Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 41 - 1 v 4

"Umph!" A girl with messy blond hair grunted as she reached the top of a destroyed building in the Outer Zone.

She was wearing an oversized pink hoodie that reached her knees and black-framed glasses with AR display technology that let her see stream stats from the corner of her vision... viewer count, comments scrolling, and donation alerts too.

A camera drone the size of a basketball floated behind her, tracking her movements automatically.

"Well, Chat, we’re here," she announced, slightly out of breath.

「Ichinose-chan looking cute today! 💕」

「YUI FINALLY STREAMING OUTER ZONE」

「This is gonna be epic content fr」

「Queen of exploration! 👑」

「Your hoodie is so adorable omg」

"You guys made me leave the comfort zone of the city... Imagine how wicked my fans are," she said with mock exasperation. She even sniffled dramatically as she looked around at the destroyed urban landscape.

「You have received a donation of 2,000 crowns from Ichinose_Glazer1」

「Note: Worth it to see you out here Queen!」

"Thanks for the donation, Glazer-san." she said, using her finger to wipe her nose then she smirked slightly at the camera.

It was 5 PM now, and she wanted to get out of here before dark, but she was being paid well for risking her life.

’Bills have to be paid somehow...’ she thought pragmatically.

"So what am I going to do today? Don’t make it too dangerous." she added with genuine concern in her voice.

「Face a Rust-class monster!」

「Show us some combat Yui-chan」

「Hunt something for content!」

「Rust-class would be perfect for your level」

「Do it do it do it」

"Rust-class? Have you guys seriously forgotten that I’m weak?" she asked while looking down the side of the building. She pulled out her dagger from the holster on her thigh.

"But I guess that’s okay. Can’t disappoint the viewers."

She leapt from the side without hesitation and used both hands to press her dagger blade against a metal pipe running down the building’s exterior.

The friction carved through the hollow pipe, creating sparks and slowing down the force of her jump dramatically then she landed on the cracked pavement below, pulling the dagger free smoothly.

「THAT WAS SO CLEAN」

「Parkour queen! 😍」

「10/10 landing」

「She makes it look so easy」

「Yui-chan is actually skilled wtf」

"Thank you... thank you..." she said, slightly embarrassed by the praise. "Now to find a monster. This is the Outer Zone, right? Where are all the monsters at?"

She looked around at the empty, destroyed streets.

"I swear I saw a recent post saying the Outer Zone was crawling with monsters. Where am I even at anyway?"

Several stream comments followed rapidly, and her eyes tracked them through her AR glasses display.

One caught her attention.

"Oh, you mean I’m near a Broodminder hive? You know this route? Thank you, Brendan-san," Ichinose said as she ran a hand through her messy hair nervously. "I guess I’d better go check it out then."

「You have received a donation of 10,000 crowns from AlaniTHEGOATEDONE」

「Note: Ichinose-chan, my goddess... please take on FOUR Broodminders and show us your elegance 🙏」

Her face nearly twitched visibly on camera. Being a streamer was hard enough, but risking your life based on what viewers wanted was even crazier.

Still, 10,000 crowns was 10,000 crowns.

"Thank you for the donation, Alani-san. I’ll... try and face four Broodminders," she said with a small, uncertain sigh as she started walking down the road.

「Yui no that’s too dangerous!」

「You got this Queen!」

「Be careful please」

「Good luck Ichinose-chan! 💪」

「RIP Yui, gone too soon」

「She’s actually gonna do it lmao」

「We believe in you!」

Ichinose sighed as she saw everything scrolling in her glasses. She already knew most of the male viewers were primarily interested in watching her ass shake from behind while she walked.

The female viewers were more supportive, at least.

"What is that smell...?" she muttered under her breath, her nose wrinkling then she swerved to the right into a wider street and stopped straight in her tracks.

She could see where the smell was coming from now.

On the open streets, there were dozens upon dozens of corpses.

These bodies lined the roads like a grotesque carpet, and they were of different monster types but one thing most of these monsters had in common was that they belonged to the Broodminder category.

She pressed her hand against her mouth reflexively, fighting back nausea from seeing so much gore.

There were corpses completely shredded, torn apart, dismembered... and they gave off that terrible rotting smell but she swallowed hard and kept the camera rolling.

"What the fuck happened here...?" Ichinose asked while looking directly at her drone’s camera, expecting the viewers to have some insight.

But just like her, the chat was confused and alarmed.

「What could kill this many?!」

「This is insane」

「Check their cores Yui!」

「Maybe another monster did this?」

「This is actually scary wtf」

"Thanks for the suggestions, Chat," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

She walked over to the nearest corpses carefully, stepping around pools of dark blood.

They looked even more disgusting up close... the chest and head sections of these monsters seemed to have been impaled clean through with precision.

"Their cores aren’t here," she observed, checking several bodies. "Someone already harvested them."

She looked over the dozens of corpses that lined the road.

All of them showed the same pattern... they had been precisely killed and their cores were removed.

「Someone’s hunting here」

「Professional work」

「This is a hunting ground」

「Yui get out of there」

「Whoever did this is strong AF」

She slowly walked across the road and then turned down another street. Now she could hear sounds... specifically shrieks and buzzing in the distance.

It made her feel genuinely scared and her heart rate was spiking as well.

「Those shrieks sound different」

「That’s not normal Broodminders」

「Yui be careful」

「Those are Praetorian Broodminders... Iron-class monsters!」

「IRON CLASS?! YUI RUN」

"What the fuck..." she muttered, feeling the strong urge to turn around and leave immediately. She was absolutely not built for Iron-class encounters.

「You have received donation of 4000 crowns from IrgEnt」

「Note: Let us see what’s going on, Ichinose-chan 🙏」

There was a flurry of similar donations that followed with the same request, and she took a deep breath.

The money was good, and her viewers wanted content.

"Alright! Let’s check it out carefully," she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

She made a beeline for a nearby alleyway since the sounds were coming from the upper street area. Ichinose entered the slimy, narrow alley filled with accumulated dirt and debris and she swore she could see a human skull partially buried in trash, and she quickly averted her eyes.

「DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT SKULL」

「There was definitely a skull」

「That looked recent too - there were worms」

「Yui this place is cursed」

「GET OUT」

She winced as the stream chat reminded her about it. Soon she reached the end of the alleyway and carefully peeked outside, directing her drone to get a better angle.

The road beyond was lined with even more corpses... there were similar kills to the first one but now she could see the cause.

A tall, blond-haired young man stood atop some crushed Broodminder corpses. She couldn’t see his face from this angle, but she could see that his blond hair was blowing dramatically in the wind.

It was pretty long, reaching past his shoulders, and his back was quite muscular since he was shirtless and in his hand was a white spear that gleamed in the fading sunlight.

Up ahead, there were four massive Broodminders.

Except these weren’t the normal Twigspire variants... these were easily six feet tall, the same height as the young man, and looked infinitely more imposing.

They had metallic plating covering their entire bodies like armor and even their wings that buzzed menacingly behind them were made of some kind of reinforced metal that could handle the weight of their upgraded bodies.

They had helmet-like coverings on their pointed heads, and their twin stingers gleamed with metal coating.

They were four Praetorian Broodminders which were Iron-class monsters.

「THOSE ARE PRAETORIANS」

「Four of them holy shit」

「That guy is insane」

「Wait I’ve seen him before」

「That’s the Class 5 student from TV!」

「Amagi Kōya from yesterday’s broadcast!」

「You have received a donation of 50,000 crowns from Mimi_」

「Note: Go closer」

It was a simple message, but with 50,000 crowns attached, Ichinose absolutely obliged. That was more than she usually made in a week without brand deals.

The drone began moving upward silently, positioning itself on the side of another building to get a clearer view. Once she got the perfect angle, she activated the zoom function.

For the entire stream, they could now see this person’s face clearly. It really was Kōya... the same student from yesterday’s viral Academy broadcast and the Praetorian Broodminders looked even more terrifying up close through the zoom.

「IT’S REALLY KŌYA-KUN」

「What’s he doing in the Outer Zone alone?!」

「This is crazy」

「He’s gonna fight four Iron-class?!」

「Someone call an ambulance」

Ichinose noticed her viewer count spiking dramatically. She’d been averaging a steady 200,000 viewers, but now it was climbing rapidly... 250k, 280k, 300k.

It seemed this guy was extremely popular after yesterday’s broadcast according to what she could see.

’Kōya-kun...? Never heard of the guy before yesterday,’ Ichinose thought honestly. She made sure the drone stayed zoomed in as both sides began moving.

"You’re in the way," Kōya said coldly, his voice carrying across the empty street. He took a proper stance with his spear with his feet positioned perfectly.

The buzzing from the Praetorians intensified dramatically, becoming outright metallic screeches that hurt to hear even through the stream then the first Praetorian Broodminder shot forward at him in a blur of speed, abandoning all caution.

It was moving like a missile.

However, Kōya’s body was immediately covered by blue mana as he entered Mana Mode in an instant... his entire form glowing in blue. His grip tightened on the spear and as the Broodminder closed the distance with terrifying speed, Kōya thrust his spear forward with explosive force.

Steel met enhanced steel in a powerful collision that generated a visible shockwave, kicking up dust and debris everywhere.

The sound was like a cannon firing.

However, when that dust cleared seconds later, the result was obvious.

Kōya’s mana-enhanced spear had gone completely through the Iron-class monster’s neck joint, bypassing its armor entirely. It was dead before it hit the ground.

He pulled the spear out smoothly, and the massive body slumped down.

「WHAT」

「DID HE JUST」

「ONE SHOT」

「AN IRON-CLASS MONSTER」

「IN ONE HIT?!」

The other three Praetorians became immediately active after witnessing their comrade’s instant death. A loud, ear-piercing screech tore through the air from one of them.

The sound was so intense it disoriented even the stream watchers, causing audio distortion.

The screech seemed to empower the other two Broodminders... their metallic plating glowed with enhanced power then two of the Praetorian Broodminders reared up and shot their metal-coated stingers at Kōya like whips, extending them with cable-like tendons.

Kōya flipped to the right cleanly with Enhanced Speed powered by Mana Mode, and the massive stingers slammed into the ground where he’d been standing. They caused multiple craters to crack across the pavement, and even nearby corpses were completely decimated by the impact.

The Praetorian that had been screeching stopped and immediately flew directly toward Kōya as well while the other two retracted their extended stingers. It flew like a missile, one stinger extended before the other in a piercing formation.

However, Kōya wasn’t going to give them another chance. He ran straight forward as the Broodminder closed the distance from above.

Behind it, the other two’s stingers were beginning to rise from the ground again via the cable-like metal tendons connecting them. Kōya side-stepped to the right at the last possible second, dodging the flying Praetorian.

His body suddenly blurred with Enhanced Speed and then seemed to vanish entirely. The flying Praetorian’s stinger collided with the ground, destroying more corpses and creating another crater then it heard the agonized cries of its brethren behind it.

It turned around and saw that the human had somehow cut clean through both metal cables, severing the stingers from their bodies.

The two Praetorians were left completely defenseless, their primary weapons lying useless on the ground and the flying one cried out in rage and rushed at Kōya again with everything it had.

Its wings flapped rapidly, creating a buzzing roar, and it closed the distance at full speed. It was flying in a straight vertical dive at maximum velocity.

Kōya jumped upward to meet it and landed perfectly on one of its metal wings mid-flight. The wing felt light but incredibly strong beneath his feet and he stabbed the spear on the monster’s back, letting the mana echo across the armor.

Then he jumped from it while activating Mana Mode once more... but this time he poured all the gathered mana specifically into his spear. The weapon glowed brilliantly with concentrated blue energy.

He threw it with all his enhanced strength at the head of the nearest defenseless Praetorian. With all that built-up force and mana enhancement, the spear collided with the monster’s steel-like helmet.

The helmet shattered, and the head beneath turned to complete brain matter instantly.

Kōya reached the falling corpse and caught his spear mid-air while using the body as a platform to bounce off toward the next target.

With each kill, he could feel himself getting marginally stronger... he was approaching the three-liner threshold. He activated Mana Mode once more, and the remaining grounded Praetorian began glowing as well.

It was activating Metallic Hardening, trying to strengthen its steel-like skin to maximum density. However, Kōya didn’t allow it to complete the technique.

Blue mana began surrounding his weapon in even greater concentration than before. Instead of thrusting this time, he slashed horizontally with perfect form.

The slash was executed with such excellent technique that nobody watching would believe he had just picked up the spear for the first time today.

The Praetorian’s armored body was slashed cleanly in half by the mana-enhanced attack, both pieces falling separately and Kōya landed on the ground, taking several deep breaths.

The exertion was catching up with him.

「HOLY SHIT」

「THREE DOWN」

「HE’S A MONSTER」

「This guy is insane」

「CLIP THAT」

The spear blade suddenly shattered from the accumulated stress and mana overload, the fragments falling to the ground. Much to everyone’s surprise, he calmly placed his hand on the sensor embedded in the shaft.

The weapon beeped and transformed back into its compact ball form, now he was left completely defenseless in front of the final Iron-class monster that was practically trembling with pure rage.

「You have received a donation of 20,000 crowns from Mimi_」

「Note: Give him your dagger」

’Why is this Mimi person so obsessed with this guy?’ Ichinose thought, biting her lip nervously.

She had absolutely no idea who this donor was, but they’d been spending huge amounts. However, she was being paid 20,000 crowns for this specific request.

Her body gradually began fading as if she was ceasing to exist entirely, becoming translucent then she vanished completely into wisps of fading light.

「Unique Skill: Phantom Presence activated」

With that, she ran toward Kōya and the final Praetorian with the dagger gripped in her hand.

She was one of the few people who, despite being only a one-liner, could actually use her mana to perform utility spells. Though this was the only spell she could use....

She called it Phantom Presence.

When active, even the five senses of a regular human being could not detect her... she became completely invisible, inaudible, scentless... all of the above.

The enraged Praetorian shot forward at Kōya with murderous intent. He side-stepped the strike entirely with ease, making the monster shoot past him in her direction instead.

She stopped dead in her tracks as pure fear coursed through her entire body. It was moving so incredibly fast, and she was completely paralyzed by terror. Phantom Presence allowed her to conceal her presence perfectly, but it didn’t let her phase through physical objects like a ghost.

She would most certainly die if it hit her.

She closed her eyes instinctively as the mechanical whirring sound got right in front of her face.

However, it stopped abruptly and her eyes snapped open in shock. The monster’s compound eyes were right in front of her face which was mere inches away.

She could see her terrified reflection in them.

Kōya grunted with effort from behind the Praetorian as he held it back with his bare hands, his entire body surging with Mana Mode enhancement.

With a powerful heave and a roar of exertion, he lifted the massive monster upward from its rear section then he slammed it down into the ground with devastating force.

There was a large cracking sound as the pavement shattered, followed by a wet splattering noise. The back of the monster was completely crushed on impact and it died instantly.

Kōya took a few stumbling steps backward and sat down hard on the ground, breathing heavily.

The reason he had deliberately left this one for last was simple... the entire time, he had been systematically targeting and damaging its rear section with every dodge and movement while weakening it for the final kill.

’That should be enough aura farming, right?’ he thought tiredly.

「Main Mission Completed」

「Mission: Farm Aura for the Viewers」

「Rewards: 5,000 FP + New Skill Unlocked」

「Unique Skill: Precision Strike (D-Rank) has been added to inventory」

He sighed with relief and exhaustion.

Then he looked directly at where Ichinose was standing even though she was still invisible.

"Are you okay...?" he asked with genuine concern in his voice.