MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer - Chapter 51: The Demon King's Song

I, Maehara Maki, someone who couldn’t make any acquaintances or friends in high school, finally had someone I can hang out with outside of school. A girl.

Her name was Asanagi-san. The boys in my class called her ‘The class’ second cutest girl’ behind her back.

On Fridays, she would refuse her best friend, Amami, ‘the cutest girl in class’ invitation just to hang out in my house with me.

Together, we played games, watched some movies, read some manga while eating junk foods like pizza and hamburgers, and chugging cola without a care in the world. To others, we may seem sloppy, but it was a precious, secret time together for Asanagi-san and myself.

As a corporate drone, Ashu was transported to another world, hoping to live a life free from societal pressures.However, he quickly found that even marrying a village girl would cost him half of his wealth!Fortunately, just when things were looking grim, his childhood sweetheart—who had trained for many years—arrived to fulfill their childhood marriage pact. Not only that, Ashu activated the Crit Refund System, which allowed him to earn rewards by binding with beings rated over 90 points![Binding with the Witch Childhood Sweetheart, 10x Refund on Magic Potion, Host Gains: Forbidden Water (S)][Binding with the Forest Elf, 10x Refund, Host Gains: Infinite Stamina and Infinite Recovery][Binding with the Demon Huntress Nun, 20x Refund, Host Gains: Demon Slayer Holy Crossbow (SS)][Binding with the Imperial Princess, 100x Refund, Host Gains: Sigh of the Heavenly Father Spear (SSS)]Ashu: “The refund multiplier increases as our relationship grows? I’ll definitely have to dive deeper into this!”

Who’s a hero, really?Is it someone willing to risk everything for the greater good?Someone who forgives easily, no matter the wrong?Someone always ready to lend a hand when trouble shows up?Or maybe it’s the one who’d sacrifice one to save all?If that’s what makes a hero… then why do I have his power?Why am I the one with the system that was meant for him?I’m not a hero. I’m not even close.I wouldn’t throw away everything for some noble cause.I wouldn’t give up what matters to me, not my life, not my goal, just to play some role.Because I didn’t come to this world to save it.I came here as an extra, not the protagonist.I’ve read the story—Hero’s Vow.It was your typical chosen-one tale.Orphaned child, gets a cheat power, makes some friends, defeats the demon lord, yadda yadda.Predictable. Familiar. Boring, even.But then… after what happened to me…I woke up as Kai Lorne.Just a background character.A commoner with no ambition, no purpose—just an extra meant to a die a brutal death in Chapter 3.His death wasn’t even for himself. It was just there to spark the hero’s rage.But here’s the twist.I didn’t die.I got the hero’s power.I got the system.The cheat. The Narrative Override.The one thing that lets you alter the story itself. The power only the author of the said story would have.And now, I’m stuck asking myself the same question, over and over:If I’m not the hero…Then why the hell do I have his power?-----------------------------------------additional tags: Transmigration, Slice Of Life, Mana Cultivation, No-yuri, No-NTR, Genius MC, Hidden Identity and Power, Magic, Weak to Godlike, Story Alteration, Cheat system, Demons, Dragons, Beast girls, Swords, Tragedy, Grim dark.