Chapter 2
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Episode 1 - Protagonist [2]
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"What were you doing before... they brought us to this place?"
"Uh, well... I was working part-time. Taking care of my younger siblings day after day."
"....."
"And your parents?"
Henry fell silent.
"My parents are dead... and I'm thinking about my siblings right now. I don't know if they're okay, if they're somewhere in this world... or I don't know..."
A depressed and anguished look spread across his face. Clear evidence that he had lost what mattered most.
"And you, Zeth, what were you doing?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. I can tell you're smart... and cunning... I suppose."
Henry's eyes scanned me with curiosity, but I was lost in my thoughts.
What was I doing?
'I was just writing and living miserably... no money, no family, no friends, in an old apartment, barely scraping by with what I earned from my novel.'
Yeah, it was complete shit.
Someone who had lived in misery since birth.
"I grew up in an orphanage and have lived the life of a drifter. I barely made it through school... I couldn't get into university due to lack of money, and I didn't get a scholarship to work comfortably."
Henry gave a sad smile.
"We're not so different after all."
We're not different...
Maybe you see it that way, but step into my shoes and look at the reality of my damned life.
"I'm a failure."
I looked up.
'I wrote this story inspired by my own reality.'
A world in ruins, full of suffering and death. Everyone abandoned, living in an unhappy place.
"And you, Elia?"
Henry asked, noticing she had been silent beside him.
Frey was farther back, staring at the ground, not paying attention to our conversation.
Elia spoke softly.
"Well... I... I think I'm the only one who lived like any normal person."
"You lived?"
Henry looked up.
Elia nodded with a faint smile.
"Yeah... I lived. Because now we're here, aren't we?"
Harry let out a laugh. Not in mockery, but more to lift the mood.
Elia had spoken in a humorous tone, but her expression said otherwise.
After all, the chosen ones who are brought to this world... are people who live in misfortune.
In 'The Hero in a Ruined World', the protagonist wakes up in this world full of mysterious powers, monsters, and all those typical things.
The protagonist had a past inspired by mine. In fact, he was like a reincarnation of me, reflected in the worst moments of my life.
'Seeing the protagonist is like seeing myself.'
I felt nervous thinking about him.
What memories would resurface when I saw him?
He was my past. My memories. His face, like looking at myself in a mirror.
'Alright... I guess I'm scared. But I want to survive.'
Dying in this world would be the worst decision.
Everyone who dies here is sent to the Abyss, to be slaves for eternity.
'I don't want to be a slave in that place.'
Snapping back to reality, I blinked for a moment before seeing the entrance to the waste area.
It was full of old bathrooms. The smell of shit still lingered, tainting the air.
The underground prison was a place abandoned not long ago, but still intact.
'Every place without maintenance ends up like this. Rotting little by little.'
Elia's face paled.
"We're going to..."
Henry nodded, with a forced smile.
"It's the closest exit."
The sewers were like a labyrinth. The only monster inhabiting this place was the giant rats, lurking everywhere.
'Thom! Thom!'
My heart was pounding rapidly.
My chest tightened as if something heavy was pressing down on it.
The reason for my fear was simple.
"Even the protagonist had a hard time here..."
Not because the rats were strong... but because of their numbers, and because the sewers themselves were a labyrinth.
"We'll have to find the exit to the outside."
"Well, that'll be tough. The sewers are vast and long; it could take us days to find the exit."
Frey, who was behind us, spoke up:
"Don't tell me you're scared at this point. We've already killed some monsters, and wandering through some sewers for a few days isn't a big deal."
"....."
Henry clenched his fists, staring at the sewer entrance.
"What do you think, Zeth and Elia?"
Elia and I looked at each other.
"We don't have many options, do we? It's better to go this way than to go up and face greater danger."
The reality was that going up was more dangerous than the sewers.
The protagonist, at this moment, should be heading upward, but he would encounter a D-rank black flame python.
In the original story, the protagonist retreats downward after encountering the black flame python; it's too strong for him to kill.
'We'll meet in the sewers.'
As the author, I knew where he was heading, and following that same path would take us less time to get out.
"Alright, let's go in. I'll take the lead and guide the way."
Since I can see in the dark, I walk at the front.
"I think I can see in the dark... maybe because I have an elemental affinity with darkness."
That would be the only explanation, because I don't have any other ideas.
***
'Clanck! Clanck!'
"Damn it..."
A storm of black flames shot out from the jaws of an enormous black python.
It was about fifty meters long, covered in black scales with a reddish hue. Its eyes, a deep violet, stared at the man in front of it.
Leaping to the side, he barely managed to dodge the fiery tempest.
"Seth, help...!"
A female voice screamed from the distance, amidst the sea of black flames.
The heartrending cry made Seth's heart clench as he watched his last companion die in the flames.
His face, filled with horror, trembled as he bit his lips, staring intently into the eyes of the black flame python.
'Run, run, run, run...'
A whisper echoed in his head, repeating the same words over and over.
Absolute terror. That creature was dozens of times more terrifying than the orcs.
The orcs were manageable... but this thing...
...this thing was impossible.
"Urgh..."
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
He wanted to cry and scream.
He wanted to get out of there, to live far away from all the suffering that tormented him at every moment.
"Come on... don't cry, you bastard. Run. Come on, get up and run, you bastard..."
'Drip...! Drip...!'
"Just... run."
His legs were trembling.
He clung to the wall beside him, standing up and walking toward a staircase that led deeper into the underground prison.
"Come on, come on, come on... you can get out of this. Just one more time."
Just one more time.
One more time to get out of here.
With effort, he ran and ran toward the staircase.
He descended, stumbling with every step. Still, he managed to get away from that monstrosity.
"H-ha..."
At this point, it shouldn't follow him down.
Seth collapsed to the ground. His face was pale, and his breathing was ragged, while his chest thumped with a constant "Thom" he knew all too well.
"I don't want to be afraid..."
He repeated, gasping.
"Fear is despair."
A voice in his head returned.
It was a distant memory, one that still burned in his heart.
'Don't be afraid... Come on, you can run. Run forward, you can do it, Seth. I know you can.'
'B-but... what about you? If you... die, then I...'
'I won't die. Look at me, I'm fine, see? So run and get help. Seth, I'll be okay here.'
'Drip! Drip!'
Seth stood up from the ground, this time with a somber expression.
The terrified, tear-filled look vanished as if it had never been there.
"Yes... I have to survive here."
Gripping a long black sword, Seth ran downward.
"I'm sorry."
Seth apologized in his heart. Those people he met when he woke up in that white room... they had died because of him.
"If only I had been stronger..."
But he quickly shook his head. He couldn't blame himself so easily.
They had agreed. No matter what happened, if they died, it wouldn't be his fault.
As he ran, he descended deeper into the underground prison.
「The constellation 'Emperor of the Sword' thinks you are an interesting person and says it expects greater achievements.」
Seth stopped dead in his tracks.
"Constellation...? Emperor of the Sword...? You guys again?"
He spoke aloud.
"Who are you?"
However, there was no response.
"I don't know who you are, but... if you brought me to this place, then... get me out of here, please!"
Once again, only silence.
Seth gritted his teeth in anger.
Since he arrived, he had seen several of these messages. Something about constellations, blessings, curses... But every time he asked, they never answered.
"Damn bastards..."
Seth resumed his run, biting his lips in fury.
"I'll kill you all!"
***
The darkness in the sewers was a massive problem for anyone without a light source.
But, thanks to my strange ability to see in the dark, I was guiding the group along the path the protagonist was supposed to take according to the original story.
"Even though the guy behind the screen told me to change the story, it doesn't mean the story itself has completely changed..."
If I was correct, this was the path the protagonist took, and it was the fastest way he got out of here.
Though there was a problem...
"Quiet."
The sound of footsteps splashing through the water became evident. The echo in the dark tunnels amplified every noise.
As I silenced the group with a gesture, faint squeaks could be heard.
"Rats..."
Elia shuddered, like the typical woman with a phobia in a web novel. She was afraid of these things.
"Yeah... but they're really big."
In the novel, I described every detail surrounding the protagonist: smells, sounds, the texture of the walls, the sound of the water, and even the monsters.
「Seth stopped when he heard faint footsteps. The smell of wet rat hit his nose as he peered into the darkness. At that moment, when a giant rat leaped toward him, he could see its appearance: two meters tall, wet fur with a nauseating stench. It ran and moved like a human. Seth felt nervous for a moment but calmed himself and swung his sword.」
Recalling that paragraph, I swallowed hard.
"What do they look like, Zeth?"
"They're rats, two meters tall... and they walk like humans. The rest... is like a normal rat."
As I answered, one of the giant rats, which was far off, slowly turned toward us.
Its red eyes glowed in the darkness, fixed on me. My breath stopped. The air felt scarce. The pressure in my chest was overwhelming.
The rat squealed... and charged at me with unnatural speed, like a human ready to ram someone without hesitation.
I froze.
But a hand rested on my shoulder.
"Zeth... the rat's coming toward us, right?"
I shook my head to clear it.
This is the world I created. I know everything about it. The monsters' weaknesses, how to kill them, how to avoid them strategically...
"Yeah. It's coming. Everyone, get ready. It's not just one..."
I swallowed my fear and drew my sword.
"There are dozens."