Chapter 1: Girl Hero Front
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1: Girl Hero Front
There is a game called Girl Hero Front.
It’s a game featuring the Awakened, like me, where girls you pull from a gacha save the world.
When I first saw the game, I laughed it off, wondering where such a world could possibly exist.
The Awakened are mysterious beings who exist beyond the realm of science.
Some cried out that we were a "New Human" race, while others spewed nonsense about how a virus born from mutants would wipe out humanity.
It’s a bit awkward for me, an Awakened myself, to say this, but the Awakened are dangerous weapons.
And humans aren't stupid enough to leave a bomb that could go off at any moment on a tilted shelf.
The Awakened are strictly controlled by the state. Since their numbers and power are directly linked to national strength alongside the military, the government exerts every effort to keep them under its thumb.
In the game, however, it’s the opposite. The Awakened form clans, act as vigilantes, and enter and exit dungeons as they please.
Calling their profession "Hero" is a bit strange, but they live freely, raking in popularity and money.
Compared to me—an Awakened with a barcode stamped on my neck, working my ass off in a military unit—that world was nothing short of paradise.
Maybe it’s different in the U.S., where soldiers are treated well, but in Korea, Awakened who belong to the military are little more than servants.
Monitored twenty-four hours a day, always sent to the front lines whenever there’s a dangerous mission.
The money they call a "salary" is a pittance, and there’s no respect.
Perhaps because the game developers kept this kind of reverse discrimination in mind, I found myself falling deep into a game that was the polar opposite of my reality.
My team leader teased me for playing a "pretty girl game," and my squadmates joined in, but I liked the world of Girl Hero Front.
Since it was a game that sold itself on illustrations, the fact that the vast majority of the Awakened were girls was a bit of a sticking point, but what did it matter? The Awakened there could live freely while amassing wealth and fame.
I want to live in a world like that...
Or so I thought.
I look up at a massive electronic billboard.
A woman stands tall and proud, both hands resting on the hilt of her sword. Beside her, the text reads:
'Girls, Arise.'
Using a word that specifies only one gender—I can't help but think it's a truly sexist catchphrase.
But this isn't an advertisement for Girl Hero Front.
It’s a recruitment poster for a Hero Clan.
... ...
That’s right. I’ve entered the game.
I don’t know why this happened.
Whether it was because of my intense longing to live in such a world, or because of that strange pill the researcher gave me this morning, or a boss's curse, or because I was hit by a mysterious beam of light while clearing a dungeon.
If not that, maybe it was because of a project the government forced me into, or perhaps I’m hallucinating from being injected with too many narcotics-laced healing agents.
There are so many suspicious factors that I don't know what the problem is.
Regardless, I’ve dropped into a strange world where the ratio of male to female Awakened is 1:9.
It’s not that my physical body entered this world.
Should I call it a soul? My consciousness has taken over the body of a certain man.
His name—which is now mine—is Jeong Yeon-woo.
He’s a bold man in his twenties who used his vacation days between a weekend and a public holiday to play for an entire week.
I learned this upon entering the body, but in this world, gender roles are reversed.
The social consciousness is roughly equivalent to the 80s or early 90s of my original world; most people entering the workforce are women, and power is concentrated on the female side.
By that logic, the only reason Jeong Yeon-woo even has a job is that he’s an Awakened.
A male Awakened, a rarity in this world.
You’d think he’d be showered with affection in a female-dominated society, but this guy’s life is a total mess.
As I took over the body, Jeong Yeon-woo’s memories became mine. He was bullied throughout his school years and was even raped.
Having the mindset of my original world, I didn't feel much since the girls who raped him were pretty, but for the Jeong Yeon-woo who was born and raised here, it must have been agonizing.
Because of his traumatic school years, his weakened spirit couldn't be helped even after he Awakened. During his first battle, he gallantly vomited, then cried and begged the Clan Leader until he was demoted to an administrative desk job.
Seeing as I can't clearly recall the faces of the clan members, it seems he had a hard time even making eye contact with people.
The reason such a guy did something as bold as stacking his vacation days with a holiday was that he intended to end his life.
I don’t know if I took over the body at the moment he died, or if he died because I took over, but when I opened my eyes in this world, I was in a state of having swallowed a massive amount of sleeping pills.
If I hadn't gained Jeong Yeon-woo’s memories the moment I arrived, I probably would have departed this world right along with him.
Rest in peace, Jeong Yeon-woo.
I’ll achieve what you wanted.
It was the least I could do for the guy whose body gave me a second life.
He wanted revenge, and he wanted fame and power as a hero.
It wasn't so much greed as it was an admiration for the heroes who saved people and held back the monsters.
Even if Jeong Yeon-woo was far too faint-hearted to achieve that dream.
Perhaps because of the lingering memories, my body still freezes whenever I think about that first encounter with a monster.
To be drenched in terror—I don't know how many years it's been since I felt this emotion.
I let out a small laugh as I look at my slightly trembling hands.
To feel excited because I can feel fear... I guess I’m not normal either.
Today marks exactly one week since I obtained this body.
During that time, I’ve researched this place and focused on understanding Jeong Yeon-woo’s physical condition.
On a large screen set up in the street, footage plays of heroes taking down the S-rank monster, Belarus.
They call them heroes, but the scene on the screen is gruesome.
It’s at a level where I wonder if it’s okay to broadcast this on a street where children can see.
Since this is a world where people become heroes of their own volition rather than by government mandate, it seems the footage is used as propaganda to encourage voluntary participation.
A woman, one arm torn off and drenched in blood, finishes the job by plunging her sword into Belarus’s head.
With the corpses of her comrades as a backdrop, the woman lets out a roar of joy toward the sky.
"How the hell did they win that...?"
No matter how much I look at it, I can't figure it out.
Girl Hero Front is a game that took reality and adapted it, so the way the Awakened fight is similar to reality.
A standard Awakened team consists of Attackers, Defenders, and Supporters.
Whether clearing a dungeon or a monster that has spawned in the world, that’s the basic tactic—but on that screen, they cleared it without a single Supporter.
No tactics, just an Attacker rush.
There was one Defender in the video, but she didn't really fulfill her role.
The other nine were all Attackers who mindlessly attacked until Belarus fell.
In my reality, clearing Belarus isn't even authorized without Supporter assistance, and it’s difficult even in the game, yet these people pulled off that impossible feat.
Of course, the party was essentially annihilated, but they did stop it.
In this world, the importance of Supporters is minimal.
Unless it’s a dungeon that absolutely requires one, they’re rarely included, and Awakened who fail to find a place in other roles drift into becoming Supporters.
In the game, I chose Supporters carefully based on the situation, but this part is different.
Even if it’s a different world, I didn't think the very foundation of the combat paradigm would change, so I looked into it—and surprisingly, the reason was easy to find.
The Jewel of Life.
A cash item that allows a retry when the party is wiped out.
The existence or absence of this single item, which has to exist due to the nature of it being a game, made all the difference.
Resources are consumed, but since they can be resurrected even if they die, Attackers who can clear dungeons quickly have become the main focus.
They took down Belarus like that too, after 180 tries.
If that thing came out into the world, it would be chaos, so the state provides massive support, and the Attackers just empty their brains and charge blindly.
Assuming the supply of Jewels of Life is infinite, clearing a dungeon with only high-skill Attackers is actually a decent strategy.
Even if the heroes resurrect, the dungeon doesn't reset, so if the Attackers keep inflicting wounds, even Belarus has no way out.
As a result, Supporters have lost their place, and compared to my original world, heroes here mostly clear dungeons of a lower rank than themselves.
If the rank is lower than theirs, clearing with only Attackers is faster and more efficient.
I look up at the screen again.
The Attackers, who throw themselves forward desperately without regard for their own bodies, mostly die in agony.
Thanks to the Jewel of Life, these Attackers, who have become accustomed to death itself, were no different from berserkers.
"... ..."
Yeah, being an Attacker is definitely not it.
In my original world, I was an Attacker.
I was a veteran in my own right and faced monsters until my mid-forties, but if you told me to fight while getting my limbs torn off like that, I absolutely couldn't do it.
The pain is one thing, but here, Supporters don't even heal your wounds immediately.
And I wasn't even that remarkable as an Attacker.
As I thought, it seems right to enlighten this world on how great Supporters are.
Otherwise, a life of pure misery awaits me.
I’ve accidentally gained a world where the Awakened are happy; I don't want to live it in pain.
Jeong Yeon-woo, sleep in peace. I’ll make this body famous.
Coming to a world that gives you all the money and fame after being treated like a dog in the military, I can't stop the corners of my mouth from twitching no matter how hard I try.
Shit, Colonel Park, you seeing this? This is how the world should be.
It’s worlds apart from a place that puts a leash on you because they fear the power of the Awakened, and treats you like a slave because they're riddled with inferiority complexes.
And I like the fact that gender roles are reversed, so I get attention just by standing still.
I lock eyes with a blonde woman who’s been staring at me for a while.
She’s clearly a delinquent, but why does she look so lovely just because the gender is swapped?
When I give her a smile, the delinquent can't hide her lecherous eyes as she starts creeping toward me.
"... ..."
However, the delinquent’s expression soon sours, and she stops in her tracks.
A sturdy-looking woman passing by is glaring at her.
At the woman’s gaze, which says she won't forgive any unnecessary trouble, the delinquent tucks her tail, spits on the ground, and heads elsewhere.
The cool man—no, woman—gives me a reassuring look, nods slightly in greeting, and goes on her way.
No matter how I look at this, isn't this the female lead of a romance manga?
It feels a bit strange, but it’s not a bad feeling.
Actually, I like it.
Just looking at the incident that just happened, I can tell how much people like me and how I’m perceived.
I lost half—no, three-quarters—of my life in the military, and only now have I received a vacation.
I should think of it as using all my backlogged leave at once and enjoy my new life.