The Unlucky Heroine Captured the Fraudulent Protagonist's Heart... Me? (1)
After finishing the one-sided battle, Ju Joyeon looked toward the hospital. While the rest of the building was mostly intact, the main gate had been completely destroyed and clearly needed repairs. Beyond the half-broken doors, he could see people in the lobby staring at him.
"Cleanup comes first, I guess."
Explaining everything to them sounds like a pain. Maybe I should just gloss over it.
"Lara."
"Yes, Master."
"Let's start by fixing the broken main gate. Have Pon and the Wartroll handle the heavy lifting. Jack and May."
Clack. Clack.
Yes, Master.
"You two, go deal with the people over there who are staring at me like I'm some zoo animal."
Clack! Clack!
Yes!
"House."
Click!
"You know where Mom is, right? Lead the way. I need to tell her it's all over."
-Confirmed.
"And... Karl and Ron."
Tap! Tap!
Yes!
"You two, get down and do push-ups. Stay here and take your punishment."
Tap! Tap!
Yes!
At Ju Joyeon's command, his followers moved swiftly to carry out their assigned roles.
"Hello, Pon. I never expected we'd end up talking like this, but it seems we've both received Master's mercy. I look forward to working with you. My name is Lara Tiasia. Feel free to call me Tiasia. Since I began serving Master before you, I expect to be treated as your senior."
"Kuuuur..."
"Yes, good. Master has given you your first order."
"Kuuuur!"
"That's the right attitude. If Master commands it, even fetching the sun from the sky would be your duty. Still, our merciful Master has assigned you something quite simple for your first task."
"Kuuuur."
After a brief introduction, Tiasia and Pon headed toward a large tree in the nearby forest to block the damaged hospital entrance.
Clack.
Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Thanks to your help, we were able to protect the hospital from the Wartroll threat.
Clack.
You've all done so well~
"Uh, well... We didn't really do anything..."
"It was all that man over there who..."
Clack.
You shouldn't think that way. You were a great help in defending the hospital. Didn't you bravely hold off the Wartroll that entered?
Clack.
But do you really have time to stand around like this? Shouldn't you go check on the people you fought so hard to protect?
"Ah, right..."
"I wonder if our teammates are okay?"
Clack.
Go see for yourselves.
Clack.
I'm sure they're waiting for you brave fighters to return.
Jack and May gently roused the dazed survivors, offering words of respect while urging them to check on their families and comrades. Meanwhile, Karl and Ron remained face-down on the ground as punishment for failing to lure the Wartroll, their foreheads pressed to the dirt. Though they felt neither pain nor fatigue as undead, none dared question Ju Joyeon's orders.
"Alright. Arty, let's go."
With a satisfied nod, Ju Joyeon led Arty after the baby roaches House had summoned, heading toward where Sosia was waiting.
****
"House, where are Mom and the others right now?"
-Report. Patients and civilians unable to fight have evacuated to the special ward. The Neutral Saint is waiting on the third-floor terrace.
"Huh? The third-floor terrace? Why there?"
-Unknown.
"The whole building nearly collapsed. Why would she go somewhere like that alone?"
Grumbling, Ju Joyeon began climbing the stairs toward the third floor where Sosia was. Arty, who had been blankly watching him from behind, approached and tugged at his clothes.
"Hey, Joyeon."
"Whoa! What are you doing?! Don't pull me from behind like that—it's dangerous!"
Startled and nearly tumbling down the stairs, Ju Joyeon calmed his racing heart and grumbled at Arty. She ignored his complaint and asked what was on her mind.
"Are you the 'protagonist'?"
"Huh? What?"
"Are you the protagonist of this fused world?"
"......"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Ju Joyeon could only stare at her blankly.
What is she talking about all of a sudden? Protagonist? Me? Why? Based on what? How should I even answer... Should I pretend I don't know anything about protagonists? Besides, Stalker Aunt said Arty's goal is to become the protagonist.
Arty's single question sent a tangle of thoughts racing through Ju Joyeon's mind. Arty herself was also deep in thought.
Was that too abrupt? Come to think of it, even the Neutral Saint didn't seem to know anything about protagonists. Maybe people from the modern world and the magic world don't know about the protagonist's existence like I do? Should I explain it first?
"So, the protagonist is... basically the center of the world. The one chosen by God. The story revolves around the protagonist, and it always ends in their victory. The most special existence in this world, one that never loses. That's what a protagonist is."
"...And you think that's me?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense that you alone solved everything today."
"......"
As she explained, Arty grew more certain. What she had witnessed was simply too unreasonable to be anything else. Trapped by Kelts Pitra's scheme with no way to help or escape, Ju Joyeon had turned the situation into chaos with abnormal judgment and decisiveness, eliminating every last member of Kelts Pitra. Even afterward, instead of fleeing from over three hundred monsters heading for the hospital, he had ultimately claimed them all as his own using only his abilities. The more Arty thought about it, the more Ju Joyeon seemed completely "outside the norm."
No matter how I look at it, Joyeon isn't normal at all. The way he gives orders, that strange incantation that makes people faint just by hearing it even though it's not magic, and that absurdly overpowered ability far beyond any necromancer I've ever known. Plus that item that let him spam magic like crazy despite always complaining about his low mana. Everything about him screams protagonist.
"I'm right, aren't I? You're the protag—"
"No."
Seeing Arty's confident expression, Ju Joyeon scowled and denied it outright.
"Don't say such nonsense. I'm not the protagonist. Stop talking crazy."
"...Why are you so sure?"
Ju Joyeon had his own reasons for being certain he wasn't the protagonist.
Because if I really were the protagonist, God would've told me in a dream. And Stalker Aunt, who knows Arty's goal is to become the protagonist, wouldn't have just left me alone. There are plenty of amazing people in this world. Someone like me can't possibly be the protagonist.
Even if that certainty was highly subjective and flimsy.
"When you say protagonist, you mean like the ones in movies or dramas, right? That's something only perfect people like my friend 'Nam Juin' can be."
"Huh? That's just a prejudice."
"No, it's not! And if you're the protagonist, you have to be handsome too."
"Handsome, huh..."
If we're being honest, Joyeon is pretty good-looking...
"And you need to have great abilities."
"Abilities...?"
I've never seen anyone with more ridiculous abilities than you.
"You also need a unique concept different from everyone else."
"A concept... Well, that's true..."
Says the guy walking around with iron balls chained to both legs?
"And here's the decisive proof that I'm not the protagonist..."
"Decisive proof...?"
Ju Joyeon looked at Arty with a completely serious expression.
"A protagonist must have incredible luck."
"...Luck?"
"Yeah. In the end, the protagonist is the one who wins till the very end, right? But I'm not lucky at all—I'm stuck dragging around the unluckiest person in existence."
Arty stared at him in disbelief for a moment before snapping back to her senses and shouting.
"Thinking the protagonist needs to be lucky is just your personal bias!"
"Why—why are you getting angry all of a sudden?! Anyway, I'm not the protagonist! Get that through your head."
"That can't be true! If you're not the protagonist, then what on earth are you?!"
"Just an unlucky guy, okay?! Why are you so obsessed with this?!"
At Ju Joyeon's flustered outburst, Arty realized how unreasonable she was being and puffed out her cheeks, falling silent.
"...If it's not you, then who could possibly be this world's protagonist?"
"How should I know? Someone more amazing than me is the protag— Ah, no. Maybe it hasn't even been decided yet?"
Remembering what Arty's dream was, Ju Joyeon quickly backtracked and tried to smooth things over.
"...Do you really think so?"
"Yeah, of course. You said there's only one protagonist per world, right? This world hasn't been around that long, so there probably isn't one yet. I'm sure of it."
"......You're really not the protagonist?"
"I'm telling you I'm not."
"Fine. Then show me your status window."
"...Huh?"
Thinking the conversation about protagonists was over, Ju Joyeon had just begun to relax when Arty's unexpected demand made his eyes widen. She stared straight at him, clearly not joking.
"Your status window. Show it to me. If you're the protagonist, you'll definitely have a title or cognomen I would recognize. If you're not, like you claim, then you won't have one."
"...Asking to see someone's status window is bad manners. You know that."
"Do you have something you don't want me to see?"
"No, that's not it."
"Then it shouldn't matter, right?"
"No... I don't have any id—"
"I'll show you mine too. That settles it, doesn't it?"
"Ehh..."
Arty's determination to see his status window—even offering to show her own—left Ju Joyeon at a complete loss. He already knew what was in her status window anyway, so looking at it now wouldn't benefit him in the slightest. At best, he could now openly admit he'd seen it before.
...Haa. I guess I have no choice. It's not like I can get away from Arty anyway, and she's definitely not a bad person. Besides, it was starting to bother me that I secretly knew about her status window.
"......Status window."
After agonizing over it for quite some time, Ju Joyeon finally made his decision and opened his status window. Arty's eyes sparkled with anticipation as the translucent screen appeared before them—only for her small mouth to part slightly in surprise at the sheer amount of information displayed.