I Picked Up the Hero and the Demon King

6 – Encounter (5)

In this era, there are many superhumans and each has various abilities, but not everyone can become a hero.

If there are many people, there will always be someone special.

Most of those people played heroes, and only the best among them can become famous heroes.

Thus, many people have various abilities, but most of them were living like normal people.

Is that why the number of heroes is small? If you ask me, it wasn’t.

The number of volunteers for heroes was increasing day by day as there are more and more villains.

Depending on the rank, they were either entertained or treated, but there were quite a few of them.

In addition, we needed an efficient way to manage them, and that was a form of grouping and managing them as a team.

“Are you crazy?!”

“Ah. Surprised. My ears will fall off.”

Hero Management Association Building A.

Uncommon shouts rang out from the 4th floor team leader’s office.

“Brother… not the team leader. How is it? Retiring as a hero is not a big deal, is it?”

“This bastard is crazy. Hey. Lee Seo-jin. Did you eat something wrong?”

“No. I haven’t eaten anything except pizza and chicken yesterday.”

“Then did you go in after a long time and forgot to put rat poison in the corner of the house?”

“I don’t play like that.”

“But why do you want to leave Hero?!!!”

A man in a suit with a slightly beard and sophistication shouted, and Lee Seo-jin covered his ears.

“Brother. Your voice is loud. Lower it a bit.”

“Hey dude. Wouldn’t your voice get louder if you were like me?”

“No. What’s the point of leaving a hero?”

“Huh…”

This nobleman in front of me, who has been shouting loudly since morning and making a despondent expression, is an older brother named Kim Ho-yeon, six years older than me.

Before I became a hero, I happened to have a personal relationship, and after becoming a hero, I was lucky enough to be assigned to the same team and have been together all along.

He was one of the few people who stayed by my side and was my brother…

He was one of those people who were hanged by strength and sent away in vain.

“Whew… Yes. Let’s say that. But you said you would become stronger. Where did your dream of becoming an EX rank hero go?”

“Oh that… I just decided not to.”

“…You should go to the hospital. No matter how much you think about it, you’re not the Lee Seo-jin I knew.”

“Oh really… Hoyeon hyung! I’m leaving because I really want to live a leisurely life?”

“You’re talking nonsense! Hey. Think about it. A guy who lived on the training grounds only saying that he would die and become stronger wielding a sword a month or two ago would suddenly retire? The reason is that he wants to live a leisurely life?! I’ll get better!”

It is true that a war breaks out in an instant… I was about to say

Anyway, I never thought the backlash would be this severe.

Well, he must have been worried when he suddenly said that he would leave Hero, since he was a gentleman who gave me advice and helped me more than anyone else, and somehow took care of me to reach a higher rank.

If it was me in the past, I wouldn’t have known, but now I think I understand.

“Hyung. I’m normal. I really want to live a leisurely life. Sword or rank… I’m tired of getting stronger and only looking up.”

“Ha…”

Kim Ho-yeon lowered his head and let out a deep sigh.

And while I was looking at it with a lot of doubtful eyes, I was worried and asked Lee Seo-jin.

“…Are you really okay? Are you the Lee Seo-jin I used to know? No. You’re different than that?”

“I’m right. Hyung. It’s true.”

“…Ahhhhh. Yes. I get it. A guy with no hero name, but with the name of a poison species, sometimes changes. I really don’t believe it, but well… I’ll believe it.”

“Ha ha…”

My hero name in my previous life was Sword Saint, but I didn’t have a mediocre hero name until I had the name Sword Saint.

But within the association, there was a name that heroes called me.

It was the name of ‘dog species’.

It’s not enough to go to the training room every single day to train and wield a meaningless sword against superhumans.

Is it because he beat the villains regardless of rank in order to gain a lot of experience, saying he would somehow become stronger?

Even if that means my life is in danger.

I almost died a few times. When I think about it now, I don’t know how I lived.

Well… Then the experience came in handy.

It was one of the secrets to surviving while dealing with countless villains in the war.

“Yes. What. I got it.”

“Thank you for your understanding, brother.”

“Ugh… There’ll be a hero rank evaluation in a little while. If it’s your skills, you’ll be 100% A rank, but what about going out after watching it?”

“It takes too long. And when you get an A rank, you have to do more.”

“That’s right. Still, the A-rank and B-rank severance pay is quite different… No. It should be okay since you’ve beaten a lot of villains.”

Hero ranks range from E to EX.

E, D, C, B, A, S, EX.

However, even if I died in my previous life, I couldn’t go higher than A rank.

Maybe it’s because I couldn’t be evaluated because of the war, but after S rank, heroes needed quite a lot.

S was a hero that was treated in the country, and EX was treated everywhere in the world.

Not only did he get a lot of attention, but he was a star that rivaled world idols.

In addition to protecting people, I need a star quality, but I didn’t have that.

But when I think about it now, when I think of all the villains, both S and EX, it’s really… It’s ironic.

“…Are you okay? You? Go out and eat something. Do you have any plans?”

“Well. If it’s my career, I’ll do anything. I’m a poisonous brother. At least I won’t starve to death.”

“You mean you have no idea?”

“…Yes.”

“Looks like it. Wait a minute.”

My brother found something in the desk drawer and took it out and put it on top.

A piece of paper that appeared to be an application form had the title [Adriel Hero Academy Instructor Application] Written in large letters at the top.

“What is this?”

“Can’t you see it? It’s an academy instructor application.”

“I know. But isn’t the academy usually a place where you start with A-rank heroes?”

A superman is given strength regardless of age.

That means you can have power even at a young age.

Therefore, it was necessary to manage, and academies were set up all over the country to produce competent heroes.

Ironically, when the war broke out, it was also the academy where a large number of villains were born.

“Yes. But if you have enough skills, you can enter, so if you find a job later, go here.”

“I’m B rank? Are you okay?”

“It’s okay. I have connections with people there, and I don’t really care about this academy. No. It’s more famous than that, don’t you know?”

“I don’t know.”

“…Yeah. What do you know? I’m still not interested.”

The older brother shook his head and sighed.

But why are you giving me this?

For the time being, until I find my sister and solve the problem, I’m not going to have a job or anything.

Of course, I didn’t say it because I wouldn’t do it if I said I would leave Hero for this reason.

“But I…”

“I know. I know what you mean… Just in case you don’t know. Keep it. The academy always needs someone to teach, so you can come anytime.”

“…Okay.”

No matter how much consideration was given to you in your previous life, you carelessly threw it away.

I decided to take it because I decided to be different this time.

I’m not asking you to do it right away, so someday it will come in handy.

“Thank you. Hyung. No. Team leader Kim Ho-yeon.”

“…It’s exciting. It sucks. You’ve worked hard all this time. Contact me even if you go out.”

“Do I look that hard? Of course I do.”

“If you look at the life you’ve been through so far, say me, dude.”

“Hmm…”

My heart stabbed and I couldn’t refute it.

But it will be different from now on, so wouldn’t it be okay?

At least I will never let my people go in vain in a war.

Eight years have passed. There is still plenty of time.

Now that the hero and the demon king know that, the only thing left is to make a new bond.

And I also need to be stronger than before.

There’s absolutely no guarantee that war won’t happen, so there has to be a workaround.

“Then let’s go.”

“…Be well. Don’t get hurt.”

“Don’t worry. He’s doing well.”

Leaving Hoyeon hyung with a bitter expression on his back, I left the room.

Then there was one person waiting for me.

A popular junior who always comes up to you and greets you brightly whenever you see him in the morning.

I was looking at her sadly with wide eyes as if she were about to shed tears.

“Senior Seojin… Are you going…? Really…?”

“I’m not a senior anymore.”

“…Then what do you call it?”

“What. Call me by name.”

“Name…”

Han Sujeong lowered her head slightly and muttered something.

After a while, when I looked up again, my expression brightened.

Somehow, I think it’s because I’m in the mood to look a little better.

“Whoops. Got it. Senior.”

“Because I’m not a senior.”

“I know. But how do I make this comfortable? Calling him by his first name…”

Han Soo-jung, who evaded by turning her head to the side, blushed as if embarrassed.

I wonder if it’s because it’s unfamiliar to call someone by their first name, excluding seniors.

It was a bit strange to see a cheerful and bright guy like that, but it was nice to see him.

“Goodbye.”

“Oh…”

Just patting her on the head and passing by, that’s how my resignation application ended.

※

I went to the headquarters of the Hero Management Association and submitted an official resignation application.

Until then, I had to work, so now I was out to catch the villain.

It’s ‘A Rank’… It’s not very difficult.’

I thought about my task as I stroked her chin.

Maybe it’s because it’s the last job, so it’s a B rank, but I’ve been asked to catch an A-rank villain.

It wasn’t that strange because I was often asked to bring in a higher-level villain.

Because there are a lot of guys who want to verify their skills in the first place.

“…Reminds me of the war days.”

The number of villains in the war was very large.

Isn’t there an A rank among them?

No. It was overflowing.

As the war intensified, the number of high-ranking villains increased.

There were also those who skipped over from being a hero, and when they went later, there were also those who jumped on the side of the villain from the very beginning.

… The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get.

If you can’t save people or if you lose, you don’t fight and just spit out resentment.

Villains are getting more and more and heroes are getting less and less.

… Are you going to be a real villain?

“…Ai-san. What are you thinking?”

I was so favored by the hero, but I’m a villain. No crazy sounds.

Besides, in this era, villains are overwhelmingly weak and heroes are strong.

It was an era in which welfare was quite good and treated well, unless it was a completely low rank.

Assuming that there is no war, playing a hero was several times more profitable.

“Let’s see. The guy to catch…”

I checked the villain to catch through the notification electronic pad.

Sterone of Lightning.

It moves at high speed by wrapping electricity around its body.

The slum block was the current location, and it was a man who didn’t look particularly special.

The only thing to note was that he used a spear.

I never thought there would be a guy who uses weapons like me than he has strong destructive power.

But you can never get an A rank just because you use a weapon. How fast does it become an A rank?

‘It must be weaker than during the war.’

I’ve seen a lot of guys who are speedy, nabal, and nasty, but they’re all dead.

Because I was faster.

In addition, it was more sophisticated, sharp, and even delicate.

Thinking back, I think I was very strong in my previous life.

“…Wait a minute.”

As I was suddenly reminiscing, one thing came to my mind.

My current state is different from my previous life.

To be exact, the soul and spirit were the same as in the previous life, but the body was weak to the level of a rookie.

The power of a superhuman is not only stored in the body, but when I think of the hard work I went through to train my body…

“…I’ll never be able to use my previous life skills to 100%.”

I sighed and sat down.

I’m going crazy. I have all the knowledge or enlightenment in my head, but my body doesn’t support it.

But it takes a lot of time to build a body like in the previous life, right?

It’s absolutely impossible in a short period of time.

My head hurts. There must be a problem like this

I didn’t even know that the most fatal problem would appear.

“Haa… That’s it.”

It will work somehow.

It was meaningless to think about it crouching down, so I brushed it off and stood up.

By the way, the slum scenery is too… Isn’t it old

It seemed similar to the village scenery I saw during the war.

Obviously, with the emergence of superhumans, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased.

Do the sisters live in a place like this?

No. Maybe she lives in a poorer district than here.

… When I thought about it, my heart ached.

“…Let’s go.”

I took a step forward thinking that I would retire quickly and find her sister.

But then, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere.

“Oh. It’s a man!”