PRB | Chapter 1

The hero Arthur and his party successfully defeated the Demon King.

The evil army of the Demon King, which had plunged the continent into fear for nearly 10 years, was finally vanquished. As soon as the news of the Demon King’s downfall and Arthur’s victory spread, the Empire was drenched in a festive atmosphere.

The streets of the Imperial Capital were so filled with flower petals scattered by the citizens that there was no room to step, and people clinked glasses from midday to celebrate the victory.

Bands played their instruments energetically, determined to leave no quiet corner in the streets, and bards sang songs of the heroes.

Naturally, the first floor of “Eddie’s Inn,” located in a prime spot in the center of the capital, was a tavern, as per the fantasy cliché, and from noon, drunkards clinked glasses to celebrate the victory.

“For the hero Arthur!”

“For the mage Boram!”

“For the divine Augustine!”

“For His Majesty the Emperor!”

Those toasting with the names of the hero’s party and the Emperor gulped down refreshing beer and wiped their mouths with a satisfied “ah.”

“So, when is the hero’s party returning to the Empire?”

“It usually takes two to three months from the Demon King’s Castle to the Empire… Even though the base is quite damaged, if they keep teleporting, it might take about a month.”

“The hero’s return! It’ll be a festival for a while.”

It was a historic battle that determined the fate of the continent, no, humanity. The hero’s party won, and humans survived. Until the hero’s party returns, the Empire will remain in a festive mood, and when they return, a full-fledged parade and celebration will begin.

Even though the snacks hadn’t arrived yet, the excited men emptied their beer mugs and started chatting enthusiastically, placing additional orders.

“Did you hear? The holy sword Albatross fulfilled its role during the war and was destroyed.”

“That’s really unfortunate.”

“Yeah, I wanted to see it in person.”

“If it were intact, it would have been preserved in the Imperial Museum as a historic sword.”

Hearing their regretful voices, Eddie, the innkeeper, who was polishing glasses inside the bar, muttered to himself.

“It’s perfectly fine. The sword’s owner was Ketron, not Arthur, so Arthur wouldn’t have it.”

Of course, the men, unaware of Eddie’s thoughts, continued to chatter.

“I heard hero Arthur is having a grand wedding with Saintess Laila?”

“Of course! They promised to marry once they defeated the Demon King.”

“That never happened. Laila was more interested in Ketron… though Ketron didn’t seem to care.”

Eddie grumbled inwardly once again.

“Did you hear the Emperor announced he would bestow a countship on hero Arthur?”

“From commoner to an incredible success story. The nobles are in an uproar.”

“They expected him to be given a baronetcy at most, but a countship? They’re filing complaints every day, talking about dirty blood.”

“If not for the hero’s party, we’d all be dead at the hands of the Demon King’s army. How can they say such things!”

At that point, Eddie let out a long sigh.

“…This is a thankless job.”

Knowing all the inside stories was exhausting. Watching Arthur take all the glory alone was frustrating.

Annoying.

Eddie placed the glass he had been polishing pointlessly back on the shelf. Gerald, who was cooking energetically in the kitchen, poked his head out at just the right moment.

“Eddie, ‘that dish’ is ready.”

“Really? Good job.”

“No problem, as usual, just had to cook it. If you can handle the spiciness, that is.”

Gerald wrinkled his nose. It wasn’t an exaggeration; he coughed lightly, unable to hold back.

“Shall I take it?”

“This time, I’ll do it.”

Eddie chuckled and took the pot containing ‘that dish’ from Gerald.

Eddie carried the pot outside the bar. He walked confidently among the men who had been unknowingly saying things that irked him and placed the pot with a thud on their table.

The men, who had been chatting excitedly, were startled first by the sudden appearance of the innkeeper and then twice by the intense spicy aroma they had never encountered before.

“What, what is it, innkeeper? Suddenly.”

“What is this red stuff?”

Eddie replied with a nonchalant face.

“You asked for something suitable as a snack, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes…”

They had ordered something like that when they came in, expecting a fruit platter or fried fish, not a noodle dish with a smell so intense it was intimidating.

Moreover… wasn’t this a completely new dish?

Looking at the bewildered expressions of the drunkards, Eddie, the innkeeper, smiled brightly.

“It’s our inn’s special menu.”

“Special menu? Did you have something like that?”

Until a few days ago, there wasn’t. Eddie’s Inn was terrible as both a restaurant and a tavern, with a menu consisting only of fries, fried fish, fruit platters, and beer. It was a place with a clean atmosphere and a good location, so customers came and went, but no one expected quality snacks.

In the original story, the inn was mentioned only once, so there was no way it had a special menu.

This was a new menu recently added to Eddie’s Inn. It was undoubtedly a dish that had never existed in the Empire and probably never would again.

“What’s it called?”

The men, despite their suspicious glances at the intense aroma, showed curiosity about the unfamiliar dish. It looked quite appetizing with its glossy noodles, even though it seemed very spicy.

Gotcha, you guys. Eddie, hiding his mischievous intentions, smiled sweetly and replied.

“Fire Chicken Noodles.”

𐙚 𐙚 𐙚

Eddie… or rather, the man once known as Lee Junghoon in his previous life, found himself reincarnated as the innkeeper in a fantasy novel he had enjoyed reading until its infuriating ending.

“Crazy.”

The shock of waking up in an inn room and checking the mirror was indescribable.

With radiant silver hair and mysterious violet eyes, the face of a man who looked like he had a story was handsome but far from the familiar face Lee Junghoon had seen for over twenty years.

With a face like this, he could have been a successful model or actor. He could earn a fortune just by keeping his mouth shut.

But sadly, there was no chance of using that handsome face as an actor or model in this world. This was a damned fantasy world with an emperor and mages.

The novel he was reincarnated into, “The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Well,” had a title typical of modern fantasy novels, but its content was classic traditional fantasy.

“Seriously?”

There were a few scenes that made him chuckle while reading, but overall, it was quite enjoyable.

Lee Junghoon was the owner of a small, quiet convenience store in the corner of an apartment complex, with few customers in the morning.

With nothing to do when there were no deliveries, he often passed the time reading light fantasy novels, and the novel he read just before reincarnating was this one.

“The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Well.”

As the title suggests, it was a story where the hero didn’t hide his power.

And the hero mentioned here wasn’t Arthur, who was being praised by the citizens of the Empire.

It was the hero Ketron.

Chosen by the holy sword at a young age, Ketron embarked on an adventure, gathering a party to defeat the Demon King’s army, including the swordsman Arthur, mage Boram, and divine Augustine. After experiencing various events and growing, he finally defeated the Demon King and became a hero of the continent.

Up to this point, it was a splendid cliché growth story.

However, the author was undoubtedly obsessed with twists.

“Huh?”

Just before defeating the Demon King, the author made a significant change in the plot. To defeat the Demon King, a powerful spell had to be cast on his holy sword, Albatross, which would erase the existence of the person who used it.

In other words, everyone in the world would forget about the hero Ketron.

[I’ll hold off the Demon King’s army, so you guys cast the spell!]

Even as Augustine, the divine, stepped forward to block the Demon King’s army outside the castle despite being seriously injured, Ketron, Arthur, and Boram were casting the spell on the holy sword.

[Don’t worry, Ketron! Even if the world forgets, we’ll remember you!]

[Yeah, we’ll definitely come find you!]

Arthur and Boram spoke solemnly, and Ketron nodded.

Ketron, with the spell cast on the holy sword, charged at the Demon King, and after a long battle, he finally succeeded in driving the sword into the Demon King’s heart.

It was the hero’s victory.

And then, the grand finale.

Originally, even if the hero Ketron was forgotten, Arthur and Boram, who remembered him, should have found him and restored his glory as a hero.

But Arthur didn’t do that.

He claimed all the achievements of the hero Ketron as his own.

He said he lost the holy sword during the battle with the Demon King and claimed that he had defeated not only the Demon King but also all the commanders of the Demon King’s army that Ketron had vanquished.

Arthur, who was a decent swordsman but not chosen by the holy sword nor capable of defeating the Demon King, suddenly became the hero of the continent.

Mage Boram also didn’t seek Ketron. She remained silent about Arthur’s hero act and stayed by his side. Augustine, who lost his memory like everyone else, didn’t notice anything strange and returned with hero Arthur.

Thus, hero Ketron was forgotten.

“Are you kidding me?”

When Lee Junghoon read that part, there were only about 20 pages left. It was too short for Ketron to reclaim his glory and for Arthur to face the consequences. Moreover, it was the final volume!

However, instead of ending with “the hero was forgotten, and evil prevailed,” the author concluded with a scene where the injured, starving, and betrayed Ketron collapses in tears in front of an inn.

In the final moment, Ketron, as if driven by madness, vows to destroy everything in the world, his eyes flashing darkly, and the novel ends.

[The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Well fin.]

“…”

Lee Junghoon tapped the unresponsive next page pointlessly.

[This is the last page.]

[This is the last page.]

Of course, it was a futile act.

“Where does the author live?”

After enjoying the novel for days, to have it end with such a crazy finale! Like a roaring Godzilla, Lee Junghoon paced the convenience store, only to confirm through the author’s social media that there were no plans for a sequel or side story.

“Sigh.”

Feeling a deep sense of emptiness from the infuriating ending, he was organizing the convenience store items when he heard the door chime.

“Welcome.”

Reflexively greeting, Junghoon saw a man in a shabby hoodie approaching him directly. It was a vivid memory, thinking it was a new customer at this hour in a neighborhood store.

That was his last memory.

Suddenly, he felt a burning pain in his abdomen, and before he could fully comprehend the excruciating pain, everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself reincarnated as Eddie, the owner of “Eddie’s Inn,” located in the central square of the Reneba Empire’s capital.

“This is insane.”

And the Reneba Empire was the setting of the novel “The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Well” that he had been reading just before.