Chapter 20: To Summon Another Hero, I Have to Die?

“Are they insane?!”

The curse I spat without thinking echoed through the archive.

“These damn lunatics!”

I didn’t care anymore.

I was burning with rage that had erupted in an instant.

“To summon a new Hero, the previous one has to die?!”

Idel had been showing up every single day for nearly a month without fail. It didn’t seem like he was watching all day, but Inas warned me not to go out because there might be traps.

A month wasn’t a short time, so I couldn’t help but believe there was solid proof behind Inas’s claim that Idel came to kill me. The problem was that he never actually told me what that proof was.

In the end, I fought a battle with the book Inas had given me.

And I barely turned the last page.

What I gained from it was a boiling fury rising from deep within.

“This is insane… I knew it already, but they’ve completely lost it. They’ve gone mad.”

Why Idel came every day. Why Inas was certain he wanted me dead. And what they would gain from it.

All the information I wanted most was crammed into the very last page.

“That I have to die so they can summon another Hero? Dragging a perfectly normal person into another world wasn’t enough, they’re going to kill them too? And then make another person like me?!”

I thought I already understood, but now it truly sank in.

I wasn’t even treated like a human.

I was defective goods meant to be discarded.

“What the hell am I supposed to do…?”

Summon a new Hero? What did that person do wrong? What right do they have to drag someone living perfectly fine into a place like this?

“Ah, damn it! Aaaagh!”

My insides felt like they were boiling over.

The problem was, no matter how angry I got, there was nothing I could do.

If only I were strong enough to wipe out all those lunatics.

“…As if I could.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

I hadn’t even tried, but I already knew.

I probably couldn’t even attack a human. Just imagining it filled me with resistance.

Running away from monsters out of fear, yet unable to harm humans…

How did someone like me even get summoned?

“At this rate, it’ll never end….”

Wasn’t there some way to stop this inhumane magic?

Forcibly dragging people from another world and throwing them onto a battlefield, this was a spell that should never have existed.

‘What can I even do?’

I was furious, but had no solution.

All I could do was chew mindlessly on my fingernails.

“Seongyeon.”

“Gah!”

“Why are you so startled?”

Had I bitten flesh instead of nail? My finger throbbed.

It was all because Inas suddenly appeared without a sound.

I had gotten somewhat used to how silently he moved…

“Agh…! You’re heavy!”

“I’m comfortable….”

As if dissatisfied with me getting used to it, lately he had started clinging to me out of nowhere, scaring me even more than before.

It felt different from before when he’d ask to be carried or moved to his room.

Back then, it felt like teasing, Will you do this too? What about this?, but now…it felt more like a dog.

‘A dog that only follows its owner. Too big to be a puppy. Inas is definitely a large breed. Maybe like a retriever when he clings… but his face is more like a Doberman…’

This was unsettling.

Either way, I was the one uncomfortable with his antics.

“I’m uncomfortable, you know….”

“I brought the items well again today.”

“Ah… right…”

I understood he wanted praise immediately, but I didn’t feel like it right now, so I pretended not to notice.

“Then why are you angry?”

Instead of insisting, Inas asked curiously.

I hadn’t planned to hide it, but it was surprising he noticed so quickly. Come to think of it, he wasn’t completely oblivious, he just chose not to pay attention. Even now, he was ignoring the fact that I was being crushed under his weight.

“I finished the book.”

I answered while struggling to hold him up.

“Now?”

Ah, should I just let go? Let him fall flat on the ground?

‘Hold it in… hold it in…’

Suppressing the irritation rising inside me, I replied calmly.

“…In my world, even if you don’t read a book, someone gives you a one-line summary.”

“What’s that?”

What else? A world of dopamine addicts obsessed with speed.

“The reason Idel is trying to kill me is to summon another Hero, right?”

“Yeah.”

See?

That one-line summary was so easy, yet he made me read the whole book.

And all the important parts were crammed at the end. If he had just told me that beforehand…

Whatever. What was I expecting from Inas?

“Unless there’s a war with demons, trying to win against fellow humans by dragging in another innocent person… it’s just too much.”

Summoning someone, killing them, and then bringing another…

It was unbelievably cruel.

“It’s because the previous Heroes all accepted it without complaint.”

“Hmm…”

“Why would they do that? Even if times were different, I don’t understand…”

The book described what the previous Heroes had done.

But not what they had felt.

Did they really accept being Heroes without resistance?

“Maybe they were lied to? Like, ‘If you do well, we’ll send you back’? Then even I would-!”

“No.”

“…Huh? No?”

“Yeah.”

“Then… they all knew they couldn’t go back?”

“Yeah.”

“…So they accepted it because they couldn’t return anyway?”

I still couldn’t understand.

Maybe since it was over a hundred years ago, this world seemed better than Earth?

Even so…

“Ah-! What are you doing?”

“I’m sleepy….”

“Huh?! Are you sick or something? Why are you sleepy all the time these days…!”

“Yaaawn…”

“That yawn just now was totally fake- ugh!”

I didn’t get much time to think.

Inas, who had been leaning on me, suddenly put more weight into his body and dragged me down with him.

Thud!

“Ack…!”

We hit the floor hard. The impact was no joke.

Inas probably took it worse than me…

“Are you okay?”

“…”

“…You didn’t pass out, did you?”

“…”

“Inas- eek!”

“Sleep…”

Not only did he suddenly knock me over, he sounded completely at ease.

Worse, he pulled me into his arms like I was some kind of body pillow.

I was too stunned to even speak.

Am I some kind of plush toy?

Is sticking to me all the time not enough already?

Or is he doing this because he doesn’t want to talk about the Hero stuff anymore?

“Excuse me, Mr. Inas…? Could you let go of me? I’m not sleepy at all.”

“…”

“Don’t pretend to sleep. I have to cook, clean, I’m busy, you know?”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to do research? You haven’t been going to your lab lately.”

No matter what I said, there was no response.

He really was a master at ignoring people.

“…”

Struggling didn’t free me, and talking didn’t work.

I gave up and relaxed.

It was better than resisting.

‘Seriously, what is wrong with him?’

He started clinging to me around the time he began obsessively asking for praise…

Did he secretly crave human touch? Did patting his head trigger something?

‘The timing is a bit…’

I didn’t know what was going on in his head, but I did know he wasn’t the type to do things he didn’t want to do.

Which meant he was doing this willingly.

‘…That’s kind of new.’

Especially considering how he ignored me completely when we first met.

‘He doesn’t seem to hate people, at least not when it comes to me….’

That thought made me pause.

“Mr. Inas… why do you live here alone?”

Someone like Inas could probably be loved by people.

Sure, he was a bit eccentric, but it was hard to imagine anyone truly disliking him.

Honestly, it didn’t make sense.

A genius mage, perfect from head to toe, who would hate someone like that? At most, jealousy? Even that would probably melt away once they saw his face.

‘If you can be loved, it’s better to accept it.’

I swallowed those words.

Projecting my own feelings onto him felt presumptuous.

“…I’m not alone.”

My lips tightened.

I hadn’t expected an answer from Inas.

“You’re right here in front of me, Seongyeon.”

“…”

I definitely hadn’t expected that.

“I…”

My lips moved, but no words came out.

I didn’t know what to say.

“Seongyeon.”

Inas’s low voice echoed.

“…Yes?”

My reply trembled slightly without meaning to.

“Stop fidgeting… and sleep…”

“…”

Reality hit me like a truck.

“AAAAAH!”

I shoved Inas away in shock, hard enough to make a thud.

“If you want to sleep, go sleep by yourself! I have things to do! How many times do I have to say it?!”

“Ow…”

“I stayed still and now you think I’m a body pillow or something?! Ugh! Just lie there and sleep! I’m going to make food!”

Seriously, he had a talent for getting on people’s nerves.

I rubbed my burning face and hurried off, almost running.