Early evening.
“Hawawa.” In front of Chi-Woo, Hawa spoke in a squeaky voice with her mouth opened wide. “Hawa iz a school girl-chan~” [1]
Chi-Woo flipped over at the spot. Clapping, he almost died of laughter. From afar, Hawa glared as Chi-Woo clutched his belly from laughing too hard. She had lost her battle with him again, and after stating that she wouldn’t do a similar cutesy act as before even if it killed her, Chi-woo made her say another set of strange lines. She honestly didn’t know what Chi-Woo found so funny, but for some reason, she felt incredibly shitty.
“Ahahaha! As soon as I heard your name, I wanted to make you do this!” Chi-Woo wiped tears from his eyes and barely managed to calm himself down before he sat down again. Then he stroked his hand on the bun—which they hadn’t figured out the name of yet—and looked to Hawa as she made a displeased face.
“What’s with the sorry face? I didn’t even make you act cutesy.”
“…Yeah.”
“Why do you keep asking to make bets when you know you are going to lose?”
Hawa was irked by the last part of Chi-Woo’s question, but repressed her anger knowing that it was the truth. Then she said, “It’s because I have something I want to ask you to do.”
“You want me to call you nuna again?” Chi-Woo said teasingly, but Hawa shook her head.
“No, I just…”
“Just what?”
“If I had known our situation would’ve been reversed this fast, I would’ve told you on our first bet.”
Chi-Woo’s eyes shifted as he fixed his posture and asked immediately, “What is it?”
“Are you going to grant the request?”
“Let me hear it first.”
Hawa pursed her lips. Her face was as expressionless as usual, and it was difficult to read her. After Chi-Woo waited patiently for a bit, Hawa opened her mouth again and said, “I want to be a hero.”
“…”
“I want to make a contract with a god and use a similar power as you all and become stronger.”
“A…hero…” Chi-Woo groaned quietly, taken aback. He was about to ask her ‘why’, but decided against it. It was a meaningless question. After all, strength and power took precedence over everything on Liber.
“I see,” Chi-Woo said in a low voice and continued, “To which god? Goddess Shahnaz?”
Hawa seemed to find his response surprising. Eyes glittering, she said, “It doesn’t matter as long as I can establish a contract with a god.”
“But aren’t you a shaman for Shahnaz?”
“That’s simply the role I was born into,” Hawa said quietly, “But in the first place, I am not in the position to choose gods.”
“We don’t know about that.”
“Of course, nothing would please me more than to get chosen by a god.”
“Calm down for a moment,” Chi-Woo cut her off. While taking his hand off the bun, he continued, “You can’t think about making a contract with a god so rashly. Your character…no, should I say your conviction? You have to choose a god who will empathize with your thoughts, understand you, and support your decisions. If you don’t, it would’ve been better for you to not have made a contract at all.”
Hawa listened carefully, knowing that there was nothing to lose from heeding the advice coming from a hero who was much more of an expert in this matter. But of course, she didn’t know what was going inside Chi-Woo’s head.
[If I’m remembering it right, I think someone from somewhere was fretting about establishing a contract with a god as fast as possible not that long ago.]
Mimi’s voice rang in Chi-Woo’s mind. Like Mimi said, Chi-Woo was simply passing on what Shahnaz had told him to Hawa.
‘Ah, but I have to tell her everything that needs to be known.’
[Are you planning to make this girl your second star?]
‘I have no intention of doing that,’ Chi-Woo said firmly but after some thought, he added, ‘As of now.’
Accepting a hero as a ‘star’ meant establishing mutual trust and promises to one another; these promises couldn’t be made simply with words. Perhaps he would be able to do such things if he gained more experience and skills as a parent, but he was struggling right now with Ru Amuh alone.
[I respect your judgment. But I recommend you to lead this girl down the right path of becoming a hero.]
‘Why? Accepting her as one of my stars and her becoming a hero are separate matters.’
[If you make this girl a hero, doesn’t it make her your responsibility?]
‘My responsibility?’
[Yes, you will have the responsibility to lead her down the right path.]
‘…I’m not sure about that.’ Chi-Woo glanced intently at Hawa. Hawa seemed to have misinterpreted Chi-Woo’s bemusement, and was waiting quietly for Chi-Woo’s response.
‘Truthfully, I think if it’s Hawa, she will do fine on her own just like Mr. Ru Amuh.’
[That’s why I think it’s a problem.]
‘?’
[In the current state of matters, we don’t know which way she will go.]
Chi-Woo mouth gaped open slightly. With the words, ‘which way’, he caught onto what Mimi was telling him.
[Your first star, Ru Amuh is the ‘Boy from the Promise’, a knight of conviction, a true genius, and so on. There are countless titles following his name, and considering his character alone, you can say that he’s already a complete hero. Yet the same cannot be said about this girl.]
Chi-Woo nodded at Mimi’ last words.
[This will be the beginning for her since she will be experiencing everything for the first time.]
‘Are you worried that she wouldn’t stop at any means to achieve her goals, as desperate as she is?’
[It’s more than that.]
Mimi continued.
[People of her type of character try to use established order and system for their own means.]
‘Doesn’t that mean she is close to being evil?’
[It’s not as simple as that since she won’t ignore the already established order. She will prioritize her own gains, but if her actions violate laws or rules, she would most likely back down.]
‘Then…’
[As much as she holds laws and rules in high regard, she will use them to corner her opponents.]
Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed. He got the essence of what Mimi was trying to tell him. She was saying that Hawa had a high possibility of becoming a mastermind who manipulated the situation from the background. Now that he thought about it, Hawa was ‘Eve who Didn’t Yet Eat the Fruit of Good and Evil’.
[Everyone has a natural inclination that they were born with. Turning this girl into someone like Ru Amuh would be extremely difficult.]
Chi-Woo couldn’t even imagine Hawa becoming as pure and noble as Ru Amuh, but his eyes opened wider at Mimi’s following remarks.
[But there’s a method easier than that. It’s for you to become an existence far stronger and greater than she is.]
Mimi whispered.
[Become a giant tree that she won’t dare to look up at, much less try to climb.]
Chi-Woo understood now. The god he served was ‘perfectly neutral’, and gods of this disposition didn’t distinguish between good and evil. If one side was gaining on the other, they would forcefully restore the balance without looking into the reasons. Thus, even if Hawa became evil, he could suppress her with greater evil. As power was the law in a world like Liber, he simply needed to become strong enough to squash her if she strayed to another path. In the first place, if Chi-Woo became a formidable, great existence, Hawa would naturally restrain herself and refrained from crossing the lines he had set in place; that was just how she was.
[Don’t forget. This girl’s disposition is ‘Lawful Evil’.]
Chi-Woo nodded quietly at her words and looked up again. Hawa was still waiting for his response.
“Let’s think about this more seriously,” he told her. “It’s not bad to want to be stronger, but I think you should think about things in the long run.”
“…”
“Since this decision could change the rest of your life, think about it carefully. And after you make up your mind, tell me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I will help you then.”
Chi-Woo didn’t turn her down. He only told her to think more carefully and promised to help her when the time came. Hawa was satisfied to hear such an agreeable response.
“Thank you, oppa.” Hawa bowed in an expression of her gratitude. For her to call him oppa, which she hated to do, indicated her positive feelings for the situation. Then she eventually got up to patrol the area.
Sitting down, Chi-Woo felt something soft and squishy in his palms. While it was sleeping, it seemed the bun had felt Chi-Woo’s petting stop and started wiggling into his hands. Chi-Woo pushed down a little harder and soundlessly laughed.
* * *
While sitting on the streets, Ru Hiana dug her face into her knees. She had no strength in her body, and it had been a week since she last ate. They had run out of food some time ago. Although they were able to secure some water, she was sick of just filling their stomachs with water. And above all, it seemed like a long-ago dream that they had once walked around the fortress freely.
‘When is he coming back…?’ Ru Hiana let out a deep sigh as she thought of Ru Amuh, who still hadn’t returned yet.
‘Why…?’ What led up to this? It all began after they came back from the Evalaya mountain. Ru Hiana didn’t even get the time to mourn over the loss of Chi-Woo and Hawa, because after a couple of days, the ambushes began. They were monsters the majority of the heroes had never seen before—monsters similar to the ones she had seen on the Evalaya mountain, and they emerged all over the place in pairs or even dozens at once.
The heroes didn’t back down from the sight of these monsters and trusted in the fortress’ walls and bravely fought. Yet, even as Ru Amuh led the team, and Ru Hiana and Allen Leonard provided their support, they had their limits. No matter how many monsters they killed or how many fights they endured, there seemed to be no end in sight; and following that, heroes began to fall one by one.
But that wasn’t all; there were also enemies from the inside. Ru Hiana still couldn’t forget that day. She had hurriedly dashed to the castle walls hearing that dozens of monsters had appeared when she saw something unbelievable: one hero was avidly stuffing himself with what little precious food they had left, and he was using both his hands.
[Hey! What are you doing?]
Gasping, she ran toward the hero and flinched when she got closer.
[Kyaruh?]
[What, what…]
[Kuruhuru…!]
The hero—or what used to be a hero—smiled eerily with all his facial muscles stretched beyond their limits.
[You…]
Ru Hiana had no time to investigate the matter, since at that exact moment, the monsters began their offensive on the outside. But the surprising part was the changed hero’s response. Although he had been drooling while looking at Ru Hiana, the changed hero suddenly dashed outside as soon as he heard the noises from monsters. And he wasn’t alone. Several others joined and ran outside and fought, and they fought so well that it was hard to believe they were the heroes who had lost their powers.
Until that point, the other heroes had been rejoicing that their companions powered up facing a pressing danger; of course, Ru Hiana had seen the changed hero’s face distort like an evil spirit, and she had an ominous feeling. Rather than a power-up, it seemed the changed heroes had been set off into a craze. And it was too much of a coincidence that some heroes had changed just as an especially large monster ambushed them. It was an impossible occurrence unless someone had intended for it to happen.
Soon, the cheering above the castle walls died down, and instead, the number of heroes who ran forward while letting out incomprehensible shrieks began to increase. While watching the scene before her blankly, Ru Hiana felt an evil energy attack her body. Thus, she quickly turned around. She didn’t know why, but at that moment, her only thought was that she had to gather as many people to where Shahnaz was as she could. Heroes with quick senses followed her, and when they reached the spot, everyone realized that Ru Hiana’s hunch had been correct.
The evil energy blanketing the fortress couldn’t penetrate Shahnaz’s holy surroundings. As the heroes waited there, the noise from the outside and the evil energy soon faded. The only things that remained were piles of unidentifiable corpses and the heroes who had gone mad and survived the recent intense battle. From then on, their strange cohabitation began.
Heroes who were still sane didn’t try to fight the heroes who had gone mad. They didn’t know the reason, but it seemed the changed heroes were leaving them alone for now—no, they were spying on them. But the main drawback was that the heroes could no longer wander in the fortress or outside like before. They didn’t know how many mysterious monsters were roaming around, or when the strange, evil energy would blanket the area.
However, they needed to get out, or they would starve. Thus, Ru Amuh and Allen Leonard decided to take on the task of searching for food. Since they had awakened a tiny portion of their original powers, they at least had a better chance of returning alive than the others. And the role that Ru Hiana took was to protect their last sanctuary inside the fortress. Yet, Ru Hiana failed to accomplish her given mission. Some heroes got out of the protective circle saying that they couldn’t stay still like this. The majority of them ended up either missing forever or found wandering in a back alleyway with blank looks on their faces. In short, they had been captured by their enemies—just like how the fifth and sixth recruits had slowly died in the range. And it was then Ru Hiana realized who was behind this entire incident and their current situation, but alas, there was nothing she could do. All she could do was watch just like that time…
As her head was lost in these thoughts, Ru Hiana suddenly looked up at the growing commotion. Two heroes had gotten up and were murmuring.
‘What is it?’ Ru Hiana quickly got to her feet and looked appalled. ‘Why are those guys suddenly…!’
The changed heroes, who had only been wandering the area they occupied until now, began to gather one by one as if they were being led by something.
“I told you.” Taking a rest now, Allen Leonard stood next to Ru Hiana’s side and said, “It seems they have gotten a bit strange.”
“…”
“This is bad. Ru Amuh isn’t even here right now…”
Allen Leonard’s face creased with concern. Then they heard Shahnaz speak up.
—No…
She sounded strained, like she was barely managing to speak to them.
—Someone has…this….this…
Shahnaz’s voice suddenly cut off.
Clang! Simultaneously, they felt something break; it was the barrier that Shahnaz had created to protect the heroes.
‘Who in the World…! When, why, and how?’ Ru Hiana thought. She was completely in the dark, and she had to die without knowing anything. Perhaps she would become something like the changed heroes, neither dead nor alive. But of course, she would resist until the end. Although Ru Amuh had told her to endure and wait for now, she had no other option.
‘I’m sorry.’
Ru Hiana pulled out her sword. Allen Leonard also unleashed his mana, but he couldn’t hide the gloom that shadowed his eyes.
* * *
Meanwhile, Chi-Woo stood on top of a hill and looked down at their destination, the fortress. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “We’re finally here.”
“Byu!” The bun raised the hand it had formed and also cheered.
“But by the looks of it…it seems they went through some tough fights.” Chi-Woo searched the fortress’ surroundings carefully and blinked hard. Hawa did the same. She looked up at the night sky that was filled with dark clouds and eyed the ominous fortress warily.
“I think we should hurry,” she said. Chi-Woo agreed, moving at a brisk pace with the bun on his shoulders. They had finally returned, only to be greeted by a chilling energy that circled around the fortress. It was a discomforting yet familiar energy.
1. a meme; ‘Hawawa’ here is an otaku-ish way of expressing one’s surprise and this format of expression is used commonly by male netizens pretending to be girls online (source: namuwiki) ☜