Raising A Hero – Chapter 2

Ch 2: Tutorial

Gang Ji-hyuk-nim opened his eyes wide. A cold, rough sensation pricked the back of his neck. He saw a dim sky in his vision.

“…D*mn it.”

He wiped his bare face with his hand in a bleak feeling.

He had thought he would really be able to see the end this time. …But who knew the Great Demon King would be so powerful? The guy was ridiculously strong, just because he had one more “Great” in front of Demon King. …D*mn it, then I should have called myself the Great Hero.

The moment he died to the Great Demon King Carmine-nim, he lost everything he had achieved. Of course, he had experienced this many times before, but it still felt very dirty.

Ji-hyuk-nim was hailed as the hero of the continent. He lacked nothing in skill, experience, or popularity. But in the end, there were no heroes who could be of real help. That was the decisive reason for the defeat.

In fact, it wasn’t such a problem until he fought the Great Demon King. Even without other heroes, his hero team alone defeated the Demon King.

But the Great Demon King was different. No matter how good he was, he couldn’t deal with him. He was truly a being beyond imagination. He found out when he faced him directly.

Mere team members were not enough. He needed reliable heroes. True comrades who could come running to fight with him when things got dangerous. …But no matter how much Ji-hyuk-nim thought about it, there were no guys that came to mind quickly.

It wasn’t just him who felt this way. Strangely enough, heroes often didn’t get along with each other. Even if they seemed to get along, they were only pretending to do so. Because it was helpful to them for the time being.

Heroes were in a relationship of infinite competition. Of course, that wasn’t all bad. Everyone fought hard to get promoted, so they could effectively curb the expansion of the demons. But the big problem is that they can’t work together when they need to.

…What should I do about this?

Ji-hyuk-nim sighed deeply as he sat up.

He shook his head. He wanted to rest a bit. He was mentally exhausted from fighting the Great Demon King’s army for so long. He decided to think about how to proceed with this round later.

His heart, which he thought would be furious with anger, calmed down surprisingly quickly. That was all thanks to the power of time. After experiencing death many times, he became a little numb.

Of course, this death was a bit more painful than other times, but it was a fight that had no chance anyway, so he didn’t have any lingering regrets.

From the beginning, when he was at odds with the other heroes, it was a flawed design. Even if he couldn’t be friendly, he shouldn’t have made them enemies.

Ji-hyuk-nim quickly found the mistake and tried to fix it. Because he knew from experience that he would die again if he didn’t.

This time, he was confident that he could draw a better blueprint than last time. He had enough experience and skill anyway. It wouldn’t be that difficult to build it up again.

The sun was rising in the distance. The people who had fallen were starting to get up one by one.

There was still some time left before the actual tutorial began. Ji-hyuk-nim sat still and watched the situation carefully.

The people who woke up early were wandering around with dazed faces, not knowing what was going on. In fact, there weren’t just people here. All kinds of races were gathered. Orcs, trolls, goblins, lizardmen, and even fairies.

Honestly, humans were a bit less capable among them. There were far more heroes from other races. So it was a bit difficult to get along with them. Since they were different races in the first place, there were fewer parts to relate to.

It wasn’t just Earthlings who were human. They came from many worlds. Among humans, there were quite a few who used superpowers, magic, or martial arts. In that sense, Earthlings were the lowest among humans from various worlds. Buff? If there was such a thing, I wouldn’t be saying this.

But Ji-hyuk-nim had nothing to fear. He could easily clear the tutorial even by himself. He had experienced it so many times that he could make a strategy guide.

While he was thinking about this and that, the sun rose above the horizon. There were no more guys rolling around on the ground. Everyone was awake and looking around.

Then the Tutorial Fairy-nim appeared. He said he was a fairy, but he looked like some kind of monster’s testicle.

━ Hello, everyone. I’m the Tutorial Fairy-nim!

The hairy testicle floated in the air and chattered.

━ You’ve come to save this world in crisis. So please do your best to help.

Of course, it wasn’t persuasive at all. Ji-hyuk-nim also thought it was b*llshit at first.

━ But we need to do some screening. We can’t accept everyone. We don’t need weaklings.

The testicle fairy-nim said such b*llshit without any hesitation.

━ But it won’t be too difficult. Sometimes tokens drop when you catch a monster. If you have that, you pass. The deadline is exactly one week!

The fairy-nim circled around the dazed guys.

━ Then I wish you good luck!

Then he disappeared. It was a really unkind explanation.

Honestly, it was absurd. It was like saying, “Get out of here, weaklings,” after suddenly calling them out.

There was a brief commotion. These guys must be dumbfounded too. Ji-hyuk-nim stood up. Now that the tutorial guidance was over, it was time to act.

There were exactly two Earthlings. An anchovy guy with glasses, and a married teacher.

These were necessary. He needed some workers to do the chores.

Ji-hyuk-nim’s body still needed care. He had to rest when he was tired and sleep when he was exhausted. Then he needed a night watch to avoid being attacked while he slept.

The enemies here weren’t just monsters. The other tutorial Participants-nim were all enemies. Later, they fight each other because of the lack of tokens.

In that sense, weak Earthlings were perfect. There was almost no fear of being backstabbed.

“Hello.”

Ji-hyuk-nim approached them with a friendly smile. Oh, yes. Awkward greetings were exchanged.

“I think it would be best to act together.”

“Shall we?”

The three moved together.

The Skinny Guy-nim was quite talkative. He seemed very excited, saying he never thought he would actually experience the Isekai transfer he had only heard about in stories. On the other hand, the Teacher Housewife-nim looked very scared.

“This is all a dream, right? Right?”

“Does it feel like a dream?”

“How can something like this happen in reality? It’s impossible. Unless it’s a dream.”

The Teacher-nim was an extreme realist. She was slow to adapt. …In fact, this was the average Earthling. The Skinny Guy-nim was a bit unusual.

But it was a bit difficult to dismiss such vivid sensations as a dream. She pinched her own thigh and slapped her cheeks to check. But the sensation on her skin was too clear.

The Housewife-nim had to accept that this was not a dream. Funnily enough, the Skinny Guy-nim was already acting like he had become the Main Character of this world. …He must have read a lot of Isekai novels.

“What do we do now?”

The Teacher-nim asked with a worried face. Then the Skinny Guy-nim stepped forward.

“It said we need to get tokens. Then we have to catch monsters. That’s how we can pass the tutorial.”

He shouted like that. He must be able to be so brave because he knows nothing.

Then Ji-hyuk-nim intervened. Catching monsters was important, but it was right to prepare to survive for a week first.

“Shouldn’t we secure water and food first? We need to be prepared to last a week here.”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s a good idea.”

The Skinny Guy-nim spoke like a leader. Still, Ji-hyuk-nim watched silently. It didn’t matter whether he played the leader here or not. He was going to play along with him as long as he didn’t overdo it.

“Oh, I’m late to introduce myself. I’m Lee Seong-han-nim.”

“I’m Gang Ji-hyuk-nim.”

“I’m Kim Se-hee-nim.”

The three exchanged names like that. Of course, they were names that would be completely forgotten once they passed the tutorial.

They decided to find water first. Water is the most important thing for survival.

Finding water in the middle of nowhere was obviously difficult. So they headed towards the forest. There was a big mountain behind it, so they thought there might be water flowing along the valley.

The other races were all moving there too. Everyone seemed to have similar thoughts.

The Skinny Guy-nim kept chattering while walking. Of course, the other person was the Teacher Housewife-nim. She didn’t seem to want to talk much, but she answered reluctantly, “Yes, yes,” so as not to embarrass him if she ignored him. Of course, Ji-hyuk-nim just listened silently.

The distance to the forest was quite far. No matter how much they walked, the distance didn’t seem to get any closer. The Teacher-nim, who was lacking in stamina, was already showing signs of exhaustion.

“Can we rest a little before we go?”

So they sat down behind a large rock to avoid the sunlight. The Skinny Guy-nim brought up the story of his march in the army. The exhausted Teacher-nim didn’t even respond. Only then did he notice and shut his mouth.

After recovering their stamina, they set off for the forest again. There were already many groups that had become distant dots. They were the last.

The Skinny Guy-nim was still considerate of the Teacher-nim. He’s a man with a d*ck, after all. Of course, it was questionable whether this consideration would remain when he was tired.

How was it before?

Actually, Ji-hyuk-nim didn’t even remember much about these two. He didn’t join them in every tutorial, and too much time had passed. His head wasn’t so good that it remembered everything, even useless things.

Still, he thought it wouldn’t have ended badly. Humans are strangely good at remembering bad feelings.

Anyway, they walked and walked. They took many breaks in between. The Teacher-nim was already completely exhausted. Without water or food, recovery was getting slower and slower.

They finally arrived at the edge of the forest late in the evening when the sun was setting. But it was eerie because it was getting dark. Ji-hyuk-nim had a lot of experience with this, but it seemed to be the first time for the two men and women to come to such a completely dark forest.

It seemed difficult to act because they couldn’t see anything. In fact, they didn’t have the stamina left for that.

“Let’s rest here.”

The two lay down holding a tree each. Ji-hyuk-nim scratched the ground with a stone, packed some dirt and sand, and lay down on it. The first to wake up was the Skinny Guy-nim.

“Oh, d*mn it!”

He jumped up and shook his body wildly. It was because ants were clinging to his body. The Teacher-nim followed suit and shook her body.

Eventually, they lay down on the bare ground, far away from the trees.

It was cold, hungry, and uncomfortable to sleep. The two men and women were too tired to fall asleep easily. Of course, Ji-hyuk-nim slept soundly and peacefully.

He didn’t bother to set a night watch on the first day. It was the first day anyway. If something happened, he could just start over.

…And so, the first night of the 15th round was getting deeper.