Mass-Produced Julian (3)
It lasted only a moment.
A burst of static, and then for about a second—
Letters appeared. Only a tiny handful of them.
What the hell?
By the time Junil realized what he was seeing, the text had already vanished.
Flash!
While Junil stood there dazed, Suyeon reached out with her chopsticks to steal one of his side dishes.
Clack!
Junil’s chopsticks whipped through the air with terrifying speed.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“!?”
Whoosh.
Straight back into Junil’s mouth.
Suyeon stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
Whoa… he’s insanely fast.
Meanwhile, at Fairy Corporation.
“Wow! Miss Pam! Three consecutive hits! And this one’s a massive success!!”
Ham ran around the third division blowing a little trumpet and spreading the news to everyone.
“You’re really going to become a web novel fairy! It’s not just a dream anymore!”
Pam currently held two Lingering Imagery and three hundred Hearts. If she earned another three Lingering Imagery and seven hundred Hearts, she would reach the five Lingering Imagery needed to purchase the Modern story board.
“Ham, stop making such a fuss.”
Kyaruru.
Even as she said that, Pam didn’t mind Ham clinging to her today of all days.
Not only Ham—other fairies came by to congratulate her too.
“Man, Pam, that’s incredible. I messed around with cyberpunk and still haven’t saved even one Lingering Imagery…”
“Damn it. I should’ve just sold one medieval board.”
“Sticking to medieval is the answer~ Pam was right~ I’m done for this season.”
She had only ever worked on medieval settings. It saved costs and her expertise kept rising. That, she believed, was the key to success.
In reality, the real key is using the same protagonist.
Most fairies overlooked it because they rarely took a deep look at other people’s projects, but the core strategy was using the exact same protagonist for three consecutive runs.
Of course, the fairies who were overly interested in other people’s work already knew this.
“Hmph. What kind of story fairy reuses the same protagonist three times in a row?”
Ram, overflowing with jealousy.
“You’ll pay for that attitude someday. Kiriri!”
Ram ground her teeth and stormed off.
“Wow. She’s seriously pissed.”
Even the usually gentle Ham said it with that much venom in her voice.
“She can talk.”
Pam pressed the button while speaking.
[Hero Transmission]
The fourth story board was ready.
Since she only ever handled medieval settings, the preparation time was ridiculously short. There was no need to pick a new hero either. The efficiency was off the charts.
Let’s go again, Julian.
She smiled with naked greed.
On the way out after eating a pork-and-vegetable set meal.
“Whew. That was good.”
“Seriously. If you’re gonna eat like that, order double portions from now on.”
“That’s way too much.”
“I barely got any because you kept stealing—”
Suyeon was in the middle of complaining when they heard a deafening roar.
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Huh?
It was a motorcycle. And it was charging straight at them.
On a two-lane road, how fast was that thing going!?
Crazy bastard!
Junil cursed inwardly and moved.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Tap tap tap!
He kicked off the smooth, windowless wall and shot upward. Like a cat, he clung to the wall with agile grace.
Kwaaaaaang…!
The motorcycle slammed straight into the building wall by itself.
It was a catastrophic crash.
“Hey, you son of a bitch! You drunk!? You almost killed—”
He was about to unleash a tirade at the rider when—
“Ah.”
Only then did Junil realize.
There was someone squirming in his left arm.
“O-Oppa… I-I think I’m gonna throw up…”
Huh?
He had sprinted to the wall with Suyeon tucked under his arm. From her perspective, it was like getting on a roller coaster right after eating.
“U-Ueeeeegh!”
“!?”
Suyeon threw up all the pork she had eaten.
“If you were gonna puke it out anyway, why’d you try to steal my food!”
Chzzzzzt.
Right then, something appeared in Junil’s vision again.
Huh… it’s showing up again?
That was when someone shouted from above the building.
“W-Watch out! A flowerpot is—”
—Thud!
A 45-kilogram flowerpot that had fallen from the building smashed straight into Junil’s head.
Just like always, Julian opened his eyes in bed while staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
Damn it… can’t they at least send me nicely?
Only now did he understand. All of this had been to drag him back to the other world.
“Hero, sir. Your eyes—”
“Move.”
“Pardon?”
He acted exactly like he had in the third round. He kept conversation with the princess to a minimum and gathered armor and potions.
So far it’s pretty much the same.
He had been worried that a high score last time would create too many variables, but the story opening was almost identical. It was close enough to call it exactly the same.
This was the best possible condition for Junil.
Goal: Perform at the same level as the third round.
His target wasn’t an A.
It’s B-plus.
Get B+ quickly, and get it multiple times.
The pushed-aside princess approached him again.
“Hero, sir. His Majesty the King requests an audience.”
“I have to kill the Demon King. No time.”
“…H-How did you know we must subjugate the Demon King?”
“Uh… well…”
The detailed dialogue and world-building were different, but Julian was a veteran now. Even if things went slightly off-script, he just brazenly acted his way through it.
Tap.
He pointed at himself and smiled.
“Because I’m the hero.”
“Ah…”
The princess covered her mouth, blushing.
After that, Julian finished preparing in the blink of an eye and left the royal castle.
The reactions were good. Similar to the third round. Maybe even a little better.
They’re showing up faster now.
Maybe because he had seen them a few times back on Earth? It felt like he was seeing the Constellations more frequently.
Just as Julian intended, the fourth round progressed almost identically to the third. If you covered up the companions’ faces and names, you could call it the same story.
The only difference was that far too many women approached him to seduce him along the way.
This is a bit different from the third round…
For some reason, they said they liked his relaxed attitude.
Is this a trap?
To him, it looked like one. He already knew far too well that Constellations didn’t care for romance.
Julian shoved them all away without mercy.
“All of you, get lost.”
He was the type to erase even his own emotions, let alone pursue romance. There was no way he would waver.
No dating. No feelings.
All of this was simply a journey to buy a Han River view apartment.
Every time he pushed them away, the comments grew more favorable.
And then, finally—
“Diiiiiie!”
Julian’s signature move.
The Demon King burned pure white and died under a mana storm sword strike.
This time he didn’t even break a sweat.
“Nice!”
“Julian! Julian!”
The companions, who had basically become his cheer squad by now, rushed over to congratulate him.
[The End]
The curtain fell on the story.
“Kyaruru…”
“What’s the score?”
Clack. Julian sheathed his sword and asked mechanically.
Pam looked slightly hurt.
“C-Come on, at least say hello first, Julian.”
“Score first.”
“Kya, kyaruru…! You’re so impatient. Fine!”
Ding!
B+
The same grade appeared again.
Perfect.
Julian was satisfied. It had come out exactly as targeted.
And even faster than before.
He was clearing the targeted score faster and faster. It was practically factory-level efficiency.
I should aim for A eventually.
Of course, that didn’t mean he skipped analysis. Preview and review were the basics of grade management.
“Show me the data.”
“O-Okay.”
Pam spread out the numbers like a spreadsheet.
The last one is…
[7,234]
The final score was slightly higher than last time. Practically no difference, but Julian was satisfied.
Good.
The time it took to achieve this had changed.
“To think you did all this in just one year. Kyaruru… even I’m shocked, Julian.”
Only one year.
It was a speed that surprised even Pam.
“Well, doing the same thing over and over is my specialty.”
It was true. Junil might not have many talents, but his persistence was top-tier.
And the way he exercised that persistence?
Repetition and mastery.
It was a product of the Korean cramming education system.
It works ridiculously well here.
There was no better early education for becoming a professional hero who repeated similar things.
Julian skimmed the data, mentally taking notes, then asked.
“When’s the next one? I can’t get used to spending a whole month on Earth every time.”
Now it was Earth that Julian couldn’t adjust to.
“Hmm… it’ll start speeding up soon. If it gets really fast, maybe a week?”
“Okay. But next time at least give me a warning before you crash in. I keep having to dodge.”
“You’re the one with the problem for dodging…”
“Then use a plane or something.”
And so Julian returned to his daily life.
One week later.
Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir!
A plane really did come crashing into his house.
Easy to tell apart, at least.
There was no way a plane would crash into a studio officetel unless it was a summons to another world.
Julian simply closed his eyes and accepted the plane.
Kwaaaang!
He became the hero of the fifth round.
From then on, he was practically a seasoned professional.
He kept shaving down the route that seemed like it couldn’t be shortened any further from one year. Eight months later—
Kwaang!
“Diiiiiie!”
The veteran route-cutter Julian sliced the Demon King apart.
Slash!
“Kya… kyaruru?”
Now Pam didn’t even look at him as he sheathed his sword and asked.
“Score?”
“B… B-plus.”
B+
Pam was stunned.
Then another plane crashed in.
Sixth round.
Kwa-kwang!
“Die!”
The Demon King died again.
Shockingly, it had been shortened by another month—seven months total.
“Kyaru? H-How much faster is this going to get?”
“Score?”
B+
Another plane. Seventh round. Demon King…
“Die.”
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaaang!!!
Six months.
At this rate, they might publish a three-month Demon King speedrun guidebook.
The companions cheered for his bold sword strikes.
“Waaaaah! Julian! Julian!”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure. Sure.”
Julian’s tone was completely devoid of emotion.
“We won~ We did it~ Wow~”
The funny thing was that the Constellations actually liked this even more.
Dream interpretation over the dream itself.
The world really is…
When he had fallen for the princess they hated her, but when he treated her like trash they liked it. In the first round when he had felt genuine friendship with his companions they called him an emotional loser, but now they said it looked like real friendship.
Friendship my ass. If anything, I have more real friendship with the Constellations.
Friendship with the Constellations?
That was half sincere.
These days, Julian felt closer to the Constellations than to his companions.
At some point they started showing up almost in real time, after all.
As fast as the Demon King’s head flew off, the speed at which Constellation comments appeared had become something else entirely.
By the seventh round, he saw at least one comment for practically every event.
Even these picky evaluations had become familiar now. After all, the score was always accurate.
“Score?”
“Kya… ru?”
B+
The evaluation was eerily consistent. He maintained the B+.
“Deposit four hundred million.”
“Yessir!”
After finishing the seventh round and returning home, the hero Julian… no, Moon Junil.
“Hoo. I’m tired.”
He got home, checked his bank balance, and the fatigue vanished instantly.
2,340,000,000 won
“Finally!”
Two billion three hundred forty million won.
After subtracting living expenses, the amount was clean.
This should be enough even after capital gains tax.
He could pay the taxes exactly. It was enough money to buy the apartment of his dreams in a lump sum.
Yes.
His dream had come true.
“I did iiiiiit!”
The dopamine rush was on a completely different level from when he cut off the Demon King’s head!
He shouted in joy and unconsciously threw a punch.
Unfortunately, that punch landed on the officetel wall.
Kwaaaang!
It should have ended with his fist just hurting a bit.
A tremendous roar shook the room.
Crash!
Huh?
Junil thought he must be mistaken.
What the…?
There was a hole in the wall.
Made by his fist.
…
The first thought that popped into his head was—
How much is this going to cost?
He hoped it wouldn’t interfere with buying the house… but then Junil shook his head.
No, you idiot.
This would only be a few hundred thousand won at most. The repair cost wasn’t the important part.
Look at the seriousness of the situation!
He had destroyed a building wall with his fist!
This is definitely not normal, is it?
He had thought something was off a few times before. Usually he was normal and only occasionally abnormal, so he had just lived with it.
But now he had no choice but to realize the truth.
Is the power from my hero days gradually transferring over?