Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Entrance Evaluation (2)
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The reason I was the only one who'd ever cleared the highest difficulty "Truth" mode in Reverse Hero Tale was due to the unique features that only appeared in "Truth" mode.
I wasn't sure if they'd emphasized realism because the name was literally the "Truth" grade, but in this "Truth" difficulty, events triggered completely at random.
As long as it made logical sense, the game would spawn any enemy whatsoever, balance be damned.
Take this entrance evaluation, for example. In just a little while, a rift would tear open in the sky, unleashing disaster monsters—demons, in their official terminology.
These were a scouting party sent to verify if the prophecy of a hero who could threaten them was real. Normally, a sub-demon unit leader showed up as the boss.
Defeating that sub-demon and pulling off the miraculous feat of just one casualty despite the monster invasion—that was how the protagonist made a name for himself in the prologue.
But in "Truth" mode, random encounters applied to the enemies the protagonist faced. There was about a 10% chance that, instead of the usual unit leader sub-demon, the scouting party's captain—a mid-level demon named Hobabas—would appear.
Hobabas was an enemy of such overwhelming strength that no matter what the prologue-era protagonist tried, victory was impossible. If she showed up while playing on "Truth," you had to reset immediately and start over.
If that happened right now, the protagonist would die instantly. Game over. The world would end. I had to stop it.
I'd sworn to live as a total thug to get my revenge on my family, but if the protagonist croaked and the world got obliterated, revenge would be pointless.
Even if I busted my ass, nailed the revenge perfectly, and somehow took down the Disaster Witch to boot—it'd all be for nothing.
To prevent that, I set off toward the spot where those bastards were likely to rip open their rift.
Kang! Ka-gang! Kang!
"Ngh, why is this thing so damn tough?! Even sword aura barely scratches it!"
"That's good enough! It's almost done, so get out of the way! Here it comes—our family's secret technique! Full-Power Overhead Smash!!"
Boom!
"Kieeeek!"
"Whoa! The shell cracked! You're even stronger than last time I saw you! What have you been up to?!"
"Heh, our lady matriarch gave me an elixir as an entrance gift for Dabcheon Academy. Once I ate it, my mana shot right up."
"Lucky... Our family only chipped in with this one sword."
"Still, you bought me time to build up power. That was some prime teamwork."
The two noble-born female freshmen praised each other over the corpse of the evaluation beast, a Rough Shellback—the main target of the entrance exam.
The Rough Shellback's defense was top-notch, shrugging off even decent sword auras with ease. This was definitely praiseworthy.
"Th-thank you... You saved my life."
As the two exchanged warm compliments, a small, feeble voice piped up.
It belonged to a girl with dull grayish long hair, her face shadowed because she'd bowed her head slightly.
She'd hidden in the bushes and bumped into the Rough Shellback by accident, collapsing in fright. That's when these two showed up and took it down.
Grateful for her life, she'd offered her thanks.
"Huh? Who's this? You know her?"
"Nah? First time seeing her."
All she got back were baffled looks from the pair—and the fact they hadn't even registered her existence.
"Eh? U-um, s-sorry..."
"Eh, no need to apologize. We saved you, after all. Was a real pain, though."
"Pain? Was it that bad? It was tough, sure, but so slow it wasn't..."
"Ah. Right! Yeah, total pain!"
They'd only been hunting an evaluation beast, but accidentally rescued someone in the process. The two weren't about to miss the opportunity right in front of them.
"So, we went through hell pulling your sorry ass out of the fire. What's your name?"
"I-I'm Fuyuno Tsubaki."
"Fuyuno Tsubaki? Japanese...? Wait, Fuyuno? That Fuyuno?!"
The two, who'd been ready to fleece this easy mark, gaped in shock at Fuyuno Tsubaki's introduction.
The key to scamming someone was keeping a cool, relaxed demeanor.
These two knew that well as noble daughters, but hearing the name "Fuyuno" made staying composed impossible.
"World noble ranking number three, the Fuyuno Family?!"
Because the Fuyuno Family was one of the world's top noble houses—no one alive hadn't heard of them.
"...Y-yeah. That's right."
"Guh. Uh, c-can we, um, talk for a sec...?"
"Huh? Oh, sure. Of course."
"Th-thank you...!"
Fuyuno Tsubaki mumbled her awkward agreement in a tiny voice, and the two quickly asked permission before hurrying off to hold an emergency meeting at a distance.
"S-Sun-hee, what do we do? Did we pick the wrong person to mess with? Should we apologize and bail?"
"No, you idiot! What do we have to apologize for?! We haven't scammed her yet, so we're still her saviors from the Fuyuno Family! We gotta seize this chance—running's for losers!"
"R-right? Yeah! We haven't taken anything yet, so no guilt! You're so smart, Sun-hee! Must be that elixir."
"Heh, I know. Anyway, drop the scamming plan. Time to sink our teeth in proper. The Fuyuno Family? Even scraps falling off their table would be a fortune...!"
Sun-hee with her giant hammer and Jin-sook with her sword were noble daughters, which made them more obsessed with status than commoner superhumans.
With firm nods, the two dashed back to Fuyuno Tsubaki.
"S-so, uh, anyway, Fuyuno Tsubaki, are you okay? Hurt anywhere?"
"Huh? Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine. I fell, but it was in the grass, so no injuries..."
"This is bad! Jin-sook, grab the ointment from the bag quick! Even a scrape could mean tetanus!"
"R-right! On it!"
Even though Fuyuno Tsubaki insisted she was fine, she bit her lower lip watching the two fuss over tetanus and such.
She knew exactly why they suddenly cared.
Her backing: the Fuyuno Family. That alone had flipped their arrogant attitudes.
"Um, excuse me..."
Fuyuno Tsubaki, who knew full well she didn't deserve such treatment, opened her mouth to correct their misunderstanding.
"What's wrong, Lady Fuyuno Tsubaki?"
"Is something the matter, Lady Fuyuno Tsubaki?"
But facing their suddenly ultra-polite honorifics and eyes gleaming with expectation and greed, she couldn't get the words out.
Shattering such massive hopes was utterly impossible for someone as introverted and timid as Fuyuno Tsubaki.
"N-no, it's nothing. R-really, I'm fine. We're superhumans, so no tetanus anyway... Sh-shouldn't we get back to the evaluation?"
In the end, she swallowed her intended words, forcing a mangled smile as she suggested they move on.
"Oh? Ahaha! Right! We almost kept great Lady Fuyuno Tsubaki from her exam! We'll give it our all to help you score top marks—leave it to us! Right, Jin-sook?"
"Y-yeah! Totally, Sun-hee! We'll help you out, Lady Fuyuno Tsubaki! So don't forget to reward us later!"
Jin-sook's blunt mention of rewards nearly soured the mood for a second, but Fuyuno Tsubaki—too panicked to correct the misconception and just letting things roll—was in no state to call her out.
"Ah, ahaha... Y-yeah..."
All she could do was nod awkwardly with an embarrassed laugh.
And so, a three-person party led by Fuyuno Tsubaki was formed.
An hour after the party formed, Sun-hee and Jin-sook were starting to sense something off.
"Hey, Sun-hee. I hate saying this, but... isn't she kinda weird?"
"...Yeah, if even you're noticing. This is definitely off."
"Right? How's someone with the Fuyuno name that weak?"
It was Fuyuno Tsubaki's pathetically feeble combat prowess.
"It's not just weak— she's straight-up useless. Even without talent, a noble superhuman should at least handle sword aura by twenty. For a top house like Fuyuno, she'd have insane secret arts or heart methods, way stronger than mid-tier nobles like us..."
"Kyaaang!"
"Eek!"
The two scowled as they watched Fuyuno Tsubaki flee for her life from a Little-Horn Rabbit—the weakest evaluation beast in the exam.
"That... doesn't add up."
"Sun-hee. That girl... is she really Fuyuno?"
"Yeah. We need to verify properly..."
Just as seeds of doubt sprouted in their minds...
Crack—craaaack—!
A fissure began spiderwebbing through the empty air above their heads.