I Became the Descendant of My Favorite Character

Chapter 4: Descendant of a Hero (4)

[You have consumed the heart of a beast of a higher level than your own.]

[‘Heart Predation’ evolves!]

A message echoed in my mind.

In Tune World, I would have seen it on a monitor, but in this world, they say a voice like this resounds when you acquire a tune.

I had only heard about it from others, but this was my first time experiencing it.

A hidden piece triggered when consuming the heart of a beast at least three ranks higher than your own level.

A one-time-only mystery had activated.

[Through the effect of ‘Heart Predation,’ you acquire a tune.]

[You absorb the characteristics of the consumed beast.]

[You can now use the target, Shaber’s ‘Rush Lv.1.’]

My body, which had felt on the verge of collapse, began to change.

The wound on my chest healed in an instant.

The Dragon Heart, as if delighted by the new power, pumped my heart, lending me strength.

Meanwhile, the Shabers had closed in.

Even if I dodged the one charging at me from the front, the one preparing [Rush] behind it would get me.

Instead of retreating, I pressed forward.

The claws of the charging beast tore into my shoulder, sending a searing pain through me.

In the blink of an eye, I reached the one preparing [Rush] and swung my wooden sword with all my might.

Crack!

Without the Dragon Heart, I wouldn’t have pierced a Shaber’s hide, but the tune I gained upon arriving in this world made it possible.

After smashing one’s head, I used [Rush] again, driving my wooden sword into the armpit of the beast behind it.

A dull sensation coursed through my hand.

The one waiting for an opening couldn’t react in time, its spine shattered.

The beast charging at me suddenly veered in surprise.

In that moment, I saw an opening.

Without hesitation, I drove my wooden sword into its head.

Once. Then again.

I swung my sword as Adjak had done, as I had practiced countless times.

Crack!

Each time, the sensation of shattering a beast’s skull transmitted fully through my hands.

Before I knew it, only three remained.

The problem was what came next.

I could feel the seams of the wooden sword Gerd had given me loosening.

A training sword.

Perhaps it had lasted this long only because Gerd had bought a decent one.

Even with the Dragon Heart’s support, my body was enduring the recoil of [Rush], but the wooden sword couldn’t.

One more swing.

Two at most.

This sword wouldn’t withstand more than that.

The Shabers, perhaps sensing their own limits, didn’t rush in recklessly.

They bared their teeth and swiped their claws, pressuring me.

I dodged their attacks as best I could, watching for an opportunity.

Then, one Shaber stepped back, as if preparing [Rush].

Before it could retreat, I charged, smashing its head and grabbing its fang with one hand.

Unable to withstand the force amplified by my speed, the fang came loose.

I swung both the wooden sword and the fang at the beasts approaching from behind.

Thud!

Crunch.

Yelp.

With the sound of a skull breaking, the wooden sword shattered, and I drove the fang into one’s eye.

Roar!

‘Damn it, too shallow.’

I failed to finish off the now one-eyed beast.

As it roared and charged again, I tried to use [Rush], but a wave of dizziness made me stumble.

The strain on my body, which I had been enduring with the Dragon Heart’s help, hit me all at once.

‘Of all times, now…!’

Its gaping maw loomed before me.

Just before it could bite my head off, a flash of light gleamed behind the last Shaber.

A bundle of aura shaped like a blue crescent moon.

“Tayon…”

Tayon of the Blue Moon appeared with the moonlight.

* * *

Tayon of the Blue Moon.

The only one from District 18 to rank in the top 10 of the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, and a current member of the Twelve Swords of Adjak.

An unprecedented figure from a lower autonomous region who rose to a high rank.

Like other high-rankers, Tayon’s rank wasn’t publicly disclosed.

Within the autonomous region, he was considered to be at least late 7th-rank or 8th-rank.

But Tayon was contemplating retirement.

He knew better than anyone the hopes of the people from the lower autonomous regions.

To not betray those hopes, he worked tirelessly every day.

Yet, despite all his efforts, Tayon had come face-to-face with his limits.

‘No matter how much I struggle, I’m the lowest of the Twelve Swords. I can’t reach beyond that.’

The twelve knights upholding the Adjak family.

They were united under the name representing the Adjak family.

If the family’s elders handled administration, the Twelve Swords of Adjak symbolized the family’s strength.

But recently, Tayon had begun to feel the weight of the title “Twelve Swords.”

New talents were rising, and his progress had slowed.

He decided to retire before clinging to the title made him disgraceful. That was Tayon’s resolve.

Leading the Coming-of-Age Ceremony was the perfect stage for retirement.

It allowed him to visit every autonomous region, starting from District 23.

Busy with missions and training, Tayon had never properly thanked those who supported him.

He vowed to greet everyone and help where he could.

With that resolve, he set out to lead.

District 18, where he was born and raised, held special meaning for him.

Since he had returned to his hometown, he wanted to provide more direct help.

That’s why he joined the hunt for the Shaber habitat in the Gullok Mountains.

Even though a Shaber was a Grade 4 beast capable of wiping out a small village, it was no match for Tayon, who had spent his life near Myeolji after the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

Upon seeing the Shabers, Tayon leaped high and landed in the center of their pack like a bombardment.

Each time his sword flashed, the beasts screamed.

But then the problem arose.

Faced with an overwhelmingly strong opponent, the Shabers began fleeing down the mountain.

If even one escaped, innocent people could be gravely injured.

Sure enough, Tayon heard someone fighting Shabers not far away and quickly rushed toward the sound.

There, he found him.

A boy wielding a single wooden sword, facing beasts far stronger than himself.

A boy with eyes like his own from long ago.

Tayon watched the boy’s fight, captivated.

The boy’s combat… stirred strange emotions in him.

‘A child from District 18? He’s already manipulating mana.’

He could feel the surrounding mana being drawn into the boy and he wielded it seamlessly.

Second-Rank.

Considering his young age, it was an impressive talent, but not extraordinarily rare.

Tayon himself had been at that level at that age, and it wasn’t uncommon among Adjak family children who trained from a young age.

But Tayon was astonished.

The sheer amount of mana being drawn into the boy was immense.

It seemed almost impossible for such a small body to handle.

And one more thing.

‘Even in a dire situation, the tip of his sword doesn’t waver. That’s not something talent alone can achieve.’

The boy’s body, though not bulky, looked well-trained.

He must have spent countless hours in practice.

The boy fought the Shaber pack steadily, not flashily.

Tayon saw his younger self in him.

Just as a Shaber’s long fang was about to pierce the boy, Tayon snapped out of it.

He drew a bundle of blue aura.

A sharp moonlight shot from his greatsword, cleaving the Shaber about to devour the boy in two.

As the boy collapsed, losing consciousness, he muttered one thing.

“Tayon…”

The boy’s condition, eroded by demonic energy, was severe.

Tayon placed a hand on the boy’s chest, worried.

As his eyes widened, the boy murmured softly.

“My sword. My wooden sword…”

Tayon picked up the boy’s wooden sword from the ground.

Then, hoisting the boy over one shoulder, he ran toward the village.

* * *

“Father!”

How long had I been out? As soon as I opened my eyes, a chilling premonition hit me, and I called for Gerd.

But my body wouldn’t move well.

No wonder, after performing Heart Predation twice and fighting a pack of Shabers.

It was only then that I realized I was lying on a fairly large bed.

In Gullok, only someone like the village chief would have a bed this size.

‘The chief wouldn’t lend me his bed, would he?’

As I continued my thoughts, I felt a cold gaze from beside me.

Turning my head, I met Tayon’s eyes.

“Tayon?”

The memory of what happened before I collapsed came back vividly.

The crescent moon-shaped aura that felled the last Shaber.

He was the first high-ranker I’d seen since coming to this world.

The high rank, a qualification to become a ‘Tuner,’ was a realm even in the Tune World game that was hard to reach.

Meeting the hero of the autonomous region filled me with awe, but there was something more important.

“Tayon, have you seen a man with a bushy beard? Someone injured by a Shaber’s attack?”

At my words, Tayon’s gaze shifted elsewhere.

Following his gaze, I saw Gerd lying on a bed like mine.

A demonic energy neutralizer was attached to his body.

A rare and expensive item, seldom seen in the Gullok Autonomous Region.

Tayon must have provided it.

Realizing the great help we’d received, I bowed my head to him.

“Thank you so much for saving my father.”

“Why were both father and son wandering the mountains?”

That was something I was curious about too.

Why had Gerd, who rarely left the village, gone to the Gullok Mountains?

Why had he slathered himself with scent-removing cream, as hunters or thieves might?

I didn’t know why Gerd had gone into the mountains, so I couldn’t say.

Rather than making up a lie, I needed to tell the truth. The truth about myself.

“My heart is different from others.”

Tayon, who had brought me here while I was unconscious, would have noticed.

So I confessed calmly.

“But my body is the same as any human’s. To survive, I had to eat even a Shaber’s heart.”

“That wouldn’t have been easy at your level.”

“Yes, you’re right. But to survive, I had to do something. If I survive, I can grow stronger, and if I grow stronger, I can do anything.”

Tayon let out a small hum.

“…Are you participating in this Coming-of-Age Ceremony?”

“No, I’m only 15, so I’m not on the ceremony list.”

Tayon narrowed his eyes, looking me over.

What he said next was something I never expected to hear from him.

“Join the Coming-of-Age Ceremony. I’ll write you a special recommendation.”