Chapter 8

From that day on, the Hero began to train with Oniko, the final member of the Demon Generals to join him. A text just after nine every night was the signal. He was supposed to reach Oniko ten seconds after receiving it. The Hero was preparing his sleeping bag when he heard the pleasant ping sound from his phone, signaling a new message. “…Ah!” The blood drained out of his face. The message read, [Come to the nearby watering hole, pronto!] Spinning around in circles, the Hero desperately tried to recall where the watering hole was. Activate running motion. Restart zero-second preparation and brain function. Shoot, my body still won’t move. Connect directly to modules not under control with artificial heart pump, reconstruct hero body network, update parameters for ignoring meta statements. Feed seems useless, so I’ll let that be. Correct deviations in systems responsible for coming up with excuses to give Oniko, goddamn it, connect to exercise routine. My bodily systems are online—my smartphone strap has nothing to do with anything! Fighting through his panic, the Hero tried his best to get moving. He then lost his temper and screamed. “Ten seconds is stupid!! This is clearly impossible!!” the Hero cried before hurrying off. A small pool rested southeast of tonight’s campsite. It seemed likely that Oniko was waiting there. “Haaah! Haaah! Haaah!” Curses had left nearly all of the Hero’s stats at zero, so he’d started panting heavily the moment he’d tried to run. Dying was incredibly painful, though, so he’d pushed himself hard, determined not to let it happen this time. “There you are, Hero.” Oniko was waiting by the pool of water, resting a wooden club on one shoulder. She gave the Hero a kind grin. The Hero got excited, thinking he may have made it on time. Unfortunately… “Blargh!!” …he received a hit square in the torso from Oniko’s cudgel. He had no means of guarding against an attack of such force, so he was sent flying backward about one hundred and fifty feet until he collided into the ground and died. “…You were slow. That was twenty-two seconds.” As a coffin formed around the Hero, the merciless Oniko took a swig of alcohol from a bottle she had attached to her hip. Face tinged red, she approached the casket. “Relife.” Oniko chanted a revival spell. The coffin was enveloped in holy light, and the Hero came back to life. “Gack! Did I die?! Why?!” The memories one had after revival could be a little disorderly. People tended to treat death relatively lightly in this world because of resurrection spells, but injuries to the body still remained. After perishing, a person would lose consciousness, and their body and soul would be separated and confined within a coffin. If one lost their body or soul, revival spells wouldn’t work anymore. The Hero knew that Oniko was the one who restored him, but he’d never even seen the club coming, so it was tough to grasp the situation. “I told you to get here within ten seconds, you wuss! How the hell do you think you’re going to get stronger if you can’t even manage that?!” Oniko scolded angrily in her usual foulmouthed manner. “Ready your sword!” she commanded, lifting her club above her head. Wait, Oniko. Please listen to me. Reaching you within ten seconds after seeing your message is utterly impossible for me. Wait, is this some kind of jock thing? If I had gone to school, I definitely would not have joined any sports clubs. This isn’t really my element. The Hero wanted to say all that and more, but Oniko undoubtedly would’ve told him to man up before killing him again. The odds of her knowing what school was seemed low, too. Most of all, the Hero could only talk through texts, so his entire internal dialogue was pointless. “Ready your goddamn sword!” Oniko roared, her patience wearing thin. Terrified, the Hero quickly grabbed his weapon and held it in front of him. However, after deciding he would be killed immediately because he couldn’t stop his shaking, he raised his hand to ask for a time-out. “…Huh? What is it?” inquired Oniko. The Hero took out his smartphone and quickly typed out a message. [Can you please calm down for a second?] “…I am calm.” [We need to talk.] “About what?” […Can we please drop the ten-second rule? I’m telling you, it’s actually impossible. Really. It takes me five seconds just to look at my phone, and it’s physically impossible for me to get to the training site after that.] “You serious?” [Yes.] “Then next time, get here within five seconds.” [What the hell?!! That’s even less!! You really are a demon, aren’t you?!] “Uh, yeah. I am.” That she was. “Hiyaah!” Oniko suddenly screamed, delivering a clean hit to the Hero’s face with her club. A coffin once again appeared out of nowhere around his corpse, and Oniko revived him again. “Urghhh…” As should not be surprising, dying twice in rapid succession was very painful both physically and mentally. Consider this analogy: It was as if he was simultaneously experiencing intense sunburn and extreme muscular pain throughout his entire body, while also feeling ready to puke from seasickness. He was brought back to life sobbing and deathly pale. “I heard from Pino that you have a curse that prevents you from gaining experience, even after fighting. That means you can’t raise your level. All that leaves is working on your skills and sharpening your feel for battle.” Oniko smashed the ground in front of the staggering Hero, and he stood up straight. Given his personality, one might have expected him to quit and head to sleep, but something within him must have started to change. He had caused quite a lot of trouble for his parents, and people had always called him the “No-Good Hero.” However, meeting the Demon Lord, the Demon Generals, and everyone else he had encountered on this journey had sparked a particular thought in his mind. This trip has been rough, but some great people have helped me along the way… I might not be a real hero, but…I want to get at least a little stronger. The young man hadn’t lied when he’d admitted his desire to protect the people he cared about. It was an embarrassing thing to say, so he’d passed it off as a joke, yet he honestly had come to feel that way during his time with the Demon Generals. “…!” The Hero shook himself, readied his practice sword, and faced Oniko with a determined expression. “…I like that look in your eyes. That’s what I want. This time, you come at me,” Oniko instructed, flashing him an abrupt smile. After a brief pause, the Hero found his resolve and sent a message saying [Understood! I’ll give it my all!] Within ten seconds, however, he was dead for the third time that night. Pino spread her wings wide and landed quietly next to Mako, who was lazing on a tree branch and watching the Hero as he trained. “Practicing again, I see,” Pino remarked. “Yeah. He’s taking a vicious beating, though. He’s dying over and over again,” answered Mako. Unwilling to participate themselves, they both observed the Hero and Oniko. Revival spells had a time window to them. If they weren’t cast quickly enough, the coffin would disappear, and the person inside would be dead for good. Mako and Pino were watching carefully to ensure that didn’t happen. They feared that if the Hero were to perish, the kind and gentle-natured Demon Lord would be overcome by rage and lay waste to the world. “You know, there’s something about this that is really bothering me,” said Nicoletta the extreme masochist, joining Mako and Pino on the branch. “Why won’t Oniko give me a vicious beating?” she continued with evident jealousy. Mako and Pino ignored her. “I wonder who could have put all those curses on the Hero,” Pino thought aloud. “Who can say? What we can be sure of, though, is that it wasn’t our meowster,” responded Mako. “It was someone who possessed considerable power, though, correct? Hmm… I can’t field a guess, but what I do know is that I want them to inflict a curse on me that magnifies pain tenfold,” Nicoletta stated. The three of them enjoyed a casual conversation while the deadly sparring continued below. The Hero had already met his end over five times. Yet, as if riding a high on showing some effort for the first time in his life, he charged resolutely at Oniko every time he was resurrected. Oniko looked pleased to see the Hero devoting himself to his training. “…Well, it looks like Oniko is having fun. We can probably leave them be for meow,” remarked Mako. “She’s always been a natural leader. Having a pupil train so earnestly can’t be an unpleasant experience for her,” Pino added. “Okay. Then we’ll leave the Hero to Oniko, freeing up the two of you to give me a vicious beating full of love, right?” Nicoletta gave an invitation with a triumphant expression. “…No, we’re not doing that.” “Where did you get that idea from?” “Honestly, I haven’t been feeling very well lately. And I’ve given it a lot of thought. It’s probably because I haven’t been receiving enough agony. You know what I’m saying? Punch me, Mako!” “Shut up already!” Nicoletta snuggled up to Mako, who kicked her away in irritation. Sadly, the three demons were completely oblivious to the trouble that was about to occur.