A Legendary Korean Gamer Stuck in a Japanese Isekai – Chapter 21

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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However, the bet didn’t take place immediately.

Not only was afternoon training about to begin, but originally priests, mages, and production classes didn’t have regular sparring matches.

Mages had difficulty controlling magic, and the others didn’t yet have skills that could be used for attacks.

Moreover, in my case, after already turning one samurai’s body into a modern object during morning training, winning again against a current top prospect would draw too much attention.

“Come here at midnight.”

The Japanese school lunch (high school) kid asked a nearby servant for paper and something to write with (they even had a ballpoint pen!) and drew something like a map.

After confirming that while the drawing style was cute, the readability wasn’t bad, I nodded, and the Japanese lunch kid left without saying anything else.

“Will it be okay?”

“Probably?”

“What if you lose?”

“I don’t plan on losing, but even if I do, I just need to grant one favor.”

“Kudo-kun… he seems to really hate you, Kid-nim. If he asks for something unreasonable…”

“If he demands something ridiculous, I won’t do it.”

“Heh?”

Luna looked at me with a stupid expression.

“I might consider reasonable requests, but I can’t give a blank check for unlimited demands. Especially with kids that age, when they talk about wishes, they’re often unrealistic and absurd.”

“…What? Did you agree to the bet without intending to keep your promise?”

“I just mean I’ll refuse only absurd and unreasonable demands. For example, if Japanese lunch- I mean, if Kudo-kun wanted me to commit suicide, I couldn’t agree to that.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Besides, I’m going to win anyway, so let’s not think too deeply about it.”

Luna looked at me with squinted eyes.

“Can I trust you, Kid-nim?”

“You were the one who chose me first, Luna-nim. Trust me.”

“… Even if wanting Kid-nim dead might be an exaggeration, he might ask to form a party with me excluding you.”

“Well, there are ways around that too, right? For example, even if I’m not in the party, during a quest we could ‘coincidentally’ meet and join up.”

“Isn’t that cheating!?”

“Even rules that seem obvious when playing games need to be checked for loopholes. For now, let’s put aside worrying about Kudo-kun and focus on scouting party members. If we wait too long, everyone will join other parties.”

“Against high school students… something… something…”

Luna made an uncomfortable expression but eventually nodded.

For now, Japanese lunch kid’s joining wasn’t confirmed, and our party only had me and Luna.
Excluding parties that had formed from the beginning, during the one-week training period, users were evaluating other users and putting price tags on them.

And although there might be some exaggeration, promising candidates were being sorted out.

‘Actually, we’re already late.’

S-rank players wanted to become party leaders themselves so that was difficult anyway, and most A-rank players had already made connections.

The A-rank players who hadn’t joined anywhere yet had their reasons.

But I wasn’t particularly worried.

While only B-rank, there were many people who were better than A-ranks in some ways.

‘No matter if they’re A-rank, you can’t put an asshole delinquent in your party.’

In cooperative play, having someone who can carry is good, but the minimum requirement to reach higher levels is synergy.

While adding synergy might work, we don’t need someone who breaks things down.

‘Fortunately, there are still some good people left.’

The three remaining A-ranks were honestly NG in terms of personality rather than talent.

It wasn’t that I was being picky – these were people who were being excluded even in situations where others were trying to recruit at least one capable person.

To put it bluntly, they were capable but toxic.

Still, while the Japanese lunch kid was estimated S-rank and young age was considered as a mitigating factor, mediocre A-ranks were…

In the end, after giving up on all the remaining A-rank prospects, Luna and I approached the B-ranks we had been eyeing.
After carefully selecting, we had 4 people.

“Why did I choose archer? When I was a student, I did kyudo. It was quite a while ago, and the type of bow is different, but as I get used to it bit by bit, it seems pretty good.”

One archer who would handle ranged attacks, who was in the kyudo club during school.

They seemed stiffer than expected, but rather, that aspect made them seem reliable.

“I just chose it because it seemed steady.”

“Uh… just because sword and shield seemed like the standard in these fantasy games…?”

Two vanguards who would handle the middle line.

Both seemed to have mild personalities and were college students.

“Honestly, I haven’t figured out how to develop yet. I’d like to find a party that won’t rush me until I properly decide on a route.”

One mage with various possibilities, though they hadn’t properly decided on their route yet.

They were also an ordinary college student.

But their attitude of carefully deciding while avoiding using their job skills as much as possible seemed good.

“Only 4 people out of all those people…”

Luna sighed after afternoon training and recruitment ended.

“Can’t be helped. Several parties had already formed.”

“…Still.”

While parties had formed, most were around 4-8 people, and even that wasn’t many.

Actually, most users were waiting for contact from other parties rather than becoming party leaders themselves, whether due to low hero rank, lack of skill shown in sparring, or personality and responsibility issues, so the number of waiting users wasn’t small.
In the end, it was about quality.

To put it coldly, while no one could know the future, at this point many were just chaff.

Luna watched with a worried expression as users returned to their rooms following the servants’ guidance after training ended.

Among them, half were users who hadn’t received attention from any party.

“…What will happen to them?”

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but there won’t be any problems.”

“Based on what?”

“Think of what’s being formed now as like a first string concept.”

Honestly, calling the current formed parties first string made me sigh, but still, maybe Saito’s and other S-rank parties might be comparable to Japan’s legendary first string?

“Even if they don’t form parties here, as long as they’re not just sitting around sucking their thumbs, the users who weren’t chosen can eventually join together when the main game starts.”

“Ah.”

“Even if they weren’t chosen here, with this many people, there shouldn’t be much trouble forming parties. Rather, if we include party members who don’t match the level out of sympathy, there’s a high chance the growth balance won’t match.”

Luna nodded as if she understood.

“Their growth might be slow, but those people will eventually follow along bit by bit as they get used to things without pushing themselves too hard. Don’t worry too much.”

“I understand. But are you planning to include all four people we selected in the party?”

“That depends on tonight’s results.”

“Ah.”

“If Kudo-kun joins, one of the vanguards will probably have to leave. We’ll have to choose one of the two.”

“That’s worrying.”

“Let’s think about this after seeing today’s results. Let’s go eat now.”

“I’ve been waiting for those words!”

“…Were you really worrying about it?”

“Of course! But good thoughts don’t come when there’s no sugar in the brain!”

Looking at her walking energetically toward the dining hall with a bright expression after having agonized for so long, I smiled and followed behind.

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Kudo Ren was blankly staring out the window in the dark room, relying only on the moonlight outside as a light source.

12 o’clock.

The battle with that man would begin soon.

Shiver.

The Japanese sword, a hero’s weapon, was trembling.

No, what was trembling was their own hand.

‘Don’t worry, Kudo. The situation at the frontlines is actually better these days. They even say it’s safer than subjugation requests. And me? There won’t be any problems.’

‘Then I’ll go with you too!’

‘Hmm- not yet.’

‘Why!’

‘Even if things have improved, it’s still hard to protect you at the frontlines.’

‘…I’m different from before now. I even got a gold badge from the Adventurer’s Guild.’

‘Yes! I think you’re very admirable. When I think about how Kudo used to cry all day because a slime stuck to their arm in the past, big sister can’t hold back her tears.’

It felt like a gentle hand had patted their head.

Actually, they weren’t even sure if that was right.

It was a sensation they could barely remember anymore.

‘Still, you’re our party’s precious priest. It would be a waste to put you in danger like this! We’ll be back quickly, so just wait a little.’

‘…You’ll come back soon, right?’

‘Of course! Don’t you trust our party’s strength while being part of our party?’

‘I trust you. … So come back soon.’

That wasn’t how they should have sent them off.

‘…An… nihilated? Why?’

‘…Bad luck, Hero Kudo.’

‘Why! Big sister’s party…! Our party was among the strongest of the summoned hero parties…!’

‘They encountered “him” and a battle broke out.’

‘…No way.’

‘Hero ■■■■… after hearing that he had started appearing on the frontlines. However…’

‘Ah… Aah…’

They said not even a trace of big sister’s party remained.

No, maybe that was better.

If the corpses were intact, they might suffer an even more horrible fate.

It was deliberate.

Big sister and the party members deliberately left them here.

Because they might die.

Because they were going to meet ‘him’ who had changed from one of the strongest heroes to a traitor now.

‘Ah-ah-ah-ah–ah—ah—-.’

They seemed to have no memories for about two days after hearing about the party’s annihilation.

What remained was regret about surviving.

If they hadn’t been a priest, if they had been a vanguard class that slaughtered enemies at the front…

Big sister wouldn’t have left them behind because they were a priest.

Eventually, Kudo’s perspective changed.

‘Uwaaaaah-‘

‘…Save me…’

‘…My child… my child…’

‘Block them!’

‘This is insane! I’m running away!’

‘You fool! Even if you run from here, everywhere else is the same! This is where you’ll die! Pick up your weapon and fight!’

In Nadium’s long-standing royal capital that had been gorgeous and beautiful, a present-day hell was unfolding.

On the beautiful roads, corpses of men, women, old, and young rolled around equally.

Beings created by heresy.

Demons roamed throughout the city, hunting survivors.

Kudo looked up at the being standing amidst the demons that were rushing in like waves.

Death.

A being that seemed to embody death itself.

Once counted among the strongest of the 108 heroes. And…■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■.

‘Dead…End…’

A faint murmur.

But at those words, death looked at them.

Grip.

They clutched the sword scabbard as if it might break.

Their back was already damp with cold sweat.

“It’s okay.”

They comforted themselves as their body trembled with fear.

When they first saw Dead End, they had frozen in terror.

But realizing that the ‘current’ Dead End was still just an ordinary novice, what filled their chest was resentment and hostility toward the one who had killed their sister.

“Maybe not in the future, but at a point less than a week after being summoned…”

Just as they were wondering how to kill him, he approached first.

They were surprised since their previous self wouldn’t have even been worth considering…

Even now, they couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

While they had some guesses, they didn’t clearly know the reason for returning.

But if this wasn’t a dream, if this was another chance given to them.

“Before you become a disaster, with these hands.”

Kudo Ren quietly resolved in the darkness.

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