The novel will be different from the manhwa regarding names, places and terms. Please be advised before reading.
Prologue
It all began, you could say, with a fantasy novel.
The title was “Roll On, Hero.” Despite its title that brought to mind console games, the content was a heroic saga about defeating the Demon King, and the tone was quite heavy. As I recall, the novel’s introduction went something like this:
The protagonist suffers a lot. He suffers even more because he’s a pushover.
Warning: frustrating content. The enemy is overpowered.
The conclusion is a happy ending.
“Adversity and hardship”—what delightful phrases when they don’t apply to oneself. Especially in a heroic tale where victory is guaranteed in the end.
As the author explained, the only overpowered character in this novel was the final boss, the Demon King. The protagonist, the Hero, was beaten by enemies, caught up in all sorts of adversities, and betrayed and deceived by those he trusted.
Even someone inherently good-natured would become the world’s biggest asshole after experiencing hardcore difficulty for 10 years, being betrayed by comrades as regularly as eating meals.
But this Hero wasn’t just any pushover. He was an ultra-premium pushover. Even after surviving near-death situations and grinding his teeth, vowing never to be fooled again, he’d immediately become a sucker again if someone showed him the slightest kindness. It was stupidly frustrating.
Haven’t you been fooled enough? That bastard will betray you soon too. Even as I snickered, the Hero gradually grew.
And in the conclusion, during the final battle, the Hero received the blessing of the God of Light, defeated the Demon King, and emerged victorious. This, despite his body being completely battered from getting hit and rolling around during the fight. In the end, it was an achievement the Hero accomplished alone, without any comrades who stayed by his side until the end.
What the hell? He actually won in the end. Look at his tenacity. Is this a story about luck and perseverance? With mixed feelings of admiration and emptiness, I casually checked the remaining chapters.
Excluding the afterword, there were three chapters left. The problem was that I purchased the next chapter expecting an epilogue. But this damn author, instead of writing the needed epilogue, uploaded a side story about the Demon King’s past as a spin-off.
The Demon King, born as an illegitimate child in some small country, grew up to be an awkward but diligent pushover despite suffering all kinds of abuse and violence from his half-siblings.
As a human, he suffered from the betrayal and schemes of friends, and finally, by the king’s order—his mother—he had to lead a bunch of worthless, ragtag knights to eradicate the demon tribe.
While reading, I thought the author must have a thing for pushovers.
The story ended with him awakening the demon blood of his father after a march that was practically suicide, feeding on despair and being reborn as the Demon King.
What the hell? They say rivals often resemble each other, and he’s a carbon copy of the Hero.
I clicked my tongue with discomfort since I don’t really like the “turns out he was a pitiful guy after all” narrative.
What is this? Apparently, the Demon King is a pitiful guy, and the Hero is a pushover. Every trusted comrade betrays him, the Hero’s fate is unclear, and the author doesn’t write an epilogue, preventing readers from glimpsing the world after the Demon King’s defeat.
Ah, author. Why don’t you tie up the loose ends? The damn king, worried about power distribution, dispatched assassins to deal with the Hero returning after defeating the Demon King.
Why did you include descriptions of the cleric comrade who stayed until the end gradually poisoning the Hero’s food? What about the human army invading the island of different species? Did all the non-human friends who helped the Hero die?
But that was the end of the content. The afterword was uploaded early last year, meaning the work hadn’t been updated for nearly a year.
Was it my fault for only choosing completed novels among works with over 300 serialized chapters? Should I have checked the afterword? Am I the sucker for only checking the ratings and recommendations to avoid spoilers?
Scratching the back of my head, I put down my phone. Whatever. It was still a good time-killer novel. I’ll read something else tomorrow. I think I fell asleep considering looking for fusion martial arts novels since I was tired of fantasy.
And the next morning, I woke up in the world of “Roll On, Hero.” And not even in my own body, but in the body of a skinny 7-year-old orphan.
* * *
I had only read a novel, but my world had completely turned upside down. This isn’t a metaphorical expression. It’s been seven years since I, previously an adult, opened my eyes in the body of a scrawny child.
When I look in the mirror, I see a rather handsome boy with pale blue-purple hair and yellow eyes. Though he’s a bit thin, dirty, and looks fierce with upturned eyes.
Seven years have passed since the possession, and now I’m 15 years old. In a way, it could be considered rejuvenation, or an opportunity to live a new life. If only the world I entered wasn’t the world of “Roll On, Hero.”
This world will be destroyed by the Demon King in about 10 years.
More precisely, humanity will all die off. The Empire where I currently reside, as well as the surrounding major countries, will all perish. Only a few small principalities in the Far East and island nations inhabited by different species will survive.
I may sound like a one-eyed prophet spouting ominous predictions, but this is the reality I face. With only about 10 years of life left, I have no money, no family, and even my future is unclear. The more I think about it, the more bleak my prospects seem, and I sigh faintly as I exit the hut.
What does it matter if destruction comes in 10 years? If I don’t work right now, I’ll starve to death tomorrow.
Anyway, possession or not, when a person is cold and hungry, they naturally deal with the immediate issues first. After trying everything and not finding a way back, as the flame of hope I had been holding gradually extinguished, I learned how to survive in this world.
Since the hut village grandmother who had picked up and raised infant me passed away, I’ve always been called Purple, Swallow, Youngster, Errand Boy, or Snatcher. While I have plenty of nicknames, I don’t have a surname due to my lower-class origins.
From the time of possession until now at age 15, I’ve been an orphan, a pickpocket, and a fairly clever and tight-lipped errand boy from the back alleys.
“Hey, damn Purple. Is your name Zaher?”
Early morning, as soon as I left the hut, a freckle-faced guy suddenly confronted me. My name is indeed Zaher, but there’s no reason for Freckles to ask about my name.
No one calls me Zaher except the hut village grandmother who cared for me before I entered this body and the lower administrator who came to collect the poll tax this year. Just as I don’t know Freckles’ name, he shouldn’t know mine either.
“Why do you ask?”
“Looks like you are Zaher… Someone’s looking for you. What trouble did you cause this time?”
“I’ve caused plenty of trouble. But nothing recently that should have been discovered.”
“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary matter. Even Crazy Ox was trembling before the people looking for you. Anyway, if you run, the whole hut village will be razed, so just wait quietly.”
“I’d feel less wronged if I had actually done something. Anyway, tell Crazy Ox I have no intention of running away, so don’t worry.”
What Freckles told me about someone looking for me sounds concerning. Crazy Ox behaved docilely? The Crazy Ox who manages this area is a reckless guy who threatens even lower administrators. Plus, he has enough strength to avoid being beaten despite his threats.
If the person looking for me were a mid-level administrator, Crazy Ox would indeed tremble, but such people don’t personally come to dirty and dangerous back alleys.
Freckles snickers at me, suggesting I might disappear without a trace after today. I shrug and shake my head. I could understand if I had done something wrong, but I haven’t done anything lately that could get me in trouble…
“From the atmosphere, they seem like professionally trained knife fighters. Did you pick a nobleman’s pocket?”
“Don’t you know I’ve been behaving myself lately, helping at the temple? Move, I need to go work.”
“I know that, but who knows if you’re pretending to go to the temple and planning to run.”
“What are you getting at?”
I was on my way to work, but seeing Freckles block me means today’s work is a bust. Damn, the temple is picky about hiring, and if I miss work without notice, they won’t give me work again…
I roughly scratch the back of my head and try to recall what I’ve done recently. No matter how I think about it, I haven’t done anything lately that would bring knife fighters looking for me.
“They were openly looking for a kid named Zaher with blue-purple hair in this area, and they knew your characteristics well enough to find you. Still, one of the kids under Crazy Ox, who was cared for by the hut village grandmother, promptly answered those guys, thinking they knew your name.”
“I bet Crazy Ox went ballistic?”
“He did go berserk about them telling outsiders what should only be told to him. Of course, when those guys weren’t looking.”
Knowing the future is useless when it’s not related to me. This is fucked up. Should I just run?
No matter how hard I rack my brain, there’s no good solution. The information I have from “Roll On, Hero” can only be useful in about 10 years.
Honestly, I don’t know if I should be thankful that the Demon King hasn’t appeared in my situation, or if I should consider myself unfortunate for having entered a novel but knowing so little useful information. I roughly rub my face with both hands while contemplating.
What am I thinking? Of course it’s unfortunate. Absolutely unfortunate.
“Why are they looking for someone who lives hand to mouth? Damn it.”
I bow my head and look at my pale left hand with rough calluses. I only have three fingers left on my left hand now. Two were cut off two years ago when I was caught stealing bread.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
