To Hell With Being a Hero!

“…” That was what Chi-Woo had thought until he realized he had been thinking too simply.

“What about White Fluff? Or White Ball?”

“Bark!”

“His eyes are quite ferocious. What about Killing Machine? Isn’t it cool?”

“Bark, bark, bark, bark!”

The fenrir cub didn’t like any of the suggestions. He got angry every time the Seven Stars members suggested a name they thought of.

“Ha. This one has quite a temper and likes to bark. How about we call him Yappy? How is it?” Teresa extended her hand while smiling brightly and calling the fenrir cub adorable.

“Kaah—! Ptooey!” The fenrir cub spat on her hand. Teresa went speechless in shock, and Yunael stepped forward, unable to bear it any longer.

“Ah, that’s enough. You should just be named Poopee since that’s all you do. You are nothing more than a leech that just eats and poops every day. How dare you be picky….”

“Ruffruffruffruff ruffruffruff rufffruffruff.”

“...Aida, what did he say just now? I didn’t have a good feeling about that.”

“He said he’ll think about it if you change your name to Fucking Bitch,” Aida said calmly.

“What?” Yunael’s voice rose. “Did I say anything wrong? All this little thing does is stuff himself with food and pee and poop every day! Isn’t that right?!” Yunael shouted, and the fenrir cub kicked while pooing and peeing at her as if he was saying, ‘Yes, you are right. See.’

Yunael backed away screaming and declared that she would shove that bastard into a boiling cauldron this instant. And while all the fourth team members held her back and calmed her down, Chi-Woo rubbed at his temples. Though Yappy and PooPee were going too far, there were some names that were all right. Chi-Woo wondered what kind of grand name the fenrir cub was expecting that he was rejecting every proposal.

That was what Chi-Woo thought, but he considered ‘all-right’ were Nacho, Lulu, and Kkala. As a descendant of a god, the fenrir cub didn’t want to live with such terrible names that seemed to have no basis or proper background.

“Wallie.” Then the one person who had been observing the scene quietly spoke. It was Eshnunna. When everyone turned to her at once, she looked a bit taken aback and cleared her throat. “It means to guard, protect, and defend. I thought it would be quite fitting even though it doesn’t have much meaning besides that…”

Wallie? It didn’t sound too bad. But besides how it sounded, Chi-Woo wanted the fenrir cub to stop being so stubborn and just accept any name at this point. Chi-Woo looked down at the fenrir cub, who seemed to be giving the name a consideration.

“How is it?” Chi-Woo put a little force into his voice to make the fenrir cub decide now. As someone who had only been watching and observing people until now, the fenrir cub quickly understood what Chi-Woo meant. He still wasn’t very satisfied with the name. Its meaning was okay, but the sound of it wasn’t great. It didn’t really seem to fit a prestigious and noble heritage as his, but it was still hundreds and thousands of times better than names like Barkie or Fluffball. And above all, it appeared that Chi-Woo would decide on any name if he refused this one, so he decided to accept the name in the end.

Thus, after despairing endlessly at everyone’s dreadful and nonexistent naming sense, the fenrir cub weakly nodded. With this, the cub’s name was decided. From then on, nobody including Chi-Woo called the fenrir cub, ‘hey’ or ‘you’; it had gotten a new name, ‘Wallie’, which meant ‘to protect and guard’ and ‘god’s friend’.

***

Though they had given him a new name, Wallie didn’t grow rapidly and reached full potential overnight. No significant changes occurred except his behavior, in fact. After the day he got his name, Wallie began to follow Chi-Woo everywhere with Asha. This included the time Chi-Woo took care of his businesses, ate, and slept. It appeared Wallie considered Chi-Woo his sole master now.

Since then, Wallie would bare his teeth at any stranger trying to approach Chi-Woo until Chi-Woo patted his head and said that it was all right. Chi-Woo thought he should watch how things would play out with Wallie for a bit longer and decided to address another problem. He consulted Eval about internal organization since Seven Stars had almost doubled in size.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to leave a team to Apoline, sir. Considering how big of a decision she made to join us, I think it’s only proper for us to treat her accordingly.”

Chi-Woo’s thoughts aligned with Eval’s. Though Apoline had joined Seven Stars later than Emmanuel and Yeriel, they needed to remember that she was a Celestial Light. Furthermore, she was extraordinarily skilled and experienced, and it would be too cruel of them to ask her to start from the bottom.

“We’ll have two teams left after giving the fifth team to Apoline. If the new recruits are willing to take care of a team, I think it’ll be a good idea to open up the path for them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you establish some kind of standard? They would only be able to move in the direction you want if you give them a clear guideline.” Everything Eval said was right. Then, after discussing what these guidelines would be, Chi-Woo asked just to be certain.

“Is there anything else? Like a problem that I don’t know of?”

“Rather than a problem…” Eval tilted his head and continued, “I heard that the first team has difficulty increasing their numbers. Ru Hiana told me.”

“What? Do they perhaps still only have two people?”

“Certainly not, sir. They decided on an archer while you were gone—a hero named Dulia. I was informed that you knew her.”

Dulia was a hero Chi-Woo had some acquaintance with. When Shalyh was still a ruined city, they worked on the same team, and she acted as a guide for the expedition to rescue Yunael. Though she had quite a temper, Chi-Woo remembered that she still did everything that she needed to do well. He also recalled her having a bad relationship with Yunael, but perhaps that didn’t matter since they would be on different teams.

“Dulia. That’s not bad. So what’s the problem?”

“They are having a hard time finding a priest. Since the first team’s captain is so outstanding, they don’t really need a mage, but a priest is a different topic.” A team’s attacking range and firepower could benefit from the addition of a mage, but the existence of a priest was like a lifeline. Nevertheless, since heroes usually took roles where they stood at the frontlines of battle, it was nearly impossible to find a professional priest-type hero. Even among the twelfth reinforcements that broke the record in number of newcomers, there was only one priest, El Lache Teresa.

‘Should I look for a priest on my end as well?’ Chi-Woo wondered. Usually, it wasn’t his role to meddle with team recruitment, but it was different this time. The fact that Eval was even bringing up this issue meant that Ru Amuh needed help. Since it was a matter concerning Ru Amuh of all people, Chi-Woo couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. He thought he should go search for a priest and give Ru Amuh his own suggestions at the least.

“I will look into that matter too,” Chi-Woo said.

“Yes, I understand.” Eval bowed politely at Chi-Woo.

***

A couple of days later, what had only been rumors were soon confirmed to be true. Shersha, Astarte, Purupuru, and Apoline from the Afrilith family officially joined Seven Stars. A welcoming party was held to celebrate the joining of these new members, and Chi-Woo introduced the new members to everyone before mentioning Apoline separately again.

“Apoline Yelodi Afrilith will take charge of the fifth team temporarily,” he announced. As Eval told him, no commotion arose. No one even asked questions and seemed to accept this announcement like they had anticipated it.

“But this is unexpected.”

“What is?” In the middle of stuffing herself with food, Yeriel turned back to Emmanuel and asked.

“I’m talking about Apoline.” Emmanuel continued while tilting his glass. “I thought she would never lower her pride even if the world turned over.”

“Really? I thought she would come eventually. She changes her attitude based on who she’s dealing with.”

“What do you mean exactly?”

“She acts strong to the strong, but weak to the weak.”

“I don’t think Teacher is weak at all.”

“Did you not understand what I said? I’m talking about the attitude, stupid,” Yeriel said in a scolding tone, but she also shared the strange feeling that Emmanuel got. Three of the Celestial Lights who came to Liber under a special summon had now joined Chi-Woo. No one had the slightest inkling that they would be working in unison like this when they first came to this planet. What would’ve happened if their leader was Chi-Hyun instead of Chi-Woo?

‘The group will never look like this. Not that he’ll accept us from the beginning.’ Of course, no one could swear anything with absolute certainty, but it seemed most likely that they would have been working separately if it hadn’t been for Chi-Woo. It was then Yeriel thought she was perhaps part of a historical moment that might never come again.

After the celebration ended, Chi-Woo had a separate meeting with Apoline.

“You can speak to me freely, sir.”

“Ah, if you say so.”

“Of course, I am also a member of Seven Stars. And I know how to separate personal and professional life.” Apoline’s attitude and tone were strangely subservient. It wasn’t like her, but what she said was true.

“Yes, thank you for bringing that up first. Also, although I said the fifth team would be temporary, it’s basically decided that you will take charge of it, so please do your best. I trust you.”

Apoline was the one his countless other selves had all said without exception that had to be made a star. They said that if there was a limit to how many times they could use The Power to Rule the World, they would have chosen Apoline as the third star. Of course, as someone who put great importance on his personal experience and thoughts rather than what other people told him, Chi-Woo planned to make the decision after observing Apoline a bit more. But he knew there must be a reason why so many people had complimented her. Unless there was something serious that disqualified her for the position, he planned to make her one of his stars.

After the meeting, Apoline got out of Chi-Woo’s office. Perhaps it was because of the alcohol; her face was all red.

‘He said he believed in me…’ She thought she had laid down everything, but something began to stir up inside her. What was it? What was this indescribable feeling of satisfaction? Apoline recalled the conversation she just had with Chi-Woo. After joining Seven Stars, she understood better why Emmanuel and Yeriel would follow Chi-Woo. Though Chi-Woo was a hero more special than any other, he didn’t have the attitude of one. One would think someone hailed from such privilege and background would look down on those around him, but he always got down to other people’s eye level when talking to them. And considering how outstanding his personal skills and strengths were, it was no wonder that so many great people would gather to follow him.

He had everything—morality, military arts, and wisdom. Women often fell for the men they respected, and Chi-Woo was definitely a hero who she had a lot to learn from. Now that she had joined Seven Stars, Apoline thought she should learn properly from Chi-Woo. Of course, she wouldn’t only learn. In a way, she had been chosen and thereby been acknowledged for her skills. Thus, she couldn’t let Chi-Woo spoon-feed her everything.

‘I already received so much.’ She thought she couldn’t expect more than this. It was time for her to return the favor now. Apoline resolved herself and changed directions instead of returning to her place. She arrived at another room and was about to knock on the door when it suddenly burst open. A female demon with glasses came out awkwardly and bowed when she saw Apoline.

“Oh, h-hello! And welcome!” It was as if she had been waiting for Apoline, and she moved aside to let Apoline in. Apoline was a bit taken aback. Though she had been eyeing Purupuru during the welcome celebration, she hadn’t said anything to her. Flustered, she entered the room and saw a small gathering. Great demons who had just joined Seven Stars were enjoying themselves separately at another celebration party. Among them, a gray-haired girl looked intently in her direction.

“We were just talking about you…okay, good,” Shersha said as soon as they met eyes. “We’ll be your team members. All of us. It’s not bad if it’s you.”

Though she was shocked, Apoline soon realized what was happening. Shersha was the Demon Empire’s saintess and treasure, and it seemed that she lived up to her name.

“I like how fast the conversation is going.” Apoline smirked and stomped toward them before slumping down on one of the chairs. “Can I join you all?”

“Of course. We’ll be together all the time from now on,” Astarte said while pouring her a drink.

“Come to think of it, what are each of your classes?”

“You must know Shersha’s, and I am basically an assassin. Purupuru is a warrior.”

“What? A warrior?”

“Ehehehe….”

“Don’t underestimate her. Even though she doesn’t look like it, she possesses considerable strength.”

The four women passionately discussed and exchanged their opinions, but the conversation couldn’t go on for long because Apoline was quite weak to alcohol.

“Ah…Shersha….Shershaaaaa…you can see the future riiiiight….?” Drunk witless, Apoline clung to Shersha. “Theeen…can you see my future….? You know, like my luck in marriage…or love…?”

“…”

Shersha sighed. According to her prophecy, everything would go well for Apoline except for one thing. And this was it.