Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 30

Choi Hyun-seok was dying, pinned against the arena wall.

The moment Kurken charged into him, the bones in his body shattered, making even breathing a struggle.

“Cough…!”

Blood gushed from his mouth with a cough.

His consciousness gradually faded.

“Uwaaaaa…!”

Kurken’s roar echoed.

With a strained lift of his head, he faintly saw Kurken cheering with his arms raised.

“Heh heh, heh…”

A sudden laugh escaped him.

His own situation was absurd.

‘To die from a body slam, not even a special move. How pathetic.’

Of all the techniques, it had to be a body slam.

It felt like a minor character in a Japanese manga featuring a million-volt electric mouse [likely a reference to Pikachu from Pokémon].

“Haa…”

Choi Hyun-seok let out a deep sigh.

‘Fine. You guys do whatever you want. I’m tired now.’

He didn’t want to get up and fight anymore.

What was the point of fighting more anyway?

Wasn’t this duel destined from the start?

Hemis had created a game he could never win.

No matter how much he struggled, it was all meaningless.

‘Let’s rest a bit.’

Choi Hyun-seok decided to give up.

He had done all he could.

That was enough.

No regrets.

‘Ah, wait a minute.’

On second thought, there was one regret.

He hadn’t asked Saintess Abelson out on a date.

“I was going to ask her out if I won today…”

The date was off the table, and maybe he could get a tour of the Underworld instead?

“I should have just asked her for a walk yesterday.”

Had he known he would die like this today, he would have asked her out yesterday.

“A walk… I really wanted to go…”

Was it because he was so desperate?

Abelson’s angelic face flickered in his mind amidst the demons.

Abelson wouldn’t be here, so it must be a hallucination.

‘She’s so pretty, even now…’

Her mystical silver eyes felt like they could suck you in just by looking at them.

‘If there’s a heaven, I’ll see you there.’

Choi Hyun-seok closed his eyes.

Whether it was a hallucination or not, he felt it was enough to see Abelson’s face one last time.

At that moment.

‘Get up.’

A calm voice echoed in his head.

Instantly, his fading vision cleared.

“Huh…? Is it real?”

Abelson’s face flickering in his mind was not a hallucination.

Abelson was watching him from a corner of the arena.

‘Choi Hyun-seok. If you win, I’ll go for a walk with you.’

It was Abelson again.

It felt like she was talking to him through magic.

“That promise… you must keep it.”

A deep smile spread across Choi Hyun-seok’s face.

His mind changed.

He would never give up.

He didn’t care if he looked pathetic.

He would keep struggling.

There were only two possible outcomes to this fight.

Death. Or a date.

Choi Hyun-seok decided to choose a date instead of death.

But regardless of his resolve, Choi Hyun-seok’s situation was the worst.

‘My body won’t move.’

His body wouldn’t listen to him.

It was only natural.

Just because his fighting spirit had recovered didn’t mean his battered body had recovered as well.

The bones in his body were shattered, and his destroyed muscles refused to move.

So, what should he do?

Was he going to die without even going on a date?

‘I absolutely can’t let that happen!’

Choi Hyun-seok’s mind began to race.

‘Magic replaces muscle.’

He would use magic to replace his broken bones and muscles.

He didn’t even know if it was possible.

But he had to make it possible.

If he couldn’t move, there would be no date.

‘Please move…!’

Choi Hyun-seok squeezed out the remaining magic and sent it throughout his body.

At that moment.

[The rank of Magic Manipulation skill has increased from F → E]

A system alert rang out.

The body that seemed like it would never move began to move little by little.

But this was not enough.

He couldn’t defeat the monster in front of him by just wiggling his fingers.

He needed more power.

He needed a faster body.

“I… I have to go on a date!!!”

Choi Hyun-seok shouted desperately.

The embarrassing cry echoed loudly in the training ground.

At the same time.

A system alert rang out.

[The rank of Magic Manipulation skill has increased from E → D]

The rank of his skill had increased by two levels in a very short period.

Moreover, it wasn’t something he had learned before, but a skill he had just acquired.

It was originally impossible.

But Choi Hyun-seok did it.

SSS-class potential.

And a crazy desire for romance created a miracle.

“Huff… huff!”

Choi Hyun-seok trembled and stood up.

“Kulk… kulk…!”

Kurken smiled as he saw Choi Hyun-seok get up.

Blackened eyes.

Black mist exhaled with every breath.

Dark red blood vessels that seemed like they would burst through his muscles.

A terrifying sight that would make you wet your pants just by looking at it.

But why?

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes, looking at Kurken, were endlessly calm.

His mind was filled only with victory and a date.

Choi Hyun-seok raised his hand.

“Come on. Muscle pig.”

He lightly flicked his fingers.

“Kwooooaaah!”

Kurken quickly became excited and snorted.

This kind of provocation seemed to be universal.

Kurken charged like an angry bull.

It was more threatening and faster than it looked.

‘Move. Evade!’

Choi Hyun-seok’s body moved slowly.

Just because he was replacing his body with magic didn’t mean a miraculous event would suddenly make him stronger.

It was only natural.

What the muscles and magic used to do together, magic was now doing alone.

It could only be slower and weaker than before.

Nevertheless, Choi Hyun-seok did not give up.

‘I have to win!’

Choi Hyun-seok glared at Kurken.

His thoughts accelerated, and tremendous concentration was unleashed.

Angry eyes.

The muscles of the charging legs.

The movement of the upper body swinging the iron club.

Every movement of Kurken was clear as if he could grasp it.

Whoosh!

He barely dodged the iron club.

Choi Hyun-seok punched Kurken’s chin.

The impact staggered Kurken back.

It was different from before when he was unharmed even after being hit by Choi Hyun-seok’s attack.

“Kwoooah!?”

The monster seemed flustered by the incomprehensible situation where a slower and weaker attack dealt a stronger impact.

“How does it taste?”

Choi Hyun-seok grinned.

The attack he had just made was simple.

It was just injecting magic the moment his fist touched Kurken.

And shaking Kurken’s body from the inside with the injected magic.

It was easy to say, but to do this in that short moment, he had to have excellent control skills.

The Magic Manipulation skill that had risen by two levels.

And the obsession with dating… no, winning, made it possible.

“Are you going to keep standing there? I’m busy, so hurry up and attack, you bastard.”

Choi Hyun-seok flicked his fingers.

Kurken lost his mind at the repeated provocation.

His mind was already collapsing.

Fear was quickly consumed by anger.

“Kwaaaaah!”

Kurken drooled and swung his club.

Choi Hyun-seok calmly looked at the monster.

‘It doesn’t matter if the power is insufficient.’

If my strength is lacking, I can just use the opponent’s strength.

The angry wild boar in front of him was excellent in strength alone.

Whoosh!

The club barely grazed his face.

This was already expected.

Choi Hyun-seok rushed in without hesitation and tripped him.

The monster’s balance, which had been unstable from running and swinging the club, collapsed.

“Kuoer!?”

Kurken couldn’t control his own strength.

His body floated up and flew forward.

At this rate, the monster would crash into the arena wall.

It would be quite an impact, but it was not enough to finish him off.

‘I need a stronger impact.’

Choi Hyun-seok grabbed the monster’s arm.

He wasn’t resisting the flow.

He was just slightly changing the direction, changing the flow.

He added his own strength to it.

As a result, what he was doing looked similar to a shoulder throw.

However, the difference was that the opponent’s head was vertically slammed into the ground.

Thwack-!

A gruesome sound of flesh and ground colliding was heard.

Kurken’s head broke through the floor and was buried.

“Geuwooo…”

Kurken’s body trembled.

Soon, his body melted and oxidized into black blood.

The erosion of magic had reached its limit, and his body was collapsing.

Only then did Choi Hyun-seok exhale the breath he had been holding in.

He collapsed to the floor as if he were collapsing.

“I won…”

Although he was lying on the dirt floor in a battered state, Choi Hyun-seok’s face was full of smiles.

He muttered, recalling Abelson, who would be watching him from somewhere in the arena.

“Let’s make the walk course… a 1-night 2-day trip.”

In his head, rabbit-like children were already growing [a metaphor for imagining having children].

***

The duel was over.

A terrible silence fell on the training ground.

Both Kurken and Choi Hyun-seok had fallen.

But it was clear who had won.

Swoosh…

Kurken’s body melted, creating a pool of black blood.

The winner was Choi Hyun-seok.

It was an unexpected twist that no one had predicted.

Even the high-ranking demon who was in charge of the proceedings could only gape and watch the training ground.

“You won. Raidrun.”

Hemis, who had been watching, said.

There was no inflection in her voice.

Raidrun also said calmly.

“It seems so.”

“Congratulations.”

They exchanged words as if nothing had happened, but in fact, they both knew.

Choi Hyun-seok was strange.

The events unfolding before their eyes were so unrealistic that their voices were rather calm.

“Raidrun. I’ll say just one thing.”

Hemis brought her lips close to Raidrun’s ear.

“Be careful.”

“…”

“As you may have noticed, that guy is a monster.”

The word monster came from the mouth of the legion commander.

Even she, who was in a position that no one but the Demon King could covet, thought Choi Hyun-seok was a monster.

No one knows what kind of threat he will become in the future.

“But a promise is a promise.”

Hemis shrugged.

Anyway, Choi Hyun-seok won the duel.

So, he will continue to be under the protection of Hemis and Raidrun.

“I’ll look forward to it. Do well.”

At Hemis’s words, Raidrun silently bowed his head.

“I’ll go first. Please take care of the cleanup.”

Hemis headed straight to her office.

On the way back.

She thought about the duel just now.

‘Choi Hyun-seok… he was more amazing than I expected.’

She spoke as if nothing was wrong in front of Raidrun, but honestly, she was feeling quite complicated.

‘What should I do with you?’

Hemis can kill Choi Hyun-seok without lifting a finger right now.

No matter how amazing Choi Hyun-seok showed, it was just a child’s play in her eyes.

Simply sending out magic.

Choi Hyun-seok would not be able to withstand it and would die.

But what about in a year?

What about in 5, 10, or 20 years?

Will she still be able to kill Choi Hyun-seok as easily as she does now?

When that moment comes, will Choi Hyun-seok obediently follow her words?

Hemis recalls.

The Demon King is at the top.

Below him are five legion commanders, including herself.

Coincidentally, one of the legion commanders is a former hero.

‘Maybe you too…?’

Hemis’s mouth unknowingly stretched wide as she thought.

‘It’s going to be more interesting in the future.’

Hemis, an ancient monster who has lived for too long.

Now, she didn’t care what happened to her own life.

‘Choi Hyun-seok… how far will you go?’

Only fun.

That was her only joy.