Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a life like a weed.

#01

It was a life like a weed.

I was originally a slave who tilled the fields.

When the sun rose I worked like an ox, and when the moon rose I collapsed into sleep. Those days went on without end.

I had no family or relatives. Being taciturn by nature, I had almost no friends either.

Then war broke out and I was dragged into the army.

Sold off would be the more accurate expression. I was just another body filling the ranks, an arrow-catcher.

I traded the plow for a sword hilt, and instead of weeds I cut down the heads of grown men.

Unexpectedly, the life of a soldier suited me.

I always fought like a mad demon.

Even when bones broke and flesh was sliced open, I pressed forward, and I never yielded to any powerful foe.

Even when I had lost so much blood that my vision swam, I stubbornly rose and drove my blade into an enemy soldier’s heart.

There was only one reason. To survive.

Did that desperate struggle catch the eye of those in high places?

By the time the war was nearing its end, I had become a proper soldier rather than a slave.

Looking back, that period was the happiest.

There were comrades, and even if the pay was meager, I received compensation for my labor.

Above all else, the fact that I never went hungry was what I liked best.

After rolling like that for another ten years or so, an order came down from above telling us to die.

It wasn’t as if they had specifically told us to commit suicide.

It was simply that the content of the operation we were to be thrown into was absurd.

Ordering a single squad to stop the army of a foreign god—I was so dumbfounded.

It was the height of absurdity, but I followed the order.

Someone had to do it in the end.

What came after that was, well, an obvious story.

I fought. Just as always, I fought to survive.

I was drenched in blood and entrails until I nearly drowned in them. I cut down the enemies blocking my path.

My comrades fell one by one. When I came to my senses, only I remained.

Even so, I continued to press forward.

Until the moment the end arrived.

When nothing could be seen or heard any longer, a thought flitted through my mind.

Would anyone remember me?

Was there any proof that I had existed in this world?

There was no way.

And I died.

My corpse was never recovered.

The charred and shattered bones simply crumbled away atop the soil of a distant foreign land.

It was a life like a weed.

One that bloomed by the roadside and then vanished before anyone noticed.

An ugly, wretched weed whose name no one, including myself, could remember.

****

The self-introduction of the DLC-added character, the Nameless Hero, ended there.

The armored man silently returned to his place.

While I was still staring blankly at the screen, system messages rose one after another.

『※ Ending the self-introduction of the soul “Nameless Hero.”』

『※ This introduction was produced based on the soul’s final memories. The will of “Nameless Hero” himself was not reflected.』

『※ Returning to the character selection screen.』

Immediately afterward, the viewpoint that had been focused on the Nameless Hero pulled away, and the character selection screen that appears when starting a new game came into view.

In the hall of a splendid palace, a dozen or so distinctive figures stood lined up.

A giant whose entire body was covered in muscle clashed the axes held in both hands with a clank.

“Come with me! This wolf of the great plains will teach you destruction!”

“Preposterous. It is I, the former master of the Blue Magic Tower, who is qualified to enjoy the blessing of regression. I hope you will make a wise choice.”

This time, an elderly man wearing an antique robe offered a silent bow.

These were the playable characters who could become the protagonist of this game.

Every one of them was a player. That is, they were all trying to draw my attention.

All except one.

“······.”

The Nameless Hero, who had already returned to his place at some point, was simply bowing his head without a word.

It was a corner where no light reached.

Because he wore a helmet, his face could not be seen.

When I moved the mouse cursor over him, a short introduction text finally appeared.

『Nameless Hero. Withered Weed.』

It was quite different from the text of the other characters.

There was neither a lengthy background nor even a simple self-promotion.

Withered weed, huh.

Unable to hold back any longer, I shouted in a voice filled with emotion.

“······This is romance!!”

Not satisfied with that, I leapt from my seat and even gave a standing ovation.

Even if I looked like an idiot, I couldn’t help it.

A hero who fulfilled his duty to the very end before withering away, forgotten from everyone’s memories.

Was that not truly a setting that set the heart ablaze!

“No wonder the DLC took so long to release. The wait was worth it.”

They say excessive immersion is bad, but there was nothing I could do about my innate nature.

I forcibly calmed my excitement and sat back down in the chair.

The game 『Return Road』, into which I had poured my post-retirement life.

The genre was open-world RPG.

It was famous for its charming worldview, high degree of freedom, and the high quality of its character narratives.

A great mage favored by the stars.

A barbarian warrior of the highlands who devours the abilities of his enemies.

A witch of demonic bloodline with an extremely, extremely great figure.

And other characters who stood out in their respective fields.

The player’s goal was to select one of them, cause them to regress, and allow them to live a new life.

The Nameless Hero was an additional character from the DLC newly released today.

“This has to be the Nameless Hero.”

The other characters were charming as well, but none of them had the impact of the Nameless Hero.

There was no reason to choose them in the first place.

Why? Because I had already tried them all.

I casually created a name and entered the actual character creation.

There was no need for customization or anything of the sort.

Since it was a game where the regressor was the protagonist, such a function did not exist to begin with.

All I could do was “Wow, pretty, cool!” or “What the hell does that even look like? Did a blind person design it?”

The Nameless Hero uncle was wearing a helmet so it was a bit unsettling, but since it was a male character anyway, it didn’t particularly matter.

“Alright. What’s the unique trait?”

The truly important part started now.

Confirming the unique trait.

In Return Road, various traits and skills could be obtained through play, but the unique trait possessed by each character could never be replaced.

Since it was not simply about performance but also the concept that defined the character, builds were usually constructed to match the unique trait.

“It already feels like it’s going to stink of shit, though···.”

Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations.

Given the concept, there was a high chance it would be a trait of no particular note.

The starting stats were also only slightly better than an ordinary person’s.

Click.

When I candidly clicked the mouse, the information appeared.

『Weed’s Tenacity: Growth speed increases each time hardship is overcome.』

It was a sentence as concise as the self-introduction.

I blinked, then brought my face close to the monitor.

Wondering if I might have misread it.

The moment I realized there was no problem with my eyesight, a curse automatically burst out.

“What the hell is this crazy bastard.”

A thrill ran through me.

The majority might think it was nothing special.

But I knew this was an absurdly broken trait.

The lack of any miscellaneous additional explanations was proof of that.

It was not like those despicable marketing tactics often seen these days, such as a 50% discount coupon (minimum purchase of 100,000 won, maximum discount of 500 won!).

“There’s no upper limit? For real?”

Originally, growth-type traits always had specific limits clearly stated.

If a character could grow endlessly without bounds, balance would be reduced to something worse than dog chewing gum.

Of course, this trait would have a penalty as well.

The initial growth speed would probably be slower than a snail with ALS.

Even taking that into account, this was a sufficiently good trait.

“Hell yeah. A hero is a hero after all.”

Dopamine surged.

It was already fun even though I hadn’t started yet.

My head was already filled with thoughts about the Nameless Hero’s build.

This uncle was absolutely not the type of material who would wither away as a weed.

He had simply been unlucky.

And even if he was a weed, so what?

Once you start raising it, it’s no longer a weed.

I was confident I could make a flower the size of a house bloom on this weed.

“Nameless Hero can go eat shit. I’ll turn you into a Famous Hero.”

Muttering that, I pressed the game start button.

Click. The screen changed.

The illustration that appears every time a new game is started came up.

This time it was the Nameless Hero, kneeling on one knee with a sword planted in the ground.

The edge of the sword was completely gone.

Dark green moss covered the shattered armor.

Suddenly, a small message window rose beneath the loading illustration.

【The End.】

It was a short but bothersome sentence.

I had no memory of seeing something like this with the other characters.

What was the end of?

Fwaaaaa-!

In the instant I held that question, a bright light burst forth from beyond the monitor.

***

“You maggot-like bastards! Get up right now!”

What woke the boy was an enraged shout and someone’s kick.

“Ugh!”

Thud! A dull impact struck his buttocks.

The small body was sent flying.

After rolling twice, the boy staggered to his feet.

The moment his wavering focus straightened, a giant shouting with veins bulging in his neck came into view.

“Just because the captain has left the fortress, don’t think you can slack off! You are slaves! Engrave the fact that laziness equals death into your brains like a tattoo!”

A club was gripped in one hand.

The thick, muscular forearm was as wide as the boy’s waist.

The boy, who still had not grasped the situation, groaned.

The place he had been kicked throbbed too much to dismiss it as a dream.

‘Captain? Slave?’

The boy slowly looked around.

He was standing inside a shabby wooden building.

The smell of rotten wood floated in the air. Morning light was seeping in through a small window.

At a glance, it looked like a building used as a barn or warehouse.

“Ugh···uugh···.”

“Another day has begun···.”

Around him, a dozen or so men were crowded together.

Ages were evenly distributed, from boys around his own age to white-haired elderly men.

All of them were wearing filthy rags and shackles, and it did not take the boy long to realize that he was dressed the same way.

Suddenly, the huge man flung open the barn door.

“Work starts immediately! Farming team, move out!”

“Move out!”

Then one middle-aged man raised his hand high and repeated the call.

The middle-aged man passed the giant and went outside the barn, and two men followed behind him.

How the hell did something this shitty happen?

Just as the boy was wracking his brain.

“Bran! What are you doing not going?”

A whisper came from behind.

When he turned his head, he saw a pale-faced blond boy.

He was looking back and forth between himself and the giant holding the club with a thoroughly frightened expression.

“···Ah.”

Then the boy’s eyes widened.

He felt like he roughly understood the situation.

Bran. It was a familiar name.

He shook his head vigorously to straighten his vision and ran toward the door.

“I’m late! I’m sorry!”

“Won’t you get your head on straight! Huh?!”

The giant panted and raised his club.

Fortunately, he was not beaten.

The moment he stepped outside the door, the interior of a fortress surrounded by massive walls unfolded before his eyes.

It was a familiar landscape. Familiar enough that he could draw a map if he only had pen and paper.

However, the place where he had previously seen this landscape was his own room with a computer.

The words the blond boy had said kept echoing in his ears.

“Bran, huh.”

It was definitely the name he had given the character.

In that way, the man became the Nameless Hero.

More precisely, the pitiful slave boy before he withered away as the Nameless Hero.

Bran, who had once again realized that this was not a dream, let out a hollow laugh.

“I’m fucked.”

His occupation was slave.

The name of the workplace was Blackstone Fortress.

It was the headquarters of the Crow Bandit Group, infamous in the area.