Liu Yang shifted his eyes away from the stupid System screen and looked down at the old man kneeling in front of him.
Before he could even say anything, she suddenly jumped in, nodding her head like a chicken.
"Oh Hero, yes, yes, we must move quick and kill the dire wolves first!"
Then she spun toward the old man, puffed her chest out like she was his partner in drama.
"Oh Hero, we must also save the granddaughter too!"
Liu Yang's jaw dropped. His eyes twitched.
Inside his head he screamed.
"Wow. Great. Now you too. Only you were left."
"I swear it was just a matter of time before you joined the chorus. 'Hero, Hero'… dammit, do you all practice this in front of a mirror or what?"
He rubbed his temples, muttering low.
"Hero here, hero there… what's next, even the wolves gonna call me hero before they bite me?"
The word Hero slipped out of the old man's mouth. His voice was shaky, but it was still loud enough for the whole village to hear.
And that one word didn't just stay with him. It spread. It pushed through the quiet street, rolled past the shut doors, and slipped through the cracks of the barred windows.
Inside the houses, some people were frozen.
A woman in the kitchen stopped stirring the pot, her hand stiff, spoon dripping stew on the floor without her even noticing.
Kids under the table hugged their knees and pressed their hands tighter over their mouths, eyes wide and scared.
Mothers clutched their children close, holding them tight like danger could break through the door any second.
Others were not frozen but moved without thinking. A man with a bucket of water kept standing there, too stunned to react, the bucket tilting until water spilled over his feet.
Different houses, different people, but they all heard the same word.
Nobody stepped out. Nobody said a word. But in every corner of that silent village, they all heard it. That single word.
"Hero…"
Whispers started. First one house. Then another. Then another.
"Hero?"
"The hero came?"
"The goddess… she heard us?"
A wooden door creaked as it pushed open just a crack.
Then a head popped out. Then another. An old woman clutching her rosary beads, whispering under her breath.
A young boy with wide, curious eyes. Even a drunk man wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he leaned out.
They all thought the same. The goddess had sent them a savior.
And not just one. There was a girl beside him too. A partner.
Two heroes.
The word spread faster than fire on dry straw.
"Hero! Hero!"
One house shouted, then the next, then the next.
Within a minute, the whole damn village was chanting.
"Hero! Hero! Hero!"
Liu Yang's soul left his body for the tenth time that day. His eyes rolled up to the sky.
"Perfect. Just perfect."
Liu Yang's face twitched. His mouth half open, like he wanted to say something, but no sound came.
Inside his head he screamed.
"Oh great. Just great. Now it's a festival. Next thing they'll start throwing flowers at me!"
The System screen flickered.
[Correction, Host: With your current face, they'll throw underwear first. Possibly used.]
His jaw dropped. "What the—shut up!"
Beside him, Blah Blah was nodding fast, her hand on her chest, eyes sparkling.
"Oh Hero, we need to move quick and kill the dire wolves!"
"Oh Hero, then we save the granddaughter too!"
Liu Yang's soul left his body for the tenth time that day. His eyes rolled up to the sky.
"Oh perfect. Now my wall-chan joined the hero karaoke club."
The System screen blinked again.
[Look on the bright side, Host: at least no one is calling you 'Pervert Demon' anymore.]
He clutched his chest, shaking like he caught a fever.
"Gods above… is there a mute button for the whole damn world?"
Liu Yang rubbed his face with both hands, groaning.
He looked at the old man, then at the crowd peeking from windows and doors, their eyes wide and sparkling like stars. His head screamed inside.
"Damn it… I gotta get out before they really start throwing flowers… or panties…"
He stood up straight, puffed his chest, raised one finger high toward the sky. His hair flapped a little from the breeze.
"I—Hero—" he dragged the word out long, shaking his hand in the air like some stage actor, "will save this village!"
But inside, his head screamed.
"God, I sound like a drunk Shakespeare."
The villagers gasped all at once. Some even clapped.
"I will kill every last dire wolf! Not one shall remain! They will know the wrath of—" he paused, then waved his hand like he was calling down thunder, "ME!"
His hair blew in the morning wind, strands flying across his face.
When he turned, the light hit his sharp jaw, making him look too perfect, almost fake, like a handsome painting come to life.
Handsome, sure… but the kind of handsome that made you want to throw a shoe at him.
Her mouth fell open, then she jumped with both fists up.
"MASTER! HANDSOME! SO HANDSOME!"
Her cheeks burned red, eyes sparkling like lanterns. Then she froze, coughed hard into her hand, eyes darting side to side.
"Cough—Hero! I mean Hero! Handsome Hero!"
Her voice cracked on the last word, but she still waved both arms like a flag girl at a festival.
The crowd roared again, "Hero! Hero!"
Liu Yang gritted his teeth, but he walked forward, arms spread wide, steps heavy and loud like he was stomping the world.
"Follow me… TO GLORY!"
Then the System screen popped up in front of his eyes.
[Warning: Host's acting detected at 'third-rate drama emperor' level.]
He tripped on a loose stone, his foot catching at the edge. For a second it looked like he was about to crash face-first into the dirt.
In his head: "Shit shit shit—save it, save it!"
But somehow, maybe luck, maybe panic, his body twisted. The stumble rolled into a spin, and then into a flip forward.
He landed with both feet steady on the ground, arms wide open like he had planned it all along. Like some magician finishing a big trick and waiting for applause.
In their heads: "He descended from heaven with a flip!"
A few even clapped, their eyes shining like they'd just witnessed a miracle.
In their eyes, he didn't look like a man who almost fell. He looked like an angel, walking on air, each step floating forward, straight toward the dire wolves as if heaven itself had sent him to kill.
Liu Yang's soul cried inside.
"Third time. THIRD TIME!"
"Who the hell keeps putting stones in my path?! Don't tell me it's fate—this is some author out there throwing pebbles at me on purpose!"
He glared at the ground, like it might answer back.
"Seriously… is this world's true villain… just stones?"
"Not dire wolves. Not demon hunters. Not goddess. No… my true nemesis… bloody rocks."