Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 71

Choi Hyun-seok usually viewed his situation pessimistically.

It was only natural.

After all, he was human.

And this was the Demon King’s army, swarming with demons who treated humans like lunch boxes.

It would be impossible to view this situation positively without having a few screws loose.

But at this very moment.

Choi Hyun-seok felt infinitely grateful for his circumstances.

‘It’s much better here than going under that psycho.’

He would refuse to go under Park Hyun-ah even if it meant death.

Some might think this.

Why he disliked it so much.

Wouldn’t it be better to be with a fellow Korean than a monster with a mouth that stretched for meters?

I can say with certainty that it was not.

Solidarity as a fellow Korean? Common ground?

There was not even an ant’s fart worth [a negligible amount].

At least with Hemis, he could understand that she was obsessed with ‘fun’.

Park Hyun-ah was just crazy.

That’s why Choi Hyun-seok absolutely did not want to go under Park Hyun-ah.

“Hey. Do you hate going with me that much?”

“…”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Park Hyun-ah glared sharply.

It felt like he would be cut by her gaze.

Still, Choi Hyun-seok decided to say what he had to say.

Surely she wouldn’t really kill him.

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you want to die?”

“I’m sorry.”

Choi Hyun-seok quickly bent his waist 90 degrees.

It felt like he would really die, no joke.

The force emanating from her was so rough that it was hard to believe it was magic power.

Magic power rougher than demonic energy.

Anyone who heard it would laugh, calling it a boring joke.

“Forget it. Anyway, it wouldn’t have worked even if you wanted to go. That loudmouth wouldn’t let you, anyway.”

“Haha…”

“But it pisses me off. Are you saying you hate me more than the loudmouth?”

“No! Not at all! Of course, I want to go, but I thought Hemis would hate it…”

“So you’re saying the loudmouth is scarier than me? Do you think I’m a pushover? Do you want to die?”

He had fallen into an infinite loop.

No way out was visible anywhere.

In this hellish moment.

Choi Hyun-seok suddenly had a strange thought.

How fortunate it was that women in South Korea didn’t have to serve in the military [mandatory military service is for men only in South Korea].

If Park Hyun-ah had gone to the military, there would have been a mass of soldiers committing suicide or deserting.

“Tsk, when I was in the army, I wouldn’t have let a guy like you even breathe. You better be grateful, you punk.”

He thought her skills at tormenting people were extraordinary, so she must have been from the military.

Indeed, the military is a group that should disappear.

Choi Hyun-seok mourned for the soldiers who had suffered under her.

“Just one question.”

Then Park Hyun-ah changed the atmosphere and asked seriously.

She looked so serious, as if all the tormenting she had done so far was a lie.

Choi Hyun-seok waited for her next words, feeling nervous at the sudden change.

“What will you do if you survive here?”

It was an unexpected question.

Choi Hyun-seok paused for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Are you talking about after leaving the Demon King’s army?”

“That’s right. You’re not going to stay under the loudmouth until you die, are you?”

“That’s…”

“Let’s be honest. I’m in a similar situation anyway. Do you think I would tell the loudmouth about this?”

It didn’t seem like she would.

Just from the atmosphere, he could tell that Hemis and Park Hyun-ah were not on good terms.

Park Hyun-ah scratched her head and opened her mouth.

“Just tell me comfortably. What’s your goal? Your original goal wasn’t to be stuck in the Demon King’s army, was it?”

Choi Hyun-seok pondered.

What was his goal?

Right now, he was just trying to survive, but originally, he had dreams too.

‘An adventure unfolding in another world. And…’

Choi Hyun-seok listed the things he used to say like a habit.

“Dating a blonde noble lady and marrying her. Having about five children like rabbits [having many children]. In my old age, watching my grandchildren running around in a mansion is my dream.”

“Huh…?”

“Ah, for reference, it doesn’t have to be blonde, silver hair is fine too. After coming here, I realized that silver hair is also very pretty.”

“Okay… that’s a good goal…”

For the first time, embarrassment flashed across Park Hyun-ah’s face.

After being frozen for a moment, she returned to her original sharp expression and continued.

“Then have you ever thought about what you need to do to achieve your goal?”

What you need to do to achieve your goal.

It was a commonplace and obvious story.

First, survive.

And then, get stronger.

There was nothing else he could do right now.

Park Hyun-ah nodded after hearing Choi Hyun-seok’s answer.

“That’s right. It seems like you’ve been practicing well so far. But things will be different from now on.”

“Is something changing?”

“Yes. The world that had stopped has started moving again. Change has begun.”

“…”

“And you are already at the center of that turmoil, whether you like it or not. A storm will rage around this Black Fortress from now on.”

Park Hyun-ah stared at the empty air with sharp eyes.

He didn’t know what she was seeing or why she was saying these things.

Choi Hyun-seok nodded, feeling weighed down by the weight of her words.

It wasn’t an atmosphere where he could easily say something, but Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t help but ask.

“Then what should I do?”

“You need to get stronger. Don’t be complacent with your current growth.”

“…”

“I’ve already heard that you’ve gotten stronger in a short period of time. But that’s not enough. There’s no time.”

Park Hyun-ah pressed her finger against Choi Hyun-seok’s chest.

“To survive in the future. To achieve the dream you want, you have to become strong enough to not lose to the loudmouth.”

Choi Hyun-seok let out a groan.

Become strong enough to not lose to Hemis.

Would that day ever come?

It was too distant of a story for now.

“Well, I’m only saying this because I see potential in you. If you had enough time, you could become much stronger than me.”

“Ah… thank you.”

“Don’t be too happy. It’s only a story about when you don’t fall behind. To be honest, it seems like there’s an eighty percent chance you’ll die, but I came to tell you to do your best anyway.”

It seemed like some kind of encouragement, but the person receiving it didn’t know if it was encouragement or a curse.

Park Hyun-ah got up from her seat and patted her butt.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yeah. Let’s see each other again if possible.”

She waved her hand as she returned the way she came.

For some reason, her back looked a little bitter and lonely.

***

After that day, Park Hyun-ah did not visit.

Choi Hyun-seok, who had been inwardly afraid that she would visit every day, was relieved and able to concentrate on training.

“Hoo! Hah!”

Choi Hyun-seok was dripping with sweat as he devoted himself to training.

There was only one day left until the final survival match of the tournament.

He couldn’t waste even a moment.

Paang! Pang!

Every time Choi Hyun-seok’s hands and feet stretched out, a purple aura was fired.

It was a technique that used both demonic energy and magic power together.

A purple aura that no one had ever possessed before.

Choi Hyun-seok decided to call this power Primal Demonic Energy.

Rachel was curious as to why he had given it such a name.

“Why Primal Demonic Energy of all things?”

“There’s no real reason. I just wanted to call it that.”

“Tch, is it okay to name an important technique so haphazardly?”

“What does it matter? In the first place, magic power and demonic energy are completely different, but they use the same demon (魔) character [referring to the Chinese character for ‘demon’ which is used in both terms].”

“Ah, is that so…?”

“Well, I don’t know if the other world translation is wrong or if there’s another reason, but does it matter? Anyway, you can just call it whatever you want.”

“I guess so…”

“And since you asked, doesn’t Primal Demonic Energy sound cool? It feels like a mysterious power!”

Choi Hyun-seok had a look full of anticipation.

To be honest, he had been agonizing over this name for days.

“A cool name… a stylish name…!”

That’s how Primal Demonic Energy came to be.

He wanted Rachel to make a fuss as usual and tell him it was a really cool name, but…

“Not really.”

“Really…?”

“To be honest, I think it’s a bit lame. It sounds like a cult name? Our cult uses Primal Demonic Energy to… the truth of the world…!”

“Okay, stop it.”

Choi Hyun-seok’s mouth poked out a little.

Paang! Pang!

Choi Hyun-seok’s movements during training became more forceful.

‘Primal Demonic Energy… it’s just cool…!’

Anyway, after that, Choi Hyun-seok focused on mastering Primal Demonic Energy.

This is because all of the main techniques he uses utilize Primal Demonic Energy.

It was inevitable because it directly affected not only the Demonic Explosion, which showed the strongest power, but also the Fighting Spirit Nobelays.

As a result.

Choi Hyun-seok was able to achieve results that were hard to believe were from only ten days of training.

[Ability: Demonic Explosion (E)]

The technique that Choi Hyun-seok named Demonic Explosion was officially registered as an ability.

It was initially F-rank, but the rank rose to E-rank yesterday.

Thanks to this, he was able to reduce the burden of using Demonic Explosion and exert stronger power.

‘It’s not just this. As Primal Demonic Energy and Demonic Explosion became more proficient, the proficiency of Fighting Spirit also increased.’

The mastery of Primal Demonic Energy did not stop at handling Demonic Explosion.

First, the proficiency of the ‘Raid-Run Style Martial Arts Transformation’, which is the core of Demonic Explosion, greatly increased.

The proficiency of Fighting Spirit Nobelays also increased considerably.

Considering that the proficiency of Fighting Spirit rarely increases, it was an encouraging achievement.

‘I’ve also created an additional incomplete Fighting Spirit form, so I’ve definitely grown.’

In summary, his overall combat skills have greatly improved.

Although his combat power was 28,000, which was not particularly different from before.

It was enough since his Fighting Spirit and abilities had become stronger.

Choi Hyun-seok was confident.

The current him was much stronger than before.

“Shall we stop here for today?”

“Yes! The game starts tomorrow, so it’s not good to overdo it too much.”

“That’s right. Rest is also part of training.”

Late evening.

He said he was resting, but Choi Hyun-seok spent his time meditating.

It was to handle Primal Demonic Energy even better.

When he meditated and felt the demonic energy and magic power, he felt like he could handle them more comfortably than before.

As time passed.

The next morning.

Choi Hyun-seok woke up with a clear mind.

“Bobo. Take good care of the house.”

“Heop, heop!”

He greeted Bobo as he left the door.

He was concerned that he hadn’t been able to spend time with Bobo recently, but it couldn’t be helped.

He had been so busy that he couldn’t afford to play with Bobo leisurely.

“Let’s go for a walk together when this is over.”

“Kwang!”

“Oh! You cute little thing!”

Bobo barked loudly as if he understood.

Choi Hyun-seok roughly stroked Bobo’s head.

Somehow, it felt like his head had gotten a lot bigger than before.

“Then I’m really going!”

After leaving the house.

Choi Hyun-seok headed to the ‘Space Movement Gate’ inside the Black Fortress.

The Space Movement Gate was a device with teleport magic built in.

If you set the desired coordinates, you can move to another gate.

Currently, this gate is connected to Inemosit, hundreds of kilometers away.

It was connected to the Land of Monsters.

‘For once, the lip monster came out herself.’

Twenty-four demons, including Choi Hyun-seok, stood in front of the Space Movement Gate.

When he raised his head, he saw Hemis standing on the platform.

All that was on her face was a huge lip.

For some reason, Choi Hyun-seok felt like Hemis was looking at him.

Finally, Hemis parted her lips.

“Personally, Choi Hyun-seok. I have high expectations for you. You know that, right?”

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.

To single him out and say she had expectations for him in a place where all the participants were gathered.

Anyone could see that this was a way to screw him over.

As if enjoying Choi Hyun-seok’s reaction, Hemis continued with a smiling voice.

“Choi Hyun-seok is from the Hero, so these kinds of trials will be no problem, right?”

“…”

“Well then. Good luck, everyone!”

That was the end of it.

Hemis turned around without looking back and returned to her office.

Choi Hyun-seok quietly sighed.

‘Ha, why are you really doing this to me…’

There was no need to check the reactions of the other participants.

The intense gazes and overflowing demonic energy made his skin tingle.

The participants glared at Choi Hyun-seok as if they were about to tear him apart and kill him right away.

If you could kill someone with your eyes, he would have died hundreds of times.

In the midst of the blazing gazes, Choi Hyun-seok scratched his head and stood in front of the Space Movement Gate.

Rachel carefully whispered in his ear.

“Hero. What should we do?”

“I don’t know anymore. It’s not like it’s been just a day or two [this has been happening for a while].”

Choi Hyun-seok clenched his fist and shouted loudly.

“Let them all come in! I’ll smash them all!”

“Oh! Good spirit!”

He didn’t know it yet.

Whether they would really all come in.