Gotta Do What You Gotta Do (1)
“No… No way!”
Thud.
Pam collapsed in shock.
Those words alone terrified her.
What if Meyrin recognized him?
A character could not break the Fourth Wall.
Pam knew that all too well.
Even so, if it happened the world would fold in half and the entire branch would be obliterated. The days she was currently locked in prison might later be remembered as the good old days.
“Good thing she didn’t notice.”
Ham muttered in a slightly bitter tone.
“The world after this one has no major problems either.”
They had watched Archidia after Julian left. The king thanked the prophet for summoning the right hero, and the ministers who had been checking their alliance could no longer utter a single word of protest. The appearance of Meyrin, known as the Witch of the Red Flower, sent a shock through every mage inside Helket Castle. She was the human mage with the highest achievement, yet she only ever moved according to her own interests. They wondered why she had appeared and slain Belzerak in his place. In the end they concluded that the existence of the “hero” must have been the decisive factor.
Meyrin was still chasing a certain shadow. Anyone who knew the history of the past would naturally realize that shadow was Julian, yet for some strange reason she could not recall that part. Why?
“······.”
Junil stared blankly at the black soil beneath his feet.
I’m back.
It was the exact same spot he had entered the gate from—the small hill beside the mushroom farm Isilen had created.
“You’re back.”
Isilen sat in the same place as though not a single second had passed. The moment Junil returned she rose and greeted him.
“Are you okay?”
“······.”
Junil could not answer. He was not okay.
His vacant gaze drifted from the dirt floor toward the gate.
Can I… really not go back?
Almost nothing was known about gates. Even Junil, who had spent his life doing nothing but hero work, knew nothing about them.
He slowly approached and reached out a hand. What if he could enter again? If he could escape this story entirely…
If only he could flee to a place without these exhausting bastards.
Junil’s trembling hand moved toward the flower-like crimson gate. The instant his fingers touched it—
BOOM…!
A heavy vibration rolled outward. The gate’s surface rippled like a red sea struck by waves.
Huh?
The vibration swelled into a deafening roar that swallowed the gate whole. It shrank to a single point and vanished. Only ordinary grass and weeds remained, as if nothing had ever been there.
Gate Dismantled
Any other Awakened would have cheered, but the message was anything but welcome to Junil.
Ah… it’s really over.
He could never return.
Calculating reward grade.
Settling accounts…
Gate Achievement Evaluation
★: Shake Off the Scout! — COMPLETE
★★: Cut Off Sirvelis’s Right Arm! — COMPLETE
★★★: Reject the Witch’s Help! — COMPLETE
The Constellations were impressed by the three-star condition.
Killing Belzerak had originally been Meyrin’s role. The prophet had summoned the hero simply to buy time, and the original number of heroes called had been five. Junil had done it alone.
Gate Achievement: ★★★
3-Star Clear! Success!
He had done it in the most perfect way possible.
Reward Grade: Legendary
Legendary-grade reward. Of course not all Legendary rewards were equal, but given the difficulty of this crimson gate, it would be at least the kind obtained after level 50. And every single one of those rewards would go to a single person.
Since he had done the work of five people alone, it was only natural the rewards would be multiplied by five.
But why did this guy’s expression look like that?
At this joyous moment Junil’s face remained completely still. He simply stared vacantly at the place where the gate had disappeared. It was as if a Legendary-grade reward was only to be expected. Normally he would have reacted grandly for the Constellations’ sake, but right now he had no mind for it.
Junil read the Constellations’ messages.
Would any reward make up for what I left behind in there?
Thinking of what he had abandoned, nothing could satisfy him.
But then—
Huh?
Beep!
Another strange alert rang out.
Some Constellations mistook the alert for a warning sound. Even Junil flinched for a second.
Don’t tell me these bastards…
After all the physical and mental suffering, if the system said an F-rank could not handle the reward, he was ready to go kill Kang Hae-il right then. That was how foul his mood was.
But the message was something else entirely.
☆: Defeat the Scout! — COMPLETE
Gate Achievement: ★★★☆
The achievement grade was recalculated. Another faint star had been added.
Even the Constellations had never seen a four-star clear before. It was the first since Storyboard 3.0 began. The reward grade changed as well.
Reward Grade Upgraded
Reward Grade: Mythic
Junil’s body moved on its own.
Fuck.
Inside he was cursing, yet—
Gotta do what you gotta do.
A pro was a pro.
“It’s me~! Sagosul!”
Rewards will now be distributed.
Leaving the chaotic banquet hall behind her, the Witch of the Red Flower—Meyrin—muttered under her breath.
“That bastard saying ‘It’s me, Julian?’ He must be trying to die…”
She had taken an instant dislike to that so-called hero.
How on earth did he defeat Belzerak alone?
The magic power she sensed from him had not been particularly impressive. Of course that was by her standards, but it was far less than when the real Julian had barely managed to win against Belzerak in the past. Which meant this one had fought more skillfully than Julian. That was difficult for Meyrin to accept. From everything she had seen while tracking heroes, those who fought with such proficiency the moment they arrived were extremely rare. Heroes were usually beginners. They could not possibly have faced an opponent like Belzerak before.
“······Wait.”
Experienced?
Meyrin’s steps halted. The countless ministers following her stopped as well.
The Witch of the Red Flower, Meyrin. She had earned the title “witch” because of her eccentric behavior, yet many claimed her power surpassed that of an archmage. The mere fact that the woman who had once been Julian’s comrade was still alive after a hundred years was proof enough. Everyone had been clinging to her in hopes of keeping her in Helket even a little longer.
Meyrin had zero interest in them.
Her gaze fell on the platinum-haired girl.
“Hey, Prophet.”
“Yes.”
Serien, the prophet treated almost as highly as the king himself, bowed her head respectfully before Meyrin.
“That hero who came earlier. Did he leave anything behind?”
“That is…”
Serien’s eyes searched for Pirin. He hurriedly stepped forward.
“I-I escorted him here from the beginning. He didn’t leave any belongings behind.”
“······I see.”
“May I ask what this concerns?”
The prophet asked.
“Have you ever seen a hero who came once return?”
“I understand such things are fundamentally prohibited.”
“······Why?”
“It is said that a hero’s power comes from ‘purity.’ Those who have come once find it difficult to maintain that power.”
Purity.
The moment she heard the word, a memory from a hundred years ago flashed through Meyrin’s mind as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.
That’s right. If he hadn’t been pure… he never could have done something so insane.
Julian, who charged forward recklessly despite his weakness. Julian, who would blindly try to solve any problem if someone asked. Julian, who cried at the villagers’ gratitude and swore he would return after defeating the Demon King…
“I understand.”
“But why are you so curious about that particular hero? If it is because of his name, Pirin has told me it was chosen purely by coincidence.”
Pirin cut in.
“Y-yes! He simply picked it at random. He said he couldn’t even read the letters.”
Meyrin nodded. She accepted it. It must have been coincidence.
“Do you know the scent of daisy flowers?”
Meyrin suddenly changed the subject.
“I smelled that fragrance.”
“It is the middle of a harsh winter. That is impossible.”
“I see.”
That was all she said.
Whoosh—
She summoned a large staff. Red flowers burst into bloom everywhere. The manifestation of mana meant she was about to cast magic.
“Wh-what?!”
“Why are you doing this?!”
“It’s winter but the scent of daisies could still—wait, what~!”
“There’s no logic to it! Prophet, bring daisies or whatever it is right now!”
The nobles panicked, but the prophet remained calm.
“So that’s why I couldn’t see what came afterward… Now I understand.”
“Sorry.”
“Is there some meaning behind it?”
Meyrin turned and met her eyes.
“You all know why I came here now, don’t you?”
The nobles’ faces stiffened. Only Serien answered.
“You are looking for Julian?”
“······Goodbye.”
A faint smile bloomed on Serien’s lips.
“If that is your will—”
Whoosh…!
Hundreds of thousands of red flowers blossomed throughout the corridor, swallowing the already chaotic banquet hall and even parts of Helket Castle itself.
The consciousness of everyone within the spell’s range was severed.
“Ugh…”
It returned after only a few seconds.
“Huh? Where did the witch go?”
“What? She ran away?”
“But… wait. What just happened?”
They could no longer clearly remember the hero named Julian.
“The witch came and slew Belzerak who had entered Helket… then vanished without a trace,” Serien explained with the only memory left intact.
“Haha! Well that’s a good thing. But why did she come in the first place?”
“Who knows. That woman has always been a mystery…”
“Since she bothered to come she should have taken care of Sirvelis too! She just killed Belzerak like it was a lunchbox and bounced?!”
The nobles looked as bewildered as people always did when speaking of the Witch of the Red Flower. She only ever moved according to her own incomprehensible interests.