Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 49

At that moment, my body floated up and the ground I had been standing on just moments before crumbled and fell down with a thudding sound.

The sound of impact came much later.

When I realized I could have died, chills ran down my spine.

With one hand I clutched the medicinal herbs, and with the other I desperately grabbed onto Adam’s clothes like a lifeline.

It was an instinctive movement.

However, the injured person who should have been in the cave had come all the way here.

I had even wandered around so much that I didn’t know the way back.

How did Adam manage to follow me directly?

“Hero, how did you get all the way here?”

“I had a feeling that… Eve would be here.”

A feeling? The Hero must have very good intuition.

I quickly accepted this and nodded my head.

‘No, wait!’

I had repeatedly told him not to come out and to stay put!

If we hadn’t met and Adam had died, it would have truly been a meaningless death.

Really, this Hero didn’t value his own life at all.

He was so detached and indifferent about everything as if he had hundreds of lives, so I, who was by his side, had to set his mind straight.

“Still, you shouldn’t come out when it’s this dangerous!”

“If I hadn’t been here, Eve might have fallen off the cliff. Are you blaming me?”

“It would have reduced the meaningless deaths from two to one.”

I fought back without backing down.

It was fine if one extra died, but the Hero absolutely couldn’t!

‘I don’t believe it, but there are strange rumors going around that the Demon King is alive.’

What would happen if the Hero disappeared in this situation?

This time the Demon King would surely devour the Empire.

All living things would be killed and stripped of life, and he would control demonic beasts to harm living creatures, leaving only his own limbs alive on this land.

When I pressured him with my gaze, Adam sighed softly and said.

“If Eve died, I think I’d be in trouble too.”

“What?”

Of course, if I died, Ben would be angry and Tommy would definitely burst into tears.

Violet would…

Cry very quietly.

After comforting the other family members’ grief first, alone.

But it was unexpected to hear Adam say such a thing.

Wasn’t he still unable to trust me?

Adam continued speaking calmly.

“When other people died, I got used to it and didn’t care… but maybe Eve is special.”

…Those words were like.

When I blinked and looked at him, Adam averted his gaze.

“People like Eve are hard to find.”

He also muttered words that were hard to distinguish as an insult or praise.

Was I going too far to think the last words were hastily added?

Adam hadn’t put me down since holding me at the cliff, and I remained in his embrace.

Though cold, damp raindrops kept falling, his body was hot.

Since it was warm, I wanted to stay in his arms.

But how could his body be hot instead of cold after being caught in the rain like this?

“…Wait, Hero. You have a fever!”

This is why I told you to stay quietly in the cave, so why did you have to come out!

I urgently pushed him away and checked his condition.

“Hero!”

Then, his breathing became rough and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

And collapsing happened in an instant.

I should have noticed from when his voice became hoarse.

Now I had to carry his unconscious body back to a cave I didn’t even know the location of.

The dark forest only amplified my anxiety, unlike when I came.

‘If we die before the support team finds us…’

No, would they even come in the first place?

I recalled the nobleman who had spoken mockingly about Adam.

And even the face of the Emperor who had sent knights to kill Adam.

…He wasn’t raised as a Hero to receive such treatment.

Perhaps due to resentment and sympathy, tears were about to pour out.

But I couldn’t cry.

I pressed my eyes firmly and steadied my breathing.

The rain constantly falling down my cheeks was a bigger problem.

Adam’s body was feverish due to his wounds, but that was only temporary.

At this rate, he would surely die from hypothermia.

Or die from losing too much blood.

I couldn’t see ahead and didn’t know which way I had come from.

‘Anything is fine, just please stop the rain!’

Then, my chest became warm.

More precisely, the side where the necklace with the ring was.

“…!”

The glowing Sacred Relic soon calmed down.

However, the surroundings that had been dark with storm clouds gradually brightened.

Tap, tap tap.

The raindrops that had been pouring down fiercely also gradually reduced their intensity.

‘Is this the Sacred Relic’s power?’

The Sacred Relic had been useless except for being able to know Adam’s thoughts.

But perhaps because I felt relieved, my body became twice as heavy.

Drowsiness poured over me and I rubbed my eyes vigorously.

This wasn’t the time for this.

Even though the rain had stopped, this forest where we stood wasn’t entirely benevolent to two lost people.

I shook him awake for now.

“Hero, wake up. It’s really dangerous if you fall asleep here.”

“…”

“Hero!”

“…Yes, God…”

Perhaps because he wasn’t in his right mind due to fever, the answer that barely flowed from his mouth wasn’t meant for me.

Was he dreaming of the past?

Adam gave strange answers several times, but I was still relieved that he hadn’t fainted.

Whatever the case, I grabbed Adam’s shoulder and hoisted him up, planning to take him back.

Adam’s weight, soaked with water, was too much for me to handle alone.

Even after struggling for a long time to lift him up, it was the same.

‘Ah, this won’t work…!’

After taking just two steps, I collapsed to the ground with a thud.

When I took just one step, my legs trembled, and when I took another step, my legs lost consciousness and strength.

However, I didn’t give up.

“If I was going to give up over this, I wouldn’t have tackled a hopeless game…!”

I used every ounce of strength I had, even the strength from when I was nursing, to drag him along.

My feet dragged on the ground, feeling twice as heavy.

Still, they moved slightly.

“Hero, you’re awake, right?”

“…Yes.”

I kept talking to Adam to prevent him from losing consciousness.

If he fell asleep in this state, it would truly be the end.

The tips of our pressed-together skin were chillingly cold.

The feverish areas from his wounds contrasted with the parts that had grown cold from the rain.

Adam didn’t seem to be in his right mind, and I quickly ran out of topics to keep him talking.

After all, Adam had always been with me, and even before entering the game, he had only played games all day.

Since there weren’t any particular conversation topics, I started saying anything that came to mind.

“Adam, you know you need to stay conscious right now, right?”

I changed how I addressed him, but Adam remained silent.

The pitch-black forest with no one around, and Adam who showed no response like he was dead.

Fear took over my entire body, but I deliberately ignored it and dragged him along.

“It seems like we have a long way to go, so shall I tell you about myself?”

My voice was probably trembling terribly.

However, words that had been suppressed came out without me even noticing.

“To be honest, Adam probably didn’t know me, but I liked Adam. Even though it was just a game, you were truly a protagonist who never stopped challenging yourself. You were really what I wanted to become.”

I muttered as if mocking myself.

It continued endlessly like making a confession.

“I once wanted to become a protagonist too… But overcoming an unfortunate family and reaching a happy ending was only possible for special people. It was impossible for me.”

I had even envied the character inside that small monitor.

No matter how difficult things got, no matter what hardships came, wasn’t he a protagonist who would end up with a happy ending anyway?

It was a burdensome ending for an extra like me.

It was hard for me to gauge whether he wanted to hear this or not.

Did I want Adam to live?

That was obvious.

But had it been the same in Adam’s previous life?

“Outside, death was really light…”

In the beginning, it seemed a bit disappointing and sad too.

The Hero I had been raising died while going to kill the Demon King.

So out of stubbornness, I played the game earnestly to keep him from dying.

But how many resets was it?

It gradually started changing to focus on interest.

I was curious about what would happen if I pushed companions that Adam rejected, and I watched to see what would happen even after sending him to the Imperial Palace.

Keeping to the extreme conditions to see hidden routes was the same.

‘If I hadn’t tried to see the hidden route and had just played normally, what would be different now?’

Maybe he wouldn’t have been ignored instead of treated as a Hero, or had arrows pierce through his body.

“If I had known it would be like this, I should have just not appeared before Adam. Rather…”

Rather, instead of me, I wanted to give back the friends he couldn’t have this time.

Adam without a single companion looked irritable at first glance, but he was actually kind.

He was good enough that he couldn’t treat harshly even a child who had suddenly barged into his world.

“…Don’t leave. Don’t leave me behind.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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