The Hero Returns

The system never lied.

He learned about this a long time ago.

That shouldn't be so surprising. Humans made mistakes, but computers would not until they started malfunctioning in some way. The system's job was to simply construct missions using the already-set perimeters and award compensation according to your actions.

That was why you had no choice but to believe in it.

"Brahma was here all along?"

As it turned out, there was no need to go far to search for him.

After tracking down Luslec, Zeus said he had a few guesses on where Brahma could be. It seemed like he would need a bit of time to search since he had more than one or two locations in mind.

The thing was, it was always the darkest under the lamp.

"Do I have to get a hold of Mister Luslec first?"

After receiving the system message, he stood there sinking deeper into his thoughts. In the meantime, his surroundings progressively grew noisier, so he decided to look.

Quite a crowd had already built up around him by then. Several bold passersby even walked up to him to take selfies without his permission.

Su-hyeun made a sheepish face at this unintended commotion and addressed the crowd, "Sorry about this, everyone."

Right afterward…

Pah-aht—

He vanished from the spot.

* * *

The news of Su-hyeun's sudden appearance in the middle of Seoul instantly spread.

The news initially started from various personal social media posts. Then, articles containing photos taken by various citizens began getting published next.

Meaning he didn't even need to tell everyone he was back safe and sound anymore.

Su-hyeun's reappearance after over half a year's absence was a big topic people around the world wanted an explanation for.

"It's way too vague even for me."

Creak—

Su-hyeun didn't sweat over it despite all the commotion and simply continued to think. He was currently sitting on a chair, with his legs slung over a desk.

Lee Ju-ho decided to prepare some coffee with water boiled in a pot at his unannounced visit. Su-hyeun reached out to receive the coffee cup Lee Ju-ho was handing over.

He then asked a question, "I should be able to check most of Earth if I use satellites, yes?"

"I guess so? Probably?"

"I can also check the locations of the dungeons this way, too."

"Well, it might be tough to borrow satellites boasting that level of technology, but if it's you asking, then they will probably listen. Besides, Mister Rohan also has a few satellites at his disposal."

"In that case, the location of the dungeon with the strongest power output—no—" Su-hyeun stopped talking mid-sentence, then shook his head while making a troubled expression, "No, I would have found him already if it were this easy."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing. Just a bit of a tough problem, that's all."

"A problem that even you can't solve easily, huh?"

"You know, I'd have much preferred a full-on fight instead of solving this problem. This isn't like trying to find a missing person, too."

It might have been better if this were a task of locating a missing item or a person that detective agencies might do. Su-hyeun had done jobs like that in his previous life, after all.

However, such experience meant nothing when it was about locating a god—not just any god either, but a Primordial God named Brahma, no less. Even after adding up all of his countless many past lives' experiences, he just couldn't think up of a suitable solution.

"Meanwhile, Mister Luslec still hasn't responded to me yet," Su-hyeun thought.

Su-hyeun kept trying to talk to Luslec through the necklace, but he hadn't received a reply so far.

"Maybe he only replies to things he wants to," Su-hyeun groaned at length.

He had no clue to go on.

Zeus had been searching everywhere for Brahma until now, so if he met the God of Thunder, then maybe, a clue might…

"Now that is spooky timing, alright."

"Say what? What is?" Lee Ju-ho made a puzzled face after hearing Su-hyeun's muttering.

He then turned his head to look behind him when Su-hyeun wordlessly pointed with his chin.

"Heu-urhk?!" Lee Ju-ho was startled by what he saw and leaped instantly before landing some distance away.

Thanks to his excellent reflexes, his sudden jump didn't disturb any of the furniture in the office.

"Apologies for surprising you, young man."

"W—who are you?!" Lee Ju-ho quickly asked a blond older man who had suddenly appeared right behind him.

Although the older man had been standing behind him for who knows how long, Lee Ju-ho couldn't sense the presence of this unknown blond foreigner at all.

Meaning he couldn't be an ordinary old man. Su-hyeun seemed to know who he was, though.

"Bro, please say hello. This gramps is Zeus."

"Z—Zeus…?"

Lee Ju-ho's eyes grew wider to display his shock, but then, he slowly nodded as if he had accepted it.

Well, he already met Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Heaven's Equal, so meeting other gods like Zeus didn't feel like a major event that would shake him to the core.

"Gramps, you say. That certainly is a warm-sounding way to call someone, benefactor."

"Well, sir, you aren't a spring chicken, after all."

"To a god, one's age is just a reflection of the number of years one has lived for."

"Those who have lived for a long time are usually referred to as gramps on Earth, though. Besides all that, how did you find me?"

"This place was quite famous, so it wasn't that challenging to find. Please do forgive me for my sudden intrusion, however."

When Zeus greeted rather politely, Lee Ju-ho could only nod in a rather stiff, unsure face.

The "master" of a massive world called Olympus, Zeus, occupied the role of a dimension's strongest god. So, when someone like that apologized so seriously, no one would be bold enough to argue or voice his displeasure.

"Actually, I was also thinking of looking for you, Lord Zeus."

"Is it possibly related to Lord Brahma?"

"Yes."

"Really now. It seems that fate cannot be denied," Zeus chuckled hollowly. "This is good, however. You should come with me."

"Where to?"

"You'll see when we get there, benefactor."

Zeus turned around to leave.

Rumble—!

Almost at the same time, his figure transformed into golden-orange lightning arcs and vanished from the spot. While watching him disappear at the speed of light, Su-hyeun got up from the chair.

Bang—!

Just like Zeus, Su-hyeun's figure also disappeared from there while shooting off arcs of electricity.

Lee Ju-ho stared at this spectacle from a step away; then, his eyes caught the sight of the scorched-black office floor.

"This isn't some underground rendezvous point, you know."

* * *

Su-hyeun had never been to India—not as a tourist or even to raid a dungeon.

The dungeons that appeared in India weren't much to write home about. Meaning Indians didn't really need any special support to raid them.

When he thought about it, it seemed too weird to be purely a coincidence.

Back when he was Kim Sung-in, he visited so many countries around the planet for the sake of raiding various dungeons. Thanks to this reason, he got to go in and out of most nations as he pleased, as if they were his backyard.

That had been the case, yet to think he had never been to India before…

"Wow, so there really was a country I'm visiting for the first time."

The desert before his eyes didn't seem that mystifying or impressive to him. Not only had he seen many deserts in other countries before, but also he frequently came across dungeons featuring desert-like terrains.

This was the Thar Desert, located in the northern part of India. Several cities could be found located in this desert's oases.

However, the location Su-hyeun and Zeus arrived at wasn't one of these cities, but in the middle of the desert.

Due to the time difference, the sun was about to set here.

"Why are we here?"

"Finding him proved to be challenging because he's been here all along."

"Are you saying Brahma is in this exact position?"

"Not here. Not exactly," Zeus replied before walking forward while staring at the ground below.

Step…

After taking a few steps, the spot beneath his feet suddenly caved in.

Su-hyeun briefly wondered what that was, and it was quicksand, a phenomenon often referred to as the sandy hell.

An average person falling in there would've died for sure, but Su-hyeun wasn't worried at all. Even an awakener could escape from there no problem, so what about someone like Zeus in such a case?

However, Zeus didn't bother to escape from the sandy trap.

He actually…

Shwa-aaaah…

The desert's sand got sucked in even faster with him in the center. He was deliberately breaking through the surface to go in the deeper underground.

"Please follow me."

"Hm?"

While wondering if Brahma could really be found in a spot like this, Su-hyeun followed Zeus.

Quicksand was a natural phenomenon that sucked underground a person walking on the desert sand, where they would eventually die.

It obviously meant that the only things waiting underground would be lots of sand and claustrophobia.

After getting sucked under the sand for a while, Su-hyeun stopped caring about not being able to breathe. That was because the unpleasantness of coarse sand rubbing against his face was much worse.

However, after the passage of even more time, another weird feeling crept up on him besides the unpleasantness.

"Just how far are we supposed to go down?"

He was getting puzzled here. Just how deep were they supposed to travel?

He wasn't scared about potentially not going back to the surface or getting sucked into somewhere unknown. What puzzled him here was that he was going so much deeper underground than his initial expectation.

It must've been hundreds of meters by now—no, make that several kilometers instead.

Even if it was a vast desert, could it really be this deep?

Several more minutes passed by like this as he sank lower and lower. Wondering just how deep they would go, Su-hyeun relaxed his body and continued to observe.

And eventually…

Shwa-aaaaah…

Along with pouring sand, he finally arrived in a void boasting a massive scale.

He landed on firm ground, and when he took a glance at his surroundings, a soft exclamation leaked out from him on its own, "Wow."

Just how vast was this space?

It was like another underground world was spread out here unbeknownst to everyone above ground.

The large void was littered with various minerals that sparkled on the walls and ceiling. Su-hyeun didn't sense any particular energies coming from them, so they didn't seem to be Ether stones, just some regular minerals that naturally emitted light.

This underground space resembled a wide-open plain.

Not only was it so vast that he couldn't see the end, but he even spotted a little bit of curvature of the planet. Several "hills" at least hundreds of meters tall could also be found here.

It was like a miniature world underground.

"There was a place like this under India all along?" he thought.

Just how deep underground were they?

He was mystified by the existence of a location unknown to the rest of the world. However, at the same time, he sort of understood the reason why no one knew.

It existed far too deep underground.

People still hadn't discovered everything under the deepest parts of the oceans yet. Then, how could anyone discover space like this located deep below a desert?

Su-hyeun turned his head to search for Zeus. The latter had arrived here one step ahead of him.

"Is Lord Brahma in this place?"

"Mm. To say he's here, it's—" Zeus shook his head as he began walking forward again.

It seemed that his suggestion of "follow me" was still in effect. His steps were not hurried or quick, however.

"The reason why I discovered this place was because I heard the name Brahma being mentioned in the land above."

"Are you talking about Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva? The three progenitor gods?"

"It wasn't just that, however. I even found various myths regarding Olympus. I was amazed and mystified, honestly speaking. I'm amazed by the fact that histories of all the gods were being told in this world."

"Histories of all the gods…?"

Now that he thought about it, that was true.

The gods Su-hyeun had met so far—beings like Zeus and the Five Godly Sages, Sun Wukong, and the Bull Demon King—were all found in various myths that Su-hyeun was aware of.

His first reaction was simply, "Oh, all those myths were real, after all." Although he was surprised by how all those stories weren't some made-up nonsense but reality, he never gave too much thought to this subject in the end.

He didn't even ask the fundamental question of why this was the case. To Su-hyeun, those stories were just that: stories being passed down through generations.

Honestly speaking, he never really found this to be all that strange.

"Do you know where we are?" Zeus asked, but Su-hyeun couldn't answer.

He had no way of knowing.

"This is the birthplace of all creation. Indeed, this was the starting point of the world as we know it."

That revelation was news to him. Sure, it was surprising, but other than that, Su-hyeun didn't feel anything else.

He even wondered why Zeus was explaining this. As the explanation went on, Su-hyeun even felt a little frustrated for some reason, too.

Zeus continued, "What I discovered down here was not Lord Brahma, but…"

"But?"

"An ancient mural depicting the face of Lord Brahma."

Su-hyeun's steps came to a halt at that.

Whether he knew that or not, Zeus continued to walk ahead without looking back. "And he looks exactly like you, benefactor."

Su-hyeun's heart began racing madly.