Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Searching for the Hero (3)
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Stepping into the hot spring once more.
Without even a towel, dick swinging free.
It was something you just couldn't do to a girl with a phobia of men...
'Well, how's she gonna react?'
I was doing this on purpose.
To test the Hero's reaction.
Half expectant, half worried, I entered.
And got an unexpected response.
"There you are. Come on in."
"Why are you averting your eyes?"
"I don't have a hobby of staring at naked men."
"Tch."
Well, yeah. I have no desire to look at another guy's junk either—imagine how a woman feels.
Couldn't really argue with that.
"Got it, then..."
"Ah, please don't get too close."
"Why not?"
"Would you want to be stuck next to a man?"
"You really know how to leave a guy speechless."
Splash—
I slipped into the water.
About three meters from the Hero.
A shame I couldn't get a close-up of those massive tits, but oh well...
"Alright, let's start with this. I figure you might actually believe me."
"What's with the buildup?"
"———I'm a man."
"Eek!?"
Splash—!!!
She reflexively plastered herself against the far edge of the bath.
Tripling the distance between us.
'No way—a gender-bender heroine!?'
And a possibility flashed through my mind.
The kind from webnovels sometimes: a heroine who used to be a guy.
Super polarizing character type.
Me? 'Fine for a party member, but not as the main heroine.'
'Of course, that's just taste—totally get why some love it...'
Not for me, though.
Sex with a woman who's got a dude inside?
Feels like she'd be wearing granny panties while yelling 'Attract! Enter!' or some shit.
My body shuddered involuntarily.
Even my boner wilted away...
—Hold up.
'Wait, what about the statue?'
A contradiction hit me right then.
I'd already seen the Hero's statue.
Fresh off hearing the juicy details from her duo party members.
All the evidence pointed one way.
She wasn't some gender-bender heroine.
She was unequivocally a woman—
I snuck a sidelong glance.
"Is that true?"
"...I didn't expect you'd actually believe me. The owner here too—guess men just get it."
"That old man's got dementia or something... Nah, I don't fully buy it yet. There's the statue in the capital, and Minerva and Lumine both said you're a woman."
"That's exactly why it's driving me insane."
And just like that, Hero Ariel became Schrödinger's gender.
She continued calmly.
Her even tone laced with bottled-up rage.
"It's definitely that curse from Plunderer Shax. Turning a man into a woman—and making the whole world accept it as normal. How horrific is that?"
"Sounds like it'd have a huge market, but anyway. The curse did it?"
"Yes. That's why I've been in hiding."
"With a body like that, you'd stand out."
"That's fine. Hiding my presence is my specialty. The hard part was just enduring myself."
She explained further.
For the first year, she could barely eat.
Blackouts from panic were routine.
Daily writhing from unexplained helplessness.
"That's probably why combat's impossible now. Even after some adjustment."
"That arrow from before..."
"Even that one shot took three days of bedrest."
Her combat prowess had tanked.
Firing one arrow lands her flat for three days.
The empire's hope, the Hero...
Had become trash-tier.
Such a tragic tale, but...
"Hmm."
'You're the only one fooled here.'
This sharp young lady needed to see through it.
TS wasn't the issue.
The real cause was probably...
'The curse making her think she was a man.'
Makes sense—Plunderer Shax's curse?
Honestly half-assed.
Lumine's petrification? Shattered after a few fucks.
But rewriting the whole world's perception?
As if.
Logically, the opposite: just tweaking her own mind.
'Unless it's mod-boosted like my assault rifle.'
The rifle everyone sees as a dagger popped into mind, but whatever.
Mods are godly and invincible.
Brushing aside the minor inconsistency, I spoke up.
Time to probe more.
"Still, wouldn't you tell Minerva or Lumine? They'd understand."
"Could I show them this version of me? I don't want to disappoint them."
"They wouldn't be disappointed."
"Of course those kind souls would accept me. Even as a woman."
"Then..."
"But."
Her voice turned icy.
Gazing down at her chest, her eyes brimmed with deep self-loathing.
"I don't want to taint those memories at least. If even they saw me as a woman, I'd shatter."
"Memories?"
"The days when a manly me—not this uselessly busty version—was with them."
"......"
'Okay, girl confirmed.'
Instant certainty.
Ah, yep—she's definitely a chick.
I mean, "uselessly big tits"?
Like calling gold "uselessly huge."
The phrase itself is nonsense.
Tits are big the better.
"Too much of a good thing" is just flat-chested girls or pedos coping.
Sure, no bad boobs—smalls have their charm too. Anyway.
"Give me a sec to think."
'So, why'd she end up like this...'
First, the Hero's androphobia.
Root of all evil, probably.
Scared of men, then suddenly "I was a dude!"
Panic, self-hate, power loss? Plausible.
Ditching the others? Makes sense if she mentally broke that hard.
'Explains no freakout seeing me.'
Scariest wasn't other men—it was herself.
Existence denied, plus phobia amplifying it somehow.
Calm around me? Checks out.
'Finally, why no adaptation after three years...'
The big issue.
Obsessed with a twisted past.
The "manly" her.
...No recovery like that.
Fantasizing a fake past deepens self-hate and fear, denies her present self.
Vicious cycle rolls on.
Her curse was this tangled.
'Time to test.'
"One question. Didn't you have androphobia?"
Cautiously asked.
Remember your male phobia?
If she was originally male, she'd see the contradiction.
Gauge her reaction.
And the Hero...
—Whoosh!!!
"Th-that."
"......!!!
'Stigma!!'
———A faint pattern flickered on her cheek.
Like Saleos's curse I'd seen before.
By the time it faded, her face was blank.
"...As if. You saying I'm scared of myself?"
"Panic after the body change? Could be the cause."
"Funny theory, but absurd. Means I was always a woman."
"That's what I'm saying. Shax made everyone remember you as female, swapped the statue too?"
"That's why it's impressive. High demons are like that."
"Sigh."
Curse confirmed.
Afflicted with one convincing her she's male.
Even auto-rationalizes contradictions.
Push more, she'll snap.
'What a mess.'
Androphobia + curse delusion combo.
Not easy to fix.
My expression darkened.
"Still don't believe me?"
"Honestly, yeah. Way more likely just your perception shifted."
"Can't blame you. I'd think the same..."
"———That said, I'll help lift the curse."
Of course, I wasn't giving up.
Steeling myself, I met her eyes.
Her lips parted slightly.
"For real?"
"Right or wrong, endgame's the same. Lift the curse first."
"True, but..."
"Don't worry. I broke Lumine's curse."
"You lifted Lumine's curse!? Plunderer Shax's!?"
Shock hit.
Her voice rose for the first time.
Sounds nice.
"Know what Lumine's curse was? Petrification—total sensory shutdown."
"Less vicious than mine. And you broke that?"
"Side note: Imperial Princess's curse, my subordinate's too. Expert in this stuff."
Said it confidently.
Yi Hyun here: 3 demon kills, 3 curse breaks.
Believable resume, right?
Even she couldn't retort to achievements topping hers.
"That's impossible."
"We've both heard that plenty."
"Scale's different. Mine rewrote the whole world's perception..."
"I killed the three demons using it, enslaved one more."
"No way, that's..."
Her lips, quivering for ages...
Finally parted after a full minute.
—Whisper.
"Forgive me, but I beg you too. Free me from this nightmarish curse. Name your price."
Her voice crept humbly, shamelessly.
So modest, unlike her fame.
Like the mismatch of her huge chest and country-girl looks.
Adorably so.
"No charge. Just apologize to Lumine and Minerva later—they thought you hated them and were sad."
"...Understood."
"I'll do my best."
Alright, one more for the tally.
Before Luna nags me to come back,
"Let's begin."
Hero salvation mission: complete.
Cool line dropped, 30 minutes later.
I realized again.
"...Sigh."
'This is hopeless.'
Hero's a historic difficulty spike.