Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad

A funeral was held for Hera, a woman killed by a demon.

Rain poured down.

Hera’s father, Dorfman, held his dead daughter’s body and wept bitterly.

Choi Hyun-seok, who had been watching the scene, turned away.

“Let’s go.”

He had come to check if there might be any clues on Hera’s body but didn’t find anything particularly special.

There was no need to stay longer in this uncomfortable place.

Just then, he heard whispers from beside him.

“Still, Dorfman is fortunate. At least he recovered his daughter’s body intact.”

“Did I say something wrong? I couldn’t even find my son’s head when he died last month! What about the others?”

“Well, that…”

“Sigh, it’s somewhat fortunate that he can at least bury his daughter in such a complete state.”

While listening to their conversation, Choi Hyun-seok stroked his chin.

“Ms. Abelson. Is there a reason why only this woman’s body was left intact?”

“Probably because I discovered it midway.”

“Hmm, that could be. You also said this was the first time we learned the killer was a demon.”

Until now, no one had witnessed the murders.

They occurred late at night, and even if someone happened to witness the murder, they wouldn’t survive as witnesses.

In other words, Abelson is the first to witness the killer and survive.

The reason the body was intact was probably because they couldn’t finish properly after being discovered by Abelson.

She spoke with a gloomy expression.

“It’s unfortunate. If we had known earlier that the culprit was a demon, the Lord or the Deusis faith wouldn’t have neglected this situation…”

“Shouldn’t they have cared even if it wasn’t a demon? I heard over thirty residents died in six months.”

“Death is a familiar thing. They probably thought ‘There’s no need to step in for something this minor.'”

“I see.”

Choi Hyun-seok let out a light sigh.

‘Well, the weight of life would be different here.’

In South Korea, everyone can pursue a stable life and enjoy medical welfare benefits.

That’s why death doesn’t feel so close.

In contrast, death lurks everywhere in this land.

It’s not just because of the war with demons.

The social climate and legal system disregard human life, specifically the lives of the lower class.

Poor medical technology and infrastructure.

Unsanitary living conditions.

Insufficient nutrition.

Terrible public safety, and so on.

The environment made death inevitable in every aspect.

‘Though magic exists, it doesn’t seem common enough for rural people to benefit from it.’

Magic, especially healing using holy power, can cure any wound or disease.

However, for ordinary civilians, it’s just a far-off tale.

Magic that exists in their world is positioned high above.

As a society with a class system, the gap between classes was inevitably much worse than on Earth.

“Anyway, we need to catch and punish that demon quickly.”

“Yes.”

“So I’ve been wondering about something.”

Choi Hyun-seok continued with a serious expression.

“Do you remember what level that creature from yesterday was?”

“Level?”

“Yes. Roughly how strong you think it might be.”

“Though I couldn’t properly assess since it was concealing its demonic energy, judging by its movements, it seemed at least Battalion Commander level.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded at the mention of the Battalion Commander level.

“That makes sense – you’d need to be at least that strong to silently take down a knight. But here’s the thing.”

His brow furrowed.

“Do you understand what it’s objective might be?”

“Objective?”

“If it’s a Demon King’s Army Battalion Commander, they could turn this village into a wasteland anytime. Actually, even a Company Commander could do it.”

There aren’t proper soldiers here.

Just some shabby wooden fences and residents acting as vigilantes.

Honestly, they’d struggle to hold off even a single Platoon Commander from the Demon King’s Army.

“Isn’t it strange? Why spend six months slowly killing villagers? What could be the reason?”

“Hmm… You’re right.”

Abelson also nodded in agreement.

As Choi Hyun-seok said, the demon’s behavior was very strange.

Suddenly, Abelson’s eyes widened.

“I just realized something – the demonic energy is unusually dense in this village.”

“Dense demonic energy?”

“Yes. I was wondering why my chest felt heavy – I think it was because of the demonic energy.”

There are always traces of magic power and demonic energy floating in the atmosphere.

The density varies slightly by region, and generally, in areas not controlled by the Demon King’s Army, the density of demonic energy is significantly lower.

However, this village is different.

“The density here is similar to what it was in the Black Giant Star… No, it feels even denser than back then.”

“Ah! No wonder I’ve been feeling good since coming here. Must be because of the demonic energy.”

“Kwang!”

Bobo, who is nestled in Choi Hyun-seok’s arms, barked energetically.

It seemed like he was expressing agreement.

Abelson’s eyes wavered slightly as she watched the two of them.

‘… Is he really a hero?’

A hero whose condition improves with demonic energy.

Although she understood the circumstances, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of disconnect.

“But isn’t it problematic if the demonic energy is dense? Or would others notice?”

“Unless someone has highly developed spiritual sensitivity, they wouldn’t know. Even high-level priests would have difficulty detecting it.”

“I see.”

“Also, dense demonic energy in the atmosphere doesn’t cause immediate problems. Though in the long term, it could be harmful…”

This phenomenon was similar to fine dust in a way.

People don’t think it’s strange when there’s a bit more fine dust in the air.

Most wouldn’t even notice.

It doesn’t immediately affect health or endanger life.

However, since it’s harmful to humans, there’s a high probability of problems arising in the long term.

“Though rare, there are naturally occurring areas with dense demonic energy.”

“Does this place seem like one of those cases?”

“No. If it were, a village couldn’t have been established here in the first place.”

“Then it means that demon is up to something. We’ll have to figure out what from now on.”

A demon killing people.

A village with increasingly dense demonic energy.

Something was definitely going on, but they couldn’t tell what it was.

“They said he usually shows up once a week, but we can’t just wait around.”

Choi Hyun-seok looked up at the sky.

The sun wasn’t visible due to the rain.

“Even though it’s raining, let’s look around. There might be traces or a base of operations nearby.”

“Yes.”

“If you think it might be dangerous, Miss Abelson, you can stay at the inn.”

“No, it’s fine. Since we’re dealing with a demon, I’m confident I can hold out at least until Mr. Choi Hyun-seok arrives.”

Abelson said with a confident expression.

Her combat power is approximately 80,000.

Most of that came from holy power.

Most demons would burn up just from exposure to her overwhelming holy power.

“Alright. Then let’s meet back at the inn around evening.”

***

That evening.

The group gathered again at the inn.

After taking a quick bath and coming down to the first floor, they saw several villagers sitting and having dinner.

This place, being the village’s only inn, also served as a restaurant.

Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson found a suitable spot to sit and began talking.

“Did you find anything?”

“Nothing at all.”

“I didn’t discover anything unusual either.”

Despite searching around the village all day, they found nothing special.

“Well, visibility was poor today because of the rain. Let’s look again tomorrow if the weather clears up.”

“Yes.”

“For now, let’s fill our stomachs.”

They were quite hungry after walking around all day.

Just then, the food arrived.

Choi Hyun-seok took a somewhat hard piece of bread and dipped it deeply in the soup.

“Hmm, this is actually pretty decent once you get used to it.”

As they say, hunger is the best sauce.

The bread that had seemed bland before now tasted quite good.

Choi Hyun-seok then picked up his beer mug and brought it to his lips.

At that moment, he overheard a conversation from the next table.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“Huh?”

“A hero has come to our village!”

“Pffffff-!”

Choi Hyun-seok spat out the beer he was drinking.

“*cough, cough!*”

When he looked up after coughing, his eyes met with Abelson’s cold expression.

Her face, hair, and clothes were all soaked in beer.

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.

“Th-that…”

“It’s okay…”

“It-it was an accident!”

“I said it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry!”

“How many times do I have to say it’s okay?”

“That… First, that horrifying thing in your hand…”

“Huh?”

Abelson lowered her hand with a surprised expression.

She must have instinctively raised her mace without realizing it.

“Anyway, about being a hero… Has our identity been discovered?”

Choi Hyun-seok whispered quietly while checking their surroundings.

Abelson shook her head.

“I don’t know. For now, we’ll have to play dumb…”

They continued listening to the conversation at the next table.

“They say there are five of them.”

“Five?”

“Yeah! I saw them earlier, and they all had an amazing presence! Every single one of them looked so majestic riding their horses!”

“Ooh…!”

“After hearing the village chief’s story, they immediately stepped up saying they’d solve it!”

Choi Hyun-seok let out a sigh of relief.

If it was five people, they couldn’t be talking about him and Abelson.

‘Did other heroes come to the village? Why?’

A mixture of curiosity and doubt arose.

Just then, the inn’s door opened and a group of people entered.

“Hey guys. This seems to be the inn.”

“Ugh, why is everything so small and dirty?”

“Ellis. You should be used to it by now.”

“How can someone who lived in New York get used to this? The cities are okay, but I just can’t get used to these backwater places.”

Five men and women entered while chattering noisily.

Choi Hyun-seok immediately recognized them as heroes.

They were wearing brilliant armor and weapons that screamed ‘I’m a hero!’

‘Four men and one woman.’

The woman is Caucasian, and among the men, there is one Caucasian, one Asian, one who appears to be from the Middle East and one Black man.

‘Very global.’

Choi Hyun-seok quickly scanned them with just his eyes.

‘Combat power at Battalion Commander level.’

Judging by their magical power, they weren’t much different from Battalion Commander level.

One of the Caucasian men was slightly above average, but even he wasn’t beyond Battalion Commander level.

‘I hope this passes quietly…’

Choi Hyun-seok slightly turned his head, not wanting to reveal that he was a hero here.

‘Ms. Abelson is fine, I’m the problem.’

Abelson was originally a local resident.

Though she is exceptionally beautiful, there is nothing to connect her to being a hero.

Choi Hyun-seok looked down to check his attire.

Normal clothes worn by locals.

Though he is large in build, he had dyed his hair, so he didn’t particularly stand out.

Reddish hair is common in this area.

‘If I just hide my face and control my magical power and demonic energy well, it should be fine.’

He suppressed his magical power and demonic energy even further.

Unless someone was deliberately trying to detect it, they probably wouldn’t notice.

If he could just avoid showing his face in this state, they probably wouldn’t know.

‘Ah, I need to be careful of the combat power meter too.’

Being heroes, they likely had combat power meters.

He had to be especially careful of Bobo.

If he was discovered, he couldn’t even think of how to explain it.

“Let’s get rooms first.”

“Nicolo. Will there be rooms suitable for all five of us in this small inn?”

“Just rest anywhere. We need to search the area tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

Their conversation continued even as they paid the innkeeper.

“But you know, doesn’t this hero quest content seem a bit strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t make sense for demons to stay in this countryside for 6 months. It’s quite far from the Demon Boundary.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

“Sang-min, what do you think? You’re good at this kind of overthinking.”

Choi Hyun-seok unconsciously looked at the man called Sang-min.

It was a reflexive response to suddenly hearing a Korean name.

At that moment, the man called Sang-min also looked at Choi Hyun-seok, and their eyes met.

“Oh, no way!?”

Sang-min’s eyes grew wide enough to pop out.

Choi Hyun-seok instinctively sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late.

“Aren’t you the fighting champion, Mr. Choi Hyun-seok!?”

“Haa, damn…”

It seems a fan has appeared.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read advanced chapters, you can do so by unlocking chapters.

https://ko-fi.com/ippostranslations