"The Hero is here" were the words Shi Xiaobai was waiting all along for.
In fact, at the final moment when he failed during his second go, he had heard the same words. At the moment after Little Fatso was tortured to death by Sahadun, and with Sahadun walking over to him, he had slowly closed his eyes, but this line travelled into his ears—The Hero is here!
But following that, the fiery voice of "Make your choice, youth!" rang in his head. Hence, before he had the chance to catch a glimpse of the late Hero, time had returned to the paused state with the choices.
"If I can hold on till the Hero arrives, maybe we can be saved?"
This thought became the faith Shi Xiaobai needed in order to choose "Save Little Fatso" for the third time. To hold on until the Hero arrived, he needed to think of ways to stall for time.
However, after experiencing two failures, Shi Xiaobai knew very clearly that he was extremely weak in front of the calamity fiend. He couldn't stand the slightest bit of torture, hence, to stall for time, bluffing or putting on airs was impossible for success.
Thankfully, Shi Xiaobai had received two very important pieces of information during his second failure. The first was naturally that a Hero would come. The second was that the calamity fiend's name was Sahadun.
Hence, Shi Xiaobai thought of the most likely method to succeed—Flattery. He used the most exaggerated words and phrases to praise Sahadun, in an attempt to gain its trust, and at the very least, divert its attention.
The effect was beyond Shi Xiaobai's imagination. He never expected the calamity fiend to be so susceptible to praise, allowing Shi Xiaobai to let out a sigh of relief in his heart. However, every word of praise he said to Sahadun made him recall of the tragic cries under the sunset.
The more he praised Sahaun, the angrier he felt. He could not suppress the sorrow in his heart, as if his tears would instantly flow out of their floodgates, as though all the negative emotions were stirring in his stomach, making him want to barf all he could.
However, Shi Xiaobai knew that not only was he not to express his true emotions, he had to put on a show of fanatical devotion. This was very, very difficult, but Shi Xiaobai had managed to do it.
After obtaining Sahadun's "trust", he had to first and foremost save Little Fatso's life. Shi Xiaobai was very dumb, so he used the dumbest of methods, which was also the method of filling a victim with the greatest despair.
Only the Heavens knew how much he wished that all of this were a dream when he kicked Little Fatso. When he shredded the hope in Little Fatso's eyes word after word, he had hoped so badly that he would immediately wake up from this painful nightmare.
In fact, he should have given Little Fatso a much worse beating, for only then would he be able to eliminate Sahadun's wariness. But damn it, he couldn't. After a single kick, he was already on the brink of collapse. He was playing the role of an evil character, the ones he had always hated on, but he longed in his heart to transform into a hero of justice who could put Sahadun down in one punch.
Dreams were beautiful, but reality was very cruel. Shi Xiaobai had done his best. He had even racked his brains to produce a long incantation that made no sense in the end, causing Sahadun to lose all of its patience. And with that, Shi Xiaobai was no longer able to stop him.
Shi Xiaobai, who was on the brink of despair, still had the last glimmer of hope that he would await the Hero's arrival. Hence, with this last shred of hope, he began to shout loudly.
The Hero really came.
Shi Xiaobai tried his best to resist crying, because he knew now was still not the time for him to cry. The moonblade-wielding Hero might have been able to block Sahadun's sickle-bladed arm, but the battle had only just begun. The most important question was whether the Hero could defeat the calamity fiend.
"Keep it up, Hero."
Shi Xiaobai clenched his tiny fists tightly, as he moved carefully towards Little Fatso in the sandpit.
...
...
The Hero, who blocked Sahadun's strike with his blade, dressed in a peculiar fashion. He was covered in a tight yellow jumpsuit with red gloves, boots and belt. He also wore a white cape behind him. Even stranger was his head. It was completely bald and could even reflect light off it.
It was a bald hero dressed like a generic superhero.
The atmosphere at this moment was similarly peculiar. After Sahadun's right sickle-arm was blocked, its body began to violently tremble. Its deep blue eyes slowly turned crimson red, but not only did it not retract its right arm, it did not even seem to have any intention of doing anything with its left arm.
Even after the bald hero leisurely withdrew his blade, Sahadun still remained in his frozen state—right arm swinging half-way up—like a statue.
"How do you want to die? Chopped to death with one slice? Or smashed to death with one punch? Or..." The bald hero spoke as his keen pair of eyes that were filled with murderous intent suddenly went blank when he put away his blade. His originally tensed facial features softened, and he momentarily looked kind of harmless.
"This...This Demon..." Sahadun spoke with a stutter as his body trembled even more intensely, as if the baldy in front of it was extremely terrifying.
"This Demon, this Demon doesn't want to die!" Sahadun suddenly roared and twisted its body to escape in the opposite direction. The way it fled looked like a dejected dog.
Shi Xiaobai stared in astonishment. He only saw the bald hero raise his blade and aim for the fleeing Sahadun who was about to disappear from sight.
"Don't tell me he can kill the calamity fiend with an air slash?" Shi Xiaobai watched with excitement. He looked at the superhero-dressed bald hero with eyes filled with admiration.
At this moment, an anxious girl's voice appeared in the distance.
"Leave its head for me!"
When the bald hero heard this, he scratched his head and sheathed his blade into his scabbard. Shi Xiaobai was dumbfounded as he looked at Sahadun, who was about to disappear from his field of vision, with an anxious heart.
Suddenly, an unforgettable scene for Shi Xiaobai appeared.
He saw that the calamity fiend, which had tortured him endlessly—the Sahadun that was so powerful that he had no way of resisting—had been sliced into numerous tiny pieces in an instant like a piece of tofu cut numerous times.
Shi Xiaobai was entirely unable to see what had happened, but at that instant, Sahadun fell apart, turning into a mess of minced meat.
At the same time, from the edge of his vision, a young girl slowly walked towards them.
As it was quite a distance away, Shi Xiaobai was unable to see the girl's face clearly. She was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. She had white skin and her impressive figure was telltale.
"So cool!" For Shi Xiaobai, this was a moving scene that he would never forget in his entire life.
However, he did not focus on her for long. Instead, he crawled up, while enduring the pain in his abdomen, and then walked towards the sandpit.
"We did it, Little Fatso.. We survived.. We.."
The walking Shi Xiaobai slowly came to a halt as he saw Little Fatso retreating backwards in fear. His gaze at him was filled with dread.
"I've hurt him.. It's all because I am too weak.. If I had been stronger, I would have had a better way of protecting him." The joy in Shi Xiaobai's eyes slowly diminished.
"Sorry..." Shi Xiaobai said to Little Fatso. His voice was filled with regret as he deeply lowered his head.
"Big Brother.." Little Fatso spoke in a sudden, crisp voice.
Shi Xiaobai looked up. That rotund face that was a convoluted mess of tears, snot and sand looked like an old soccer ball under the sunset's illumination, appearing light, yet heavy.
"Do...Heroes exist?" Little Fatso asked in a whisper.
"Yeah!" Shi Xiaobai nodded his head strongly.
"Big Brother, you aren't lying to me?"
"Yeah!"
"Am I a member of...Xiaobai's Hero Squad?
"Yea!"
"Mommy, Little Rat, Little Lei, all of them won't die?"
"Yeah!"
"Big Brother, can I call you...Big Brother?"
"Yeah!"
"Wa...Wu Wu Wu~"
The tiny body leaped up from the sandpit and landed in a similarly small embrace that was just enough to accept him.
In the park at dusk, Little Fatso hugged Shi Xiaobai, bursting into tears.
Shi Xiaobai, who was fighting back his tears, could no longer hold them back. Two streams of tears poured out from his eyes.
"Wa~"
At this moment, this young, thirteen-year-old child let out a heart-wrenching cry.
The simple dialogue, of two children hugging each other while crying their hearts out, seemed like it could be composed into a tear-jerking story after some arrangements. The cries that mixed bliss and grievance sounded like the most beautiful musical notes and the most elegant script.
The bald heros' eyes flashed with a trace of gentleness as he sighed.. He walked towards the girl who was complaining on her way here.
"Tsk, to think that it's just an F-Class calamity fiend. This tiny bit of points isn't even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth."
The young girl was around 15–16 years old. She had a delicate face and had skin as white as snow. She had a ponytail behind her that made her look pretty and charming. Dressed in a white t-shirt and black shorts, her chest was propped up with a full curve, while her slim, straight legs had a graceful curve, showcasing her perfect figure.
Hearing the girl's complaining, the bald hero smiled gently and asked, "Little Riko, what's your ranking now?"
Riko furrowed her brow slightly. "Teacher One-Pun, you can't add the word 'Little'. Please call your student—Riko."
One-Pun's dull eyes flickered with a faint amused look, as he nodded, saying, "Alright, Little Riko."
"Hmph!" Riko responded with an unhappy snort. However, she did not fuss over the matter any further, presumably because she had failed several times before.
Riko recalled the question One-Pun had just asked and lowered her head to look at something that looked like a watch on her wrist. She immediately sighed in a helpless manner, grumbling, "E-Class Hero. Ranked 321. Ahhh, I'm going crazy soon!"
Following that, she looked pitifully at her bald teacher and said petulantly, "Teacher One-Pun~ Help me capture a S–Class calamity fiend and let me get the last hit. Please, pretty please~"
One-Pun said in a serious manner, "Don't do that. It's sickening."
"Tch!" Riko's face immediately turned gloomy as she said hatefully, "Others don't even have the chance to see me act coy. Teacher One-Pun, you really don't know the blessings you have. Tch! You deserve being single your whole life."
One-Pun rubbed his round and shiny bald head in silence. He turned to look at the two children who were still crying.
Riko followed One-Pun's gaze and instantly saw Shi Xiaobai. At first glance, she determined that Shi Xiaobai was not a Psionite. Secondly, she determined that Shi Xiaobai had no serious injuries.
"Wasn't he just given a fright by a calamity fiend? He isn't seriously injured, so is it necessary to cry so sadly? Tsk, I hate such cowardly and crybaby boys the most." Riko, who was in a bad mood, was never one to mince her words.
"That child is very brave." One-Pun, who had his back facing Riko, said. When he said those words, his expression was no longer a dull one, but of a rare seriousness.
Unfortunately, Riko did not get to see One-Pun's expression. She retracted her gaze and said, "Let's go. We came out here to look for people, not to comfort a coward. Those people from [Creation] have apparently found a Psyker. While for us, [Annihilation], we have yet to even obtain a rookie with an A-Class evaluation."
One-Pun acknowledged her words as he continued staring at the two children not far away.
Riko stamped her feet and said angrily. "Hurry up, you big baldy teacher! As a member of [Annihilation], [Annihilation]'s honor is our honor. We cannot lose to [Creation] even if it's the annual recruitment in terms of quality! We have to find a rookie that can completely outdo [Creation]!"
Riko noticed One-Pun ignoring her as she said with a sigh, "[Creation] has got a Psyker this year, while we don't even have one. On this trip out, we have to find a rookie Psyker. Although Psykers were one in a million and would be snatched by various organizations the moment they were awakened, finding one that has slipped through the net is even harder than winning the lottery. I will absolutely not give up easily!"
As Riko spoke, she thought of something that suddenly got her very emotional. "Heavens, why is my life so miserable? Why must I make a bet with that devious bitch!? I absolutely can't lose! Psyker, oh Psyker, if you were to appear in front of me, I'll give you my first kiss!"
At this moment, One-Pun turned around with an extremely strange expression.
"What's wrong?" Riko looked at One-Pun's expression with an ominous feeling.
"That child." One-Pun pointed to Shi Xiaobai who was not far away.
"Ya?" Riko was puzzled.
"He is the Psyker you want." One-Pun explained.
Riko was instantly dumbfounded.
...
...
Shi Xiaobai was crying his heart out. As a thirteen-year-old, he had led a peaceful, carefree but boring life in the other world called Earth.
Having suddenly crossed over to this different world with a similar level of technology, but with a completely different culture, he was initially filled with excitement. Especially when he had learned of the existence of Heroes and calamity fiends from passers-by, making him long for the future.
However, the short experience of less than an hour had made him suffer a torment that felt as long as a century.
He was initially determined to save Little Fatso from the beginning because of the A-level reward, as well as the guilt in his heart. After all, his lies had given Little Fatso false courage.
The second time he chose to save Little Fatso again was because he did not realize that the choices he faced could result in time resetting. He had thought of the first death to be a dream.
And for his third choice, he had struggled for a long time in his heart. His rationality had told him that he should choose [Escape], but the soccer ball that hit the calamity fiend told him of a reality that—when he encountered danger—Little Fatso did not choose to escape. In addition to the information of knowing that a Hero would arrive, as well as acknowledging that he could repeat it all again in the event of death, Shi Xiaobai, who lacked courage, chose [Save Little Fatso] with great difficulty.
However, he was afraid the entire time. If he were to fail a third time, would he still have the courage to pick [Save Little Fatso] a fourth time?
"I would have escaped, I would definitely have chosen escape. I, Shi Xiaobai am already a mortal."
Just having these thoughts made Shi Xiaobai cry incessantly, only until a fiery voice rang in his head.
"Absolute Choice completed. Congratulations to the Host for obtaining an 'A-level reward'—'Psy awakening'."
Shi Xiaobai immediately felt completely relaxed. The terrifying nightmare was finally over. Although he did not know what it meant by 'Psy awakening', he knew that an A-level reward couldn't be too bad.
For some reason, the relaxed Shi Xiaobai felt like crying even more. Hence, he hugged Little Fatso and cried. He cried incessantly as if he was running all the tears in his lifetime dry.
Suddenly, Shi Xiaobai noticed that the bald hero and the invincible girl were walking towards him from a short distance away.
"Badump! Badump! Badump!"
Shi Xiaobai felt his heartbeat race, as the invincible girl was a person who had easily sliced Sahadun into a million pieces.
"If I can learn a move or two from her, I, Shi Xiaobai might also become a Hero!"
With this thought in mind, despite not done with his crying, Shi Xiaobai raised his finger and pointed towards the girl walking towards him, proclaiming loudly, "Girl, hurry up and sign a contract with This King!"
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