Rage of a Hero

"You've got to be kidding me."

My head still throbbed from whatever they'd used to knock me out. I moved my wrists and felt the bite of the restraints. I looked around.

Then someone appeared.

Benige.

I stared at him.

He smiled.

"Awake already?"

I didn't answer.

He stepped inside.

"What do you want? Who are you?"

Benige walked closer.

"I heard you've been traveling with a Corrupt monster."

My jaw tightened.

"That's none of your business."

He laughed.

"You really don't understand the position you're in."

"I understand it perfectly."

I looked down at the restraints.

"I'm imprisoned."

Benige crouched in front of me.

"No."

He smiled.

"You're finished."

I stared at him. He seemed almost pleased with himself.

"The kingdom believes you're a fraud. The guild rejected you. The people won't help you. You have no money, no protection, no status."

He tilted his head.

"And now you're accused of taming a Corrupt monster."

"I didn't tame it."

"That's what they all say."

"I didn't."

He then sighed. "Where is it?"

I said nothing.

His smile disappeared.

"You should be grateful."

"For what?"

"That a fellow Earthling will be the one to conduct your questioning."

I looked at him.

"You're from....Earth?"

He smiled.

I stared at him.

"You planned all of this, how? Why?"

Benige said nothing.

"You framed me."

Silence.

"You knew I was the Hero."

His smile returned.

"Yes."

My stomach tightened.

"Why?"

"Because you were in the way."

"Of what?"

Benige leaned closer.

"You don't need to know."

I stared at him.

"Then why are you here?"

His eyes narrowed. "Because there's still something I need from you."

I laughed bitterly. "What could I possibly have left?"

Benige's gaze moved toward the sword lying outside the cell.

"I almost forgot."

His smile returned.

"Your Guardian."

My blood ran cold.

"Elmi?"

Benige's expression told me enough. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

He laughed. "You still care about her? About some messily pixels?"

I pulled against the restraints.

"Where is she?"

Benige stared at me. "Somewhere above us. She's been crying you know."

My eyes widened.

"What did you do to her?"

Benige's expression changed. For the first time, there was something colder behind his smile. "Nothing compared to what I'm going to do."

I stared at him.

He continued. "You should understand something, Araleon." He crouched again. "You lost. The kingdom has moved on. This world doesn't need you."

I lowered my head. I was tired. My body hurt. My wounds were getting worse. I hadn't eaten properly in days. I'd slept on dirt. I'd been beaten in the street. Thrown out of the guild. Chased into the forest.

Arrested.

Dragged back here.

And now Benige was standing over me like this was all some elaborate joke.

Maybe it was.

Maybe this world really was telling me something. Maybe I should stop fighting. Maybe I should accept it.

I closed my eyes.

Benige laughed softly. "That's better."

He grabbed my hair. My head jerked upward. "You finally understand."

I looked at him.

"You'll never save this world."

The words echoed.

'You'll never save this world.'

'I'll never save this world.'

Something moved inside my mind.

A memory.

My apartment.

My computer.

My phone.

『Hero Chronicle Development Team』

I remembered staring at it.

A developer talking to me.

Asking me a strange question.

'How much do you love Hero Chronicle?'

I remembered my answer.

『A lot.』

Then:

『More than I probably should.』

Another memory.

The final screen.

The completed achievement: WORLD COMPLETIONIST.

Every scenario.

Every item.

Every secret.

One hundred scenarios.

Then the impossible message.

【NEW SCENARIO DETECTED.】

【SCENARIO 101】

【DIFFICULTY: REALITY】

And the developer's final message.

『Let's see if you can complete the next one.』

I'd chosen yes. Not because someone forced me. Not because I was promised anything. Because there was only one answer.

'Always.'

I opened my eyes. Benige was still talking.

Chronix.

The world I'd spent hundreds of hours inside. The world I'd saved again and again. I remembered the first time I'd completed it.

Then the second.

Then the tenth.

The fiftieth.

The hundredth.

Every scenario.

Every victory.

Every time I failed, I restarted. Every time the world fell apart, I tried again.

And if I had to?

I'd do it again.

'A hundred times.'

'A thousand times.'

'A million times.'

However many it took. Because that was what I'd always done.

Save Chronix.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Benige grabbed my face. "Are you listening?"

I looked at him. Something felt different. My hands had stopped shaking. The pain was still there.

But somehow...

It felt far away. Benige frowned. "What?"

I didn't answer. Above us, I heard another sound.

A sob.

Elmi.

My eyes slowly shifted toward the ceiling. She was crying because of me. Someone who had already lost so much. Someone who had once stood beside me. Someone I had promised to protect.

My fingers tightened. Benige noticed. "You still think you can save her?"

I looked at him. He smiled. "You're pathetic." Something inside me cracked.

My mind went completely still. Benige's hand loosened slightly. "What..."

I didn't know what was happening. I just felt...

empty. Then my body moved. I didn't tell it to.

My arm jerked forward. The restraints snapped. Benige's eyes widened. "What?"

I grabbed his wrist. He tried to pull away. I tightened my grip. His expression changed. "Araleon?"

I stood. Benige stared at me. "What are you doing?" He stumbled backward. One of the guards immediately drew his weapon. 

"Get down!"

I turned toward him. He charged. I caught his arm.

The sword fell and I threw him against the wall. The second guard froze. Benige stepped backward.

"What did you do?"

I looked at my hands. They were trembling again. But not from fear.

I couldn't control my breathing.

Something was burning inside my chest. My vision blurred.

Red.

Everything became red.

Benige's face.

The walls.

The torches.

The blood on my hands.

I heard a voice.

Not from outside.

From somewhere inside me.

He stumbled into the corridor. "What are you?!"

He ran.

I followed.

The guards tried to stop me. I knocked them aside. I didn't think. I couldn't think.

Benige turned and raised his hand. Magic exploded across the corridor. The blast hit me. I crashed into the wall.

I pushed myself up. Benige stared. "Stay down!"

I moved through it. Something inside me was screaming. Benige's confidence disappeared. For the first time, he looked afraid. "No..."

I stepped toward him. "Noctivar said you were broken." I kept walking. "He said you were finished."

Another step.

"He knows everything about you!"

Another.

"He knows where you came from!"

I stopped.

Benige smiled desperately. "You're nothing!"

I looked at him. Then I heard it, it was a voice from the past.

『Because it made me feel like I was actually there.』

It was my own voice.

『Because every character felt alive.』

『Because even after knowing every secret...』

『I'd do it all over again.』

I remembered what I'd thought when the screen asked me whether I wanted to begin.

'To save Chronix for the 101st time?'

'Always.'

I stared at Benige.

"You..." My voice was barely audible. "You don't understand."

Benige froze.

"I've already saved this world." My vision burned. "Once."

I took another step.

"One hundred times."

My fists clenched.

"And I'll save it again."

Benige's face went pale.

"I'll save it a million more times if I have to."

Benige raised his hands. "Wait."

I moved.

And then I lost control.