Hero

Chunhua had been lying in the sickbed at [Huiichun Hall] for the past few days, but in truth, after that sharp injection from the receptionist lady at the mysterious shop, his injuries were no longer serious.

Yet he suddenly found himself reluctant to leave the hospital.

These past few days, he—who had been born an orphan and had always been fiercely self-reliant—experienced for the first time what it felt like to be the center of attention, to taste the sweetness of being the focus of admiration.

Three days earlier, he had sought out the owner of the mysterious shop and rescued a friend's wife and daughter from the Lullaby Hummer. Afterward, the owner vanished without a trace.

By the time the neighbors, the wardens, and the mystics arrived, all they saw was him.

Combined with the fact that his injuries were nearly healed but his clothes were covered in blood, and the two women who had regained consciousness confirmed that he had tried to lure the anomaly away before passing out—all the evidence lined up, and he was crowned with the title of a self-sacrificing hero.

To be fair, first he took the risk of drawing the anomaly's aggression, then he spared no cost to bring in reinforcements—he did deserve the title of "rescuer."

At first, Chunhua hesitated. He felt he had taken credit for the shop owner's deed and tried to brush it off.

But people simply didn't believe him, and they even went further, imagining him as "finishing the deed and walking away, helping without expecting reward."

During these three days in the ward.

Visitors came in an endless stream.

Great scholars from the Academy, the head of the Consortium League, the dean of the school, reporters from various publications.

The reporters especially were no longer satisfied with covering his recent heroic act—they began digging into his past, even his childhood in the orphanage when he gave up a meat bun for a little girl.

Some things even he himself barely remembered. For instance, someone claimed he had been brave since childhood and once saved a little girl in the orphanage. Thanks to that report, he recalled a childhood playmate.

After an initial twinge of guilt, he slowly began to enjoy this feeling.

What he gained was not just fame, but cold, hard profit—those important figures certainly didn't arrive empty-handed.

A casual word from those big shots while visiting him meant that before Chunhua even left the hospital, he had acquired wealth he'd never dreamed of. Not only that, his position at the Academy shot up three whole ranks like a rocket.

Three full ranks—after graduating, he had worked diligently at the Academy for years, breaking his back, and barely managed to rise half a rank.

Once he fully digested the benefits from this incident, he could barely pass as a big shot the next time he stepped out the door.

He wasn't worried about the mysterious shop owner stepping forward to expose him. He knew well that someone of that caliber—having vanished without seeing anyone—clearly wanted nothing to do with such fame and gain.

His only guilt lay in the fact that the Lullaby Hummer had not left the Seal Library. During his days in the hospital, it had appeared multiple times to commit murder, with nearly ten new victims.

An anomaly roaming the city and killing at will was, of course, unacceptable to all factions. The Academy, the Consortiums, the witches—all cast their nets wide, determined to take down the Lullaby Hummer.

But when the various forces truly clashed with the Lullaby Hummer, they realized just how powerful this anomaly was.

The Lullaby Hummer was a danger rating of 6, with extremely strong corruption abilities and extremely high immortality. After three skirmishes, four high-level mystics had died, and many more were wounded, and still the Lullaby Hummer escaped unscathed, continuing its brazen attacks.

This only made Chunhua appear even more heroic. The praise grew louder, the rewards piled up higher, and along with it came a "request" Chunhua couldn't refuse—"How did you drive off the Lullaby Hummer? We've given you all the benefits, so don't hold back—share your method."

What was Chunhua supposed to say?

Was he supposed to say, "I found a mysterious shop that I have no idea how to get to, and asked the owner inside to handle it"?

In the end, he stammered and muddled through, roughly claiming it was a one-time skill he had used at an enormous cost.

Not everyone believed his story, but given that he was merely a mysterist of no particular renown, they didn't pin all their hopes on him or force him to deal with a high-risk anomaly that even everyone else found troublesome.

Of course, people are practical. Chunhua's fame soon faded. Once he failed to produce a method for dealing with the anomaly, all the benefits dried up immediately, and Chunhua seemed to return to the state he was in before the incident.

He had already gained a lot, but even so, he felt the crushing sense of falling from that height.

Human beings are like that: once they reach a certain peak—even if it was partly a stroke of luck—they string that peak to their own ability and see themselves as worthy of it. They believe they can reach that height again, or even surpass it.

Another month and a half passed.

Panic began to take hold in the city.

The reason was that not only had the Lullaby Hummer not been dealt with, but mystics had discovered, to their horror, that it was growing stronger at an alarmingly rapid rate.

Some scholars speculated that within half a month, it might break through to danger rating 7.

Normally, as a city with considerable strength, the Seal Library should have been able to subdue it under a full-scale campaign. But the problem was that the Lullaby Hummer wasn't just powerful—it was also unusual.

The Lullaby Hummer's kill radius was very small. It killed one person at a time, not mowing down crowds. To put it plainly, if left to its own devices, it killed two people a day, struck once every two days, and even after a year the casualties would be limited.

Because it wasn't a threat to the city's survival, the city authorities were like a frog slowly boiling in water, never raising the alarm to maximum.

The city's ultimate heavyweights didn't move, and ordinary mystics couldn't win—leading to the current stalemate.

Chunhua walked into the Academy building.

He reached the third floor. After his promotion, his new office was here.

Before he reached his office—

"Oh, isn't this our big hero? Why so low-key lately? Scared to face the Lullaby Hummer again, are we?" A voice that gave Chunhua an endless headache rang out.

Luo Lang. A senior scholar. Back in school, the two had fought many times over a girl named Bi Yi.

Luo Lang's family was powerful and deeply entrenched in the Academy. After graduation, he rose smoothly and steadily. It was only after Chunhua jumped three full ranks that he finally caught up to Luo Lang's level.

Originally, after leaving school and entering the world, Luo Lang thought he'd never cross paths with Chunhua again. But now his old school rival had suddenly become some kind of hero and moved into the office next to his.

The two of them had slipped right back into their old habit of trading barbs whenever they met.

Chunhua had things on his mind and didn't want to deal with Luo Lang.

Luo Lang didn't let him go. As Chunhua passed by, he lowered his voice and said:

"Others don't know, but I'm fully aware—you never had the skill to drive off the Lullaby Hummer. Your heroism is fake."

Chunhua stopped in his tracks, glaring at Luo Lang, eyes nearly spitting fire.

Luo Lang seemed to relish Chunhua's rage:

"What, did I say something wrong? I know your methods inside and out."

If you were really a hero, how come you never participated in a single operation against the "Lullaby Hummer" afterward? Got cold feet?

Hah, I don't mind telling you—there's a senior scholar about to retire. The inner council of senior scholars has already decided: among the advanced scholars, whoever leads the team that takes down the "Lullaby Hummer" will be promoted to senior scholar.

So what do you say, fake hero? Honor and status are right within reach. You dare to take it on?