129: Chapter 129 This Time, I Want to Be a Hero

"Cough, cough..."

Jiang You coughed twice. There was no blood, just the taste of mud in his mouth.

"I got one-shotted..."

Jiang You muttered to himself, his lips curving into a bitter arc.

There was no pain, no wounds, but he felt as if the bones in his entire body had been extracted, leaving him limp and unable to muster even a shred of strength.

That was a poison called "powerlessness."

In the face of absolute power, he didn't even have the qualification to run away. He was kicked aside like trash, left to lie here like a real dead fish, waiting for the end.

"Heh..."

"Jiang You, oh Jiang You, what kind of big shot are you pretending to be?"

"You're just a piece of trash who does nothing but eat and sleep, yet you want to learn from others and act like a hero?"

He slowly closed his eyes, attempting to use his habitual escapism to numb himself.

In a daze, his thoughts drifted far away.

Actually.

Beneath that thick layer of "salted fish" camouflage, where he seemed not to care about anything, there had once been hidden a restless, hot-blooded, adolescent dream.

He had also fantasized countless times that, at this critical moment filled with crises and rampaging demons, he could be like a savior in a novel, clad in golden armor, descending from the heavens!

Punching the villains of the Wusheng Divine Sect, kicking the rampaging Tier 5 Great Demon!

Once his domineering aura was unleashed, just like before, ten thousand beasts would submit, all kowtowing to him, trembling in fear!

At that time, Teacher Shen Qing would gaze at him with admiration.

Lin Ya would have red eyes, regretting why she had broken up with him in the first place.

He would be surrounded by a bunch of fangirls, and even his roommates Lu Xingye and Fugui, who usually loved to roast him, would hug his thighs, crying tears of gratitude and shouting: "Father, please accept my respects! I will never forget your life-saving grace!"

That kind of scene...

"Hehe..."

As Jiang You thought about it, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl into a silly smile.

This dream was so beautiful.

So beautiful that he didn't want to wake up.

However.

"Wuwuwu... don't kill me..."

"Old Lu! Wake up! Don't die!"

Bursts of shrill crying and screaming, accompanied by the sounds of fighting, pierced through the thick layer of soil and drilled into Jiang You's ears.

That was the sound of reality.

It was the desperate wailing of his classmates, and the triumphant, wild laughter of that invincible demon god, the Poison Python.

The dream shattered.

The silly smile on Jiang You's face froze, then slowly disappeared.

Immediately after.

A tear uncontrollably slid from the corner of his eye, traced across his mud-stained cheek, and dripped into the soil.

Jiang You looked at the sky in a daze, his eyes hollow.

"I thought... I could just keep being a salted fish forever."

"I thought that as long as I lay flat enough, the sickle wouldn't be able to cut me, and troubles wouldn't be able to catch up to me..."

"I thought that as long as I didn't fight or compete, I could just scrape by in this cruel world..."

"But..."

Jiang You's fingers dug deeply into the soil, his nails cracking.

"I think I saw Old Lu get beaten until he vomited blood and passed out because of me..."

"I think I saw Fugui burn through all his savings for a wife just to avenge me..."

"And that innocent girl who foolishly opened the door for me and offered me porridge is about to be eaten..."

That feeling was like having a red-hot branding iron shoved into his chest, burning so intensely that his soul trembled.

Jiang You didn't want to be a hero.

But he wanted even less to be a coward who watched his friends die and remained indifferent.

"If..."

Jiang You's voice choked with emotion, carrying a hint of pleading, directed at the gray sky, and also at his own ordinary self:

"If I could be a little stronger..."

"Even if it's just for a few minutes..."

"Even if it's just this once..."

"I want... to be a hero."

"I want to save them."

...

At this moment.

Inside Jiang You, the originally noisy and chaotic [Internal Chat Group], filled with complaints and desires, suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

All the organs, all the cells, heard this cry from the depths of the host's soul.

[Kidneys] stopped their greedy absorption of energy.

[stomach] stopped complaining about hunger.

[Right Hand] clenched into a fist, no longer trembling.

This was an unprecedented resonance.

After a long while.

A solemn, dignified, and supremely majestic voice resounded from the deepest part of the consciousness space.

[Brain]:

"Highest directive received."

"Host's willpower detected to have broken through the critical threshold."

"Although he is an idiot, a lazybones, a Slacker Ruler who can't be helped..."

"But this time..."

"He is serious."

"If I had known, I wouldn't have restricted the Slacker Ruler's strength so much!"

[Heart (beating violently, pumping out golden blood)]:

"Then let's do it!!"

"I've long found that long worm an eyesore!"

"Since the host wants to go crazy, we'll go crazy with him for once!"

[Right Hand (battle intent soaring)]:

"Hahahaha!"

"Finally waited for this day!"

"No need for restrictions! No need to hold back! Full firepower!"

[Legs (shaking crazily, muscles tensed to the limit)]:

"I've long been unable to wait! Lying in the pit just now, my meniscus was about to rust!"

"Didn't that long worm like to kick people earlier? Thinks his Legs are long, right?"

"Then today, this master will let him see what a light-speed roundhouse kick is!"

"What it means to rub his face into the ground!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Eject and start! I'm going to kick his snake head to pieces!"

[Brain]:

"All approved."

"Since you want to be a hero, then we will let you see what a real—"

"God is."

"Warning: Host's current mental state is extremely unstable, and combat skills are zero. To prevent the host's terrible operational skills from holding us back and causing damage to the body..."

"Activating [Substitute Combat Mode]."

"Forced sleep program... initiating."

...

Reality scene.

In the deep pit.

Jiang You, originally tearful with a painful and ferocious expression, suddenly seemed as if his power had been cut, his entire body abruptly relaxing.

The sorrow, helplessness, and despair on his face all vanished in that instant.

Replaced by a deathly calm.

His eyelids slowly closed.

"Hoo..."

A bizarre scene occurred.

That body, originally as limp as mud, stood straight up in a way that completely defied gravity, without needing any leverage!

It was like a statue of a god that had been sleeping for thousands of years, now awakening.

He kept his eyes closed.

Standing in the center of the deep pit.

Although his spongebob pajamas were tattered, at this moment, they seemed to be draped in an invisible imperial robe.

An indescribable, ancient, and vast aura exploded from this seemingly frail body!

That was not spiritual energy.

It was pure, domineering—a strength of the flesh capable of crushing all rules!

"Thump!"

Jiang You took a step forward.

The earth trembled because of it.

The soil around the deep pit instantly collapsed, turning into dust.

Although he kept his eyes closed, his slightly raised head seemed to be looking down upon the entire world.

"Those who don't want to die..."

A cold, mechanical, yet infinitely arrogant voice spilled from Jiang You's mouth:

"All of you..."

"Get lost."