A Regressor's Bucket List

[A notification from ‘The Order's Headquarters’ of a new Hero-class personnel joining the war.]

“…Hmm?”

The meaning of the sentence that appeared was simple.

Just as it was written, a new Hero-class personnel had joined the battle here at the <Unknown Corner (★★★☆☆)>.

One might ask what was so great about one more Hero joining the war.

But Christopher Christian was currently wrestling with a severe personnel shortage.

For him, who was already agonizing over how to fill the vacancies left by the Hero-class personnel who had died, the news was like rain in a drought.

For the past four days, all notifications about Hero-class personnel had been death notices; there hadn't been a single instance of additional reinforcements joining the fight.

…On top of that.

Just a moment ago, he had been praying for a 4-Star Hero to fall from the sky.

It hadn't been long since he'd requested support from The Order's Headquarters, and even with a flight Artifact, it would have been difficult to arrive this quickly.

Considering when the support request was made, this was a speed that would only be possible if they had departed *before* he discovered the Knight-rank and sent the request.

In other words.

This wasn't a response from The Order's Headquarters to his request, but rather a positive, rarely experienced variable on the battlefield.

From his perspective, he couldn't help but hope that the heavens had truly granted his wish.

“…Could it be that the Messiah has truly answered my prayer……”

…Of course, it was hard to call it a rational expectation.

If prayers were enough to be answered, they probably would have sent support long before the Heroes started dying to the Knight-rank.

And so, as he touched the status window that had appeared to check the details, Christopher Christian suddenly furrowed his brow.

Tiring-!

“……?”

The reason was simple.

<Summary Information>

■Name: Seo U-jin

■Rank: Hero (★☆☆☆☆)

■War Experience: None

■Specialization: Close Combat

The summary opened through the status window contained information that was quite far from his expectations.

“…A 1-Star.”

What would it feel like to expect a premium steak set, only to open the gift box and find it full of canned tuna? It was a similar feeling.

He had received something, so he couldn't say he was displeased, but compared to what he had hoped for, it certainly wasn't something to smile about.

Of course, a Hero was a much more useful war asset than a soldier.

They were worth a hundred men, and depending on the Hero's level, they could even take on Named Monsters.

However, a 1-Star was only that much.

Capable of fighting a Named Monster and several other magical beasts at the same time.

It was difficult to expect much help from them in fighting the Demon race.

Especially a rookie Hero with no experience in the War against Demons was generally considered manpower for fighting soldiers rather than Demons.

Throwing an inexperienced person into a Demon hunt wasn't very helpful, and in some cases, they could even be a hindrance.

So, to put it another way.

It felt like about ‘one hundred’ soldiers had been added as reinforcements.

It was a welcome sight in a drought-like situation, but rather than a relieving rain, it was more like a single drop of water, insufficient to even wet his parched throat.

With just this, it was meaningless to try and devise a new strategy, let alone change the tide of the war.

“…Heh.”

Emptiness filled the heart that had been full of expectation.

Tiring-!

Still, new manpower was new manpower.

Now that he was here, a deployment location had to be assigned.

Without much thought, Christopher Christian opened the strategy map and scanned the situation.

He decided to deploy the new personnel to the front line that was currently being pushed back the most.

[The Commander of the 33rd Division, ‘Christopher Christian’, requests the deployment of the Hero (★☆☆☆☆), ‘Seo U-jin’, to Sector 4.]

…Completely unaware of what consequences his thoughtless decision would bring.

Sseup-

Seo U-jin. Seo U-jin.

“…But why does that name sound familiar?”

***

[You have joined the Anti-Demon Front, <Unknown Corner (★★★☆☆)>.]

[You will be deployed to Sector 4.]

Along with the system notification, a map unfolded, showing my destination and current location.

“…Sector 4, huh.”

It wasn't an area where the Demon race or Knight-ranks appeared.

Just looking at the shape of the front line, it was a concave area, clearly struggling just to maintain its position.

It seemed that instead of using me as a Hero-class asset to control Demons, they had decided to deploy me here, considering me more like a veteran regular soldier.

Well, it wasn't bad.

One-versus-many battles were the type I had the most experience with, and it was perfect for a warm-up before the real game began.

Besides, even if I was deployed here, where I moved afterward was up to me.

A Hero was in a position to carry out a request from the Guardian Cross Order, not in a vertical relationship where they received commands.

- “Block them!”

- “These crazy magical beast bastards…”

- “Aargh!”

As I slowly walked closer to the indicated direction.

The voices that had sounded like distant murmurs became clear.

The ‘clang-clang’ of clashing steel blades struck my ears.

It meant the battlefield was near.

It had already been four days since the subjugation began, but the battlefield was still heated.

This was unusual.

Typically, battles to define borders would repeat cycles of intense fighting and lulls, often dragging on.

But subjugation battles, which were waged with the goal of 'conquest', didn't often drag on like this.

“…It’s about to break.”

In fact, as was evident from the strategy map, the situation on the front was so bad that it seemed they were fighting a defensive war rather than a subjugation.

The army of magical beasts had already pushed right up to their doorstep.

Despite being not far from the temporary barracks where the 33rd Division's Commander was likely located, the situation was so dire that magical beast corpses were already strewn about.

I had thought I should at least greet the commander in charge, but it seemed even that would be difficult.

Pfft-

[The ‘Guardian Cross Order’ bestows a blessing upon the battlefield of the War against Demons.]

[The blessing, ‘Cross Starlight’, is applied to you.]

[Stats related to ‘Recovery’ and ‘Defense’ are increased by 10%.]

A translucent white energy descended upon my head, and the Constellation's blessing took effect.

“…Shall we go?”

Paaat-

As I kicked off the ground and charged forward, the soldiers forming the front line looked somewhat bewildered.

- “…A Hero?”

- “There was no news of reinforcements…!”

It seemed question marks were popping up in their heads at the sight of unscheduled reinforcements.

Of course, I didn't have the leisure to explain everything.

They were busy in their own way, and on the battlefield, the only thing to distinguish was friend from foe.

As long as what was charging up from behind me wasn't an enemy, there was nothing more to confirm.

The dense line of soldiers blocking the charging army of magical beasts opened a gap, making way for me.

They didn't know exactly who I was, but they must have seen the Hero's medal pinned to my chest.

‘…It’s convenient at times like this.’

The identity of the magical beasts revealed through the gap was a familiar sight.

A faint smell of sulfur and a red maw.

A black hound about three times the size of a normal dog.

Hell Hound.

Commonly known as ‘mutts’.

They were a type of ‘standard-issue’ magical beast, the most common sight on the battlefield.

A species characterized by its unique speed and low intelligence, they were the Demon King's Army's disposable meat shields, always at the forefront when a battle began.

Originally, a single Demon King's Territory is inhabited by a single species, but these standard-issue magical beasts existed in any territory near a battlefield.

Of course, that didn't mean they were to be taken lightly.

While each individual was weak enough to be underestimated, they specialized in overwhelming with sheer numbers.

As the name ‘Hell Hound’ suggested, the ones with red maws would throw their lives away just to get a single bite in, and that one bite would leave a burn.

Of course, with the ‘Cross Starlight’ blessing active and wearing armor somewhat specialized for it, I wasn't so unprepared that a single bite would take me out.

The problem was that it was never just once.

Due to the nature of the battlefield, you couldn't get treatment just for being bitten once, so the fight continued, and repeated burns on the same spot were bound to cause real damage.

If you were unlucky enough to get bitten about three times, the wound would become a severe burn, serious enough that the area might need to be amputated due to necrosis.

…Well, of course.

That didn't apply to me.

Paaat-

Swish-

I sliced off the head of the first Hell Hound I saw through the gap and leaped into the center of the battlefield.

“…Ah! Hero-nim!”

“My god……”

Gasps were heard from all around.

They must have seen the color of my badge and realized I was a 1-Star Hero.

However.

“…It’s been a while, you mutt bastards.”

My experience with these mutts wasn't so low that I needed to be worried about by mere soldiers.

If I was right.

Across my past and present lives, there was probably no one who had killed as many of these bad-breathed bastards as I had.

One-versus-many.

That was my specialty.

***

Swish-

Slicing the necks of countless Hell Hounds, I moved into the heart of the enemy formation.

The voices of concern heard from across the battlefield faded away by the time the number of severed Hell Hound heads surpassed thirty.

Slice and a step, slice again and another step.

How many times did I repeat this?

Before I knew it, the Hell Hounds that had packed the area were gone, and not too far away, I saw the figure I was looking for.

A giant, roughly three times the size of an adult man, with massive hands and feet.

And in its right hand, the symbol of a Knight-rank.

A Dark Sword.

‘……’

It went without saying, but I hadn't come here just to hunt some magical beast riffraff.

If that were the case, I would have just had a blast killing magical beasts in my originally assigned area; there would have been no reason to speak to Ludwig separately to leave my assigned sector and come here.

I came here because I knew from my past life's memories that a ‘Knight-rank’ was here.

I knew that back then, the appearance of an unidentified Knight-rank had given the commander in charge quite a hard time.

And that Knight-rank.

- “Kuaaack!”

Not far away, it was devouring soldiers whole in its grasp.

Hoo-

I took a deep breath.

And kicked off the ground again.