Prologue: Hero
Prologue: Hero
I love stories that celebrate humanity.
Beyond just liking them, I've consumed almost every work out there. To the point of being practically obsessed.
If you asked me why I like them, I think I'd give an answer that anyone could relate to.
Like a spirit that shines like gold, refusing to crumble even in the face of harsh adversity and trials.
Or that nobility of not abandoning one's humanity until the very end, even when pushed to the limit in terms of wealth, power, or anything else.
Even if it's not necessarily a fight or a major scene, those elements that subtly reveal themselves in the daily conversations of the characters are just gourmet.
Things that don't easily happen in reality.
How many people in the world are actually like that? I'm certainly not such a great person myself.
If I had actually seen such things, I might have died, soaked in emotion and joy.
"What the hell is this state you're in?"
A position like an alchemist who willingly sacrificed themselves for their brother's arm, or a mustachioed gentleman from a proud family who transferred all his power and died a glorious death.
If there's one difference between me and them, it's that I didn't have the courage to end my own life.
I always struggled to break out of my role, but this guy never gave me a chance to do so.
And this would have been the perfect time to exit this trashy world of [The World That Perishes If You Do Not Rehabilitate It].
"Your arm is about to fall off, your legs are twisted like a pretzel, and what the hell? Who gave you that hickey? Why is one of your eyes fucked up?"
"How did you get here...?"
"You asked for help. Did you think I wouldn't hear you blubbering?"
"Wh-who said I was blubbering?!"
The man in front of me is the protagonist.
The role assigned to me is the heroine.
To be honest, the character I possessed has no value beyond being an awakening material.
Even though we're partners at the Academy and I'm a heroine in the game, I'm not crazy enough to wag my tail at some guy to win his favor, and since I have a visibly frail body, the protagonist treated me like a toy.
You know, the kind of toy that makes a noisy racket when you touch it.
Or an armrest, or a stir-fried pork machine... looking back, my treatment was truly a spectacle.
This kind of thing... is a heroine?
"You and Isha saved all those people. Good work. I'll be right back, so get some rest. I'll handle the rest."
Still, compared to my miserable self, it seems that guy was a slightly better person than I thought.
"Watch closely with that one good eye you have left. It's been a while since I've gotten serious."