The Hero Returns

Lee Ju-ho, who was fidgeting on his smartphone, suddenly had a surprised expression on his face.

Lee Ju-ho, who habitually went on Abyss Online on the go to check for updates, got his eyes caught on a post where an awakener introduced himself as the awakener on the 12th floor.

"Already…?"

The awakener who had cleared the 11th floor was moving onward to the 12th, which meant the record on the 12th floor was the ranking from the 11th floor's trial.

Seated beside Lee Ju-ho, Kim Ba-reun asked, "What? What is it?"

Lee Ju-ho brought his smartphone screen in front of Kim Ba-reun's eyes.

"Kim Su-hyeun? He has already cleared the 11th-floor trial?"

"Yeah. It looks like Su-hyeun's record this time was quite insane, too."

"They're really something. Whether it's this Su-hyeun or the other Su-hyeun, they're both…" Kim Ba-reun, who wasn't aware that both Su-hyeuns were actually the same man, shook his head.

His admiration was just for the famous Kim Su-hyeun, the one who had been creating the highest record made in history as he climbed each floor. But the surprise that Lee Ju-ho had was of a different level than Kim Ba-reun's.

He, on the other hand, had received a call from Su-hyeun yesterday morning.

"I am going to go to the 11th floor of the Tower of Trials. I might be hard to get in contact with for the time being."

Reality and the world in the Tower of Trials were totally different. And obviously, it would be impossible to contact anyone from inside the Tower of Trials via smartphone.

Thinking that Lee Ju-ho might have contacted him immediately, Su-hyeun gave him a heads up in advance. No one could tell unless they knew in advance how long it would take to clear a trial or the content of the trial.

But…

<<How could he have cleared it in a day?>>

Su-hyeun had always cleared the level 10 trials of each floor. It was a kind of identity for the awakener named Kim Su-hyeun. And of course, it was almost impossible to clear such a trial just within a day.

<<Really… He makes others quite speechless.>>

Lee Ju-ho grinned widely and locked his smartphone. He laid back down and spoke. "Head back now if you're done. I can discharge tomorrow, so don't be too worried." Lee Ju-ho, who was donned in a patient's outfit and was being admitted to the hospital, waved his hand at Kim Ba-reun, implying that the latter was annoying.

Kim Ba-reun hit his chest at Lee Ju-ho's reaction, feeling frustrated. "This fool. How did you think of challenging a dungeon when its level was raised?"

"I don't know either. But it was harder than I had thought, really."

"Thankfully, you did not die. Don't you know? The rule of the Tower of Trials. How big of a difference it is for every floor."

Even if it was just a single level difference, the difficulty got exponentially harder as it ascended. Therefore, the higher class awakeners would challenge the lower level trials, but never the higher ones. It was a clear rule for the awakeners to survive.

But Lee Ju-ho had broken that very rule.

"Right. I know that it was suicide, but it just so happened."

"Why did you suddenly have a change of heart? You even said so yourself that climbing the Tower of Trials was a stupid thing to do."

"I'm not sure. After escaping from death once, my thoughts seemed to have changed."

"…You have changed a lot."

"I'll take that as a compliment. And I want to rechallenge it sometime later."

"Are you for real?" Kim Ba-reun asked in surprise.

How could he want to rechallenge it after all that? Even if he was lucky enough to have survived that time, he had not actually passed the trial.

He should have returned back to reality by now.

"Yeah. I will continue to challenge it as long as I'm alive."

"…What about the dungeon attacks?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't go together in the future. I think I'll concentrate on climbing the Tower for the time being."

Kim Ba-reun bit his lips tightly after hearing Lee Ju-ho's response. As he saw the expression on Kim Ba-reun's face, Lee Ju-ho felt a bitter pang in his heart.

<<Looks like it's really the end here.>>

He was the friend who contacted him suddenly one day, saying that he had become an awakener.

In the years that followed, Lee Ju-ho and Kim Ba-reun had gone to dungeon attacks together. And it had been a year since then. But instead of supporting or worrying about Lee Ju-ho, Kim Ba-reun looked disappointed at the fact that they could no longer go on dungeon attacks anymore.

Lee Ju-ho closed his eyes. Kim Ba-reun lastly wished him well and then left the room. Lee Ju-ho felt slightly bitter, but at the same time relieved too.

It was something he had to say either way. In fact, he was also afraid of how his friend would have reacted to it. But now, he would be able to focus on climbing the Tower, like before.

<<Would it be possible?>>

As he recalled the trial which he had challenged the day before, he felt a little frightened. Even so, it was not suitable to be hesitant about challenging the trials.

<<Tomorrow, I must once again….>>

* * *

[Kim Su-hyeun, your 12th-floor trial starts now.]

* * *

Three months later, a yellow level dungeon appeared in Jongro, Seoul. The Ares Guild was being selected as the guild to head the dungeon attack.

"Thanks for the hard work!"

"Thanks for the hard work!"

Tens of awakeners bowed towards one man in the group: the Ares Guild's master, Jeong Dong-yeong. Jeong Dong-yeong went around patting each awakener in the guild and sent them off.

"Right, you've worked hard. Hak-joon stays back, and everyone else should head back for an early rest."

"Yes!"

At Jeong Dong-yeong's orders, the guild members quickly dispersed on the spot. Jeong Dong-yeong and Hak-joon remained and let out exhausted pants while boarding the back seats of a black sedan.

"Is it tiring?"

"This dungeon attack was quite tough. Why didn't you take an easier one?"

"If I did that, the attack would be too easy. Yellow level dungeons are hard to come by, and it could also be a chance for others to increase their skills."

"Someone could die in the midst of it. These days, the death rates of awakeners are increasing, too…"

"If so, that will explain that person's capabilities."

Hak-joon's expression became slightly twisted after hearing Jeong Dong-yeong's cold reply.

Jeong Dong-yeong genuinely did not care for the other awakeners' lives. Had he paid more attention to the dungeon attack as an A-rank awakener, the dungeon attack would have been completed without anyone getting injured.

"I heard that you're in contact with the kid called Kim Su-hyeun?"

Hak-joon's face stiffened at Jeong Dong-yeong's question. Hak-joon had never told Jeong Dong-yeong about it.

"…Yes."

"Was he really that Kim Su-hyeun? That guy apparently has gone up to the 15th floor recently."

The 15th floor.

It was never a high floor. No, instead, it was a relatively low floor.

Hak-joon was now already on the 28th floor, challenging all the level 8 trials on each floor. But even so, if anyone asked whether Hak-joon was stronger than Kim Su-hyeun, it definitely wasn't so. All the records Kim Su-hyeun had made up until now on the 15th floor had already surpassed Hak-joon's records on the 28th floor by a lot.

"If he was that guy…"

"It couldn't be."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes. Haven't I told you before? Brother…"

"Brother? You've got a lot closer to him now, haven't you?'

Hak-joon could not continue further. No, he thought that he should not answer any further. Whatever his answer was, the consequences would be adverse.

Jeong Dong-yeong grinned at Hak-joon's stiffened expression.

"Kiddo, what's with this expression? I was only asking."

"It's nothing. Just…"

"Anyway, if he is the Kim Su-hyeun I know, try to entice him. Even if it fails, that's fine, too. If you guys are close, isn't he considered my younger brother as well?"

The Ares Guild was growing bigger as each day passed. Jeong Dong-yeong, too, was quite a capable awakener, and the guild had a lot more awakeners than before. Now, even the guild placed in the higher ranks as well.

"…Yes. I got it."

Hak-joon nodded his head while he replied. Hak-joon was quite disturbed by the smartphone in his pocket. As the sedan's engine started, it started heading somewhere.

It was the next dungeon's location.

Act 6

[Kim Su-hyeun, the 15th-floor trial starts now.]

* * *

Time had passed by quite quickly.

Time did not give anyone even an inch of error. The world continued moving on like a rewound video, slowly showing the next scenes of a story.

But there were definitely differences that had occurred.

A small stone that was tossed into a gigantic lake.

And the waves that it created started rippling out.

The year was 2021, when the world had actually started to change.

* * *

Grr—

A 16-foot tall huge monster stood with its mouth open.

The monster's two horns were broken into halves, and it had bright red-colored skin similar to that of a tiger. The monster appeared in the middle of a medieval European city. It was said that the beast was sealed in the grounds underneath the city since ancient times.

Su-hyeun frowned as he looked at the monster.

"It took me a lot of effort in finding you."

"Please, please be careful!"

There was someone who did not run away. He was a young man who lived in the village, and Su-hyeun had come across him a few times.

Kyaa—!

The ancient monster faced the skies and cried out loud. It was laughing instead of crying. It was laughing madly.

It seemed that it was quite happy to have been freed from its seal.

"You, you must escape…"

Even if he was stammering, the young man could not make his run without Su-hyeun. Su-hyeun was not sure whether he was being nosy or had a sense of justice. Either way, Su-hyeun was thankful that he worried about him.

But…

"Hey."

Su-hyeun ignored the young man's words and called out to the ancient beast.

"You shouldn't be laughing at a time like this."

Grr—

Only then did the ancient beast look at Su-hyeun directly. It had a puzzled look. It crumpled its face after realizing that Su-hyeun wasn't the least bit afraid of itself.

"What are you looking at?"

It turned around at Su-hyeun's voice which came from behind.

Slide—

Squelch—!

The sword wielded from behind, blew up at the ancient beast's body. Blood gushed out from the slash made on its back.

Stomp, stomp—

Crack, kyaaa—!

The ancient beast roared at Su-hyeun as it had almost gotten stuck to the ground.

Su-hyeun swung his sword a few times in the air as he felt a heavy feeling at the tip of his sword.

"Indeed, I can't use this any further."

The ancient beast's skin being thick was a problem in itself, too. But there was also a problem with the sword that he was using as well. A year had passed since Su-hyeun had started wielding the sword. It wouldn't be much of a problem on the lower floors, but using it at this time was an issue.

<<He did say it would be completed soon, so…>>

It was time to stop talking about the sword. Even if he used a blunt sword, it would still be enough to deal with the monster which stood before Su-hyeun.

"So let's…"

Kya, kyaa—!

The flame was set ablaze on Su-hyeun's sword. Two birds created from the flame appeared around Su-hyeun at the same time.

They were phoenixes, which were born from the flames.

"Bite it."

Kyaa—!

The two phoenixes flew towards the monster at Su-hyeun's order.

Black flames that came out from the monster's mouth swept through the phoenixes' bodies. The phoenixes disappeared without a trace, and the monster shifted its vision on Su-hyeun.

Slash—!

Squelch—!

The two phoenixes broke through the black flames and began to bite on the monster's body.

Kyaa—!

The monster struggled to shake off the two phoenixes that clung onto its body, but the monster had overlooked something for the moment.

It was Su-hyeun that was now over its head.