The Protagonist Already Knows

Chapter 3: Heroes

Looking back, I saw cars piled atop one another like the trash in my penthouse, with pieces of human flesh scattered throughout.

Any one of those corpses could have been me.

There were also survivors...roaming humans who had either been standing on the sidewalk or had escaped their cars.

Some were missing parts of their bodies, while others had various objects impaling them, such as glass from the windows or parts of a car.

They tried to run too, like me.

But the suction force of the gate inevitably pulled them back.

It was ironic.

Only heroes, those equipped with the power to fight, could run while mundane humans were pulled back.

Towers of flames surged forward, rapidly spreading throughout the toppled and destroyed cars, and contrasting greatly with the rain

*THUMP~THUMP*

*THUMP~THUMP*

However, at that moment, perhaps after the death of ten humans, I heard a helicopter and instinctively looked upward.

At that moment, five figures leaped out of the helicopter that was perhaps 100 feet above the ground.

One of them simply vanished, instantly appearing on the ground and destroying a car with his landing, freeing a group of people who had been trapped under.

The other four free-fell, landing on the ground as silently as a mouse.

Two instantly moved to the sidewalks and began healing the heavily hurt survivors, their wounds closing instantly while the burn marks from the fires vanished.

*BANG*

*BANG*

However, at that moment, dozens of wolves emerged from the light-blue hue within the arc, their fur covered in iron barbs that were sparkling with electricity.

I instantly recognized them: Stormclaws.

C-tier beasts that were far out of my league.

I was no more helpful than an ant to any of those heroes.

As the three non-healing heroes stepped forward, one was already nocking three arrows simultaneously in a jade-green bow, while the other two wielded swords, rapidly approaching the gate.

When the tens of wolves leaped out of the gate and entered this world, they were instantly impaled by arrows or cut into pieces by swords, which were surrounded by a light-blue mana.

A comfortable distance from the gate, I looked at the C-tier beasts that would kill me with a single swipe.

I was nothing.

Recalling my terrified reaction to the gate and comparing it to the composed group of heroes who instantly slaughtered these beasts, a part of me...crumbled.

I was supposed to be special...right? I was from another world... I knew the future.

Yet, these random heroes I didn’t even recognize from the novel outclassed me by miles.

Sure, I was a hero, but I didn’t even earn it.

I should have been dead alongside the man next to me, who was impaled by the gate. I hadn’t entered a gate, risking my life, to become a hero.

I was simply given it.

The black clovers on each of the heroes’ capes flailed in the wind.

Government forces... they had foregone the massive salaries they could have received from guilds to join The Verdant Grove.

Taking one last glance at the glistening arrows flying through the air like fireworks, and the swords as bright as the sun, I ran.

I ran and ran until the gate was almost out of sight.

I felt disgusting. No, I was disgusting.

I didn’t even deserve to live.

For the past 7 days, I could have grown stronger, strong enough to prevent this tragedy. Yet, lazing around was all I did.

It was all my fault.

"Don’t just stand there wallowing in your own guilt. That’s not going to change anything. You’ll end up right back where you started."

Almost falling over from the sudden voice, I frantically looked forward at the figure who had appeared before me magically, with no sound or signal.

Her purple hair cascaded down to her waist while her amethyst eyes reflected my figure. She wore a black suit, her elegance contrasting greatly with the images of chaos behind me.

I looked at myself.

My face was covered with dirt, my head drooped as if I were a hunchback, and my last pair of nice clothes was ripped to shreds, revealing bloody scars on my skin.

"My clothes..."

Tilting her head, the lady smiled and reached out her hand, stopping it a few centimeters from my exposed shoulder.

"Your clothes!"

Her cheerful voice reverberated through my ears, and for the first time, my body ceased its trembling.

Extending her arm right over my shoulder, she pointed to a nearby rooftop, prompting me to look backward at it as well.

There stood two men dressed in suits, black fedoras hiding their faces. They were accompanied by a teenager, maybe my age. He had short black hair and matching onyx-black eyes

I instantly recognized the symbol on the men’s suits.

A golden crown, with a ruby gemstone embedded at the very front. They were members of the #1-ranked guild.

Aureate.

The teenager slightly trembled while the two men emotionlessly watched the fight between the heroes and Thunderclaws.

I instantly understood what was happening.

They were going to send the child through the gate to become a hero...or to die.

Countless questions flooded my mind, but before I could even speak, a voice sounded from before me.

"The whole time. They’ve been here the whole time."

Why? Why hadn’t they helped then? Why hadn’t they prevented those people from dying?

Perhaps, seeing the grimace on my face, the lady retracted her hand and said, still in that oddly cheerful tone.

"That’s just how the world is."

"That’s just how the world is...ah."

I wanted to ask the girl why.

Why was the world like this? Why would those in power blatantly ignore the weak? They were the weak once, weren’t they? Wasn’t it the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak?

But...I was there, in that same category with those men on the rooftop.

That smile still on her face, the lady waved her hand, her mouth opening one last time.

"The right thing is whatever the right person says it is."