The Hero Returns

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"How dare you bluff…"

Stomp—

One awakener stepped forward as if he could not listen to Su-hyeun anymore. Su-hyeun remembered his name. He had heard this man's name in his previous life. But he was not outstanding at all, so Su-hyeun could not remember his face.

<<John Cleese. He was the first S-Rank awakener of India.>>

The word "first" was always considered a great modifier because it meant that person went ahead of others. But to Su-hyeun, this modifier was meaningless.

"You were lazy."

"Shut up!"

Whoosh—

When John Cleese's hands hit the ground, a huge mouth soared up at Su-hyeun's feet area. This time it aimed not just his feet but his entire body.

Crunch—!

Su-hyeun stamped on the wide-open mouth. The teeth in the big mouth broke and fell off.

"Ramic! Mr. Lowe!"

John Cleese called the other two people for help as if they had introduced each other or as if they were acquaintances from a long time ago. At that moment, the two men rushed toward Su-hyeun from different directions.

Whiz—

Slash, slash—!

The two men tore apart the snakes lying everywhere. The dozens of small snakes were cut and burst out in each attack. But…

"I told you."

"Argh!"

"Arg—"

Ramic and Lowe held their hands and feet. They could not approach Su-hyeun and stopped where they were. Their hands and feet turned to blue and purple and became stone-like.

"Do you still think it's just a simple hallucination?" Su-hyeun asked.

"A-argh…"

"Damn it!"

They struggled to remove the poison that began to spread in their bodies. Even though they did not have detoxification skills, they could prevent spreading by using their magic.

Since it was a poison made by a hallucination skill, if Johnny Brad took a little action, it could disappear soon. But that was one frightening and great point about this hallucination. If Johnny Brad did not take action, this poison would act like the real one and eventually would kill them.

"Shit!"

Mirald, who was preparing her skill while the other three were buying time, reached her hands out to Su-hyeun.

Whoosh—

At that moment, thousands of insects covered Su-hyeun's body. They were bugs with extreme poison. Like the snakes created by Johnny Brad, their poison would be fatal as well. But…

Schwing—

Slash—!

Su-hyeun cut off her hallucination skill as soon as he drew his sword out.

Boom—!

The hallucination disappeared in an instant. There was no need to get rid of each insect one by one. Mirald was startled when her hallucination broke out in vain.

Whiz—

Su-hyeun rushed forward. He rushed toward John Cleese, who was the closest to him.

<<I have to escape.…>>

Ramic and Lowe tried to step back, looking at such Su-hyeun. But at that moment, Su-hyeun's eyes changed.

[Third Eye - Predator]

Their bodies were not able to move. They were stiffened as if a giant snake had squeezed them. Although it was a brief moment, the fact that they could not move their bodies was fatal.

Crack, crack—

Bam—!

"Urgh!"

"Aargh!"

Su-hyeun grabbed the two men's necks in each hand slammed them on the ground.

As a response, John Cleese clasped his hands together.

Clap—

[The coffin of iron thorn spears.]

Creak, boom—!

The huge black coffin appeared to the left and right side of Su-hyeun and swallowed him up. Inside of the coffin were huge awls. "The coffin of iron thorn spears" was a skill that made hundreds of holes in the body of the trapped person and killed them.

<<I got him!>> John Cleese thought.

He felt the victory.

<<No matter how strong he is, once he's stuck inside this coffin, he won't be able to escape.>>

But…

Crack, crack—

Creak—

The closed coffin door started to open. John Cleese, who was injecting his magic into the skill, was startled and shouted with a scared voice.

"I-it is nonsense!"

Su-hyeun, who was trapped in the coffin, opened the door with his bare hands. The iron thorn spears could pierce even the steel, but they were torn apart by Su-hyeun's hands.

Crack—!

Soon, the coffin created by John Cleese was smashed and lost its shape. John Cleese was in a hurry to start another skill. At that moment, he could feel the burning feeling from his head.

Whoosh—

Boom—!

"Argh!"

The blue flame burned John Cleese's hair. With the burning feeling from his head, he grabbed his head and rolled on the ground.

"I was a little surprised this time." Su-hyeun looked at Mirald.

She was the only one left. She sat on the ground and shivered. While the three men suffered, she could not do anything. More exactly, she just realized that nothing would work.

"How…the…hell…"

She had thought they could win since they were four of them. She never even imagined that they would lose.

But the result came out from the overwhelming difference in the level. Although the two had previously been poisoned by snakes and failed to perform properly, even so, the results were hard to believe.

However, a thought came to Mirald's mind.

"Y-you should not attack me right now."

"Why?"

Stomp—

When Su-hyeun took a step forward threateningly, Mirald flinched and continued to say, "I removed the hallucination skills I've made on the camera. If you attack me right now… It will be broadcast all over the world as it is."

"Is that so?"

"Y-you will be in trouble if that happens, right? The guilds of those people will come to hate you. It will look like you are attacking us without any reason to the viewers."

"I don't think it will look like I am doing that. You will make it look like that," said Su-hyeun.

It was so obvious. Su-hyeun could guess what she would say next. And what she said was not far from Su-hyeun's expectation at all.

"Yes, you are right. Besides…if we just go exit right now, both of us can advance to the finals, right?"

"Yes. That is not bad for me either," Su-hyeun said.

"I just need to advance to the final round. The prize money will come out just for that. I don't even want to win. I am not your competitor."

<<Such a talented man like him is probably aiming to win. But winning is not my goal.>>

She wanted the enormous prizes and privileges given to participants in the finals and the honor of being a finalist of the Ranking Wars. The honor would follow if she passed the preliminary round and qualified for the final. Going to the final meant she would be one of the high-rank awakeners among the 175 S-Ranks.

The prize money itself was not huge to the S-Rank awakeners. They usually earned a lot anyway. But the matter was the privileges that she could get according to the ranking of this Ranking Wars.

Higher rankings meant better performers. According to this ranking, people would get priority to attack dungeons first. Also, they would obtain steady profits from the distribution of Ether stones and items in the future.

"So? What do you think? Isn't this quite reasonable?" Mirald asked.

"Well…" Su-hyeun shook his head. "I don't like your idea."

"W-what?"

Even with the attention of the world, Su-hyeun did not stop walking toward Mirald. Su-hyeun thought her thoughts were too shallow. She was the one who had hit his back first and now she was trying to persuade him to advance to the finals together.

"Y-you don't have to do this! It is just a contest. We are not enemies or something!" Mirald shouted.

Su-hyeun reached out his hand to her and said, "I am truly sorry, too. But you have to understand. It is something we can't help, right?"

Su-hyeun continued while grabbing her head with one hand. "The world is like this."

Mirald's eyes widened. They were familiar words.

<<"I am truly sorry. But you have to understand. We can't help it. The world is like this.">>

It was what she had said to Su-hyeun before. Su-hyeun was giving back those words now. He had no intention of overlooking her. He didn't care about other people's thinking. She realized that.

"I-I give up!" Mirald declared a disclaimer without hesitation.

"Nope."

Crack—!

But at the moment she declared her drop out, Su-hyeun slammed her head on the ground. The ground cracked and Mirald passed out. Unlike the other three, she was physically weak.

"Even if you give up, I won't stop."

Su-hyeun, who had put four S-Rank awakeners on the ground, dusted his hands off. He turned his body and started to walk.

[Mirald, John Cleese, Ramic, and Lowe are considered unable to fight. They will be eliminated.]

Johnny Brad, who had been watching the fight, dropped the four people from the contest. Like that, Su-hyeun became the only one who advanced to the final in the third team.

Act 10

"Did this happen because that man is strong or the other four are too weak?" Gordon Rohan, who was watching at the screen, asked Johnny Brad.

Johnny Brad answered with a dry voice as usual, "Probably the first one."

"Right? He is quite strong."

"Yes. Very strong."

Gordon Rohan glanced at Johnny Brad, who hid his face under the robe. He could not see his face, but his voice sounded quite young. It was a voice that sounded like a child mimicking an adult. As if he was trying to hide his voice, Johnny Brad rarely spoke to Gordon Rohan. But somehow, Gordon Rohan felt like Johnny Brad would not save his breath right at the moment.

"Do you think he has anything else?" Gordon Rohan asked.

"I think he is hiding a lot. He didn't even draw his sword."

"Don't you think that sword is a trick?"

"He didn't look like he was used to swinging his fist. Then, the only remaining thing is the sword."

"I thought the same. If you thought like that as well, I guess it would be right."

If they were right, it meant that Su-hyeun had knocked four people out without using his main weapon.

"He was called a rising star. But I think he is more than that," Gordan Rohan said.

Su-hyeun had become known for his name as he had been climbing the Tower of Trials on level 10. When he became an S-Rank awakener, he was known as a new rising star. It was only one year ago, but now he advanced to the finals in this Ranking Wars. He had the ability to defeat four S-Rank awakeners at the same time.

<<How many people like him will exist in the world? It is what I had been expecting.>>

Gordon Rohan asked in a slightly excited voice, "Do you think there will be other people like him?"

"I am not sure he would be as good as that man…." Johnny Brad looked at numerous awakeners from the screen. "Yes. There is."

"Yeah? Who?"

"It will be not fun if I tell you now," Johnny Brad answered vaguely.

At his answer, Gordon Rohan crouched down and looked at the screen. After Su-hyeun's turn, the fourth team started taking their test.

<<So from them, who will be the real one?>>

He didn't want mediocre people to advance to the finals. Gordon Rohan wanted "real" people. He wanted the very few people who had different skills and power among S-Rank awakeners. Only when he competed with them could prove that he was the best.

"It's his turn."

"That guy is also the 'real' one that you were looking for," Johnny Brad said.

"That man?" Gordon Rohan looked at the screen and tilted his head. "I've never seen him before."

He tried to remember, but he had no idea who that person was.