I'm playing Shield Hero, but no cheating before the main storyline.
Jin was never meant to be a hero.
He wasn’t strong.
He wasn’t brilliant.
He didn’t have some hidden bloodline or overwhelming charisma.
He was just a teenager living an ordinary life—until the day reality fractured without warning.
No summoning ritual.
No divine voice.
No legendary weapon placed in his hands.
When Jin opens his eyes, he finds himself in a world he recognizes all too well—the world of *The Rising of the Shield Hero*. The kingdom of Melromarc. The legend of the Four Cardinal Heroes. The looming Waves of Catastrophe that threaten to devour everything.
But there’s one problem.
He isn’t one of the Heroes.
The Sword, Spear, Bow, and Shield have already been summoned. Their fates are already in motion. Jin arrived outside the prophecy, outside the system, outside the protection of destiny itself.
No status screen appears before him.
No cheat ability awakens in his body.
No mysterious goddess offers guidance.
All he has is fragmented knowledge from an anime he once watched—and even that knowledge is incomplete, unreliable, and dangerously limited.
In a world where power determines worth, Jin is powerless. In a kingdom filled with political schemes, corruption, demi-human discrimination, and rising monsters, he is just another expendable life.
While the Cardinal Heroes struggle with betrayal and glory, Jin faces a harsher battle:
Hunger.
Violence.
Fear.
Obscurity.
Every decision matters. Every mistake could mean death. And knowing what *might* happen in the future does not mean he has the strength to change it.
This is not the story of a chosen one.
This is the story of someone who slipped through the cracks of fate—and must survive a world that was never meant for him.
Because in Melromarc, you don’t need to be a hero to die.
And sometimes, survival demands something far darker than courage.
