Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad

“Has Choi Hyun-seok been completely healed?”

Reidrun asked with an urgent expression.

The next Holy Maiden, Abelson Mariette, shook her head.

“It’s not certain.”

“What do you mean?”

For a moment, Reidrun’s face twisted menacingly.

Despite it being an expression that would make ordinary people wet themselves, Abelson continued speaking with an indifferent face as if unbothered.

“Such concentrated magic was injected into a human. Normally, death would be expected. If I weren’t the Holy Maiden, even saving him would have been difficult.”

“So what’s the core issue?”

“As you can feel too, the magic isn’t leaving this man’s body. Nobody knows what effect this will have going forward.”

“Ngg…”

Reidrun couldn’t deny it.

Indeed, there was still a faint trace of magic lingering in Choi Hyun-seok’s body.

Dark magic belongs only to demon-kind.

Humans and dark magic can never coexist.

Yet this impossible thing was happening right before their eyes.

“It could be temporary. The magic might naturally disappear with time, so let’s observe the situation.”

“Can’t you erase the magic with holy power?”

“That would be like handling a sensitive bomb. If mishandled, this man will die.”

Abelson said calmly.

At that moment, Choi Hyun-seok, who had been listening from the side, quickly raised his hand.

“Lord Reidrun. It’s fine! I’m completely better now! Hahaha!”

Just a few minutes ago he thought it was good that he died, but now knowing he was alive, he didn’t want to die.

Choi Hyun-seok still had many things he wanted to do while alive.

Reidrun reluctantly nodded.

“Choi Hyun-seok. I’m sorry. I will make this up to you somehow.”

“Not at all! This is just a minor trouble that occurred during your guidance, Lord Reidrun. You don’t need to worry about it at all. I’ll just think of this as tuition fees. Hahahaha!”

Choi Hyun-seok’s tongue danced brilliantly.

The effect was tremendous.

“Sniff… As expected of you…!”

Reidrun wiped his eyes with a moved expression.

Abelson quietly watched this rural drama from the side.

For the first time, an expression appeared on her face.

‘What kind of people are these…?’

Questions and disgust arose.

A human living in the Demon King Army’s 3rd Corps Headquarters.

From the circumstances, it seemed this human was receiving training from Reidrun, a high-ranking demon.

Abelson guessed this man was likely a hero.

Black hair and black eyes.

Only demons or heroes possessed those traits.

No matter how you looked at it, this man didn’t appear to be a demon.

Therefore, only hero remained as a possibility.

Not all heroes were like this, but quite a few heroes had black hair like that man.

‘A human hero receiving training from a high-ranking Demon King’s Army officer…’

A small laugh escaped at the absurdity of her own thoughts.

It was a situation her mind simply couldn’t comprehend.

“Choi Hyun-seok. Let’s get moving.”

Reidrun said as he got up.

Choi Hyun-seok looked at him with a puzzled face.

“Pardon? Moving?”

“Now that you’re all better, we should continue training, shouldn’t we!?”

For a moment, despair crossed Choi Hyun-seok’s face.

Though it was just a fleeting moment of about 0.1 seconds, Abelson saw it clearly.

However, Choi Hyun-seok looked at Reidrun with a moved expression as if nothing had happened.

“Lo-Lord Reidrun…!”

He said while wiping his tears.

“I’m just grateful that you’re teaching me so enthusiastically!”

“Good! Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Tears welled up in Choi Hyunyseok’s eyes as he answered energetically.

“…”

Abelson thought.

She didn’t know how such a bizarre situation had come about.

But one thing was certain.

‘You’re having a hard time too.’

That man was desperately trying to survive.

***

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t continue training.

Word came that Bobo was acting up because he hadn’t shown his face for a long time.

“I’m sorry, Lord Reidrun. We’ll have to continue training tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it can’t be helped…”

Choi Hyun-seok spoke with a genuinely regretful expression.

Of course, his true feelings were completely different.

‘Bobo! Thank you!’

He knew this training was an incredible opportunity.

He also knew he needed to work harder to survive.

But if he took a few more hits from Reidrun, he felt he would really die.

Nothing could be more foolish than dying during training meant to help you survive.

“Bobo! I’m here!”

Choi Hyun-seok spread his arms as he arrived at Bobo’s house.

Then an excited Bobo came running, panting and drooling.

“Huff! Huff!”

“Yes, yes. You missed me that mu… Urgh!”

A powerful headbutt was delivered.

While Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes bulged from the pain, he inwardly smiled.

‘It seems to hurt less than before?’

Was it just his imagination?

He felt tougher than before.

Even though he still couldn’t control magic at will.

“Maybe I’ve just been hit too many times by Reidrun.”

Perhaps he had simply gotten used to the pain.

Pushing away these pointless thoughts,

Choi Hyun-seok began playing with Bobo.

“Bobo! Fetch!”

“Hek! Heup!”

They played fetch with bones that the large dog loved.

“Good boy, good boy. Eat well.”

He filled Bobo’s belly with the remaining Talas meat.

While Hyun-seok was gone, Bobo apparently ate three goblins.

Still seeming hungry, Bobo devoured the Talas’ carcasses ravenously.

“Oh, how cute! Our Bobo!”

Hyun-seok kept patting Bobo’s head.

Though it looked like they were just playing, the reality was different.

‘What should I do now…’

He was busy ruminating on the day’s events.

With survival being his top priority, he had no luxury to play carefreely.

‘So, in conclusion, I’m in a really screwed up situation…’

He had finished grasping the general situation.

That stupid bull-head Reidrun, for whatever reason, committed the atrocity of injecting magic into his body.

Because of that, he nearly died, but barely survived thanks to help from the woman called the Holy Maiden.

‘But that magic still remains in my body.’

Of course, the magic might naturally dissipate over time.

But there’s also a possibility it won’t.

In other words, a bomb that could go off at any time was planted in Hyun-seok’s body.

‘Haa, this is seriously messed up in all kinds of ways.’ He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Anyway, he knows nothing about magic, dark magic, or holy power.

So this isn’t a problem that can be solved by worrying about it.

‘Let’s focus on what I can do right now.’

Right now, freely controlling magic is the top priority.

He decided to push everything else out of his mind for now.

“Hmm…?”

After organizing his thoughts, Hyun-seok noticed something strange.

Something felt missing.

‘Rachel isn’t here?’

He hadn’t seen Rachel once since waking up.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

‘Could it be…’

He recalled the conversation he had earlier with Holy Maiden Abelson.

‘Rachel. Make sure that girl gets thrown into hell. She’s not fit to be an angel. And her mouth is so foul. Every time she opens it, it’s nothing but cursing.’

Words he had spoken to Abelson mistaking her for an angel.

Though meant as a joke, Rachel must have heard it.

‘To be honest, I was half serious…’

That’s why he felt even more sorry.

Hyun-seok carefully called out to Rachel.

“Rachel. Where are you…?”

No answer.

Hyun-seok called Rachel again.

“Rachel~?”

“What…”

Rachel’s voice came from the corner of the room.

“Oh, so you were there….”

Hyun-seok suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

There was Rachel, with eyes swollen from crying.

Rachel is about 30cm tall, similar to a doll’s size.

With that small body, she had cried so much that tears had pooled in one corner of the room.

“Ahem, hem! Rachel… Why are you like that over there…”

“It’s nothing… Heroes, don’t worry about a lowly thing like me…”

Rachel’s voice was as weak as a dying person’s.

She came before Hyun-seok and banged her head on the floor.

Bang!

Hyun-seok’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Please forgive me!”

“Hey! Why suddenly…”

“Hero, shall I serve you? I’ll have to serve in heaven eternally anyway, so I should practice in advance.”

“Rachel, it was a joke… Why are you so dejected, wait! You’re bleeding from your head!?”

Blood was trickling down Rachel’s head.

She wiped her forehead and smiled wryly.

“That’s good. I should atone… Ah! I’m a stupid, useless, foul-mouthed, very bad girl! I should just die! Die!”

Rachel tried to bang her head on the floor again.

Hyun-seok quickly caught her.

Rachel struggled in his grip.

“Eek…! Leave me alone! You should live lovey-dovey with that pretty silver-haired angel girl and kiss her!”

Even in this situation, Rachel couldn’t fix her rough way of speaking.

“It was a joke. A joke! Rachel, you’re the best! You’re awesome!”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I really mean it!?”

Hyun-seok shouted with half-sincerity.

After all, she was pretty, that much was true.

Pretty is the best.

“Rachel, you’re the best, okay!?”

That night, Hyun-seok had no choice but to comfort Rachel until dawn.

***

The next day.

Hyun-seok visited Reidrun’s private training ground as usual.

“Gonna get beaten half to death again…”

It was for receiving what was called magic control training but was actually just a beating.

However, today’s training was a bit different from what he expected.

“Choi Hyun-seok. Do you know what Tugi is?”

Reidrun suddenly threw out an unexpected question.

‘Tugi?’

Generally, when one hears ‘Tugi’, what first comes to mind is obvious.

Stock speculation. Real estate speculation.

However, Hyun-seok was a martial arts fighter.

To him, Tugi had a different, more familiar meaning.

Fight technique.

Literally meaning all sports involving fighting.

Hyun-seok opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it fighting techniques?”

“In a broad sense, yes. But the Tugi I’m talking about isn’t that.”

Suddenly, Reidrun took a combat stance.

He seemed to have decided that showing was better than explaining with words.

“Watch carefully.”

Reidrun’s body moved slowly.

His angry muscles rippled beneath his red skin.

‘What is he doing…?’

Reidrun’s stance was peculiar, like someone practicing martial arts.

A natural movement that was neither fast nor slow.

Overall, his movement looked similar to a normal straight punch.

However, the result was anything but normal.

Kwajik, Kwaaaa-!

A storm of magic blew in a straight line from Reidrun’s thrown fist.

“Woah…”

Hyun-seok’s jaw dropped unconsciously.

‘If someone gets hit by that, finding their corpse would be a challenge…’

They’d probably be torn to shreds with nothing left.

After demonstrating such tremendous destructive power, Reidrun spoke matter-of-factly.

“Mages use magic to fight.”

“…”

“Tugi, simply put, is magic for fighters like us.”

“I understand.”

Hyun-seok roughly thought of it as something like a finishing move.

“Hyun-seok. Your movements are clearly excellent. But your attacks lack something crucial.”

“Something crucial?”

“Yes. You lack killing intent. Attacks without the purpose of crushing and killing your enemy are only half-complete.”

“…”

“I don’t know where or what martial arts you learned, but in that state, you’ll never be able to defeat Kurken.”

Reidrun’s observation was accurate.

The modern martial arts techniques Hyun-seok possessed lacked killing intent.

The purpose of martial arts is not to kill the opponent, but to defeat them.

Fighting according to rules versus fighting for one’s life.

This difference was bigger than one might think.

“Changing your combat tendencies in a short time would be unreasonable.”

Despite not knowing the details, Reidrun had perfectly grasped this.

“So you’ll learn Tugi. Because Tugi is a technique solely for killing enemies.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Of course, learning Tugi won’t be easy. Especially for you who has just awakened to magic.”

“…”

“But, I believe you can do it. Hyun-seok. You can definitely master Tugi within the remaining time.”

“I’ll work hard!”

Hyun-seok’s heart was pounding.

‘Am I really becoming a hero!’

Heroes like those seen only in movies.

He could use mysterious powers and destroy enemies like them.

Even if he was learning from a villain – a Demon King’s Army army executive.

Power itself has no sin.

As they say, earn like a dog, spend like a minister.

He could learn well here and use it for good later.

“Then let’s begin.”

“Yes!”

“Clench your molars tight.”

“What…?”

Why would he need to clench his molars to learn Tugi?

The question was quickly answered.

“Originally, learning while getting hit is faster.”

“Um… If I get hit wrong, I could really die- Kuhek!”

Hyun-seok’s ordeal was just beginning.

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