I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World Chapter 7: Magique Without Players

"My parents They're all gone." I evenly spoke. Not a single emotion showed on my face.

What I told them was not a lie, but it was not far from the truth, either.

The two children felt silent after hearing such a depressing answer that ca from . Afenos, who was usually a rowdy boy, could not insult or make a joke. I was expecting one, but words did not co out of his mouth.

It only ant that the boy still had decency left inside of him.

"I'm sorry for asking. I didn't know." Rain expressed her apologies to , since she was the one who dug up my past.

"It's fine. It's not your fault, anyway."

I paid it no mind and brushed it off Rain's attempt to liven the conversation. This pair were still children and did not know the entire world.

We continued marching on the road and followed the set of trees planted on the sides. There was a well before us. Rain told that this shaft was the centre of their village. "The town's plaza", if people wanted to beco as fancy as .

Just as we were about to visit the village's plaza, we took a sharp turn and avoided the pavent. There was a small cottage up ahead that looked empty from afar. But these children told that sobody still lived there right after the war.

He was an adventurer that went with the na Uncle Roger.

"Here we are! The lodge that Uncle Roger is staying at!" Rain said with her arms extending wide.

Afenos averted his gaze and looked at the road from where we walked earlier. That kid was eager to leave behind and play with the others.

"Now that we're here, maybe we could leave him alone?" Afenos remarked, while kicking the pebbles beside his feet. If those stones could talk, they could have cursed the kid for his actions.

"Hey, Afenos! That's not nice! We should accompany Mister Arthur and-,"

"It's okay, Rain. Afenos is right. There's no need for you two to co inside if you don't want to. I'll be fine on my own. Thanks to you two, we arrived at the house. Why don't you two run along and play with your friends until the sun goes down, hm?" I cut off Rain's sentence and seconded Afenos.

No matter what angle I would look at it, these two were still children that wanted to play outside. Children disliked hearing serious topics concerning the end of their village. Even I, as an adult, hated to hear that. But I wanted more information about this place and what happened to the adventurers.

I may not be the only one reincarnated in this world. Magique was a vast space where billions of players could communicate at once! Nightti did not stop them from playing this ga. I had heard from the community that a guy got hospitalised after playing this ga nonstop. That news beca the trend and alert for children who felt eager to touch this ga.

"See? I told you so, Rain. Co on! Our friends are waiting for us at the crop field."

"Uhh, okay, Mister Arthur! Co back to the house once you're done talking with Uncle Roger! Dad is making so delicious curry! You should try so!"

"Alright, kids. Be sure to go ho before sundown, or the monsters will catch you!" I said. It was the lines that my mother told when I was still a little kid, when Magique did not take over Earth.

"You grownups are no fun at all," Afenos snorted, before taking his leave.

Rain followed close by and waved goodbye. "We will, Mister Arthur!"

"You could exclude the mister, Rain! Call Arthur next ti!"

I waved at them in return. After seeing the two kids off, I averted my gaze from the two figures and gave a light knock on the front door. There were no doorbells invented during this ti, given the decline of technology of Magique. This generation was the era where lamps beca too popular and used as lights in the room.

Those who could afford a decent toilet had the title in the kingdom.

"Who's there?" A man asked from the other side of the door.

I did not know what to reply, so I answered truthfully. "It's Arthur. An adventurer who just arrived in this town."

"An adventurer?" the man said, with his voice trailing far away. Since that old farr told that all the adventurers died from the previous war, this man must have been shaking to hear .

"Co on inside. The door is never locked."

Granted with that permission, I touched the door and witnessed a simple interior design inside a cabin. The guy did not have any wild animals used as decor. But he had a settee made of stacked hay with woods as its foundation. It was an invention if one would build it back on Earth.

There were no light bulbs, televisions, or gadgets inside this place. Just like the adventurer's guild before, this place had nothing to offer but a campfire that crisps the dry twigs. The warmth coming from the blazing embers was the only thing that soothed my senses.

"Please, have a seat." the man who I believed was the adventurer who lived from the war suggested.

I took his advice and sat on the couch. My bottom kissed the haystacks and sunk on them. I did not expect the bench to be this soft, since the man bundled these pointy-looking hays into a char.

The man who talked to was behind another room, doing sothing that I did not know. I did not want to be a rude guest, so I waited for him to reveal himself to .

Footsteps drew closer to that room, telling that the man was coming for . I sat on the chair with my legs rubbing at each other and waited for the guy.

"So? What do you want from this dull afternoon?"

The man behind the curtain finally revealed himself to . However, the guy shattered my expectations and fell to the ground. He was not the brave adventurer found in fantasy comics. That guy did not have a legendary sword.

The adventurer had only one thing. He had several injuries on his body. He had a missing left arm and multiple scars on his face. Even his clothes were all tattered up like a beggar in the streets. I did not know if that guy was still alive or a walking corpse.

But much to my surprise, I did not pity the crippled man. My heart pumped a billion tis, and it only expressed one thing.

"It must have been tough to defend this village." Those words ca naturally to my mouth as soon as the adventurer greeted .

This guy was the embodint of the hero that I wanted to beco. However, he did not have the lavish clothes, armours, and weapons in his arsenal. All the man had was a steeled heart ant to protect anyone in need.

"Yes, young man. I had a tough job protecting this place to maintain peace. But after getting my arm ripped off by a demon, my adventuring days went down to the sewers," the man explained, and sat beside . "So, what do you want to ask about? You did not go here to chit-chat with , did you?"

"Uncle Roger's your na, right?"

"Aye," Roger replied.

Before I could speak my fill, I shut my mouth and thought of sothing to ask. It took a while before processing all the data inside my head, deciphering the happenings in this down. But I kept it simple after waiting for a minute.

"What happened to the adventurers? This village should be a haven for adventurers, mages, and rcenaries! Where were they when the war happened?"

Roger closed his eyes, as if reminiscing from the grim past, and gave his answer. "If Aferous told you this, you should probably know by now."

"I heard they all died from the war," I retorted. "But should there be a group of them defending this place? All of them died just like that?"

The adventurer gave a firm nod. "Aye. Those brave people died. Humans had a scarce population from the start. Those adventurers you speak of were rely around a hundred. The kingdom could not pay for any rcenaries as they continued strengthening the kingdom. Since Calot also received an attack, the king was too busy to defend other villages like us. That's what I believe."

What Roger said only ant one thing. Players like did not exist in this world. Since the players overpopulated this ga, defending the town should be a piece of cake. And yet, none of the players did that during the assault.

"What else do you want to ask, young child? The night has already gotten old. You must return to your lodge if you want to rest before the next attack."