-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Dark Fantasy Hero Possessed a Romance Fantasy (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* * *
*Neigh.*
*Clip-clop, clip-clop.*
"Damn it…"
Ten years ago, he was the hero who fell into the Dave Continent and saved the world.
Zeke Kleiman.
He was currently being hauled like cargo in a creaking military carriage, on his way to Ramieli Academy.
Ramieli Academy. Located in the imperial capital, it was a damn long way off.
He let out a low curse at the absurdity of his situation.
"What in the world is going on? And what's with this damn way of speaking… Fuuuck."
He buried his face in his hands, denying reality, but nothing changed.
He missed the old mattress in his studio apartment, soaked in the smell of cigarettes.
'What's this now?'
As Zeke ran a hand over his face, he felt the cold touch of metal and glanced down at his hand.
It was a thick, rugged hand, calloused from hard work.
On its fourth finger, a red gemstone ring shone with a brilliant light.
He despised the feeling of anything cumbersome on his hands.
In a fit of anger, he pulled the ring off and threw it out of the carriage.
"Haa… That comment… I never should have posted that comment…"
Was this whole situation some hilarious hidden camera prank?
Or maybe an elaborate dream?
He considered various possibilities, but this familiar feeling was all too real.
Zeke was quick to accept the situation.
After all, this wasn't the first time he'd been abducted to another world.
The first time was a hero summoning.
He had been the first to defeat the final boss in a game he'd been grinding for ages, a feat no one else had managed.
'So, how about you try beating him for real?'
The next thing he knew, he was dropped into a grim, hopeless dark fantasy world wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
And there, he'd slaved away like a dog for a whole decade.
He had scraped through countless life-or-death situations, barely managing to cut down the final boss.
He had saved the world and finally returned.
He had sworn to live a normal life.
And now he was possessed in a romance fantasy novel.
'I was too complacent.'
Having been burned so badly by gaming, Zeke hadn't even gone near the letter 'G' of 'Game' since returning to Earth.
For a full year, he had been careful to avoid even a falling leaf if it looked like a 'G'.
He'd even steered clear of the English letter, just in case.
Then, exactly one year later, Zeke had let his guard down.
After his return to Earth.
Having quit the game he used to play daily, Zeke had too much time on his hands.
So, to relieve his boredom, he had picked up a childhood hobby again.
Reading web novels.
But he couldn't bring himself to read the genres he used to like.
He didn't even glance at traditional fantasy stories where heroes saved the world, let alone alternate histories where rivers of blood flowed from war, isekai, wuxia, hunter, or game-fantasy novels.
His past experiences had left him utterly exhausted and sick of holding a sword and cutting things down.
After filtering all those out, the only thing left was 'romance fantasy.'
The world, with its charming settings and a pretty heroine getting entangled with various men in cute, flirtatious ways, was almost comical.
It served as a new form of healing for him.
That is, until a description of swordsmanship appeared in one of the novels he was reading, [The Secret Girl of Ramieli Academy].
If there were three things a person must absolutely resist doing in life…
The first was getting so obsessed with a single game that you played it like a madman until you became a master.
The second was writing a novel yourself.
And the third was leaving a 5,700-character comment on a novel.
That's right. Zeke had made the third mistake.
Even after all the hell he'd gone through because of the first one!
The scene in question was when the heroine was being chased by bandits.
—*What a pathetic bunch.*
It was a common cliché: the 2nd Prince, who had been obsessing over her to the point of stalking, intervenes at the critical moment.
He then proceeds to slaughter the bandits.
There, the author, as if wanting to show off their knowledge of swordsmanship, described the 2nd Prince's movements over three long pages.
But to Zeke, who had spent ten years swinging a sword in real combat, the 2nd Prince's swordsmanship looked so unbelievably awkward.
He couldn't hold back his critique and ended up leaving a 5,700-character comment, packed to the brim like a heaping bowl of rice.
Without even using spaces!
[Fuck, if you've got such a problem with it, why don't you write it yourself!]
When he saw the author's reply, he felt his hair stand on end and immediately tried to delete his comment, but it was too late.
If he had known that a thoughtless comment would lead to him being possessed in a romance fantasy novel, he would never have posted it.
To make matters worse, this wasn't even a novel he was diligently following; he was reading seven romance fantasies at the time.
It was just a novel he was skimming through, the first one he'd ever commented on.
He couldn't remember the plot or what events had taken place.
He didn't even remember the protagonist's name!
'The names of romance fantasy heroines are all so similar, they're confusing…'
The only fragments of memory he could dredge up from the depths of his mind were that the part of the story he was in was somewhere near the beginning, and a few scenes of the male and female leads flirting at the academy.
And the biggest problem.
The original owner of this body, a former soldier.
This crazy bastard had retired from the army, donated all his money to the military, and then applied to be a swordsmanship instructor at the academy, saying he wanted to teach kids.
Zeke couldn't fathom what kind of screw had to be loose in someone's head to make a choice like that.
When he belatedly grasped the situation and tried to retract the decision, he was met with only one response.
'The generals enjoyed a fine meal with that money.'
In the end, he had to work as a swordsmanship instructor at the academy just to survive.
Couldn't he just find another job, you ask?
The imperial family's approval had already come through. If he tried to back out now, it would be, 'Yep, that's treason,' and he'd end up behind bars.
'Those… damn generals… Should I just… flip everything upside down? Start a rebellion?'
The thought crossed his mind, but it remained just a thought.
A deep sigh rose from within him.
Ah, I'm craving a cigarette.
An Earth cigarette, packed full of 10mg of tar and nicotine.
As a man with a ten-year career in fantasy worlds, he could tell you one thing for sure: the cigarettes here would taste like shit.
"A swordsmanship instructor who teaches without holding a sword… Hah, what nonsense."
The scenery outside slowly passed by through the small window of the carriage.
The sun was beating down, and the sky was ridiculously high and blue.
A breeze carrying clean air gently rustled his bangs.
"Well, it's a fine day to die."
"Aaaaaah!!!"
"Krrk! Kieeeek!!"
"See? Sounds like someone's dying… Huh?"
A clear scream echoed from the distance, mixed with strange, monstrous cries.
Zeke stuck his head out the window to assess the situation.
"What's going on?"
"S-Sir Zeke…"
When he stuck his head out and asked, the coachman, trembling, pointed a finger somewhere.
Zeke narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction the coachman was pointing.
"Kieeeek! Krrk!"
"Krrk, krrk!"
In the distance, small green monsters were attacking a luxurious carriage.
The carriage was in a wretched state, with a missing wheel and broken parts everywhere.
The monsters made a grating sound like scraping metal.
And in their grasp was a silver-haired woman, covered in blood, her ankle caught.
'Huh? Are those goblins? This is a romance fantasy world, why the hell are they here too?'
Should he just ignore them?
The thought that arose in his mind was a powerful temptation.
"Sir Zeke… I think they've spotted us."
"Too late, I guess…"
Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, Zeke opened the carriage door and stepped out, looking completely unmotivated.
Dark green skin, a protruding belly, and drool dripping from their mouths.
Six goblins stared at him, their eyes gleaming menacingly.
"Kieeeek!!"
Three of them shrieked and began to charge toward his carriage.
Zeke instinctively reached for his sword, then paused.
"Against trash like this… Right, there's no need for a sword."
The goblins, now within arm's reach, swung their clubs at Zeke.
Zeke tilted his head slightly to dodge, simultaneously grabbing one by the neck and forming his fingers into a spear.
*Shunk!*
In an instant, its carotid artery was pierced, and green blood spurted from the goblin's neck.
Zeke immediately flung the creature from his hand and kicked off toward the next goblin.
*Crack!*
"Kieeeek!"
*Thwack!*
"Kuuueeeek!"
With each swing of Zeke's fist, another goblin with a caved-in face fell to the ground.
They shrieked and convulsed. Zeke immediately raised his foot and stomped on the fallen creatures' necks to finish them off.
Three of them were dealt with in the blink of an eye.
The remaining goblins exchanged panicked glances, then held their clubs to the fallen woman.
It was a clear threat: come any closer, and the woman dies.
"What a bunch of pathetic bastards…"
Zeke looked at them with cold eyes, then bent down and picked up three pebbles from the ground.
He then put his strength into it and threw all three stones at once.
The pebbles shot out like bullets.
*Whoooosh.*
*Thud. Thud. Thud.*
"Krrk."
"Kek!"
"Kuek!"
Their heads pierced in an instant, the monsters collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
The combat experience Zeke had accumulated in the dark fantasy world was ingrained in his every move, regardless of whether his body had changed or not.
When that was combined with a body that showed signs of having been on the front lines, he could mimic about half of his prime self's abilities, if not his full strength.
Zeke stared blankly at the green blood on his hands.
On Earth, where mana was completely absent, such feats were impossible.
Of course, even without mana, his experience hadn't vanished, so he had stepped out confident he wouldn't lose a fistfight with goblins.
But he wouldn't have been able to pierce their necks with his fingers or shatter their skulls by throwing stones like bullets.
Zeke let out a hollow laugh.
Though far less than in the dark fantasy world, mana existed here in this romance fantasy world as well.
And there were even monsters roaming around.
'I'm sure there were no monster appearances in the novel I read.'
If there had been, he would have dropped it immediately.
Perhaps the author had omitted that detail, focusing only on the events inside the academy.
'Hah. This is fucked. Another reason I need to get back to Earth.'
Zeke collected his thoughts and turned around.
"Coachman."
"Y-Yes!?"
"Take care of that woman and treat her wounds. And check if there's anyone else in the carriage."
Zeke gestured with his chin toward the wrecked carriage.
The coachman, who had been gaping at the overwhelming display of combat, scrambled towards the woman at Zeke's command.
* * *
"Umm…"
The youngest daughter of the Johaiden ducal family, Serena Johaiden, frowned at the suffocating feeling in her body and awoke.
Pain radiated through her, as if she were covered in bruises.
The last thing she saw flashed in her mind.
A grotesque cry. The striding approach of dark green skin. Goblins. And a swinging club.
They were monsters infamous for abducting women to bear their young.
Women captured by those creatures, even if rescued later, were always found in a wretched state.
'N-No way!!'
She tried to move, but her body was tightly bound and wouldn't budge.
'No!!!'
All that remained for Serena was a future where being alive was no different from being dead.
Days spent trembling in fear of the horrific nights when those monsters would come for her. They wouldn't even allow her the release of suicide.
And then, she would live out her days in regret, staring at her slowly swelling belly with dead eyes.
Things she had yet to do.
Things she had already done.
Things she had possessed.
Things she had lost.
Things she would lose.
All sorts of thoughts swelled in her mind before fading away.
Despair.
Tears flowed freely from her eyes.
Her head grew hot as the sticky emotion of fear began to creep up from her ankles.
Serena squeezed her eyes shut.
'If only I hadn't insisted on going to the academy… I should have listened to Father… Why did I sneak away from the knights? What was so important about a stupid sword? Mother, Father… what do I do?'
It was then.
"This is frustrating. Who ties a knot like this! Move aside! No, get out of the way!"
She heard the voice of a man who sounded like a ruffian.
*Blink. Blink.*
She cautiously opened her eyes. And she saw the owner of the voice.
Jet-black hair, fierce-looking eyes, and irises as dark as his hair. A rugged, powerful body.
A man was reaching for her.
"Aaaaaah!!"
"What, you're awake?"
"Wh-What are you doing!?"
Serena thrashed, but her body was still restrained and wouldn't move.
The goblins were gone, only to be replaced by a rapist.
Her body trembled with fear, but she quickly composed herself.
'That's right, I am Serena Johaiden. I must remain calm.'
*Gulp.* She swallowed hard.
Right, this was better than goblins.
Unlike monsters who couldn't be reasoned with, a human would at least understand what power was.
She quickly finished her thoughts.
Then she glared at the man before her with sharp eyes.
"Do you have any idea who I am to be doing this?"
"How should I know? Now hold still."
"I-I am!"
Oh, heavens! This filthy man was speaking as if he didn't care who she was!
This type was the most dangerous kind…
Huh? The man was slowly unwrapping the cloth tied around her body. What was this?
*Blink. Blink.*
Sensing something was off, Serena watched what the man was doing.
He untied the cloth from her body, then neatly retied it.
This time, she didn't feel restrained.
"The coachman tied these bandages wrong, so I'm redoing them. So, who are you?"
"Eh?"
* * *