I was not alone in that, thought Shane.

  The video didn’t show it clearly because of the camera angle, but the others had also been rushing to save Henry.

  Or the editor had chosen to focus solely on the gray blur that moved faster than everyone else.

  The footage cut to Shane grabbing Henry, hauling the tank to safety. But in the chaos of the movement Shane accidentally kneed a crawling Whitley Barlowe’s head.

  Shane didn’t do it on purpose, so he’d barely remembered it happening.

  But the editor evidently thought it was an important scene, because they replayed it in slow motion, zooming in on Whitley’s face crumpling in schock as he was knocked sideways.

  While Shane was still trying to process what he was looking at, the chat ignited with a completely different kind of excitement.

  -LMAOOOOO

  -Oh my god that headshot in slo mo had me dying (laughing and crying emoji)

  - Barlowe getting absolutely folded is the highlight of my week

  -being that strong right out of the gate would mess with anyone’s ego

  -holy shit he took a hit for Stone

  -Look i dont care how rough he talks the guy got his damn shoulder run thru stoppin that hit

  -Been too long since we had a melee dps this sharp.

  -wat is his real name i want to look him up

  Then, just when Heaven’s Executioner broke free from the [Bind] and all hope seemed lost, the video showed the other hunters starting to break formation and run. Panic spread like a plague.

  Even Shane’s own party members looked ready to flee.

  He was genuinely surprised when the footage continued even after they hid in the factory.

  How the hell did they do that?

  He had no idea that Violet, the editor, sometimes used the abandoned factory for band practice and the camera that was set in the corner had saved the hunters’ conversations to the cloud.

  Whitley Barlowe’s shout, right before he took off, was loud enough to be caught clearly on the recording.

  [Whitley Barlowe: T-that’s enough, ????????! If you say that... if you stay, what does that make us? The cowards who ran while the great ???????? held the line?]

  The camera shook, capturing Barlowe pointing a finger at Shane.

  [Whitley Barlowe: Y-you’re a high-ranker, so maybe you’re confident you’ll survive, but it’s different for us! You just want to play the hero and get the rest of us killed!]

  Shane’s reply was calm, almost bored, even, as if he’d expected this kind of response.

  [Wolf: Of course you can go. I’ll help.]

  [Whitley Barlowe: What?]

  Shane raised a hand, causing an explosion to wipe out the Paladins and the Sacred Roses near the factory, clearing a path for his party members to escape.

  But the party members, instead of running, stared at the back of the man who had just blown a hole in the enemy line. On screen, Shane stood tall and wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, looking as indifferent as if he hadn’t heard a word Whitley said.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  [Luke Hinton: Do you… really think we have a chance?]

  Shane turned his head to the side and spat the rest of the blood onto the ground before replying.

  [Wolf: I fight to win.]

  The sight of his skill’s backlash made the chat explode again.

  -Funny, all the folks calling him cocky disappeared the second he stepped up lmao

  -bro still talks like a jerk but somehow it hits diff now

  -I did not expect him to clear a path for them like that…

  -Barlowe crying about cowards while Wolf is literally doing everything is peak comedy

  The better Shane performed, the more the tone of the chat shifted.

  Even his blunt way of speaking started to be reinterpreted as confidence instead of arrogance.

  He never thought they would push the narrative this far. The edit had turned him into a reckless hero, someone who threw his own body on the line for the sake of saving others.

  He didn’t hate it. In fact, it was perfect.

  This way, no one could criticize him for bailing as soon as the breach was over. They’d just assume he skipped the press conference because of his injuries.

  As he was thinking this, the video was reaching its climax.

  It was the scene where he and Henry charged the boss. The rest of the hunters, except their party and Josh Miller’s party, were gone, fleeing to get to the intercontinental portal.

  The mood in the chat grew more solemn.

  -Damn… all the hunters bailed, just Luke Hinton’s party hanging on now

  -yo check the corner Miller’s squad aint gone yet

  -fr tho what can 2 guys even pull off against that thing

  -I guess this is where we see how they stalled for time until the s-ranks arrived.

  -Man they’re dead meat no way they walk out

  [Luke Hinton: We’ll hold them here, so go!]

  But as the video showed Shane and Henry breaking through the line of Paladins and tombstones with their party’s help, the chat grew more and more frantic.

  -huh?

  -Wait

  -Well I’ll be damned, looks like they’re carving right through.

  -are they actually going for the boss? ARE THEY CRAZY?

  The footage showed Shane darting past the Executioner’s wind blast. [Blink] carried him higher than its shoulders, the creature’s head rising like the side of a building beneath him.

  The chat exploded with nothing but keyboard smashes and stunned words.

  Henry was in the background, yelling something as if wanting to stop Shane.

  In the air, Shane summoned the Broken Oath, wrapped in flame, and swung it at the wall of black holy fire the Executioner raised in defense.

  The strike landed.

  And the monster fell.

  The screen shook as he disappeared into the dust and buildings as he fell along with the monster, and the chat box scrolled so quickly it was almost unreadable.

  Shane pulled his gaze away from the phone, his skin prickling with embarrassment.

  He knew how it looked, but it hadn’t been the suicide charge people thought it was. He almost looked like a lunatic.

  He risked another glance at the chat.

  -damn son that’s what i call a hunter right there

  -BRO JUST ONE SHOT THE EXECUTIONER

  -i just DIED watching that

  -As;efjawekfgj;rklg

  -WOLFWOLFWOLFWOLFWOLF

  Seeing the chat erupt as one, all spamming “Wolf” now, Shane rubbed a hand down his face.

  Not this nickname again.

  He was so embarrassed he couldn’t even watch the rest of the stream.

  Honestly, he’d been half-expecting public opinion to turn on him at some point. But even after the stream ended, the chats and comments were still overwhelmingly positive.

  The people of this world were definitely different from the ones he knew. They were far too generous with their praise.

  -That was insane

  -So fucking cool, time just flew by

  -Please upload the video (praying emoji)

  -That’s a real hunter, fighting with grit and never giving up

  -His voice sounds like a total slacker who just wants to go home and sleep, the gap is crazy

  -i love you wolf marry me

  Ah, so that’s why they livestreamed it, Shane realized as the screen went black.

  It was a smart move, since the video would go down the moment the stream ended, preventing people from picking apart the mosaic that hid his face to find out his real identity.

  People would have screen-recorded it anyway, but he appreciated the thought.

  It was strange. The uploader, the viewers, they all treated the hunters like... actual, normal people. He thought it was human nature to fear those with powers you couldn’t understand.

  For example, he knew from his past life that saving someone didn’t guarantee you their goodwill.

  Or is it because the video was so biased in my favor?

  The video had built a perfect narrative. It established him as an unlikable jerk at first, then flipped the script to show he was a skilled hunter, and finally painted him as a self-sacrificing hero.

  It wasn’t the image he would have chosen for himself, but… it worked.

  And that nickname. Wolf.

  It sent a shiver down his spine. He hadn’t hidden his real name specifically to avoid getting these kinds of weird tags. He’d even been properly introducing himself to hunters in dungeons.

  He never imagined he’d get a nickname because of a civilian’s phone camera.

  Still, his face wasn’t out there, so it wasn’t a real problem. What was important was building a reputation for being skilled enough that others would cooperate in dungeons, while also having a good reason to monopolize rewards without getting hate.

  In that sense, his “official” debut was a success.

  And that turned out to be a bigger help than he’d expected. As soon as the stream ended, a notification appeared before his eyes.

  [Achievement Unlocked—1,000 fans]

  There’s no myth without a little fire.

  Reward: Skill Point +1

  Shane’s eyes widened. But a moment later, another one chimed.

  [Achievement Unlocked—5,000 fans]

  Mighty legends from little sparks grow.

  Reward: Rare Upgrade Roulette x1 spin