Trail answered,

“Uh, wait a second.”

Tap.

A screen floated up.

The numbers on it were shifting so quickly it made my eyes spin.

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 418,800

Adin Press / Total Fame: 1,105,000

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 575,100

Adin Press / Total Fame: 901,000

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 623,400

Adin Press / Total Fame: 791,000

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 699,800

Adin Press / Total Fame: 751,000

In an instant, my fame soared.

At the same time, Adin’s fame plummeted.

‘But.’

A difference of about fifty thousand.

At that margin, my rise came to a stop.

Adin’s fall also froze.

Trail let out a regretful sigh.

“Just a little more. Just a little bit further would have done it.”

“……”

“Damn it. So in the end, we couldn’t turn it around. That means the rain won’t stop.”

“……”

“Say something. Neril is reaching her limit keeping up Dor Ascané.”

Right.

Soon the magic will fade, and the illusion will vanish.

Humanity will return to reality, to the rain still pouring down before their eyes.

How deep will their despair be then?

Deep enough to send my fame, which had spiked for a moment, crashing back down again.

I closed my eyes briefly.

And when I opened them again, I had come to a decision.

“Impelium. Send me back.”

“Did a good idea come to you?”

“I don’t know if it’s good. But I think this is the only way.”

“I see.”

He smiled faintly.

Then waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away an annoying fly.

“I was just about to send you back anyway. You keep barging into my room, it’s tiring.”

“Haha. Sorry about that. See you next time.”

“…Did you even listen to what I just said?”

My consciousness began to fade.

Impelium’s voice came at the end.

“Still, it was quite an enjoyable time. Mide.”

When I came to, the first thing I saw was Lisel, stomping her feet and staring at the sky.

“Ahhh. The rain won’t stop.”

“Is it still not enough?”

“I don’t know. We can’t exactly measure Mide’s and Adin’s fame side by side.”

“And in the first place, it was only ever a guess that the rain would stop if their fame reversed.”

“Too late to be saying that now.”

Only Neril stayed silent.

She was still sweating coldly, focused on her spell.

Shff.

I stood up.

Everyone else was too focused on Neril’s magic and the torn-open sky to notice.

So no one realized until I was right behind her.

I leaned in and whispered in her ear.

“You have worked hard, Neril.”

“Kyaaah!”

“……”

“What the… Mide? You can’t talk to someone in the middle of a spell.”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. …Kyaaah!”

Is she really fine?

At Neril’s outcry, everyone turned to me.

Their expressions quickly grew awkward.

Lisel spoke.

“M… Mide, sir. Did you cough?”

“…Why the sudden formal speech?”

“It feels like… we have committed some sins.”

“Yeah. Whispering behind my back, leaving me out. I will make sure to scold you later.”

There was a light chuckle in my voice.

Serein, gauging the mood, asked carefully.

“Uh… you’re not as angry as I expected?”

“Because Neril is safe. The Branch of Corruption, huh. That was a brilliant idea.”

“But it was still gambling with Neril’s life. I’m sorry, Mide.”

“I understand. We have never been cornered this badly before. But.”

I turned my next words to Neril.

“Don’t do this again.”

“I told you, you can’t talk to me while I’m casting.”

“You and I both know a mage like you doesn’t get interrupted by that. Don’t dodge the point.”

“……”

“Neril. I’m truly grateful to you. And this time, I really did owe you a lot.”

“Mide.”

“But still, you must never go anywhere. I can’t lose you.”

Her brows twitched.

“…Did you know what my wish was?”

Rather than knowing, I had a strong hunch.

Neril’s body contained the vital energy she had absorbed from the people of Erenica family.

Her lifespan had already run out.

What kept her alive now was that stolen vitality.

“To live with me. A future where we walk together.”

“……”

“Am I right?”

Had she not used the Branch of Corruption this time, the laws of the world might have stripped away all that stolen vitality.

Then Neril, whose natural life had long run out, would have died on the spot.

Her eyes trembled.

So I was right.

I patted her shoulder lightly, then stepped forward.

“Let’s leave the past there. We went through a lot, but in the end, it all worked out. We even proved that the Branch of Corruption can deceive the laws of the world.”

“…It didn’t all work out. The rain hasn’t stopped.”

“You all went so far as to set this whole gamble up for me. I can’t just sit back and collect the fame.”

“Huh?”

“I will finish this.”

I stood before the communication orb.

And spoke quietly.

“The gap between my fame and Adin’s isn’t much now. One more step forward, and I can overturn it.”

“And how will you take that step?”

“Well. Before that, everyone.”

I looked around at my companions.

“I’m going to gamble, too. A bigger one than yours.”

“…?”

“If it works, I will drag Adin down from godhood completely. If it fails, it’s all over.”

“……”

“Are you okay with that?”

They were silent for a moment.

Xenia was the first to answer.

“It’s all right, Mr. Mide.”

“I might not be able to become a hero.”

“No. That’s a contradiction.”

“…?”

“You’re already a hero, Mr. Mide. A real hero.”

Her voice was clear, without a single shadow of doubt.

Then Offense spoke.

“This world has been at the mercy of Adin, Velosian, and Idria. If it weren’t for you, we never would have noticed any truth, and at best we would have been wandering around as Kaeld’s party members.”

“Offense.”

“Do as you see fit. You have the right.”

Next, Adwin added.

“And even if it goes wrong, there will always be another way. You have always been that kind of person.”

Lisel nodded.

“That’s right. Mr. Mide is someone who always inspires trust and faith. Isn’t that so, Mime?”

“Hmph. Well, I will acknowledge it. Besides, this is a golden opportunity to take revenge on the Celestial God. As if I would refuse.”

Serein said,

“As for me, well, the investor is always the sky.”

“Hehe.”

“And besides, when your savior says he is going to do something, who would stop him?”

I turned my head slightly.

It was to hide the satisfied smile on my lips, but Neril beside me caught it instantly.

She spoke with a gentle smile no less than mine.

“Do it, Mide. Whatever it is.”

----------------------------------------

Fisherman Norman had long since become Mide’s proud supporter.

It was hard to believe he was the same man who had mocked Mide at first.

About a week ago, the tavern where he had shared drinks with his friend had already been submerged and washed away.

The lord had mustered all available manpower to build a temporary shelter in the highlands.

Even there, Norman didn’t stop preaching.

“See, what did I tell you? Didn’t I say Sir Mide would make the rain stop?”

“I can think of more than one thing I would like to call you out on.”

“What, you got a problem with that?”

“Let’s put aside the fact you were insulting Sir Mide to my face just a week ago. Didn’t you yourself say just now that the rain stopping was only an illusion? That was from Sir Mide himself.”

“Ugh. T-that’s all the more reason we should be his strength!”

Norman argued so fiercely that his spit flew.

“Sir Mide said it himself. If we believe in him as the hero, the rain will stop. Not just as an illusion, but completely.”

“……”

“It’s all those southerners fault for doubting him. They are no help at all, no help.”

His friend thought it wasn’t his place to say such things, since just a week ago Norman had been ridiculing the northerners for believing in Mide. But he held his tongue.

Because in his heart, he agreed.

‘But even so… the fact that the rain still hasn’t stopped in reality means…’

Are we still lacking?

What more can we do?

It was then.

-Please, everyone, listen.

By now, Mide’s voice, carried through the communication orb, had become familiar.

Even in this near-disastrous situation, the orb had been kept safe by the lord’s command.

It was set up in the very center of the temporary shelter.

From there, Mide’s voice rang out.

-You are all looking up at a clear, open sky right now.

But once again, I must tell you, that is an illusion.

Do not go near the flooded lowlands or riverbanks. There is the danger of drowning.

Norman swallowed hard.

The content was grim, but Mide’s voice carried strength, wholly at odds with the bleak reality.

-This time, I have a confession to make.

Norman and his friend looked at each other.

A confession?

Over the orb came the sound of a deep breath, as if to calm himself before speaking a decisive truth.

At last, Mide said,

-Yes. I will confess. I am a fake hero.

Boom.

It was as if an unseen boulder had crashed down from the heavens.

-Kaeld never stopped claiming I was a fake.

Until now, I always refuted him one by one. But in truth, he was right, I am a fake hero.

Yet I have not been lying.

I know it must sound absurd.

So I ask you: from the very beginning, what is the standard that divides a “true hero” from a “fake hero”?

What is real, and what is fake?

You all know the answer.

Yes, the Celestial God.

Until now, to humanity, a hero was someone chosen through the oracle of the Celestial God.

In other words, a “true hero” was one established by the Celestial God.

Norman’s head nodded involuntarily.

He had even forgotten to breathe.

-In that sense, I am indeed a fake hero.

But as you all know, the Celestial God intends to annihilate you with a great flood.

He is stripping you of your homes and plunging you into suffering.

For one reason only.

Because you did not heed his words.

Tell me, does this sound like the act of a god who loves humanity?

Would a hero raised by such a being truly fight for mankind?

Gulp.

Someone audibly swallowed.

Their heartbeat thundered in their ears.

-I am proud, so proud, to be a fake hero.

Why? Because I do not need to bow to such a petty, filthy god.

Because I can kill the Demon King not with his borrowed power, but with my own.

And what about you?

If the Celestial God truly loved humanity, he would not be threatening people to believe in Kaeld as the true hero. He would have slain the Demon King himself.

But he did not.

Even at the moment of crisis, the Demon King’s descent, he rained down punishment, flooding the earth, just because humanity did not believe in him.

Yes.

Yes, that’s true.

Why does the Celestial God torment humanity so?

Their lives are already torment enough without him.

Every day is a struggle to survive.

And now his actions are like kicking a bedridden patient.

-People, I am a fake hero.

But at the same time, I am also the true hero.

If you define a hero as “one chosen by the Celestial God,” then yes, I am fake.

But… but what if a hero is “one chosen by humanity”?

Then, with your trust and support, wouldn’t that make me the true hero?

It is you who can call me fake, and it is you who can make me real.

So please, help me.

Please, believe in me!

We are so close now.

Just one more step.

If you put just a little more faith in me, then I can make the rain stop, not just in illusion, but in reality!

Every word from Mide struck the heart.

Swish.

Norman wiped away the tears that had started to fall.

-Soon, the illusion will fade.

You will once again see the sky full of dark clouds and hear the deafening rain.

Now you must choose.

Will you bow your heads to the Celestial God to the bitter end, and live as hostages to his power?

Or will you support a “hero chosen by humanity” and sweep away the storm with your own hands?

I beg of you.

Do not believe in me.

Believe in yourselves.

Believe that with your own hands, you can change the world.

The salvation of mankind will be mankind itself.

Click.

The light of the orb vanished.

There was a silence for a long time,

Then it came.

Shhhhhhh.

The cursed sound of rain returned.

Everyone in the shelter rushed outside.

The sky, clear just moments before, was now shrouded in black clouds.

Norman could no longer tell whether the wetness on his cheeks was tears or rain.

Slowly, he turned to face the crowd.

And in a firm voice, he said,

“Everyone. Now is the time to choose.”

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