I Became the 101st Hero – Chapter 21

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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‘This is messed up.’

That was my thought as I was flung through the air, sword and all.

The next moment, I crashed onto the ground with a heavy thud.

“Ugh!”

It hurt like hell.

Enduring the pain as best as I could with Absolute Obedience, I lifted my head. I had flown quite a distance from him.

‘I think something’s broken…’

I rubbed my aching back.

Come to think of it, this was probably the first time I had been injured this badly.

Well, except for that time I got into a car accident in reality.

I guess my luck had been pretty good until now.

‘Is this where it ends?’

This time, I might actually die.

Absolute Obedience, Swordsmanship (B+), the relic – none of it would matter.

One direct hit from him and it would all be over.

‘This shouldn’t be a B-rank quest, though?’

As I thought that, a notification popped up.

The danger level shot up in an instant.

While the reward also increased, I had no time to care about that.

A- was a danger level where the chance of failure far outweighed the chance of success.

‘Should I run?’

With an A- danger level, retreat wasn’t a bad option.

Actually, any sane player would definitely choose to run.

‘What do I do?’

I watched him thrashing around in the distance, lost in contemplation.

Ultimately, the deciding factor was whether I could defeat him or not.

We were already outside the barrier, where just breathing was dangerous. Compared to an unknown risk, a chance of victory, however slim, was more important.

‘For now, the mutated parts are his enlarged right arm and that tentacle-like left arm.’

His face and lower body were also distorted, but the transformation didn’t seem as pronounced as his arms.

If that was the case, focusing on his arms seemed like a viable strategy.

‘Especially that tentacled left arm.’

Unlike a normal arm, its flexibility allowed for unpredictable attacks.

And there was no way of knowing how far it could reach.

‘Is there any choice but to engage?’

I rummaged through the corpse of a nearby bandit and pulled out something resembling a smoke bomb.

I didn’t know the exact mechanism, but it was enough to know that it would explode upon hitting the ground.

My plan was to use it as a distraction and escape if things went south.

‘Gravitas Replicant.’

I minimized the weight of the sword.

Then I assumed a stance for running.

I was aiming for a surprise attack, a single decisive blow.

‘Now!’

He was writhing in pain, seemingly oblivious to me.

I charged towards him, sword in hand.

‘Die!’

Just before he entered my sword’s range, his movements shifted abruptly.

That tentacle-like left arm shot out towards me with lightning speed.

“Gah!”

Instinctively, I released the weight restriction on the sword.

My center of gravity shifted, and my body twisted.

I managed to dodge the attack.

But a follow-up came immediately after.

Boom!

His fist slammed into the ground.

The impact shook the ground, almost causing me to lose my balance, but I managed to stay upright by planting the now-heavy sword into the ground.

However, I was left wide open for the next attack.

With a blow to my side, I was sent flying once more.

Fortunately, this time, I landed smoothly without crashing onto the ground.

That didn’t mean I was unharmed, though.

‘Should I have run away after all?’

Actually, it wasn’t too late.

I could just activate this black orb and flee.

As I hesitated…

Something caught my eye.

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A dark and foul-smelling alley.

The brightly shining sky peeked through the narrow passage.

‘Where is this…?’

A sky this bright could only mean one place – the Kingdom of Leim.

The land of the eternal sun, the Kingdom of Leim.

It was also his homeland.

‘Is this a childhood memory?’

Then, voices reached his ears.

“Those kinds of people are just born thieves.”

“You can’t change a person’s nature.”

He didn’t think he was a thief from the start.

So, when did he become one?

He couldn’t remember.

When he secretly sold his younger sibling’s beloved doll?

When he stole a loaf of bread because he was starving?

Or maybe just now, when he pocketed some change from the shop he was working at?

Only one thing was certain – he was a thief now.

“Haha…”

He tried to laugh, but only a hollow chuckle escaped his lips.

His ribs might be broken.

Getting beaten up for a few coins seemed a bit harsh.

“Damn it.”

Just a few coins, what was the big deal?

Those nobles who snatched gold and jewels from the commoners got away with it.

They showered heroes with free lodging, food, and services.

But they picked on him for this?

‘…’

He knew the reason.

He was weak.

They looked down on him because they knew he couldn’t do anything.

‘If only I were stronger…’

But deep down, he knew it was a futile wish.

He needed to eat well to build strength.

He needed to hire a teacher to learn swordsmanship.

No matter what he wanted to do, he needed money.

But after feeding his younger sibling, there was nothing left.

‘Can’t I steal power?’

What if he could skip all the hassle and steal the power itself?

But that kind of thing…

“It’s just a small dagger. Why is it so expensive?”

He noticed two men engaged in a hushed conversation in a corner of the alley.

“No, young master. This is a 3-star relic smuggled out from the Sac, called Night’s Shadow.”

“Whatever. 3-star or not, I need a bigger, more imposing weapon. I don’t need a girly dagger like this.”

“But with this sword, you can hide in the darkness.”

“Are you suggesting I hide somewhere?”

“That’s…”

The man, seemingly a potential buyer, stopped listening and walked away.

Left alone, the man clicked his tongue and started to leave.

“You’d think a noble brat would know better. To think he’d stumble on something like this. This thing won’t be easy to get rid of.”

As the man walked past the alley…

He tripped over something.

“Ugh!”

He looked back to see the boy he had dismissed as a corpse.

It seemed the boy was still alive, just not moving.

‘Damn, did he hear our conversation?’

It didn’t matter, even if he did, he was just a clueless kid.

Or so he thought.

“You…!”

A dagger was now clutched in the boy’s hand.

“Stop right there!”

Ignoring the shout from behind him…

He ran for his life.

He finally had his hands on power.

Everything went smoothly after that.

He mastered the relic and roamed the back alleys of the Leim Kingdom as if it were his playground.

He took what he wanted, destroyed what he disliked.

But even he, who felt invincible, was eventually exposed.

It was because he killed someone.

That damned doctor – his sibling died during surgery.

He killed the doctor in a fit of rage, only to find out that the doctor was a well-respected figure.

His identity was quickly traced through the doctor’s medical records, and he became a wanted man in the kingdom.

Now a fugitive, there was nowhere left for him within the barrier.

So, he fled beyond the barrier.

Having lost his sibling, he had no real reason to live.

But he had no reason to die either, and as a thief, he naturally gravitated towards a life of banditry.

With a 3-star relic and decent skills, he thrived.

However, having no purpose gnawed at him.

So, he set a goal for himself.

He would buy his way into the Sac and return within the barrier.

But then…

(And what will you do when you go back?)

‘Well…’

He hadn’t thought about that.

(Will you go back to stealing? It’s not like you can do anything else. Or will you kill again? I heard assassinations are quite common in the Sac’s underbelly.)

‘…’

(What’s the problem? You know what? You did nothing wrong.)

‘What?’

Those were unexpected words.

He did nothing wrong?

(Think about it. Whose fault was it, really? No matter how much you earned, those nobles would just snatch it away as taxes.)

It was true. No matter how hard he worked honestly, after paying taxes, he could barely make ends meet.

That’s why he started stealing.

(And that damned doctor. He showed up drunk for your sibling’s surgery. Isn’t it clear whose fault it was?)

The doctor. He was the one who took his sibling away first.

He merely took his life in return.

(Has the world ever given you anything? You’ve only ever been robbed. Now, even your loyal followers have abandoned you. How does that make you feel?)

Of course he was angry.

‘So what do you want me to do?’

(It’s simple. I’ll give you ‘power.’ Take everything from this world, leave nothing behind.)

Power…

That’s right. He ended up like this because he lacked power.

‘Alright, give me your power.’

That’s how he became a Chaos Beast.

His right arm grotesquely swollen, a tentacle sprouting from his empty left arm.

Maintaining his sanity was impossible.

But it was fine.

He was strong enough now, and his instincts screamed at him to seize everything.

He liked the sound of that.

“Die!”

He swung his mutated arms wildly, attacking the person before him.

He couldn’t even remember who it was anymore.

He simply didn’t like the fact that they stood before him.

The boy, struck by the tentacle, went flying.

He rolled on the ground but stood up unscathed.

Not particularly strong, but quite resilient.

That’s when it happened.

The boy suddenly pulled out a black orb.

‘What’s that?’

He was sure he had seen it before.

But he couldn’t recall.

It was only after the orb shattered, scattering black particles into the air, that he realized what it was.

‘Is he trying to escape?’

He extended his tentacle towards where the boy had been standing in the darkness.

But the boy was gone.

At that moment, he felt a presence right beside him.

‘When did he…?’

He was fast before, but this was ridiculous.

But hiding in the darkness and approaching was a foolish tactic.

Even in the dark, the silhouette of something this close would be somewhat visible.

The moment he turned to face the presence behind him…

‘Huh?’

He was gone.

The boy had vanished completely.

‘Where…!’

As he turned back to the front…

The boy’s figure materialized from the empty darkness.

The relic, swung with both hands, was already plunging towards his head.

‘That’s!’

Only then did he see the dagger clutched in the boy’s mouth.

It was Night’s Shadow, the relic he used to wield.

‘So this is how I die, by my own sword?’

No, it wasn’t exactly his sword.

He stole it from someone else, after all.

Perhaps this was a fitting end for a thief.

The boy’s relic cleaved through him with terrifying force.

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I did it.

It wasn’t an easy battle, but I managed to defeat him in the end.

I sustained some injuries, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about earning SP for a while.

Because…

Stigma

SP: 260

I finally had enough SP to learn [Precocious (Minor)].

After acquiring Precocious, I needed to focus on raising my [Swordsmanship] and [Wind Manipulation] proficiency through training until I faced the Demon King.

‘Acquire [Precocious (Minor)].’

A new entry was added to my Traits.

I checked the effects of [Precocious (Minor)].

It was the same as I remembered from the game.

As for [Precocious (Major)], it completely halted growth in exchange for a ‘significantly faster’ proficiency increase rate instead of ‘moderate.’

The difference between ‘moderate’ and ‘significant’ was quite substantial, but I was grateful for even a ‘moderate’ increase.

Moreover, on top of the SP, I received an unexpected reward.

I used Appraisal on the dagger in my hand.

This, too, was a relic I recognized.

I knew it could be obtained in the Leim Kingdom several years from now, but I didn’t realize it was obtainable here.

‘This is good, but…’

It was a fairly useful relic among 2-star ones.

While situational, depending on how it was used, it could be as effective as a 3-star relic like Gravitas Replicant.

I stored Night’s Shadow in my inventory with a satisfied nod.

‘Now then, all that’s left is to defeat the 71st Demon King, huh?’

If I succeeded in defeating him, I might be able to unlock the second inheritance.

‘Come to think of it, it’s almost time.’

The Demon King’s arrival was only two weeks away.

I had a lot of preparations to make.

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