Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad

The cooking operation was a huge success.

The cooks all shed tears of joy after tasting the meat grilled by Hyun-seok.

‘From now on, I’ll train you thoroughly.’

Hyun-seok was lost in happy thoughts about how he would utilize the cooks going forward.

“Good work everyone! Organize the ingredients and start preparing the meal!”

As soon as they returned to the base after hunting, the cooks began moving busily.

Kulkan, the head chef, approached Hyun-seok who was quietly watching from the side.

“Here’s your share.”

He coolly handed over a bundle of meat.

A bright smile bloomed on Hyun-seok’s face.

“Thank you! Sir Kulkan. May I come again next time?”

“Of course. Come anytime!”

Kulkan readily agreed.

“Well then, I must go. I need to prepare dinner.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Hyun-seok waved as Kulkan left.

Finally, after Kulkan disappeared into the kitchen…

Hyun-seok smiled slyly.

‘Come anytime, he says? I’ll come every single day and milk this for all it’s worth!’

He had used a whopping 70 warrior points for this operation.

Given that investment, he planned to squeeze the cooks dry until they were like dried squid.

“Good. The leveling up problem is solved. Now I just need to solve the Bobo problem.”

The fundamental reason he came to the kitchen was because of Bobo.

Since the gourmet Bobo had such a picky palate, fresh meat was necessary.

“They said the taste lasts for about two days after the monster dies, so it should be fine.”

Apparently, monster meat doesn’t change much in taste for a certain period after death.

The meat Hyun-seok was holding now was freshly butchered and still warm.

This should surely satisfy Bobo.

“By the way, where did he go?”

Hyun-seok looked around.

After all the trouble getting the meat, Bobo was nowhere to be seen.

“I definitely tied him up here…”

As his brow furrowed,

Something caught Hyun-seok’s eye.

“This is…?”

The rope that had been used to tie up Bobo before the hunt was lying on the ground, snapped.

Hyun-seok suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Bobo before leaving.

“Brother will bring back some delicious meat, so wait quietly, okay?”

“Kwang!”

Bobo had responded energetically as if saying not to worry, but.

The result was as expected.

“Hero! Where did that dog-bi… I mean, where did Bobo go!?”

Rachel, who appeared out of thin air with a ‘poof!’, perched on Hyun-seok’s shoulder.

“Don’t know. I definitely tied him up here…”

“That’s why I told you such a weak rope wouldn’t work!”

“I know, so shut up for a bit.”

Hyun-seok knew well that such a rope couldn’t hold Bobo.

But there wasn’t enough time to leave Bobo at home and come back to the kitchen.

So he had no choice but to use the rope as a makeshift solution.

“Haah… I just hope he hasn’t caused trouble somewhere.”

Just as anxiety was creeping up from his toes,

They heard Bobo’s bark – “Kwang!”

“Kwang!”

Looking over, they saw Bobo running towards them enthusiastically.

“Bobo! You rascal! Where did you go? I was worried!”

“Hek, Heb!”

Bobo, seemingly in a good mood, snuggled up to Hyun-seok with a smiling face.

“Did something good happen? Why are you so excited?”

Hyun-seok smiled while patting Bobo’s face.

“Chef! The stored ingredients have disappeared!”

“The meat storage is a mess!”

“Who messed with the storage!?”

Suddenly, commotion started coming from inside the kitchen.

Hyun-seok stared at Bobo.

“Bobo…?”

“Hek, Heb!”

“Don’t tell me…?”

“Buuuurp-!”

Bobo, who had been smiling innocently as if knowing nothing, let out a satisfying burp.

“…”

“…”

Hyun-seok and Rachel silently looked at each other.

Then, as if by agreement, they nodded simultaneously.

“Let’s bolt.”

“Let’s bolt indeed.”

The hero and fairy were in perfect sync at times like this.

***

Hyun-seok and Bobo returned to Bobo’s house.

As soon as they arrived, Bobo showed interest in the meat Hyun-seok brought.

“Want some?”

Instead of answering, Bobo swallowed the meat in one bite.

“Munch munch!”

Fortunately, the meat seemed to satisfy Bobo’s picky taste.

Watching Bobo enthusiastically chewing the meat, Hyun-seok sighed.

“Phew… Bobo. Is it tasty?”

“Kwang!”

“After eating so much today, you can still eat more meat?”

“Kwang!”

Bobo barked energetically as if this much food was no problem at all.

Indeed, the appetite of a child in full growth mode was frightening.

Suddenly thinking about how enormous Bobo might become when fully grown, Hyun-seok shook his head.

‘Let’s not think about that…’

It was already hard to handle Bobo now, but if it got even bigger?

Disasters would occur every time Bobo wagged its tail.

Even a light playful headbutt could crush all the bones in his body.

‘Surely it won’t grow that big.’

Hyun-seok dismissed the thought and patted Bobo’s head.

“Eat lots. Brother will bring more delicious meat tomorrow too.”

“Kwang!”

At that moment, system notifications came in succession.

[Bobo’s affection level has increased]

[Affection has reached the target]

[Hero Quest completed]

[Gained 200 Hero Points]

▫Name: Choi Hyun-seok

▫Title: Hero Candidate

▫Level: 23

• Strength: 31
• Agility: 29
• Stamina: 33
• Magic Power: 10
• Charisma: 23
• Bonus Points: 22

▫Hero Points: 200

▫Abilities: Pickaxe Usage(C), Leadership(E), Cooking(F)

▫Skills: –

“Great! 200 points received!”

“Oh! You completed the Hero Quest!?”

Rachel exclaimed excitedly along with Hyun-seok’s cheer.

“Yeah. Feels reassuring.”

Hyun-seok smiled contentedly looking at the increased points.

‘What should I do with these?’

His expression showed a glimpse of happiness as he considered how to use the points.

It was a complete 180 from when he first saw the Hero Shop and felt disappointed.

‘Come to think of it, the Hero System has been quite helpful in many ways.’

From the raid run to meeting Hemis and coming here.

The Hero System (quests, shop, points) had a huge impact.

‘Without the Hero Shop, I wouldn’t have even become friends with Bobo.’

Forget friendship – he would have been inside Bobo’s stomach at their first meeting.

‘And I wouldn’t have won over the cooks either.’

Currently, the cooks were like a ray of light in this harsh life among the Demon King’s Army.

They were important suckers who would help with leveling up from now on.

He needed to sweet-talk them well from now and milk them for all they’re worth.

“For now, let’s save the Hero Points for when we really need them.”

As he nodded while organizing his thoughts, Hyun-seok suddenly frowned.

“The bonus points increased?”

The bonus points at the bottom of the stats.

The previously unchanging bonus points had somehow increased.

• Bonus Points: 22

“Ah, those are stat points given every time you level up.”

At Rachel’s explanation, Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.

“There was such a thing!?”

To think additional stat points were given with each level up.

This was his first level up, so he had no idea.

“Why didn’t you explain this earlier?”

“Haven’t you ever played games? It’s common sense that you allocate stats when leveling up.”

Rachel answered with an expression that seemed to say ‘how could you not know something so obvious.’

“Haah… Whatever.”

Hyun-seok sighed and looked at his status window again.

“22 points… Since I went from level 1 to 23, that means I got 1 point per level up?”

“That’s right.”

“They’re really stingy.”

Hyun-seok frowned.

“Like you said, games usually give 3 or 5 points.”

“Hey~ But leveling up is faster here. And isn’t getting even 1 point better than nothing?”

“You’re unnecessarily positive at times like this.”

Hyun-seok scratched his head with an indifferent expression.

“So where should I invest these bonus points?”

“You should distribute them among the four basic stats: strength, stamina, agility, and magic power.”

“What about charisma?”

Hyun-seok currently had unlocked charisma as a hidden stat besides the basic ones.

“Hidden stats can’t be increased through leveling up.”

“Hmm, then where should I invest…”

Hyun-seok looked at his status window again.

▫Level: 23

• Strength: 31
• Agility: 29
• Stamina: 33
• Magic Power: 10
• Charisma: 23
• Bonus Points: 22

After staring at the status window for a while, Hyun-seok suddenly clenched his fist.

“Let’s dump it all into strength!”

“What nonsense is that!?”

Rachel shouted angrily.

“Just hear me out.”

But Hyun-seok hadn’t spoken without thinking.

“Strength, agility, stamina – they’re all important in battle, but if I had to pick one, it’s strength. If you’re overwhelmed in strength, it’s hard to win no matter what you do.”

“And?”

“Conversely, if I overwhelm in strength? Then the possibilities are endless.”

Hyun-seok continued with gleaming eyes.

“No matter how monstrous these guys are, they’ll still die if they can’t breathe, right?”

“That’s right…?”

“Exactly! Just a simple choke hold and the game is over.”

He didn’t necessarily need to overwhelm with strength.

Just enough strength to apply techniques on opponents.

With that minimum requirement met, Hyun-seok was confident he could crush his opponents.

“Well, it would be limited against monsters that are too huge. Fortunately, that’s not the case this time.”

His upcoming duel opponent, Orc Kurken, certainly had a large build.

But Hyun-seok wasn’t small either.

“That’s enough to try applying techniques. So let’s increase strength.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but…”

Rachel shook her head.

“Still, you must raise stats evenly. Especially magic power – it’s essential!”

“Why?”

“Wait a moment.”

Rachel pulled out red-rimmed glasses from inside her chest.

She also had a small baton from somewhere – she was in full teacher mode.

“Hero! Listen well. At first, basic physical abilities are important as you said. But as time passes, magic power becomes increasingly more important than physical abilities.”

“Hmm, why?”

“Think about it. What good is strength alone? What if your opponent magically throws house-sized rocks at you? What if they shoot lasers that pierce through everything? Will you block those with strength?”

This isn’t Earth.

In a world full of bizarre and dangerous magic, physical abilities alone had limitations.

“Magic power is the beginning and end. Even the physical abilities you mentioned can be enhanced with magic power.”

“Oho…”

“Anyway, magic power is crucial! I guarantee, if you try to block high-level magic barehanded, not even dust will remain!”

Hyun-seok nodded after hearing Rachel’s rapid-fire explanation.

“Okay. I understand.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

“So you’re saying I should dump everything into magic power?”

Rachel’s eyes widened at his words about dumping everything into magic power.

“Of course not! Is that thing on top of your neck just decoration!?”

“Why are you freaking out!? Didn’t you just say magic power is everything!?”

“That’s true but… Anyway, no dumping everything into one stat!”

“Why not?”

“It-it’s about efficiency…! Having balanced high stats is better than just high magic power!”

“You seem flustered. Are you just making this up because you don’t really know?”

“N-no I’m not!?”

A flustered Rachel wildly waved her baton in the air.

“Alright, just stay still. You’re making me dizzy.”

“Ahem…!”

Rachel cleared her throat to compose herself.

“You don’t even know how to use magic power right now anyway.”

“That’s true.”

“So for now, focus on strength as you said, but try to raise stats as evenly as possible.”

“Got it.”

Hyun-seok immediately began distributing his stats.

▫Level: 23

• Strength: 40
• Agility: 34
• Stamina: 36
• Magic Power: 15
• Charisma: 23
• Bonus Points: 0

Strength 9. Agility 5. Stamina 3. Magic Power 5.

He used all 22 points.

“This distribution should work, right?”

“Not bad. But don’t forget that you need to gradually increase the ratio of magic power going forward!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Ah! Right, that existed!”

Rachel suddenly clapped as if remembering something.

“Hero. Buy the Basic Magic Control ability from the shop now.”

“Magic Control? What’s that?”

“As it says, it’s an ability that lets you use basic magic power. It’s what you need most right now.”

“Ooh…!”

As Hyun-seok expressed amazement, Rachel lifted her chin proudly.

“It should cost 100 hero points. With that, your basic preparation will be complete.”

Rachel put her glasses back in her chest pocket as if there was nothing more to explain.

Hyun-seok looked at Rachel with surprise.

“So you can be useful after all!”

“How rude to say that to such an excellent partner like me. And it seems so sincere which makes it even more offensive!”

“Well, it’s true though.”

Had Rachel ever been helpful since they met?

Thinking about it, almost never.

Honestly, besides having someone to talk to, there was nothing.

“But recently you’ve been using magic and providing information. You seem quite helpful.”

“Hmph! I completed fairy partner training over a hundred years ago! This much is basic!”

Rachel said proudly with her shoulders squared.

“I hope you continue to show such excellence often.”

“Of course!”

Just as Rachel’s nose was pointing to the sky with pride.

“By the way, Rachel.”

Hyun-seok called Rachel with a frown.

“That Basic Magic Control you mentioned. It’s not in the hero shop?”

“It’s not there?”

A flustered Rachel blinked her eyes.

“Yeah. I can’t find it anywhere.”

“That can’t be…?”

Rachel rolled her eyes around before smiling awkwardly.

“It’s been a while since my training… Maybe the shop system changed since then. Hahaha!”

“Ah, I see! Hahaha!”

“Well, that must be it! Hahaha…!”

“Hahahahaha!”

Hyun-seok and Rachel laughed loudly as if it was really funny.

After laughing for a while, Hyun-seok suddenly turned serious and turned his head.

“Tch. I should have known.”

“…”

“Useless after all.”

“I can hear you!?”

“Ah, I meant for you to hear that. Good that you did. I’m relieved.”

Hyun-seok smiled with one corner of his mouth twisted.

Rachel gritted her teeth at that annoying expression.

“Ughh…!”

She kept punching Hyun-seok’s chest but.

Pof. Pof.

Her punches, weaker than kitten paws, didn’t even tickle.

“Sigh. Even your punches are useless.”

“Kyaaah! You’re really annoying!”

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