Hero From The Toilet

2. I Think You Summoned the Wrong Guy

Several people in the castle courtyard looked slightly relieved when the man from another world finally spoke.

Rangga scratched his head for a moment before answering casually, as if this were just an ordinary conversation.

"My name? Rangga."

One of the mages immediately gave a small nod, as though committing it to memory.

"Rangga..." he murmured.

But Rangga wasn't finished.

His gaze swept across the courtyard—the knights in heavy armor, dozens of soldiers standing guard, and the massive stone fortress surrounding them—before he raised a hand and pointed around.

"But wait... this doesn't make sense. Like, at all."

Several people began exchanging glances and Rangga then pointed directly at the King.

"You're a king with this many soldiers, and you can literally summon someone from another world—"

He pointed at himself.

"—but you're expecting me, some random guy who happened to get summoned, to fight the Demon King?"

Several knights immediately looked offended, but the King remained silent.

Rangga continued, his disbelief becoming increasingly obvious.

"You can't beat him with all these troops, so you're telling me to do it instead?"

He slowly shook his head.

"Are you insane?"

One knight stepped forward, his face twisting with anger.

"How dare—"

"Enough."

The guard captain raised a hand and the knight stopped.

The King stood calmly at the foot of the castle stairs, studying Rangga for several seconds as though carefully considering something.

Then he chuckled. Not loudly but enough to make the entire courtyard fall silent again.

"A reasonable question."

Several mages looked surprised by his reaction.

"If ordinary soldiers could defeat the Demon King..." the King continued calmly, "...we would have done so long ago."

A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard.

The King briefly glanced at the knights before returning his gaze to Rangga.

"Human armies have tried. Our greatest knights have tried. Even archmages from kingdoms across the continent have tried."

He paused.

"All of them failed."

Several knights lowered their heads.

"The Demon King cannot be defeated by an ordinary human," the King continued, his voice growing heavier. "He can only be defeated by someone who does not belong to this world."

An elderly mage standing behind him nodded.

"That is why the Hero Summoning Ritual exists."

The King looked at Rangga again.

"An outsider. A human unbound by the laws of this world. A hero..."

He paused briefly.

"...or simply someone fortunate enough to be summoned."

Several knights chuckled quietly and The King sighed.

"We do not expect you to kill the Demon King today. But the ritual has chosen you."

His gaze sharpened.

"And now, the fate of our world... depends on what comes of that choice."

Silence returned and everyone waited. Meanwhile, inside Rangga's head, one sentence kept repeating itself.

Unbound by the laws of this world. That sounded... Important.

Suddenly, Rangga spoke.

"Oooohhh."

He looked around again—the stone buildings, armored knights, and everything else that looked like it had been ripped straight out of a medieval fantasy movie—then slowly nodded while rubbing his chin.

"Well, no wonder you can't beat him."

Several mages exchanged confused looks.

"I mean, imagine if you guys had tanks. Or Raptor jets," Rangga continued casually.

One knight whispered to the man beside him,

"...Tank?"

His companion merely shrugged and Rangga turned back toward the King.

"Okay. First."

He pointed at the ground as though going through a checklist.

"I don't know where the hell I am, how I got here, or basically anything besides the name of this world and the kingdom you mentioned earlier."

He frowned.

"Which I already forgot."

Several mages looked visibly offended.

"...Valthera," one of them muttered.

The King remained calm.

"Second," Rangga continued, "where I come from, if you want someone to work, you pay them."

Several knights raised their eyebrows. The elderly mage behind the King looked ready to interrupt, but the King raised his hand again, stopping him.

"Third."

Rangga looked at the King more seriously.

"This Demon King has his own territory, right? So is he actually invading you, or is he just defending his land?"

His tone sharpened slightly.

"Or did you guys attack him first, fail to conquer him, and then decide to call him a threat?"

Several knights immediately erupted in anger.

"That is slander—!"

"Silence," the guard captain cut in.

The King, however, didn't look offended. If anything, he seemed to genuinely consider the question.

Several seconds passed before he answered.

"You are correct about one thing. The Demon King does indeed have his own territory."

He pointed west, beyond the castle walls.

"On the western continent lies a territory known as the Dominion of Umbra—a land saturated with dark mana and inhabited by monsters."

The elderly mage quietly added,

"It is not human land."

"For centuries," the King continued, "humans and demons lived separately. We did not attack them, and they did not attack us."

Another breeze swept through the courtyard.

"But two years ago..."

The King's voice hardened.

"A new Demon King ascended the throne."

"Since then, human territories have come under attack. Border villages have been destroyed, and monsters have begun advancing into our lands."

The guard captain added,

"We have already lost three fortresses."

The King looked at Rangga again.

"So no. We did not invade his territory."

He paused.

"He invaded ours."

Then his expression shifted slightly.

"As for your payment."

Several mages looked uncomfortable.

"The Kingdom of Valthera will provide you with shelter, food, protection, and whatever resources you require," he continued calmly. "And if you truly manage to defeat the Demon King... you may ask for any reward within this kingdom's power to grant."

Several knights looked visibly shocked and The King wasn't joking.

"But before any of that," he added, "you do not even understand how this world works."

The elderly mage nodded.

"Nor do we know whether you truly possess the abilities of a Hero."

The atmosphere changed. This was no longer merely a conversation. It was a negotiation.

Rangga stared at the elderly mage for several seconds before answering flatly,

"I'm not sure."

Then he bent forward slightly, just as he had before—As though trying to take a shit.

Several knights immediately looked away and a young mage covered his face.

"You summoned me while I was literally pushing one out."

Rangga pointed toward the summoning hall.

"While I was... you know."

Several servants struggled to hold back their laughter. The elderly mage he was pointing at merely stared at him with an exhausted expression.

But Rangga continued, this time more seriously.

"If you can send me back..."

He pointed at himself.

"...I can give you some suggestions for people who'd actually be useful."

Several people looked confused.

"My world has plenty of elite soldiers," Rangga continued, raising a finger.

"Diplomats. Scientists."

He shrugged.

"People who can blow up entire regions with uranium."

The mages completely lost track of what he was talking about.

"...Ura... what?" one of them whispered.

The elderly mage took a long breath.

"The problem is not choosing the person."

He pointed toward the summoning circle inside the hall.

"The ritual does not work that way."

His tone sounded almost like that of a professor explaining something to a particularly troublesome student.

"The ritual can summon only one human from another world, and it can only be performed once in a generation."

Several mages nodded.

"And the person summoned..." he continued, "...is determined by the resonance of their soul."

He looked directly at Rangga.

"In short... the ritual chose you."

Several knights nodded as though that made perfect sense. The elderly mage then added dryly,

"And once someone has been summoned... there is no known way to send them back."

Silence fell over the castle courtyard once again. Several servants exchanged glances.

The guard captain folded his arms while the King remained standing calmly.

"In short..." the King said quietly, "...you are now in our world."

He paused.

"And most likely... there is no easy way for you to return home."

The afternoon breeze swept gently through the courtyard. Everyone waited for Rangga's reaction.

Some looked curious. Others looked concerned. And one thing had become painfully clear.

Rangga's proposal to simply swap himself out for someone more qualified wasn't going to be that easy.