"How many Heroes are there exactly?" Chu Xueyue had to ask.

"Huh, I don't know that either," Albert replied, pointing at himself with an air of pride. "I never bothered to count. The Hero title isn't easy to get, but plenty can earn it—like me."

"If there are so many Heroes, why was I summoned here?" Chu Xueyue stabbed his fork hard into the meat on his plate, channeling grief and anger into appetite to eat Albert broke. "They just said I must defeat the Dark Lord to go home. With all you Heroes around, why drag me in? Couldn't you just gang up on him yourselves?"

Albert chewed his food calmly. "Because we're classified differently."

"What? Heroes have classifications? Male and female, or what?" Chu Xueyue's face froze in utter shock. Heroes were supposed to be one profession—how could they have subtypes? Were they really split by gender?

"You're new, so you wouldn't know," Albert explained. "Native Heroes like us have categories. I'm a Dragon Slayer Hero. During the assault on the Demon King's Castle, there was also a Demon Slayer Hero beside me. He just needed a bit more experience. If he'd upgraded to Dark Lord Slayer Hero, the Dark Lord wouldn't have killed him. Such a shame."

Chu Xueyue's mind reeled. A Demon Slayer Hero already existed? Then why summon him? He wasn't a Dark Lord Slayer Hero. At his low level, facing the Dark Lord meant certain death.

"Why not level up first?" Chu Xueyue pressed. "If he became a Dark Lord Slayer Hero, I wouldn't be needed, right?"

"Because becoming a Dark Lord Slayer Hero requires killing a Dark Lord first," Albert said. "Otherwise, the title won't upgrade."

What a trap! How many Dark Lords were there to kill? You had to slay one to earn the title, but without it, you'd get killed by one. The prerequisite was basically a death sentence.

"Hold on," Chu Xueyue suddenly realized. "You said you're a Dragon Slayer Hero. Why did you go after the Dark Lord then? Weren't you just walking to your death like that Demon Slayer Hero? Tagging along for fun?"

"Haven't you heard?" Albert replied. "The Dark Lord always keeps a dragon as a pet. As a Dragon Slayer Hero, I joined to slay it."

"And the result? You got captured?" Chu Xueyue teased.

"We agreed not to mention that," Albert sighed. "I did kill the dragon. But after the Dark Lord defeated me, he took my weapon—the 'Dragon-Slaying Blade.' Such a rare item, gone."

"'Dragon-Slaying Blade—click to receive.' Yeah, truly 'rare,'" Chu Xueyue muttered the familiar ad slogan before he could stop himself. He felt a pang of sympathy for the lost weapon.

"Exactly!" Albert said nostalgically. "Every time I used that blade against dragons, a surge of power filled me, letting me stand toe-to-toe with them." He didn't notice Chu Xueyue's joke. If he knew such blades were common in Chu Xueyue's world, he might have spat blood on the spot.

Chu Xueyue decided not to tell him. He still relied on Albert for food and shelter.

Honestly, if not for this, he'd still be rotting in the Demon King's Castle prison. Why the Dark Lord killed the Demon Slayer Hero but spared Albert—who'd slain his pet dragon—was a mystery. Chu Xueyue's thoughts drifted. In recent novels and comics, the Dark Lord was just a salaryman, a clingy mascot, or a broke guy needing Heroes to support him. Outside the castle, these images flooded Chu Xueyue's mind, sinking the Dark Lord's status in his heart. If the Dark Lord knew, he'd kill Chu Xueyue instantly.

Albert knew none of this. In his world, the Dark Lord remained hell-bent on destroying everything.

Then Chu Xueyue remembered something. "Wait—if you're a Dragon Slayer Hero, why do you have such a standard Hero Skill? 'Hope of Humanity'? That should belong to Heroes saving people from despair. Yours should be 'Dragon Slayer' or 'Dragon Hunter.' How did you get this one?"

Right. As a Dragon Slayer Hero, Albert shouldn't have a wish-based skill like "Hope of Humanity." With the Dragon-Slaying Blade, "Dragon Slayer" would make sense.

Albert chuckled bitterly. He set down his knife and fork, sipped water to calm himself, then explained to Chu Xueyue. "I thought the same at first. But after talking to other Heroes and studying past records, I learned this world assigns Hero Skills like a spinning wheel—totally random."

Random skills? Chu Xueyue mentally screamed 6666666.

Albert continued. "Mine's decent at least. It saved us from the Demon King's Castle prison when things got tight."

Chu Xueyue nodded in agreement. Albert's skill had indeed saved their lives.

"Take my partner, the Demon Slayer Hero," Albert added. "His skill was 'Magic—Gate of Truth.' Sounds epic, right? I never saw him use it, but the name alone screams power. Problem is, he was pure physical like me. A magic skill was useless to him."

Chu Xueyue's inner voice: 6666666.

This world's will really knew how to mess with people.