‘What? Why is the System window appearing in red?’
DING, DING!
System messages appeared one after another before my eyes.
[TIP! - Eliminate hostile heroes to secure your safety!]
[It is advisable to eliminate hostile heroes who may become future threats before they can become a problem…….]
The blood-red System windows kept speaking to me.
They were urging me to hurry up and kill the Hero lying before me.
“I-I’ll kill you…… I’ll kill you…….”
“…….”
“Even if both my wrists are crushed…… even if both my legs are torn off! Setanta, I swear I’ll kill you!”
Between the densely packed red messages, the Hero dragged himself across the floor while cursing me.
……Judging from the way he was talking, he certainly did sound like someone who would become a future problem.
‘But something about this still feels wrong.’
DING, DING, DING!
Even now, the red System windows kept changing their wording as they urged me to kill the Hero.
Kill him, murder him, eliminate him, the Hero, right now…….
Again and again.
They continued appearing before my eyes one after another.
‘……Yeah, this feels less like advice and more like…….’
Did it not seem as though the System…………wanted me to fall into ruin?
“Setan…… Setanta…… you demon wearing a human face……!”
“…….”
“I curse myself…… again and again…… for ever trusting you!”
The Hero was still crawling across the floor as he screamed.
‘At this rate, he’s going to draw aggro.’
The low-ranking humanoid monsters that appeared early in the game were particularly sensitive to sound.
I glanced down to check.
“Grrrrrk…… Grrrk……!”
In the distance, I saw the disgusting faces of monsters with their mouths stretched wide open.
Damn it. Several of them were already trying to climb the outer wall of the building.
“Setanta…… how can you……! How can you look so completely unaffected?!”
“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t the one who did that. More importantly, could you keep your voice down?”
“Ugh…… Uwaaaaaah-!”
“…….”
For now, I decided to put off dealing with the Hero.
Partly because those blood-red System windows popping up like something out of a horror game seemed suspicious……
‘And because in the original game, the moment the Hero died, it was an instant game over.’
In the worst-case scenario, this entire world might end the moment the Hero died.
So I decided not to make such a risky choice.
……DING!
But at that moment.
The blood-red messages flooding my vision abruptly stopped.
[The tutorial has ended.]
[Survival successful!]
[Hidden conditions have been fulfilled. has been unlocked!]
‘Huh?’
Blue System windows suddenly began appearing one after another.
‘……A Hidden Route?’
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
Hidden…….
A Hidden Route?
My heart began pounding rapidly.
Even I, who had played this game countless times, had never seen this development before.
No, this had not even been listed on the wiki.
[Entering the Hidden Route, 【Savior of Ailant】.]
[Epic Quest generated!]
A rainbow-colored aura spread outward, and an elaborately framed quest window appeared before my eyes.
◈Epic Quest◈
【At the End of This World】
-Become the Savior of Ailant and reach the end of the story.
[Clear Condition : Reach the Hidden Route ending]
◆ Quest Reward : Return to your original world, and one wish.
‘If I reach this world’s end, I can return to my original world……!’
The pounding of my heart filled my ears.
……DING!
[【Hidden Route Perks】 unlocked!]
‘Perks?’
I immediately opened them as well.
[Opening the list of perks.]
◈Hidden Route Perks◈
【Perspective Shift】
-Observe the perspective of a hero who belongs to your party.
Consumes 1 Player Point every 5 minutes.
【Read Intentions】
-Allows you to read a hero’s inner thoughts.
Consumes 1 Player Point.
【Force Action】
-Forces a hero to perform an action. (Limited to once per target)
Consumes 5~10 Player Points.
[TIP - Player Points can be obtained by clearing quests.]
‘Oh?’
Looking at them, all three perks seemed to revolve around the same concept.
Reading a character’s thoughts.
Giving a character commands.
And occasionally switching perspectives to observe their actions?
Was this not exactly what a player did while playing a game?
‘A three-piece set of perks made for a gamer. Perfect for me.’
The final perk in particular caught my attention.
‘Forcing a hero to act…….’
It cost an enormous 5~10 points.
It could also only be used once on each hero.
[The number of Player Points consumed varies depending on the difficulty of the action forced upon the hero.]
‘If I ordered a hero to commit suicide, would it cost 10 points and make them strangle themselves or something?’
Depending on how it was used, the perk possessed nearly limitless possibilities.
[Special Bonus - For the first use only, each perk may be activated without consuming any points.]
On top of that, the first activation of each perk would not cost any points.
‘This could be extremely useful.’
“Grrrrrk-.”
“Graaaah…….”
More importantly, monsters had begun crawling onto the roof, so it seemed like it was time to move.
“Hero, I’m taking your weapon.”
“Se-Setanta, you b-bastard……! You! I will never, ever forgive you!”
“…….”
I approached the Hero, who was still trying to kill me despite his entire body being battered to pieces.
……PAT!
“Ugh!”
PAT! PAT!
PATPATPATPAT-!
“Guhuaaaagh!”
After patting his back five or six times, I unfastened the longsword hanging from his waist and took it, sheath and all.
[You have obtained 【Hero’s Longsword】.]
‘Oh, a new weapon.’
It had a satisfying weight to it, and the balance felt excellent.
I rather liked it.
“Grrrrrr……!”
Just then, a monster was about to climb onto the roof.
Judging from its clothing, it had probably been an Imperial guard before mutating.
‘It looks even worse in person than it did in the game.’
It still possessed a humanoid shape, but its skeletal structure was grotesquely twisted.
Its yellowed eyes gleamed disgustingly.
‘Why not test out my new weapon?’
I walked straight toward it.
SWISH!
Then I swung the sword horizontally as though cutting through its neck.
……SPURT!
‘Hm?’
Dark red blood erupted from the monster’s cleanly severed neck.
Its headless body then fell helplessly from the building.
‘That was way too easy.’
When I had played the Hell Mode tutorial as the Hero, I had needed to slash one of these things more than ten times.
The difference in strength was overwhelming.
WHOOSH-.
I experimentally swung the longsword a few more times.
The trajectory of the blade.
The balance of strength.
Every sensation felt familiar.
It almost felt as though I had spent more than ten years handling bladed weapons.
……And perhaps because I had possessed the body of Setanta, who had slaughtered the companions he once fought beside, even I felt strangely less restrained by morality.
‘Is the body influencing me?’
In exchange for becoming an absurdly powerful burst-damage monster, I did feel somewhat……
……numb.
But perhaps that was actually an advantage when it came to surviving inside this horrific game.
‘Better than having a weak stomach.’
I suddenly turned toward the Hero.
But something was wrong with him.
Shuffle, shuffle…….
Despite his mangled body, the Hero had somehow crawled all the way to the edge of the roof.
Even though monsters were lurking below.
“What are you doing?”
I stared at him blankly for a moment before asking.
“It’s dangerous over there. Like I said earlier, I’m not the Setanta who killed you. So you don’t have to run away…….”
“Rather than die after being violated by your hands once again, Setanta…….”
“……Hero?”
“At the very least, I will choose my own death.”
“Hero, what are you-.”
“I, Charles Brown, will meet an honorable death in this life!”
WHOOOOOSH-.
…….
…….
……CRUNCH!
[The Hero is in critical condition.]
[The hero’s stats have temporarily decreased due to a fractured left wrist, fractured right femur, and internal bleeding.]
“What?”
The Hero had attempted suicide by jumping off the building.
* * *
“What the hell…….”
I hurried over and looked down.
On the bloodstained stone pavement below, I could see the Hero’s leg and wrist twisted in grotesque directions.
And perhaps drawn by the smell of blood, monsters had begun rushing over from the distance…….
[Warning! - The hero may die if appropriate measures are not taken.]
[The collapse of the world is accelerating due to an unknown error!]
‘The world is…… collapsing?’
I raised my head.
The sky had already turned blood-red.
It looked just like the screen right before a game was over.
‘So the Hero really can’t die……!’
The moment that bastard died……
This world would probably end just like a save file being closed after GAME OVER appeared.
“Damn it!”
I immediately threw myself off the roof and jumped down beside the Hero.
BOOM!
The impact of the landing sent a tremor through both my legs.
But there was no time to recover.
I had to move this bastard somewhere safe immediately!
“Cough……! Ughhh…….”
“You lunatic! Why the hell did you jump?!”
I quickly scooped up the Hero and leapt back onto the building’s roof.
‘They definitely give you one Vitality Potion at the beginning of the tutorial……!’
Then the Hero should have one in his possession too.
Since he had come straight after me to kill me, he probably had not used it yet……
CLINK.
‘……Damn it.’
The potion bottle had shattered, probably from the impact of the fall.
I carefully picked up the broken potion bottle and poured what little liquid remained into the Hero’s mouth.
“Cough……!”
[The Hero’s condition has improved slightly.]
“Setan…… Setanta……?”
The Hero looked at me through unfocused eyes.
Then he reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed the shard of potion bottle I was holding.
“Hon…… ora…….”
“What?”
“An honorable deaaath-!”
……CRUNCH!
“……!”
I reflexively reached out and stopped the Hero from harming himself.
‘This lunatic?’
The Hero had tried to cut his own throat.
With a shard of the broken potion bottle!
‘Damn it, what am I supposed to do with him?’
If I wanted this damned world to survive, and if I wanted to return home alive……
This damned bastard had to stay alive.
Then a thought flashed through my mind.
【Force Action】
-Forces a hero to perform an action. (Limited to once per target)
……The perk.
Could I use it to stop the Hero from committing suicide?
‘But what if it only applies once, and the effect disappears immediately afterward?’
That would not work.
I had to make it so this damned Hero could never give up on life again.
In that case…….
‘I’ll turn him into my slave.’
I had no idea how much authority this ‘command’ would actually allow me.
But I decided to try enslaving him.
“Setan…… please, just let me die…….”
“I’ll use the perk.”
“……?”
“From this moment onward, the Hero of this world will swear absolute obedience to me.”
“Se-Setanta……? What are you-.”
“You’re going to become my slave. A slave who isn’t allowed to die whenever he pleases.”
“……Wh-What-.”
[【Force Action】 has been activated by Charles Brown, Hero of the Empire!]
“……Huh? Ugh…… Uhhh……!”
The Hero’s body twisted a few times.
THUD!
Then he prostrated himself before me as though bowing deeply.
[【Force Action】 Judgment - Great Success!]