Giant Toad Hunt

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Hero World (KonoSuba)

"Alright! That's it for today's training! Kazuma, Aqua, tomorrow we'll head to the guild and accept a monster subjugation quest. It's time to officially start our adventure and level up!"

Looking at Kazuma, who was sprawled on the ground from exhaustion, and Aqua, who was dozing off beside him, Hero Renzo announced with a smile.

"Eh?"

Hearing this, both Kazuma and Aqua instantly perked up, jumping to their feet and staring at Renzo with eager eyes.

"We're finally starting the adventure?!"

Tears welled up in Kazuma's eyes.

Only he knew how much he had suffered over the past half-month.

Every single day, Renzo forced him to train in Water Breathing techniques and swordsmanship.

Even when he was exhausted and drained, Aqua would heal him instantly with her recovery and enhancement spells—just so he could continue training without rest.

Day after day, it was like hell.

This wasn't a video game where he could just sit back and press a few buttons.

He wasn't a game character; he was a real person.

He could feel exhaustion, pain, frustration—even the urge to die.

How was this grind even fair?!

In just half a month, Kazuma, a former gaming shut-in, felt like he had lived through an entire century.

Of course, he had thought about resisting. But Renzo was simply too strong!

And to make things worse, Renzo even gave him a fair chance to fight back.

The fair condition? Defeat Renzo.

So simple, right?

Yeah, hell no.

Even now, Kazuma couldn't even touch a single finger of Renzo's.

How could he possibly win?

That being said, he couldn't deny the benefits. His physical fitness and combat ability had improved at an incredible rate.

If not for that, he would have broken down mentally long ago.

Kazuma might be a bit of a loser, lazy, perverted lolikon, trash, sadist, scammy—but he is a..… uh, he must have something good in him, just not found yet… right?

Maybe the desire to get stronger?🙄

---

"So it's finally over?"

Aqua smacked her lips, feeling a bit reluctant but also somewhat tired of the routine.

Taking on some quests and experiencing a change of pace didn't sound too bad.

Besides, she still had her grand goal—to make Renzo and Kazuma defeat the Demon King so she could return to the heavens.

Renzo nodded confidently. "Exactly! Kazuma is strong enough to take on low-level monster subjugation quests now. Just training endlessly isn't enough!"

"Plus, after defeating monsters, you earn experience and skill points to learn new abilities. That will help both Kazuma and me improve even further!"

He had already decided what Kazuma's first two skills would be.

First, Aqua's basic water magic—Sacred Water Creation.

Second, the Crusader's Physical Growth ability.

"Yes! Finally, I get to go on quests and hunt monsters! I can't wait!"

Kazuma, who had been lying on the ground like a dead dog, suddenly sprang up, full of energy.

Then...

Then he passed out from excitement and exhaustion.

"Eh? Kazuma?"

Aqua blinked and hesitantly called his name.

Seeing that Kazuma wasn't responding, she walked over and nudged him with her foot.

Still no reaction.

She started to panic. "He didn't die from overwork, did he?!"

"No way."

Renzo twitched the corner of his eye and shook his head helplessly. "He just fainted from exhaustion. Let's throw him into bed and let him rest for the night."

"We should go eat. What do you want for dinner?"

As he spoke, he casually used telekinesis to lift Kazuma into the air, floating him toward the villa.

Aqua clapped her hands excitedly. "Hmm... How about we eat at the adventurer's guild? We can try some new dishes and expand your menu at the same time!"

She looked at Renzo expectantly.

She had no money, so she had been completely relying on the rich Renzo to support her.

Aqua regretted not bringing any money when she descended to this world.

"Maybe I could get some from the Axis Church?"

She fantasized about it for a moment, then immediately shook her head. "No way! No way! I'm a goddess, a dignified goddess! How could I go begging from my followers?!"

That would be way too embarrassing.

Even though she was an idiot, she still had a tiny bit of shame.

"Guess I'll have to make money from quests instead..." Aqua sighed in defeat.

"Sounds good." Renzo didn't refuse. He was also interested in trying some different dishes.

After dumping Kazuma into his bed, Renzo and Aqua headed to the adventurer's guild and ordered a feast.

---

"Oh my! If it isn't Mr. Renzo and Miss Aqua! Speaking of which, you've both been adventurers for quite some time now. Are you finally planning to take on some quests?"

Luna, the guild receptionist, greeted them warmly. She had a deep impression of these two.

Aqua was a high-tier Archpriest with maxed-out stats.

And Renzo—though he had bizarrely chosen the weakest "Adventurer" class—had ridiculously high attributes.

Even at level 0, he was stronger than most seasoned adventurers.

Such amazing talent... No, such excellent adventurers couldn't be allowed to slack off!

The guild needed them to take on difficult quests!

Her performance bonuses depended on adventurers completing high-reward missions, after all.

"Of course!"

Renzo gave Luna a friendly smile. "We've spent this time training Kazuma. Now that he's ready, we'll accept our first quest tomorrow. We'll be counting on you, Miss Luna!"

"Oh no, not at all! This is my job! I'll be looking forward to your performance tomorrow. Good luck!" Luna beamed and waved at them before walking away.

After finishing their meal, Renzo and Aqua returned home to rest.

— — —

The Next Morning

Kazuma woke up starving.

"Food! I need food! I'm dying!"

He rushed out of his room and lunged at the dining table, which was filled with delicious breakfast dishes.

BAM!

Aqua immediately kicked him back.

Hands on her hips, she scolded, "Go wash up first! Look at you! You look like a damn goblin!"

Kazuma: "..."

What else could he do?

Grumbling, he quickly washed up before returning to the table and devouring his food.

As Kazuma felt the hunger in his stomach fade, he finally slowed down, swallowing a big mouthful of food. While eating, he thought about asking Renzo something.

"Hm?"

Just as he was about to call him "Sensei," Renzo shot him a sharp look that immediately shut him up—Who the hell is your Sensei?

Feeling awkward, Kazuma could only scratch his head and say, "Uh… Boss Renzo! What quest are we taking today?"

Honestly, he never really understood why Renzo refused to let him call him Sensei.

After all, he was really grateful for all the training. Sure, it was absolute hell, but the results spoke for themselves. His strength had improved dramatically!

"We'll check when we get there. Now hurry up and finish eating so we can head out." Renzo shook his head.

Although they hadn't picked a quest yet, as someone who had read the original story, he already knew exactly which mission they were going to take first—the Giant Toad hunt.

Yes, those massive frogs that stood around four to five meters tall.

It wasn't about following the original storyline. Did he look like the type who cared about that?

The truth was, he just wanted to see the chaos and hilarity unfold.

That scene! He can finally watch it live.

"I wonder if Kazuma, even after all this training, will still end up getting half-swallowed by a frog like in the original?" Renzo smirked to himself.

As for Aqua? Oh, she was definitely getting eaten.

That so-called goddess was a complete idiot. No amount of training could fix that.

It wasn't about experience—it was about raw intelligence, or in her case, the lack of it.

"Well, whatever."

Kazuma had no objections. He was hyped right now.

It was the same feeling as finally leveling up in a game and getting ready to grind some low-level mobs.

"Uh, hey!" Aqua suddenly chimed in. "Since we're going on an adventure, shouldn't we, like, prepare some gear? Renzo, don't you have something for us?"

She looked at him expectantly.

With a teammate who had Creation Magic, she didn't even consider actually buying equipment.

That would just be a waste of money!

"Oh, right!"

Kazuma's eyes also lit up as he turned to Renzo.

Renzo sighed, shaking his head before waving his hand.

With a flick of his fingers, he used Fantasy Creation to instantly craft a set of high-quality gear for both Aqua and Kazuma.

"Here, take it! I've had these prepared for a while. Don't disappoint me."

This was a design he had planned in advance, so crafting them was no big deal.

Of course, it did cost him about ten percent of his total mana.

Creating magical equipment was pretty energy-consuming.

"Whoa! It's so pretty! Thanks, Renzo!"

"Yeah! Thanks, Boss Renzo!"

Both Aqua and Kazuma practically pounced on their new gear, hugging it tightly as they beamed with excitement.

"Just make sure to do your jobs properly. Don't waste this good equipment."

Renzo chuckled and shook his head.

Even though, deep down, he already had a feeling about how this was going to go...

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