The Hero Returns

Act 7

Chirp, chirp.

Su-hyeun could hear the birds chirping when he regained his consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, got up, and scanned his surroundings. He then noticed a sparrow on a branch over his head.

Chirp.

The sparrow met Su-hyeun’s gaze and chirped again.

He bewilderedly stared at the bird for a little while before coming to his senses.

“A bird?” he said, confused.

The sparrow got near enough. Su-hyeun walked closer, careful not to scare it away.

He should currently be in a ranch located in the middle of Gangwon Province. This place was supposed to be destroyed during the First Outbreak crisis. Humans and animals would find it difficult to live in this desolate land.

Birds were not an exception. Yet, how come there was a sparrow here?

Su-hyeun hurriedly searched through his pockets. But when he pulled out his phone to confirm the date…

Shatter.

The moment he held the phone, the screen cracked.

“Huh?”

Not one to easily give up, Su-hyeun tried to turn it on. He was hoping that it would still work despite the broken screen. After several attempts, he stopped.

He stared at the device, thinking he could still do something about it. He tried each solution he could think of, but none worked. He put it down next to him. Then he repeatedly clenched and opened his hand.

‘Did something change?’

He wanted to know, but he feared the answer—it might disappoint him.

It felt like he had been asleep for a long time. Seeing how a sparrow managed to get this far, he must have slept for more than one or two days. As for the smartphone failing to start up, it could also be due to the battery running on empty; nothing to do with the broken screen.

‘As for my body, it…’

Su-hyeun examined his body. He was feeling light but overflowing with energy. He clenched and opened his fists again. This time, it felt different.

This new sensation, along with a whole new different atmosphere, Su-hyeun felt that the world had become part of his being.

He was still getting used with his newfound strength.

‘Could it be?’ he wondered.

Su-hyeun immediately checked his status.

[Name: Kim Su-hyeun]

[Magic count: 93]

[Magic level: 9]

[Strength: 100] [Agility: 99]

[Stamina: 99] [Reflex: 99]

[Death Aura: 70]

[Skill: Leap * advanced]

[Skill: Transfiguration * advanced]

[Skill: Flame * advanced]

….

[Fatigue: 0]

[Sage Arts]

* Grade: —

* Category: Passive

* It is a type of discipline created by Taoist gods. It improves the purity of magical energy. One can acquire the related skills. A unique ability will manifest when the proficiency improves.

* Proficiency: 31.81%

* Proficiencies for the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf is +20%.

“…!”

Su-hyeun’s eyes widened in surprise. Through the Broken Sandglass, he was able to train and polish his abilities for three years. His proficiency of the Somersault cloud, the Palm Leaf, and the Necromancer trait had improved. His understanding of the Sage Arts deepened as well.

He basically achieved the goals he had set out for himself. However, he still felt a bit frustrated as he could not sense any noticeable change despite the improved proficiency.

But now…

‘Is it because time has begun to move again?’ he suspected.

This magical energy transcended the scope of modern science. Scientists persistently worked on the magical energy. Eventually, they discovered the source of this power.

It was nature… The ‘magical energy’ was the power of nature. That power would accumulate in a person’s body. Later on, that person would emit that power. This was the essence of magical energy.

The reason for his magical energy count going up might have something to do with the time moving again. The ‘frozen’ world started spinning again, and the magical energy began flooding back to Su-hyeun’s body.

To put it the other way, it meant that the vessel called Su-hyeun had grown larger than before.

And finally…

‘Yeah, I definitely got it right.’

Now he was sure of it.

—Your body has taken a step beyond the boundaries of humans.

—Acquired the qualification of godhood.

Su-hyeun held on to the memories and dragged them back to the present.

He remembered hearing something about it back then. He received a lot of messages, but he was too sleepy at the time. He didn’t pay much attention on the information being relayed to him. However, after confirming the changes, he realized that they weren’t part of his dream at all.

‘Godhood… Is it…’

‘Godhood’… It was the qualification to become a god. It meant that the power of his body had exceeded the human state. He was now a step closer to the realm of the gods.

A stat that reached the three-digit mark… Su-hyeun was not expecting to reach godhood in this fashion, although he originally set his sights on it.

‘The Sage Arts is a discipline that helps an individual to reach godhood. That’s what he said.’

It wasn’t that hard to figure out why his stats had a sudden increase.

‘He also said that the more one practices the Sage Arts, the closer they would get to being a god and acquiring the qualifications of godhood.’

That was what the Bull Demon King told Su-hyeun in the past. When the latter heard that for the first time, it didn’t make sense. Sure, his stats did improve a bit when he trained for the Sage Arts, but such a result could also be achieved by climbing a tower as well.

But when his Strength stat reached 100 and those messages popped into his brain…

Su-hyeun finally realized what the Bull Demon King meant.

The Sage Arts was a discipline that enabled a mere human to acquire the qualification to become a god and to possess a body and strength that rivaled an actual god.

“Hmm…”

Su-hyeun looked at his hand for a while, and then clenched it. He opened it and then clenched it again, then slammed it to the ground.

When he did—

Ku-gugugugugu—

RUMBLE!

The ground shook forcefully.

His fist didn’t make a dent on the ground, but his power managed to penetrate the ground and caused an earthquake. It lasted for a minute or two.

“It’s really possible,” Su-hyeun remarked, amazed.

He initially thought he couldn’t do it, but he figured he wouldn’t find out unless he tried. So he did. He was quite pleased.

Additionally, the boost in the Strength stat alone imparted this completely different, higher level of perception compared to the past. The reason why he unintentionally broke the phone’s screen was because he had not adjusted yet with his sudden improvement in strength.

That was how great it was—the difference in the strength Su-hyeun possessed back then and now.

‘Is the three-digit mark some kind of a wall?’ Su-hyeun wondered.

When the Strength stat remained within double digits, he didn’t experience such a massive transformation with each improvement.

Even if there was a noticeable difference in every improvement, it would only be around the level of him needing about a day or two to adapt.

But the three-digit stat was another story. He even had to question if this was real. This power was simply beyond Su-hyeun’s comprehension.

‘And I am only at 31%, too.’

Even now, the Sage Arts’ proficiency was increasing at a frustratingly slow rate.

Once it got past the 10% mark, its rate had slowed down. Now that it had reached 30%, Su-hyeun was pretty sure that the rate would get even slower than before.

However, it didn’t matter…because Su-hyeun had now fully discovered its potential.

* * *

South Korea enjoyed a period of peace when the First Outbreak had ended. It was so peaceful that the previous commotion did not cause an alarm to the people.

Except that Gangwon Province still remained a deserted land even then…

It had been a while since the end of the First Outbreak. Su-hyeun decided to pay the Jongno Tower another visit.

“Hey! You came back…”

Lee Ju-ho welcomed Su-hyeun into the office. He didn’t seem to find it strange that the latter could not be reached for the past few days.

Su-hyeun found it awkward, though he was careful not to let Lee Ju-ho notice.

In Lee Ju-ho’s defense, he thought Su-hyeun was someplace else, taking a much-needed break. He didn’t want to disturb him.

Meanwhile, Su-hyeun felt sentimental by the fact that they were meeting for the first time in a long, long while, yet Lee Ju-ho didn’t appear to be enthusiastic. But in all fairness to Lee Ju-ho, he was meeting Su-hyeun again after 10 days—for his part. Su-hyeun had an entirely different notion.

‘I guess it’s only me feeling this way,’ Su-hyeun realized.

Su-hyeun heaved a sigh of relief. He didn’t look it, but he was really happy to hear another person’s voice after a long while.

“But how could you go back to the tower without saying anything? I mean, come on! Even if you were really busy, you should have at least left a text message or something,”Lee Ju-ho ranted while handing Su-hyeun a cup of coffee.

It seemed that he was under the impression that Su-hyeun could not be reached for a while because he had already begun his trial on the next floor.

Su-hyeun didn’t say a word. He just patiently listened to Lee Ju-ho’s ramblings. Even if he tried to explain, the old man would never understand the things he had experienced in the last three years only he knew of.

“Well, it somehow happened that way.”

Su-hyeun took the cup of coffee and quickly sipped from it.

“It’s hot!”

“What were you expecting?” Lee Ju-ho replied sarcastically.

It was too sweet for his taste. He wasn’t into sweets, but welcomed the effect of caffeine in his system. It perked up his mood.

In the last three years, Su-hyeun only consumed water, dried meat, and nuts. They weren’t what he would consider ‘delicious’, but they sustained him, provided the nutrients his body needed.

“This tastes pretty good actually,” Su-hyeun commented.

“Really? I was worried you wouldn’t like it. But that’s all I have in here.”

“Really. I’m not actually a coffee person, but I liked this…for some reason.”

“Now that’s a surprise. I guess you really like it, then.”

All they had in the office were coffee mixtures, so Lee Ju-ho had no other options to offer Su-hyeun. He was puzzled to see Su-hyeun genuinely enjoying the drink.

They didn’t really have much to talk about. Their conversation was mainly about the progress of things post-outbreak crisis. Su-hyeun felt good talking to another human being. He missed company.

As they went on updating each other, Su-hyeun learned one important thing.

‘It has been 10 days from what I can recall.’

Which meant that Su-hyeun had been asleep that long.

It did feel like he was asleep for a long time, but he wasn’t expecting it to be 10 days. It was too long, which explained the fatigue he had been experiencing.

‘In any case…’

Squeeze.

Thoughts occurred to Su-hyeun. He was silent for a while, clenching and opening his fist.

‘I have basically found a lead now.’

Su-hyeun continued to talk with Lee Ju-ho. He agreed to a dinner, a small get-together with Lee Ju-ho, Hak-joon, and Gwok Yun-seon.

He was reminded of how enjoyable it was to have a good meal with the people he cared about and how precious it was to spend a normal day with them.

He missed doing mundane stuff. It gave him some sense of normalcy.

But, on the following day…

He directly headed back to the 101st floor.

* * *

The world found on the 101st floor remained deserted.

No living creature could be found in there.

The silence was deafening that the moment Su-hyeun arrived, he shouted, “I’m back!”

It echoed throughout the deserted city.

Not too long afterwards, the administrator’s reply came to him, “Man, have you forgotten that I’m still here?”

The administrator’s hands were covering his ears, teasing Su-hyeun. He then walked closer towards him.

Su-hyeun asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You… Did something happen?”

“Like what?”

“Ah…right. You had that thing, didn’t you?” the administrator muttered softly as if he was already aware of the Broken Sandglass. “Oh my! That didn’t feel like three years, did it? I wasn’t expecting it to be this fast.”

He sounded rather unhappy about something somewhere.

He wasn’t sad or anything like that. Just unhappy. Actually, seeing that satisfied grin etched on his face, he must have been feeling pretty good right now.

Su-hyeun immediately realized what the administrator was talking about and gave a knowing smile. The latter’s slightly jealous reaction didn’t bother Su-hyeun.

“Do I still look desperate even now?” Su-hyeun asked, eager to know.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” the administrator answered, chuckling. “You ain’t there yet.”

The administrator didn’t directly shoot Su-hyeun down, which would indicate that he, too, had seen some kind of potential here.

Su-hyeun was satisfied with that. He wasn’t planning to remain in this state, anyway. He was determined to improve.

“In any case, congratulations…,” the administrator greeted Su-hyeun. He paused and a sheepish grin formed in his lips. He avoided Su-hyeun’s gaze and spoke again, “…on acquiring the first qualification of godhood.”