WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Seven-Time Hero Goes Live ◈
Chapter 21: Big Hand (3)
──────
When Jun-il went underground, there were children tied up there, just as he expected.
“Ha... Seriously.”
Dark Mage bastards always strengthened themselves the same way.
Through the suffering of the weakest victims.
“M-mister! Please save us! Please!”
In an instant, he snapped every chain.
Clang. Clang.
“Kids, where are your parents...”
“Waaaaah... Waaaaah!”
They suddenly burst into tears.
He could not bring himself to ask any more.
- Damn...
- ㅠㅠㅠ
- Shit.
- Wow, there were kids here too.
- L4GS's deduction skills are insane.
- He's the one who saved them.
“Come on. Hop on.”
Jun-il carried the children who could not walk or were too small. He let the ones who could run go ahead.
The children raced away with all their strength the moment their chains came off.
Tap tap tap tap!
“Don't get too far ahead!”
Holding around four children, Jun-il followed after them.
Ding.
[VIP Rescue Successful!]
* * *
Human attention was like currency. Once people poured it into one thing, they had little interest left for anything else.
When several similar things happened, they stopped being interesting.
‘Selection and focus.’
Reporters understood that principle very well.
‘I can't turn every rescue scene here into an article.’
The rescue work at this scene?
It all mattered.
But in the end, only one photograph would draw attention.
‘This one.’
The shot with the man in the cat mask.
Do Ju-hye replayed the footage and gasped.
“Wow. This is incredible.”
The image of him emerging with children in his arms, a burning village behind him, was straight out of a superhero story.
“What kind of person wears a mask, too?”
The air of mystery surrounding the mask even made him seem unreal.
It was enough to make her wonder whether there could be a bigger scoop than this.
‘Maybe this is the birth of a hero.’
The world had become dangerous.
A strange energy had suddenly spread, cutting off all contact with foreign countries.
Quests appeared, monsters emerged.
Goblins caused casualties every day, while some people were enthusiastically hunting them to level up.
Everyone wanted a hero.
Someone with overwhelming abilities who would kill monsters and protect civilians.
‘Could that person be him?’
She did not know whether he would become that hero.
But Do Ju-hye was certain of one thing.
‘The photo certainly makes him look like one.’
At this very moment, this photograph was exactly what every citizen wanted to see.
‘I'll follow him.’
Whoosh!
With the nimble movements characteristic of a Thief, she followed the masked man.
‘I should at least try talking to him.’
If she could get acquainted with him as a reporter, other scoops would be as good as hers.
‘A promotioooon...!’
She could practically see it.
* * *
After rescuing the children and coming outside, Jun-il found that most of the goblins had been cleared out.
‘Did that Kang Hae-il guy wipe them all out?’
Click.
Jun-il smacked his lips, looking somewhat disappointed.
‘I need to level up too.’
[Main Quest #1]
==== ====
Reach Lv.10 within 72 hours!
On failure: Awakening Revoked
On success: Random Item awarded
==== ====
[Time Remaining: 32:38:13]
He was still only Level 4.
Naturally, leveling became harder as one's level increased. Getting to Level 10 might leave him short on time.
That bizarre system, where lower Ranks had worse experience efficiency, put him at an even greater disadvantage.
‘Should I at least kill a few?’
Jun-il hesitated for a moment.
‘And I cleared the Hidden Quest, but I haven't even gotten a reward.’
He did not even know what reward a Hidden Quest would give.
Wasn't a Hidden Quest something that did not matter whether he cleared it or not?
This Main Quest, on the other hand, meant effective disqualification if he failed it.
There would be a huge difference between being an F-Rank and not being an Awakener at all.
He would no longer even be able to participate in clearing quests or leveling.
Then one of the children tugged on Jun-il's pants pocket.
“Um... M-mister... Thank you.”
The child had a runny nose.
They were quite young and wore glasses.
Broken glasses, though.
“What are you thanking me for?”
Jun-il muttered while awkwardly turning his head away.
“Yeah, well, killing a few goblins wouldn't level me up anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
“Um... Where are we going? Are there no more goblins now?”
A bright-looking little girl beside him asked.
There were certainly no goblins in sight anymore.
Perhaps because of that brute's fire fists, scorch marks covered the streets.
“Yeah. I think so. There are lots of other Awakeners here too. We should be fine if we just leave.”
“Go where?”
“...”
Jun-il could not answer.
It was not because he did not know.
He knew very well where children who had lost their parents went.
That was why the words would not come out.
“Mister, why are you wearing a mask? Are you some kind of hero?”
“Isn't it cosplay?”
“Maybe?”
That was even harder to answer.
‘Damn it.’
- Cosplay? Hahahaha.
- Hahaha, the mask.
- Cringe death.
- Even the kids think it's weird.
While Jun-il was at a loss, someone suddenly dropped down from a roof.
Thump!
“Kids? Come with me to the police station. The police officers will help you from now on.”
The children jumped back in surprise.
She looked entirely harmless, just a woman with a round, gentle face.
They were only startled because she had suddenly fallen from the sky.
Jun-il was the only one who did not react.
‘She's been watching from the roof for a while. Who is she?’
He had already noticed her presence.
But only now that she was close could he make out what she was.
‘A camera?’
Instead of a weapon, a huge camera was strapped to her back.
‘What... Is that camera some kind of Awakened Weapon?’
That was only natural for a Hero on his seventh run.
Having lived as a medieval person for so long, it was not easy for him to imagine a reporter carrying a camera and writing articles here.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, the woman introduced herself.
“Ah. I'm a reporter. I took photos of Mr. Mask's heroics earlier. I'll help guide the children.”
She held out a business card.
“Ah, a reporter...”
Jun-il looked down at it and thought.
More than the fact that she was a reporter, the business card itself troubled him.
‘What is this? Is she flirting with me?’
Had he not been burned too many times during his days as a Hero?
He casually pushed the card away.
He was refusing to take it.
“??”
The reporter looked a little flustered.
“Ah... I have a business card allergy.”
“...Did you get fired from your company?”
“Well, something like that.”
- Hahahahahahahaha.
- What is this now? Hahaha.
- He's allergic to women.
- Jun-il, you gay bastard...
- What kind of allergy is that? Hahaha.
“Please just take it. I'm interested in you, Mr. Mask.”
She had meant it as an opening for an interview.
But that was Do Ju-hye's mistake.
She had set off Jun-il's trigger.
‘Interested? Is she crazy?’
What kind of outrageous thing was that to say?
Jun-il's face turned red as he shouted.
“I said no!”
“?”
Not just the reporter, but the children turned around in surprise.
- ?
- ???
- What? Hahahaha.
- Is it really that bad?
- Does he die if he touches a woman?
- What the hell is his problem? Hahaha.
“R-right. Okay. Calm down. You don't have to take the business card.”
“Ahem. Let's go to the police station.”
* * *
After they handed all the children over at the police station, the masked man stubbornly refused the business card.
Oddly enough, though, he seemed to love having his photo taken.
Click!
“One more time!”
“Yes!”
Click!
He happily posed for photo after photo.
Then he kept asking.
“The article is going out, right?”
“...Yes. I told you it is. Why do you keep asking?”
Why was someone who could not even accept a business card so interested in this?
“Big and bold?”
“Yes. At this point, it'll be on the front page.”
“Whew.”
“...?”
What kind of person was he?
Do Ju-hye was curious about what lay behind the man's mask.
‘Could he be dangerous?’
He had suddenly shouted earlier, and he was an extremely strange person.
His temperament was strange, but his abilities as an Awakener were excellent.
That meant he was genuinely dangerous.
If he wanted to, dealing with a D-Rank Awakener like Do Ju-hye would be effortless.
She should just keep her distance.
‘No. Still... I'm a reporter!’
That would be true for an ordinary person.
But Do Ju-hye made one final attempt at professionalism.
“E-excuse me!”
She tried to at least ask his name.
“?”
“Y-you won't tell me your name... will you?”
Her voice shrank for no reason.
“Not my name.”
‘As expected, he won't.’
She naturally thought that, but then she somehow felt as though the cat inside the mask was grinning brightly.
Then...
‘Huh?’
He struck a strange pose.
‘That crazy bastard.’
Do Ju-hye had to be extremely careful not to let those words slip out as she backed away.
“Could you introduce me as the Line 4 Goblin Slayer...?”
- Is he the Joker or something? Hahaha, holy shit.
- ? Hahahahahahahahahaha.
- Why is this guy like this? Is something wrong with him?
- This is all the bastard was waiting for...
- He seriously seems insane.
- Apparently getting F-Rank hit his head pretty hard, please delete this post.
The Constellations reacted with disgust.
But the reporter was different.
The expression on her face, which had been ready to curse him out just moments ago, changed completely.
“Wait. A-are you really that... L4GS?!”
* * *
“Whew.”
Jun-il returned home, threw himself onto his bed, and muttered.
“I'm fucking exhausted.”
It was good that he could use Yulian's strength, but his body did not seem able to handle it well.
Even using it a little left him overwhelmed with fatigue.
‘Still, I got more famous today.’
His time in action had been short, but Jun-il felt he had achieved something.
It was no longer the legacy media or press of the past.
Still, there was a world of difference between going viral on a community site and getting covered by the news.
He would become tremendously famous.
Of course, the mask would make it difficult for Constellations to find him.
Since he was not the protagonist, ninety percent of them had no great interest in him and only watched casually anyway.
‘Still, some of them will come looking.’
There were always people who looked deeply into the Story setting.
They would recognize Jun-il.
So the number of Constellations would rise, even if only little by little.
‘Being famous is good, but I need to level up. What do I do?’
Jun-il was already exhausted.
He must have used a great deal of energy fighting the Dark Mage and Kang Hae-il one after another.
Just as his eyes began to drift shut...
Krrrrshhh.
A burst of static sounded.
“?”
[Hidden Quest Reward Will Be Awarded!]
A notification appeared.
‘Ah...’
Right. He still needed to receive his Hidden Quest reward.
‘Huh?’
Then cold sweat suddenly ran down Jun-il's back.
‘Wait, this... It's giving it to me now?’
His eyes turned to the chat window.
- What, is he sleeping again?
- He sleeps all the damn time. Hahaha.
- Is this a sleep stream?
- I guess he needs recharge time because he's strong.
- He's like a famous restaurant that only serves lunch~
The Constellations knew absolutely nothing about the Hidden Quest.
‘Can I receive the reward without them noticing?’
If it was experience, he would level up while lying down.
Could that even happen?
‘Is it not experience?’
It would be fortunate if he could receive it without the Constellations knowing.
But if not?
They would find it far too strange.
Constellations left quickly whenever they sensed something was off.
He knew that very well from his experience over the past seven runs.
That was why Fairies never interfered with the protagonist except under extraordinary circumstances.
Gulp.
He needed a reward they could not notice.
Ta-da!
[Experience +4,380]
“!”
Damn it.
It was experience.
And a huge amount of it.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
His level rose by a full five stages.
[Lv.4 -> Lv.9]
He had reached Level 9 while lying in bed.
There could not be a more obvious bug from the Constellations' perspective.
‘What... is going to happen now?’
Jun-il's eyes trembled.
- ?
- Huh?
- Eh?
Question marks began to fill the chat.
Then he saw something astonishing.
- Wow, hahaha, Big Spender hyung is here.
- Oh, holy shit.
- Wow, that's insane.
- Seeing those kids rescued moved me, so I sent a little something before I go^^
- Congrats, congrats, congrats.
- (Big Spender praise emote)
- Thank you, hyung.
- Going this far for someone so pathetic...
- Such an honored guest in this lowly place.
‘A Big Spender?’
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