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Chapter 2
[Act 1] Prologue(?)
The world of Fantasia was made up of a single continent that looked like a hot dog, Pangaea.
A beautiful port city that people referred to as a sanctuary was located on the western edge of that continent.
The City of Beginning, Prologina!
The pure-white temple erected in its center was noisy after such a long time.
“Wow!”
“Amazing…”
“Oh my god!”
“So cool…”
The students who were summoned to the middle of the temple repeatedly let out exclamations while looking around.
Is it because they asked the goddess all sorts of questions before they were sent here?
Rather than being confused, they were busy looking around as if they were foreign tourists, until they heard the voice of a proud woman.
“I sincerely welcome the heroes to the Fantasia dimension.”
“Another beauty…”
“A goddess?”
“Wouldn’t she be the saintess?”
“She’s so pretty…”
The male students’ reactions were honest.
However, the female students weren’t in the position to criticize them either.
“Look back there.”
“What? Gasp?! Whoa!”
“He’s so handsome…”
“I wonder if he’s a prince?”
The students were completely head over heels for the saintess who welcomed them and the attractive boy waiting in the back.
Whatever the reason, the saintess, after confirming that all the heroes’ eyes were pointed at her, opened her mouth again.
“I am the saintess who has been waiting for you here in the temple after receiving the goddess’s oracle.”
The woman who roughly introduced herself as the saintess without revealing her name took a step to the side.
The boy who was receiving the female students’ attention then politely bowed and introduced himself.
“I am deeply honored to meet the legendary heroes. I am the first prince of the Swordmaster Kingdom that rules the territory north of this temple, Alsus Swordmaster.”
“Kyak!”
“A real prince!”
“This isn’t a dream, right?”
Prince Alsus made a dashing smile at the enthusiastic female students.
However, that enthusiasm was instantly shattered by a sudden noise.
Bang-!
A girl slammed open the great doors of the temple that was supposed to be quiet, and yelled with her large eyes full of tears.
“I’m so sorry! I overslept because I had a hangover…!”
“…Princess Ethena, your honesty is your strength as well as your weakness. There was no need for you to say that last sentence.”
“Pardon?! Did I make another mista- kyah?!”
Crash!
The girl, who was running over while adorably tilting her head, slipped after stepping on her own skirt.
“Is she alright?”
But as if betraying everyone’s concerns, the girl got back up as if nothing had happened and got busy making excuses.
“The temple’s floors are so slippery! I’m sure of it, since I didn’t trip once until I got here!”
“……”
“……”
As no one was responding to her, the girl’s face turned as red as a beet.
However, that was only for a moment; the male students started to get intensely fired up.
“She’s cute!”
“She’s so cute!”
“You’re so cute, princess!”
“All hail fantasy!”
The surrounding knights and priests frowned at the heroes’ lack of manners.
“Hmph…”
“Just…”
However, they did not act any further because the chief executives, the saintess and the prince, were doing nothing.
Even the girl was flustered by experiencing what she suspected was impertinence for the first time in her life.
“Uh… hm. Thank you?”
“Whoo!”
“Yeah!”
Her innocent response made the male students even more agitated.
Did the saintess judge that things will not progress no matter how long she waited at this rate?
The saintess’s patience was not as bottomless as the goddess.
“She is the princess of the Archmazing Kingdom that rules the land south of the temple, Ethena Archmazing. She will support you all on your adventure along with Prince Alsus.
“Whoa!”
“Yeah!”
Cheers of joy could be heard from here and there.
Would this be what it feels like to go on a field trip with your favorite idols?
But not everyone went along with the atmosphere.
[Name] Oh Hanwoo
[Level] 1
[Blessing] Hero F
[Curse] –
[Dividend] 0.64
“What’s a curse…?”
Hero Oh Hanwoo was confident in his knowledge of fantasy novels, manhwas, and games.
He wanted to be ahead of anyone else, just like a fantasy ‘protagonist’.
That’s why he was diligently browsing through the ‘status window’ that he managed to open on his own without anyone’s explanation.
Princes? Princesses?
I can meet people like them anytime once I increase my level and skills.
It’s a waste of time to be trying to curry favor with the prince and princess like those morons!
Oh Hanwoo confirmed everything in his status window one by one by pressing it with the tip of his finger.
“First… let’s check the Hero blessing.”
[Hero]
-> Automatically translates the languages of races amicable towards the hero.
-> Dramatically increases the experience points gained through hunting and achievements!
Dramatically increases experience points?
He wasn’t sure how effective that ‘dramatic’ increase was, but if there was no level cap, then it was truly a broken effect.
The automatic translation function would also be very useful.
If there was one thing on his mind, it was that there were ‘competitors’ all around him with the same Hero blessing.
There were several people who he especially paid attention to among them.
“Saintess. The goddess told us to receive the gods’ blessing, but how do we go about doing that?”
Choi Gangmin.
Though this handsome boy did not show it externally, he was very happy about the current situation.
In his home, school, academy, and even in the neighborhood…
Everyone praised his looks and talent, but he was never satisfied!
He had enough of getting along with his inferior peers and the society that treated everyone equally.
But what about this world?
It is an unequal society that discriminates against people based on their class and abilities.
Though it’s a world that’s just as unkind and difficult to the weak, Choi Gangmin did not pay it any mind.
Because he was a ‘hero’ chosen by the goddess!
Therefore, he was sure that the world of Fantasia was a stage prepared only for him.
“A good question, hero. To receive the gods’ blessings, you must earn their favor.”
“How…”
“It’s different for every god, but I am certain that the gods are looking for talents who can defeat the great demon king. Did that answer your question?”
“Yes, that’s more than enough.”
Choi Gangmin was satisfied.
Objectively speaking, he was the most suitable to be the hero that will defeat the great demon king.
Though Class President Yu Bora bothered him a little, she was a woman in the end. No matter how smart she was, she couldn’t fight properly with her weak body.
If the gods were in their right minds, there would be no way that they would choose a woman…
[A certain male god stares at you with a smile.]
[A certain impatient demon god stares at you with a smile.]
[A certain evil god stares at you with a smile.]
[A certain innocent goddess asks someone what they are staring at.]
[A certain water god advises his friend, saying it’s none of their business.]
[A certain god…]
A feast of messages appeared without warning!
Before the flustered Choi Gangmin had a chance to ask the saintess, the surroundings became noisy.
“What’s this message?”
“What god? A god…?”
“Is it really a god? This?”
All the students, who were heroes, were looking at the same scene.
The saintess put up her hands and spoke, as if she was praying or singing.
“Though you cannot see them, the gods are watching all of you heroes. They send you their intentions through oracles just as you saw right now.”
“Gods? Really?”
“These are gods?”
“However, please keep in mind that their interest in you is not eternal. I will pray that all of you receive a god’s blessing.
“Excuse me! What do we do if we don’t receive a god’s blessing?”
One of the students asked a question in a very annoyed tone.
The saintess then replied to him while making a splendid smile with her eyes.
“Do I need to go as far as to care about trash?”
“……”
This marked the start of the adventure full of hopes and dreams in a fantasy world!
* * *
Shit! If I knew this was going to happen, I would have exercised!
I was running through a pitch-black forest.
“Huff, huff!”
I was out of breath, but I could not stop my legs even for an instant, because I knew that a gruesome end would be waiting for me if I did.
“Meat! Human meat!”
“My lunch!”
“Meat! Stop!”
Bipedal hyenas were chasing right behind me with crude weapons in their hands.
Hyenas that, like humans, can use tools, run on two legs, and even talk?
They were beings that did not exist on Earth.
It was solid proof that I did not return to Earth.
Tap, tap, tap.
If I hadn’t protected my head with my bag, I would already have suffered a concussion from their stone-throwing.
Dangerous! This is too dangerous!
I’m not a marathon runner. It was clear that I would collapse from fatigue if this went on.
“Think… think, Kang Hansoo…!”
If I didn’t want to end up in those hyenas’ stomachs, I had to use some sort of miracle, like magic.
Magic.
It would be an absurd thought if this was Earth, but I was still in the fantasy world because of that wicked goddess’s trick.
Anything is fine, so please…!
[Name] Kang Hansoo
[Level] 1
[Blessing] –
[Curse] Hero E
[Dividend] 2.56
Huh? It really appeared?
Personal information was displayed in front of my eyes like a translucent hologram.
It was undoubtedly the status window that the wicked goddess explained to us.
Please let there be a way to break through this situation here.
“…Or not?”
After checking the details of ‘Hero’ in the curse list, all that came out of my mouth was a dejected laugh.
[Hero]
-> Automatically translates the languages of races hostile toward the hero.
-> Dramatically decreases the experience points gained through hunting and achievements!
It was a curse full of malicious intent to bury me in this fantasy world!
In a game system, the importance of ‘levels’ is equal to your life. But there’s a permanent penalty on the experience points, the requirement to increase your level?
It’s no different from telling me to give up on the status window, the cornerstone of a fantasy world.
“The language function is also…”
This effect may be good, considering it’s a curse, but that wasn’t the case after experiencing it first-hand.
‘Give me your heart!”
“Meat! Human meat!”
“Let’s chew on his bones!”
I was watching a live broadcast on how the fantasy hyenas will cook me.
Throb, throb!
Just listening to them was putting stress on my heart.
As someone who was born and raised in a peaceful country on Earth, where it was safe as long as you watched out for cars, these translations were unwelcome.
“Hello, my meat-loving friends! Let’s talk it out…!”
“The lunch spoke?!”
“Meat! Talking meat!”
“Let’s talk after we eat!”
Conversation was possible thanks to the curse, but whether I got through to them was a different story.
“Huff, huff…”
As I started to struggle for air, the world turned yellow.
It was a hopeless warning that my stamina was reaching its limit.
Will my bones be buried in this fantasy world like this?
Mother, father, please forgive this unfilial child who’s leaving before you. This is all because of that damn wicked goddess…
“#$^$%^%$^%$#^”
“#$%^$%^#%^#$%^$%#^#$”
“$#%^%$^”
Just then, multiple cries could be heard from the pitch-black forest.
What are they saying?
Whizz-plunge!
“Agh?!”
After tripping due to the strong pain in my leg, I screamed while rolling on the dirt.
An arrow?! It hurts so much!!
I could see an arrow stuck in my right thigh.
But fortunately, amidst all the misfortune…
“Elf! Elf meat!”
“Atop the tree! Cowardly elf!”
“An arrow! New lunch!”
The fantasy hyenas left me, who was incapacitated, and charged toward their new prey.
“$#%#$%#$%”
“Meat! Elf meat!”
“%^$%^%$”
“My elf! Meat~!”
Amidst the chaos, there was a word that I heard the second-most after ‘meat’.
Elf.
A fantasy race that always regularly appeared in fantasy worlds.
No, I don’t care about that.
“Keuk! Damn savages!”
To think they would attack a normal person being chased by man-eating monsters!
Even if my words don’t get through to them, there’s no way civilized people who are capable of regular thoughts would do something like this.
I used the chance of the elves and hyenas fighting to escape behind a large tree.
I knew that this place wasn’t safe at all.
But there was nothing else that I could do in this desperate situation where I was exhausted and even my leg was injured.
Should I try praying to God?
“No.”
Who the hell am I supposed to pray to, when the reason why I’m in this situation is because of a goddess?
I, Kang Hansoo, the human, would rather choose death than pray to a god.
[A certain god peeks at you.]
…What’s this?
My head reacted before my body.
“Please save me!”
I, Kang Hansoo, the human, will do anything to be a good son to my parents!
____