Chapter 3
The Diarrhea Avengers
It wasn’t until a full week after I barely pulled myself together that I started thinking I might actually try to survive.
The first thing I did was request a meal.
“163417413th Candidate Warrior, Mr. Park Jeong-yong. Your requested meal has arrived. Please enjoy your meal.”
A panel hovered in the air before an emerald flash burst in the sky. A floating tray then glided gracefully toward me. Even in my daze, I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“It’s always so amazing to watch that.”
Here, the system provided one meal per day to anyone who requested it. Now that I think about it, since people need to eat to survive, maybe it made sense.
“Hm.”
I stared blankly at the tray. The food looked almost exactly like fried rice, and even the menu was practically fried rice. I tried a bite of some unidentifiable stir-fried meat and found it to be just that—fried rice.
“… Fuck…”
Given how I was struggling to bear the current reality, my appetite was already suffering. Now, faced with fried rice, I felt my hunger disappear entirely. With a sigh, I tossed down my utensils and slumped back in my seat.
“Excuse me.”
Just as I sat there glumly staring at and guarding my food like a drum near the garbage, a thick shadow wavered in front of me. I glanced up at the sound of a voice calling me.
A mysterious woman with blue hair and silvery eyes stood there.
“Are you not going to eat that?”
She asked this, staring intently at my food.
It was quite an unexpected thing to say for a first encounter.
“Are you not going to eat that?”
Since I didn’t respond, she probably assumed I hadn’t heard her and repeated herself in a perfectly blank-faced manner.
What could I do? I nodded, signaling I wouldn’t be eating it. At this, she said:
“I know how to eat too.”
“Huh?”
“I know how to eat deliciously too.”
“…”
“Machines aren’t allowed to place meal requests, I hear. Did you know that?”
“… Huh?”
The woman continued spouting strange and incomprehensible statements. I carefully observed her, then finally nodded.
Though I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant, in essence, it seemed she was interested in my food. The blank look in her expressionless eyes betrayed a gleam of excitement toward the tray, and I got it immediately.
I happily pushed the tray toward her.
“Take it.”
“Net?”
The woman’s face lit up with emotion for the first time. She hesitantly accepted the tray, looking at me in astonishment.
“You don’t mind? Trusting someone suspicious like me?”
It seemed she was aware she came across as strange.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her odd demeanor. When I suddenly laughed, the woman blinked in confusion. I waved it off.
“Just take it. Consider it payment for making me laugh.”
For some reason, talking to her lightened the overwhelming weight I had been carrying in my heart.
Maybe, without realizing it, I’d been making things more difficult than they needed to be. It felt like I had regained something far more important than a meal.
Though still tilting her head in confusion, the blue-haired woman tightly gripped the tray with both hands.
“Um, thank you, but… why are you laughing? Did I say something strange?”
“If you’re curious, come again later. I’ll give you another meal.”
“Eh, really?!”
The woman lit up at my words. Her mysterious aura combined beautifully with her radiant smile, to the point where I found myself staring in a daze.
She bowed repeatedly before hurriedly leaving. But then she suddenly froze mid-step and looked back at me.
“My name is Seseona. And yours?”
Introducing ourselves this late felt out of place, but I answered honestly.
“Park Jeong-yong. Call me Jeong-yong.”
“So Jeong-yong-sama! I’m truly grateful for today! I’ll never forget this kindness!”
“Don’t be. It’s just food…”
“See you next time! Bye!”
Just as I was about to return her kindness with a proper greeting, an opportune gate opening drew an enormous crowd. Before I could even register it, the gate had already closed, enveloping the people.
In the wake of the human tide, the blue-haired woman… Seseona… was nowhere to be seen.
“Really, all kinds of weirdos are out there…”
Even as I muttered this, I stood up, suddenly feeling the urge to live again.
With my hands in my pockets, I began a slow, steady walk.
*
I went straight to find the frog-man.
“Ah, isn’t that the new recruit? What brings you here?”
“…Actually…”
Thankfully, the frog-man remembered my face. I explained my situation, including my current state of complete ignorance about everything. Luckily, he listened seriously.
Of course, that changed as soon as I recounted my conversation with the mysterious woman.
“A punch? Diarrhea hair? Hahaha! No wonder she got tired and ran away! What were you thinking when you did that?”
“I wasn’t really thinking much; it’s just my nature to retaliate when wronged.”
“Khahaha! You’re really something!”
Before I knew it, we had introduced ourselves.
His name was Skaro. Just as I had suspected, he was, indeed, a frog-man. Apparently, he’d been dragged to this place from a different world too. He was also familiar with Minerva.
“Skaro, actually, I have a question, which is why I came.”
“Ahem, yes. I imagine you have many questions, given how vague that woman was in her explanations.”
He let out a sound indicating he knew something and then readily nodded.
“Alright. Ask away, and I’ll answer based on whatever I know.”
“Thank you. So…”
I asked the experienced-looking frog-person a series of questions about this place.
For some reason, he was very kind, answering all my questions.
“So, you want the full story?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Brief and simple? Or long and detailed?”
“Brief and simple, please.”
“Understood.”
He nodded, took a deep breath, and then began speaking. I focused all my attention on his words.
…On closer inspection, his mouth did resemble that of a frog a bit.
“Friend, you are one of the countless people summoned as a hero from numerous dimensions to this world.”
“… Wha?”
“You accepted the contract for the 9999th Hero Summoning Ritual conducted in the first realm of the Gaialant Dimension, on the Paradiso Continent, and were summoned to this Trial Veil.”
“Uh… what?”
“After being summoned to Paradiso Continent, once we pass the aptitude test, we will fight the Demon King and his minions, the demons, as official heroes on the Paradiso Continent.”
“Wait a second, professor. This is moving too fast…”
I could only gasp in astonishment as he spewed out one incomprehensible term after another. However, the frog-man… Skaro, seemed to consider his explanation finished, closing his mouth and staring at me.
As I scratched my head, Skaro smiled slyly and added a remark.
“You wanted it brief and simple, right? I swear on my name I haven’t lied at all—interpret it however you like.”
Ah, yes. Those were my words, so I couldn’t argue. Surprisingly, he was a playful guy.
“Ugh… hero… Demon King… aptitude test…?”
I started forcibly implanting the outrageous things Skaro had said into my mind one by one. Steam was practically rising from my head; my brain felt overloaded.
‘Now that I think about it, I did seem to have seen something about the Demon King in the contract… or was that not it…?’
Still, just throwing such an illogical explanation in my face and demanding I believe it was unexpectedly hard.
“Did I roughly cover everything?”
After a few minutes, Skaro casually asked me. I simply nodded.
“Yeah, roughly.”
“Good. Now, let me explain your current situation.”
Skaro gestured around with his hand as he spoke. I followed his movement with my eyes.
“As I mentioned, this place is called the Trial Veil. You… Jeong-yong, right? This is the boundary between the dimension where you lived and the Gaialant Dimension, and acts as an intermediary stage that will guide you to various hero testing grounds across this world.”
“Wait a second.”
I paused to think, asking again since I still didn’t understand.
“Can you make it simpler? An analogy, perhaps?”
“Customs checkpoint?”
“… Ah, got it.”
The clarity of the metaphor made me immediately nod. Looking around at the scenery, I began to notice the place anew.
Involuntarily, my brows furrowed.
“But… this looks less like a customs checkpoint…”
“…And more like a vagabond village, right? I thought so too. They say the supervisor is absent or something.”
“Hmm. That’s accurate.”
It was exactly as he said. This place didn’t have the clean-cut image you’d expect from a customs checkpoint. As I’ve mentioned briefly before, it had the vibe where someone might have their organs stolen if they turned their heads.
And at that moment, a loud rumble echoed and a gate opened. Our gazes turned toward it simultaneously.
“Kiiiieeeek!”
“This time, THIS time for sure!!”
The people around us charged at the gate with fire in their eyes.
“…I’ve been meaning to ask, exactly what’s going on with all that?”
“It’s simple. We have to pass through the newly generated gate to escape this place. The capacity is limited, so reflexes mean life.”
“Ah, understood…”
I nodded silently, but something felt off. The realization didn’t take long to hit me.
“Escape? Isn’t that choice of words a bit… sinister?”
“Escape is accurate. How many people do you think are here?”
“Probably a few thousand at least.”
“But each time the gate opens, fewer than fifty people make it through.”
“…How often does the gate open?”
“As short as an hour, as long as a day.”
“…”
“Now do you see the severity?”
Yes.
It hits hard.
As I remained petrified, Skaro sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders. A heavy sigh of resignation emanated from him.
“Do you know how long I’ve been here?”
“For how long?”
“A year and three months.”
“…!”
“I was summoned early in this 9999th summoning ceremony. You see, I’m an amphibian type, so my ground mobility isn’t great. As a result, I keep getting pushed back by people summoned later than me, and now I’m stuck here stewing endlessly.”
He paused momentarily, then chuckled bitterly.
Skaro exhaled slowly and spoke.
“Well… I’ve been here unusually long, but even for someone relatively normal like you, succeeding in this hyper-competitive place full of extraordinary individuals is uncertain to me. You’ve seen how fierce they all are, haven’t you?”
“That… well…”
I found myself swallowing unconsciously. Slowly, I became more aware of the dark and miserable situation I was in, both here and personally.
What can I say… I’m reminded of the days when I tried to earn money as day labor. Even back then, I remember fierce competition while trying to squeeze myself into a delivery van with other workers.
But somehow, becoming a hero seems even harder than working as a day laborer.
“Surviving is tough in this world and the next. Damn it…”
I muttered to myself, and Skaro nodded in agreement.
End of Chapter 3
