"AHHHHHHHH!"

The first sound to erupt was a collective scream!

After a long scream, they came to their senses and realized they weren’t dead.

"Holy shit..."

"I’m not fucking dead?"

"I’m still alive!"

"Fuck! Wait, wasn’t I just sliced in half? Is this a dream? Is it a dream?"

They chattered noisily.

Reborn after death, it was as if they were waking from a dream.

In a daze, they confirmed the fact that they were alive.

Soon, at the prompting of others, everyone’s gaze turned to Kumironi.

The moment they saw Kumironi.

THUD!

They instantly dropped to their knees and kowtowed, their foreheads hitting the ground hard!

"The gift of Rebirth! We have no words to thank you!"

"The gift of Rebirth! We have no words to thank you!"

...

They prostrated themselves before Kumironi, revering her as a deity.

Lu Cang could finally understand why Iz had said that with Kumironi around, it was hard to even die.

’She really is... absurdly strong.’

Even though Lu Cang didn’t know much about the Healing Mage Profession, he knew that the ability to resurrect the dead was definitely a rare one in this world.

Especially for a man like Lu Cang, who valued survival above all else, resurrection was practically his dream Divine Skill.

"This is as far as I can go." Kumironi’s face showed not relief, but helplessness.

"There are still some people... they’ve been dead for over twenty minutes."

Iz said, "This is already very good."

"At least you saved many people."

"I was the one who got back late."

Chi Cheng added, "But there were other cities along the way. You wouldn’t just watch them burn without helping..."

Iz fell silent, not refuting the point.

In truth, the vast majority of people had been resurrected.

Most of them had been killed by the aftershocks of the recent battle between Lu Cang and Nie Ye.

Only a small number of people had died before that.

Even two of the Level 5 Adventurers had been brought back.

But the other two had died earlier.

They couldn’t be resurrected.

Moreover, Kumironi had also reached her limit.

She couldn’t resurrect people indefinitely; the number she could bring back was limited... Reviving so many had already pushed her to her daily limit.

Even if she tried her hardest, this was about all she could do.

...

The day’s events had indeed been mentally and physically exhausting.

Lu Cang fell into a deep sleep.

He didn’t know how long he had slept.

When he woke up, the sky was dark.

Lu Cang vaguely remembered that just as he was about to fall asleep, the sun had already been close to setting in the west.

’A whole day?’

Lu Cang looked at the intricate mechanical clock.

The date was displayed at the bottom.

September 13th.

A full day had indeed passed.

This month’s Harvest Moon had been early; the Scroll phenomenon had already appeared in the sky on August 29th.

And the day he had gone to find Pari, the day the Beast Tide invaded, was September 12th—yesterday.

Lu Cang got out of bed.

[Profession — Level 2 Mage / Level 1 Death Priest]

’So it really wasn’t a dream.’

Everything he had experienced yesterday was still vivid in his mind.

He still had 200,000 Dead Souls stored in his body. Before returning to the hotel, Lu Cang had already told Iz, Kumironi, and the others everything that had happened.

Kumironi had checked his body for him.

She found no Spiritual Contamination.

As for the Death Priest Profession and the matter with Meiser, Iz and the others had told him it wasn’t too late to discuss it after he woke up.

He had only changed to this Profession under special circumstances.

It was an understandable course of action.

After getting their reassurance, the weight on his mind was finally lifted.

Because of that, he had slept incredibly soundly.

He woke up.

He washed up.

Taking off his shirt, he noticed his muscles had become very defined.

If he weren’t a bit on the shorter side, he could already be considered a handsome, well-built man.

He glanced down.

’Hmm, even though I’m still young, it’s developing surprisingly well.’

He went downstairs.

Iz appeared in the lobby.

’Ah, this familiar feeling. It’s really nostalgic.’

"You’re awake?"

"Yeah."

"Everyone’s waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?"

"You’re the man of the hour today."

"Me?"

"Haha, of course, it’s you. You saved all of Raine Town."

"Haha... right." Lu Cang’s smile was a bit awkward.

’Actually, all I was thinking about was running away.’

’When I was fighting that monster whose name I didn’t even know, my first thought was to run.’

’If that thing hadn’t chased after me, I would have already escaped to who knows where.’

Lu Cang thought for a moment, then said, "Even without me, the Magic Array you left behind would have held. After you guys dealt with that monster, Kumironi could have still resurrected them."

But Iz shook his head. "If it weren’t for you, the King of Exotic Insects would have killed everyone in town."

"Even Kumironi can’t resurrect that many people..."

"Besides, it takes time to gather the bodies."

Lu Cang said, "Oh, so that’s how it was."

’So that thing was called the King of Exotic Insects?’

’It’s true. Although I don’t know why it was so fixated on fighting me, because of that, it didn’t go after the townspeople.’

’The few who were innocently caught in the crossfire were all revived by Kumironi, too.’

’Even though my only intention was to save myself...’

’...by a strange twist of fate, I really did become the hero who saved everyone.’

"Lu Cang."

"Hm?" Lu Cang looked up at Iz.

"I don’t know what you’re thinking, and I don’t know what was going through your mind back then."

"But at the very least, you saved everyone."

"You accomplished something I couldn’t."

"Regardless of what you think of yourself, you are the hero of Raine Town."

’Iz...’

’Your words are actually kind of touching, you know?’

’Not that I was blaming myself or anything. I just think there’s a slight touch of humor in becoming a hero like this.’

’Besides, I’m definitely still going to claim the credit I deserve. If they didn’t give it to me, I’d probably curse them out a bit.’

The two of them arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild.

The moment they walked through the door...

...they were met with a deafening roar!

"Lu Cang!"

"Lu Cang!"

"Lu Cang!"

Chi Cheng was standing on a table, raising his cup high. "It’s a victory banquet!"

"Let’s hear it for the great hero of Raine Town! For Lu Cang the Savior!"

’Damn it...’

’Whose victory banquet is this, anyway?!’

’Why are you the one standing on a table and shouting?!’

"All expenses tonight! Will be paid for by our hero, King Lu Cang!"

"WOOOO!"

"Long live Lu Cang!"

"King Lu Cang! King Lu Cang! King Lu Cang!"

A vein bulged on his forehead.

’Hey—I’ve never heard of the hero having to foot the bill!’

But before Lu Cang could even refuse!

A cup of liquor was already at his lips.

"The hero is in position! Let’s get this party started! WOO-HOO!"

"Let’s revel!"

"Celebrate the victory!"

CLANG! The sound of cups clinking rang out!

Chi Cheng slung an arm around Lu Cang’s shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "You treat this time. Next time, I’ll take you somewhere nice. Just don’t let Kumironi and the others know."

’Hey... Chi Cheng, you don’t mean...?’

Cough.

’It’s not that I want to go, necessarily, but since I’ve come to an Otherworld...’

’...getting to know the local customs should also be an essential part of the experience.’

The atmosphere instantly reached a fever pitch!

It seemed one day was more than enough for these Adventurers, who lived on the knife’s edge, to recover their spirits.

’Fuck!’

’Wait!’

’Chi Cheng, why are you taking off your pants?!’

’Does a victory celebration require you to take off your pants and swing them around on a table?!’