The Hero Returns

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The Great Sage Heaven's Equal, Mei Houwang.

The Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven, the Bull Demon King.

These two existences were the top dogs of the Yogoes that appeared in the Journey to the West.

But after rescuing Sun Wukong, who was imprisoned within the eight-way trigram Crucible, and traveling with him to their current location, Su-hyeun became aware that this world was somewhat different from what he remembered about the famous tale.

First of all, Sun Wukong wasn't a monkey. He was just a Yogoe with a characteristic of one. Not only that, but even the Heavenly World was not where actual gods could be found.

Also, the Bull Demon King was not a Yogoe that resembled a literal bull, and despite being a Yogoe, he emitted a presence that practically rivaled an actual god, far more than anyone Su-hyeun had met so far.

Still, certain points did match things from the Journey to the West.

For instance, Sun Wukong had been imprisoned in the eight-way trigram Crucible after rampaging in the Heavenly World, and he was waging a war against that realm.

However, that didn't mean his reasons for waging a war would be the same as those in the book.

"It seems that this fool hasn't told you the reason yet," the Bull Demon King said before glancing at Sun Wukong. His eyes expressed a look of reproach, as if asking the other what he had been doing as he brought Su-hyeun over.

Sun Wukong avoided the Bull Demon King's gaze and turned his head away. He only brought Su-hyeun along after being impressed by his abilities. He didn't really think about other matters.

"Yes, I haven't heard of anything yet."

"My apologies, but before I can answer you, is it okay for me to ask you about something else first?"

"Please, go ahead."

"Why did you rescue my little brother despite not knowing anything about him? Without a doubt, such an action would've turned you into an enemy of the Heavenly World."

The Bull Demon King's suspicion was understandable.

Why had Su-hyeun, who knew nothing about Sun Wukong, rescued him, fought against the Heavenly World's gods, and willingly went along with the Yogoe?

He simply didn't have a reason to do any of that.

"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, that's true, isn't it?

"How can I go anywhere and leave this fool behind by himself?"

The Bull Demon King let out a grand sigh while staring at the wide-eyed Sun Wukong who sagely nodded his head.

Su-hyeun alternated his gaze between the two as a troubled expression appeared on his face. If he were to provide his reason, then he should say that he only made his move according to the trial given to him.

"It seems that you find it difficult to answer."

"Yes. It's just… I did what I did because there was a voice that asked me for my help."

"Hmm…"

The Bull Demon King rubbed his chin as he studied Su-hyeun. His eyes seemed to peer deeply into the latter's soul.

Su-hyeun sat down and waited for the Yogoe to open his mouth first.

"Very well. I shall not ask you any further." The Bull Demon King who had been maintaining a serious expression until then regained his affable smile and spoke once more. "I understand that you're a special human. Not only that, but you're also a human who isn't from this world."

Su-hyeun couldn't be surprised anymore.

The Bull Demon King.

The special powers he possessed already far exceeded the common sense Su-hyeun relied on.

The Bull Demon King had already figured out that Su-hyeun crossed over to this world via the special set of rules of the trial system and was tied to something else.

Even then, the Bull Demon King wasn't wary of Su-hyeun in the slightest.

"You're not someone who will harm us," said the Bull Demon King before shifting his gaze over to Sun Wukong. "You'll be assisting us instead."

"Is that so?"

"You asked us earlier why we were waging a war against the gods, didn't you? Our answer has been delayed somewhat due to us being distracted by other matters." As the Bull Demon King said that, his face suddenly morphed into an expression that conveyed a killing intent. "It is quite simple. The gods of the Heavenly World, they wish to completely massacre humans and Yogoes found on the surface."

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Caaaw, caw—

A loud bird call abruptly woke up Su-hyeun's mind.

It was already a chilly night. He looked up at the night sky with a lone moon floating up in the darkness as the Bull Demon King's voice lingered in his ears.

"A massacre of humans and Yogoes, really?" Su-hyeun thought.

To think that was the scheme of the Heavenly World's gods tasked with the role of observing the surface and ruling over all creatures living down there.

"The new Jade Emperor detests humans and Yogoes alike. He thinks we're trampling on the vast and fertile land on the surface. The topic of complete annihilation of all humans and Yogoes has been in discussion for hundreds of years already in the Heavenly World."

"Our aim is quite simple. It is to drag down the current Jade Emperor from his throne. This is not a war against the Heavenly World but against the Jade Emperor."

This was what the Bull Demon King and Sun Wukong had said. The goal of this trial had suddenly become clearer to him.

As expected, the trial itself wasn't all that complicated, but the goal couldn't be labeled simple at all.

The Jade Emperor was one of the top deities that ruled over the Heavenly World. He was so mighty, in fact, that everyone pretty much knew how lofty his status was within the Heavenly World.

Therefore, to think that this trial's goal was to drag such a Jade Emperor down from his throne, this trial was looking to be the toughest among those that Su-hyeun had experienced so far.

Strangely enough, however, Su-hyeun's head was currently filled with a different train of thought that was not related to the trial's contents.

"The Bull Demon King is free from the system's restrictions."

That Yogoe's eyes had seen through everything.

He had seen through Su-hyeun's life and from where he had come. On top of this, he had seen through Su-hyeun as a man.

"A Taoist God. Someone closest to a god…"

The Taoists' aim for mastering the Sage Arts was to become gods themselves in the end. And the Bull Demon King had reached such an end, meaning it would not be strange for the current him to step up to godhood at any second now.

There was only one reason why someone like that remained in the current world.

It was all because of Sun Wukong.

"What are you doing, man?"

Su-hyeun raised his head.

Sun Wukong strode leisurely out to the living room and plopped down next to Su-hyeun. The latter hurriedly organized his thoughts and replied.

"You know, just thinking about this and that."

"Okay, so what were you thinking about?"

"The Bull Demon King…"

"Big brother. Call him your big brother from now on. I mean, since we're going to work together, we're considered sworn brothers now, aren't we?"

"Then… I was thinking about our big brother."

"Well, yeah. Our big brother doesn't have a lot of time left," replied Sun Wukong as he stared at the moon for a little while, his expression full of emotions. "Dammit. We promised to smash apart those Heavenly World b*stards together, but to think that he'd become a Taoist God first."

"Can't he accompany us?"

"Why? You want him to stay behind and destroy the Heavenly World b*stard with us?"

"If it's the Bull Demon King… big brother, then our goal wouldn't be too difficult to achieve, I believe."

"I'm sure that'll be the case. By himself, he is already probably more than enough to wreck everyone and then some."

"He's that powerful?"

"Man, he was so incredible even back in the day. But compared to what he's capable of now, what he used to do in the past was child's play. If it's the current him, well…" Sun Wukong kept his gaze on the moon and continued on, "I'm pretty sure he can even destroy that, too."

"You mean, the actual moon?"

Su-hyeun formed an unconvinced expression. No matter how strong one was, to be able to destroy the moon? He couldn't even imagine such a thing.

Even then, he had a fleeting thought of "Maybe if it's him…

"If it's the Bull Demon King…"

Whenever Su-hyeun thought about that Yogoe, he would get a strange feeling.

Out of every being Su-hyeun met so far, the word "impossible" seemed the least likely candidate to be included in that Yogoe's vocabulary. The Bull Demon King truly came across as omniscient and omnipotent to him.

"If he does that, then he won't become a Taoist God, though. Because that action alone will prove that he has a lingering attachment to this world, you see. Even I don't wish for that."

"Is becoming a Taoist God that important? More than dragging the Jade Emperor down from his throne?"

Su-hyeun had already confirmed the Bull Demon King's affection toward this world. Not just Sun Wukong, but other younger brothers and the Yogoes that followed him, as well as regular humans, were also reflected in his eyes.

He loved this world more than anyone did. Anyone could tell that from the look on his face or the tone of his voice.

"Also, this world has…"

That was why Su-hyeun found it so hard to understand. If he loved this world so much, how could he abandon it like this?

Just what did that signify?

"Man, do you know how long it took our big brother to cast away all his attachments and reach his current realm?"

"No, I don't."

"It took him hundreds of thousands of years. After a few tens of thousands, he gave up on counting the days, he said. Anyways, he worked extremely hard to become a Taoist God during that period."

"…"

"Only after experiencing such a length of time did he finally earn the qualifications to become a god. So, if it were you, would you think of giving up on godhood?"

A period of hundreds of thousands of years.

Merely hearing about it was insufficient to allow him to imagine what that period must have been like. Just how long a time was that in reality?

And just what did it mean to become a god that it required such a length of time?

"You asked just what it means to become a Taoist God that he would be willing to forsake the world, didn't you? Nope, it's the opposite." Sun Wukong had been sitting still for a while but stood up as he said, "Just what does this world mean to him that big brother had to delay his ascension to godhood? I just can't figure it out."

"My apologies."

"About what?"

"About speaking too thoughtlessly about our… big brother just now. What's precious to someone is different from individual to individual, yet I seemed to have overlooked that."

"It's fine. It can happen. Besides, you're a human, not a Yogoe. And that's probably a given, too, since you didn't learn any Sage Arts to begin with."

"Wukong. Do you trust me? You don't even know where exactly I came from. And just like you said, I'm not a Yogoe but a human being."

"Yeah, I do," Sun Wukong replied rather too easily. "Brother trusts you, so I should too."

His trust was not placed in Su-hyeun but in the Bull Demon King's judgment.

The bond between the two Yogoes was thicker than Su-hyeun expected. For a moment there, he even became envious of them.

Sun Wukong, thinking that this conversation had reached an end, waved his hand toward the outside and spoke. "You should get some rest soon. Big brother said he'll teach you some Sage Arts starting tomorrow, you see."

At that completely unexpected announcement, Su-hyeun dazedly blinked his eyes and stared at Sun Wukong's back as he entered his bedroom.

"…Eh?"

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The Bull Demon King.

He was a Yogoe who possessed the lofty title of the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven.

He was sitting in a small room that didn't really befit the massive presence he naturally gave off. Just like always, his posture was relaxed.

"You've come."

The Bull Demon King opened his eyes as he sat silently.

It was in the wee hours of the morning. No one had seemingly come to pay him a visit, and the room itself was so dark that one wouldn't even be able to see anything in front of him.

Even then, the Bull Demon King continued to stare at the existence that had quietly shown up to pay him a visit. The visitor's overall silhouette was indistinct like a flickering shadow, but the Yogoe's eyes could pick up the visitor's presence quite clearly.

"So, what do you wish to say that you had to come this far, oh, administrator?"

The administrator.

An existence that traveled to different worlds to adjust and manage each of them. In a certain sense, administrators were beings who were "closest" to the actual gods.

"I've come to sincerely request you to refrain from interfering any further."

"A sincere request…?" A faint grin settled on the Bull Demon King's face. "Is it really a request? Not a threat?"

"I'd never, especially against the one and only Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven."

"My standing as the Great Sage is unimportant to your group. What's really important to you is the fact that I'm about to free myself from the world you have created. Is it not?"

"…"

The administrator couldn't answer that because it was true.

This was an unexpected turn of events. No matter how incredible his powers were, to think that a Yogoe had managed to really reach the realm of a god.

"I realized it only recently—this world was being interfered with by something. And only today did I understand why. That interference was merely a device to send that human to this place."

The Bull Demon King knew everything now.

And that was precisely why the administrator had no choice but to personally step forward, as it was unknown how the Yogoe might react next.

"Oh, administrator. What is it that you truly want?"

"It will not be a bad deal for you. That man came here to aid Sun Wukong, after all."

"If that wasn't the case, I would have given up on becoming a god. And right this instance, your body and soul would've been torn to shreds before my eyes."

Those were some chilling words.

Despite that, the Bull Demon King's expression and emotions did not fluctuate once as he said them.

And seeing such a response made the administrator sure of it. "I see. You can become a god whenever you want, can't you?"

"It's been hundreds of thousands of years. The time I've been in existence alone doesn't lose out to any of the gods."

"That Yogoe named Sun Wukong, is he that important to you that you're willing to give up the time you've sacrificed?"

"He's my sworn brother."

Creak, quake—

For a brief moment just then, the ground trembled.

"In other words, he's my family."

No, that was wrong—the entire world was shaking.

The only one who could sense that enormous power was the administrator. The Bull Demon King before his eyes had become an existence that could move this world, albeit with a faint and imperceptible tremor.

"That seems a bit insufficient for an explanation," the administrator replied.

"Honestly, I think so too. Only my head understands this nowadays, as my heart has forgotten about it. But thanks to that, I was able to reach this far."

Emotions.

They were the biggest hurdle for someone wishing to become a god. They were also the biggest lingering attachment that he hadn't been able to discard for the past hundreds of thousands of years.

"As per our promise, I shall keep your secret." A smile spread on the Bull Demon King's face once more as he observed the administrator. "However, it'll be up to me what I teach that human from now on."