Raising A Hero – Chapter 3

Ch 3: Tutorial

The three moved in the direction of the rocky mountain. Right away, the very air felt different. The bushes grew thicker, and the sounds disappeared.

Even a dull Earthling wouldn’t be so oblivious as to not notice such a change. At least they weren’t creatures of such low intelligence that they would be happy, dance, and grill the suspicious meat they were given.

Ji-hyuk moved, searching for the traces of the monster and the source of the intense bloodlust. The Skinny Guy and the Female Teacher tightly gripped their crude wooden spears with both hands, rolling their anxious eyeballs around as they closely followed behind him.

…There seem to be others as well.

Ji-hyuk’s sensitive senses detected not only monsters. He didn’t know their exact identities, but he knew someone was there. Well, everyone was probably desperate for a Token, so it was natural to come deep into the forest to find monsters.

He became more vigilant of his surroundings. The dangerous thing now wasn’t just the monsters. He didn’t know when the other Participants would turn into enemies and attack them. Humans, being weak, would be easy prey for those guys.

Especially to be wary of were the particularly belligerent Orcs. Those guys were battle maniacs, so they were the kind of people who threw punches before words. Giranosh, who was a B-class Hero, also had a very bad relationship with the other Heroes because of that hastiness. In fact, he almost had a big fight with Ji-hyuk once.

A Lizardman would be better.

Those guys were also ferocious, but they didn’t just charge in all the time. Still, they were rational. And they were very quick with calculations. There was a reason why there were quite a few Lizardmen among the owners of famous Merchant Guilds.

Ji-hyuk walked and walked, being wary of all directions. The Female Teacher seemed to be having a hard time, but there was no time to rest now. He had to catch the monster as quickly as possible and get out. If they were unlucky, they could become the target of other Participants.

“Ji-hyuk-ssi, can we, just rest for a bit?”

“No. Just hang in there a little longer.”

“…Okay.”

The Female Teacher didn’t ask twice. She probably knew that the atmosphere was serious.

Ji-hyuk finally reached the vicinity of the monster. The monster was ravenously tearing something apart and eating it. It was someone’s corpse.

“Hup.”

The Female Teacher was startled and quickly covered her mouth with one hand. The Skinny Guy was just as surprised. Ji-hyuk gestured for them to hide behind the trees. They quickly hid behind a large tree.

…D*mn it, was I a step too late?

Someone had already approached within striking distance of the monster. Fortunately, it was just one Troll. That was lucky, at least.

If the Token comes out, I’ll have to steal it and run.

If they could get the Token without fighting the monster, that would be the best way. There was no need to take unnecessary risks. Fortunately, the opponent was a slow-footed Troll. Even if he stole it and ran, he could outrun it.

The guy soon got into a brawl with the monster. The large Troll gripped a huge rock and pounded the monster’s body. It was a crude melee. But there was no more effective way to fight for the Troll than that. After all, wounds would heal quickly anyway.

The monster tore at the Troll’s flesh with its teeth and crushed its bones, but the guy easily endured it and kept hitting the monster’s body with the rock. Once or twice was one thing, but if that kept happening, the monster wouldn’t be able to withstand it any longer.

A rough dogfight ensued as they rolled around on the ground. But in the end, the victor was the Troll. It was partly because the monster was on the weaker side, but the problem was that the opponent happened to be a Troll. Unless its head was cut off in one fell swoop, physical attacks were almost ineffective against it.

At that moment, Ji-hyuk was slowly approaching the Troll. So that the guy wouldn’t notice. And he waited for the Token to drop.

…Is it not coming out this time either?

Was it another dud this timeㅡ, he thought, when there was a flash of light.

It’s a Token…!

The moment Ji-hyuk saw that flash of light, he ran quickly. The guy, distracted by the Token, still hadn’t noticed his presence.

The orb, about the size of a newborn’s head, was definitely a Token. Before Ji-hyuk could snatch it, the Troll grabbed it with his hand first.

And the Troll turned his head. The guy seemed to have sensed something approaching. But Ji-hyuk was already close.

ㅡㅡ!!

Before the guy could react, Ji-hyuk’s wooden spear hit the orb first. At the same time as the skewer broke, the orb bounced out of the guy’s hand.

Ji-hyuk leaped into the air. And after quickly picking up the orb that had bounced far away, he started running away quickly.

“Runㅡ!”

The Troll, enraged at losing his precious Token, began to chase after Ji-hyuk.

━ Euwoeaaaaaㅡㅡ!!

The guy ran like crazy. He was slow-footed, but that didn’t mean he was so slow that it was yawn-inducing. At least he was fast enough to chase after the exhausted Female Teacher.

But the Troll’s attention was focused only on Ji-hyuk. All the guy could see now was the Token. It was a stroke of good luck for the Female Teacher.

The Skinny Guy and the Female Teacher managed to escape the Troll’s pursuit for now. Ji-hyuk confirmed that and increased his speed even more. The guy kept screaming and chasing after him, but eventually disappeared from sight.

━ Uwoeaaaaaa woeaaaaaaㅡㅡ!!

The Troll, having missed the Token right in front of his eyes, screamed like crazy, making the entire forest resound. But what could he do? It was already missed.

Ji-hyuk leaned against a tree trunk, panting heavily. He had exhausted a lot of stamina because he had run like crazy to shake off the Troll.

This damn staminaㅡ.

He really hated this sense of incongruity he felt after regressing. When he was an S-class Hero, he could run for half a day without any problems, but now he was panting like he was about to die after running a little. …Thinking about the hardships he would have to endure to get back to that body again made him feel a little hopeless.

He got up before he could even catch his breath. He was a little uneasy if he left only the Skinny Guy and the Female Teacher alone. If they died, Ji-hyuk would inevitably be in a lot of trouble. He wasn’t strong enough yet to last several days without sleeping.

Hoo hooㅡ.

Ji-hyuk thought that he should get out of this place as soon as possible. Since the Troll guy had already screamed and attracted a lot of attention, it was obvious that the Participants would flock to him. If it was discovered that he had the Token, he would definitely become a target. Then he would be tormented by pursuers day and night.

He quickly headed to where the two people were. Fortunately, they were waiting for him without moving. It was a wise move.

“Is that the Token?”

“Yes. Let’s get out of here quickly for now. It’ll be troublesome if other guys come.”

The two men and women nodded and quickly followed behind Ji-hyuk. Still, they were in high spirits at the thought that they had obtained one Token. Now they only needed to find two more.

Fortunately, they were able to return to the original pond without encountering anyone. By then, the sun was already setting.

Ji-hyuk briefly entrusted the Token to them and moved to check on the condition of the Goblins. They were still alive and well. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any harmful poison in the meat.

He returned to the nest and suggested they grill the meat. As if they had been waiting for it, they quickly gathered twigs and dead leaves and finished preparing to light a bonfire. These minor tasks were now handled by them discreetly.

Meanwhile, Ji-hyuk dug a hole and buried the Token. For now, it was wise to hide it so that other guys couldn’t see it. He had to pretend he didn’t have it.

“Please eat.”

The meat was grilled to a golden brown. It was already as dark as pitch all around. They barely relied on one bonfire and had a late dinner.

The Skinny Guy and the Female Teacher really devoured the meat like crazy. It was the first proper meal in three days. It reeked of old meat, but they ate it without paying any attention. They were too hungry to be picky about such things.

Since their stomachs were full for the first time in a while, the two people wore very satisfied smiles. They looked like they were in heaven.

“I don’t know why I lived so busily on Earth.”

“I should have enjoyed my life a little more.”

They even had the leisure to talk about such feelings. Ji-hyuk thought, these bastards haven’t been through enough yetㅡ. …Well, it was still a long way off before the Earthling habits were completely shed.

Thinking about her hometown again seemed to have made the Female Teacher feel depressed. She sniffed several times. But she didn’t show any tears like before. She probably didn’t want to get on Ji-hyuk’s bad side for no reason.

“Put out the fire now.”

“Ah, yes.”

The Skinny Guy and Ji-hyuk lay flat on the dirt floor. The Female Teacher quickly sprinkled dirt and sand on the fire. With a pasuseukㅡ sound, the fire died.

The whole world was dyed black again. Only the silver streaks dripping between the lush leaves became the lighting that illuminated this theater. If this were Earth, it would have been a very romantic scene.

Ji-hyuk closed his eyes.

Having exhausted a lot of stamina, he soon fell asleep.

Pieengㅡ.

An arrow flew like a ray of light. It accurately pierced the head of the Female Teacher, who was sitting and dozing off.

“Kakㅡ.”

With a short scream, she died.

Ji-hyuk opened his eyes wide. In his eyes, he saw the Female Teacher with an arrow stuck in her head.

D*mn itㅡ!

He immediately rolled once on the floor. An arrow was stuck right in that spot. He almost died if he had been a little late.

“Wake upㅡ!”

He shouted that to the Skinny Guy and strongly kicked the guy’s torso sideways with his foot. The arrow narrowly missed by a hair’s breadth.

The Skinny Guy immediately came to his senses. Ji-hyuk told him to hide behind the trees right away. The two hid in the opposite direction from where the arrows were coming from.

Haa haaㅡ.

The arrows didn’t come.

D*mn it, you f*cking Fairy bastardㅡ!

The identity was obvious. The only pervert who would bother to make a bow and shoot arrows was the Fairy.

Still, fortunately, he had saved his life. It was thanks to the spare life that had done its job admirably.

“S-Se-hee-ssi is…!”

“She’s dead.”

Ji-hyuk said indifferently. Ah, aahㅡ. The Skinny Guy saw her, with an arrow stuck in her head and her tongue sticking out, and trembled in all his limbs.

The fear of death, which had felt somewhat distant until now, suddenly struck him again. He fell into a panic.

There was nothing Ji-hyuk could do right now either. He could only hope that that damn Fairy bastard would give up and leave.

It was difficult to know exactly where the guy was because of the distance and because he was suppressing his presence so secretly. But he knew that the guy wasn’t coming any closer.

The two spent almost the entire night with their eyes open in that state. It wasn’t until dawn that Ji-hyuk moved stealthily. The Fairy was gone; he wasn’t anywhere.

Ji-hyuk woke up the Skinny Guy, who was sleeping with his head buried in his knees. Ackㅡ. The guy looked up at him with surprised eyes.

“Get up now. Let’s leave, now.”

The Skinny Guy’s eyes reflexively reached the Female Teacher. She was dead in a gruesome state. He quickly averted his gaze, fearing she would appear in his dreams.

They swallowed a lot of water, took the Token, and then moved.

The Skinny Guy occasionally looked back.

But the dead Female Teacher didn’t move.