I'm a veteran.
That means I've served in the military.
And the unit I was stationed at was some godforsaken building stuck in a mountain valley.
I had no idea that the place I'd end up in after the random assignment would be such a shitty place...
That's when I realized.
All those bug stories you hear about the military are actually true.
Like how centipedes and pill bugs crawl all over the guard posts, or how there are literally millions of flying insects in the bathroom, or how there's a moth the size of a human fist called Tinkerbell...
That kind of stuff. Surprisingly, the place where I served included all three of those things. Especially in summer, it was literally hell on earth.
Thanks to that, I built up some immunity to bugs.
And I thought I'd never experience a place worse than that.
I thought so, but...
Bzzzzzzzz!
Slap!
I wake up to the sound of wings buzzing near my ear.
I swing my palm as quickly as possible, but only end up hitting my own cheek. To think that a mere insect could outspeed the Hero... These bastards might actually be stronger than the Four Heavenly Kings.
Half-asleep, I quietly mutter.
"Damn it..."
What kind of bug was it this time? A simple flying insect? Or a fly?
Moths, bees, mosquitoes, dipterans, flying ants, ladybugs, and more.
Various possibilities appear and disappear in my mind.
But honestly, none of that matters.
What matters is that, damn it, I've been woken up six times already because of these bug bastards.
I'd like to burn them all to ashes, but... knowing that would only draw more attention, I had no choice but to endure.
Still, I was tired enough that I somehow managed to fall asleep.
"Hero, wake up, Hero."
Well, Camilla did wake me up about an hour later for guard duty.
"Urgh..."
I somehow drag my leaden body up from the bed.
It felt like I could fall asleep the moment I closed my eyes, but I had to force myself to stay awake.
Now I'm destined to be stuck in one place for two hours, keeping watch on our surroundings.
*To think I'd be doing this again...*
I thought I'd never have to do this again after leaving the military.
Indeed, no one can predict how life will turn out. Who would have thought I'd fall into another world and become a Hero?
"Don't mess around and keep a good watch."
"Yeah, yeah."
I nodded halfheartedly and sat down on a nearby rock.
Camilla gave me a sidelong glance before entering the tent.
She didn't forget to activate the protective magic that Lily had set up nearby.
That protective magic had two purposes.
One was to keep bugs out, and the other was to keep me out.
I guess they felt uneasy just leaving me outside while they slept...
It was quite offensive treatment, but at least since it was installed, we didn't all have to stay awake together.
In the past, there were many cases where we all couldn't sleep because they were secretly watching my every move.
Let's consider this a good thing.
Thinking that, I decided to find something to kill time. Anyone who's ever stood guard in the early morning knows that time moves incredibly slowly.
I needed to do something to pass the time.
Fortunately, something came to mind right away.
*Status Window.*
As I said it inwardly, a translucent window began to flicker before my eyes.
----------
Name: Luke
Lv: 74
[Skills]
Authority of Sacrifice Lv.MAX, Mana Control Lv.1, Mana Blade Lv.4, Heavenly Martial Body Lv.MAX, Noble Sacrifice Lv.MAX, Bright Style Swordsmanship Lv.3, Regeneration (Replica.ver) Lv.MAX, Combat Focus Lv.1...
----------
To be honest, not much had changed compared to last time.
My level remained the same, with only a few skills leveling up or being added.
"Hmm..."
I fell into thought as I looked at it.
*I should really decide on a class soon.*
Even though we've made it to one of the Four Heavenly Kings' castles, I still haven't decided on a proper direction. It's way overdue.
It's really time to choose a job tree.
Looking at my current skills, most of them are concentrated in the swordsman path.
With Combat Focus, Regeneration, and Bright Style Swordsmanship, I could certainly become an excellent swordsman.
But merely being excellent isn't enough.
*Something's missing.*
While swordsman is definitely a good profession, it's far from enough to clear the game. Moreover, the difficulty has been significantly increased this time.
I need something more than just being a swordsman.
A plus alpha that would work against anyone.
Many possibilities came to mind.
I could follow the Saintess and learn Holy Arts to become a Paladin, or learn defensive magic to become an invincible tank.
Or I could find a mage and become a magic swordsman or magic lancer.
Whatever the case, these were all professions I'd encountered up to the Demon King.
There's plenty of potential.
But despite all that.
There was something bothering me.
*Quest.*
This time, instead of the Status Window, I mentally called up another window. Actually, I had received a quest last night.
A quest that seemed to guide my journey, providing a clear objective.
[QUEST!]
+
You've entered the castle of the Insect King, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
That means you intend to subjugate the Insect King soon.
To support your future endeavors, I've prepared a small gift.
The answer lies beyond.
Defeat the Insect King.
Quest Reward: Insect Arts
+
When I first saw this, I couldn't help but be shocked.
The part about defeating the Insect King was fine. That was what I was planning to do anyway.
But the quest reward made no sense.
"Insect Arts, huh."
I didn't expect them to hand out another Four Heavenly Kings skill like this.
Seems the Minotaur wasn't the last one. And since it doesn't specifically mention "Replica," it seems I'll be getting something close to the original.
Up to here, it's fine.
No, it's actually great.
No matter what anyone says, Insect Arts is an overpowered skill, and it was Valkan's main technique.
I might not be able to use it as well as him, but it would definitely help in future battles.
But there was one small, minor problem.
"This is Dark Magic..."
Dark Magic.
A type of magic disliked by most people in this world.
A chaotic collection of all kinds of strange, bizarre, and destructive magic.
Our party members, in particular, went beyond disliking it to outright loathing it. That's actually why I didn't choose it when selecting skills.
But now the system is trying to give it to me... which is quite troublesome in many ways.
Yet I couldn't refuse it because its performance was too good.
In short, it had become a skill that was like a chicken rib—too good to throw away, too troublesome to keep.
*I wonder if I can hide it.*
I don't know.
I still had a lot to do. I needed to level up, keep an eye on the heroines' conditions, and find hidden pieces in Chunghoe Castle.
In the end, I had no choice but to postpone the decision about my job selection again.
"Hero, you can lie down and sleep now. It's time to switch."
"Uh, huh?"
While I was pondering, planning, and keeping watch, my shift had already ended.
Tap tap.
The Saintess tapped my shoulder with slightly sleepy eyes.
I glanced at the clock.
3:50 AM.
"There's still about 10 minutes until the shift change, though?"
"Is that so? I must have misread the clock. Well, since I'm already up, I'll just take over. Go inside and rest."
"...If you say so."
I didn't bother refusing and went inside.
I was tired, after all. Dying to sleep.
I felt like I could fall into a deep sleep the moment I lay down.
And so, lying in my sleeping bag, I fell into a deep sleep...
...
.
Bzzzzzzzz!!!
"Ah, damn it, seriously!"
Though I did wake up again in the middle.
*
The next day dawned.
Everyone in the group looked exhausted, as if none of them had slept properly. Their hair was disheveled, and dark circles ringed their eyes.
Like me, they must have woken up dozens of times, as their faces were full of varying degrees of irritation.
Of course, they didn't show it outwardly.
In that state, we fought monsters just like yesterday.
Slime covered our bodies, and insect carcasses stuck to that slime. The Saintess used purification magic to remove it, but the unpleasant feeling remained.
The second day passed like that.
*
Third day.
Damn these fucking bug bastards. I couldn't sleep again.
The small sound of wings buzzing near my ear was enough to drive me neurotic.
"We need to install some mosquito nets..."
Lily muttered in an exhausted voice.
I nodded vigorously at her words. We needed some countermeasures.
That day too, we killed monsters, and the Saintess purified us.
And so it passed.
*
Fourth.
The mosquito net installation was completed.
Not for my tent, but only for their tents...
It seems making a mosquito net in one night by myself was too much.
Everything from material procurement to production was problematic.
And it didn't seem like they would help me either.
Thanks to that, I had no choice but to sleep among the flying insects again that night...
*
Fifth.
While I was making a mosquito net, the Saintess came to help.
She started sharing the know-how they had developed yesterday.
Right, there were steel silkworm cocoons here. They must have woven those together. Thanks to that, I was finally able to make a mosquito net that day.
So we fought monsters, and the Saintess purified us.
I was able to sleep a bit more comfortably that night.
*
Sixth.
[Combat Focus level has increased!]
[Congratulations!]
[You have gained the Multitasking ability!]
Good news after a long time!
A skill level-up and a new skill.
Perhaps because I was constantly fighting monsters rushing in from all directions, I gained something related to that.
Multitasking broadened my field of vision.
It allowed me to focus on one enemy while also paying attention to other areas. In other words, it's an ability specialized for one-versus-many situations.
Thanks to that, I could slaughter monsters more easily.
*
Seventh.
[Congratulations!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your soul's caliber rises another level!]
Finally!
My level went up!
Damn it, the level that didn't increase even after killing the Minotaur finally went up!
"It really takes forever to level up."
Anyway, I'm now level 75. To be honest, I didn't feel much difference.
First, stats increase, and when it's time, the level increases automatically. So there's almost no actual stat increase.
Still, it feels good.
I just accepted it as it was.
But as they say, good news is often followed by bad news. Sure enough, something happened the next day.
*
Eighth.
"Let me go! I'm going to blow these bastards up!"
"Calm down, Lily! If you do that, we'll all be crushed to death!"
Lily's mosquito net had been breached.
The bugs had gnawed through it with their teeth.
It also meant that my mosquito net didn't have much life left either.
I let out a small sigh.
"Sigh..."
And I barely used it for a few days. How are we going to get through this?
It's only been a week so far.