The Hero Returns

It was a pleasing message. Su-hyeun liked that the message said he had perfectly cleared the trial. He was right to exterminate the Shayres.

The slowly increasing stats and magic factor had risen by a few points at once, as well as his achievement points. Not to mention, he had obtained even more stats and achievement points from battling the Shayres in the past month. Since the Leap skill's mastery had increased, it wasn't a waste of time.

I've stayed for too long. Although he very much wanted to advance to the next floor, there was something else he had to do.

Creak, creak—

Su-hyeun, who watched as the remaining Shayres escaped, looked back at their chief. And…

"Transfiguration skill."

The moment he had been waiting for had arrived.

[The transfiguration skill will be used with the "Shayre Chief" as the target.]

[Some parts of the target's characteristics will be absorbed.]

[Trait: "Berserk" has been acquired.]

Berserk. Su-hyeun had known of its trait.

"A trait that increases the physical ability in proportion to one's fatigue, health, and blood loss."

It was quite the useful trait. One's physical ability would naturally decrease as fatigue and health got worse. But the berserk traits could reverse the effect exponentially. It would be quite handy in times of emergency.

It was worthwhile learning the transfiguration skill, capturing the chief, and obtaining this trait.

In the meantime, there's no need to change the trait.

The Shayre chief was a monster similar to the Shayre's boss. If it was the monster boss's trait, a normal monsters' trait would be incomparable. If there was only one trait that could be attained through the transfiguration skill, there would be no use for others for the time being.

Anyway, I've been here for way too long.

It was only the second floor. There were many more floors to ascend. Although Su-hyeun chose a higher difficulty level to receive better rewards, he could not continue to stay on the lower floors.

Time to speed up. Su-hyeun increased his abilities while hunting the Shayres in the past month. Although his magic level did not increase, his magic factor increased. His stats, too, had been raised significantly, and he accumulated a large number of achievement points.

He could get himself a few more useful skills with this amount of achievement points. It would be much easier to climb the tower. In the next year.

Su-hyeun's eyes narrowed. The goal… tenth floor.

It was easier to make concrete plans with a clear goal. Su-hyeun quickly organized his future plans and goals in his mind. The determined Su-hyeun finally spoke.

"Next." Su-hyeun immediately ascended to the third level. He had spent a month there, as well as on the fourth and fifth floors. Su-hyeun ascended the floors without rest. A year had passed.

* * *

Wednesday, December 7, 2019. It was a day that caught the hearts of many students. There were some satisfied with their results after a long period of suffering, but most were disappointed and frustrated.

It's alright. Su-hyeun headed out after verifying his results slip in the mail.

Eating out… It was rare for Su-hyeun and Shin Su-yeong to dine outside. If it were a special day, Shin Su-yeong would prepare a fancy feast, but Su-hyeun would bring up the excuse of studying and not make time for it.

But now he could no longer use that as an excuse. The exams were over, and the results of Su-hyeun's studies were shown to Shin Su-yeong. I can't afford to use working part-time as an excuse.

He thought it would be better if he were to live independently. Otherwise, I'll reveal the truth.

It wasn't easy hiding the truth for a year. Moreover, Su-hyeun felt guilty about it. Su-hyeun left the house and took the subway. Although Shin Su-yeong ended work late, Su-hyeun personally went to find her at her workplace.

Su-hyeun arrived at the subway station by bus and took Line 1 towards Suwon Station. Although it was after office hours, the station was still packed.

Screech—

Clank—

It was noisy. Although Su-hyeun had earphones plugged in, he couldn't focus on the music.

It'll soon be… 2020? It was now December 2019. Time flew quickly.

1

Su-hyeun looked out of the window in the crowded subway. The densely packed buildings and people passing through them looked peaceful at that moment.

Crash—!

Shatter—

The world turned upside down in front of his eyes, and everything was destroyed. The buildings crumbled, the people who were smiling brightly turned bloody. The sky turned black, and hot flames rose above the ground.

Part of the world, destroyed. This would probably be how it would look like after a few decades.

Again…

Su-hyeun shut his eyes tightly. One, two, three. He opened his eyes after counting to three. Thankfully the world was still the same.

"Huu—" He was sick of it. He occasionally had thoughts that everything was an illusion, and the world had been destroyed. Everyone else besides him had died, and the world had been burned down to ashes.

He might still be dreaming, and the moment he woke up, the destroyed world would appear before him. He had seen this illusion countless times and feared it every single time.

He was afraid that he would be left alone. Fearful that all these days were just lies.

However, it had improved lately, since he had seen these illusions numerous times. He probably would feel better staying in the Tower of Trials.

Has it been a month? He should have accepted reality at this rate.

Whatever they are, they are not illusions. The destroyed world — and the remaining part of this world, too — were both true. There was no need to take it badly. He just had to make sure the illusions he saw were not turned into reality.

Screech—

The subway soon arrived at Suwon Station. Su-hyeun alighted the subway and walked towards Shin Su-yeong's store.

"Su-hyeun, you're here? Wait a minute."

Shin Su-yeong was closing the store. Su-hyeun asked while helping her out.

"Did you sell a lot today?"

"Why should I sell so much? My salary would still be the same."

"There's no bonus?"

"The boss is so stingy. She's rich but such a miser." She said it half-jokingly.

Su-hyeun now smiled frequently while conversing with Shin Su-yeong. He had changed quite significantly in the past year.

They walked towards a barbeque restaurant nearby. It had been a while since they had grilled meat cooked over charcoal instead of in a pan.

As soon as the meat was cooked, Shin Su-yeong said, "Eat a lot, son. You've worked hard studying so much."

Although he felt guilty for lying, Su-hyeun still nodded his head. "Thank you for the food."

"Right. How were your results?"

It seemed that Shin Su-yeong did not forget that the results would be released today. Su-hyeun shrugged knowingly, took out his results slip from his bag, and handed it to her. He was about to put the wrapped meat into his mouth.

"My gosh, son! Are these really your results?"

"You surprised me. Did you think I would steal someone else's?"

"My gosh, my gosh!"

Not realizing that the meat was getting burnt, Shin Su-yeong smiled brightly at the results slip. The tired face after work was nowhere to be seen. Su-hyeun had never seen Shin Su-yeong smiling so brightly.

"Son. I hope for you to graduate from university, but it's alright if it's a normal university…"

Most parents would want their children to attend a good university. It was the same for his mother from his past life. Although attending university would not guarantee a good future, but it would be advantageous to have a higher educational background.

University. Although it would be deemed useless in a few years, Su-hyeun wanted to fulfill her wishes. Thus, Su-hyeun took out some of his sleep time to study a month before the exams. It wasn't difficult. He had done the same in his past life anyway.

There was no need to attend a good university, too.

Su-hyeun attended Dong-ha University in his past life. It was one of the three top universities in Korea. For Su-hyeun, who had studied so intensely, it wasn't that tough to study again.

"The meat is getting burnt. Let's dig in."

"Aigoo, I'm full even if I don't eat. I'm proud of you, son!"

Shin Su-yeong, who was still beaming, seemed to not care about the meat. The string of compliments got Su-hyeun to turn red. He couldn't taste the meat properly.

How happy she must have been. She couldn't hold it any longer and started calling someone to boast about it. Su-hyeun eventually bowed his head and sighed as he watched.

Su-hyeun thought the results weren't good enough. This was enough, he thought. But if it were the university from his past life? No way. It was just enough to get him into a university in Seoul. As time passed, it seemed even more challenging to get such high grades in his past life.

Should I have worked even harder? If she was delighted with results like this, what if he had gotten even better results?

She would be grinning from ear to ear. He felt good just imagining it. A smile crept up Su-hyeun's face, too.

Suddenly, he heard a voice in his ears.

"I thought you would do even better…"

It wasn't Shin Su-yeong's voice — it was a voice from his past life. The words were spoken by Sung-in's mother. The results had been a lot better back then. But why…?

Why did she have such a disappointed look? Was it because he did not meet expectations? Instead, he had hoped that she would be as happy as if he had done his best.

I don't know anymore. Su-hyeun shook his head.

I'm not even going to attend university religiously.

He only took the exams to make her happy. Su-hyeun had no intention of attending university earnestly.

Because I'll soon… Su-hyeun glanced at Shin Su-yeong's smiling face… Have to take action here as well.