The Holy City of Adlanta

  The Holy City of Adlanta lay before Hajime’s eyes, and—as we’ve unfortunately come to expect—it featured the same three buildings, the same two vendors, and one big cathedral. A massive white wall surrounded the city, guarded by archers. That was it, nothing too fancy.

  Entry level: 100.

  Hajime-san, now absurdly overleveled, was immune to the ad-powered arrows—they bounced off his defense stats like paperclips. He approached the gate looking like a porcupine, bristling with ad-projectiles, with a magnificent punch, the gates flew open.

  ARRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH: “Finally! Some new content! Arrows? Now that scratches my back.”

  Hajime’s appearance had undergone a shocking transformation. He now stood as tall as a house, swole like a SUS-tier bodybuilder, with a flaming sword strapped to his back (snot bubble and all). Knights charged at him, only to be casually swatted aside with flicks of his wrist. Now a standard procedure for our hero.

  Then—as was tradition—a white knight didn’t pixelate upon defeat. He just lay there in a KO pose, like a monkey-alien anime character. Hajime shrugged and demolished the town.

  At the cathedral, a new enemy awaited: some kind of warrior-priest defending a generic knockoff of Elnora-san. Resistance was, of course, futile. One punch later, the priest fainted and became unattackable. Lame.

  Hajime burned down the cathedral anyway.

  Ding!

  Congratulations! You have conquered Adlanta!

  Reward: 1,000 XP and a commemorative hat – a chibi mortuary cross cosmetic.

  Hajime: “Such crap rewards…”

  He continued east, sword snoring on his back.

  "My thirst for vengeance led me to Adlanta—to seek strength, to fulfill my oath. That monster must be destroyed."

  That’s was what I vowed that day. Never again shall tragedy strike.

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  The one-month journey left me hollow. Bags under my eyes. Musk of failure clinging to me. But I met a wandering Saintess—Lisa—whom I saved from a Highway Woman. She called me her guardian knight for some reason... while blushing. I didn’t really care. I only wanted the power to protect.

  Six months later:

  I mastered MartialADs. I could now recite ad jingles from memory and imbue my sword with holy ad magic. I had become a certified PalADin, fully blessed by the honorable Military-Industrial Complex.

  Still, level 15. Its not enough...

  One day, Saintess Lisa brought me a solution:

  “We can awaken your latent power, Hero-kun. Come with us to the Cathedral of Saint Luniad.”

  And so, on the 7th day of the 7th month of the 7th year in the 7th city of the 7th country (who wrote this nonsense?), I stood at the altar.

  Then came the bombardment. 7 months straight of nonstop commercials. No food. No water. No bathroom breaks. Just chanting priests and echoing jingles. It was... agony.

  When the light finally dimmed, I emerged—reborn.

  Paul-san: Level 150 Holy PalADin of the Luniad Heroic Adverse Union.

  I trained hard. Guarded Lisa and awaited the monster’s inevitable return.

  The Day It Returned

  The alarms rang. Arrows flew. Something massive smashed through the gates.

  I grabbed my sword, infused it with ADmament, and charged at it.

  Then he swatted me like wet tissue.

  I hit the ground hard.

  The worst part, he didn’t even finish me.

  He walked right past me… toward the cathedral.

  “No... Lisa... NOOOOO!”

  I lost consciousness biting the failure of not protecting my friend.

  Saintess Lisa:

  “Where’s Paul-san?! I must be with him!”

  The priests held me back.

  Priest: “Your Holiness, it’s not safe here!”

  “I won’t abandon the Hero!”

  CRASH.

  The cathedral doors exploded. A towering creature desecrated the holy sanctum.

  He crushed the priests with no hesitation.

  His sheer presence broke me. I fainted, whispering:

  “Hero-kun… save me…”

  Hours Later

  Ashes is all that remained.

  “The holy city… gone…”

  I saw him—Paul-san—collapsed in the plaza, crying, broken.

  I joined him. We wept together for hours.

  Hero-kun:

  Awakening to failure is bitter. My promise... my oath… was it in vain?

  No.

  I will stop that monster. I will protect others. I’ll never forget Childhood Friend Village Girl #1.

  Saintess Lisa, tearfully clinging to me:

  “It’s not your fault! You’re our only hope. Please… live for me!”

  We held each other.

  Futile as hope may be... it’s all we had left.

  Roaming around a mostly empty map.

  Im totally lost.

  He finds a twig and lets it decide his path. It falls to the right.

  Next destination: Merchant City of Myad’s.