Chapter 1: Warrior of Purity

I had a dream. Or rather, it felt like I had one.

I opened my eyes with a strange sensation, as if my body and soul were separating, and found myself on a street.

Left alone on a familiar street that evoked nostalgia despite having no memory of it, I wandered aimlessly.

The street’s name, the direction I was heading, even whether it was day or night was unclear, yet strangely, my steps forward were unhesitant.

After an unknown amount of time, at an unfamiliar intersection, I spotted a girl holding a sign across the crosswalk.

Perhaps because it was a dream, I couldn’t clearly make out her face, but one thing was certain: the girl was crying.

Pitiful eyes, as if asking for help—even though I couldn’t see her face, I could clearly perceive those eyes.

There was no need to wonder why the wounded girl was crying alone.

The reason for her tears was written on the sign she held, her gaze pleading with me.

[Please save my world.]

It was a preposterous and incomprehensible request, yet my hand, having somehow approached the girl, was wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘It’s okay now.’

Was I always this kind? Or was I just putting on an act because it was a dream? Words that would never normally escape my lips, embarrassingly earnest, tumbled out.

But perhaps those words brought her comfort, because the girl’s face brightened.

The sign fell from her hand. Rising onto her tiptoes, she placed her hand on my chest and spoke in a warm voice that resonated strangely within my heart.

“May the protection of the hymen be with you…”

“…?”

What the hell did she just say?

“Ouch!!”

The first thing I felt was pain.

My head, back, and waist. It wasn’t difficult to deduce from the location of the pain and the sensation throughout my body that I had fallen.

“Ha…”

I inhaled, swallowing the pain. As the strangely clear air filled my lungs, my head cleared, giving me room to think.

Did I fall out of bed? I frowned at the pain in my back and the light, a bit too bright to be a lamp, and shielded my eyes with one hand.

Slowly, I sat up and cautiously opened my eyes. There, staring at me as if I were some strange spectacle, were dozens of gazes.

“…Wh-What is this?”

It was no wonder such words abruptly escaped my lips. A dilapidated building, riddled with holes, that clashed entirely with the solemn atmosphere.

Dozens of people, dressed in obviously expensive clothes, were staring intently at me as I stood on what could only be described as a magic circle, a strange pattern.

Of course, the gazes directed at me weren’t particularly welcoming. Disappointment, or even despair, filled their eyes.

There was one exception, an old man in shabby clothes, who was flashing a strangely ecstatic smile.

[Experience Acquired: 5 people]

Furthermore, a sentence and a number were embroidered in the air above their heads.

Turning my eyes to this bizarre phenomenon, which clearly wasn’t natural and felt artificially created, I asked the obvious question.

“…Who…are you?”

I’d almost said, “Who are you guys?” but managed to switch to more formal speech.

I asked, but would Korean even work here? Everyone gathered here seemed to have Western features.

Normally, English would be appropriate, but I wasn’t calm enough, nor were my English grades good enough, to speak English fluently in this situation.

“First…calm down. We are not your enemies. (Experience Acquired: 79 people.)”

“Huh?”

An old man with a crown and an overly bushy beard, like something out of a fantasy movie, spoke with a weary expression.

However, despite receiving the answer I wanted, my confusion only doubled.

First, how could this man, who looked Western in every way, speak such fluent Korean?

Second, he said they weren’t my enemies. If they weren’t, did that mean there were other enemies? Or was it just something he said to calm me down?

Before I could grasp the true meaning of his words, the old man sighed and turned away from me.

“You must be very confused. Let’s calm your mind and body first. Priest Jarvis will explain the situation. Now, let’s go. (Experience Acquired: 79 people.)”

“…Yes, let’s do that. (Experience Acquired: 8 people.)”

As a man who appeared to be a subordinate replied to the old man, the people gathered in the small space began to turn away in unison.

They moved like actors in a play or soldiers following a script. While I was still bewildered, my eyes met those of a woman who hadn’t moved with the others, staring at me with sharp eyes.

“…Huh?”

“… (Experience Acquired: 1 person.)”

Her sharp gaze, as if I were her sworn enemy. If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead on the spot.

I’d experienced mild arguments, accidental bumps, and the resulting scuffles, but this was different.

It was a feeling I’d never experienced before, a genuine killing intent, that dried my mouth.

You might say, “Why are you so scared just from being stared at?” But when the person staring at you is wearing a sword at their hip, even if they’re smaller than you, it’s sufficiently threatening.

‘Is that real?’

It probably was. The hilt bore the unmistakable marks of repeated use.

Due to my job, I often handled kitchen knives, if not swords, so I could tell.

“Excuse me…”

“… (Experience Acquired: 1 person.)”

When I spoke, the woman turned away abruptly and walked toward the illuminated path.

My hand, reaching out towards her retreating back, lost its strength and fell under gravity’s pull.

Why did she harbor such intense hostility towards me?

Needless to say, this was our first encounter. I didn’t even know where I was or what situation I was in.

‘Some priest was supposed to explain…’

Those bastards said their piece and left without explaining anything. How was I supposed to understand anything?

Since the only people left in the room were me and the shabbily dressed old man, this old man must be the priest.

Stepping out of the geometric figure, the magic circle, I asked the old man, who looked as if he was about to cry.

“Excuse me, sir…what is going on?”

“Oh, Ohhh…!!!”

The old man began to tremble. Thrilled like a child meeting his favorite star, unable to hide his excitement, the old man suddenly knelt and bowed his head, exclaiming,

“Jarvis, a humble servant of the Goddess, g-greets you, Hero!!”

“…What?”

What am I?

“This is crazy…”

My head throbbed. A piercing headache made me instinctively clutch my forehead.

The story the old man told me was too absurd to be reality, and too half-baked to be fantasy.

To accept this as my reality, I had to acknowledge two facts:

First, I had been transported to another world.

Second, this world was on the verge of destruction, and I was the only one who could prevent it.

‘
…I don’t want to accept either of those…’

Valor. Patience. Love. Wisdom. Purity.

This world, ruled by gods governing these five virtues, faced an invasion every 100 years by a being that brought destruction, the Demon King.

No, according to Jarvis, it was more accurate to say that the Demon King “emerged” rather than “invaded.”

The Demon King and the beings called demons weren’t from somewhere else; they were periodically born into this world.

When deaths from war, disease, and other causes accumulated, and the world overflowed with vengeful spirits, these spirits would be reborn as demons, according to the world’s order.

And during the Demon King’s advent, which occurred every 100 years, these demons would invade the world as the Demon King’s vanguard. It sounded like a cliché video game setting, but it was reality in this world.

“So, the larger the population, the stronger the Demon King becomes…”

This time, the Demon King was the strongest in the 1,000-year history!! If such a being appeared, surely this world would be filled with death!

“
…Right?!”

“How am I supposed to stop that?”

“Huh?”

“Not ‘huh?’ I’ve never held anything sharper than a kitchen knife. How am I supposed to stop that?”

Now I understood why those people had looked at me with such disappointment.

If the Demon King, a calamity from fairy tales, actually appeared, and the summoned hero was someone like me…it was certainly disappointing.

The only consolation was that there were four other heroes besides me.

Since there was one hero for each god, there were four others besides me.

I suddenly wondered which god’s hero I was. I wasn’t planning on playing the hero, but it wouldn’t hurt to know.

“So, which god’s hero am I?”

“Yes! You are the Hero of the Goddess of Purity! In other words, you are the Hero of Purity!!”

“Hero of Purity…”

As I repeated those words, I finally understood why the girl had mentioned the hymen.

Hero of Purity sounded nice, but considering the goddess herself mentioned hymens, wasn’t I just the Virginity Hero?

I kept my thoughts about the goddess, which would surely be considered blasphemy by her devout priest, to myself.

‘Why am I the hero? I’m not particularly obsessed with virgins…?’

As I thought about the word “virgin,” one of the questions that had been circling in my mind suddenly seemed to clear up.

The “Experience Acquired” that appeared above people’s heads—if that was related to me becoming the Hero of Purity, could it be…the number of times they’d done that?

“…Is there a mirror?”

“Yes, of course.”

Jarvis took out a worn mirror from a drawer and carefully handed it to me.

“…”

I looked at the mirror, nervous for the first time. There were no words or numbers like those floating above the others’ heads above mine.

“What’s wrong?”

Naturally, Jarvis, a servant of the Goddess of Purity, had nothing above his head either.

Out of all the people gathered there, only he and I were virgins.

“OHO…”