Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad

Hyun-seok left the castle with the cook soldiers.

Their destination was a vast forest located behind the 3rd Corps headquarters.

“I wonder if Bobo is okay…”

Currently, Bobo was left behind in the kitchen.

This was because Head Chef Kulkan had opposed bringing Bobo along.

“Lord Bobo cannot come with us.”

“What? Why not?”

“If Lord Bobo comes, the magical beasts will run away and we won’t be able to hunt.”

Hyun-seok had no choice.

‘Bobo, please don’t cause any trouble. Please…!’

He wasn’t worried about Bobo getting hurt.

Given how widely rumors about Bobo and Hyun-seok had spread, no one would be crazy enough to mess with Bobo.

He was just worried that Bobo might go somewhere and eat a Demon King’s Army executive…

That was his biggest concern.

‘By the way, how far are we going?’

Hyun-seok looked around.

It was quite a dense forest.

They seemed to have walked for about thirty minutes since leaving the castle, but they still hadn’t reached their destination.

At that moment, something flashed through Hyun-seok’s mind.

‘Wait a minute… Couldn’t this be my chance to escape?’

The situation was perfect.

A forest good for hiding.

There were no troublemakers here.

No lip monster that gave him chills just by looking at it.

No bull-head that could turn knights into a bloody pulp with one punch.

No giant dog that treated the Demon King’s Army like snacks.

There were the cook soldiers who were big and looked a bit stupid, but…

Compared to the threats he’d faced until now, they were nothing to worry about.

‘A perfect opportunity to escape from the Demon Army! Heaven hasn’t abandoned me after all!’

First, he would focus on getting out of here.

Then he would seek Rachel’s advice about getting to the human world.

That path would surely be difficult, but it didn’t matter.

It would still be 100 times safer than being stuck in this insane Demon King’s Army world.

He would move as soon as he saw an opening.

Hyun-seok’s eyes began to sparkle.

Just then, one of the cook soldiers shouted.

“Boilder ahead!”

‘Boilder? What’s that?’

Hyun-seok’s question was quickly answered.

“Queeeeeek!”

It had a similar appearance to a wild boar.

The difference was that it was as big as a decent-sized elephant.

‘Crazy… They’re going to hunt that thing?’

Even a normal wild boar could be lethal if it charged properly.

But this magical beast called a Boilder was as big as an elephant.

‘If it hits you, there won’t be enough bones left to collect.’

More precisely, you’d become meat paste.

It was obvious that if something like that rammed into you, your body would become a flat dumpling.

But the cook soldiers were brave.

“This is tonight’s dinner!”

“Let’s slice it up!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

The cook soldiers charged at the Boilder with their huge kitchen knives, shouting battle cries.

“Grrrr, puhung!”

The Boilder snorted loudly and charged back at the cook soldiers.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every time the Boilder stepped, the ground shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Stop!”

At that moment, one cook soldier bravely stood in front of the Boilder.

‘Oh… Is he going to show us something?’

Hyun-seok’s eyes lit up.

Standing alone against a house-sized wild boar.

You couldn’t do that unless you were crazy.

Hyun-seok expected the brave cook soldier to possess some incredible power like a raid launcher.

Boom!

“Aaaaargh!”

The cook soldier flew through the air.

With that short death cry, he seemed to have ended his life.

“That thing killed Morgan!”

“Let’s avenge Morgan!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

The cook soldiers charged at the Boilder with battle cries.

They looked like moths flying into a fire pit.

Hyun-seok held his forehead and sighed.

“Haah…”

Unlike his expectations, the cook soldiers didn’t possess any special abilities.

They were just recklessly stupid.

Boom!

“Urgh!”

A head gets crushed under the Boilder’s front legs.

Boom!

“Gak!”

Another becomes meat paste and flies through the air from a back kick.

‘What the hell is this…’

Hyun-seok’s eyeballs shook frantically.

He had only come to gather ingredients for the kitchen.

He definitely hadn’t signed up to join a suicide squad.

If he had known the kitchen was full of such lunatics, he wouldn’t have come anywhere near it.

“Human, what are you doing?”

The chef Kulkan who I first met then approached me.

“Yes?”

“If you just watch, you’ll leave without gaining anything. Look. The first hunt is already over.”

As Kulkan said, the Boilder was already down.

‘What…? They caught it already…?’

When I first saw it, I thought they would fail the hunt and be wiped out.

But the cooking soldiers quickly hunted the Boilder.

Their abilities seemed quite decent compared to what I expected.

“Chef Kulkan! The hunt is over!”

“Casualties?”

“Twelve dead.”

There were no wounded.

Because they died instantly when hit by the attack.

“Good. Excellent!”

Although quite a few soldiers died, Kulkan smiled instead.

“Collect the bodies properly. We must not let our comrades’ deaths be in vain.”

“Yes.”

The cooking soldier left to clean up.

Kulkan placed his hand on Hyun-seok’s shoulder.

“Human. If you want to take the meat, you’d better put in more effort.”

“Yes…”

I started to seriously worry about the journey ahead.

***

A brief maintenance time after battle.

Hyun-seok said he needed to use the bathroom and moved to a secluded spot.

When the surroundings became quiet, Rachel appeared with a poof! in mid-air.

“Hero! Hero! Hero!”

Rachel was barking frantically as soon as she appeared.

“Why are you making such a fuss again?”

“How can I not make a fuss!? What are you going to do now?”

“What else… We have to hunt.”

Rachel was horrified at Hyun-seok’s words.

“Are you crazy!? You’re going to catch that brutal magical beast? It’s absolutely absolutely absolutely impossible!”

“Then what, should I run away? I guarantee I’ll become famous as a raw meat restaurant before taking a few steps.”

I cleanly gave up the thought of escape.

Even with ten lives, it wouldn’t be enough to escape this forest alone.

“This is rather good timing.”

“How is this good timing?”

“I can’t fight in my current state for the duel in a month anyway. I need to raise my skills and level before then. And get ingredients while I’m at it.”

“But I think you’ll become a raw meat restaurant before your level goes up.”

“I have a plan for that.”

Hyun-seok showed an uncharacteristically confident smile.

“Rachel. You said it before, right? Killing demons or magical beasts is the fastest way to level up.”

“I did…?”

Rachel made an expression as if saying ‘you can’t mean…’

“By any chance, do you get experience points just for landing the final blow?”

“…”

“Let those idiots do the fighting, and I’ll just swoop in for the final blow to snatch the experience points!”

“Haah…”

Rachel let out a deep sigh.

This hero was more trash… No, craftier than she thought.

“You’re probably right that you can level up just from final blows. But there’s a problem.”

“What problem?”

“In the chaos of battle, do you think it’ll be easy to precisely finish off a magical beast? Plus, you’re a complete novice.”

“That’s true.”

Hyun-seok nodded at Rachel’s words.

He had thought the same thing.

“Sorry. I’ve misunderstood you until now.”

“Huh? Misunderstood what?”

“Just. I didn’t know you were capable of thinking.”

“Ha, hearing that from you makes me feel twice as bad.”

“What!?”

Both Hyun-seok and Rachel frowned.

It seemed this round of dissing would end in a draw.

“Anyway, as you said, I don’t think landing the final blow will be easy. No, it’ll definitely be difficult.”

“Then do you have another plan in mind?”

“No.”

Hyun-seok said confidently.

“I’ll just have to go all in. What else can I do?”

“That’s so like you, Hero…”

Rachel let out a deep sigh.

‘To be honest, it’s not like I have absolutely nothing planned.’

Actually, Hyun-seok had thought of another method.

It was using the Hero Shop.

But this plan wasn’t refined in detail yet.

There was also too little information.

Since the plan would require quite a lot of hero points to execute, he decided to put it on hold for now.

“Let’s go back. They might get suspicious if we’re gone too long.”

“Yes.”

Rachel disappeared again.

And Hyun-seok headed toward where the cooking soldiers were gathered.

***

Seeing Hyun-seok return, Kulkan said.

“Did you take care of your business?”

“Yes!”

“I was worried you might stupidly try to run away, but I’m glad.”

“How could I do that! Hahaha!”

Hyun-seok, who was secretly guilty, laughed exaggeratedly.

“Sir Kulkan. So when is the next hunt?”

“Oh? Planning to jump into battle like a man this time?”

“Of course! Even though I may not look it, I’m also a member of the Demon King’s Army! Watching such heated battles makes my body itch to join in. Hahaha!”

When it came to flattery and lies, Hyun-seok spoke as smoothly as if his tongue was oiled.

In fact, it was enough to make one suspect he might have been a con artist rather than a fighting champion.

It seemed his hidden talents were quickly shining through, probably because it was directly linked to survival.

“You…!”

That’s when it happened.

Kulkan’s expression hardened after hearing Hyun-seok’s words.

It was an unexpectedly cold response.

‘Did I make a mistake? Or maybe he doesn’t like flattery…’

Hyun-seok bit his lip nervously.

“For a human, you’re saying quite pleasing things! Kuhahaha!”

Kulkan laughed brightly.

“Hahahaha! No, I’m just a newbie compared to our excellent chef!”

“No. You have the qualities to become an excellent member of the Demon King’s Army!”

“Oh my… Thank you!”

Hyun-seok scratched the back of his head with a shy face.

“So I’ll put you in the vanguard for the next hunt!”

“What…?”

“The vanguard is the most honorable position. Usually, we never give it to newcomers… But this time is an exception.”

At Kulkan’s words, Hyun-seok’s face froze.

‘If it’s the vanguard, surely…’

He remembered the soldier who was at the very front when they first encountered the Boilder.

His name was probably Morgan.

“Stop!”

Morgan, who bravely stood alone blocking the Boilder’s path.

“Kuaaaagh!”

The result was becoming such a thorough meat pancake that it was hard to find traces of when he was alive.

‘Shit! Absolutely not!’

Hyun-seok quickly waved his hands.

“Chef Kulkan! I’m truly grateful, but I cannot accept such an honorable position!”

“Why not?”

“How could I, a mere human, have the audacity to take the honorable and glorious vanguard position! Besides, if someone like me becomes the vanguard, the other cooking soldiers will be dissatisfied! Please reconsider!”

His tongue was spinning like it had a motor attached.

Better to roll in dog poop than die, as they say.

For survival, he could throw his pride in the toilet for all he cared.

‘I’m not suicidal!’

Hyun-seok desperately tried to persuade Kulkan.

“Hmm… This isn’t an opportunity that comes easily. Think about it again.”

Kulkan said with a serious expression.

‘I don’t need it! You crazy bastard!’

Hyun-seok frantically shook his head.

“No. No matter how I think about it, the vanguard position is too much for me. It would be better to yield such an honorable position to other cooking soldiers…”

Just as Hyun-seok was speaking.

“Chef! Magical beasts are attacking!”

“What!?”

Howling sounds began to be heard.

It was similar to wolf howling.

“Awoo!”

“Awoooooo!”

It wasn’t just one sound.

Kulkan made a serious expression at the howls coming from all directions.

“Of all things, it’s a Urun pack. They’ve already surrounded us.”

Suddenly surrounded.

Hyun-seok’s expression also became serious.

“Is it dangerous!?”

Kulkan shook his head at Hyun-seok’s question.

“No. It’s not dangerous.”

“Huh? Then why…?”

“Urun meat doesn’t taste very good.”

“Ah…”

That was truly a cooking soldier’s concern.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s deal with them quickly!”

Kulkan shouted to the cooking soldiers.

“We’re adding Urun stew to tonight’s menu!”

“Yeees!”

“Everyone, grab your tools!”

The cooking soldiers raised their blood-soaked knives.

“Charge-!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The cooking soldiers charged forward with energetic battle cries.

Meanwhile, Hyun-seok picked up a kitchen knife that had fallen on the ground.

‘So it finally begins.’

Although there were various twists and turns, fortunately things were flowing according to plan.

‘Phew… I can do this.’

Hyun-seok took a deep breath to steady himself.

There were already enough mob gatherers.

And enough tanks drawing aggro.

If he couldn’t take advantage of this, he’d be an idiot.

‘This is basically power leveling!’

Hyun-seok gripped the kitchen knife tightly.

And he ran forward at full speed while shouting.

“Uaaaah! The final blow is mine!”

The time for power leveling was approaching.

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