World’s Strongest Became the Game’s Weakest Villain

The fly sent out a breath full of ice and sent the man's attack hanging back.

"Huh!?" Sharky yelped, rolling his chains back inside.

Zachariah took the chance to dash ahead. Like lightning, he raced through the forest and popped up in front of the mothfly, his blade swung down charged by streaks of electricity.

The fly snapped out of its shock then and narrowly avoided the attack.

"Not so quick!"

Sharky's hair had formed a net in the sky and was falling down. It trapped the icy mothfly in its grasp as Zachariah turned his sword back and stabbed it straight down.

"Haha!" Sharky screamed. "I am not getting that hair back, but it doesn't matter!"

"Zzz…."

It didn't take more than a second for Zachariah to go back to sleep.

As Sharky frowned and walked over to the river, his heart started pounding on his chest.

Just like that, it was all over.

The entire day felt like a waste.

What was all the wait and hiding for when it was not going to give him any results?

The disappointment of the experience hit Sharky like a truck.

He even went bald for this damned mission, and all for what? Nothing.

Lifting the dead mothfly, he straddled it on his shoulder and walked ahead, pulling the fast asleep Zachariah with his other hand.

Wind breezed like a melancholy flute, hitting its note with the backings of the fluttering wheat fields.

It was funny to see some strands of wheat frozen and some completely dry and fluttering. The icy mothfly had a tendency of releasing a chill while eating, but it was still a monster that belonged in the dungeons and not outside of them.

This was for the best.

Sharky looked up at the sky with a sigh. The glimmering stars were pretty, so was the dark of the night.

"Why did you become an adventurer?" Sharky asked Zachariah.

The sleeping man stopped snoring at his words and yawned, standing up straight. He started to walk shoulder to shoulder with his partner and stretched his hands above his head.

"To enjoy…"

Sharky snapped his head back at Zachariah.

"Enjoy? Where's the fun when it ends that easily?"

Zachariah pointed at the sky, his gaze lazily. He then slowly swept his hand around the fields all around them. In the shade of the night, the parts that were still frozen reflected the moonlight forming a beautiful sea of gold and silver.

Sharky's eyes widened.

"Here is the fun, not in the battles."

Sharky did not say anything and only watched the scene for a while.

He still didn't feel it to be anything special, not really.

But…

It looked a lot different that what it was just moments ago. What was bland and boring before was now beautiful, but still uninteresting.

The two of them soon found themselves standing in front of the village head's house.

They were thanked over and over, but it didn't matter much to Sharky. He didn't care about being thanked in the first place.

The night passed by while they stayed in the village, and the next day, with a letter that held the village head's seal, the duo adventurers went back to the adventurer's guild.

The coachman from before who was supposed to come pick them up was not here and they had to spend the entire day walking back, but no complain left Sharky this time.

Why had he become an adventurer?

There was not much of a reason. He had just left home to get away from his drunkard father and gambling addict mother.

They beat him a lot when he was a child and so he beat them back and ran away, it was just that simple. With nothing else to do, he spent his days doing this and that.

Going hungry wasn't a problem, Sharky was a smart kid, he could easily work up a punch or two and get a job with just a few words. Neither thieves nor employers worried him.

But he never stayed at one place too long.

He always wanted to explore more and more, unlike his parents who had fallen so far into a single thing that they started neglecting their child, he never wanted to do so.

When he was an apprentice for a potter, or when he was working as a laborer in construction, all he could think of was what was next.

But down in that thought…

He had lost thought of his now.

When he traveled he thought of reaching the village, when he reached the village he thought of fighting, and when he fought he thought of going back.

Only for those few moments where he was staring at the mystical sight with his new friend was the time he was truly living in his now.

Sharky…

Did not want to lose sight of that.

He wanted to see more things like that. He had heard that being an adventurer had the most variety and so he had picked up that job.

But…

All he had done was stay stuck in his sight forward, he did not think he was to think of the now as well.

In his battle against obsession, he had become obsessed with something else. It was the worst moves he could have made.

He had learned his lesson.

This job as an adventurer.

He was rather interested in seeing what it would have in store for him next. One step at a time.

***

Things changed slowly.

He still wasn't up to being an adventurer all that much yet. His thoughts kept fluttering ahead, but the time spent with his friend was surprisingly pleasant.

"Hoho, can you help me plow my farm?"

"You motherfucker, you're using adventurers as farm hands?"

"Zzzzz!"

"Well no farmhand can do it."

What he would have rejected a few days ago, he at least gave it a try.

The two changed into straw clothes, boots and gloves. As soon as they stabbed the pitchforks into the grounds, giant dolphins came jumping out and pounced on them.

"AAAH!"

"ZZZZ!"

"Don't sleep aggressively bastard!!"

It took a while, but they managed to kill the monsters. They were barely injured and a large chunk of the farm was plowed well by the dolphins.

"Amazing! Now all farmhands can work on this, I won't ask you to do this kind of work anymore—"

"It's fine, it looks fun."

"Zzz?"

All kinds of experiences awaited the two, all of them that Sharky was seeking to try.

From crossing mountains when they had to take a detour, to teaching children under the trees when a village needed assistance.

Thinking always of the then, always wondering how he wanted to be, Sharky had lost the essence of who he was.

Instead of thinking of his then, he started to think of his now. The trick was simple, really. To counter the worried that stopped him from enjoying anything, he only had to learn to enjoy everything.

"Congratulations, we're promoting you two to silver rank."

Rushing up the ranks in just months, he had hit the higher level. Joining teams with old man Roth and once even with Dawn, the only one he had missed was getting together with the monster named Dusk.

But they still met every time he came back to Deep Down Town with newer and newer scars alongside the manager.

Slowly, very slowly, Sharky and Zachariah were changing.

The sleepy man had started to laugh while the laughing one had started to smile.

Even when they met with stronger adventurers.

"Sorcerer, just make sure these two don't get in our way."

"You got it, tempo."

He enjoyed when he was looked down on, when he fought back, when he was pissed and even when he messed their mission up.

Laughing had become enjoyable.

Looking for rare flower fields in his way had gotten enjoyable.

Just sitting in the carriage and staring at the sky had gotten enjoyable.

When a year passed and he had become a gold rank, partying was just as fun as all the adventures he had held and fighting more new kids during the next year's intake was also as fun.

Two years passed since Sharky gave the exams.

He had truly become an adventurer.