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Jack of All Trades, Party of None

Chapter 241: The Hero of the Fairy Tale in the Netherworld 🏰

Published: January 24, 2026

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(One thing after another... Seriously, I just want a break...)

On top of an absolutely horrible day that made me want to die, a flood of facts I didn’t know about hit me like a tidal wave, and my head was about to explode.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, the man who appeared before Shion and me gave the same name as the person known by the titles "Hero of the Fairy Tale" and "king of supernatural abilities."

What Shion told me about my supernatural ability honestly didn’t sit well with me at all.

However, it’s also true that there were many points I could relate to.

I had always recognized my supernatural ability as gravity manipulation, but that couldn’t explain the fact that I could perceive mana (……).

Furthermore, my adaptation to the flow of time.

If my supernatural ability was as Shion said, that could be explained.

When I converted into an enchanter through the golden dawn, I was able to count time without deviation or struggle, and buffs to allies never dropped.

Besides that, when I think back on it, there are many moments I can now understand that I hadn’t paid attention to before.

“Your reaction is slow. Did I say something strange?”

When Shion and I were dumbfounded by the unexpected shock, August tilted his head in curiosity.

“So, you’re saying you’re the ‘Hero of the Fairy Tale’?”

“...Huh, so in the future, I’m called something as grand as the ‘Hero of the Fairy Tale’... That’s kind of complicated...”

August muttered with a wry smile.

(Wait, did this guy just casually say ‘in the future’? How much does he know about this situation?)

“How much do you understand about this situation?”

Shion asked August, probably sharing the same doubts as me.

“Well, I have a feeling that this place isn’t quite the ‘World of Principles of Techniques’ nor the ‘outside world,’ but honestly, there’s more I don’t know than what I do.”

August nonchalantly answered about this place.

His answer also matched Shion’s hypothesis.

Still, what exactly are the World of Principles of Techniques and the outside world?

“Then, how did you figure out that ‘here’ or ‘we’ are future beings to you?”

Various questions arose, but I asked the most pressing one.

“It’s simple. I was trying various ways to access the future. Well, it was a long shot, but before I knew it, I was thrown here. So, it’s natural to think that this place and you all are things from my future.”

August replied carefree.

His words didn’t seem to carry any hidden meaning beyond that.

He just stated the facts plainly.

“...You’re even more incredible than I’d heard.”

Shion voiced, half impressed, half exasperated.

“Well, there’s no point in thinking too much about me, so it’s just a waste of time. —More importantly, tell me about the future. In exchange, I’ll teach you how to handle all-encompassing phenomena.”

August’s eyes gleamed like a child’s as he asked me to tell him about the future.

The offer in return was quite tempting.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was exactly what I wanted to know most right now.

But I hesitated about whether it was right to talk about the future here.

“—Ah, if you’re worried about the time paradox, you don’t have to.”

August dismissed my concern outright.

“Why? If you learn about the future here and return to the original place, wouldn’t that cause contradictions?”

“Well, there are various reasons, but the main one is that the place we go back to is the World of Principles of Techniques. I’ll explain more on that later. So, what will it be? Will you accept this deal or not? There isn’t much time left.”

As he said, we couldn’t afford to be complacent.

Though his presence reinforced Shion’s hypothesis, once the time rewind ended, we would presumably be returned to where we came from.

Not knowing when that time limit was, wasting time was unwise.

Besides, even if we returned now, we’d just be trampled again.

So, we had no choice but to move forward!