You Knew That, Right?

You knew that, right?

He had unintentionally sown confusion among his own allies, too.

He should have cleared up the misunderstanding right away, but Seyul had no time for that.

The reason was that a peculiar system message had appeared.

His level had gone up.

The moment he read those words, Seyul flinched.

"Wait, this game has leveling up?!"

He hadn't known at all — he covered his mouth with his hand, genuinely stunned.

The viewers, watching that, went into an uproar.

Everyone was so frustrated watching Seyul lack even the most basic knowledge of the game that they couldn't help chiming in.

But there was a reason he'd made this particular mistake.

Seyul had killed quite a few enemies on his way here.

Yet his level had never budged, so he'd simply assumed leveling up didn't exist.

It was all because God's Warrior's level-up system was so unusual.

Low-rank monsters, no matter how strong, gave pitiful experience when killed.

Which was exactly why the Drain skill existed — a skill designed for mass slaughter, letting you suck the corpses dry and level up.

But Seyul had come all this way without ever learning Drain.

This was the first time he'd killed a high-rank monster, which the game system rewarded with a mountain of experience.

That, and that alone, was why his level had finally risen.

"I do feel a bit stronger."

Seyul examined his own body, checking how much he'd changed.

Maybe around that of a skilled mana user.

Mana user.

In the Another World, it was the umbrella term for warriors who wielded special powers.

To distinguish them from mages, their magical power was called mana instead.

Once a warrior became a mana user, they could channel that mana to perform superhuman feats.

An ordinary mana user could fight a hundred men alone, so they were treated as living weapons, practically speaking.

Seyul's current stats were on par with a veteran among such mana users.

A realm where he could take on two or three ordinary mana users at once — capable of fighting hundreds single-handedly.

In game terms, Level 2; compared to real-world Hunters, roughly D-Rank.

The viewers, who knew exactly what Level 2 meant in-game, showed a mixture of dread and anticipation.

You there!

Meanwhile —

The God of Fire, having been treated like a pet and put through absolute hell, was seething from head to toe.

Have you completely lost your mind? How dare you inflict such humiliation on me, a god!

As he raged and fumed, Seyul looked at him with a strange expression.

"Then just leave."

What?

"If it was that humiliating, you should have just walked away. Why did you play along with the whole act? You gods pop in and out of existence whenever you feel like it."

Seyul found it odd.

The God of Fire decoy operation he'd improvised on the spot was, in truth, a plan full of holes.

The gods appeared and vanished at will before his eyes, so if the Fire God had simply fled, that would have been the end of it.

But he'd stayed and played along, which made Seyul think there had to be a reason — and now he was complaining it was humiliating?

Uh.

The moment Seyul pointed this out, the God of Fire froze solid.

For a long while, he said nothing at all — just stared at Seyul.

"What are you looking at?"

…

"Hey."

S-shut up! Shut your mouth, I said!

After the silence, the God of Fire suddenly erupted.

Everyone watching caught on immediately.

Roars of laughter and donations poured in.

And while everyone was laughing, the God of Fire pulled off something even funnier.

It's — it's YOUR fault! You suddenly started spouting nonsense and my brain stopped working! It is absolutely NOT because I'm stupid!

Blaming Seyul out of nowhere, with no rhyme or reason —

"Aren't you assuming the worst? Don't get angry, just listen. Whatever the circumstances, thanks to your hard work, we were able to take down the monsters you hate so much with ease. From the standpoint of a god who protects humanity, there's nothing to lose here."

Is that so?

He was on the verge of falling for Seyul's honeyed words, mid-tantrum no less.

The image he'd built up until now was shattering in an instant.

The viewers didn't know it, but this was actually the God of Fire's true nature.

Apart from Seyul, no one had ever managed to draw this much raw emotion out of the gods, so nobody had ever seen it.

I-I'm not falling for it!

But the God of Fire wasn't a complete fool.

He'd nearly given in, then barely snapped back to his senses.

Do not try to bewitch me with your honeyed tongue. Do you have any idea what you've done? We gods are not permitted to interfere in this world at will. And thanks to you, we came within a hair's breadth of shattering that sacred rule. This is a grave sin—

"Then what do you call the God of Water empowering the monsters I was fighting?"

Just as the Fire God was trying to speak seriously, Seyul's question cut straight in.

For a moment, the God of Fire couldn't grasp what he meant and just blinked.

What did you say?

"You didn't know? The God of Water said I wouldn't listen to him, so he gave power to the monsters I was fighting to strengthen them."

Do-don't make me laugh! There's no way the God of Water would do something that brain-splatteringly insane!

Except that it had actually happened.

When Seyul laid out the whole incident in detail, the God of Fire panicked worse than he had when he'd been chased off earlier.

You're lying! The God of Water would never do that! Against you, he just said you were a lowlife, that's all he ever said!

"If you don't believe me, go ask him yourself."

Fine! You think I can't go check? I'll stake my own neck on it that it's not true. You'd better be ready. If it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turns out you've been spouting baseless nonsense, I won't let you off!

With a grand flourish, the God of Fire vanished.

He'd meant it as a threat to intimidate Seyul, but —

Well, the annoying one's gone before this got any more of a headache.

In effect, he'd removed himself of his own accord.

Having talked the God of Fire into leaving with nothing but a silver tongue, Seyul approached the low-rank monsters whose lives he'd saved.

Koras, of course —

But even the low-rank monsters who had once been hostile to him now looked at Seyul with entirely different eyes.

Meeting those gazes — gazes fixed on something wondrous — Seyul said, blunt as ever:

"They're dead. Do whatever you like with the corpses."

"Ah — u-understood."

Entrusted with disposing of the dead high-rank monsters' bodies, Koras answered on reflex.

"You saved our lives."

Koras offered his thanks, wiping away cold sweat.

"I would repay you if I could, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but this village has nothing to offer. Will you not at least share a meal before you go?"

"No need. More importantly — that nearby city you said they'd come from. Which way is it, roughly?"

When Seyul asked, Koras pointed in a particular direction.

"That way. Why do you ask?"

"I thought I might stop by there next."

"For what purpose?"

"No particular reason."

Seyul answered offhandedly.

He had no intention of marching into the city to uproot anything.

It had simply occurred to him that strolling through a city sounded nicer than tramping across an empty wasteland, so he'd asked.

But Koras, who had no idea what kind of human Seyul was, took it one hundred percent as him setting off to help them again.

"...This would normally be the moment I stop you, but I saw your strength with my own eyes. With power like that, it would be pointless meddling on my part."

Koras still believed Seyul to be some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extraordinary summoner.

Trusting in that strength, he made no move to keep him from going to the city.

"Then I thank you once more. I cannot give you anything in return — but instead, I will spread your tale far and wide. The tale of a hero who took up arms for creatures of another race, for our sake!"

In Koras's eyes, Seyul was a hero beyond compare — a human who had stepped forward for monsters like them.

"If you say so."

Koras was moved to the point of tears; Seyul couldn't have cared less.

He left the village without so much as a backward glance, heading for the city.

Only the viewers who roughly understood what kind of person Seyul actually was snickered.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The destination city really was close by.

For the players' convenience, travel between locations was a breeze.

After all, if a three-day journey actually took three days of walking, it would hardly qualify as a game.

Thanks to that, Seyul arrived surprisingly quickly and eyed the city before him with interest.

It reminds me of the cities I saw in the Another World.

A medieval air, paired with unexpectedly advanced touches.

An atmosphere straight out of a fantasy novel brought the Another World back to mind.

Feeling a pang of nostalgia, Seyul walked toward the city.

"Keep up the good work."

Low-rank monsters guarded the city gate.

He tossed the guards a casual greeting as he passed through.

"...Yes."

"Much obliged."

The guards returned the greeting on autopilot —

"...Hey."

"You there, HALT!"

— before snapping back to their senses and scrambling to block him in a fluster.

He'd been so natural and unhesitating that they'd greeted him back without thinking, but this was hardly a normal situation.

Some staggeringly beautiful human in a slave collar, spear in hand, was waltzing in uninvited.

"Human! Who are you?!"

"What gives you the right to barge in here?!"

The guards leveled their spears at Seyul and demanded answers.

His reply was simple.

"I paid money for this game — what place is off-limits to me?!"

Something or other kept blocking his path everywhere he went, and it was getting on his nerves.

When he phrased it as if the guards were the ones being unreasonable, the chat window erupted.

A perfectly reasonable take from a paying customer — but the ones he was talking to were in-game monsters.

To them, Seyul's words were nothing but lunatic ravings that made no sense within the world's setting.

"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

"So you mean to defy us!"

"Everyone, gather! A strange human is trying to get in!"

Treating him as an intruder, the guards called for reinforcements.

A dozen or so gathered in the blink of an eye, and as the commotion grew, other monsters came crowding over to watch.

Why can't this game even let me just walk past?

Surrounded by monsters, Seyul grumbled to himself.

Normally games give you a chance to rest in a town or something.

Granted, God's Warrior was an extreme-difficulty game — if he weren't standing in the heart of enemy territory, he might have gotten that chance.

And if he wanted someone to blame, he had no choice but to blame the little sister who'd set this whole thing up as a prank.

Just as Seyul was weighing whether to kill the guards or let them live —

"Yuhyohyo~. What do you think you're doing to my slave~?"

Someone interjected with an absurd little vocal flourish.

Blond delinquent. His entire appearance could be summed up in exactly those two words.

Blond hair, bronzed skin.

And strikingly handsome — a genuinely beautiful face ruined by a terrible attitude.

"Did you lose what little sense you had, hm?"

The blond delinquent was cocky from start to finish.

"Gah!"

"Lord Osman!"

The guards floundered, even resorting to honorifics toward the blond delinquent —

toward Osman.

"Th-this woman was your slave, Lord Osman?"

"Are your eyes just for show? Look at her — clearly a woman only an alpha male like me could claim. I sent her on a little errand, and why are you all causing a scene and getting in the way, eh?"

Out of nowhere, Osman appeared and declared that Seyul was his slave.

Who the hell is this guy?

A total stranger spouting this nonsense — Seyul was dumbfounded.

He stared at him, wondering what he was playing at, and Osman drifted closer and closer.

"Fyafya! Still as gorgeous as ever, I see. That feminine curve despite such a modest chest — love it."

Wearing a sleazy grin, Osman reached out to plant a hand on Seyul's shoulder without so much as a by-your-leave.

Seyul moved to knock the hand away —

"I apologize for the strange act. I'm here to help you, so please, play along for now. I have been waiting for you."

Osman's attitude flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, and he murmured quietly.