Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Legend of the D-Rank Hero
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# Chapter 5
Summoned heroes have their jobs decided when they reach level 10.
Until then, it's merely their aptitude.
The real job is determined at that point.
There had even been summoned heroes who ended up with jobs different from their aptitudes.
Isn't it the same on Earth?
Most people live lives completely different from their aptitude test results.
Here, the accuracy of these aptitudes was ridiculously high, but that didn't mean everyone got the job matching theirs.
Seo Woojin was pinning his hopes on that.
The hope that he might not necessarily become the 'Demon King.'
Of course, he'd have to keep hiding his aptitude in the meantime.
If Seo Woojin's aptitude were revealed, who would be the biggest threat?
The first people who came to mind were, naturally, the other heroes.
They had responded to the summoning precisely to defeat the Demon King.
There was no camaraderie between them, so the moment it was revealed, they'd likely come charging to cut his throat.
But they were far away.
And as long as they didn't swarm him all at once, he was confident he could somehow survive.
The real danger was close by.
Ailin, Testron, the knights of the Blue Shield.
People close and strong enough to thrust a sword into his neck at any moment.
And among them, the most dangerous was...
'Van Slane.'
Seo Woojin's head slowly turned backward.
There stood the handsome silver-haired young man, smiling as usual.
"Sir!"
Startled by Van Slane's sudden appearance, Ailin hurriedly saluted.
He gave her a slight nod before turning to Seo Woojin.
"Have you been well?"
Seo Woojin's mouth went dry.
This was the number one person he least wanted to run into right now.
"Y-Yes, sir."
Seo Woojin nodded, doing his best to hide his unease.
"As I mentioned before, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Van Slane."
*I know.*
At this point, not knowing would make him a halfwit.
Van Slane bowed politely to Seo Woojin and continued with a smile.
"This year's winter chill is fiercer than usual, but I'm glad to see you're holding up well."
*Holding up my ass.*
Seo Woojin seethed inwardly but kept a straight face.
"Thanks to you."
He gestured to the enchanted clothes as he replied, and Van Slane's smile deepened.
"Now do you trust us a bit?"
Seo Woojin made an awkward face at the question.
He was recalling how he'd treated him like a con artist at their first meeting.
"I'm sorry about that."
It wasn't really Seo Woojin's fault, but getting on this man's bad side wouldn't end well, so he apologized first.
"I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry for startling you that day."
Van Slane waved it off.
"By the way, have you given up on that plan to work as a servant in some random house?"
"...Thanks to someone."
Seo Woojin shot a quick glare at Ailin and Van Slane in turn.
Noticing the look, Van Slane burst into laughter.
"You caught on, huh?"
"How could I not? Suddenly slapping blatant surveillance on me like that."
Of course, at the time he'd thought *he* was the one who'd snitched.
"Understand my position. I couldn't just stand by and watch my one and only precious hero run off, could I?"
Seo Woojin made a strange face at those words.
*'Precious hero?'*
It was the first time he'd heard that since being summoned.
He'd received a hero's welcome at first, but after revealing his D-rank, it had been cold shoulders ever since.
If anything, Van Slane had more reason than the soldiers to look down on him.
He was the supreme commander and lord with a duty to protect Massive Guardian.
Yet from their first meeting to now, he'd never once disrespected Seo Woojin.
If anything, he'd shown respect.
*'Why?'*
It was the first person to treat him kindly, so suspicion was inevitable.
"Ailin."
But before Seo Woojin could dwell on it, Van Slane's voice snapped him out of it.
"Yes, sir?"
"You've had a tough time of it."
"You're too kind, sir. It was nothing."
"Even so, keeping watch on someone isn't as easy as it sounds."
Seo Woojin let out a hollow chuckle as he listened.
Even in front of the surveillance target himself...
"Please continue to look after him."
"Understood."
Ailin saluted crisply.
"And..."
Van Slane turned this way.
Wondering what was up, Seo Woojin blinked, only for Van Slane to grab his hand.
"Come with me for a bit."
Seo Woojin was helplessly dragged along by the sudden pull.
"W-Where are we going?"
Despite asking amid a rising unease, he got no answer.
Van Slane simply quickened his pace toward a spot a little ways from the camp.
Seo Woojin tried resisting the growing anxiety, but a level 1 like him couldn't budge Van Slane's strength.
In the end, he gave up struggling and meekly followed to their destination: a small hill overlooking the camp.
The sight below was spectacular.
Moonlight softly illuminating the endless white expanse reflecting it back.
Soldiers bustling atop it.
It was so majestic it felt unreal.
As Seo Woojin stood entranced for a moment, Van Slane finally released his hand.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Seo Woojin nodded without thinking.
It really was.
"But why bring me here...?"
It couldn't just be to show him the view.
Impressive as it was, it didn't stir any heroic sentiments.
*'Too damn cold for that.'*
His admiration was short-lived.
An icy wind hit, making him shiver.
"I heard you're a D-rank Sword Soldier."
Seo Woojin's expression hardened slightly.
*'Damn it.'*
Was this fox-faced guy finally showing his true colors?
He regretted not claiming a slightly higher rank.
"I'm not blaming you."
Seeing his face, Van Slane shook his head.
"I've already got a sense of the hardships you've been through."
He consoled Seo Woojin in a voice full of regret.
*...*
Frankly, it didn't hit too deep.
If a few words could fix it, it wouldn't have been so tough to begin with.
Still, one corner of his mind eased a bit.
"May I tell you an old tale?"
Like some geezer, Van Slane launched straight into a story.
"A tale from the time of the third Demon King's descent."
An era so ancient few records remained.
"According to the records, only two heroes were summoned then."
*'Only?'*
He'd heard this summoning was especially successful, but the gap was huge.
A whopping 98 difference.
"They said it was a grave crisis back then too. They’d hoped for at least five, but only two showed up."
Fewer numbers meant more focused support and faster growth—but there were limits.
Two was way too few.
But the real issue was elsewhere.
"One of them was D-rank."
"Ah..."
Thinking of how he'd been treated, Seo Woojin pitied that hero immensely.
Just imagining it made his legs weak.
"But here's the thing."
Van Slane looked at him with his signature smile.
"The one who took the Demon King's head was that D-rank hero."
Seo Woojin's eyes widened.
Was that even possible?
D-ranks grew slower and had narrower potential than others.
They might start even, but soon an insurmountable gap emerged.
Even at level 100, a D-rank and S-rank were worlds apart.
Preconceptions were inevitable.
Yet a D-rank beheading the Demon King? No wonder Seo Woojin couldn't believe it.
"How did that happen?"
Seo Woojin had no answer.
Van Slane hadn't expected one anyway and provided it immediately.
"What you call a 'bus ride.'"
Seo Woojin tilted his head.
He didn't get it.
*'He made it by bus? But we're doing that now too.'*
Though he himself couldn't take that easy path.
But the next words contradicted his assumption.
"The D-rank hero grew solely on his own power, without anyone's help."
Seo Woojin's eyes widened slightly.
"Of course, with a kingdom's full support, you could grow very fast."
That's what the bus was for.
Knights handled the monsters while heroes waited in the back, finishing off the weakened ones.
Experience flowed like in a game, levels rose.
What could be safer or faster?
But Seo Woojin got it instantly.
*'Same in games.'*
Wallet warriors who whale out at the start.
They pay for buses to farm items and levels fast.
But what do they end up with?
Shunned as 'noobs with high gear'—short for 'no skill, just cosplay proficiency.'
No game sense, no strats, just high levels and gear.
In the end, they stand in town showing off their character, nothing else.
Sure, some buckled down after and adapted...
*'Is that what he means?'*
Heroes who grew easy, comfy, and safe versus one who fought tooth and nail, risking life.
At the same level, whose skill would win? Obvious.
"But what about the rank difference?"
Seo Woojin asked after sorting his thoughts.
Lower rank already meant slower growth; skipping the bus would lag even more.
Could combat experience alone surpass rank and level?
Van Slane's eyes curved.
"Who knows? Most records from then are lost."
Seo Woojin deflated.
He wasn't really D-rank, but if he learned that hero's method?
As 'immeasurable' rank, he might've grown even stronger...
"But one thing's certain."
Maybe sensing his disappointment, Van Slane placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Heroes grow stronger the more you push them."
Seo Woojin's face twisted.
So he planned to work him like a dog?
"Don't worry. I'll make you the strongest of the hundred heroes."
His kindly smile looked like a Demon King's to Seo Woojin.
Van Slane chuckled heartily at the reaction and turned.
"Let's head down."
Laughing merrily as he descended the hill, he recalled something from earlier that day.
The moment Draycas had frozen in fear before Seo Woojin.
*'What are you hiding?'*
Curiosity burned in Van Slane's eyes.