Past Life Returner

[See? I told you that I was touched by you. Wow, there are eighty survivors. I hope everyone stays alive until the end of the next wave.]

People made a commotion as their wish that the wave would end soon was about to come true. Seon-Hu was there too. Since the Spirit was hovering around him, everyone’s attention was fixed on him. He was standing still, and his face glowed from the red light that the Spirit was giving off.

Everyone now knew that the Spirit’s vicious acts began when the light it gave off changed from blue to red. Seon-Hu would have stared at it resentfully if he was in the past, but he didn’t as he had learned that the Spirits had basically been cursed by Doom Kaos, one of the Seven Demon Kings. Even the lowest-ranked King Doom Caso was a horror, let alone the stronger of them all.

What would Doom Kaos be like since he is the one intervening in the entire System?

[The last wave was created to match your growth. I worked hard on it, so hope you enjoy it.]

When the Spirit grinned at Seon-Hu’s face, he pointed at Seong-Il with his chin.

“Follow me.”

Seon-Hu then shifted his glance to Soo-Ah. “You, too.”

[Odin has invited you to his party.]

Soo-Ah had been waiting for this message. However, she was scared to express her excitement when she saw the scary and grim look on his face.

***

The number of infiltration roads that were blocked by Seon-Hu increased every time the next wave started. He obstructed five roads on the sixth wave, seven on the eighth wave, and eight on the ninth wave. Of course, he was able to do this because his growth had accelerated as he had monopolized all the hidden quests.

First Wave: Four gold boxes.

Second Wave: Four gold boxes, one silver box.

Third Wave: Twelve gold boxes.

Fourth Wave: Sixteen gold boxes.

Fifth Wave: Four gold boxes, one silver box.

Sixth Wave: Twenty gold boxes, one silver box.

Seventh Wave: Twenty gold boxes, two silver boxes.

Eighth Wave: Thirty-two gold boxes.

Ninth Wave: Thirty-two gold boxes, one silver box.

Those were the rewards Seon-Hu earned in the previous waves.

Seong-Il was used to following Seon-Hu, but Soo-Ah often trembled when she heard distant screams as this was her first time accompanying him. She had been confident that she had become mentally tough since she had previously defended against the waves with the people in the village and had joined the vanguard to hunt food.

However, she was wrong. Wails of pain from the monsters came from all directions. Seon-Hu was the predator here, and the monsters were being slaughtered unilaterally. Soo-Ah could tell how the situation was going without even seeing it.

When silence filled the air, Soo-Ah followed Seong-Il. The scene was more horrifying than what she had seen after the previous waves. She could see the puddles of distinct red blood and traces of flames passing around it.

Seong-Il was shocked as well. He had never followed Seon-Hu after the fourth wave, but, prior to that, he could at least recognize the monsters by glancing at their corpses. However, nothing was left intact now. The space around them was filled with ashes, and scorching heat still remained on earth.

Seong-Il hurriedly stepped back after feeling a stinging sensation, and something had splashed on him from the ground. The thing that looked like a blue flame was flicking its tongue around as if it had found food.

Zing. Zing-

It was from Seon-Hu’s skill, and the effect still remained there even after he walked away.

“Let’s not go any further and wait here. We will get hurt,” Seong-Il said.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Soo-Ah responded while staring at the lightning streaks that were still flickering on the ground.

A few minutes later, a new message appeared on Soo-Ah’s notification window.

[You have fulfilled the conditions required to complete the quest ‘Brave Guy(1).’ Please agree on the first and second person to finish the quest.]

Hidden quest?

Seong-Il explained as if he understood why Soo-Ah was surprised, “Blocking an access road in advance is a hidden quest. Don’t tell anyone else… Wait, never mind. Today is the last day, anyway. Odin told me to yield you the first reward for being the second person to complete the quest. But, I’ll take the next one.”

The compensation for being the second person to finish the quest was a gold box.

“Don’t choose a reward yet and listen to me. Have you noticed that Odin is a bit different today?”

Soo-Ah nodded. Seon-Hu had never been talkative, but he only exchanged a few terse words with Seong-Il on his way here.

“Odin must expect the last wave will be difficult,” Soo-Ah replied.

Seong-Il nodded. “Mmm… that’s close to what I think. I think he’s bothered by the guide’s claim that it ‘worked hard’ on the last wave.”

Seong-Il had clearly seen the look on Seon-Hu’s face at that exact moment. He then frowned.

“So you will have to choose something that helps Odin.”

Soo-Ah countered, “Do you think Odin’s items are worse than what I can get from a gold box? I don’t think so. Whatever comes out of it, it won’t be an item or insignia. It’s more effective to upgrade my stats and skills so I can constantly heal Odin.”

Seong-Il grinned. “That’s what I was saying.”

When Seon-Hu joined the village and swept away the monsters, he was the incarnation of the battlefield. A number of Kciphos tried, but they couldn’t pressure him at all.

However, both of them had seen him terribly wounded. His organs had even flowed out of his abdomen when he joined the fifth wave. They both wondered how he had ended up in such a condition that day. Anyway, that incident suggested that Seon-Hu wasn’t immortal. They couldn’t imagine what it was, but there had to have been a monster that brought him to the brink of death.

“This time… um, you are going to get the second person reward, right?” Soo-Ah questioned.

Seong-Il agreed, “Yes, we should take turns.”

Soo-Ah could expect four to five gold boxes, so she was astonished by what had come out.

Yes, this is a golden rope.

Although the world had changed overnight, some things never changed, such as the fact that people had to choose the side that was most beneficial for them. One fortunate thing for Soo-Ah was that she no longer needed to serve two jackass bosses like her superiors in the past.

Looking back, she thought that her past life was actually more miserable than her current situation. Her two bosses were bitter enemies with each other, so they continuously gave her contradicting instructions on what to do at work. In the end, she had to choose one boss who she thought would recognize her and would hold more authority in the future.

However, things were clear now as Seon-Hu was the most powerful being here. No one else couldn’t even get in his way.

If Odin is taking the tenth wave seriously… then this is my second chance. I can show him how much he needs me.

Of course, being blindly loyal often led to a dismal fate. As soon as a boss questioned your sincerity, the resulting betrayal led to irreparable regret. A person needed a level-headed act when deciding to hold onto one rope. Therefore, Soo-Ah’s future was the most important thing to her.

She bit her lips as she looked at the message that stated that her Agility had been upgraded by one class.

***

There was still time left even after he blocked the ninth access road in advance. However, Seon-Hu didn’t approach the last one, which was in the newly opened area. He could have ended Act One, Stage One by blocking it, but he was waiting for the boss monster that would appear soon.

The boss monster will likely be more powerful than those I handled in the past. I should assume that it possesses upgraded Strength.

Seon-Hu was certain his hunch was right. When he saw the message that the Spirit had put in special effort into the last wave, the scene from Act One, Stage Two in his previous life crossed his mind. The Spirit had used the same wording as it did back then, and he could figure out the meaning when he encountered the new Awakened in Act One, Stage Three. He realized that he had gone through something that he wasn’t supposed to in the past, and it would be the same for this time as well. Either the boss monster would be stronger or Seon-Hu would have to deal with more waves than different stages, but the Spirit did confirm that this was the very last wave. Therefore, the only option left was that he had to face the most powerful boss monster ever.

He tersely ordered, “Move people to a safe spot. Only the three of us will fight in the last wave. I hope you guys don’t chicken out and make me proud.”

Seon-Hu decided to put aside useless sacrifices from the beginning. If he was correct that a stronger boss monster was coming, then the other people wouldn’t be of much help. And…

Seon-Hu looked at Seong-Il and Soo-Ah. This wave would be an opportunity for him to decide whether to keep her in his party or not.

“Hey, I’m not scared. But wouldn’t it be better if we hit them first?” Seong-Il asked.

“Oppa, we don’t have a clear view there,” Soo-Ah answered.

“True,” Seon-Hu replied briefly, then pointed his chin toward the people. Seong-Il and Soo-Ah began evacuating the others away from the newly opened boundary. Meanwhile, Seon-Hu took items out of his backpack and armed himself to fight against the strongest monster he had dealt with in the past.

“Status window.”

[Name: Na Seon-Hu *Second Round*

Health: C (0), Strength: C (0), Agility: C (0), Sense: C (0)

Total points: 9322

Trait(9), Skill(10), Insignia(10), Item(10)]

[Trait - Man Who Overcomes Adversity: C (0), Strongman: D (0), Explorer: E (0), Interdiction: D (0), Forerunner: D (51), Gifted: D (0), Sensitive: D (0), Collector: D (0), Challenger: MAX]

[Skill - Odin’s Wrath: C (0), Devi’s Sword: C (0), Gaia’s Will: D (0), Night Eyes: C (0), Seth’s Nail: D (0), Road of the King of Hell: D (0), Hanuman’s Tail: C (0), Hera’s Lunacy: D (0), Stone Wall: E (0), Iron Fist: E (0)]

[Insignia - Healing (E) * 8, Teleportation (E) * 2]

[Item - Ra's Sun Cape (S), Adonis’ Sacred Helmet (S), Hermes' Almighty Anklet (A), Deva King’s Protective Gloves (A), Attis’ Ring (A), Frigg’s Feather (A), Eos’ Reflector (A), Loki’s Treasure (A), Hariti’s Armor (A), Ruler's Ring (B)]

His list of insignias looked appropriate, and his defensive items were fully charged.

Seong-Il returned and reported, “We evacuated everyone.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off of the fully armed Seon-Hu as he was fascinated by the subtle light that came off of Seon-Hu’s items. They had all been packed in Seon-Hu’s backpack, which he had cherished as much as his life. The backpack was huge, and yet it still looked heavy.

“Wait here.”

Seon-Hu headed to the building that was being used as his house after leaving the two behind. It was important that he buried the backpack in a safe place after he armed himself as he had done this before during the previous challenger quest.

This will be the last time I do this.

It was the end of Act One, Stage One. The boss monster would come with the last fragment that Seon-Hu could use to activate the inventory system. When the time came, the sound that Seon-Hu had been waiting for echoed.

Thud! Thud!

Seong-Il gulped nervously, and Soo-Ah looked like an animal who was frozen in fear, as if she thought that she would die soon. The ground shook. Subordinate monsters swarmed under the shadow of the giant monster. The eyes of the boss monster finally met theirs. Although Seong-Il was quite a distance away from it, he became stiff when he made eye contact with the beast. He felt like his heart had been pierced with dread.

At that moment, flames blazed up. The fire that burnt with Seon-Hu’s determination to burn everything stretched out from his body. The monsters rushing in from the opposite side died immediately after being scorched by the raging heat. The flames soon consumed the souls of the monsters, and their ashes disappeared as they were sucked into the earth.

However, it was just the beginning. The entire area, where the flames were raging, turned red as he waited for Seong-Il and Soo-Ah to join him. Shortly after that, Seon-Hu sprinted forward like a storm while Seong-Il took his first step.

[Odin has used Road of the King of Hell.]

[* Party members will share skill effects within the affected area.]

[* Party members are not affected by the skill in the affected area.]

Seong-Il stared at his hand. The raging flame that had suddenly appeared and wrapped around his hand wasn’t hot, but it felt dangerous. The blunt weapon in his hand also caught fire, and he stormed out while clenching his teeth.

Fuck. I’m going to beat you guys with the fire club that Odin made for me!

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