The Incompetent Hero and Psychological Therapy
"Haa..., haa...."
Huff..., huff....
【Combat Continuation】 duration has ended. HP reduction penalty is now in effect.
Ten minutes had passed.
My body grew abruptly heavy. I had been so close—truly only a little farther—yet that final stretch remained forever out of reach.
As expected, just mimicking the form of an Ultimate Technique wasn't enough....
Sword King Ultimate Technique — Heaven-and-Earth Cleaver was one of the Sword King Secret Arts I had inherited through the Sword King's memories, yet it was a technique I still could not properly use. Its core was simple enough.
It was the simultaneous execution of the three Sword King Secret Arts: Earth Cleaver, Mt. Tai Cleaver, and Ocean Cleaver.
In other words, a crude triple strike that was as straightforward as it was overwhelmingly powerful.
This technique might be impossible to use just by reading the memories. It needs a kind of enlightenment.
Without even a clue toward that enlightenment, the mere imitation of the Ultimate Technique lacked the power to finish him off completely. Even so, after a ten-minute exchange of blows aimed solely at bringing him down, I had somehow managed to chip away at his stamina—yet....
"Damn it..., just a little more.... I was so close...."
All mana has been exhausted.
The effect of 【Sword King Footwork — Water-Surface Flight】 has ended.
The effect of 【Sword Aura】 has ended.
The force that had been pushing the seawater aside vanished, and I sank straight into the ocean with a soft plop.
Watching the countless bubbles rise from the spot where Leon had disappeared, Ananta returned to the form of Fukhaedaeseong and spoke.
"Haa..., haa.... If ya'd just held on a bit longer.... Yeah, just one more minute.... no, thirty seconds more..., it'd be my neck gettin' chopped, not yers. Damn straight.... this generation's hero is completely off the charts."
His wounds were severe. If he did not devote himself to recovery for a while, the aftereffects would be no joke.
"So then..., what business brought ya out here, Auntie?"
As Fukhaedaeseong tended to his injuries and glanced at the place where Leon had sunk, the water there began to bubble and boil. Then, with a sudden whoosh, something burst up through the sea, parting the waves.
A woman whose hair was black on one side and white on the other.
She held Leon in her arms in a princess carry and looked at Fukhaedaeseong.
"You have rampaged quite a bit, Fukhaedaeseong."
"Well, I gotta admit I got excited for the first time in ages. You were the one who stopped the fallout from spreadin', right, Auntie?"
"Yes. The damage from a fight between the two of you would ultimately reach the continent as a tidal wave."
"True enough. So.... ya gonna answer my question or not? What made ya haul that heavy backside of yers all the way out here? Auntie Hyeonmu."
Fukhaedaeseong's eyes flashed as he stared at the black-and-white-haired woman, Hyeonmu.
She gazed steadily back at him, then looked down at Leon cradled in her arms and spoke.
"I came to stop you from killing this child."
"Kill him? Me, kill this kid? Pwahahaha. Auntie, ya gone senile? This brat's strong, ain't he? The only reason I could even beat him was 'cause of the environmental advantage, right? How the hell am I supposed to kill a kid like that? Ya really have gone off the deep end, Auntie."
"....Yes, I will admit the child's power exceeded what I had expected."
Watching Fukhaedaeseong roar with laughter at her words, Hyeonmu acknowledged her own misjudgment with a nod. At the same time, her eyes glowed faintly, and Leon's body became wrapped in a soft radiance. The black-and-white light slowly mended his wounds.
"But had I not come, this child would have died. That much is true, Fukhaedaeseong."
"I didn't have the luxury of holdin' back so he wouldn't die, y'know."
"So it seemed. You even drew out your original power, after all."
"Well.... nothin' I can say to that. Fair enough."
Once she confirmed that Leon's wounds had fully healed, Hyeonmu turned away.
"Leavin' already?"
"Yes. My purpose from the start was this child, so there is no reason to waste more time here. Besides, this child's companions are waiting as well. Do you have anything else to say?"
"Nothin' to say, but I do have somethin' to give him. Will ya pass it along?"
"I shall."
Fukhaedaeseong drew from his robes a jade stone the color of the deep sea and tossed it to Hyeonmu.
The stone became wreathed in black-and-white light and drifted to a stop before her as if held by telekinesis. Hyeonmu examined the jade he had offered for a moment, then lifted her gaze toward Fukhaedaeseong with a look of interest.
"The Deep Blue Jade Stone, is it.... You are giving him something rather remarkable. Has this child taken your fancy that much?"
"I ain't been this fired up since the first time I met our youngest. Next time I see him, I can't wait to find out what kind of monster he'll have become."
"....I am still debating whether I should give this to the child or not."
Frowning as if troubled, Hyeonmu stared at the Deep Blue Jade Stone before finally sending it into another space, then turned her eyes back to Fukhaedaeseong.
"So what will you do now? Looking at those wounds, you will need to care for your body for quite some time."
"Just like ya said. Gonna rest and recuperate for a while. Maybe drop by and see my youngest brother while I'm at it? Got a whole pile of things I wanna say to him."
"Your youngest brother.... Ah, Je-cheon-dae-seong, then."
"Make sure ya hand that over to the kid, y'hear~"
Sway....
I lost in the end.
No—honestly, I have a few things to say about this defeat.
What the fuck, nobody ever said a monster like that would show up!
The entire content of the game I had possessed, The Success Story of the Incompetent Hero, only went up to the point just before the subjugation of the Demon King's fragment, the Heavenly Demon, who had destroyed the Yeom Kingdom.
In between came Leon's adventures, the various heroines getting NTR'd, and finally his defeat at the hands of the other heroes and his descent into despair. As a bonus, the ending credits showed the happy(?) heroines with the other heroes, then a ruined Leon, and that was that—but that wasn't important right now....
Before that final battle, the heroes' stats had been in the 500–600 range.
And though I hadn't played it yet, from what I knew of the sequel, The Adventure of the Demon Beast Hero, the Heavenly Demon was eventually taken down by two heroes.
In other words, I could estimate the Heavenly Demon's stats at roughly 600–700. With that level of power, I had judged I could win easily enough, so after the 50% penalty kicked in I hadn't been too hung up on recovering my HP....
Sway.... sway....
I never expected some bastard with the same 999 stats as me to pop out of nowhere.
There was no way I could have prepared for 999 stats that never even appeared in the original game.
....Well, I was a bit complacent. Once the story flow changed, I should have expected things to change too.... but still, 999 is just shameless.
I needed to secure some means of HP recovery for the time being.
In a shitty RPG, HP recovery methods were essential.
Normally a priest would handle the healing, but.... everyone on this side was a martial artist, so there was no healer.
Sway.... sway.... sway....
Wait, why was everything rocking so much?
I clearly remembered sinking into the ocean.
"...."
I cracked my eyes open a fraction.
What I saw was not the deep sea, but a clear sky.
On top of that, I was riding something like a small boat, drifting across the open ocean.
"What the hell. So I wasn't dead after all."
"You are not dead yet."
"Whoa—shit!"
Startled by the mysterious female voice behind me, I whipped around.
A woman with hair half black and half white, her complexion somehow pale, was looking at me.
"Who are you?"
"Just a meddlesome passerby."
"A meddlesome passerby...."
"Take this."
She drew a jade stone glowing with blue light from her robes and tossed it to me.
What the hell is this?
◈ A spiritual elixir formed when the energy of the deep ocean depths gathered and condensed into jade.
◈ Holds a frigid Yin energy. Increases the consumer's affinity for water and resistance to fire.
"Thank you."
Tossing something like this over as if it were nothing—this person was clearly someone of great stature.
No reason to keep holding onto it. Time to eat it right away~
Gulp.
"!!"
While I held it, it had felt like a hard jade stone, but the moment I put it in my mouth and swallowed, it melted into a cool liquid and dissolved.
The cold energy traveled down my throat into my stomach, then spread from there throughout my entire body.
Yet in that instant, something strange stirred inside me.
"Ugh..., what the...."
Something hot seemed to bloom from the place commonly called the dantian, then collided with the cold energy circulating through my body.
Because of that, my stomach ached as if I had food poisoning, and my body began to tremble violently.
"You must have consumed something overflowing with Yang energy beforehand."
"Overflowing with Yang energy?..., The Taeyanghwan?...."
"The Taeyanghwan, is it.... Even a Taeyanghwan should not normally stand equal to the Yin energy of the Deep Blue Jade Stone.... You must have taken a rather high-quality one."
If it was a Taeyanghwan made by Dokjon himself, of course the quality would be— Gyaaaaaah!!!
"It huuuuurts!!"
"Calm yourself."
Her hand gently stroked my stomach.
The touch was extremely cold, yet the pain radiating from my gut gradually eased.
It felt as if the Yang and Yin energies that had been constantly clashing inside me were beginning to find harmony....
Yin-Yang Limitless Mind Method
Natural mana recovery rate greatly increased.
An identical-sized mana pool has been created.
Ohhh?
What the hell is this. Some kind of hilarious hidden-camera prank? Of all times, I get a natural mana recovery skill right after getting my ass handed to me by that bastard?
Fuck me.
"Status window."
"???"
Ohhh?
What the hell is this. Some kind of hilarious hidden-camera prank? Why are my HP and mana suddenly both full?
Wait, I feel like I just said something similar a moment ago?
"No, wait..., did you do this?"
"The Deep Blue Jade Stone was given to you by him."
"....Him?"
"Yes. The Dragon Demon King you faced—Fukhaedaeseong."
"Ah, that son of a—"
Why the hell would that bastard give me this?
Give the disease then hand over the cure? Is he insane?
"No, so who the hell are you, then?"
"....One of the Four Sacred Beasts. I am known as Hyeonmu."
"Aha, one of the Four Sacred Beasts.... huh?"
Suddenly another big shot drops in. What is this, I'm scared.
"I healed that wreck of a body of yours. However.... your constitution itself was beyond my ability to fix."
"Constitution?"
"Yes. That constitution of yours that cannot accept the things of this world—I expect it will be cured soon enough."
"!!"
I could not help but be shocked by those words.
A secret I had never told a single soul was known to the being before me.
That fact alone was more than enough to make wariness toward her only natural.
My sword..., I have it.
The moment I instinctively grabbed the Holy Sword, Hyeonmu spoke quietly.
"Sheathe your blade. I have no desire to take with my own hands a life I saved with those same hands."
"!!"
"....I came to express my gratitude to you."
"G-gratitude?...."
Healing me one moment, dropping plot hooks the next, threatening me, then thanking me.
Pick one and stick with it!
"Many things will still occur from here on.... but with your power, you should be able to overcome them well enough. In the course of your journey, I entrust that child to you."
"What do you mean by—"
"....We have arrived. I shall take my leave."
"Hey, don't you dare just drop a plot hook and vanish!!"
I shot to my feet to grab her, but she had already disappeared as if she had never existed in the first place.
And at the same time, far in the distance, the city of Dandong began to come into view.