[23rd Round] Hero V
“Damn it! I’ll take a photo so great that everyone will envy me!”
Sieg, confident in his skills, raced towards the Giant Empire, ignoring the requests for help of the local residents who came across him.
He wanted to get to the palace where the Giant King resided as soon as possible.
⤷Odin: Junior Sieg seems to be missing. Where’s his promised photo?
⤷Zeus: Do you think he’ll drop it? We need to turn on the alert. That way, we’ll know when it’s coming.
⤷Satan: I think this task is impossible for him. He’s unlikely to be able to defeat the Giant King. And the Sword Princess activates strange powers whenever she finds herself in a disadvantageous position. She even becomes immortal.
⤷Allah: Don’t get ahead of yourself, Satan. We don’t know anything yet. Don’t you feel sorry for him?
A controversy arose in the mollanphone community chat about whether Sieg could send a decent photo or not.
However, he didn’t get to see it since he threw away his mollanphone in a fit of anger.
Day and night, he raced forward like an angry bull, but emotions alone wouldn’t get anyone far.
“Oh… oh…”
The distance between the Elf Empire in the northern part of the Southern Continent and the capital of the Giant Empire at the southern tip was about half of the Earth’s equator.
Exhausted, Sieg, gasping for air, sat down on the side of the road.
“Hero Sieg! Why are you in such a hurry?”
Disco kept a distance between them and only caught up with him after a while to avoid suspicions. However, there was not a drop of sweat on her face.
In Sieg’s eyes, who met her gaze, there was nothing but the look of regret.
“I just want to get hold of the Holy Sword as soon as possible… I’m sorry. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
“Everything’s okay. I have nothing against this.”
Although she insisted on being the Hero’s companion, Disco seemed to want to be just an observer, not interfering with what was happening.
The companions Sieg left behind should’ve been the ones helping him after all.
“So, what we’ll need to do next is… Oh? Damn it…”
Sieg, out of habit, put his hand into his pocket to check the built-in map app in his mollanphone. Only then did he realize he had thrown it out.
And that was not the least of his problems.
On the Western Continent, androids were being produced non-stop, programmed to search and attack the heroes.
Angry robot Bianca!
It was difficult to expect good deeds from those who had inherited the name of Teacher Morals.
It didn’t matter if the Hero was sitting on a flush toilet, eating lunch, or sleeping. They would attack anytime, anywhere.
And their goal wasn’t only the Hero himself.
A little later, Green Cake caught up with Sieg and calmly spoke to him.
“Hero Sieg, all of your companions, except for me, were killed during the Bianca raid.”
“Really…”
“Also, I picked up your mollanphone.”
“Oh!”
This was what recruiting companions by race and appearance instead of skills led to.
“An almost complete destruction of the Hero’s squad…” Disco, who constantly insisted that everything was in order, frowned.
I had already assumed that things would go south the moment Sieg was chosen, but this looked downright pitiful.
Action needed to be taken.
“You must not interfere, Savage Hero. That woman can easily detect your divine power,” said the First Spirit, sprawled on my head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. In preparation for cases like this, I had a robot ordered from Shakespeare.”
“A robot?”
“Bianca S+. Bianca’s remote-controlled male version, also known as Hero V. According to the setting, it’s an ancient hero who decided to help newcomers.
***
One of the features installed on my Mollanphone 3+, an upgrade I was given shortly before the arrival of the Mollansoft inspection team, was its “virtual and augmented reality.”
However, this was an unnecessary feature, considering I was already living in fantasy. As soon as I asked, my wife, the second most beautiful woman in the universe, would dance, swinging her pelvis for me.
However, I was interested in its additional features.
“Live someone else’s life.”
Using it, I created the good-natured Hero V, who would help the newer heroes.
[Please select a race]
[Human] [Elf] [Dwarf] [Demon]
[Angel] [Mermaid] [Giant] [Vampire]
I chose [Human] without hesitation.
Since that was the most common race in the world of Fantasy, I decided to stop at this choice.
[Please select a gender]
[Male] [Female] [Asexual]
[Hermaphrodite] [Cloaca] [Tentacles]
… in many of the games I’ve played on Earth, there were only two custom genders.
Shakespeare seemed to respect a wide variety of tastes.
Again, I chose [Male] without hesitation.
[Please select a profession]
[Farmer] [Fisherman] [Slave] [Warrior]
[Knight] [Nobleman] [Royal Nobility] [Merchant]
[Mercenary] [Hero] [Artisan] [Unemployed]
[Priest] [Thief] [Bandit] [Pirate]
My job was extremely important.
My avatar’s age, appearance, and skills would be chosen at random according to the job I’d choose.
As planned, I chose [Hero].
[Are you sure of your choices?]
[Yes] [Change] [Cancel]
[Yes]
An android began to be created on the fly, like fast food, on the huge flying ship Mollanfors over the Western Continent of Fantasy.
And voila!
Hero V was born in an instant.
“Hmm. Not bad.”
▷ Race: Half-Man
▷ Level: 845
▷ Job: Hero (Exp 500%)
▷ Skills: Love S, Friendship S, Hope S, Courage S, Interpretation A…
▷ Status: Good
Very well done.
In particular, the mention of its gender in its race played an important role. In this way, Shakespeare hid the fact that it was an android.
Half man, half machine.
Its outfit was great too.
It wasn’t clean and tidy, as if it were a cosplay, but shabby and dirty, as if it had been worn for a long time.
Although the Holy Sword needed by the Hero was missing, it didn’t matter since it was already retired.
Besides, I didn’t use one myself back in my days.
“Its physique and face, of course, leave much to be desired.”
It was as handsome as the main characters of the novels that Ssosiel read, but it had a physique so skinny it looked like its spine would break in one blow.
However, that was also beneficial, considering it made the android look nothing like the beautiful me. Nobody would think I was Hero V.
“Forward!”
I would take far too long to get to the Southern Continent with this body, but Shakespeare took care of that.
[Where would you like to go?]
A small aircraft was waiting for me on board the Mollanfors.
Taking advantage of it, Hero V made it to the Southern Continent ahead of Hero Sieg.
Oh! One more thing…
⤷Munchkin: Sieg, you didn’t die, did you? I don’t see any photos. Just admit that you’re a pathetic sucker who decided to buy a high-level slave and made her look like your girlfriend.
⤷Sieg: Just wait! I’ll be taking and posting a photo really soon!
I didn’t forget to stimulate him to make sure he wouldn’t give up.
He raced towards the palace with all his might so as not to become a laughing stock.
Meanwhile, Hero V prepared to meet him. I could’ve met him without doing so, but I had to be careful because of the ongoing inspection.
This adventure wasn’t the only one she planned on observing, after all. There were still two other heroes left, and if Disco noticed any inconsistencies, I would be in deep trouble.
“The Wandering Hero would be perfect.”
I would arrange a happenstance meeting with Sieg deep in the woods.
However, a casual encounter that he could easily point out in a guide wasn’t worth arranging, so a little preparation was required.
After placing Hero V in the middle of a dense forest, in the center of which was a huge lake, I returned to my original body.
I needed to talk to the Giant King.
However, we wouldn’t personally meet. The demons who secretly worked in the Giant Empire would be the ones doing this task.
“Giant King Phoenix, I bring a message from Demon Lord Parmamon.”
“What is it?”
“If a hero attacks you, do not kill him. Just stun him and throw him into the northwestern lake.”
“A strange request, but tell him that I will do as he desires.”
“Yes, sir.”
That completed my preparations.
Sieg, who left his companions behind, soon arrived in the capital of the Giant Empire and immediately rushed to the palace to meet the Giant King.
“Giant King!” He exclaimed.
“… The Hero really came.”
“Yes! Legendary Hero Sieg has come to claim the Holy Sword of Giants, Mollancoin! For the glory of the Great Child and world peace!”
“Then go through the trials.”
“I refuse.”
“Hmm…”
His answer indicated he wanted to take it by force.
Such was the confidence of someone possessing secondary-education-level skills but still enrolled in the primary education course.
On the other hand, Phoenix, whose soul and skills were divided between the many classrooms, was in a weakened state.
▷ Race: Giant Elf Overlord
▷ Level: 999+
▷ Job: Emperor (Tax Collection = Exp ↑)
▷ Skills: Size G, Physical Strength Z, Eternal Youth MAX, Recovery SSS, Vitality SS…
▷ Status: Boredom, Relaxation, Transformation
Although his Size skill still reached the realm of gods, the rest were still sacrificed for it, resulting in unbalanced stats.
That was why Sieg was so confident in himself.
▷ Race: Elfish Human
▷ Level: 999+
▷ Job: Hero (Experience 500%)
▷ Skills: Male Strength ZZZ, Evasion ZZ, Sword Mastery Z, Friendship Z, Endurance Z…
▷ Status: Enthusiasm, Fatigue
He had great stats.
Although it was funny that his Male Strength was his highest-ranked skill despite his 195 years of career in Fantasy, that was his choice, so I decided not to quibble with it.
“I’m coming!”
“Well…” The Giant King, who laughed aloud, finding the situation absurd, immediately turned off his Size’s ability that allowed him to assume a smaller form.
BRRR!
Thanks to their race, the combat power of an ordinary giant was five times greater than that of a person with the same skills.
However, he was much larger than any of his kind.
It was even difficult to say how many times his combat power exceeded humans.
Phoenix grabbed the Sieg like an ant.
Crunch—
Aaaaghhhh!”
He didn’t kill him, but the battle was already over. On second thought, I wasn’t sure if I could even call that a battle.
“Begone.”
Fshuh!
The Giant King, following my order, threw the Hero into the northwestern lake.
Splash!
Sieg fell into the lake, but he didn’t wake up. Instead, he started plunging into the water.
My time had finally come.
The Wandering Righteous Hero V got down to business!
By controlling it, I saved my pathetic junior from drowning.
… but he wasn’t breathing.
I decided to ask for help from a passing Orc A.
“Hey! Come here.”
“Kuku?!”
As the orc conducted CPR on him, Sieg finally opened his eyes.
“Kh-kh! Thank you for saving me, lady…? ahhh! Orc?!”
Letting go of Orc A, whose face turned blue with shyness, I spoke to my junior.
“Hello, junior. Is this your first time receiving artificial respiration from an orc?”
“Pwee-kh!
Why did he spit like that? He didn’t even think about the orc’s feelings.
