Chapter 2

There are no bad heroes in the world - Chapter 2 (2/273)

“You’re a hero? Huh!?”

“Uh… Well…”

Scary.

He was genuinely terrified.

If it weren’t for the title of the strongest man in the world, he might have wet his pants long ago.

As Choi Hyunseok stammered, the face of the bull-headed monster twisted even more viciously.

“Stupid boy! You call yourself a hero and can’t even speak properly!?”

Suddenly, Choi Hyunseok’s eyes snapped open.

It felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind.

He had an epiphany.

‘That’s right! I am a hero!’

What is a hero?

The protagonist who survives until the end and defeats the Demon King.

The strongest being in the world!

Absolutely invincible!

That’s what a hero is.

‘So this is just a practice game. Like a tutorial.’

The bull-headed monster in front of him was probably just a test.

In reality, this creature was likely just a hollow shell, all show and no substance.

If he could defeat this monster decisively, the real adventure would begin.

‘Choi Hyunseok! Have confidence!’

Choi Hyunseok focused his eyes intensely.

World Heavyweight Champion.

The strongest man on Earth.

And now, a hero in this world.

How could he be afraid of a mere tutorial monster and hope to survive in this harsh new world!

“Don’t get cocky.”

“What…?”

The bull-headed monster suddenly doubted his own ears.

He raised his hand to his ear and slowly extended it toward Choi Hyunseok.

“Say that again. What did you say? Huh?”

“I said, don’t get cocky, you bastard!”

Choi Hyunseok’s lightning-fast head kick struck the monster.

Among the countless strong opponents he had faced in the ring, none had ever withstood this head kick.

‘It hit perfectly.’

Thanks to the monster’s foolishly extended head, the kick landed flawlessly.

As Choi Hyunseok smiled in satisfaction, the monster looked down at him with wide, bulging eyes.

Thick veins protruded from the monster’s log-like neck and face, twitching violently.

Choi Hyunseok’s eyes darted around, unsure where to look.

“…”

“Not funny at all.”

The bull-headed monster grabbed Choi Hyunseok’s ankle.

At the same time, an immense pressure began to build.

The pain of his ankle being crushed made his body contort involuntarily.

“Gahhh!”

“Didn’t you say you were a hero?”

“Ah… Wait, just a moment…”

“A hero should find this trivial.”

“Gahhh!”

This was really dangerous.

His ankle felt like it was about to break completely.

“Hero… hero, indeed. Our fortress is truly blessed. I really wonder where such crazy heroes are pouring in from.”

“Ugh…!”

Despite the pain, Choi Hyunseok desperately tried to think.

He had to find a way out of this situation.

If he could change his position and transition into a triangle choke…

“After a good nap, you’ll come to your senses, self-proclaimed hero.”

A large, red fist approached.

‘Ah… I’m done for.’

Choi Hyunseok’s consciousness faded.

***

Raidrun, the Red Nightmare.

He was an officer in the Demon King’s army.

Commander of the 2nd Slave Battalion under the 3rd Army Corps.

The reason he was called the Red Nightmare was simple.

His entire body was as red as blood.

This story spread by word of mouth, and now it had evolved to the point where people said, “Wherever Raidrun passes on the battlefield, a river of blood flows!”

“H-H-Help! Lord Raidrun!”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

The 2nd Slave Battalion, soldiers and slaves alike, all feared Raidrun.

This fear was not just due to the terrifying rumor of the river of blood.

“You did well.”

“T-Thank you!”

The oppressive aura emanating from Raidrun.

The unique demonic energy and atmosphere of a high-ranking demon caused fear.

This aura was so powerful that an average human would wet their pants and kneel just by standing in front of Raidrun.

Because of this, Raidrun didn’t need to do anything to make everyone in the battalion fear and follow him.

A top predator with no worries.

Yet, the Red Nightmare Raidrun sighed deeply.

Recently, something had been bothering him.

“Huh… Where are all these crazy people coming from?”

It wasn’t a major issue.

Recently, insane humans had started appearing at the fortress.

“Where are they coming from? Did they fall from the sky or something…”

Each one was dressed strangely and seemed to have a screw loose.

“I am a hero!”

That was the basic line.

“Come on, Demon King!”

A fool who mistook himself for the Demon King.

“Hand over your gold and women, or I’ll bring down the hammer of justice!”

A crazy person who seemed to have no idea what a hero was.

“Even though they clearly fear me, they still say whatever they want. It’s insane.”

“Even if there are many who call themselves heroes in this continent, I have no idea what’s going on.”

Raidrun wasn’t worried about heroes.

There were countless fools who called themselves heroes in this continent.

In fact, dozens of self-proclaimed heroes had died at his hands.

What worried Raidrun was one thing.

There might be a problem with the fortress’s defenses.

“I need to finish the repairs quickly.”

Currently, the 2nd Slave Battalion was reinforcing the broken fortress of Hemorn.

This place was close to the battlefield.

It was a distance where human spies could easily come and go.

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

Raidrun shook his head to clear his complex thoughts.

The only thing he could do now was to complete the fortress’s reinforcement as soon as possible.

‘By the way, that guy earlier…’

Choi Hyunseok, the hero, came to mind.

‘He was different from the other fools.’

For a human, he had a large and well-built physique.

His movements were quick, and he allowed the kick to land without hesitation.

The impact was so powerful that even Raidrun felt a momentary dizziness.

Though he didn’t show it.

‘If I can manipulate him well, he could be useful as a slave.’

Despite being crazy, he could be quite useful.

***

That night.

Choi Hyunseok, trapped in the prison, kept shaking the iron bars.

“Heyyyyy!”

Clank! Clank! Clank!

“Open this! Open it, you bastards!”

It was a natural reaction.

He was clearly in a fierce battle with a large demon, but suddenly he lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a smelly, hard stone floor.

“Do you think I’ll back down? Bring that bull-headed monster! Let’s have another round!”

Choi Hyunseok, who had forgotten that he had lost consciousness due to Raidrun’s attack, shouted loudly.

Clearly, something had gone wrong when he was hit.

“Who’s making all that noise!?”

At that moment, a short monster walked toward Choi Hyunseok.

It was about 150 cm tall.

Its body was thin and weak, with pitifully small muscles.

“Human. Do you want to die? Huh!?”

It looked like a child trying to threaten someone, which was almost comical.

But Choi Hyunseok couldn’t laugh.

The monster held a sharp sword, about a meter long.

The monster repeatedly struck the iron bars with the sword.

“Do you want to die!?”

The giant, blood-stained blade was a sight he had never seen before.

“Make one more sound, and I’ll make a stew out of your thighs. Got it, human!?”

Choi Hyunseok tightly closed his mouth and nodded.

Thud, thud…

After a moment, as the monster’s footsteps faded away, Choi Hyunseok let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, what the hell is going on…”

It was a situation he couldn’t understand.

He was clearly dead, and a beautiful angel named Rahel had made him a hero.

Glory! Honor! Beautiful women!

Of course, he didn’t expect to meet a simple village chief and his innocent daughter right away.

Well, he did hope for it, but it wasn’t necessary.

‘I thought I would have a great adventure…’

What he wanted was just an adventure.

He wanted to wander the world freely, unlike his previous life.

A world where no one knew him.

He wanted to start a new life there.

‘Hero my ass… Don’t I at least deserve a good sword!?’

Choi Hyunseok came here completely unarmed.

In his previous life, he was confident that his strong body would make him unbeatable.

But this world was different.

In front of a 2.5-meter-tall, muscular monster and a giant, blood-stained blade, his body was useless.

‘What went wrong?’

He was starting to hate the angel Rahel, who had made him a hero.

At that moment, someone from the next cell spoke.

“Hey, you. New here?”

“Who… who is it…?”

“My name is Park Tae-soo.”

“Are you Korean!?”

“Yes.”

To his surprise, the person in the next cell was a fellow Korean.

After being dropped into this world and using an unknown language, hearing Korean after just one day was both strange and comforting.

However, now was not the time to indulge in comfort.

“What’s going on here? Explain it to me!”

Choi Hyunseok pressed his ear against the wall.

“I was clearly dead, and I was made a hero, so I came to this world. But what is this…?”

“Huhuhu…”

Park Tae-soo chuckled at Choi Hyunseok’s words.

“Hero… hero… It’s funny. I’m a hero too.”

Choi Hyunseok’s face hardened at this playful response.

“This isn’t funny. I’m not in the mood for jokes, so explain properly.”

“Does it sound like a joke? I used to be quite famous. In Myeongdong, no one didn’t know the king of fists, Park Tae-soo.”

Park Tae-soo spoke with a serious tone.

Choi Hyunseok didn’t trust him at all.

He scratched his head and continued.

“So, you’re a hero?”

“Of course! I’m over fifty, but I’m still strong!”

Of course, his death from a heart attack was a secret.

“So, stop joking around…!”

Just as Choi Hyunseok was about to get angry,

“I’m a hero too!”

“I’m a hero too!”

“I’m a hero too!”

Heroes started popping up from all over the prison.

“Hahaha. I’m a hero too. Did you think you were the only one?”

“Hahaha!”

“Hahaha!”

Laughter filled the air.

Choi Hyunseok looked around, bewildered.

“What’s going on…?”

“This is what you see.”

Park Tae-soo smiled calmly.

“There are over a hundred self-proclaimed heroes in this fortress.”

“What…?”

Choi Hyunseok didn’t know what to say.

Park Tae-soo smiled at his confusion.

“Newcomer, do you still think you’re a hero?”

***

Park Tae-soo was the first hero to arrive here.

Thanks to him, Choi Hyunseok learned a lot.

The fortress was being reinforced using human slaves.

The red bull-headed monster he met was named Raidrun, the commander here.

The guard he saw earlier was a goblin named Jack, who was particularly vicious and needed to be careful.

All of this was a shocking and unrealistic story, but the most shocking part was yet to come.

“It’s all because of that damn Rahel.”

“Huh?”

Choi Hyunseok’s eyes widened at the sudden profanity.

Park Tae-soo continued cursing without hesitation.

“That damn Rahel sent us to the wrong place!”

“Rahel! Rahel!!!”

“If I see her again, I’ll tear her apart and kill her!”

“Rahel, you damn…!”

As soon as Rahel’s name was mentioned, the self-proclaimed heroes around them started to react.

Some foamed at the mouth, some talked about eating her insides, and some about turning her brain into mush.

Their behavior made Choi Hyunseok doubt if they were really heroes.

Choi Hyunseok clenched his fists.

“Mr. Tae-soo… Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?”

“That Rahel sent us to the wrong place…”

“It’s almost certain. I talked to a hero who was captured from a different place.”

Choi Hyunseok’s eyes widened.

“From a different place…?”

“Yes. A hero who lived a normal life.”

“Is that person okay?”

“I heard there’s a starting area for heroes. Most start in a bustling city, but sometimes in a quiet village.”

“…”

“Most heroes are too weak to live a normal life, but no one starts their hero life in the middle of the Demon King’s army.”

Choi Hyunseok felt an uncontrollable rage rising within him.

If that’s the case, why was he dropped into this hell?

His fists trembled with anger.

“Why… Why…!”

“Do you think there’s a reason? I only know one thing.”

Park Tae-soo sighed deeply.

“We’re all screwed.”