The Hero Returns

Environments found throughout every trial were equipped with such devices.

That was the very first rule Su-hyeun would remember while experiencing the trials. Especially when the level of difficulty was high, that rule would apply even more strictly than ever before.

It was the same story this time around as well.

Aile, Keshunirn, Howal. Out of these three, the two men's roles were mostly unclear.

Su-hyeun was able to read the pure greed over the Ether stones reflected in their eyes.

<<In the end, I still had to use my head.>>

He previously thought that this simple dungeon attack wouldn't have any matters capable of making him feel mentally exhausted. However, having given the matter a bit more thought, the roles of the companions seemed to be different. Not only that, he also felt that the difficulty this time was somehow lower than the floor before it, too.

So, a variable must've existed somewhere. He managed to find that variable within Keshunirn and Howal.

<<This trial's main tasks were to conquer the dungeon, and then to respond to the betrayal of my companions. These two.>>

The trial's system would initially come across as rather friendly. It did inform you in detail of what you needed to do, and what your aim was, after all.

However, in trials with higher difficulty, holes would inevitably exist in those explanations. Sometimes, the goal would be twisted in the explanations, or the explanation itself would be omitted entirely.

This was one such a case.

Although it offered the clear-cut aim of attacking the dungeon, it didn't explain anything about the issues Su-hyeun had to tackle during the process. Taking Su-hyeun's skills out of the equation for a moment here, he would've failed to prevent the two men's betrayal if he didn't make preparations for it well ahead of time.

Gulp—

Inside this deathly-quiet open space, the sound of saliva being swallowed echoed rather thunderously.

Only then did Su-hyeun recall his still-remaining party member.

"Uh, euh, euh….."

Aile, thoroughly terrified now, began stepping away from Su-hyeun. He finally became aware of the fact that he hadn't withdrawn his magical energy yet.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that."

Shu-wuuuu—

The gigantic magical energy filling up the whole space disappeared instantly. It was very, very faint, but the signs of relief showed up in Aile's expression just then, but unfortunately, her gaze ended up meeting Su-hyeun's, and fear took hold of her anew.

<<…Will she be okay?>>

It seemed that she mistakenly thought he'd murder her next.

"I'm not planning to harm you in any shape or form. Please don't be scared like that, and prepare for the next wave of the monster attacks."

"Eh? Ah, of course!"

Her reply certainly sounded energetic, but she didn't seem to have completely escaped from her nervousness yet. He inwardly clicked his tongue and muttered to himself.

<<I better keep an eye out for her.>>

It'd be hard to defend against the incoming waves of monsters with her current state.

Aile might possess much greater abilities than the other two men, but it didn't mean she was as overwhelmingly powerful as Su-hyeun.

And sure enough, she ended up making a small error during the next wave of attacks.

Whoooosh—

Split—!

The jaw of a crocodile pouncing on her was split wide open in half. Aile was about to get sucked into this monster's mouth, so quite understandably, she fell on her rear in pure shock.

"Are you alright?" Su-hyeun asked.

"Ah… T-thank you."

"If it's getting too difficult to carry on, please take a seat and rest. I'll be fine by myself during the time remaining."

Aile was stunned by Su-hyeun's suggestion and raised her head. He didn't need her to verbally explain herself to figure out what her expression was currently conveying.

Feeling just a wee bit wronged here, Su-hyeun frowned deeply and asked her back. "You think I'm some insane bloodthirsty murderer that goes around killing people for no reason?"

"That isn't it, but…"

"What do you mean, it isn't? Your expression says otherwise."

She lowered her head in embarrassment from his rebuke. It was true that she saw Su-hyeun as an indiscriminate killer after bearing witness to people getting killed right before her eyes.

She also wrongly believed that she could very well be his next victim, too.

"I'm sorry," Aile apologized.

Even though her face became flushed as she apologized, thankfully, her nervousness seemed to have disappeared.

Su-hyeun took a quick glance at the remaining time.

<<Is it around one hour or so?>>

Most likely, this one hour would prove to be far more arduous than the one preceding it. Not for him but for Aile, of course.

He let out a long sigh and sat down in front of her. "Miss Aile, why are you in this line of work?"

"Excuse me?"

"If you get scared so easily like this, then you won't last long in this profession. If you get too stiff from nervousness and make one error somewhere, that's going to lead you to an event similar to the one that happened just now."

Aile could only bit on her lip at Su-hyeun's words questioning her competence as an awakener.

Unfortunately for her, though, Su-hyeun was thinking that Aile wasn't quite cut out for this line of work. "You are born with your talent, yes, but that talent doesn't always translate into real-world abilities. Miss Aile, I just don't see the resolve in you to take another person's life."

"…You're right."

"You know it, don't you? This line of work… No, even if it's not necessarily this profession, it'll still be the same either way. If you are not resolved, then you need to quit as soon as possible."

His words were sharp enough to stab into her neck. Indeed, what Su-hyeun said became a cold dagger piercing deep into her chest.

However, she didn't have anything to refute him with. Everything he said was correct. For sure, it could be for the best if she gave up on this line of work as soon as possible.

She didn't have the resolve to kill another person. But…

"I can't quit," replied Aile.

"Despite not having the resolve?"

"I'll try my best."

"But, why? Do you have a special reason?"

"I do," she replied without a shred of hesitation. Aile raised her head and stared at the ceiling. She just didn't have the confidence to look in Su-hyeun's eyes and continue on with her tale.

"Were you aware that I'm from a fallen noble family?"

"…Yes, I was."

He knew the rough details of it. Memories related to her and other companions were inserted into his brain by the trial's system, even if they were only the generalized outline. However, that's as far as they went. All the info Su-hyeun had on Aile didn't amount to much.

She continued on. "As for how our family fell…. you wouldn't know since I never mentioned it."

"Was it because of money?"

"You're surprisingly quick on the uptake."

"Surprisingly?"

"Ah, did I cross the line? I'm sorry." Aile grinned and went back to the topic at hand. "You're right. It was all because of money. A sum so preposterous that a normal person would find it hard to even imagine."

"You're in this line of work to pay that off?"

"You aren't going to ask me how much it is? People would always ask first how much the debt is after they hear this tale."

"It's not like I'll pay it for you even if you tell me, and I'm not particularly curious about it, either. That's why."

"You're rather realistic, aren't you?" She must've preferred that because her tense expression eased up considerably.

Su-hyeun saw the change and began thinking that perhaps she had been waiting for an opportunity to spill her heart out to someone else for a long while.

"Well, it's a predictable tale after that. A fallen noble family, a mountain of debt, an inordinate amount of wealth needed to make the triumphant return. An older brother who has no talents but still overflowing with drive and a bed-ridden father."

"It sounds like you're basically the head of the family, Miss Aile."

"The head of the family? Well… I guess so."

A bitter smile floated on her lips at his remark.

Su-hyeun sneaked a glance at her face, and while shifting his gaze away, cautiously asked her. "Didn't you have anyone willing to help you out? Such as relatives, or…."

"We did ask for assistance. Whether that be friends, relatives, or the other aristocrats on friendly terms with my father…."

"But then?"

"If they did lend a helping hand, would I even be here?"

What an obvious question that was. Su-hyeun thought that he asked something he shouldn't have, and turned his embarrassed face away.

Aile carried on. "That's how things were like, as it turned out. Maybe I'm biased towards him because he's my father, but you see, he has always been a generous person throughout his life." She spoke up to here and bit down hard on her lip. "If only someone lent us just a little bit of a help back then…."

She stopped there and shook her head.

She swore not to use the excuse of "no one helped her out and that's why she ended up like this." She felt her face getting red after realizing that she shouldn't have brought this topic up.

"S-still, I was fortunate enough to receive these abilities, and because I have the talent for it, I managed to earn some money in this profession. I guess the heavens don't want me to drown to death in debt just yet." After she said that, Aile brought her knees closer to her chest and buried her face there. "Well, I have no idea how long it will take me before I can pay off everything in full, though."

Just how much was the debt, anyway?

Su-hyeun was able to experience many different worlds through the trials. He got to encounter nobles like Aile in several of them, too.

It wasn't all that hard to figure out how wealthy they were even from a casual glance. Nobles were similar to wealthy dynasties commonly found in Su-hyeun's own world.

So, a fallen noble family was somewhat like the business owner taking on the debt of a bankrupt corporation. Most likely, such a debt would be well out of the scope of normal people's imagination.

She was still so young, yet she had to live on while being saddled with such a hefty burden.

"I think that, for sure…" Su-hyeun shifted his gaze away and muttered out, seemingly to no one in particular. "…Someone will definitely extend a helping hand in the future."

[Next wave will commence.]

The next wave of attacks was underway while he was listening to her tale.

He spoke while standing up from his spot. "Please rest here. Your emotions must be in a mess, anyway."

"No, I feel much better than before. Besides, I need to pull my weight here, too."

Was she enthusiastic because of her conscience or to get a better share of the Ether stones, even by just a little?

Su-hyeun couldn't figure out what her intentions were, but he thought it wasn't something he needed to worry about right now.

Regardless of what her reasons were, he would welcome her with open arms if she wanted to stay loyal to her role.

"In that case, I'll be in your care."

* * *

Gu-uh, uh-urk, uhhh-urk-

A giant's voice cut out, and it began roaring instead.

The giant monster, its entire body scarred by numerous minor sword wounds and scorched pitch-black by flames, tottered precariously as if it'd fall down at any second.

The Worm Gigant.

It was a repulsive-looking giant monster with countless insects living in its torso. It so happened to be the boss of this very dungeon, as well.

"Urgh, so disgusting…." Aile said as she extended her hand towards the Worm Gigant.

Not too long afterward, crimson flames erupted out from her hand and shot out towards the huge monster.

Ruuuuumble—!

Gu-uhhhhh—!

The Worm Gigant was already suffering from heavy burns caused by Su-hyeun's own Divine Flame, and so it began roaring out in even greater pain.

"Please wait for a moment," said Su-hyeun.

"Pardon?"

"I'd like to finish it off."

Aile blinked her eyes as Su-hyeun stepped in front of her.

He seemed to have room to spare until now, but for some reason, he looked rather pressed at this moment. Rather than being worried, however, it was far closer to anticipation, instead.

<<What's gotten into him?>>

Could it be that he was expecting something from the boss monster?

Aile stepped back as per Su-hyeun's wishes. He smirked and strode towards the Worn Gigant.

"Your life sure is resilient, I'll give you that. Even if your movements are really dull," said Su-hyeun.

The Worm Gigant was a fairly high-ranking monster among the bosses that appeared in yellow-colored dungeons. It was famous for the power its huge physique could generate, as well as its resilient lifeforce, above all else.

Of course, this boss and its lumbering movements couldn't pose any notable danger to Su-hyeun.

"So… it's fine to expect a lot from you, right?"

Growl—

The Worm Gigant's hand cast a huge shadow over the head of Su-hyeun.

Piii-eeek—

Splaaaash—!

The monster's hand was sliced and blood sprayed out. Its hide, weakened to the extreme by the burn wounds, was easily cut by Su-hyeun's sword.

<<As expected, its bones are soft.>>

One of the defining features of the Worm Gigant was its relatively malleable bones in comparison to its tougher-than-steel skin. Some kind of a magical enhancement cast on the skin was probably the reason for this phenomenon.

Boom—

Su-hyeun leaped up to the top of the Worm Gigant's head in an instant. The boss planned to swallow him in one go and opened its mouth wide open, its head moving in his direction.

Slam—!

Ku-rung—

Realizing that its fangs weren't chewing on anything but air, the Worm Gigant formed a confused expression and turned its head this way and that. It was then that a voice came from behind the boss.

"I'm kind of feeling impatient, actually."

[Transfiguration skill: Imoogi.]

Wuduk, wududuk—

Scales of Imoogi began jutting out from Su-hyeun's body.

At the same time, strength several times greater than before flowed into his hand holding Gram.

"Let's wrap this up quickly."