Chapter 4

From the common people to the middle class, the upper class, the chaebols, and the political circles, all fifty million people of South Korea were looking only at Kim Deok-sung.

For a fifteen-year-old boy who had lived a humble, even unfortunate life, it was an overwhelming pressure.

Olivia knew this better than anyone.

Because she herself had grown up under the expectations of the entire nation.

As the successor to the Five Crowns, in the place of her deceased older brother.

"But this is..."

Even so, Kim Deok-sung and she were different.

She was a princess of the French royal family, but Kim Deok-sung was an orphan.

She could be protected by the Bonaparte royal family, but he was thrown defenselessly before the public without any protection.

France, a powerful nation, had many other heroes besides her, but Korea, a small country, had no other heroes besides him.

He and she were the same but different.

But one thing was clear.

He was someone who knew what the responsibility of a hero meant.

Thud.

Olivia closed the document.

Her face became serious.

'I was wrong.'

She had misjudged him.

'He... couldn't accept defeat.'

Olivia finally understood Kim Deok-sung.

He couldn't afford to lose.

Bearing the expectations of his homeland like her, but under even greater responsibility, he couldn't have.

The image of him desperately clinging to victory came to mind.

Perhaps it was the manifestation of his sense of responsibility, or rather, the pressure.

Olivia quietly placed her hand on her chest.

"I lost."

She finally fully acknowledged her defeat.

In terms of responsibility, mindset, and ability.

She couldn't win in any of these aspects.

Olivia admitted this, though reluctantly.

Olivia let out a hollow laugh.

"Strangely, it feels like a relief. Bella."

"You're admitting it too late, Princess."

Bella replied expressionlessly.

Olivia pouted her lips at her words.

"That's because... it was my first loss."

First defeat.

But it wasn't bad.

If the opponent was someone who understood the responsibility of a hero, it was fine to lose.

Especially someone similar to her older brother...

Olivia shook her head vigorously.

In any case, it didn't matter.

Though she was a little frustrated.

"I heard you made a promise to him."

"What?"

"To become his exclusive maid if you lost. Isn't that right?"

"That, that's...!!"

Olivia's face turned red.

Her hands trembled.

Indeed, she had made such a promise.

"It was a mistake, but... that..."

"You should pay the price for your misjudgment, shouldn't you?"

"......Yes, I guess so."

Olivia bit her lip.

Her hands trembled.

"Fine! I can't go back on a promise made in the name of the royal family!"

Creak.

She got up from her chair.

"Kim Deok-sung is in room 301 of the Shuou Hero Academy's exclusive hospital."

Bella said to Olivia in a low voice.

"......I didn't ask. Bella."

Olivia pouted her lips and left the dormitory.

*

"Ugh."

My head felt like it was splitting.

My chest felt like it was on fire.

This was all due to overusing synchronization.

The Black Prince, Raoul Napoleon Bonaparte.

The talent recorded in the Book of Regression was a heavy burden for my C-rank body.

"......Damn."

I groaned and opened my eyes.

A strange, stark white ceiling.

I painfully raised my body halfway and looked around.

I saw my body in a hospital gown and a humidifier emitting white smoke.

"A hospital room, huh."

Given how I had pushed my body, being brought to the hospital was inevitable.

How much time had passed?

I found my phone on the drawer next to the hospital bed and turned it on.

Buzz.

The smartphone turned on with a vibration.

"A day has passed."

Almost exactly 24 hours.

I must have fainted pretty badly.

"Let's see."

After checking the date, I accessed the internet.

I needed to check the aftermath of the big incident I caused yesterday.

As soon as I connected to the internet, what I saw was:

[Shocking! The world is in shock as the French royal princess kneels before the might of K-Hero!]

[Not a weak hero nation anymore! Now a strong hero nation! The world is paying attention to Korean student Kim Deok-sung, who caused a major incident right after enrolling!]

[Shocking France! Why did Princess Olivia shed tears? The story of the French princess whose pride was shattered by underestimating a Korean!]

[The K-Hero who made France kneel, Kim Deok-sung. What is his ultimate weapon? The true identity of the Transcendent Weapon Durandal?!]

Colorful thumbnails plastered the screen.

They were so-called national pride netizens' videos.

"Even here, there are national pride netizens."

I was amazed.

My body was the one that had been battered, yet why were they racking up views?

"I can't believe it."

A hollow laugh escaped me.

The comments were even more ridiculous.

- Is this real? lol A bowl of national pride lol

- Today's national pride overwork death lol

- Winning a handicap duel and being happy... tsk tsk

- lol How can a C-rank beat an A-rank in a handicap duel? Two ranks apart, even a hero's grandfather couldn't win lol Ignorant scum lol

- God Korea! God Korea! God Korea!

- (Waving the Taegukgi)

- The royal family being stripped by Kimchi Man is like Elance level lol

- This is the spicy taste of Korean kimchi!

"Damn."

I cursed and turned off the netizens' video.

I entered the portal site.

[Kim Deok-sung! Complete victory over Olivia!]

[Has Korea finally escaped the pain of being a weak hero nation? In-depth analysis of Kim Deok-sung's power!]

[President Kang, "Kim Deok-sung is the pride of South Korea... It's an honor that a hero like him is Korean."]

But even the portal news was not much different from the national pride netizens' videos.

Even the president was into national pride?

I was going to go crazy. Really.

Thinking about the situation in Korea made my head hurt. I turned off the portal.

'Has the rumor already spread this much?'

If yesterday's incident, including the video, had spread throughout the Korean web, it was safe to assume that everyone in the academy already knew.

I accessed the school community and the academy channel.

[The Korean student, a bit surprising, but that's it.]

[It was a limited duel anyway? It's just a meaningless victory.]

[The princess must have let him win.]

[Considering the opponent is A-rank but limited, it's a comprehensible result.]

Well, it wasn't a favorable reaction, but it was as expected.

It didn't bother me much.

In Korea, I might be the only hero and savior, but here, I'm just one of many students.

Especially as a student from a weak nation with only a C-rank suitability, they couldn't easily accept my victory.

When the original protagonist, Yoo Ji, first showed his prowess, the students here reacted similarly, so it wasn't surprising.

"Let it be."

I put down my phone and leaned against the wall behind the bed.

The original story was already twisted. I didn't care about the original story, which was just kindling.

My survival was the top priority.

Thanks to yesterday's duel, the Transcendent Weapon Durandal was now completely in my hands.

As a result, I had escaped the fate of an extra and the malicious flow of the story given to "Kim Deok-sung."

I had also somewhat fulfilled the expectations of the damn country.

The butterfly effect following the destruction of the original story?

I had already decided to accept it when I obtained Durandal.

'Sitting around eating shit and dying is worse than living this way.'

If I was worried about the butterfly effect, I couldn't just be a stepping stone for the protagonist and then become a villain and die, as in the original story.

The original story was already twisted from the moment I, the reincarnated person, entered.

Besides, I was a long-time reader of the weakest hero stories, second to none in Korea.

'If it comes to it, I can handle it myself.'

I knew everything about this world, from the setting to the characters and the ending.

I could recite the original setting with my eyes closed.

If the flow changed due to the butterfly effect, I could immediately respond using the original information.

It was worth a try.

Thinking about the original story, the protagonist came to mind.

'From now on, the protagonist will take care of things, right?'

For the protagonist to achieve his revenge, he would inevitably have to fight the villains.

This was already a predetermined future.

The final boss was the protagonist's enemy, after all.

Moreover, the protagonist was a talent and a hard worker, so he would handle things on his own.

'Let the enemies fight each other out.'

In the meantime, I would occasionally satisfy the national pride and graduate smoothly.

I would also look for a way to return to the original world.

Yes, that would do.

Then.

Creak.

The hospital room door suddenly opened.

Keeping distance from the heroine

"Hello, Mr. Kim Deok-sung."

The person who entered the room was a platinum-blonde girl in a white school jacket, Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte.

She pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down, looking at me with her blue eyes.

"Did you rest well?"

"Why are you here?"

I had anticipated the possibility that she would come to see me.

So Olivia's appearance wasn't particularly surprising.

The question was what her intention was in visiting.

"Surely you're not here to ask for Durandal back?"

My eyes narrowed.

It was a plausible scenario.

Olivia was competitive, took defeat badly, and held grudges.

She also had a sense of arrogance, believing that no one else in the academy understood the responsibility of a hero except herself.

In other words, she was a typical first-volume heroine in a Japanese school battle light novel.

In the early part of the original first volume, when the F-rank protagonist Yoo Ji defeated her, she couldn't accept the loss and chased him several times, demanding a rematch.

Olivia only acknowledged the protagonist after he took the lead in defeating the interdimensional beings that appeared in the model gate.

In a light novel, this might be charming as a tsundere, but in reality?

'I hate it.'

If I had to deal with that stalking?

I hated it.

My head hurt.

Indeed, fiction is most beautiful when it remains fiction.

If I had to reincarnate, it would have been better to reincarnate into a web novel.

In web novels, tsunderes are often killed off in the early stages.

But why did it have to be this damn light novel?

"That, that's...!"

Olivia was flustered.

I quietly turned on my phone and clicked on a national pride netizens' video.

[Just in case, are you saying I should win?]

[Draw.]

[I don't even hope for more.]

[But what if I beat you?]

[That won't happen.]

[What if it does?]

[If such an impossible thing happens... then I'll become your exclusive maid.]

[Are you serious?]

[On the name of the royal family, I won't lie.]

I played the video with the colorful thumbnail, which said something like "Shocking! The French royal family kneels before the might of K-Hero," and her words echoed in the room.

"Ugh...!"

Olivia's face turned red.

Her cheeks trembled.

I mercilessly continued playing the video.

"Stop! Stop it!"

Olivia, her face red to her ears, grabbed my hand holding the phone, her platinum hair flying.

I felt the softness of her hand.

Regardless, I continued speaking while looking at her.

"With all the evidence preserved in this video, are you still going to deny it?"

"It's not my intention to deny it!"

Olivia said with a wronged expression.

"Then what? What's your intention?"

"......I admit it......"

She said in a small, almost pleading voice.

"What?"

"I, I don't like it, but I admit it! That, that you are the master of Durandal!"

The confident tone from earlier was gone, and Olivia looked at me with a self-assured voice.

"Since I, the sister of Raoul, acknowledge you as the master of Durandal, you can be happy about it."

Olivia chuckled and let go of my hand, placing it on her chest with a proud attitude.

A typical Japanese subculture girl character's expression and attitude.

How could she do that in reality?

When I saw it in an anime, it was an industry award.

But in reality, it was just not good.

Tsunderes are for display only.

"It was originally mine, and you were being unreasonable. Don't you remember the warranty?"

"Ugh...!"

Olivia groaned.

Well, her actions were clearly unreasonable.