MTLNOVEL Chapter 0 - My Friend Died. But I'm Not Sad.
They say the fate of a prince who couldn’t become king is miserable.
Even in the Joseon Dynasty, the king’s brothers were subjects of strict surveillance.
This was because they had the right to succeed to the throne.
Royal family members were severely executed even if they were merely implicated in treason.
There were cases where royals with no actual connection to rebellion were unjustly killed just because they were almost supported by coup forces.
That’s how threatening and frightening the existence of siblings was to the king.
They were spares who could take his place at any time.
So the royals had their hands and feet cut off to prevent them from holding any power, and had to live as mere figureheads.
If they showed any interest in power, it was just right to arouse the king’s suspicion.
—Just like me.
“Faust, why are you studying magic?”
Anyone transported into a game would be interested in magic that doesn’t exist in the real world. I was the same.
But whenever I read a magic book, someone, especially Serena, the cunning magician trying to get on the hero’s good side, would appear and take the magic book away.
“Didn’t you hear what the hero said? You’re forbidden from even reading magic books! Just live quietly while feeding the horses!”
“……..”
Would anyone want to come to another world just to take care of livestock?
And not even cute animals like dogs or cats, but horses?
And horses that would be ridden by the person I hate the most?
“Hey Faust. Is my precious steed Palos healthy?”
The hope of humanity, the hero.
My friend who was transported to this world with me while playing a game.
The guy who had the rather countrified name of Kwak Dong-su in Korea is called by the grand full name of a nobleman here, something like Lucy von Letlereani.
I was transported along with my friend while playing a game.
They say there’s a tradition here of serving those who come from another world as heroes.
Well, that’s fine up to that point.
The problem is that for various reasons, my friend was chosen as the hero, and I became a nobody.
Honestly, there wasn’t a single area where I was inferior to Dong-su in Korea.
Be it looks, height, money, or academic background.
But after coming to this world, our relationship was thoroughly reversed.
The difference between a hero and just an ordinary person was indescribably huge.
A hero is a being revered as a symbol of peace, politically and religiously. Even kings and popes show respect to heroes.
They say that even if you do nothing, donations come in on their own, you become the center of attention at social parties, and marriage proposals from powerful families keep coming in.
In contrast, I, who was neither a hero nor anything, was just a naive youngster who didn’t know the ways of the world.
“Oh my. To think two were summoned… This is unexpected. What should we do?”
That was the first thing the king who summoned us with a magic circle said.
In short, he was perplexed.
Needless to say, the number of heroes is limited to one.
The one chosen was, as mentioned earlier, Lucy von Letlere… no, Kwak Dong-su.
But why am I, who failed to become a hero, still in this other world?
It’s “just in case.”
In case Kwak Dong-su dies, they need a replacement hero.
For example, if a king in a kingdom dies without siblings or children, the situation becomes very difficult. Because there’s no next king, the country falls.
Therefore, leaving behind a bloodline was considered a very important duty for kings.
I too, as someone who came from another world, held value as Kwak Dong-su’s spare. That’s why they didn’t expel me and kept me in the capital.
However, it seems this didn’t sit well with Kwak Dong-su at all.
“Ah, honestly, can’t we just get rid of this bastard? What do you all think?”
“Agree! Serena agrees with the hero’s opinion!”
“I agree too!”
“Hahaha! We don’t need Faust! If he had any sense, he’d leave on his own!”
Even people who initially treated me as a guest quickly sided with the stronger party when the hero showed signs of trying to ostracize me.
Well, from Kwak Dong-su’s perspective, he probably wouldn’t appreciate the existence of someone who would take his place after he died. It would just be annoying.
Having a friend, not even family, receive your death benefit? That’s infuriating.
And so, a bullying campaign that was utterly absurd from my standpoint began.
The meals provided by the palace were stopped, and no one wanted to be my friend.
It seemed a rumor had spread that if anyone got close to me, the hero would bully them.
A hero and an ordinary person.
Even the neighborhood dogs knew which side was more beneficial, so they barked at me as if I was an easy target when I passed by.
Even if I wanted to go home, there was no way.
In the end, I fell to the position of cleaning up the horse dung of the friend who was ostracizing me, just to earn my keep.
“Hey, dung beetle!”
Dung beetle.
That was the nickname Kwak Dong-su used to call me.
“Palm.”
When I held out my palm, Kwak Dong-su stepped on it and climbed onto his horse. The bastard was using me instead of a stirrup.
“Your expression is sour, you little dung beetle.”
“You… Have you completely forgotten that we were friends?”
“Oh, were we? But this isn’t Earth, you know?”
“You bastard. They say to know a person’s true nature, you have to give them power. Is this your true nature?”
“So what are you going to do about it? You loser who couldn’t even become a hero.”
“You never know. If you die on this expedition, I might take your place.”
“Tch. Idiot.”
Unlike me, who was grounded in reality due to harsh labor, he was immersed in a game-like mentality due to the excessive treatment he received. He seemed to believe that since he was the hero, he could defeat the Demon King as easily as killing monsters by pressing a few buttons in a game.
“No, wait a minute. This is treason against the hero, right? Wow, shit, I’m the light of humanity, and you’re insulting me? No, you just spoke as if you want me to die, didn’t you? This won’t do, you fucker.”
Before leaving for the expedition, Kwak Dong-su gave an order to everyone in the capital, even to the king.
It was to write letters about what they thought of me.
He added that he, as the hero, would censor all those letters.
By the way, the fact that Kwak Dong-su disliked me was so well-known in the capital that there was hardly anyone who didn’t know about it.
That day, our house was so flooded with letters filled with insults that there was no room to step.
—Of course, I didn’t touch the palace at all.
However, I didn’t die for disobeying the hero’s orders either.