The Hero Returns

Step, step...

Su-hyeun and Zeus walked in silence for a while.

Su-hyeun, walking behind Zeus, stared at empty air, his mind swimming in deep currents of thoughts. Zeus glanced back at him a few times but didn't try to engage in small talk or anything like that.

What Zeus said earlier was still circling in Su-hyeun's head.

"Looks exactly like me..."

Also, he had been thinking about a certain saying a lot recently: There was no such thing as coincidence.

Only inevitability disguised as coincidence existed. Then, the "result" stemmed from that inevitability'”that was all.

Just how many people in the world would look exactly like you?

Even with the case of twins, there were more instances of slight differences manifesting than the two siblings being perfect facsimiles of each other. Even if the difference were minute, it would still serve as the basis to separate the two as separate individuals.

So, to say he and Brahma looked the same?

"It can't be a coincidence, then," he thought.

Su-hyeun never believed he was someone special.

That was true in his past life, too'”from when he was Kim Sung-in, people called him humanity's savior.

He simply thought that he was different.

But now, that belief had to change.

"Could it be that I'm...?"

He somehow began remembering countless past lives, then acquired a power called Six Paths, allowing him to wield the strengths of all those lives.

Among the power he unlocked were truly amazing abilities capable of breaking the rules of reincarnation'”one, distorting time itself to travel back to the past, and two, recalling the memories of all of his past lives.

Even if he had attained divinity and become a god, such a thing should've been impossible.

"Benefactor, have you finished organizing your thoughts?"

Su-hyeun shifted his focus on Zeus's back only after hearing the god's voice. He hadn't noticed it yet, but they had already arrived before a relatively sizeable dome-shaped tomb.

"No, wait, it'd be more correct to call it preparing yourself instead of organizing your thoughts."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking whether or not you're prepared to accept who you are, benefactor."

Su-hyeun could only sigh at that question.

A feeling similar to what he felt when he regressed to Kim Su-hyeun was welling up deep inside.

Who am I?

What did I think about back then?

The dilemma now was similar to the one from back then. Even if he agonized over it for a long time, he would still arrive at a similar answer as back then.

"It doesn't matter either way," he thought.

I am me.

As expected, he had no choice but to believe this to be true.

Su-hyeun replied with a nod at what Zeus said, "I don't need to do something like that."

"Is that so?"

Zeus then reached out to the tomb's doorway.

Gu-gugugu...

He pushed aside the door, revealing a passage leading deeper into the tomb. Anyone could tell that this place was not naturally created.

It was an artificially created tomb, in other words. It was created because someone needed it.

"In that case, please enter," Zeus said.

Su-hyeun remained quiet and then walked ahead by himself.

From here on, he didn't need Zeus's company. After all, the latter was only here to show Su-hyeun the way to this place.

Crunch...

Inside the dry interior of the tomb with not a single hint of moisture, many withered leaves were strewn about on the floor.

These leaves were too dry that they should have turned to dust from the extensive passage of time. Su-hyeun found this scene rather strange, only to notice trees growing within the tomb.

"So lush..."

It was a tomb filled with trees.

It was rather charming, so much so that Su-hyeun even thought it would be nice to get buried somewhere similar to this after his death.

"I see," Su-hyeun scratched his head when a vague but familiar feeling washed over him. "So, this is a tomb that reflects my taste, is that it?"

He kept walking forward for a bit more and eventually reached the end of the tomb. That was where he saw the mural painted on the wall.

Numerous writings dotted around several depictions, and in the center of the mural was a portrait of a man.

"It's me."

He could see why Zeus said the painting looked exactly like Su-hyeun.

The resemblance was striking.

It was as if a talented painter drew the portrait of Su-hyeun on this wall. When he read the words inscribed on the mural itself, he figured out that this painted figure was indeed Brahma.

However, he was not overcome with a massive flood of emotions. He just went, "Oh, I see."

"Which means," Su-hyeun, reading the mural, chuckled hollowly next, "This life is the last one, huh?"

At the end of hundreds, no, billions of reincarnations, he had reached his current life, and every step of the process seemed to have been prepared in advance.

Su-hyeun couldn't help but let out a mirthless laugh.

All of that had been prepared in advance? Really?

Like unavoidable fate, everything before him had been set in stone, all for the sake of the current life?

"I'm getting really annoyed by this, but I can't even tell who I should get annoyed with right now."

He couldn't remember it. He couldn't remember if he was really Brahma and, if he was, why he had planned all of this.

What was all this for?

The mural said he would return to the beginning after experiencing countless lives. It didn't say why he had to do this and what awaited him afterward.

This universe was different.

It was noticeably different from the previous universes that repeated the cycle of destruction brought by Shiva and rebirth at the hands of Brahma.

"Just what the hell is going on in this universe?"

King Yama, who had been watching numerous universes rise and fall, said that Brahma refrained from interfering with the worlds he had created. Not just him, but even the Five Godly Sages who knew a lot about Brahma said the same thing.

However, if Su-hyeun was indeed Brahma, a specific unknown part of Brahma's plan, then would it still be correct to say that he has not interfered with the universe created by his own hands?

Su-hyeun's gaze shifted over to the center of the mural.

There was a hand-shaped drawing there. It was the same size as Su-hyeun's hand.

"He sure prepared something weird, huh?"

He pressed his palm on the drawing of the hand. As he thought, it was an exact match. Then, the moment his skin touched the wall, the tomb began resonating loudly.

Rumble...

The leaves found in the windless interior of the tomb began shaking around. The mural letters began emitting a bright light, which gradually bathed the tomb's dark interior with light.

This place had transformed into what seemed like outer space.

Su-hyeun scanned his surroundings in amazement. This transformation wasn't as simple as the mural's colors changing to emit some bright lights.

"This is a completely different space."

Simply put, the tomb was merely a passageway'”one that led into this unknown space.

And the key to opening the passageway was none other than Su-hyeun himself.

"So, you're finally here."

Su-hyeun observed a man that suddenly appeared before him.

He would recognize that face anywhere.

The man was completely naked with not a thread on him. He must've been sitting until now, as he was slowly getting back up to his feet.

This man had the same face as Su-hyeun.

"You're Brahma?"

"Who else could I be?"

Even the voice was the same.

This act of staring at another "him" felt odd, to say the least.

"In that case, what am I?"

"You're also me."

"So, I'm also Brahma?"

"No, you're'¦ Right, you're Kim Su-hyeun."

What a vague answer that was neither here nor there.

When Su-hyeun asked him if he was Brahma, the naked man said yes. Then, he went on to say that Su-hyeun was also him.

So why did he say no to the question of Su-hyeun being Brahma?

"I don't get what you're trying to say here."

"You came from me, so you're me."

"But you said I was not only a second ago?"

"But that's because you don't think that way," Brahma smirked at Su-hyeun. "Am I wrong?"

"I see. I am you, yet I'm also Kim Su-hyeun. I think I get it now. For sure, you do know me pretty well."

"You look happy, though."

"And you sound like an immature little kid. Even though you must be older than anyone in existence."

"People speak like adults only because they don't want to be belittled by others. However, I don't care about things like that."

"Makes sense. Who in their right mind would belittle a Primordial God, anyway?" Su-hyeun shrugged his shoulders and then walked up Brahma.

Once their distance narrowed, a table and two chairs materialized out of thin air. Brahma had created them.

These were not illusory but actual physical objects.

Su-hyeun stared at them in some amazement and asked, "Is this the power of creation?"

"The godhood of creation is the only power I possess."

"Your only power? Really?"

"What? You thought I'd be an incredible fighter like Shiva or something?"

Su-hyeun had always assumed that to be the case, but after hearing this new revelation, he had to pause and think about it for a moment. He then nodded in acceptance.

This certainly made sense.

Brahma's role was to create, while Shiva's role was to destroy.

These two gods were in charge of the creation and destruction of the universe, fated to repeat this cycle over and over again. Therefore, the two of them possessed powers that best suited their roles.

"Still, something doesn't seem right."

"About what?"

"Not only do I not have the power of creation, but I'm also pretty handy in fights. But then, I'm the same existence as you, Brahma of Creation?"

Brahma turned silent at that.

"So, tell me something, Brahma, just what the hell is going on with this version of the universe?" Su-hyeun threw out the one question he was dying to ask the Primordial God of Creation.

* * *

"You did well finding this place, Lord Zeus."

Zeus, silently waiting in front of the tomb for a long while, turned his head at that familiar voice.

Buddha was standing there. With his hands resting behind his back, Zeus asked the aged god, "Where have you been, Lord Buddha?"

"I was searching for the One Overlord."

Zeus's brows rose slightly at that reply.

He had been wondering why Buddha was seemingly traveling around everywhere. He had no idea that it was to locate the elusive One Overlord.

Buddha asked, "We need to know how much time we have left, after all. Don't you agree?"

"Where is that creature, then?"

"Almost here."

"When you say almost'”?"

"It could be a hundred years, or maybe a few decades. If not, it could also be tomorrow."

"Meaning, at minimum, we only have around one hundred years?"

"So you did understand."

Zeus's expression became grave at Buddha's reply.

One hundred years?

Such a period was long enough for a person's life to start and end. However, to these gods, a century was not long at all.

These beings enjoyed a near-eternal life. They had been in existence almost since the creation of this universe, so a century to them was akin to a single day to regular people.

"At the minimum..."

Not only that, but a century was the minimum?

This was far less time than they had anticipated.

Buddha changed the subject next, "And so, what about Lord Brahma?"

"They should've met by now."

"Is that so?"

Even this meeting had come sooner than expected.

Su-hyeun and Brahma were two beings who were the same but at the same time different, and they were meeting right now.

Finally, this moment had come.

Buddha brought his hands together and muttered quietly, "Soon, it shall be decided. I wonder, what result will be in store for us?"

"Yeah, I wonder about that, too."

Buddha and Zeus turned their heads at the same time at that voice.

A Thunderbolt materialized in Zeus's grip with a loud "bzzz" sound as he guarded his back. Buddha also stopped pressing his palms together and prepared for a battle.

A presence had approached them without alerting anyone and was now addressing them.

This presence didn't seem to care about the two gods' readiness as he continued with his muttering, "I'm also looking forward to this."

This new intruder had an all-too-familiar face.

The two gods had never met this being before. Even so, they still could think of a particular existence that they had heard of only in name.

Zeus aimed with his Thunderbolt, then slowly said, "You must be Shiva."

This revelation seemed like a foregone conclusion.

"What about it?"

This being didn't even bother to deny it.

It was true then.

Brahma and Shiva were beings that stood diametrically opposed to one another, yet they possessed the same faces.

However, the glare in his eyes or his slightly twisted grin made Shiva look like a completely different person altogether.

"What brings you here, Shiva?"

"Well, isn't it only normal for me to be interested? My family is in there, after all."

"If you're thinking of interfering'”"

Just as Zeus was about to finish his sentence...

Slice'”

Pazzzzik'”

Zeus's midriff was cut wide open, causing orange-gold arcs of electricity to explode in every direction.

"So what?" Shiva, not even wielding his weapon, asked while dismissively waving his hand around. "What will you do about it?"