I Found the Hero
Si-eun began her story, her eyes distant as she recalled what happened before she met me.
“Before the monster outbreak, the actor playing my counterpart in the drama I was filming was Jeong Min-woo. He was the first person I met on that set, and he seemed like a genuinely decent guy. Sociable, always looking out for the people around him… We grew close surprisingly fast.”
Si-eun continued with a wistful gaze. “The filming crew were all good people too. I got along well with the other actors. All in all, it was a pleasant shoot. But while we were filming in the park…”
The rest of the story was one I already knew from experience. The world plunging into darkness, encountering that rat-headed fairy and receiving my class, then returning to a changed reality.
“At first I thought it was some kind of hidden-camera prank. But… there was no way a prank show would feature blood spraying that vividly. It was real. The set turned into a slaughterhouse. I fled from the goblins and hid inside a nearby filming truck. Jeong Min-woo came running in after me, so the two of us ended up hiding together.”
“Ah…” Ji-yoon breathed a quiet sigh.
At some point we had all fallen silent, listening intently to Si-eun’s tale. Even Juniel—who had been sitting a little apart with a bored, disinterested expression—had perked up her ears and was now fully focused on the story.
Si-eun smiled faintly at the sight and kept going. “Luckily, it grew quiet outside pretty quickly. Trapped in the truck, we tried to figure out what to do next. There was nothing inside—just filming equipment. Not even any snacks. I suggested we go out, assess the situation, and look for a safer place. But… Jeong Min-woo desperately stopped me. His fear of the goblins seemed overwhelming. Then again, he had watched a goblin dagger bury itself in his manager’s head right in front of him…”
Hmm. After seeing something like that, it made sense he’d be terrified of them. Still, we couldn’t stay huddled in that truck forever.
“Jeong Min-woo insisted that rescue teams—police or the military—would come eventually, so we should wait it out. I was skeptical, but I thought there was a chance he might be right, so I stayed with him in that truck for two full days.”
Si-eun’s expression darkened. “Of course, no rescue ever came. After two days without food or proper sleep, we were both at our physical and mental limits. Jeong Min-woo’s condition was especially bad. He’d scream in his sleep and wake up instantly. After a while he stopped sleeping altogether, just muttering to himself like a madman. I couldn’t take it anymore. I told him we had to leave—live or die, it didn’t matter—but…”
Si-eun paused, lost in the memory of that moment.
“If we go out there, we’ll die! You don’t understand how terrifying those things are! They kill people like they’re stepping on ants!”
“You really think we can survive by hiding in here forever? I’d rather take my chances outside than starve to death in this truck. We should move while we still have the strength.”
“N-no! Going out means death!”
“You can stay here if you want, oppa. I’ll go alone. Why do you keep stopping me from leaving?!”
At Si-eun’s sharp tone, Jeong Min-woo flinched and muttered under his breath.
“If y-you leave… I’ll be all alone in here. That’s…”
Si-eun stared at him in disbelief. “So that’s it? You’re so scared of being left alone that you won’t let me leave?”
“N-no! That’s not it!!”
He shouted, then immediately flinched at the volume of his own voice and glanced fearfully at the truck door. When nothing happened, he let out a sigh of relief and continued.
“W-well, yes, being alone here is a little scary, but… th-that’s not the only reason.”
“…Then what is it?”
Jeong Min-woo hesitated, then bit his lip hard before speaking again. “I’ve been thinking about it for two days. What are those rat things? Why is this happening? I don’t know. But even after something this huge, it’s way too quiet outside. The military should have been deployed at the very least. If it’s this silent… everyone out there is probably already dead. Which means you and I are the last survivors on Earth. As the last two people alive, we have a sacred duty to repopulate the planet and carry on the human race. You know? It happens all the time in movies, right?”
“O-oppa…? Are you okay? What are you even saying…”
Si-eun frowned, then looked into his eyes and froze. His pupils were unfocused, trembling violently. She began inching away from him.
“S-so we can’t be apart. We have to stay together until the end. You know I like you, right? And I know you feel the same. The fact that a man and woman who like each other are trapped together like this… it must be fate. Heaven’s will. So we have to stay together. We need to make children and rebuild the world—”
“I’m leaving. This isn’t going to work.”
Si-eun reached for the truck door, but Jeong Min-woo’s hand shot out and seized her wrist.
His eyes wide, he glared at her. “I told you! It’s our duty! What do you think you’re doing? Are you going to abandon the sacred mission given to us by heaven?”
“O-oppa, let go. You’re not in your right mind right now. The shock has made you—”
“N-not in my right mind? You’re calling the future father of humanity crazy? Of course I know you’re meant to be the mother of the new human race. But that doesn’t give you the right to disrespect me!”
Jeong Min-woo forced her down and climbed on top of her. Pinning the struggling Si-eun, he began tearing off his shirt.
“I didn’t want our first sacred act of creating new humanity to happen like this… but it can’t be helped. You need to learn respect for the father of the new world. From now on you will worship and obey m—AAAAAAGH!”
Jeong Min-woo crumpled sideways and rolled across the floor. Si-eun had driven her knee straight into his groin with all her strength. Leaving him writhing in agony, she threw open the truck door and hurled herself outside.
“…After that I ran blindly, ran into more goblins, kept running, and eventually met you, oppa. You know the rest.”
After hearing Si-eun’s story, both Ji-yoon and Ji-soo erupted in fury.
“Wait, what? That’s what Jeong Min-woo was like?”
“Ugh, I was a fan… and he turned out to be a lunatic…”
Seeing their intense reactions, Si-eun gave a bitter smile. “I can understand it, to some extent. He watched his manager get a dagger buried in his skull, got sprayed with blood, and then hid in that truck. It would’ve been impossible to stay sane. After he became oppa’s thrall and was reborn, I never thought about him again… I never dreamed he was still alive here.”
As she spoke, Si-eun glanced at me. My expression must have hardened. So that crazy bastard tried to rape my woman. Sure, it happened before she met me… but it still left a foul taste in my mouth.
I thought for a moment, then spoke to her.
“What do you want to do, Si-eun? He gave you terrible memories. If you want, I’ll kill him. It wouldn’t be hard to get a non-combatant like him from Lee Su-a. If she refuses… I can just do it quietly.”
At my cold words, Si-eun looked momentarily flustered, then smiled and shook her head.
“It’s all right, oppa. When I think about it, he was a pitiful man. He was just… mentally very weak. Nothing really happened to me in the end. Besides…”
She lowered her head shyly, speaking in a small voice. “If I hadn’t run away like that, I never would have met you.”
That was true. If he had let her leave the truck from the beginning, Si-eun and I would never have crossed paths. It wasn’t intentional, but the bastard did play a small part in our meeting. Hmm. Since Si-eun asked, I’ll let him live.
I gently stroked the hair of Si-eun, who was sitting on my lap. She closed her eyes at my touch and murmured, “We’re not staying here long anyway. It’s best to keep quiet and then leave. We probably won’t see each other again.”
Well… that might not be true. If Lee Su-a really was the person I thought she was, we wouldn’t be able to leave so quickly. But I kept the thought to myself and simply continued stroking her hair.
The pebble in my pocket began to vibrate. The moment I grasped it, Lee Su-a’s voice echoed directly inside my head.
Time had flown while listening to Si-eun’s story. I told the others I was going to meet Su-a and left the classroom. I picked up a lantern, walked down the dark hallway, descended the stairs, and stepped outside. The playground was visible immediately.
In the middle of the empty playground, Lee Su-a stood holding a lantern, waiting for me. I crossed the field at a leisurely pace. She greeted me warmly as I approached.
“You’re here. Are your companions resting well?”
Her voice was kind. I looked at her and smiled lightly.
“Yes, thanks to your consideration, they’re resting comfortably.”
“I’m glad.”
After the brief exchange, Su-a fell silent. She simply stared at me for a while before speaking again.
“You wanted to know… my class, right?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’d like to know what your class is, Su-a.”
“…You’re my benefactor, Min-gu. I’m sorry for making this so difficult. But my class is a little sensitive to reveal to others…”
“I understand. Class information isn’t something people share lightly.”
She nodded at my words. “There’s one thing I’d like to ask first.”
“…What is it?”
“I want to know why you’re so curious about my class.”
I looked at her quietly. Determined eyes. Large, beautiful ones. Skin so pale it seemed to reflect the lantern light even in the darkness. I shook off the distracting thought that she looked almost enchanting and answered her.
“It will never harm you. If your class is the one I’m thinking of, I will protect you. If it isn’t… I’ll leave this place without any lingering attachment.”
Her eyes sparkled at my words. Then she bowed her head slightly.
“…I’m sorry. I just used a skill on you.”
Insight
“A skill?”
“It’s called Insight. Passively, it detects stealth, curses, and magic. Actively, it can determine whether someone is lying. I’m sorry. This is a very sensitive matter for me…”
Ah, the Insight skill I’d heard about in the event dungeon. I’d thought it was only passive, but it had an active effect too? What kind of broken skill was that? So she could tell if I was lying. Whew. Good thing I hadn’t said anything weird.
I let out a mental sigh of relief and told her, “I can’t say it feels great, but I understand. It is a sensitive issue. Still, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use skills on me without warning in the future.”
“Understood. I apologize again.”
“It’s fine. Actually, this worked out well. You can tell I wasn’t lying, right?”
Su-a nodded. “Yes. There was no falsehood in your words. In that case, I’ll tell you my class.”
She took a light breath and looked at me.
“My class is…”
I stared at her in silence. Having revealed her greatest secret, Su-a stared back at me just as quietly.
So it really was the Hero.
The candidates I had met before flashed through my mind. Now that I had found the real one, it somehow didn’t feel real. But there was no doubt about it.
Finally, I had found her.
The Hero.