Heroes and Their System

Hmm...

In this dim medieval room, besides Chuan Wenwu, three unfamiliar men, and a dog on the altar platform, quite a crowd stood below. There were fully armed guards, clergy in priestly robes, and people in robes and pointed hats who looked like mages...

Their leader was a middle-aged man in a black robe. Chuan Wenwu suspected this fellow was the reason they had ended up in this world.

"Ohhh! Heroes! Please rise up and save this world!!"

He had opened with a request like that. Sure enough, he was involved.

That was what Chuan Wenwu thought.

But the other three did not seem nearly as calm as him. They all cried out at once, "What?"

The man answered honestly, "The circumstances are complicated and difficult to explain briefly, but to put it in terms you can understand, we used an ancient ritual to summon you heroes here."

He declared loudly, "This world faces a grave crisis that threatens its very survival. We humbly beg you heroes to lend us your aid!"

He sounded quite sincere and even bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle.

But how should he put it? Dragging people straight out of their own world into another one without any warning, regardless of whether they wanted to come, was a little rude, wasn't it?

And pinning their hopes of saving the world on these randomly summoned... students was rather hard to understand. Were all the adults in this world dead?

Chuan Wenwu silently snarked as he studied the other three. They all looked quite young, with an innocence that suggested society had never beaten them down-though he had never experienced that either, he had experienced beatings from his dad!

Still, this certainly fit the common Japanese light novel premise of high schoolers saving the world.

So these three would definitely agree without hesitation...

"No way!"

"Exactly."

"There's a way to send us back to our original world, right? Sort that out before we discuss anything else, or I won't agree."

Their successive refusals caught Chuan Wenwu off guard. Even the hand he was sneaking over to pet the dog's head paused. They were actually this rational?

Chuan Wenwu blinked, only to notice that the other three were looking at him. Apparently, he really was the only one who had yet to give his opinion, so he said with honest simplicity, "Same here."

For some reason, however, Chuan Wenwu keenly noticed a flicker of disgust on the faces of the guards and priests below after he spoke, even though he had merely agreed with the others. Yet when those three had said the same thing, they had looked as though it was only natural...

What the hell was that about?

Unsure of the situation, Chuan Wenwu quietly positioned himself behind the other three, letting them shield him as he tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. He fiddled with the "..." tab he had discovered earlier in his field of vision while keeping an ear on the "negotiations" between the three and their summoners below... if that condescending interrogation could even be called "negotiations."

"Do you really feel bad about suddenly summoning people here without getting their consent first?"

"If we're tossed straight back to our original world as soon as peace is restored here, wouldn't that mean we worked for nothing?"

"How much say are you willing to give us? If we can't reach an agreement, we might turn against this world instead. I'd advise you to prepare yourselves for that!"

Holy crap, they actually said outright that they might turn against these people. These guys had some serious guts!

Listening from behind them, Chuan Wenwu struggled to keep a straight face.

He simply could not understand how these fellows could run their mouths so recklessly in an unfamiliar environment with no idea what was going on. Weren't they afraid this kingdom might turn on them, have the guards strike first and nip these rebellious troublemakers in the bud, then summon another, more obedient batch?

Chuan Wenwu decided to retract his earlier assessment that the three were rational.

Still, it seemed these summoned "heroes" really did hold a lofty status. The reactions of the guards and priests below the altar made that clear. "Your considerations are indeed thorough, honored heroes. We were presumptuous, and we beg your forgiveness... Now, w-we hope the four of you will grant the king an audience. We will certainly discuss a reward that satisfies you then..."

Well, damn. As expected of a world built around 'heroes saving the world.' Heroes actually had this much status, even though they were only level one right now and barely had any combat ability.

The corner of Chuan Wenwu's mouth twitched. By now, he had opened the "character status panel" represented by that "..." tab:

[Name: Chuan Wenwu]

[Class: Shield Hero (Lv. 1)]

[Equipment: Small Shield (legendary weapon); Otherworld Clothing]

[Skills: None]

[Magic: None]

[Attributes: Omitted (Because I can't get the numerical balance right, I'm simply not writing this stuff out. Go by what happens in the story. All you need to know is that the protagonist has maxed-out defense and low attack. Kisses~)]

Whoa, a system~

Chuan Wenwu nodded to himself. Now this felt right.

Having arrived with a small round shield, he had naturally taken on the role of the "Shield Hero." And the nature of a "shield" was reflected in this Shield Hero to the fullest-

Goddammit, a guy as brawny as him actually had a measly one point of attack, while his defense was extraordinarily high!

So you're telling me his fists the size of sandbags could only knock off one hit point when he punched someone!

Did that make any scientific sense?!

It did not, but it was very much in keeping with a system...

Chuan Wenwu clenched his fists. The sense of strength flowing through his flexing muscles had not diminished. In other words, his physical strength had not changed. Perhaps he could even increase it through the system's leveling function in the future. But under the system's restrictions, he simply could not convert that strength into attack power.

Still, as long as he kept thinking, there would always be more solutions than problems. Worst case, he could switch to equipment with bigger attack bonuses later. Then he'd be both tanky and hard-hitting. Invincible!

Looking farther down, he spotted a tab labeled "Companion." Beneath it was none other than Bruce Dahuang's name:

[Name: Bruce Dahuang]

[Class: Companion]

[Equipment: None]

[Skills: None]

[Magic: None]

[Attributes: Omitted]

It was a rather bare-bones panel with nothing on it, yet Bruce's attack stat was more than ten times Chuan Wenwu's!

That left Chuan Wenwu feeling rather bitter. He furiously rubbed Bruce's head and growled, "Well, look at you, kid. You've made it big, huh? You're even more badass than your bro Chuan!"

"Woof, woof!" Bruce barked twice, sounding rather pleased with himself. Chuan Wenwu rubbed his head even harder, but it did no damage whatsoever, because his attack was one...

"It's been ages since I've seen such an... old-fashioned system," Chuan Wenwu mused quietly.

Systems still dominated Huaxia's webnovel scene. After all, they really were easy to write. But compared with the earliest system stories, modern systems came in every imaginable variety, with daily sign-ins, check-ins, prize draws, and so on.

A plain system like this, which practically copied a game's status panel wholesale without any extra "gimmicks," was quite rare. You practically had to go digging through ancient history to find records of one.

Though... well... this, uh, let's just call it the "Hero System." After all, he was the Shield Hero now, so a hero's system would naturally be called the Hero System.

Its functions, however, were not limited to the information above.

Even a quick glance revealed plenty of other options tucked into various corners. Some were already unlocked, while others were dimmed gray icons that apparently required certain conditions to be met before they could be opened.

But just as Chuan Wenwu was about to examine the other options, more loud voices came from beside him.

After some "negotiations" filled with boasting and threats, the three heroes seemed to have reached an understanding with the priests below and were ready to move elsewhere:

"...You really leave us no choice."

"Yeah."

"Fine. Talking is talking, no matter who it's with. We'll go meet this king with you."

"Yes, yes. Thank you all for your generosity. Please follow me, honored heroes. I'll take you to see the king..."

The crowd shuffled toward the exit. Chuan Wenwu snapped back to his senses, patted Bruce's rump, and quickly got up to follow.