a single person in a back alley and providing help so generously.

Because it was truly good enough to be called good.

but.

“I know you are having a hard time because of the Demon King’s army. But please have hope. There will come a day when you can see the light.”

That’s why it has to be stopped.

I had to stop them from heading towards the Demon Realm.

There was nothing there that they hoped for.

“May the Goddess’s protection be with you.”

So she made the sign of the cross and slowly started to leave the place.

I reached out to them without realizing it.

“I···.”

Then he let out some rather weak words.

“Magyeong, do I have to go?”

At the unexpected words of someone they thought was a vagabond, their eyes turned to me.