Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 72

The 24 tournament participants entered the space-time gate in order.

Soon, it was Choi Hyun-seok’s turn.

As he entered the gate, he felt a sensation of being sucked in, accompanied by a slight dizziness.

‘Have I arrived?’

The place he saw upon opening his eyes was unfamiliar.

Choi Hyun-seok slowly looked around.

‘This is Inemosit, the Land of Demonic Beasts.’

Inemosit.

The home of the most dangerous demonic beasts on the continent.

And the stage for this survival game.

The high-ranking demons who had come to oversee the competition stepped forward.

“We will now assign your positions.”

The 24 participants were randomly placed in various locations under the guidance of the organizing staff.

After a brief movement.

Choi Hyun-seok was left completely alone in the forest.

The first thing he did in this unfamiliar land was to equip his combat power measuring device and survey his surroundings.

“There’s something about this place… the air feels thick.”
“That’s probably because of the high concentration of magical energy. The reason Inemosit is full of dangerous demonic beasts in the first place is because it has the highest concentration of magical energy on the continent.”
“No wonder. Even the small fry have formidable combat power.”

The area where the participants were competing was the entrance to Inemosit.

Even so, the level of the demonic beasts that appeared was considerable.

Demonic beasts that would have been at the top of the food chain around the Black Star were mere prey here.

“A survival game in a place like this? It’s truly insane.”

A survival game that continues until only one person remains.

The key to this game is survival.

You had to survive the attacks of demonic beasts while also keeping other participants in check.

“I agree. The rules are so cruel that you can’t just run away. It’s definitely going to be difficult.”

Although survival was the top priority, simply running away was not the answer.

This was, after all, a competition to select a commander for the Demon King’s army.

As a group that valued martial prowess above all else, there were special rules and devices in place, not just simple survival.

That was hunting demonic beasts.

A participant who caught a specific demonic beast would pass the game in first place, regardless of their survival ranking.

To that end, participants were given a special item.

Choi Hyun-seok took out a small bead from his pocket.

“This small bead has a GPS function, right?”
“The bead has a magic circle with complex formulas intricately drawn on it. The Demon King’s army’s magical skills are considerable.”
“Oh… how fascinating.”

As Choi Hyun-seok poured magical energy into the bead, it began to glow brightly.

Soon, light was emitted, and a map that looked like a hologram appeared in the air.

“A hologram map. I think the genre just changed from fantasy to science fiction. Or am I mistaken?”
“Stop talking nonsense and look at the map.”

As Rachel instructed, he shifted his gaze back to the map.

There were two dots on the map.

One was a blue dot.

The other was a purple dot.

“The blue dot here is the Hero [Choi Hyun-seok], and the purple one over there is the boss monster, right?”

“I think so.”

On the map, the blue dot was the user’s location, and the purple dot was the location of the target demonic beast.

It was intuitive and practical.

But this wasn’t the only function of the bead.

There was one crucial role left for the bead.

“Hero! Other participants’ locations have appeared!”

The locations of other participants appeared on the map every hour.

This was a measure to prevent participants from simply running away and avoiding combat.

Choi Hyun-seok stared intently at the 23 red dots appearing on the map.

Although they appeared every hour, the time they were shown was not very long, so it was necessary to memorize them.

Soon, all the red dots on the map disappeared.

Choi Hyun-seok, having roughly grasped the participants’ locations, put the bead back in his pocket.

“Alright. I’ve got a general idea of the situation.”

The game progress seemed complicated, but when summarized, it was simple.

First, survive.

And eliminate other participants.

And if possible, catch the boss monster.

That’s all you needed to remember.

“Well, in principle, killing is prohibited in this game… but it’s best not to expect that to be followed.”
“Of course. There are participants who will ‘accidentally’ smash your head in.”

Considering the content of previous games, it was clear that lives would be on the line again this time.

Although high-ranking demons were stationed to oversee the progress, there would be no direct intervention.

To survive, the only thing you could rely on was your own honed skills.

“For now, should we wander around slowly? It’s important to understand the surrounding terrain.”

Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel cautiously began to move.

Their intention was to survey the nearby terrain before engaging with other participants.

***

“Hero! Behind you!”

Rachel’s shout rang out.

Without even turning around, Choi Hyun-seok launched a kick.

Crack!

The foot, which flew accurately as if he had eyes in the back of his head, struck the demonic beast’s head.

The demonic beast, its head shattered, collapsed to the ground.

[Level Up!]

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened at the cheerful level-up notification.

“Huh? Was it time to level up already?”

Choi Hyun-seok hunted relatively weak demonic beasts while surveying his surroundings.

It wasn’t something he had particularly expected, but leveling up was a good thing.

“I was worried because I haven’t been leveling up well lately, but this is good.”
“Now that things have turned out this way, how about we start hunting in earnest? There are so many demonic beasts here!”
“I think we should conserve our stamina and magical energy in case other participants show up.”
“Hmm, that’s true too.”
“Let’s just wander around like now and hunt any seemingly decent ones we find.”

“Yes!”

Afterward, Choi Hyun-seok continued to survey the surrounding terrain.

And when he saw a demonic beast that was isolated, he quietly dealt with it.

How much time had passed?

Choi Hyun-seok stared at his status window with a serious expression.

“What’s going on…? I’ve already leveled up 4 times?”

Even though he hadn’t been hunting in earnest, he had leveled up 4 times in half a day.

It was an absurd rate of growth.

Once he passed level 400, it was difficult to even raise one level a day.

“That’s strange. Even if I hunted all day in the Black Star, I could barely raise one or two levels.”

“That’s right.”

“So why has leveling up suddenly become faster?”
“Well, I don’t know exactly, but I think it’s probably because you’ve become stronger, Hero.”
“I’ve become stronger, so leveling up has become faster? Isn’t it usually the opposite?”

To level up faster because you’ve become stronger.

It didn’t make sense.

It was true that you became stronger as you leveled up, but naturally, the next level up became more difficult.

Choi Hyun-seok also raised 20 or 30 levels a day in the beginning, but now it wasn’t easy to raise even one level a day.

Rachel continued with an additional explanation to Choi Hyun-seok’s question.

“You haven’t had time to hunt properly for a while, Hero. You’ve only been doing personal training.”

“That’s right.”

“So your level is the same, but you’ve become stronger. So what happens?”

“Ah! I think I know.”

What happens if you keep getting stronger while your level is fixed?

The answer is simple.

“Does that mean it becomes relatively easier to level up?”
“Correct! Especially since there are many strong demonic beasts here, it’s not strange that leveling up is so fast.”

Rachel’s explanation made sense.

Recently, Choi Hyun-seok had been training mainly on personal training rather than hunting.

In other words, he had become stronger separately from leveling up.

Thanks to that, he had higher stats compared to his level.

He also became stronger by learning martial arts and various abilities.

In this situation, he came to Inemosit, which had many strong demonic beasts, so naturally, leveling up would be faster.

“To summarize, now is the best time to level up, right?”
“That’s right. I don’t know how long it will last, but…”
“Alright. Should I pick up the pace a bit?”
“You were being careful earlier.”
“Still, now that things have turned out this way, it’s advantageous to raise even one more level before fighting the participants.”

Choi Hyun-seok decided to take hunting more seriously.

The purpose of this game was survival, but it was good to get stronger if he could get even a little stronger for that purpose.

Of course, he couldn’t forget to adjust his condition, as other participants could attack at any time.

At that moment, as Choi Hyun-seok was organizing his thoughts.

Groooooaaaan-!

A huge roar was heard from somewhere.

It was a roar filled with power that made your skin crawl just by listening to it.

Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel were startled and looked around.

“Hero! It looks like a boss monster. When did it get so close?”
“Let’s move over there for now. There’s no point in running into it.”

Checking the map, there was a purple dot not far away.

Choi Hyun-seok was going to move in the opposite direction of the purple dot.

There was no reason to face a strong demonic beast.

The goal was to endure as much as possible and be in the top 10.

Trying to do anything more than that was arrogance and recklessness.

The moment Choi Hyun-seok was about to take a step.

Suddenly, Rachel made a fuss.

“Heroheroherooo!”

“What?”

“Red dots! They’re all here!?”

Red dots.

In other words, other participants.

Choi Hyun-seok urgently checked the map.

Whether an hour had passed, the locations of other participants were marked with red dots.

“Here’s the blue dot, and a red one behind it…”

The blue dot representing his location.

Behind it, a red dot was approaching quickly.

It seemed that another participant had spotted him.

“We’re screwed! Prepare for battle!”

Choi Hyun-seok shouted.

At the same time, a bundle of magical energy came crashing down.

Kwaaaang!

The magical energy exploded, and dust billowed up.

A familiar voice was heard through the dust.

“I’ve finally found you! Human! This time, I’ll settle things with you!”

A demon resembling a goat.

Holgott.

The guy stroked his beard as usual and began to fire off magical energy.

***

Commander of the direct regiment of the Demon King’s 3rd Corps. A high-ranking demon.

Roiger.

He possessed considerable martial prowess even among the regimental commanders, and he was intelligent.

Thanks to that, he was favored by Hemis and was given the role of chief in charge of conducting this competition.

‘How boring.’

In fact, Roiger had no particular interest in this competition.

His only interest was in getting stronger and rising to a higher position.

Roiger was extremely bored at this moment.

He would never have accepted it if it hadn’t been for Hemis’s order.

“Me, acting like a house-sitting dog…”

Roiger was currently in front of the space-time gate in Inemosit.

He had to spend the remaining time here without moving.

This gate was the only passage connecting to the Black Star.

Although it was unlikely, if the gate were to be destroyed, it would cause a lot of trouble.

“No one would come to this land of demonic beasts anyway.”

The reason Roiger and the demons were waiting was to prepare for the unexpected.

In fact, no one would come to the heart of the land of demonic beasts.

That’s why this time was even more boring.

Even though nothing was happening, he had to wait.

However, Roiger’s expectations were shattered before long.

Roiger narrowed his eyes and stared ahead.

‘What is it?’

A group of figures was approaching quickly.

The number of these people, all wearing hoods pulled down deeply, was about 50.

Judging by their physique, they were human.

‘I don’t sense any magical energy.’

The speed of those approaching was quite fast.

It was clear that the group was made up entirely of knights.

And quite high-level knights at that.

Nevertheless, no magical energy was felt from them.

Then there was only one answer.

‘An item that conceals magical energy… I’ve been completely caught off guard. Has information been leaked?’

A group of humans wearing items that concealed magical energy and approaching the gate.

Their goal was obvious.

It would be to destroy the gate and kill all the participants here.

It was already too late to inform the Black Star of the fact.

The humans, who had already approached, drew their weapons and swung them.

Roiger sighed and gathered magical energy.

“Haa, I don’t want to die absurdly in a place like this…”

He senses it.

Perhaps today, he will meet his fate along with this gate.