Hero without Blood or Tear Prologue

Prologue

Translator: Rockgollem

Editor: Deus Ex Machina, Perditor

It was a one messed up game.

t.i.tle: . It was an unprecedented huge hit that swept across the world and created countless gaming addicts.

The goal was to fight various demon lords invading the empire and to defend humanity. Its difficulty was nothing to scoff at, but it was loved by numerous fans across the world for being the most realistic virtual reality game. However, also had its point of infamy just like its superior gameplay.

It was because n.o.body had seen the good ending. The biggest point of interest for fans worldwide was when someone would finally get the good ending.

There were several candidates most likely to achieve this, and one of the stronger candidate was me, Han Jaewoo. As a 22 year old Korean Gamer, I was globally ranked No.1 in this game. The game did not have PvP features, so in game achievement points were used to rank people.

My current score was 546,200,000 points.

The person in second place only had 192,300,000 points; so it could not be compared.  

“Frickin’ h.e.l.l!”

I dived on top of my bed and threw a pillow to the side. Lately, there were precious few moments where profane words were not coming out of my mouth.  

It was all because despite being ranked No.1 in the world, I have yet to reach the good ending. Even after playing for 2 years, there was no solution. Frankly, people’s attention towards me from all over the world grew more burdensome as well. I monotonously browsed through the internet out of frustration.

Hey, don’t you think Han Jaewoo is overrated?

Does it matter if he’s rank No.1? He can’t get the good ending same as me.

What he said.

A sigh automatically came out after scrolling through the comment section of an article about the game. These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds didn’t even know how I felt. They knew nothing about how desperate I was to get the good ending. Seriously, I was willing to do anything to get the good ending.

“I mean, what the h.e.l.l kind of a game is this....”

I grumbled every time, but was always on my mind whether I was awake or asleep. The real world and the virtual world had a different flow of time and I had already spent more than 100 years in the game.

The accelerated pa.s.sage of time in the virtual world was made possible with nan.o.bots in people’s head.

I developed new walkthroughs quicker than anyone else. People were amazed whenever I broke the achievement score record and grew more awed at my skills.  

I had no intentions of giving up this game.

Hey, is Han Jaewoo going to post a new walkthrough anytime soon?

He’s the one who discovered how to beat most of the demon lords after all.

I guess so. If it wasn’t for Han Jaewoo, people still wouldn’t be able to kill a high ranking demon lord.

You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were putting me down until just a moment ago. Why are they suddenly praising me again.

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

Due to the long play session, there was a twinge of hunger ringing across my stomach. I only realized it was twilight after looking out the window. I opened up a cup noodle and poured the boiling water in. After a moment, a delicious aroma wafted over. The sensation of warm steam tickling the cheeks was also enjoyable.

“Hmm?”

There was a post saying that the website had a new event on the page.

“What? A normal character play?”

While reading the event notes, the ramen noodles I put in my mouth had slid out. The event was something unbelievably outrageous.

<><><><><>

We wish to present a special event for everyone enjoying ! Instead of the normal “guardian” character, have a go at the game with a regular character! The player who acc.u.mulates the most achievement score with a regular character in 6 months will win a prize!

The prize is 25,000,000,000 won!

Anyone can partic.i.p.ate.

<><><><><>

The prize money was incredible. Even now, in 2045, despite inflation and the value of money not being the same as before, it was enough sum to live out the rest of life comfortably.

There was no way I wouldn’t be hooked. But the event itself was too strange. Due to the diabolical difficulty of the game, allowed players to pick top tier cla.s.s “guardians” from the get go.

The playable guardians were:

Hero of Humanity: One Who Sold Soul to Darkness

Red Dragon Knight: Red Dragon Tercia’s Fiancé(e)

Iron Prince-Elector: Iron Blooded Political Hero

Archbishop of the Exorcist Order: One Who Exorcises Evil Demons

And so forth. Their t.i.tles alone told just how amazing their cla.s.ses were. But this was a game which could not be beaten even with such cla.s.ses. So what was this about trying to see how far people could go with regular characters?

What kind of s.a.d.i.s.tic concept was this? I had no idea whose head this idea came out of, but the goal was definitely to embarra.s.s the top ranking players around the world.

“These idiot admins always do the weirdest things.”

I stopped caring immediately.

I had reputation and face to keep as the No.1 ranked player in the world. What kind of embarra.s.sment would I run into while playing as a regular character? It wasn’t as if there wasn’t a crowd out there waiting for me to fail already.

Just one mistake and people would turn it into a meme and immortalize it online. Everything was a pain in the a.s.s, so I just fell asleep on the bed as is.

But people didn’t leave the world rank No.1 alone.

You scared, Han Jaewoo?

Look at the p.u.s.s.y run.

He probably looked at it and figured he couldn’t hack it. Probably thinks it’s better to pretend he never heard of it than get embarra.s.sed.

No, I think I can understand. How the h.e.l.l do you beat it with regular character when even guardian characters are getting smashed?

A month after the announcement of the event, forums were filled with posts denigrating me. The point of contention was why the world rank No.1 wouldn’t partic.i.p.ate in such a fun event.

“These guys, seriously....”

I grabbed the back of my neck at the sensation of blood pressure rising. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t interested in it. But after looking at the scores that were coming up since the event started, I gave up without any regret.

The current top score was 7,923.

7,923.

7,923.

What were they doing to only get 7,923? It was night and day compared to the 546,200,000 I earned with a guardian character.

Furthermore, the person who managed to score 7,932 points was the world rank No.2. His skills were lacking compared to mine, but he was someone famous who made numerous appearances on gaming shows. It was even more shocking since I recognized him as a good player.

I was flabbergasted. It was a good move to not partic.i.p.ate.  Plus, if you died once in the game, that was the end. If you were playing as a regular character and got hit by a shrapnel from nowhere, that was game over.

In addition, the world ranking No.3 currently had the score of zero. He had slipped on a cow pie while walking and died from smashing his head on the ground. He was the laughingstock of the world right now.

Everyone called the rank No.3 the “s.h.i.tty Death”. Consequently, it seems he gave up everything he had built up until now to make a new account. Being called “s.h.i.tty death” or “cow s.h.i.t” everywhere you went, I could understand.

It made me afraid. I was too afraid to have the confidence to join the event.

3 months after the event started, insults towards me became more p.r.o.nounced. Even internet gaming broadcasts decried me.

Han Jaewoo from Korea is a coward. He’s refusing this grand adventure for the sake of resting on his laurels. He is the only person in top 10 rank to ignore this event so far. He should chop off his manhood if he doesn’t have the b.a.l.l.s for it.

A famous Swedish man who ran a popular gaming channel called Powdiepae was constantly attacking me lately. I didn’t know what people liked about him for him to have millions of subscribers, but I was being turned into a world famous coward.

“Fine, d.a.m.n it. I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

Grind

I grinded my teeth. I wasn’t stupid and wasn’t willing to enter without a strategy. To undo a screw, you needed a screwdriver. The top rankers so far played as if they were strong enough to take out the screw without a screwdriver.

Idiots.

I had secretly been studying for a way to beat the game playing with a regular character. But there wasn’t enough information. The event rules made it so footages and details of partic.i.p.ants playing a regular character could not be released.

It was because the latecomers would have the advantage otherwise. I could rely only on myself and my wisdom to solve this problem.

Browsing through secrets and knowledge about the game world, I looked for a way to raise a regular character. Another 3 months pa.s.sed. The end of the event was close by.

While I was focused on finding a way to beat the game without proper sleep or food, world’s interest towards me had died down. However, I finally obtained one of the secrets of the world.

“I did it! I found it!”

Right. With this, I had a chance even with a regular character.

It was time to surprise everyone.

A week before the event ended.

I left a short post on my SNS.

“I’m going to partic.i.p.ate”

That alone was enough.

That day, the internet flowed with hyped up gamers.