The Last Adventurer

Chapter 1

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 1: Return to the Past (1)

1.

Maple World was a world of adventurers.

It was a world where nothing moved without adventurers.

A world where all history was written by adventurers.

Then, one day, a being called the Mystic Gate appeared in this world of adventurers.

“Beyond the Mystic Gate, there are monsters. Not only monsters from Maple World, but also monsters that you’ve never seen before in Maple World.”

Fearsome monsters flooded out from beyond.

“And there are items. Items that are hard to get in Maple World, and items that you can only find in legends and epics.”

At the same time, a flood of items appeared.

Of course, the adventurers were thrilled with the appearance of the Mystic Gate.

They abandoned their previous adventures and rushed to participate in the Mystic Gate adventure.

Naturally, everything in the world revolved around the Mystic Gate.

“In the past, you had to climb mountains, cross seas, and split the sky to have a memorable adventure. But now, you can find a Mystic Gate that has appeared in your backyard and have an even more exciting adventure.”

Thus began the era of the Mystic Gate, which adventurers hailed as the greatest era in adventurer history, the era of dreams.

However, the situation was different for those who were not adventurers.

Like Elpam.

A twenty-year-old young man who was doing odd jobs in the port city of Liss lost his job overnight.

This was because the workload had been drastically reduced due to the fact that the adventurers who had been helping with the logistics transportation had suddenly left to go on an adventure through the Mystic Gate.

Of course, it was not difficult for the twenty-year-old young man to support himself.

“It’s the Black Death. It’s a disease that kills you by coughing up black blood. That’s what your father had.”

However, the life of a young man with a dying family was different.

“A cure? There is one. You can get it too. For about 1 million meso.”

He needed money.

But there was no way that a young man with nothing to do like El Paume would have 1 million meso.

In the end, he signed a contract with ridiculous terms in order to borrow money.

Even then, his father passed away.

“From now on, you are a slave of the Gafor Upper Class according to the contract.”

And the one who remained became a slave.

“Keep this in mind. You are the bait. If you can’t lure that monster, we’re all screwed.”

Moreover, in the Mystic Gate era, the only place where slaves were used was beyond the Mystic Gate.

Thus, most of the slaves who became bait did not survive more than six adventures and were eaten by monsters.

“This guy is alive again?”

However, El Paume survived again and again.

It wasn’t luck.

Because the next role of a slave who survived as bait was to be used as bait again, that’s all.

Because there was only despair after despair.

“I’ll die someday, anyway.”

And then he would just be eaten by a monster.

That’s how El Paume came to be alive after a black ring appeared on his left wrist.

The 1st circle, a prerequisite for adventurers, was opened.

Of course, the Gafor Upper Class, who owned him, did not use El Paume as bait from then on.

Of course, that didn’t mean they gave him his freedom.

“The price of an adventurer is different from when you were a slave, so if you work hard from now on, you’ll be able to pay it off. Work hard.”

He worked like a dog.

“You’ve worked hard. This will pay off your debt.”

It was only after three years of awakening as an adventurer that he was treated like a human being.

And then the day he gained his freedom began.

“Monsters are pouring out of the Mystic Gate!”

That disaster that began to destroy Maple World.

El Paume’s fierce days of survival from that disaster began.

“Pam, are you okay?”

In the midst of those fierce days, El Paume happened to discover (accidentally learned) his own talent.

“You just used Thunderbolt, didn’t you?”

He had no choice but to use Thunderbolt to save his comrade in danger.

It was crazy.

“You’re a fire attribute magician, aren’t you?”

Using magic of an attribute different from one’s innate attribute is no different than a tree playing with fire. It’s an act that deals fatal damage to the caster’s body.

El Paume also knew that fact. He used it with determination .

Because he couldn’t afford to lose his comrade.

“Are you really okay?”

However, El Paume’s body was completely unharmed, making his determination seem insignificant.

“Could it be that he was born with two attributes?”

Of course, up to that point, everyone, even El Paume himself, thought that he was just born with two attributes.

“Isn’t that great?”

Because that was a big deal too.

“Damn it, the mushrooms are coming! The damn zombie mushrooms are coming! Everyone, prepare for battle!”

And the reality that came before him didn’t give him the leeway to explore and polish his talents.

It wasn’t until some time later that he fully realized his All-Master talent.

“……I can also use the poison attribute.”

In a situation where all of his comrades were dead, he used the 5th circle poison attribute magic Mist Eruption in order to self-destruct, knowing that he would die as soon as he used it. It was only after he saw himself breathing without any difficulty in the midst of the poisonous fog that erupted endlessly that he finally realized it.

“I could have used them all.”

That he had the talent of an All-Master.

From that point on, El Paume’s position changed.

An All-Master, he became a powerful magician.

Infinite Magician, Shadow Butterfly Hunter, Balrog Slayer… countless titles adorned his name.

However, his situation remained the same.

No matter how many strong monsters he defeated, an even stronger monster would appear before him.

The days of having to risk his life to survive not only did not change, but rather became even worse.

And in the end, all that was left after surviving those fierce battles were new titles.

That was all.

There was nothing left.

He simply survived alone to face the glory.

And so it was now.

“Ah……”

El Paume looked up at the sky.

Then he saw the Horntail flying away, flapping its wings.

…With one head missing, now with two heads instead of three.

It was not a victory.

The Horntail was a dragon that would not die unless all three of its heads were cut off.

It was a creature that would eventually return with new heads as time passed.

He had simply bought himself a little more time to breathe.

‘I’m the only one left.’

At the cost of the lives of all his comrades.

El Paume did not despair at that fact.

‘This time too.’

He had chewed over this despair countless times, so much so that he no longer felt it was worth chewing over.

El Paume stood up.

And he prepared.

Next time, he will definitely hunt it down.

Horntail, he prepared to make the heads of that monster all fall to the ground and add the new title of Horntail Slayer to his name.

Whether it was possible or not, that didn’t matter.

What was he fighting for, who was he fighting for? The time to discuss such values was already past.

The era where hunting monsters was the only way to survive.

El Paume, the last adventurer of that era, stood up from his seat.

‘Let’s get the items.’

And he made a plan.

‘Let’s go to Victoria Island first. Cheryl’s Vanguard fought there, so the items Cheryl’s Vanguard had should be gathered there.’

Step by step, he planned to hunt Horntail.

‘If we have the collection of Gerechter, the leader of the Cross Hunters… we can further strengthen our tactics. If that’s not enough, let’s go to Edelstein. The Resistance said that they hid the Polearm of Aran, one of the Six Heroes, in the base’s safe, so… .’

That was the moment.

El Paume’s moving leg suddenly stuck to the ground.

It wasn’t that he had been attacked.

‘Ah.’

It was because his legs wouldn’t move.

The reason they wouldn’t move wasn’t anything special.

His head was telling his legs to move, but they just wouldn’t move.

‘Strength.’

He just didn’t have the strength.

Not even the strength to walk.

Of course, he also didn’t have the strength to stand.

Thud!

El Paume collapsed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.

El Paume wasn’t surprised by this fact.

‘It’s time.’

When it was time to die, most people collapsed like this.

Like those guys?

El Paume had seen this situation countless times.

‘Last words…’

And El Paume had also seen and heard countless times what people did when they faced this moment.

‘There’s no one to listen.’

But unfortunately, unlike El Paume who had listened to his comrades’ last words, there was no one to listen to El Paume’s last words.

There was no one left around the last adventurer to listen to his adventures, to leave them behind.

All he could do was tell himself his own adventure story.

‘There were so many things.’

Thus began the recollection.

And of course, it started then.

‘It started then.’

On the day he first awakened as an adventurer.

‘The day I was slapped.’

2.

Smack!

The moment El Paume raised his head, something flew through the air and struck his cheek hard.

“Get up, you brat!”

El Paume simply stared in surprise at the person who had slapped him, his eyes wide with shock at the sudden profanity and violence.

The muscular man glared at El Paume and slapped him again.

Smack!

“Who are you looking at, you slave brat? Get up!

Get up now!”

Only then did El Paume get up from his seat.

However, he was not in his right mind.

El Paume’s face was devoid of expression, and his eyes were unfocused.

It couldn’t be helped.

‘What is this?’

He was in the middle of a flashback.

He was trying to dredge up memories of the distant past, memories that were vague and hazy as he died.

‘Is this a flashback? Why is it so painful and clear?’

But what he was feeling now was far from vague or hazy.

‘It feels like reality?’

The swollen cheek, and the taste of blood in his mouth from being slapped so hard, didn’t seem like a past memory at all.

That’s when it happened.

“Throw the bait!”

Along with the sudden shout, someone kicked El Paume’s back with all their might.

Thump!

El Paume’s body naturally fell to the ground, and what he saw was:

“The orange mushrooms are coming!”

Hundreds of orange mushrooms were charging towards him like angry bulls.

‘Ah’

El Paume was even more shocked when he saw that.

“Drop the bait and run away!”

He wasn’t shocked by the sight of the orange mushrooms charging towards him.

To El Paume, the presence of monsters was no different from seeing trees in the forest, it was just a part of his daily life.

‘It’s clear.’

El Paume was shocked because this sight was a sight from his memory.

‘That day.’

It wasn’t just any memory, it was a memory he could never forget.

Of course.

‘The day I, a slave used for bait, opened my 1st circle.’

Because this was the day El Paume’s fate changed.

Because this was the day that El Paume, who was a slave, became an adventurer.

Because this was the day the last adventurer was born.

That’s why El Paume was shocked.

El Paume, he realized it.

‘I’ve returned to the past.’

That he had regressed.

[TL/N:Just so you guys know the numbers in between the chapters is not a mistake or something we put!! It was there in the raws itself, So just a heads up!!]

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]