The Hero Returns

Everyone sometimes felt like they were all alone in the world, that everybody else was some kind of machine or a doll. That was how Su-hyeun felt at the moment, feeling disconnected from the world.

He felt like everyone here was a doll. At first, he had only thought this about the hosts. But everyone seemed like that now. They were normal usually, but when Su-hyeun tried to ask them about their homes or their pasts, they started to have issues—

"Umm… This game? Why do I want to win?"

—like at that moment.

"Well…that is…"

"…It's okay." Su-hyeun shook his head.

Each time was the same. Su-hyeun had asked the man, named Conrad, who Su-hyeun would fight in the quarterfinals. He was the strongest man Su-hyeun had to deal with to pass the goal of the trial.

"Thank you anyway. Then, see you at the game."

"Oh? Ok, yes. Let's have a good game."

"Yes. Then…"

It was the time when Su-hyeun tried to turn and walk away.

"But what are you trying to figure out?" Conrad asked, tossing his green hair back. "I heard about you last night when I drank with some other people. You go around and ask people about this and that, right? Why? What are you so curious about?"

"Even if I tell you what I am wondering," Su-hyeun said, turning his head back and looking Conrad, "you won't be able to answer my questions anyway."

"…What?"

"I'm leaving. See you tomorrow," Su-hyeun said and left.

He had already talked with quite a few other players. And he learned all the players, except Luslec, had the same reaction when he asked about their pasts.

<<Tomorrow.>>

The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals were supposed to be held in one day because there weren't many games left. He had had a lot on his mind, but he started to organize his thoughts now. And the next day would be the day that he could confirm his hypothesis. Su-hyeun's steps that went back to his room became quicker.

***

Hooooray—!

The loud cheer filled up the whole stadium. Eight players, including Su-hyeun, were all preparing at the edge of the stadium. Miru was standing next to Su-hyeun, fluttering his wings as if he was excited by the mood of the stadium. One host went up to the stage and started some sort of opening speech. But, of course, Su-hyeun didn't care about that.

"Are you nervous?" Luslec was standing next to Su-hyeun, again.

Luslec was the one who had been cozying up to Su-hyeun and had answered the question that no one else could. But that made him all the more suspicious. Su-hyeun stared at Luslec.

At his gaze, Luslec asked as if he was puzzled, "Why? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We'll see in the finals."

"What? Finals?"

Su-hyeun never thought Luslec would lose the game before the finals. Su-hyeun could tell that from Luslec's atmosphere or his concentration of the magic. He would get into the finals even if he met Chun Ha-jin in the semifinals.

"I guess you won't stop at the quarterfinals, obviously?"

At Luslec's words, Su-hyeun was startled. He looked back at him. And, at that moment, the host called Luslec.

"Well. See you later. I will look forward to it," Luslec said and walked toward the stage.

His opponent was already waiting for him. He was a muscular man, named Hercules. He was wearing a skin of a lion on his head, holding a thick club, breathing heavily.

"I look forward to your kind cooperation." Luslec walked toward Hercules and reached his hand.

Hercules looked at Luslec calmly and extended his hand. He grabbed Luslec's hand very tightly as if he would break his hand at once.

"I will consider any further action to be a foul," the host said.

Hercules frowned at the host's interruption. "Damn."

He let go of Luslec's hand and turned away. Luslec made a fuss about his hand being hurt. The host glanced at his hand to check, and he confirmed Luslec was fine. Then, he announced the beginning of the match.

"Let's start the first game of the quarterfinals."

Whiz—

With the host's announcement, Hercules rushed at Luslec.

Whoosh—

He lifted his club and slammed it down.

Boom—!

The ground shattered. And that was an attack without any magic in it.

<<Wow. What must his Strength stat be?>> Su-hyeun thought.

Hercules. He was a hero from myth that was said to be as strong as a god. At first, Su-hyeun thought this would be a different man with the same name. But as he watched the game, he realized he had been wrong.

<<He might be the real Hercules.>>

He had a muscular body and a lion mask on his head. He even carried club and bow on his back. He was clearly the mythical hero, Hercules, in appearance. But he was missing too many things to think he was the real Hercules.

<<Of course, he'll be the third strongest one in this trial, after Luslec and Chun Ha-jin.>>

Whether or not he was the real Hercules, he was certainly strong. He was fighting well against Luslec, using his strong power and hard body. His body couldn't be cut by a sword. His club was powerful enough to break the hard floor of the stadium. He had the best condition for close combat.

Stab—

Luslec, who stabbed his sword at the shoulder of Hercules, looked stunned. The sword was stopped abruptly. Luslec's attack looked like a fatal blow, but the sword only went in about the width of a finger.

Swish—

Crack—!

At the same time, Hercules's club smashed Luslec's face.

Swiiiiiiish—

Wham, boom, thud—!

Luslec's body flew far and rolled along the ground. He quickly raised himself up on one hand. He swept his face with the other hand.

"Haack, spit!" Luslec's spit was tinged with blood. "God damn. That hurt."

Crack, crack—

Luslec snapped his twisted wrist to set the bone. Hercules, who had been watching Luslec from a distance, looked down at his shoulder.

<<If I didn't have the skin of the Nemean lion,>> Hercules thought, <<my shoulder would have been penetrated.>>

It was a sharp sword. Hercules never imagined that there would be a sword that could penetrate his item. He had lashed out with his club in embarrassment, so his hit missed its target. If not for that, he would have hit Luslec's skull in.

<<Well. Still, the fight's over,>> Hercules thought.

His opponent had several wounds. It would take quite a long time for him to recover from that. From now on, Hercules thought, he had the upper hand.

"This guy is stronger than I expected. I guess fighting in close combat against him who specializes in hand-to-hand battle will be hard…" Luslec mumbled.

"What are you muttering?"

Whiz—

To finish the battle quickly, Hercules rushed to Luslec again. His raised club stretched above Luslec's head. It hung in the air. It looked like Hercules was going to cave Luslec's head in, but...

Grab—

A giant hand stretched out from behind Luslec and grabbed Hercules's club.

"What the…?"

Rumble, rumble—

The thing that grabbed the club wasn't the only hand. Unidentified spirits rose from all sides. At the faceless shadows, Hercules was embarrassed.

<<I can't get it!>>

Hercules couldn't draw his club back from the giant hand. He held it more tightly and began to struggle mightily with that huge hand. He finally managed to get his club back. But the relief at getting his weapon back didn't last long. He looked around.

<<What the hell are these?>>

The faceless, ghost-like shadows surrounded him. They were all different shapes and wore different types of clothing. If they were monsters like zombies or skeletons, they would all look similar. But they all looked different, except the fact that their clothes and skin were dark. That made it even creepier. It was as if the dead had come back to life.

"There's a lot of them, isn't there?" Luslec said.

Hercules looked at Luslec, who was surrounded by shadows. He didn't even raise his sword again. He looked perfectly at ease.

"How many will you able to pass? Pass through them and come to me." Luslec bobbed his finger.

At his provocation, Hercules, with his bad temper began to rush forward.

"All right! I'll break them all!"

Roar—!

He shouted like a lion.

Boom, boom—!

Crack—!

Hercules started to smash at the shadows blocking his way.

Act 5

Drip, drip—

The man, who never seemed to lose, lost. His arms were held, and he was bleeding from wounds all over his body. The dark shadows surrounding Luslec grabbed Hercules's body tightly. They kept him from getting closer to Luslec.

"Stop."

At Luslec's order, the dark shadows let go of Hercules's arms.

Thud—

And his body fell to the ground.

"Winner, Luslec!" The host declared the winner.

Roar, roar—

The first round of the quarterfinal was over. People shouted and cheered. Luslec waved his hands with exaggerated gestures and came down from the stage. Throughout the game, Su-hyeun's attention was fixed on the dark shadows that Luslec had made.

<<He even didn't move,>>Su-hyeun thought.

Luslec had said to pass through them and come to him. That wasn't a vain provocation. He had placed the stronger shadows closer to him, as if he was testing how far Hercules could break through. He controlled the level of difficulty like level one, level two, just like a game.

The second game of the quarterfinal was Chun Ha-jin's turn. He played the game like he always had, a one-sided beat-down. With overwhelming power, he penetrated his opponent's defenses and took his neck in hand. And he used his Force Absorption skill to take his opponent's magic and even life. After his game, Chun Ha-jin looked down at Su-hyeun as if to tell him his turn would be next. Su-hyeun looked back calmly. He wasn't scared.

Stomp—

Su-hyeun saw Chun Ha-jin, too. But he didn't say anything, just stepped onto the stage.

"Ha-ha." Chun Ha-jin, who was still standing on the stage, burst into laughter when Su-hyeun came up the arena.

Su-hyeun looked at the dried-up body who had been Chun Ha-jin's opponent. So far, Su-hyeun had not been killing anyone, unlike other players, and Chun Ha-jin was laughing at it.

"Just wait for a moment," Su-hyeun said quietly when he passed next to Chun Ha-jin. "I am going to kill you."

"Don't lose this fight," said Chun Ha-jin.

Su-hyeun nodded at his word and looked at his opponent in front of him. The stadium, which had been destroyed a lot, returned to its original form already. Su-hyeun's opponent wasn't an ordinary person. The man, named Ifrit, had a blurry body. He was like red smoke in the shape of a person. Su-hyeun had seen his fighting several times.

"Give up," Ifrit said, "I'll make an allowance."

He was so confident, and there was a reason for that. The whole tournament, all the way up to the quarterfinals. Ifrit and Su-hyeun stood still, facing each other.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Ifrit's body turned to red flame. The body, blurry like smoke before, now sizzled like a fiery devil. Once he had changed like that, nobody was able to attack Ifrit at all. Not only did physical attacks fail but no skills worked against him either. Ifrit, once he had finished his transformation, smiled like a devil.

"You won't be able to even touch me—"

Wham—!

Ifrit's face twisted.

"…!"

And, at the same time, his real body was revealed and flew away.

"I touched you," Su-hyeun muttered quietly while looking at Ifrit who was flying far, far away.