71. Fallen Hero Yoo Dochan
71. Fallen Hero Yoo Dochan
Heroes were summoned as saviors meant to deal with calamities.
But ironically, not all of them acted as intended. Their characteristic arrogance sometimes led to rampages and deviance, escalating into acts that threatened all of humanity.
Such was the Fallen Hero.
Beings who individually surpassed ordinary dangers, and from humanity's perspective, had to be eliminated at all costs.
"Boss! We've captured the bitches who were skulking around nearby!"
"Get over here, you sluts!"
The Empire had dispatched a knight order led by a Hero to subdue 'Dark Gaze,' a bandit gang formed by such a fallen hero. The result was a crushing defeat.
The terrain of the Great Forest, with its dense thickets and hills, favored defensive warfare using traps and guerrilla tactics. Yet the knight order, believing they could overpower anything with a Hero's abilities and fighting spirit, pushed forward recklessly. Ultimately, they found themselves on the brink of annihilation.
"Grrk! You goddamn turncoats...!"
"Ke-hehe! Boss! This one's got a sharp tongue. She'll be fun to torment, eh?"
"Now that you mention it, we procured some excellent toys for torment the other day. Using them to toy with these whores sounds like a fine idea!"
Dragged to the Dark Gaze hideout, the few survivors now faced their captors. Oh Yeon-hwa, the knight commander who had led the order, glared past the bandits at their leader, grinding her teeth.
There he was, seated in a chair with his chin propped on his hand, his underlings lined up beside him.
That arrogant fallen hero, staring down at the bound Hero who had failed to reach him as if she were utterly pathetic.
"H-Hero...!"
"What do we do now? There's no way out, dragged all the way here..."
Behind her, fellow knights captured alongside her voiced their terror. Oh Yeon-hwa forced a look of reassurance and began to soothe them.
"D-Don't worry! If we just hold on, the Empire will definitely send a rescue party!"
Even though the knight order had been annihilated by the petty, foolish tricks of these bandits, its leader was none other than the being they revered as a Hero.
Those who knew her value couldn't possibly abandon her like this.
'Yes. I'm... I'm a Hero. Everyone praised me as a savior. Once they realize I'm alive, they'll surely come to rescue me!'
The crux was enduring this situation until that moment arrived.
But expecting the bastards in front of her to appreciate her qualities as a Hero was asking too much.
For they were not humans yearning for salvation, but turncoats who had chosen to abandon morality and norms to conform to this harsh world.
"K-hee hee! Since things turned out this way, let's test out that new drug we just procured on the Hero!"
"Boss, you can look forward to it! Seeing her temper, I think you'll quite enjoy yourself this time!"
The bandits swaggered before their seated boss, brandishing a drug in their hands.
As Oh Yeon-hwa faced the vial containing an ominously colored liquid, her face gradually paled.
"W-What... is that...?"
"Khuh-huh, curious what this is!?"
"If you're curious, we gotta tell you! It's a specially made aphrodisiac that increases the user's sensitivity by 3000 times!"
"An aphrodisiac... Sensitivity 3000 times?"
"Looks like you can't quite grasp how incredible 3000 times is. Even drugs rumored to be highly effective on the market are diluted versions of this! It's to the point where a mere touch on the skin turns that area into an erogenous zone!!!"
A bandit giggled, spraying the drug onto his hand.
Slick with the sticky liquid, the bandit wriggled his fingers and began reaching out to smear it on her skin.
"Khuh-huh, can our dear Hero here possibly endure this terrifying Sensitivity 3000x drug with a clear mind...?"
"Hey, hold on. You got that stuff on your hand. You okay?"
"Huh?"
At his comrade's remark, the bandit stared down at his drug-smeared hand with a blank expression.
The reaction from the substance on his hand came about five seconds later.
"Hng-hoooohhk~♥ M-My hand turned into a prostateeee~~!!!"
"Kah-haha! You see that!? As you can tell, it's a product with incredible effects!"
"Will our Hero manage to muster the mental fortitude to withstand this!?"
The bandit collapsed, clutching his hand with an ecstatic expression.
As the others swaggered past him and reached out with their vile hands, Oh Yeon-hwa clenched her fists, grinding her teeth.
"Do whatever you want with my body. But engrave this one thing into your minds!"
"No matter what you do... I will never, ever break!"
Yes. If she just endured, she believed she could get out alive.
But the drug the bandit gang used was far too potent to withstand through sheer determination alone.
"Ah... Aaht... Aah... Aht...♥"
After ingesting the drug boasting overwhelming potency, a burning heat and dizziness washed over her.
Simply gasping for breath made her throat tingle. Feeling that sensation spread throughout her entire body, Oh Yeon-hwa began caressing herself, her body squirming.
"M-My body's... acting weeeeird. P-P-Please... m-make it stoooop~♥"
"Gah-hahahaha! You were talking so high and mighty, and now you're completely wrecked by a little aphrodisiac!?"
"Now, what do you want us to do to you? Say it with your own mouth!"
"P-Please calm this down... Ruin me completely, pleeease~ Aaaahng~~~♡"
"Khuh-huh. Well then, we'd better grant your wish."
The moment she felt her mind drowning in the self-generated pleasure, her initial resolve became laughable.
Watching her, one of the snickering bandits aimed the object in his hand at her, seeking to sate his own desires. It was a club boasting a massive, thick, yet beautifully sculpted form.
"Take this, you bitch."
And then—Smack! Oh Yeon-hwa was struck by the swinging club and sent flying.
As she sprawled face-first on the ground, trembling, pleasant laughter began to erupt from the bandits' mouths.
"Gah-hahaha! How's the taste of a club felt at 3000 times sensitivity!!! Bet it feels so good you could die!!?"
"One hit won't do! More, more!!"
"Yeah! Let's hear the screams of agony from pain experienced at 3000x sensitivity!!"
As gleeful sadism erupted from all around, the Hero squirmed on the floor, but the members of Dark Gaze showed her no particular pity.
After all, they were the underlings of a fallen hero who didn't even covet the glory and riches granted to Heroes.
The pastime of bandits who had cast aside blood, tears, and humanity consisted solely of violence that could satisfy their own sadistic impulses.
"Oh wait, this Hero's dead."
"Aigoo, was the club a bit too much at 3000x sensitivity?"
"Still, I thought a Hero would be a bit tougher."
Soon, even the post-mortem spasms of the corpse subsided.
The merciless gazes of the bandits, having lost interest in that Hero, immediately turned toward the other knights who had been watching the scene, frozen in fear.
"K-hi hi! Well, no need to feel disappointed! She's not the only one around here to torment!"
"Kyaaaak! P-Please spare us! We'll do anything!"
"Ke-hehe! Sorry, but our bandit gang has no interest in women?"
"Now that it's come to this, let's just run some drug experiments! We happen to have a drug here that induces kidney stones. How about we try this one out?"
"Khuh-huh, that's perfect~ Let's use that one over there to see how it feels to experience kidney stones at 3000x sensitivity!!!"
Kyaaaak!
The knights were dragged off by the bandits, heading toward the torture chamber.
Screams echoed from their lips, but even that wasn't enough to stir the emotions of the leader sitting indifferently in his seat.
"Boss... are you not entertained?"
"...Yeah. Even this stuff is boring now."
Fallen Hero Yoo Do-chan.
A year had passed since he grew sick of the Empire and betrayed it, but he felt no particular satisfaction with his current life.
Supplies could be managed somehow through plunder or the black market, but for a stable living, he had to hole up in his base in the Great Forest and operate solely by fending off those who came swarming.
'If only some entertaining opponent would show up... someone who could elevate my excitement.'
As he wasn't out roaming himself, the frustration of not finding a desired opponent only grew by the day.
The anomaly occurred just as that frustration was nearing its limit.
"B-Boss! Do-chan boss!!"
The moment one of the bandits guarding the entrance suddenly burst in, rushing before him. Amid the converging attention of other members, the breathless lookout shouted toward his leader.
"Get back, Do-chan boss!!! A dangerous bastard has stormed the hideout!"
"Stormed in? Who?"
"The Hero Hunter, U-hyo...!!"
-Kwaang!!
A magical explosion erupted behind the shouting underling.
As the bandit rabble were sent flying in every direction by the concussive force, Yoo Do-chan's eyes began to gleam, sensing something out of the ordinary.
'Hero Hunter... U-hyo-seong?'
The one who entered was a young man clad in black armor, gripping a valuable-looking spear.
Yoo Do-chan unconsciously rose to his feet, but the intruder's irritated gaze was fixed not on him, but on a single corpse collapsed on the floor.
"Haah, seriously.... I told her to assess the situation before going in, but she went ahead on her own and got herself killed."
Considering the power a Hero holds, her arrogance was understandable. But the enemy was also a Hero, and this was thoroughly hostile territory.
If you don't operate independently like him, but move as a group, your movements are naturally noticed, leaving you no choice but to fall prey to their schemes.
"You're Fallen Hero Yoo Do-chan, right?"
A foolish Hero who overlooked that fact and ultimately lost her life was now an existence of no consequence to him.
Faced with the spear tip pointed at him, Yoo Do-chan licked his parched lips and grinned a sleazy smile.
"That's right. I'm Yoo Do-chan~ Nice to meet you, Hero Hunter Hyosung Boy~♥"
-With a wink.
Showing goodwill with a wink upon first meeting.
If it were a woman doing it, maybe. But coming from a guy who looked like a damn male escort, it made his skin crawl.
"...What the hell, a guy acting like that."
Still, by now he was accustomed to the fact that Heroes who left the Empire generally had a screw loose.
As he rested the spear shaft on his shoulder and swept his gaze around, the bandits backed away as if making room for him.
Wasn't that strange? You'd think they'd look down on a single intruder who stormed their base, yet they backed off as if to say 'go ahead and try.'
"Anyway, are you sure about this? Just you alone?"
"Khuh-huh, I prefer to eat tasty treats all by myself, you see~"
It was a puzzling situation, considering he'd even planned on sweeping away everyone here single-handedly.
Even so, as if preparing for their fight, Yoo Do-chan was readying himself to gather immense magical power into his body.
"You damn criminal bastard, treating people like they're food..."
Whatever. Bring it on.
-Kwaang!!!
An afterimage shot toward him just as he raised his spear shaft, ready to counter. On high alert, he threw up his guard and took the incoming attack with his body.
Along with the spear in his grasp, he boosted his magical output through the armor embedded with mana cores.
-Kuwoong!!!
But the moment a force powerful enough to send tremors through his full-powered guard bored into him.
He barely held on after being shoved back against the wall, his expression twisting. Yoo Do-chan, having struck him, raised his fist, a smile of ecstatic joy spreading across his face.
"You know what, Hyosung Boy~♂?"
Rumble... rumble.
Powerful waves of magical force surged just from him standing still.
Feeling that power amplify in response to his rising excitement, Yoo Do-chan stepped with greater confidence toward the hunter who had come to capture him.
"They say rape victims resist their assailants with three times their normal strength. But do you know why rape still never ceases in this world?"
Fallen Hero Yoo Do-chan.
His ability, Emotion Sympathy, amplified his physical capabilities according to the level of excitement he felt.
The maximum power increase was sevenfold.
"That's because when a rapist commits the act, they violate their prey with seven times their normal strength."
Considering that even a mere 10 to 20 percent difference in weight class could widen the gap in overall physical ability by several times, a sevenfold power increase was a figure that, depending on its application, could yield efficiency dozens or even hundreds of times the norm.
And the target that aroused such excitement in Yoo Do-chan was when he encountered a 'man' fitting his tastes.
"Oooh~ Hyosung Boy~♂. Facing you, I feel like seven times my normal strength is welling up~♥ Are you ready to spend some happy time together now~? Hmm?"
-Thud. Thud.
Yoo Do-chan closed the distance step by step, each footfall laden with excessive power.
The Hero Hunter facing him quietly pulled a gem from his pocket, brought it to his lips, and spoke.
"...Ga-ram."
A communication stone procured at great expense.
It was an item prepared for communication with a Hero outside, who was controlling the perimeter while awaiting his orders.
"Crush every last thing in here."
-Yes, Oppa.
That single command was all.
-Kwa-rurrng!
Right after, a tremor wracked the entire hideout from an external impact.
"Wh-what! Why is there a sudden earthquake...?"
"That's no earthquake! Someone outside is hurling boulders at the cave!!"
Massive boulders weighing over ten tons littered the middle of the forest.
Ignoring any traps, they flew in arcs, hammering the hill. The bandits positioned inside could only freeze in helpless terror.
Of course, for Yoo Do-chan, who displayed superhuman power only when aroused, this level of chaos wasn't particularly strange.
"Hoh~ Our Hyosung boy~♥ What on earth are you up to now...!!"
-Slice!!
Just as Yoo Do-chan tried to straighten up, a dagger slashed across his skin.
The moment he was cut, he felt his body stiffen. He hurriedly turned to look at the Hero Hunter who had slipped past him.
Toward the man relaxing his stance, as if to signal that this entire commotion was nothing more than a setup for this very moment.
"You just go to sleep."
"Urgh... Gurk!"
What he held was a specially crafted magic tool that reacted to mana by secreting a powerful paralytic poison.
No matter how great the power to convert his excitement into a sevenfold combat boost, he wouldn't be able to withstand the potent paralytic once it seeped into his skin.
"...To think I have to capture these kinds of bastards alive to collect the full bounty. Life's seriously tough, really."
Still, that didn't mean he was thrilled with the Empire's policy.
Grabbing the subdued fugitive by the scruff of the neck inside the collapsing cave, he grumbled and started making his way toward the exit.
Three months now, hunting down fallen heroes.
By now, it was a very familiar routine.