Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 240

Choi Hyun-seok ran at full speed, fleeing the battlefield.

In just a few minutes, he moved tens of kilometers away. Soon, he stopped, judging that he was no longer being pursued.

Perhaps because he had been running at full power for a short time, sweat streamed down his forehead.

“Whew, it’s been a while since I ran this hard.”

He wiped the sweat from the back of his hand with a refreshed expression.

Rahel, who was perched on his shoulder, wore a displeased expression.

“Hero! Running away like a rat! Why did you do that!?”
“What if I didn’t run away? Should I have stayed there and fought three legends and died?”
“That’s not it, but…”

She still seemed to have complaints, hesitating slightly. It was clear she was still caught up in teasing Kinley from just a moment ago.

Choi Hyun-seok sighed and explained.

“I told you from the start. This attack is like a test, to see how much I’ve grown and how strong the enemy is.”
“Umm, is that really necessary?”
“It’s been so long since I came out. I need time to adapt. I’ll go through this process a few more times in the future.”

Choi Hyun-seok had been holed up in the Isilius Desert for the past six months.

It was to fully absorb the power that Sara Dunphy had left behind.

The process was not easy at all.

It took three months to absorb Sara Dunphy’s magic power and make it his own.

It took another two months to stabilize the absorbed power.

The last month was spent training to adapt to his enhanced body while simultaneously finalizing the stabilization.

“I really can’t do that again.”

Just thinking about it still made him shudder.

A precarious tightrope walk where he crossed the line between life and death several times.

If Rahel hadn’t been there to help, he really would have died.

After going through such a harsh ordeal, he naturally became curious about Park Hyun-ah’s well-being.

‘I wonder if Hyun-ah is okay. She wasn’t fully recovered when I left, but she must be by now, right?’

The process of Choi Hyun-seok gaining power was similar to that of Park Hyun-ah: expanding and stabilizing the vessel for containing magic power and mana in a short period.

Park Hyun-ah alone demonstrated how difficult and challenging this process was.

At the time, Park Hyun-ah would have died without Sara Dunphy’s help.

Fortunately, even after surviving, it took her a very long time to make the new power her own.

However, Choi Hyun-seok’s difficulty level was much higher than Park Hyun-ah’s.

Since he transformed his vessel with someone else’s magic power, not his own like Park Hyun-ah, the impact was even greater.

Sara Dunphy, who could give detailed advice from the side, was also absent.

If he didn’t have a special constitution, he probably would have died several times.

“Hero. Why are you making such a serious face again? It’s all good in the end, isn’t it!”
“Well, I guess so.”

Anyway, Choi Hyun-seok passed all the trials and achieved his goal.

He absorbed the power with minimal waste, made it completely his own, and completed the training to adapt to his suddenly enhanced body.

As a result, Choi Hyun-seok’s combat power had risen to an incomparable level.

▫Name: Choi Hyun-seok

▫Title: Legendary Hero

▫Level: 1249

·Strength: 486

·Agility: 486

·Stamina: 488

·Mana: 632

·Charisma: 133

·Fighting Spirit: 156

His level remained the same, but his stats had grown significantly compared to before.

Strength, agility, and stamina each increased by more than 50 points, and mana increased by more than 100 points.

Perhaps because he had suffered a lot, his fighting spirit had also risen considerably, surpassing his charisma before he knew it.

“I wonder how much combat power I have now.”
“Well, it was unmeasurable when I checked before. Wouldn’t it be at least in the mid-600,000s?”

The measurement limit of the combat power measuring device that Choi Hyun-seok had was 600,000.

Currently, Choi Hyun-seok’s power was beyond the measurement limit of 600,000.

Since he continued to grow even after that, it was estimated that his combat power would be in the mid-600,000s, although the exact number was unknown.

“I’m tired, maybe because I ran with a purpose for the first time in a while. Let’s get ready for camping soon.”

“Okay~”

After that, Choi Hyun-seok moved into the forest and found a small cave.

He was planning to light a fire here and spend the night.

It’s okay to not sleep for a day or so, but it’s good to rest whenever you have time.

Especially when the body’s condition is not 100% like now, the importance of rest increases even more.

“Uwuung… Hero. Why are you eating this when we came to the forest? We should hunt and eat meat.”

Rahel rummaged through the hero shop lunch box with a sulky expression. [The hero shop lunch box has been in charge of meals for the past 6 months.]

She looked like she wanted to eat something else, but no way.

“He who does not work shall not eat. Be grateful for what you’re given. If you’re not happy, go get the meat yourself.”

“Tch.”

“And this is delicious in its own way.”

If you had to compare it, it’s about the quality of a convenience store lunch box on Earth.

It’s not that great, but Choi Hyun-seok personally thought it was not bad.

“By the way, Hero.”

“What.”

“Aren’t you going back to that fox?”

In the middle of eating, Rahel asked another strange question.

Choi Hyun-seok thought for a moment at the word fox and soon remembered something.

“Are you talking about Abelson?”

“Yes.”

“Well… I don’t think I need to go back.”
“You can at least contact her. Don’t you want to, Hero?”

Choi Hyun-seok chuckled.

Rahel is right.

Even now, there is a communication channel connected to Abelson available to him.

To be honest, he wants to contact her right away.

But he won’t contact her.

He never answered the calls that came all the time for the past six months.

Even now, if he activates the communication channel from this side, he will get a response soon, but he has no intention of doing so.

Choi Hyun-seok put the communication channel back into his inventory.

“I can’t believe you’re being so considerate. That’s unexpected.”
“I just thought it wasn’t like you, Hero.”

“What’s like me?”

“Looking for women?”

“Do you want to die?”

“The truth will always prevail.”

Rahel sneaked to one side of the cave.

Choi Hyun-seok, who was about to get up and chase her, lay back down on the floor out of annoyance.

Looking up at the cave ceiling, he opened his mouth.

“Yeah. To be honest, I want to contact her. But I won’t.”

“Why?”

“If I contact her, Abelson will try to help me. Of course, I’ll want to see her more too.”
“Then you can meet her.”

“No.”

Choi Hyun-seok shook his head.

His eyes contained a seriousness that was hard to see usually.

“From now on, I have to fight Gatren in earnest. In this situation, Abelson will only be a burden.”

A burden.

He used more aggressive words on purpose.

Because that way, his heart would be stronger.

“If I’m not careful, I might end up following the same path as Sara.”

In the end, these were Choi Hyun-seok’s true feelings: that the Mariette Kingdom might be in crisis again because of him.

So he will not cooperate with Abelson.

There will be many inconveniences in life, and it will be difficult to obtain information, but it’s okay.

If necessary, he can ask Olaven Grimiere of the Drasen Empire for help.

“From now on, we will thoroughly harass Gatren with a small elite force and hit-and-run tactics.”

It’s over being only attacked.

Now it’s our turn to harass them.

To do that, we must first have nothing to protect.

Because a guy who plans for the future can never beat a crazy guy who only lives for today.

***

Gratiaem, the capital of the Holy Gatren Empire.

Pope Orban IV frowned at the news in the emergency report.

Anything with the word “emergency” attached to it was bound to be bad news.

“Hmm…”

The report was, as expected, the worst.

He let out a small sigh.

“This is troublesome. Park Hyun-ah alone is a headache, but now Choi Hyun-seok has appeared.”

Choi Hyun-seok is back.

He had a short battle with the legend Kinley Fusel, and as a result, there were many casualties.

The estimated force is on par with Kinley, or more.

“In the end, the situation we feared has occurred.”

The Pope had been watching Choi Hyun-seok from quite early on, because he knew the dangers of the hero better than anyone else.

It was only natural that Choi Hyun-seok, who was growing much faster than a normal hero, was on his mind.

Of course, even so, at the time, he was just a mayfly that would die if he waved his hand once.

The Pope always tried to eliminate Choi Hyun-seok, even by investing excessive force.

Was it using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken?

Even though he knew that his subordinates would be dissatisfied, he couldn’t just leave Choi Hyun-seok alone, so he tried to get rid of him no matter what.

“I did… Hooo.”

But all that was in vain.

Those who confidently guaranteed that they could kill Choi Hyun-seok all returned to nature without even having a coffin.

Choi Hyun-seok, who grew up using them as nourishment, has now grown to the point where even the Pope can’t handle him.

“It’s the worst. The worst…”

The Pope closed his eyes and leaned back against the backrest.

“Perhaps Sara Dunphy may also be alive.”

If Choi Hyun-seok is back, there is a possibility that Sara Dunphy is alive.

Since the two were originally companions, they may have hidden together.

Fortunately, they didn’t show up together this time.

“Anyway, Park Hyun-ah, Choi Hyun-seok, and even Sara Dunphy. This is a big deal… a big deal…”

The Pope slowly opened his eyes.

He was groaning with his mouth, but a blue eerie energy was rising from his eyes.

“From now on, I order the entire army to be in a constant state of combat readiness. Also, I forbid the legends and cardinals from acting alone. From now on, tell them to move together with at least three people.”

“I understand.”

“And… we must prepare for the worst.”
“What do you mean by the worst…?”

The cardinal, who was recording the Pope’s orders, raised his head, wanting to know exactly what the Pope was talking about.

“The Empire’s Devotion [A forbidden plan]. I know the preparation work was completed years ago, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes…”

“Then prepare it so that it can be activated at any time.”

The cardinal rolled his eyes around.

He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

The Pope’s eyes became sharper.

“Can’t you hear me?”
“Ah, I’m sorry! Your Holiness!”
“The Empire’s Devotion. I said to prepare it so that it can be used at any time.”

“Yes!”

“Then go.”

The cardinal bowed his head and hurriedly retreated.

The Pope’s last order, ‘The Empire’s Devotion’, kept lingering in his head.

‘That shouldn’t happen… This is…’

This is something that should never happen.

Even if it’s the Pope’s order, it’s something he can’t follow.

He was going to quietly cover it up.

‘Anyway, His Holiness the Pope is just saying that… Yes. That’s for sure.’

The Pope would not be thinking of putting that forbidden plan into action either.

He just said those words because he couldn’t overcome his anger.

Yes. That order is a slip of the tongue, he thought.

But there was something the cardinal didn’t know.

‘The Empire’s Devotion’, whose planner was unknown, was actually the brainchild of Pope Orban IV.

And the fact that he was the one who completed all the preparations and plans from the beginning.

Of course, the Pope was not a fool who would make and prepare a plan that he would not use.

“Hmph.”

The Pope frowned as he looked at the departing cardinal.

“Lord Obriel.”

“Yes.”

Kuan Obriel, the leader of the Hounds [A secret organization].

The Hounds, which are now virtually defunct, were actually working hard to manage the inside of the Empire.

“It seems that you will have to move yourself. Do you know what I mean?”

“Of course.”

Kuan Obriel has been eating crow [admitting a mistake] for over 30 years.

He can understand the Pope’s orders just by looking at his eyes.

He bowed deeply and said.

“The Empire’s Devotion. I will make perfect preparations so that it can be activated at any time.”