The First Way to Piss Humans Off

Yesterday was a complete disaster.

The sight of me drenched in blood must have been quite the shock, because the young lady’s yandere episode erupted for the first time in ages. It had been almost two years since the last one—ever since she’d grown strong enough that these episodes became rare.

From the moment we left the dungeon, all the way back to the dormitory and even inside our room, she refused to let me out of her sight. I was sweating bullets the entire time. She even suggested we sleep together. The way her obsession kept flickering through her eyes wasn’t cute at all. It was genuinely terrifying.

It reminded me of the villainess from the game I’d played before getting dragged into this world.

Still, after spending the entire holiday glued to her side, she’s finally calmed down enough to attend class. Convincing her not to skip it had been an absolute ordeal.

Oh, and as a side note, Stella Academy runs on a credit system. You simply pick whatever lectures you want as long as they fit within your allotted credits. Unfortunately, the young lady signed up for mage-track courses while I focused on knight-track ones, so we’re forced to spend some time apart whether we like it or not.

But maybe this is for the best.

Given her current state, a little distance might actually help. Maybe it’ll cool her head. Is it really a problem that the young lady likes me too much?

Anyway.

Thanks to that rare pocket of free time, I returned to the dungeon the young lady and I had visited before. There was something I desperately needed to confirm.

The place still bore every scar of her rampage. The only downside was that the dungeon’s monsters hadn’t respawned yet after the massacre, so no matter how long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I waited, nothing showed up.

I had so many things I wanted to test.

Like exactly how much my physical abilities had improved, or what changes had occurred with my Sword Saint trait. Still, there was at least one thing I could verify for certain.

MyMind’s Eyehas definitely gotten sharper.

Thanks to the Hero’s Blood, the enhanced Mind’s Eye kept feeding me a constant stream of information about my surroundings.

“This is fascinating.”

It wasn’t limited to just terrain or leftover traces of monsters.

“What should I even call this…? Mana residue?”

It was a strange new sensation. It went beyond simply detecting mana; I could perceive exactly how it had moved and what phenomena it had caused. Those echoes of the past flowed into me through Mind’s Eye. I’d never been dissatisfied with its previous performance, but this… this was an entirely new world.

Was theHero’s Bloodreally this broken?

Or perhaps there was some deeper connection between the Hero’s Blood, Sword Saint, and Trial of the World. But right now, the change in my Mind’s Eye wasn’t what mattered most. It was the mysterious voice I’d heard right after drinking the Hero’s Blood.

It really felt like it had been waiting for me.

I was certain that meeting the owner of that voice was the fastest way to answer all my questions.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t have a suspect in mind.”

I’d heard the voice immediately after drinking the Hero’s Blood in this dungeon’s core room. Among everyone connected to this dungeon, only two beings could access the core room and had ties to the Hero’s Blood.

“Exactly two.”

The Red Dragon and the First Hero.

I already knew what the Red Dragon’s voice sounded like, so that left only one possibility.

The First Hero.

Honestly, I had no idea how a figure from a thousand years ago could have known about me, or what connection he had to Sword Saint and the Trial of the World. The First Hero had only been mentioned in passing in Saint and Hero, so I didn’t even know what kind of person he was.

But if he really was the one who had dragged me here and handed me Sword Saint, then—

I absolutely have to meet him. I also really want to punch him in the face while I’m at it…!

While organizing my thoughts, I arrived at the entrance to the core room. The door had been left wide open ever since the young lady had forced it open last time.

Stepping inside, I found the mana stone I’d left behind in all the chaos last visit. It was still pulsing with power. Feeling its rhythm, I quietly drew my sword.

Shing.

The moment I drew the blade, my vision brightened. The lingering traces of mana that Mind’s Eye had been feeding me became far clearer. I could see the flow of power pouring from the mana stone, even the natural mana drifting through the air.

This is going to take some getting used to.

It was overwhelming. Maybe too much information was flooding in at once? My sight was so packed with data that I could barely process what I was looking at.

Even so, one thing stood out clearly.

Behind the altar where the mana stone floated was a mysterious stele. Even in this core room swirling with chaotic mana, it radiated an overwhelmingly alien presence. The power contained within it burned like the sun hanging in the sky, radiating intense heat and light.

Why didn’t I notice it last time?

Perhaps some measure had been taken so it could only be sensed after drinking the Hero’s Blood. More importantly, this stele was an object I’d never seen before.

I pride myself on being the ultimate veteran who dug deeper into Saint and Hero than anyone. I’d memorized every background object in the game, yet this stele was completely new to me. That meant it had never appeared in the game.

“Um, First Hero? Voice guy? If you’re watching, could you please explain?”

Last time I’d spoken naturally and nothing had come out! Haa, guess I have no choice.

If it wouldn’t come out on its own, I’d just have to force it out.

I approached the stele. Up close, I could see writing carved into it—an unfamiliar language. It wasn’t Imperial, and it definitely wasn’t Korean.

Maybe it’s from the era the First Hero lived in?

I touched it, even struck it, but got no reaction whatsoever.

“Then there’s only one thing left to do.”

I took a quiet breath and raised my sword high. I would cut this stele.

If you’re upset, then come out already.

The moment I made up my mind, everything cluttering my vision vanished. Only the elements necessary to cut the stele remained crystal clear. A single blue line stretched toward the stele, showing exactly where and how to strike. It was far more vivid than usual.

Has the effect of Sword Saint grown stronger too?

Right now, it felt like I could cut through anything. I swung my sword along that line, imagining the sensation of slicing a training dummy. It was the most precise slash I could produce by pushing Mind’s Eye and Sword Saint to their limits.

“Sever Heart.”

Slice—

The blade passed through the stele as if cutting empty air, meeting no resistance at all. A beat later, the perfectly bisected stele slid apart with a soft scrape.

From the gap between the two halves, mana surged forth on a completely different scale than before.

Flash!

An overwhelming burst of light exploded from the stele, flooding my entire field of vision.

“Ugh…!”

I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut. The light that had threatened to swallow the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entire core room gradually coalesced, taking on a distinct shape.

The worn, aged core room vanished. In its place appeared a pristine version that looked freshly built. Is this… showing me something from the past?

In the newly restored core room stood a single figure. I wanted to see who it was, but black lines like ballpoint pen scribbles obscured the form, making the exact appearance impossible to discern. Even so, I knew immediately.

There couldn’t be two monsters like this in existence. Even though it was merely a remnant of the past, an abnormal presence that transcended time pressed down on me. Simply standing there, the figure made both Mind’s Eye and Sword Saint scream out warnings.

That’s the First Hero… the hero from a thousand years ago…!

In one hand, the First Hero held a glass bottle containing the Hero’s Blood. He stared at it intently before speaking.

“That guy really is gloomy. Collecting something like this just because he got hit once. What is he, a vampire?”

After gazing at the bottle a moment longer, he casually tossed it into a hidden space beneath the altar, set up a barrier, and stood up. Then he turned his head this way…?

Is he looking at me right now?

“I’m not actually looking at you.”

“!”

The First Hero spoke as if answering my thoughts.

“I simply assumed that someday you would see this scene.”

He tapped the floor where the bottle lay with his foot.

“The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fact that you’re watching me now means you drank it, right? You’ve got quite the stomach. Well, even if you tried not to, you would have ended up drinking it anyway. That was your fate.”

The First Hero continued with words I couldn’t fully understand. That I would definitely consume the Hero’s Blood? Everything leading up to me thinking of it and drinking it had been completely impulsive. Until that moment I hadn’t even considered it!

“Well, it probably doesn’t make sense to you right now. So… look at this!”

He suddenly stopped talking and whipped his head around. At the same time, the past core room began to shake violently as if struck by an earthquake.

“Already been noticed. That lizard’s senses are annoyingly sharp. I don’t have much time, so I can’t speak at length.”

Crackle—

The mana projecting the past began to distort wildly. The image flickered like a broken television. I spoke urgently.

“Wait! Were you the one who brought me here?! Why? What do you want from me!”

He had to answer that, at least! There had to be a reason he turned me into a woman overnight—and a blind one at that!

“You must have many questions, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but unfortunately there’s only one thing I can tell you right now. Does that piss you off?”

Crackle, crackle.

The mana was on the verge of scattering. The projected past was already collapsing. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell he was smiling.

This bastard—!

“If you’re angry, then find my traces. I’ve prepared the answers there.”

With those final words, the stele’s mana completely vanished.

“No, just tell me now!”

Was he making a commercial or something? He could have at least explained why I was brought here instead of wasting time on pointless chatter! The first way to piss humans off is to stop talking midway through a sentence!

I swung my sword wildly through the air for a moment in frustration before finally calming down and organizing my thoughts.

“Haa…”

Yeah. What’s done is done.

Still, I had learned one crucial thing. The one who brought me here was connected to the First Hero. That alone made this trip worth it.

I need to look into the First Hero more thoroughly.

The moment I reached that conclusion, the system window that had only ever displayed fixed messages appeared as if it had been waiting.

Huh…? You can say other things too?