Chapter 45: Despair Arc

As I completed the side quests in the village, I was able to gather various pieces of information.

I hadn’t known before, but the name of this village was Lunea.

I had just finished a side quest and received my reward.

Freshly boiled potatoes and a small amount of gold.

Of course, eating the potato wouldn’t actually give me any taste, but just looking at it, it seemed so fluffy and delicious.

‘Maybe I should have some potatoes for dinner later.’

With such trivial thoughts, I placed the reward in my inventory and turned around.

That marked the end of all side quests in Lunea Village. In other words, I just needed to finish the tutorial now.

[(Global) Imari: When is Yuwol finishing the tutorial…?]
[(Global) Imari: It’s cold, sis…]
[(Global) Anna: An 11th-gen making a 1st-gen wait?]
[(Global) Baeki: ;;; When are you coming]
[(Global) Kanu: ㅡㅡ]
[(Global) Yuwol: I’ll be there soon]

The seniors who finished before me were calling for me. I mean, couldn’t they just proceed without me…?

It’s not like we had to do everything together except for the raid.

[(Global) Yuwol: You guys can go ahead…]
[(Global) Anna: An 11th-gen… talking back?!]
[(Global) Yuwol: Boomer]
[(Global) Anna: ???????????]
[(Global) Kanu: ?]
[(Global) Sera: LOLLLLLLLLL]
[(Global) Baeki: Oof… this newbie’s got guts?]
[(Global) Onuri: Damn~ I like you. B, I respect it]
[(Global) Imari: ???]
[(Global) Imari: Honestly, Anna does act like a boomer LOL]
[(Global) Anna: You punks are crazy LOL]
[(Global) Anna: Assemble.]

Ignoring the chaotic chat, I entered the village hall.

The village hall was located on the outskirts of the village and wasn’t particularly large.

It was only slightly bigger than the other houses—honestly, my house felt bigger.

Anyway, once I stepped inside, I was greeted by a warm-looking man.

This must be Cedric, the village chief. His unexpectedly youthful appearance surprised me.

“Haha, welcome, Yuwol.”

“Uh… You know me?”

“Of course. I remember every single resident of this village!”

Cedric, who spoke confidently, suddenly scratched his head in embarrassment.

“And I saw you helping the villagers earlier—thank you. Those were actually my responsibilities.”

Cedric added that he had been so busy managing other tasks that he had neglected some village matters, and he smiled awkwardly.

“It’s nothing. I live here too, so it’s only natural to help my neighbors.”

“That’s kind of you to say. Anyway, what brings you here?”

I hesitated for a moment at Cedric’s question. The quest log simply told me to talk to him.

<CLEAR!>
[(Required) Tutorial 1: Leave your house and visit the village hall to talk with the village chief!]

• Task: Meet and converse with Cedric, the village chief.
• Reward: EXP 10

[NEW QUEST UPDATED]

• Task: Choose a dialogue option! However, choices may influence the character’s behavior.

1: I want to leave the village for a while.
2: Do you need any help?
3: I just came by. Why?

*Note: Choices in the tutorial do not affect progression! Feel free to choose freely.

…Right, this was a visual novel-style game.

Apparently, dialogue choices weren’t limited to the main story but appeared in the tutorial as well.

I stared at the options, lost in thought.

Option 1—safe, but it might make Cedric feel a bit left out. Leaving the village suddenly might not make sense to him.

Option 2—also safe.

Option 3—what am I, Cedric’s girlfriend, just casually dropping by for no reason?

‘Why am I even thinking about this? The choices don’t affect the game here.’

Since the tutorial choices wouldn’t impact the story, I could pick anything.

I didn’t particularly feel like getting emotionally invested in an AI character.

The best choice was probably 2, but if I delayed any longer, the seniors would come drag me out.

So, sorry Cedric, but option 1 it is.

“I want to leave the village for a while.”

“Ah, I see.”

Cedric smiled wistfully at my words.

Then, he took something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

“?”

“Haha, this is a kind of talisman. It’s a token of my hope that we’ll meet again soon.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll take good care of it.”

The item Cedric handed me was a transparent orb. Inside, there were tiny letters, but they were too small to read.

“Leaving the village is only temporary. I can always come back anytime.”

“Hahaha, that’s a relief. As the village chief, I can’t help but worry about you, Yuwol. Especially since you’re still young.”

“I’m an adult, though…”

“Still young. Anyway, I hope the goddess blesses you on your journey.”

“Thank you.”

After bowing my head and stepping out of the village hall, the second tutorial began.

Head to the nearby forest and hunt five monsters.

Now, it really started feeling like a proper game.

. .

<CLEAR!>
[(Required) Tutorial 5: Make a Deal with the Master of the Deep Forest]

• Task: Request a deal with Adreva, the Master of the Deep Forest.
• Reward: EXP 30

After some time had passed, the tutorial was finally over.

Thanks to that, my level had reached 5.

The other members, at most, had only reached level 3. It was probably because I had gained additional experience from completing side quests.

Anyway, now that I had finished the tutorial too…

“Oh? There’s Yuwol!”

I saw the group of trainees gathered in the village square.

They had been anxiously looking for me… and had been waiting this whole time. I felt a little guilty.

“Sorry for taking so long…”

“Hmm? No, no! We made some progress in the meantime too! It’s fine, it’s fine!”

Yuna, a 7th-gen member, reassured me, and my slumped shoulders lifted a little.

“An 11th-gen making a 1st-gen wait… 11th-gen, assemble.”

“I’m the only 11th-gen here.”

“Yuwol, come here.”

Despite Anna’s scolding, my lips pouted as I grumbled inwardly.

Even so, they had waited for me, so the guilt outweighed my complaints.

With a slightly dejected expression, I trudged along with the others.

As Yuna had mentioned, the others had progressed to some extent while I was away.

Most of them had cleared the main chapter stages and were now moving on to check out other details.

While spending time with the seniors and moving forward together, the moment for the boss raid gradually approached.

If someone asked why I hadn’t done the main story yet, my answer would be simple:

‘I’ll save it for the stream later.’

It’d be boring to watch something fun all by myself without anyone to react alongside me.

So wouldn’t it be much more enjoyable to experience it later with my viewers?

…Actually, I just wanted to do an easy, low-effort stream.

Anyway, our team formed a party and entered the 8-player raid.

The raid boss was the final boss of Chapter 1.

It was interesting that we could fight the boss separately, even without playing through the story.

“Yeah, that guy was suspicious from the start.”

“Judging him as a villain just by his appearance feels a little unfair, don’t you think…?”

“If he didn’t want to be judged, he shouldn’t have been born looking like that.”

“Whoa, whoa…”

The members reacted differently, each expressing their own thoughts about the boss.

Some seemed genuinely surprised, while others had already guessed the identity of the boss before reaching this point.

“Everyone has their tutorial weapons, right?”

“Yes~!”

“I got knuckles… Am I going to get one-shot if I go in close?”

“Told you to be a mage instead.”

At Anna’s question, the party members responded while holding up their weapons.

Some had clubs, some had knuckles, some had staffs.

Each held different weapons and assumed battle stances.

Since this was our first raid, there was no need for a complicated formation or briefing.

After all, it was only a Chapter 1 boss—there was no way we wouldn’t be able to clear it.

As I watched the party members step forward, I glanced down at the sword in my right hand.

I was the only one wielding a sword.

What fits a hero best? A sword, of course. Not that I chose it just for that reason.

It simply felt like the best fit for me.

Swinging the sword once, I followed after the others.

It had a surprisingly hefty weight. Satisfied, I stretched a little before moving into the vanguard position.

At the front were me, Anna, and Baeki.

I had a sword, Anna had a club, and Baeki had knuckles.

Sera had a staff, and Yuna had a stave.

Imari and Onuri wielded bows, while Kanu carried a sacred tome.

Though roughly assigned, everyone had a serious expression.

“Alright, let’s go! For Anna’s revenge!”

…Huh? What? Where did that come from?

. . .

To get straight to the point, we did defeat it. Apparently, this Chapter 1 boss raid could be cleared with just four people.

But… but still. What was all that about Anna’s revenge?

Curious, I asked.

“Oh, right. Yuwol, you haven’t done the story yet, have you?”

“Yeah, I’m saving it for the stream later. It’d be less fun if I watched it alone first.”

“If I say you’re being admirable, would that be wrong?”

“…Please don’t say that.”

Imari chuckled before continuing her explanation.

“Chapter 1 is about Anna’s story. The immersion was seriously no joke while watching it.”

“So that’s why…”

“Yeah. That’s why we said it was for Anna’s revenge.”

So that was it. I was wondering what they meant.

I thanked them for explaining.

Imari waved it off, saying it was nothing, before moving over to chat with the other members.

‘Now, the only thing left is the gacha, huh?’

Chapter 1 had four side stories. Meaning, there were four side chapters related to Anna.

But the problem was that something other than story content could appear.

This was the true beginning of The Hero’s Märchen: Despair Edition.