Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 136

Choi Hyun-seok was waving his hands in the empty air.

It wasn’t that he had suddenly gone senile.

He was looking for something in the Hero Shop.

“Oh! It’s here after all!”

Choi Hyun-seok smiled brightly, as if he had finally found what he wanted.

He turned to Niccolo.

“Your Hero Shop has been upgraded to intermediate, right?”
“Yes. My colleagues are all at the intermediate level, and I’ve even opened an advanced shop.”

Choi Hyun-seok looked surprised at the mention of an advanced shop.

‘He’s already opened an advanced shop?’

Choi Hyun-seok was still at the intermediate shop.

He wasn’t short on points, as it required 2,000 points to open an advanced shop.

Nevertheless, he was holding back in preparation for a situation where he might need points.

And he was saving them for future inventory purchases.

‘The starting price for the inventory was said to be 5,000 points.’

The smallest size inventory sold in the advanced shop was said to be a whopping 5,000 points.

Including the upgrade cost, a total of 7,000 points was needed.

‘Anyway, that guy must have collected quite a few points.’

According to Niccolo, he had completed as many as 50 Hero Quests, so he must have accumulated a lot of points.

“You opened the advanced shop quickly.”
“Superior Aura was sold in the advanced shop, so I pushed myself.”

“Ah…”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded awkwardly.

That kind of trashy Aura was being sold in the advanced shop.

He couldn’t help but doubt the usefulness of the Hero Shop.

‘Ah, is the trash not the Aura but that guy?’

Come to think of it, the Aura might not be the problem.

No matter how good the Aura was, it was bound to become trash if the user was trash.

‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter since he’s past the intermediate level.’

The item he needed now was a product sold in the intermediate shop.

So there was no reason not to sell it in the advanced shop.

The intermediate shop included all the items sold in the beginner shop.

“Now, let’s get back to the main point.”

Choi Hyun-seok looked at Niccolo.

“There should be an item called the Hero’s Oath in the shop. Find it.”

The Hero’s Oath.

It was an item created to promise something, as the name suggested.

‘I know it well because I’ve been through it with Rotark.’

Rotark, the 2nd Army Commander who died at the hands of Hemes.

The guy tried to use the ‘Demonic Oath’ to make Choi Hyun-seok a test subject.

Fortunately, thanks to Hemes’ help, it was instead used as a tool to bind Rotark.

Anyway, the important thing was that an item for contracts like the ‘Demonic Oath’ existed.

Choi Hyun-seok thought that the Hero Shop would also sell such items, and he was right.

“I found it.”

After a while.

Niccolo found the Hero’s Oath in the shop.

“Buy it.”

“Yes?”

“I said buy it.”

“This is 500 points…”

Instantly, Choi Hyun-seok’s face twisted fiercely.

“Buy it.”

Niccolo opened the status window with a tearful face.

His expression darkened even more as he checked how many Hero Points he had left.

‘I only have 600 points left now…’

He was already running low on Hero Points from upgrading the shop and buying Aura.

If he bought the item Choi Hyun-seok mentioned here, he would only have 100 points left.

“Haven’t you bought it yet?”

Choi Hyun-seok raised his palm.

“I, I bought it!”

Niccolo reflexively flinched and purchased the Hero’s Oath.

Only then did Choi Hyun-seok smile contentedly.

He leaned forward and looked behind him.

“The lady over there needs to buy one too, right?”

Ellis, the only woman in the Hero Party, was singled out.

She rolled her eyes back and forth and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Why would I…”

“You attacked me too.”

It wasn’t just Niccolo who attacked Choi Hyun-seok.

Ellis also attacked him with magic.

Of course, he intended to hold her accountable as well.

“You don’t have to buy it if you don’t want to.”

“Re, really…?”

Instantly, Ellis’s expression brightened.

However, it turned dark again at Choi Hyun-seok’s following words.

“If you don’t want to buy it, you’ll have to die.”

“Huh…?”

“I felt a threat to my life because of you. Shouldn’t I receive compensation for that? Right?”

“…”

“So, I’ll have to kill you to get experience points.”

Ellis’s vision went dark.

When exactly did that man feel a threat to his life?

Rather, she and her colleagues felt the threat to their lives.

Besides, killing a fellow Hero to gain experience points.

He was saying something that even Satan would cry about so casually that it felt out of place.

‘Are you even a Hero doing that!’

Ellis felt curses rising to her throat.

She felt like she would explode if she touched it, but she desperately swallowed it back.

The one holding the knife was him.

In the first place, she was the one who attacked with the intention of killing first, so there was no justification.

“Come on, let’s proceed quickly without wasting time. Those of you in the back, buy one each. Hurry. Ah! Except for Sangmin over there.”
“Wh, why do we have to buy it!?”

Yakubu and Irfan, who were suddenly targeted, shouted.

“The crime of condoning your colleague’s wrongdoing.”

“…”

“There’s also the option of becoming experience points if you don’t like it.”

The law is far away, and the fist is near [an idiom meaning immediate force is more effective than distant justice].

Unfortunately, this world is a little different.

To be precise, it could be said to be more extreme.

The law disappeared a long time ago, and what’s near is not the fist but death.

“Good, good!”

Finally, four Hero’s Oaths were placed in front of Choi Hyun-seok.

“From now on, we will begin a legitimate slave contract based on the Hero’s Oath!”

***

The Heroes who had completed the contract returned to their rooms with grim faces.

Only Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson remained at the table.

Abelson took a graceful sip of beer and looked at Choi Hyun-seok.

“What are you thinking?”

Abelson, who was asking the question, had the same expressionless face as usual.

He wasn’t exactly pressing Choi Hyun-seok’s actions but seemed to be purely curious about his intentions.

“Just because I was annoyed.”

“…”

“And also to mobilize them in the search for the Demon race. Wouldn’t that be good?”

Choi Hyun-seok didn’t act for any particular great reason.

He just wanted to let the naive senior Heroes know how harsh this world was.

He also wanted to get help in finding the Demon race and have them run errands.

He was planning to use them in many useful ways.

“By the way, it’s become a nuisance.”

Suddenly, Choi Hyun-seok frowned.

“Is something wrong?”

“That woman was the only clue. But her head flew off. Tsk.”

He was referring to Hera, who was attacked by Niccolo earlier.

Abelson nodded as if in agreement.

“Necromancy is extremely dangerous. If my prediction is correct, the woman named Hera is just the beginning.”
“Do you have anything in mind?”
“One of the most important factors in necromancy is said to be the concentration of magical energy in the atmosphere.”

“In that case…”

Choi Hyun-seok’s expression became serious.

Currently, the concentration of magical energy in this village is unusually high.

It would be no coincidence that the Demon race and the Undead appeared in such a village.

“I’m starting to see what that Demon race is aiming for.”
“Yes. It’s clear they’re preparing for large-scale necromancy. The murders of the villagers so far were probably to check the progress of the necromancy.”

The pieces were starting to fit together one by one.

The murder case spanning six months.

The increasing concentration of magical energy.

The Demon race and the Undead hiding their identities.

Everything was connected.

“This is dangerous. Is that necromancy possible on living people as well? Like turning a perfectly healthy person into an Undead.”
“As far as I know, it’s impossible.”
“Then what is he aiming for? Is he going to kill all the villagers and turn them into Undead?”
“The most likely thing is to revive the dead in this land.”

“Ah…”

“Human corpses undergo skeletalization in a few weeks at the shortest, and a few years at the longest. But necromancy can turn even skeletons with intact structures into Undead.”

“…”

“Even if hundreds of years have passed and no bones remain… if the vengeful spirit remains, it can create an evil spirit.”
“So, there are enough Undead materials.”
“Yes. If they’ve prepared this thoroughly, they’ve likely investigated enough and selected the location.”
“Is there any way to stop it with divine power?”

Abelson shook his head.

“I can burn the magical energy in the atmosphere with my divine power, but it’s just a temporary measure. Unless we solve the root cause, magical energy will eventually gather in this village again.”
“So, it’s just buying time.”
“Yes. We need to know how the Demon race is gathering magical energy in the village. We need to know that method.”
“Haa… This is a headache.”

It would be better to have a bloody battle with the Demon race.

An enemy who hides their appearance and does behind-the-scenes work like this was unfamiliar and very difficult.

“First, it would be good to tell the village chief and request help from the lord and the nearby Deusis Church.”
“Would that be okay? Our identities might be revealed.”
“It’s not the time to be picky… If it’s this big of an incident, a large-scale force will definitely be dispatched. When they come, we can naturally slip away.”
“Hmm, I understand.”

It wasn’t the time to be picky.

He couldn’t kill two thousand innocent people just to gain a little experience.

“Let’s proceed that way for now and call it a day.”

“Yes.”

“Then, rest well.”

It was already past 12 AM.

Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson decided to return to their respective rooms.

Tomorrow was going to be busier, so they needed to rest properly.

***

The next day.

The Niccolo Hero Party set out into the forest at the crack of dawn.

It was because of the order Choi Hyun-seok gave.

“You guys search in this direction.”

Choi Hyun-seok instructed them to search, dividing the areas appropriately so that their search ranges did not overlap.

Thanks to this, Niccolo and his colleagues had been wandering around the forest for five hours.

“Damn it! Why do we have to be treated like this!?”
“We signed the Oath. We have no choice but to do as he says.”

The four Heroes, excluding Sangmin, had signed the Oath.

They had no choice but to be absolutely loyal to Choi Hyun-seok.

If they didn’t follow his orders, the magical energy inside them would backfire.

If the magical energy backfired, they would die.

Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they would become bodies that could no longer use magical energy.

If it exceeded a certain level, they might be able to calm the backfire, but it was impossible at least at their level.

“Is there no way to undo this?”
“No. You have to tear up the Oath or wait for the term to end.”
“A year of slave life… Isn’t that too much, no matter what!”

The only fortunate thing was that the Hero’s Oath was not eternal.

After a year, the effect would end, so they would be free after that.

Of course, they had to be alive until then to enjoy freedom, but still.

“Sangmin! You bat-like bastard! You sided with that guy because you’re Korean too!?”

Yakubu grabbed Sangmin by the collar.

“You said it! That guy would forgive us! That he wouldn’t retaliate! Is this the result!?”
“He said he had a generous personality! That guy is just a psychopath!”

The other colleagues joined in and pressed Sangmin.

Sangmin lowered his head and said nothing.

To be honest, he was also upset.

‘If you guys hadn’t picked a fight in the first place, or at least hadn’t tried to kill Choi Hyun-seok, this wouldn’t have happened!’

They were the ones who picked the fight first.

They were the ones who attacked with the intention of killing first.

Still, Choi Hyun-seok at least spared their lives, didn’t he?

In this dog-eat-dog world, this was a kind enough disposition.

That’s what he thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Everyone, stop it.”

Niccolo, the leader of the party, stopped his colleagues.

“It’s not the time for us to fight each other.”
“But Niccolo…!”

“Think if you have a brain! Sangmin is the one that man has some favor with. What are we going to do if we harm Sangmin in this situation?”

Niccolo said irritably.

His tone was aggressive, but he wasn’t wrong.

Harming Sangmin here would only worsen the situation.

Nothing would get better.

“Let’s continue the search for now. We have to somehow please that man. That’s the only way.”

Now he had to calm his colleagues and continue the search.

However, the situation did not go as he wanted.

Ellis stepped forward with a dissatisfied expression.

“Then? What happens after that?”

“…”

“In the end, we’ll be abandoned when we’re no longer useful. He’ll kill us and turn us into experience points!”

Niccolo’s expression twisted.

This was not good.

The position of the leader, which had been absolute until now, was shaking.

Swish…

Niccolo drew his sword.

He glared at Ellis with a cold gaze.

“Just do as I say without talking back.”
“Hmph! What are you going to do if you draw your sword? Are you going to cut me down?”

“If necessary.”

Niccolo had no intention of dying in vain.

He would somehow survive and regain his freedom.

He would cut down everything that hindered his survival.

Even if it was a colleague.

“Crazy bastard… Everyone’s crazy! Everyone’s gone crazy because of that Choi Hyun-seok!”

Ellis screamed hysterically.

“I’m going. Stop me if you can. Try killing me!”

Ellis turned around and started walking away.

“Ellis! No!”

“Don’t hold me back! I’ll take care of my own life…”

Ellis, who was trying to pioneer her own life, couldn’t finish her words.

Thud-!

Something pierced Ellis’s chest and came out.

She lowered her head to check what it was.

“Huh…?”

A dark gray skin.

A hand that was not human was piercing through her chest.

“Shit…”

The gray hand had her heart, presumably hers, beating in it.