The reason why I was the only one to break the highest difficulty level, ‘Truth’, in the Reverse Hero’s Tale was due to the unique characteristics that only appear at that level.
I’m not sure if it was because the name itself is ‘Truth’ that they took realism into account, but in this ‘Truth’ difficulty, events occur randomly.
As long as they fit the plausibility, it means that any enemy can pop up without regard for balance.
For example, in this entrance evaluation, suddenly a crack opens in the sky, and the disaster monsters, formally known as the demon race, appear.
These are reconnaissance troops that come to verify whether the prophecy of a hero who will threaten them is true, and usually, a lower-ranking demon from the reconnaissance team appears as the boss.
The story of the prologue was about the protagonist achieving the remarkable feat of defeating the lower-ranking demon, with only one casualty despite the invasion of the disaster monsters.
However, in the ‘Truth’ level, a random encounter is applied to the enemies the protagonist faces, and there’s about a 10% chance that instead of the usual lower-ranking demon commander, the reconnaissance team’s captain, Lieutenant Demon Hobbes, will appear.
Hobbes is an enemy so strong that the protagonist at the prologue stage can never win against him, so if Hobbes shows up while playing at the “Truth’ level, I had to reset and restart immediately.
If that were to happen now, the protagonist would die, and it would be game over. The world would be doomed, so I had to prevent that at all costs.
I had vowed to live thoroughly as a scoundrel to take revenge on my family, but if the protagonist dies and the world ends, then revenge and everything else would be meaningless.
Even if I worked my ass off to successfully complete my revenge and somehow catch the disaster witch, it would all be for nothing.
To prevent that, I set my steps toward a place where they might tear open the crack.
*
Clang! Bang! Clang!
“Ugh, why is it so tough?! Even using my sword only leaves scratches!”
“That’s enough! It’s all set now, so step aside! Here it comes. Our family’s vision strike! Full power downward slash!!”
Boom!
“Kyah!”
“Wow! The shell broke! It’s grown even more since the last time I saw it! What on earth have you been doing?!”
“Hehe, my mother gave me a potion as a gift for entering the Daechun Academy. After taking it, my mana increased significantly.”
“Lucky you… Our family only provided this one sword.”
“Still, thanks to you stalling, I was able to gather enough power. That was excellent teamwork.”
The two female freshmen from prestigious families praised each other over the corpse of the evaluation monster, the rough shell.
The rough shell had such excellent defense that it could resist even considerable sword strikes, so this was indeed commendable.
“Th-thank you… I owe my life to you.”
While the two were happily exchanging compliments, a small, weak voice interrupted.
It was a girl with dull gray hair, her face shadowed as she slightly lowered her head.
Having hidden in the bushes and suddenly facing the rough shell, she was startled and fell to the ground, and at that moment, the two appeared and defeated the rough shell.
Thus, she expressed her gratitude for being saved.
“Hmm? Who? Do we know her?”
“No? This is the first time I’m seeing her.”
The response was the incredulous faces of the two and the fact that they didn’t even recognize her existence.
“Eh? Ugh, I-I’m sorry…”
“Well, there’s nothing to apologize for. We saved you, after all. It was really tough, though.”
“Tough? Was it really that hard? It was tough, but it was also pretty slow, so it wasn’t too hard… Ah. Right! It was hard!”
They had just defeated an evaluation monster, but the two didn’t miss the opportunity in front of them.
“So, you, who we went through so much trouble to save, what’s your name?”
“I-I’m Tsubaki Fuyuno.”
“Tsubaki Fuyuno? A Japanese… Wait, Fuyuno? That Fuyuno?!”
The two, who were planning to take advantage of the unsuspecting girl, were taken aback by Tsubaki Fuyuno’s introduction.
The most important thing in taking advantage of someone was to maintain a relaxed demeanor.
The two, who were well aware of this as daughters of prestigious families, found it natural that they couldn’t maintain their composure upon hearing the surname Fuyuno.
“Third in the world’s prestigious family rankings, the Fuyuno family?!”
Because the Fuyuno family was one of the most renowned families in the world, known to everyone living in it.
“…Um. Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Cough. Um, can we have a little chat…?”
“Eh? Ah, yes. That’s fine, right?”
“Th-thank you…!”
As Tsubaki Fuyuno answered shyly, the two quickly sought permission and moved a distance away to start an emergency meeting.
“What should we do, Sunhee? Did we mess with the wrong person? Shouldn’t we apologize and get out of here?”
“Ah, no! You idiot! What did we do to apologize for? We haven’t taken advantage of her yet, so we’re still her benefactors! We should seize this opportunity, not run away!”
“Is that so? You’re right! Since we haven’t taken advantage of her yet, we have nothing to feel guilty about!? As expected, Sunhee, you’re really smart! Is it because you took the potion?”
“Hehe, I might be a bit smart. Anyway, let’s stop thinking about taking advantage and properly latch onto this opportunity.
It’s the Fuyuno family, not just any family; even if we just pick up the crumbs that fall, it’ll be a lot…!”
Sunhee, wielding a giant hammer, and Jinsook, holding a sword, were daughters of prestigious families, so they were even more sensitive to hierarchy than superhumans from commoner backgrounds.
After nodding in agreement, Sunhee and Jinsook quickly ran back to Tsubaki Fuyuno.
“So, um, first of all, Tsubaki Fuyuno, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Eh? Ah, I-I’m fine. I fell, but I fell onto the grass, so I didn’t get hurt…”
“This is serious! Jinsook, quickly take out the ointment from your bag! If you have even a scratch, you could get tetanus!”
“Uh, uh! Got it!”
Even though Tsubaki Fuyuno said she was fine, she bit her lower lip as she watched the two fussing over tetanus and other concerns.
She knew very well why they were worried about her.
The background of the Fuyuno family; the sudden change in the two’s attitude, which had been so arrogant, was likely due to that alone.
“Um, um…”
Tsubaki Fuyuno, who knew she wasn’t someone who should be treated this way, opened her mouth to correct their misunderstanding.
“Why do you ask, Tsubaki?”
But as she faced the overly respectful titles and the sparkling eyes filled with expectations and desires, she couldn’t continue what she wanted to say.
Breaking such great expectations was something far too introverted and timid Tsubaki Fuyuno could never do.
“Ah, no. I-I’m really fine. Besides, we’re superhumans, so we won’t get tetanus or anything… Shouldn’t you go back to finish the evaluation?”
In the end, Tsubaki Fuyuno swallowed her words and, with a forced, awkward smile, told the two to leave.
“Eh? Ah, haha! That’s right! We almost interrupted Tsubaki’s exam! We’ll do our best to help you score high, so don’t worry and leave it to us! Right, Jinsook?”
“Uh, uh-huh! That’s right, Sunhee! Tsubaki, we’ll help you! So don’t forget to give us a reward later!”
Although Jinsook, who was quite oblivious, directly mentioned the reward, the atmosphere almost turned sour for a moment, but Tsubaki Fuyuno, who was panicking because she couldn’t correct the misunderstanding, didn’t even have the energy to address it.
“Ah, haha… Y-yes…”
All she could do now was awkwardly smile and nod.
Thus, a three-person party led by Tsubaki Fuyuno was formed.
*
About an hour after the party was formed, Sunhee and Jinsook began to feel something strange.
“Um, Sunhee, I know you don’t like me saying this, but… doesn’t it feel a bit odd?”
“…Yeah, if you can feel it, then it’s definitely strange.”
“Right? How can someone with the surname Fuyuno be that weak?”
It was precisely because of Tsubaki Fuyuno’s incredibly weak combat ability.
“It’s not just weak; she’s completely useless, right? No matter how untalented she is, a superhuman from a prestigious family should at least be able to wield a sword by the age of 20.
And if it’s a family as great as the Fuyuno family, she should have learned even more incredible techniques or visions, so she should be much stronger than us, who come from mediocre families…”
“Kyah!”
“Eek!”
The two frowned as they watched Tsubaki Fuyuno fleeing from the small-horned rabbit, the weakest evaluation monster that appears during the entrance evaluation.
“That’s… it doesn’t make sense.”
“Hey, Sunhee. Is that person, no, that girl… really from the Fuyuno family?”
“Right? We need to check this properly…”
Just as the seeds of doubt began to sprout in the two of them, at that moment.
Crack- Crackle-!
Above their heads, in the empty air, a crack began to form.