To Hell With Being a Hero!

ber, he had progressed so much.
At the same time, there was something Chi-Woo couldn’t help but wonder.

‘If it was Mr.
Ru Amuh, I wonder what kind of decision he would’ve made.’ As he progressed, it became clearer to Chi-Woo how impressive Ru Amuh was.
Chi-Woo had barely made it to rank D with all the support and benefits he’d received, while all of Ru Amuh’s physical attributes were C even after he had lost his powers.
Of course, D wasn’t a low rank.
A hero’s physical attributes were on a whole different ball game compared to an ordinary person’s.

According to Mimi, an ordinary human would have to train for more than ten years to raise one physical ability up to C rank.
However, as Ru Amuh had, Chi-Woo no longer thought that C rank was out of his reach.
He was confident that he could reach the limit of human potential with more time.

However, considering what the limits of humans were… ‘Once I reach C rank…should I stop training?’

[No.] 

Mimi immediately refuted.

[If you were human, it would be difficult for you to reach B rank or higher through ordinary training alone.]

If he wanted to reach that level, he needed to get help from a god that sponsored him or gain power through other means, such as medicine or chance encounters—but only if he was ‘human’. 

[Do you seriously consider yourself still human?]

Pushing aside the thoughts, Chi-Woo raised his hand and firmly pressed it on his left chest.
He could feel the strong beats of his heart.

[A physical awakening also improves your potential.]

[Read your user information, and you’ll be able to see for yourself.]

Now that Mimi mentioned it, Chi-Woo recalled his various new special abilities, the Golden Ratio being an example.
This ability could only be maintained semi-permanently by endlessly training his body with the aim of reaching perfect balance and harmony.
Chi-Woo got up, finding himself in full agreement with Mimi.
Even though he had gotten stronger, he was still lacking.
There was now a new path for him to get stronger, but nothing had fundamentally changed—he needed to train again and again.

*     *     *

Hawa added the paths she had discovered while Chi-Woo kept the monster occupied to the map on the ground.
When she finished drawing, she stared at Chi-Woo, who was eating a fruit with his shirt off.
Hawa had never paid any attention to his body before.
In the first place, Hawa had lost all interest in romantic relationships since a long time ago, and Chi-Woo’s past physique hadn’t been anything to write home about.
However, after that incident in the spring pool, he had gone through a complete physical transformation. 

Not only had he shed all the extra fat, he had become perfectly fit; not too thin, and not too bulky.
Rather, each muscle seemed to have been carefully carved out by the god of art to create a perfect physical beauty.
Hawa found herself staring at him in awe without thinking, and she felt a strange urge to go talk to him for no reason.

“Aren’t you gonna make a contract after receiving such a great gift?” Hawa was asking if he was going to keep skirting the issue after receiving such a significant blessing from La Bella. 

“Not yet.” Chi-Woo’s reply was ambiguous; he didn’t say he wouldn’t make the contract with La Bella, but he didn’t say he would do it, either.
Honestly, he hadn’t thought of forming a contract as that big a deal, but he had changed his mind completely.
While he knew La Bella thought favorably of him and had even sent a blessing to him, and that it would be difficult to find a god as special as La Bella outside, there was a reason he still hadn’t made a contract with her yet.

“I’m not confident yet.”

“?”

“There’s still one thing left for me to finish.”

Hawa looked at him as if he was saying nonsense, and Chi-Woo smiled brightly.
Chi-Woo had a feeling that their life in this cave was coming to an end.
While reflecting back on his past experiences, he came to a realization.
Chi-Woo had changed a lot in this cave; not only physically, but also mentally, which was because of his first—no, second encounter with the mud monster.
At that time, Chi-Woo had felt a deep sense of helplessness, but instead of giving up, he had remained firm and resolute.
And then he further cemented his resolve with a crazy idea.
But the important part was that this hadn’t been the only time he felt such a strong sense of helplessness. 

Even though Hawa didn’t seem to remember, Chi-Woo distinctly recalled what he felt when he lost to her.
Just like how he had replaced his negative emotions with a positive outcome by facing the mud monster head-on, he wanted to erase his past humiliation the same way to grow one step further.
Chi-Woo had been thinking about another spar for the past few days, and decided to do it right now.

“Nuna, can we spar again today?”

“…Hmm.” Unexpectedly, Hawa’s response was lukewarm. 

“Why don’t we make a bet again?”

“It’s no fun.
You’re just going to defend and evade.”

“Well, you just have to break through my defense and grab me.” Chi-Woo eloquently continued, “Why? Are you not confident?”

Hawa’s eyebrow slightly furrowed. 

“Scared?”

“…Ha.” Hawa got up to her feet.
“It’s because I feel bad.” Hawa raised her lips in disdain.
“I feel like I’m hitting a spinning, wooden doll every time I spar with you.” She wasn’t wrong.
Even though Chi-Woo had been focusing on defending and evading, he couldn’t avoid every single attack; while he didn’t lose, he did end up becoming a punching bag for her.
When they finished sparring, there were always bruises on his face and all over his body.
On the bad days, he even got his bones fractured.

But soon after, Hawa and Chi-Woo faced each other again for a spar, and Hawa spoke in a mocking tone, “I'll be fine if you postpone the spar until after you've signed a contract.” 

If Chi-Woo made a contract with a god, his mana or divinity would be activated.
Thus, Hawa meant she was confident she could still beat him even if he used those powers.
Even though Hawa was clearly provoking him, Chi-Woo’s expression didn’t change; he looked like he was taking on a very serious task.

“Before we start,” Chi-Woo put on a serious expression that was so rare for him and said.
“There’s something I need to say to you.
From this moment on—” His voice softened.
“I’m going to think of you as the monster outside.” All the while, Chi-Woo had been telling himself the same thing in his mind, picturing her as the mud monster.

Hawa stared at him, her gaze befuddled as he raised both arms and got into a fighting stance.
Hawa was about to say, ‘What, you’re suddenly getting serious after all this time? Did that mean you’ve been going easy on me all this time?’ And other questions to the same effect, but she swallowed her words in the end.
Chi-Woo’s posture was still awkward, and there were many openings to exploit.
However, his spirit was different, especially his eyes.
His gleaming eyes seemed to carry actual hostility towards her; it was only then that Hawa realized what he meant by thinking of her as a monster. 

Chi-Woo wanted to defeat the monster wandering outside.
However, realistically, they didn’t stand a chance and had no choice but to run away.
Thus, he was telling her that he was going to think of her as the monster instead and vent the frustration in his heart; he was going to treat her as his enemy while they were sparring. 

Hawa felt tension slowly creep up and pursed her lips into a thin line.
“Okay.” She took the same stance as him and smirked.
“It’s finally starting to get interesting.”