The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

20. So it was you? (1)

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

Early morning.

The sound of birds enjoying a luxurious feast of insects gathered under the streetlights at dawn seeped through the window.

The season when the morning sunlight streaming through the clouds and the gradually warming air begin to sprout the seeds of life.

Awake since dawn, I sat on the bed, staring at the sunlight seeping through the window, lost in deep thought.

That thought was.

“How can I die quickly, simply, and cleanly….”

If someone else heard it, it might have sounded like the lament of a terminally ill patient, but to me, it was surprisingly a quite serious concern.

‘Beheading with a sword every time is inefficient.’

The fact that I could activate the ‘Blessing of Resurrection’ without much effort once I got the hang of it was certainly an advantage.

But.

‘It’s too flashy.’

It didn’t matter when I was in the dorm room, but using the beheading method to activate the Blessing of Resurrection during outdoor training like last time was too risky.

What if someone saw my head rolling on the ground and then regenerating perfectly?

‘Then I wouldn’t be able to keep the Blessing of Resurrection a secret anymore.’

I would lose one of my trump cards that I could use effectively in battle against enemies.

‘Even if the day comes when the blessing of resurrection is revealed, it’s best to hide it as long as possible.’

I wanted to avoid the foolish mistake of being caught while practicing magic.

“A method faster, simpler, and cleaner than beheading….”

There was one candidate that came to mind.

‘Poison.’

It was something I used frequently in my past life to quickly activate the blessing of resurrection in emergencies.

I used to carry poison in my mouth like trained assassins.

‘The problem is, I need to find a deadly poison that can kill even a hero in an instant.’

And I need to use four of them every day.

‘Poison is a pass.’

I’d rather be careful not to get caught and behead myself than use poison.

“If not poison….”

As I continued to ponder, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

‘Magic Bullet.’

A spell that condenses pure magic and shoots it out.

It was a basic spell that even first-year magic department students could use.

‘If I can create a magic bullet inside my body, I can easily activate the blessing of resurrection by bursting my brain or heart.’

If Senior Sophia heard this idea, she would have scolded me for talking nonsense.

Even though magic bullets are basic spells, creating them inside the body is a completely different story from creating them outside.

‘Magic inherently tends to dwell in the body.’

It’s similar to how water is absorbed when it touches paper.

The moment a magic bullet is created inside the body, the magic is absorbed into the body instead of forming a bullet.

‘To prevent the magic bullet created inside the body from being absorbed, it must be made extremely small.’

The bullet must be small enough not to touch the pathways through which magic flows inside the body, called ‘Qi holes.’

‘And at the same time, it must be powerful enough to burst major organs like the heart or brain in one go.’

In theory, it was possible, but in reality, it was almost impossible.

Creating a bullet the size of a finger and creating one the size of a grain of rice were completely different levels of difficulty.

Moreover, this required creating a magic bullet much smaller than a grain of rice.

But.

“It seems worth a try.”

It’s not about arrogance.

Nor is it about being blinded by pride.

The ability to handle magic, especially the skill to efficiently manage small amounts of it, has been my only forte since my previous life.

Not even Beryl, Senior Sophia, Iris, or even Yuren could match me in this aspect.

‘To be precise, they didn’t need to.’

Just as someone with tens or hundreds of millions of gold doesn’t calculate every meal to avoid starving and endure as long as possible.

From the beginning, those overflowing with magic didn’t need to worry about efficiency and meticulous control like I did.

‘Let’s give it a try.’

After all, what’s the worst that could happen if I fail?

“Sss.”

Slowly inhaling, I focus all my mind on the stigma.

Drawing out a very small amount of magic from the stigma, I create a magic bullet within the meridians spread throughout my body.

“Ugh.”

The first attempt failed.

The magic was absorbed back into my body before the magic bullet could form and returned to the stigma.

‘A bit smaller.’

The image is a small dot.

So small, it would be invisible to the naked eye.

‘Still not enough.’

The second attempt also failed.

The magic bullet formed but disappeared shortly after.

‘A bit more, a bit more, a bit more.’

The third, fourth, fifth attempts.

As the attempts increased, cold sweat formed on my forehead.

The shirt I was wearing became unpleasantly sticky with sweat.

“Ugh.”

Perhaps it was because I had been concentrating for too long.

With a splitting headache, nosebleed dripped down.

“…Just a bit more.”

How many hours had passed like that?

‘It’s done!’

Finally, I succeeded in creating and maintaining a magic bullet within my energy channels.

‘Like this…’

As if aiming a gun.

I aimed at my heart and fired the magic bullet.

“Ugh!”

A terrible pain surged through my chest as if it were burning, but the ‘Blessing of Resurrection’ had not yet been activated.

“…Was the power insufficient?”

I succeeded in creating the magic bullet, but I failed to achieve the power to instantly burst my heart.

‘Still, I saw enough potential.’

If I can succeed with this method, I can activate the Blessing of Resurrection at any desired timing.

Much faster, simpler, and cleaner than before!

‘A new method of suicide using magic bullets.’

The advantage of this method was not just that I could die without being noticed by others.

‘I can also compensate for the shortcomings of the Blessing of Resurrection.’

The Blessing of Resurrection is a power that instantly regenerates any wound if it is a ‘fatal injury leading to death.’

Whether my entire body is shredded into pieces or burned to ashes.

The moment the Blessing of Resurrection is activated, my body regenerates around the stigma.

‘Conversely, it means that if it’s not a fatal injury leading to death, the Blessing of Resurrection does not activate.’

In other words, simply put.

Critical points like the head or heart regenerate instantly when cut off, but arms or legs do not regenerate immediately even if they are cut off.

‘It’s not for nothing that I carried poison in my mouth in my previous life.’

If my limbs are cut off and I can’t even bite my tongue (even from experience, the tongue doesn’t kill easily when cut off), the method to activate the Blessing of Resurrection by myself disappears.

‘In such a situation, if I can end my life with a magic bullet.’

The Blessing of Resurrection would be activated immediately, allowing me to regenerate the severed limbs anew.

“If I perfect this technique, I won’t need to carry poison in my mouth anymore.”

I recalled the memory of carrying poison in my mouth as a last resort to activate the Blessing of Resurrection in urgent times in my previous life and gave a bitter smile.

“Let’s call it a day for now.”

Anyway, I had consumed so much mental energy that I had no strength left to concentrate any further.

Handling a small amount of magic power with precision was more exhausting than I had imagined.

It was like engraving letters on the surface of a grain of rice.

Dealing with such a small amount of magic power was mentally draining.

“Alright, then shall I spend the remaining time on physical training?”

Having exhausted my mind, it was now time to exhaust my body.

With that thought, I was about to head to the training ground.

-Ding.

A clear alarm sound accompanied a message on my Hero Watch.

It was a message from Professor Jade.

[I’ve completed the prototype. Come to the lab when you have time.]

Asking what prototype it was would be foolish.

[I’ll be right there.]

It seemed.

Exhausting my body would have to wait.

* * *

“You’re here.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Professor Jade’s lab.

As usual, the room was so cluttered that it was hard to tell if it was a lab or a ruin.

“It’s the prototype of the stigma amplifier.”

He handed me a glass bottle containing a blue liquid that looked like melted sapphire.

“Once you drink the potion, the stigma will start rampaging immediately, generating magic power.”

“How long does it last?”

“The effect lasts about 5 minutes. After that….”

“The side effects will begin, right?”

“Exactly.”

Professor Jade stroked his bushy beard as he continued.

“After 5 minutes, the blood vessels throughout your body will start to twist, leading to instant death.”

“I don’t mind.”

“…Are you really okay with this?”

It was a voice filled with concern.

“If the blessing of resurrection you possess doesn’t activate in time, then you will…”

“Was what I showed you before not enough?”

If desired, it could be shown again as many times as needed.

“Sigh, alright… I trust you.”

Professor Jade sighed deeply and continued speaking.

“Considering the blessing of resurrection you possess, I focused solely on the temporary increase in magical power without considering the aftereffects.”

“That’s fine.”

“But.”

But?

“This prototype won’t increase the magical power by much. If the theoretical limit of the magical power that can be increased through the stigma amplifier is 100, this would be around 30.”

“What’s the reason?”

Even though the aftereffects were not considered and the focus was solely on increasing the magical power, the fact that it only showed 30% of the theoretical limit meant there was a problem somewhere.

“We lack the key ingredient.”

“Is it something that can’t be bought even with a million gold?”

“Ah, I misspoke. It’s not that we lack the ingredient, but the quality of the ingredient is poor.”

Professor Jade said this as he took out a withered flower from the drawer.

“It’s called the Seven Star Herb.”

“I know.”

It was a flower blessed by the seven gods, and it was also designated as the national flower of the Holy Kingdom.

“But isn’t the Seven Star Herb quite common?”

“Yes.”

If you looked carefully, you could find it among the weeds growing by the roadside.

“But finding a Seven Star Herb imbued with magical power is not easy. It’s a material that’s almost never available for sale, so it’s hard to obtain even with money.”

“Hmm…”

So, should I be satisfied with a stigma amplifier that only has 30% effectiveness? While I was thinking this,

“In that sense, I would like you to personally obtain a Seven Star Herb imbued with magical power.”

Professor Jade made an unexpected suggestion.