episode_0005

A slight silence fell over the back alley.

Four pairs of colorful eyes look at me sitting on the floor.

Even though it was just a glance, I felt my body naturally shrink because of the presence of the four people.

But I didn’t bow my head and looked straight at them.

Even though it may be shabby and dirty now, this is the only chance I have to convince them.

“Ma, the Demon Eyes are darker and uglier than you think. You might suffer a more terrible fate than you think. ”

I know, I might look like a crazy person right now.

That is to say, you might just look like a cowardly vagabond who is scared away by the mere mention of ‘Magic Mirror’ and tries to stop them.

But still, I continued speaking.

At this moment, no one knew more about the Demon Realm than I did.

A place where people are crushed, tortured, and filled with sin is a devil’s paradise.

The Demon King’s army’s stronghold is a place where common sense has been destroyed and only despair is filled.

Even I, who only saw it through the monitor, knew that darkness well, but I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like now that it had become reality.

Finally, when all the words were finished, a quiet air filled the area.

In the still bright daylight scenery, only this place feels separate.

They didn’t say anything, just looked at each other.

I wonder if my words really got through. I tried to scare them by embellishing the information I knew as best as I could.

It may be difficult to decide right now, but at least it gave you something to think about again.

Please··· I wanted you to chew over my words and think deeply······.

“Huh? What is it?”

But what came out of their mouths were completely unexpected.

The party’s sorcerer, Lily, continues speaking as if she is intrigued.

“Did you know we were a warrior party?”

It’s as if he didn’t hear a single word I said just now, and he doesn’t seem to have a single worry in his eyes.

···Yeah. No one would listen to the words of a street vagrant. It was expected, but I couldn’t hide my bitterness.

Regardless, Lily, standing across from me, continued talking as if in a good mood.

“Wow, we must have become famous! If they recognize us even in a back alley like this.”

“Now that the kingdom has announced us, the news will spread in an instant.”

Lily and Camilla chat happily.

Perhaps because they had been together for quite some time, their expressions looked happy and not awkward at all.

In the midst of all this, only Yuris answered my story.

“Hehe, are you worried? Thank you.”

Instead of annoyance at the tramp’s daring to speak out of turn, a face filled with only a benevolent smile.

But what came out of her mouth were kind words of rejection.

“But that can’t be possible.”

Why?

I looked at her with questioning eyes.

“Because we already have so much responsibility. The entire continent is counting on us.”

Just throw away that responsibility. That was just a symbolic object without any form or restraint.

You can take it off whenever you want.

Of course, I might receive some criticism from the world… but there is absolutely no reason to walk down a path full of thorns just because I have some expectations.

“And I also want to show the light to the world again.”

As I was asking her with my eyes, I couldn’t help but pause at her words for a moment.

Her words now were not orders from those in power, but words spoken purely of her own free will.

“The world is currently… bleak. Every few days, news comes that the next village has been attacked by monsters, and the people are always living in fear. As a result, the economy and public safety are in shambles.”

She lowers her eyebrows as if she is bitter.

“That’s why I, no, we want to show the light to the world again. Without any responsibility or anything like that, it’s purely our wish.”

Straight eyes look at me.

His eyes were burning, like those of a philosopher preaching his beliefs.

The saint, possessed by the goddess who overlooks the world, had her own strong beliefs.

“Did you just say that the Ma-gyeong was a place so desperate that it was hard to imagine?”

I nodded silently.

She laughed heartily as if to tell me not to worry.

“We know that too.”

“······.”

“You must have thought about it. It’s the place we’re going to. We’ve heard so many times how dangerous it is. But we have to go anyway.”

“······.”

···I see.

I was convinced.

It’s not that he didn’t listen to what I said. It’s because he had already thought about it countless times in his head, so he was able to let it go like water.

Since I have already made up my mind, I have no hesitation in walking towards the Demon Realm.

It was an image that was stupidly upright, and one I had seen countless times outside my monitor.

Not being pushed by others, but taking risks on your own, based on your own beliefs.

That can’t be stopped. Those who have already firmly established themselves are not likely to listen to outsiders’ words easily.

Even as she nodded to herself, she continued to speak.

Even though he had already finished what he wanted to say, he seemed to be riding on the momentum of what he was saying.

A blonde woman appears, smiling brightly as if she is enjoying chatting.

“And don’t worry. The warrior will appear when the time comes.”

Stop.

For a moment, my body froze as if I had been shocked.

“Surely a strong and good warrior will appear and join us on our journey.”

“······.”

That warrior, the human, was right in front of me.

A warrior candidate who is not only not strong, but can even be beaten to the point of death by third-rate villains.

Whether she knew my feelings or not, her story soon spread to all the party members.

The sight of her chatting away like a girl in her prime.

Suddenly, Lily smiles brightly and draws a picture of herself as a warrior, perhaps because a topic of interest has come up.

“He must be a wise and smart warrior!”

no.

“I wish I was a braver and stronger warrior than anyone else.”

no.

“I wish I could be a good warrior who gives strength to everyone without prejudice and persecution.”

no.

The warrior you speak of does not include any of those things.

Not particularly wise or knowledgeable.

However, he is not a brave and strong person who can face all adversities with confidence.

Besides, until a few hours ago, I was a human who had been trying to fuck off warriors and live my life as I pleased.

If you ask me if I am good, I would naturally hesitate.

Every single word they said felt like it was stabbing my heart.

I don’t think you’re really blaming me, but I feel like I’m sinning for no reason.

Whether or not, they kept babbling about the warrior.

Is it a man or a woman? What does it look like?

What kind of life have you lived and what values do you have?

They appear to be letting their imagination run wild, like little girls drawing their own princes.

After chatting like that for a while, they finally came to their senses and quickly started to leave the back alley.

“Oh my, it’s already this late.”

“Oh right! I need to find a hotel to stay in quickly!”

Even in such a situation, they were the ones who never forgot to tell me to take care of myself.

“······.”

The noise died down and the back alley became quiet again, but my mind was still troubled.

The future they will face, the dangers the world will face, my current situation. These things come together in my head one by one, drawing an ominous picture of the future.

“···They’ll die without me.”

I muttered to myself.

Disorganized thoughts in my head just flow out of my mouth.

The monologue continued as if someone was listening.

“No, it’s fortunate that it ends with just death.”

I know their future.

If we leave it like this, we will probably be defeated by the Demon King’s army 100%.

What awaits them next will be excruciating pain so severe that they will want to die.

I knew this very well, because I had seen it over and over again on my monitor.

There was a saint who was more kind and pure than anyone else.

“The saint was raped by tens of thousands of insects.”

There was a wizard who was called the greatest genius in the world.

“The wizard eventually loses his mind and goes mad.”

The strongest and most stalwart knight begged to be killed.

The Dark Elves, who had endured persecution for hundreds of years, eventually became mentally unstable as the weight of time piled higher upon them.

Sometimes the knight’s spirit would break, and sometimes the saint would cry out for help.

The suffering they endured was innumerable.

That was the world.

The world was full of only evil, and that evil was directed only at them.

Among the countless cases, they have always suffered.

If we left it like this, defeat was certain, and a future of eternal suffering was also certain.

“And the world will be destroyed.”

And what remains is the ending of destruction. In the end, the kingdoms are destroyed by the Demon King, and the suffering they have experienced spreads throughout the world.

In the end, one way or another, it is certain that I will die.

So then, what should I do here?

What on earth can we do to prevent that dire future?

I, I·········.

“······.”

Worries continued.

As time passed, the light of the world became darker.

In the sky where the sun had disappeared, only the countless stars were illuminating the darkness.

The voices of people that had been ringing out loud across the alley disappeared, and soon only a quiet silence remained.

The sight they are trying to protect is probably somewhere in the center of the city.

···After thinking about it for a while, I soon shouted something out loud.

“System.”

System.

Probably the one who dropped me here, gave me the status screen, and gave me that fucking quest.

And at the same time, it was a kind of auxiliary tool that helped me progress every time I played the game.

As soon as I became aware of it, it immediately started the quest, so it must be nearby.

Not only that, ever since I fell here, I had a strange feeling as if something was watching me.

So, if I wanted, I could arbitrarily pop up a system window.

As soon as I called it, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.

[Please speak.]

Letters begin to slowly appear in a blue window, as if a person is speaking.

I was briefly surprised by the window that appeared without notice, but I firmly raised my gaze and looked at the guy.

Then he says.

“Tell me. What is the greatest thing I can give right now? What is the most important value to me, other than my life?”

At the same time, the system window started moving around.

[What you can offer···]

Kick kick kick.

Sentences begin to form slowly, as if a calculator were performing a massive calculation.

To me, it may seem like I’m just creating characters, but to the system, it’s probably feverishly calculating what I can offer.

[The biggest price is···]

Soon, the system window that had been slowly creating sentences soon produces results.

[It’s fate.]

For a moment, I couldn’t help but tilt my head.

“Fate?”

Is it fate?

I know what you mean. It’s just that it’s so vague that it’s hard to figure out.

How on earth am I supposed to offer that?

As if he didn’t know what I was thinking, the system window started explaining.

[Destiny refers to all the relationships you build.]

[The relationships you have built so far, the relationships you will build in the future, and even the relationships that will come to you by chance among the relationships.]

[All that is the price you can give.]

I nodded.

Fate.

All the relationships that can be built between people.

The value of society that is formed in this way.

That’s the heaviest scale I can lift.

When I realized that, I burst out laughing.

“Ha.”

Because only then did I understand the current situation.

The reason they gave such a difficult quest from the beginning, and the damn short time limit.

“It was meant to be like this from the beginning.”

They were all urging me to sacrifice something.

Don’t even dare approach it with half-hearted determination.

“I should have known from the beginning, when they said the name of the route was a noble sacrifice and all. It was meant to be like this from the beginning.”

If you’re going to even try to save the world, you should at least show some determination.

It was as if the guy was talking.

I honestly don’t like it, but it makes me fucking sick of the situation.

I said.

“···I like it, I’ll give it to you.”

In the end, this was the only path I could see.

Even if it is a difficult path, if there is a path, then it is right to move forward.

That’s the truth I learned from them, and I intend to move forward with that truth.

As I nodded, the guy spoke again.

[I’ll ask you again. Will you offer it?]

[YES/NO]

You already said you would give it, but now you’re asking again.

It wasn’t long before I realized why such a window was being opened.

Maybe it’s some kind of safety device. Think about it again.

I wonder if this wasn’t a decision made in the heat of the moment, if I lifted too heavy a weight in a momentary impulse.

The guy is asking you to think about it again.

Of course, of course.

It wasn’t a deal made in a fit of anger.

I was able to nod without hesitation because it was a conclusion I reached after thinking and worrying for half a day.

“Willingly.”

And at that moment, light spread throughout the world.

Countless system messages appear, as if they are trying to fill the entire sky.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

.

.

.

.

.

.

And the level-up notifications keep popping up.

[WARNING!]

+

[The ‘curse of distrust’ begins to fall upon you!]

People will begin to distrust your every word and action.

+

[WARNING!]

+

[The ‘curse of reversal’ begins to take hold of you!]

Everything you do from now on will get on the other person’s nerves.

+

[WARNING!]

+

[The ‘Curse of the Soul’ begins to take hold of you!]

When the other person sees you, he or she feels unreasonable evil and disgust.

+

.

.

.

.

.

.

······Countless running cursed alarms.

It seems like everything related to a person’s likeability is penalized.

It felt like red and black things were slowly eating away at my body.

Such blessings and curses surrounded me.

From the dirtiest back alleys of the empire, the brightest lights shine forth.

Sometimes, an unknown energy suddenly surges through my body, and at other times, a stuffy feeling envelops my body, as if a foreign substance is lodged in my soul itself.

Feeling sensations that were difficult to describe in words, I mentally prepared myself once again.

“······.”

Now the die is cast.

It was none other than the dice I threw.

Even if it was a semi-forced choice.

In the end, it was my will that made me want to walk this thorny path.

[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]

[All characters’ hostility increases to the maximum!]

So even if everything in the world is against me.

Even if this is a dark and stupid foolish act that will never be rewarded in the end…

[Achieved Lv70!]

[Quest Clear!]

I’d be happy to save them.

[Congratulations!]

[You have earned the title of ‘Warrior’!]

So, I became a warrior.

Probably the worst warrior of all time.