“Hero, is this… all there is?”
Shari looked down blankly at the outstretched hand of the brown-haired man.
Three jelly-like crystalline objects of a dark, grayish color.
‘A lowest-grade monster essence…’
If he went to the field next to the village, there would undoubtedly be several slimes hopping around.
With a weapon, even a seven-year-old could defeat them.
“Does this (1)X have no conscience?”
Shari shifted her gaze from it and glanced at the brown-haired man, Jack, who avoided her gaze with a guilty expression.
“You know it too, Shari. The recent drought has dried up the prey.”
“Hero. Due to the drought, the herbs have also withered, and potions are short in supply…”
“Ah, but when there are more monsters, I’ll give you more than the value of the potions! Everyone is struggling to survive nowadays. Please understand a little, okay?”
“But…!”
“A new request came in. I will pay you later, so please bear with it this time!”
While they were arguing, Jack’s large hands began to sweep up the dozens of potions on the table and stuffed them into his pockets.
“Hey, you can’t take this many! And weren’t you only borrowing health potions? Why are you taking the attack potions, too?!”
Shari rushed over, frantically crossing the table.
However, Jack, who had gathered the necessary potions while avoiding her protests, shoved three [Lowest Grade Monster Essence] into Shari’s hands.
“The reward for this request is quite large. We’re supposed to capture a hundred low-grade to mid-grade monsters! How can you possibly complete the request without attack potions, Shari?”
“You still haven’t paid off the debt from last time!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll pay it off and you’ll be showering me with kisses soon enough! Until then, get rid of those drab clothes and dress up nicely.”
As Shari rushed forward, the burly man quickly restrained her with his large body and tried to remove the hood of her robe that she was wearing tightly.
“Ouch! What are you doing?”
However, the hood clung to Shari’s head and wouldn’t come off.
She screamed as her neck snapped back.
Surprised, Jack involuntarily let go and spoke with an embarrassed expression.
“Sorry. Did they use glue or something on that damn hood? Why won’t it come off?”
“That’s because you Heroes are always trying to take it off!”
Her temper flared and she roughly swept her hand through her hair without realizing it.
But, whoops!
The hood that hadn’t come off despite Jack’s pulling was flung back.
Under the bright sunlight, her luscious pink hair was exposed.
“Ha… With such beauty, why do you go around looking like a dark witch?”
Jack let out an enchanted breath as he scanned her short figure.
Shari was startled and quickly put the fallen hood back on.
She spoke nervously while quickly hiding her face, her teeth chattering.
“And, Hero, you can’t even handle capturing low-grade monsters. Forget about the kiss…”
“We’ll talk about it after the request is over, Shari!”
“Just a moment, Hero! Hero—!”
He had taken everything he needed and had his fun with her.
Jack scurried away from the Apothecary without a second thought, leaving her with no chance to catch him.
Judging by his swift movements, he must have used the stolen acceleration potion.
“Hero! Jack! Jack—!”
Shari chased after him, only to stop dead in her tracks at the end of the alley.
Thud—
“Jack! That despicable, good-for-nothing excuse for a Hero…!”
Shari, who clenched her fists and screamed, managed to close her mouth.
Just a few more steps, and she would be on the main street where people were passing by.
It would be a big problem if someone overheard her insulting the Hero.
“….Sir.”
In a timid voice, Shari added “Sir” and helplessly turned around.
Feeling dejected, she walked back to her shop, heading straight for the herb garden behind it.
Although she wasn’t in the mood to work after the crappy morning she’d had, she had a lot of work piled up.
Thwack!
“Eek!”
She grimaced and began her daily routine of beating the (2)mandrakes.
“Huff, huff…”
Exhausting labor continued. Despite the chilly weather, droplets of sweat dripped from her forehead.
No matter how many she pulled out, the rows of red hats seemed endless…
When she reached halfway, Shari finally exploded.
“Ha… Why is this X work never-ending?!”
She threw down her shovel and collapsed onto the dirt.
Lately, she had been questioning everything around her.
The hero scoundrels who constantly stole her potions, and the endless menial labor…
‘How long do I have to live like this, doing nothing but hard work?’
Recently, the work she used to carry out without complaint or thought had been tormenting her endlessly.
That’s when it happened.
Boooom―!
The ground vibrated with a loud roar.
“W-What the…?!”
Startled, Shari quickly stood up. At the same time, a commotion could be heard outside.
“Hey, Shari! Shari, are you in there? Shari, open the door!”
Bang, bang, bang!
Someone forcefully pounded on the shop door that had been temporarily closed.
At the urgent voice calling her name, Shari hurriedly ran across the field and into the store.
As she quickly opened the door, familiar faces rushed inside.
They were Daniel, Hans, Mark, Aaron and Jack, who had just left a while ago…
They were a group of Heroes who roamed around, constantly plundering the village’s shops.
“Shari! Potions! Don’t you have any attack potions?”
“I need Mana Amplification potions!”
“Give me a health potion first!”
With pensive expressions on their faces, they bombarded Shari with demands.
“Uh, I don’t have any. Jack took all the ones I made in the morning…”
Caught off guard, Shari hesitantly replied, causing the men to glare at Jack.
“You sneaky bastard! No wonder you were hogging all the potions for yourself!”
As the Heroes gathered to criticize him, Jack spoke with a guilty look on his face.
“Everyone, calm down! Shari is an apothecary, so she must have some extras. We don’t have time for this now!”
Seemingly persuaded by his words, everyone’s gaze turned toward Shari and the cramped interior of the store.
“W-What…”
“Shari, I’m sorry, but we need to intrude for a moment. It’s an emergency.”
Led by Jack, they pushed their way in and began to rummage through the store.
They searched not only the desk where the potions were made but also the bedroom and kitchen.
The place that served as both a shop and Shari’s home was turned upside down.
“Here are the health potions! Aren’t these advanced-grade ones?”
“This is an advanced mana potion!”
“Awesome! There’s also an AoE attack scroll here?!”
They soon found the high-level potions and scrolls that Shari had hidden all over the place.
She had saved them to sell them to a Hero who would pay their worth.
“W-What do you think you’re doing?!”
Shari, who was taken aback by the sudden turn of events, quickly blocked their path as they tried to take the items.
“Daniel! Hans! This is theft!”
“Now is not the time to argue about that, Shari. It’s an emergency! The village is being overrun by mid-grade monsters!”
“That’s your job as adventurers to take care of! I’ve had enough of the trouble, and now you’re going to steal from someone else’s house?!”
Daniel and Hans averted their gaze as if they still had a bit of conscience left.
Speaking in their place was Jack, who had been irritating Shari since morning.
“Theft, Shari? Isn’t that going too far? If we Heroes weren’t here, who would protect the town?”
‘Shut up!’
Suppressing the profanity that rose to her throat, Shari opened her palm towards Jack.
“If you’re going to take something, at least pay with money or even items.”
“Damn it, I’m in a hurry! That’s not what’s important, so move!”
“Ugh!”
However, such words were useless against a person who had no conscience.
Thump!
Jack roughly pushed her aside and hastily left the store.
Shari collapsed helplessly. However, among the busy people hurrying after Jack, no one paid any attention to her.
No matter how much of a hero they were, she couldn’t stand this atrocity any longer.
She leaped to her feet and rushed outside after them.
However, the quiet alley was strangely packed with villagers.
“Heroes! There you are!”
One by one, the distraught villagers turned and ran toward the group standing in front of Shari’s shop.
“A swarm of monsters is coming! Please help us!”
“Heroes! Over here!”
However, despite the pleas of the villagers, they made a puzzled face and did not move at all.
“Kiiiieeeeek―!”
That’s when it happened. A chilling roar from a monster pierced through the crowd’s cries.
“Kyaaah!”
“It’s… it’s a monster! Run!”
As someone shouted simultaneously, small, black lumps the size of young children began crawling toward them from the end of the alley.
People screamed and fled in all directions, trying to escape to the opposite side of the alley.
Amidst the chaos, Shari stood still as if her feet were rooted to the ground.
[ Lvl. 7 Lizard ]
It was because of the letters floating above the swarm of monsters crawling on the ground and walls.
Unlike before, monster encyclopedias were widely available, allowing people to roughly identify the types of monsters just by their appearance.
However…
‘You can’t know their level until you kill them, right…?’
When a monster is killed, information about that specific monster is naturally acquired.
However, she had never killed a Lizard before.
‘But what the hell are those floating letters above the horde of Lizards…?’
Come to think of it, it wasn’t just the Lizards.
[Dover Village Resident] Claire
[Dover Village Grocery Store Owner] John
[Dover Village Warehouse Keeper] Max
Letters floated above the heads of everyone around her.
“Damn it! W-We should go too, Jack!”
Then, amidst the fleeing crowd, one of the hesitating members of the group of Heroes shouted.
Upon hearing that voice, the faces of the villagers turned to them with grateful expressions.
Shari was no exception.
If that was the “request” Jack mentioned in the morning, even though it was heartbreaking to see the stolen potions, she could understand it to some extent.
To protect the village, it couldn’t be helped.
However…
“Where are you going, Heroes?”
Shari grabbed Jack, who was running in the opposite direction with the crowd.
She couldn’t understand.
He’s a Hero, so naturally, he should be fighting against the monsters, right?
But not just Jack, even Hans, Daniel, and Mark…
“Why are you going in the opposite direction of the monsters?”
Jack stammered as Shari looked up at him with a bewildered expression. Then, he inadvertently pushed her away roughly.
“What… Let go of me!”
“Why are you doing this, Hero? You need to defeat the monsters and save the people. Hurry!”
Some people were already under attack by the Lizards. Time was of the essence.
“Damn it! How am I supposed to kill a Lizard? It would be at least level 4… Aaargh!”
As Shari held him, a Lizard that had just bitten a villager leaped onto Jack’s calf.
He screamed and thrashed around.
Due to the force, Shari, who was holding him, was also pushed and fell down.
Jack managed to forcefully kick away the Lizard. However, his calf was stained red with blood, indicating that he had been bitten.
“Damn it! It’s your fault…!”
He glared at her as if he wanted to kill her. Then, he pulled something out of his pocket and threw it.
Crash!
With a sharp cracking sound, green smoke billowed up into the air.
Shari’s eyes widened at the sweet smell in the air.
“A distraction potion?”
There was no way she wouldn’t know what it was. After all, she had made it herself.
She had spent several days creating it for the Heroes to use in emergencies during monster hunts or battles…
“Kiiiieeeeek―!”
The Lizards that had been attacking the people must have caught the scent because they began to snap their heads up with a resonating sound.
Shari looked up at Jack, who had thrown the potion bottle at her feet.
“Argh! S-Sorry, Shari! Uh, I can’t help it… Damn it!”
Leaving behind those words, he hurriedly dashed into an alley.
[Dover Village Hero] Jack grew increasingly distant.
Soon enough, one, then two shadows of monsters loomed around her.
In this terrifying situation, Shari couldn’t even feel the fear of death.
Far from fear, this feeling was more like…
She felt alive.
‘I worked hard in the fields and chased after Heroes, and now all I get is this?!’
She had a fair amount of money and was personally growing crops to make potions, so she didn’t really need the presence of Heroes.
However, the reason she dedicated herself to them was that the “Hero” was a character designed to be treated well in the game.
‘…Game?’
Shari blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar word that suddenly came to mind.
However, she couldn’t afford to stay in that state for long.
“Kiiiieeeeek…”
She exploded with frustration as she watched the horde of monsters swarming around her.
There was no way she was going to survive if the so-called Heroes were fleeing.
Although she had spare [Mana Amplification Potions] and [AoE Attack Artifacts] hidden in her pocket to avoid the eyes of the Heroes that would suddenly appear and snatch her potions…
One couldn’t attack the monsters unless they’re a Hero with strong power.
‘…Why?’
That was the moment.
‘Why can’t I use them?’
The question popped into her head out of nowhere.
She may not possess the strong power of legendary Heroes or the ability to freely use magic, but she did have magical power.
In fact, she had a considerable amount of it, more than an ordinary person would.
Having high magical power and stamina was essential for alchemy.
She reached into her pocket, feeling the items hidden inside.
‘Maybe…’
Maybe she could survive.
“Shari!”
One of the villagers pitifully exclaimed upon seeing her fall.
The lizard-like monsters swarmed around her.
“Kieek!”
Finally, one of them leaped forward to bite her neck.
Pop!
Without hesitation, Shari opened the lid and drank the Mana Amplification Potion.
“Ugh…!”
As expected, the effect was immediate, just as she had designed it.
The area beneath her throat grew warm, and her magical power surged in an instant.
Although she had spent countless nights and days creating them, she had never thought of trying them herself. It was as if a whole new world unfolded before her.
The weak heroes with barely any magical power often said that whenever they drank a Mana Potion, they felt as if they had become wise and enlightened to the essence of all things.
“Kiiiieeeeek―!”
As soon as one of the monsters leaped at her, all the surrounding lizards started charging towards her.
“Annihilation.”
「 The [Lv.999 Annihilation] skill has been activated. 」
Simultaneously with the unfamiliar message appearing in the air…
Whoosh―!
Flames ignited on the bodies of all the Lizards leaping in the air.
It wasn’t just the ones in the air; like a fire in a dry field, it spread beyond Shari’s immediate vicinity.
And beyond that, and further still.
Finally, the fire she unleashed engulfed all the monsters throughout the village until there was nothing left.
“Kyaaaaaak―!”
The terrible cries of the monster echoed throughout the entire village.
In the middle of the alley, which was lit up like a midday fireworks display, the small village apothecary in a gray robe stood tall.
Having an AoE attack artifact didn’t guarantee the annihilation of all monsters.
The range of the attack varied depending on the caster’s magical power, attack strength, or skill level.
However, the reason she was able to annihilate the Lizards was that…
「 [Dover Village Apothecary NPC] Shari has defeated 100 Lv.7 Lizards. 」
“…H-How did Shari…?!”
“She’s not even a Hero, how can a mere apothecary….”
After the situation subsided, the murmuring crowd was pushed aside as the so-called Heroes appeared.
“Sh-Shari! If you had such a powerful artifact, you should have given it to us sooner!”
Among them was the one that had made her tremble with rage since morning.
Staring at the words in the air, Shari slowly turned her head.
“…Jack.”
A sullen voice spoke out from under the tightly pressed hood.
“Daniel, Hans, Mark, Aaron…”
She was enlightened to the essence of all things.
“You’re all dead, you useless bunch of X.”
“What?”
“Ban!”
Shhhhhhhhh―.
At the same time, the forms of Jack and the other scoundrels began to disappear. And then…
「 ‘[Dover Village Hero] Jack’ is permanently banned from this area. 」
「 ‘[Dover Village Hero] Daniel’ is permanently banned from this area. 」
「 ‘[Dover Village Hero] Hans’ is permanently banned from this area. 」
「 ‘[Dover Village Hero] Mark’… 」
.
.
.
It dawned on her.
The cause of all this was not Jack, the potions, or the monsters.
It was because she was an (3)NPC in this damn game.
[Collection of Footnotes]
1) “X”
– X is usually substituted for curse-like words such as “jerk, bastard, fxcker,” and so on and so forth. Speaking of, would you guys prefer to have it that way, or do you want me to substitute the Xs with appropriate terms? Thank you for the replies!
2) “Mandrakes”
– As is common in the fantasy world (Hello, Potterheads?), the Mandrake is a magical and sentient plant which had a root that looked like a human, and they act like a human as well. In this novel, they even seem to have red hats. Interesting!
3) “NPC”
– An NPC is a non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, which is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. Their actions are determined by an automated script or set of rules, and they can only do things that they are programmed to do so. There is also a meme that refers to indecisive people as NPCs. Are you an NPC? 😊
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if you can, please put the actual cuss words she uses!! i love when authors do that it’s so funny
Alright, I’ll do that! Thank you for your reply! You sure are early, too 😮
We love FL who curses the hell out of mf 🥰🥰🥰
came from the manhwa! and wow…. the manhwa had “peaceful” introduction but in this, just instantly boiled my rage im glad they got banned lmao