Chapter 577
Chapter Title: Ugliness and Folly
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At Rian's words, Karl swallowed hard.
The first time he'd met a being called a god, his impression had been surprisingly ordinary, completely different from what he'd expected.
If not for the Dragon Lord's assurance, he wouldn't have believed Rian's identity, let alone a single word that came out of his mouth.
But now, the being before him exuded an unimaginable presence.
'I can't... breathe.'
Just facing him made his breath catch, making it difficult to breathe.
Rian wasn't doing anything in particular.
He was simply observing him.
Yet, that alone had the power to freeze his entire body.
He realized the being before him was on a completely different level from any race he had ever encountered.
He was literally overwhelmed by his mere presence.
'This feeling... I've felt it before.'
Karl, who had been trembling, steadied his breathing and quickly regained his composure.
Seeing this, Rian's eyes gleamed.
"This must be your first time meeting a god face-to-face, yet you regain your composure so quickly?"
Having become a part of the Hero Record long ago to become its administrator, Rian wasn't strictly a god.
But he was undeniably a being comparable to one.
An ordinary human would lose their composure just from Rian revealing his presence.
And Karl was very much within the category of an ordinary human.
'Children with great potential wouldn't have been shaken in the first place.'
In the eyes of an absolute being, Karl was nothing more than a common pebble on the roadside.
At Rian's question, Karl scratched his cheek.
"It felt similar to when I saw Erebos."
"Ah. You mean that abomination."
Rian nodded.
"Indeed, when the Brave Hero came to this world through the Hero Record, you also encountered that abomination, didn't you? Then this wouldn't be your first time meeting a divine being."
"Is the Flame of Calamity a god too?"
"In essence, it is the same as us. Of course, our goals differ. While we desire the world's continuation, that abomination wishes for its destruction."
"Why is that? Weren't you allies from the beginning or something?"
"Not at all. That abomination was simply born that way. It exists only to burn the world to ashes."
Rian shook his head as if recalling something repulsive.
'Even if he has seen Erebos, regaining his composure this quickly seems to be this boy's own ability.'
The more he looked, the more interesting he found him.
He has nothing, yet he stands out.
'Luck must have played a part. But what Karl Thomas has achieved isn't something that can be done with luck alone.'
"By the way, you said I have two things that Lord Lumerne didn't. What are they?"
Expectation filled Karl's face.
"Do I perhaps have some kind of hidden talent?"
Rian stared at Karl, who asked in a slightly excited voice, and then smiled brightly.
"Ugliness and folly."
"Pardon?"
For a moment, Karl looked dumbfounded.
"Lumerne was not foolish, so he never did something as ugly as clinging to the impossible."
Rian gave Karl a thumbs-up.
"Karl Thomas! You are a terribly foolish human, which is why you cling to the impossible! And that makes you quite ugly to behold!"
Thud-!
Karl placed his hands on the floor and dropped to his knees.
"Hold your head high! You are doing something Lumerne could never do."
"Please don't tease me. It's depressing."
"What are you talking about! It's a compliment! A compliment!"
Rian slapped Karl's back—slap, slap.
"Why are you getting depressed when a god is complimenting you?"
"Of course I'm depressed! A being like a god spoke so grandly, I thought I had some hidden talent I didn't know about!"
"I told you clearly before. You're a student who doesn't resemble Lumerne in the slightest."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you're not heroic at all."
Rian shrugged and took out a small statue made of jewels from his coat.
It was a statue of Lumerne, the Knight of Twilight.
"Lumerne may have been born a slave, but he was born with an exceptionally noble soul."
Rian said, examining the statue of Lumerne.
"The heroes most beloved by the gods are, without a doubt, the Great Heroes. But the next most beloved hero is Lumerne."
"He must have been born with great talent because he was loved by the gods."
"There's a contradiction in that statement."
Rian glanced at Karl.
"There are certainly beings beloved by the gods. However, that doesn't mean the gods grant them special talents. That would far exceed the authority permitted to gods in the first place."
"Huh?"
"Humans who are loved by the gods earned that love themselves. Remember that, Karl Thomas."
Smiling, Rian shrugged.
"Well, the gods do have their preferences, of course."
"What kind of preferences?"
"Heroes like Lumerne."
"..."
"Full of talent, a righteous character, handsome, strong, achieved great deeds, popular with women. And also..."
"You're making me feel more and more like life is unfair, so could you please stop?"
Karl let out a hollow laugh.
"Lord Lumerne and I really have nothing in common. I see why the gods love him. They like perfect people."
"There are no perfect people. Only people with fewer flaws."
Rian shrugged.
"That's why in 5,000 years, there has never been a hero like you, Karl."
"I know better than anyone that I can't become a hero."
"Yet you don't give up. Why?"
"Because I'm ugly and foolish."
"..."
"Don't you have to aim high to get even a little closer to them?"
"You'll hit your limit soon."
"Then I'll have to overcome it. Just like Lord Lumerne."
"..."
"If there's one thing I must emulate, it's that. I learned that much from Lumerne."
"Karl Thomas! Where are you?"
"Huh? Eliza?"
Hearing Eliza's call, Karl, who had turned his head, quickly turned back in a fluster.
"My lord, I think I have to go now? Huh?"
Turning his head again, Karl realized Rian had vanished. He searched around the restroom for a moment before scratching his head.
"Did he leave?"
"Karl Thomas!"
"Do you have to rush someone who's in the restroom?"
At Eliza's voice, Karl sighed and left the restroom.
Rian, who had reappeared at some point, shook his head.
'Truly not heroic at all.'
In the long, 5,000-year Age of Heroes, there had never once been a person like Karl who had their name recorded in the Hero Record.
It wasn't simply because he didn't suit the gods' tastes.
'It's because he cannot achieve great deeds alone.'
In the end, the one who achieves great deeds is a being of immense power.
A hero, a being who protects and leads the world, must inevitably possess outstanding individual martial prowess.
'He's ordinary. Karl Thomas is too ordinary.'
The gods pay no attention to ordinary humans.
They only favored exceptional humans.
Rian was the same.
However...
'You will never be able to resemble Lumerne, Karl Thomas.'
Rian gazed at the jewel statue of Lumerne he had made.
'Because Lumerne wasn't ugly enough to be foolish, he gave up.'
He closed the door on his own potential.
Rian smiled faintly.
'Instead, he resembles the Hero of the Beginning.'
Of course, it was absurd to compare Karl to Leo, who possessed the trait of pure mana.
'But Lord Leo, too, saved the world because he struggled foolishly and uglily.'
Rian took an uncut jewel from his coat and fiddled with it.
'Karl Thomas is not heroic at all. But that is only by the standards of the Age of Gods.'
Fragments of the Age of Gods still remain today.
'But the Age of Gods is an era that already ended 5,000 years ago.'
Rian laughed.
'And it ended as a failed era at that.'
By the gods' standards, the Age of Gods was unequivocally a failure.
It was true that they had suppressed Erebos for a long time and created a world full of light.
But in the end, they failed to stop Erebos.
Instead, they burned away all too powerlessly.
It was only through the singularities known as the Great Heroes appearing amidst that failure that the world was saved.
And a new age dawned.
However...
'Is the Age of Heroes truly the Age of Heroes?'
The gods have vanished, but their legacy, the Hero Record, supports this era.
'I might be incredibly lucky.'
He had abandoned his status as a god and been reduced to a mere part of a system.
However...
'I might be witnessing the true beginning of a new era right before my eyes.'
Rian's mouth stretched into a wide grin.
How heart-pounding and exciting could this be?
'Ah, my choice was not wrong! An era where gods are truly worthless... I might be able to witness it with my own eyes!'
***
The second round of the Hero's Festival featured the second-year students.
It was a competition to see which of the ten-member conquest teams from each academy could clear a World of Heroes the fastest.
The crowd was thrilled by the scale, which was on another level compared to the first-years' round.
Moreover, the current second-years at every academy were known as the golden generation.
As such, expectations were naturally even higher.
"To think we can watch them conquer a World of Heroes live!"
"But it's not a Hero Dungeon, right? Then it shouldn't be dangerous, should it?"
"You don't know what you're talking about! A Hero Dungeon is just the Hero Record going berserk! A Hero Dungeon is still a World of Heroes in the end!"
"Let's see... Leo Flove from Lumerne isn't participating, is he?"
"Isn't it because he's already attained the rank of Hero?"
"But look! Lunia El Lundua from Seirun is participating!"
"Hmm... Is it because he's busy as the student council president? No. Lunia El Lundua is also the student council president."
Seeing that Leo was not participating, voices filled with doubt erupted from all over.
Watching this, Lunia muttered.
"They have some conscience, at least. Seeing as they left Leo out."
To be honest, if Leo were to participate, the outcome would be obvious.
It was frustrating, but Seirun, as they were now, would have a hard time handling Leo.
'Not just Seirun, but no academy would be able to handle him.'
Lunia let out a small sigh.
"Still, it's a relief that it's a World of Heroes conquest."
"This is no walk in the park either, so what's so relieving about it?"
As Eiran said this from the side, Aris Tyna asked, puzzled.
"After seeing the first-years, I was worried we might have to fight Young Master Leo."
At her words, Aris's twin, Garin Tyna, looked perplexed.
"Is that a big problem?"
"Did you forget that Leo Flove wiped the floor with all the Lumerne second-years? Conquering a World of Heroes is at least better than fighting an incalculable monster."
Just as Garin folded her arms and nodded at Aris's words.
"Now that you mention it, that's true."
"By the way, Karl Thomas? Isn't he the one who conquered Lord Dweno's world? I heard his grades themselves aren't that great, but he was chosen as a representative?"
As Aris looked puzzled, Lunia spoke.
"It's no surprise he was chosen."
"That's right. With Lord Karl, the people of Lumerne will feel secure."
Just as the Seirun students were looking puzzled at the reactions of the top and second-ranked students.
Vwoom-!
Suddenly, a resonant hum rose from the floor.
[Hero Record Open.]
The Seirun second-years looked slightly flustered at the message that suddenly appeared.
But they soon regained their composure.
"We're used to sudden situations like this now."
Lunia scoffed as if finding it ridiculous.
It wasn't just Seirun Academy.
Similar reactions were erupting from the other academies as well.
Suddenly, Eiran's ears twitched.
"Didn't they say we would be conquering the 'same' World of Heroes in sequence?"
"Yes."
"But it seems like students from the other academies got a Hero Record message too?"
"What?"
The moment Eiran, whose hearing had entered the realm of the extrasensory, looked bewildered.
[Lumerne's Th■. ■hapter: ■■■■■]
"What?!"
Lunia's face twisted in shock at the message before her.
At the same time, a brilliant light erupted, swallowing the students on the Erek Parade Ground.
"Kugh?!"
When Lunia hurriedly opened her eyes.
She saw a fist flying toward her face.
"Kyaa?!"
Lunia reflexively dodged the fist.
"Kyaa? Kyaa? Stop with the disgustingly cute act! You coy elf!"
"Eek!"
At the words of the person who threw the punch, Lunia calmly assessed the situation.
'I don't know what's going on, but I'm in a fight! A counterattack...!'
The moment Lunia tried to aim for her opponent's opening.
"Huh?"
After seeing her opponent's face, Lunia let out a blank sound.
"Stop spacing out! To the ribs!"
"Ugh?!"
Her opponent mercilessly slammed a fist into Lunia's side.
"Finisher! Solar plexus!"
Thwack-!
"Gack?!"
Hit in the solar plexus, Lunia made a choking sound—gasp, gasp—before collapsing to her knees.
"Huh? You actually got hit by that?"
And the opponent who hit Lunia was even more flustered than she was.
Clutching her chest and gasping for breath, Lunia called out to her opponent.
"Rodi...a...ni..."
Slump-
Then her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
"Hey! Breathe! Breathe! I said breathe!"
Slap- slap-!
Rodiani, terrified, slapped Lunia's cheeks.
"Seirun! Breathe!"