The Hero Returns

"What's wrong? You don't like it?" the administrator asked.

"Well, judging from how it looks—"

"Whoa!" the administrator cut Su-hyeun off. "Looks can be deceiving! And that other saying about a book...," he tried to remember.

"Don't judge a book...," Su-hyeun began.

"Yes! Don't judge a book by its cover."

Of course, Su-hyeun knew better than being deceived by appearances. He would rather be amazed by the content than its packaging.

"In any case, take it."

Su-hyeun received the hourglass from the administrator. It was as small as a finger, and no matter which direction he turned it, the sand didn't settle to the bottom part.

"I thought about what reward you would need the most. Any regular weapon would not be much of a reward for you, and I heard that you rejected the title of 'Sage', too."

"N-no, it's not like I reje—"

"It's fine," he assured Su-hyeun. "No need to be so humble. I heard that you prefer to attain the Sage title through your strengths. Which means, we can't bestow it upon you as a, say, favor...can we?"

Was the administrator making fun of Su-hyeun or he actually meant what he said?

Whatever the case might be, it seemed that aquiring the Sage title would be impossible now. Su-hyeun sighed and took another glance at the hourglass.

"Check it out first," the administrator confidently suggested. "We can talk about the details afterwards."

As proposed, Su-hyeun decided to check out the hourglass's effect.

[Broken Sandglass]

* This is the first failed attempt by the God of Time to create an hourglass. It cannot reverse time, but, when used, the user can stop the flow of time and enter a specific time frame.

* Remaining usable period: 3 years

* Grade: God

"…?"

That explanation confused Su-hyeun.

He couldn't tell whether this was good or...not so good.

'This is the first time I have seen such an item with that grade. But then, what does it mean that I can 'enter a specific time frame'?'

Even after reading the explanation, he couldn't grasp what this item's effect was supposed to be. However, the first thing that caught his attention was the item's grade.

A god-grade item...

Su-hyeun had seen all sorts of items in his life, but he had never seen and held a god grade before. He had never even heard about such a grade in the first place.

"It's hard to tell, right?" the administrator spoke.

"Yes, just where should I even..."

"In that case, why don't you use it? You have plenty of time left anyway."

At the administrator's recommendation, Su-hyeun nodded.

The moment he grasped the hourglass, he instantly understood how to activate it. The user must wield the hourglass for it to work.

Su-hyeun placed the hourglass on his palm. And when he wished for it to activate, the sand began to settle at the bottom.

"…?"

However, no remarkable changes were seen.

Su-hyeun was puzzled. He then turned to the administrator. "Excuse me. Could this be a faulty item?"

"Definitely not," the administrator replied with a knowing expression. "Its effect should have already—"

"Eh?"

The administrator suddenly stopped mid-speech. Su-hyeun was looking at him, confused.

He wondered if the administrator was pulling a prank on him. He then waved his hand in front of the man's face, but didn't get a reaction.

No matter what, it did not seem like a prank.

'He's not even breathing...'

The administrator, although he wasn't human, suddenly stopped breathing. Su-hyeun was shocked and worried. Then, he noticed that all the sand inside the hourglass had already settled at the bottom.

[Remaining usable period: 2 years and 364 days…]

The Broken Sandglass was now activated, and the time was specified.

'Is this the definite time frame?' he wondered.

Su-hyeun was stunned by the hourglass's power and stumbled backwards.

Nothing could be found in the white world created by the administrator. Then with a loud thud, a chair fell over at Su-hyeun.

Thud!

"Argh!"

Su-hyeun scratched his head. He was stunned that, for a moment there, he forgot about the chair behind him.

He reached for the chair to put it back on its feet but stopped.

A thought occured to him. 'It fell over...'

Didn't the time flow stop through the hourglass's power?

Yet the chair still fell over. A chair falling over would need 'time' to do so.

'Can it be...' he mused.

Su-hyeun recalled the part in the Broken Sandglass's explanation, the one about the specific time frame.

Shu-rung!

He then unsheathed his sword. With his mind still in doubt, he struck the chair.

Slice!

The chair was sliced into halves, and each part fell to either side.

Shortly after, Su-hyeun flipped the hourglass.

And just as the sand began to settle again...

"...manifested by now," the administrator finished his speech.

In that moment, Su-hyeun was startled, but he was able to regain his wits. He realized exactly where he was at present.

"Judging from your expression, looks like you have experienced it for yourself."

Whoosh!

Su-hyeun noticed the chair he was sitting on. He clearly remembered slicing it into halves a while ago, yet it was completely intact.

"Changes brought by the actions performed in the definite time frame end as soon as the item's effect run out. Is that it?" Su-hyeun clarified.

"Something like that, but not quite."

"How so?"

"From the get-go, you can't influence any changes after activating that hourglass. In the same way that other people can't inflict any changes on you."

The administrator pointed at the Broken Sandglass in Su-hyeun's hand and continued, "It is said that this item will send you to a specific time frame, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"As soon as the hourglass is activated, technically speaking, you vanish from this world. You end up in an isolated world similar to this one, but without the passage of time."

What an absurd story this was.

Something like this was pretty much capable of freezing time. Of course, Su-hyeun wouldn't be able to influence any changes to the world, but this item was more than enough to be referred to as a 'god' grade.

"It's exactly what you need. Am I right?"

"Time...," Su-hyeun whispered.

The administrator knowing what Su-hyeun needed was puzzling. Su-hyeun couldn't help himself but ask, "So you knew that I needed time?"

"Yup," the administrator confirmed.

Time... It was given 'fairly' to everyone.

It was just that time's worth varied from person to person, depending on how one chose to utilize it and where to spend it.

In that sense, time itself was perhaps the most valuable reward among others for Su-hyeun.

The administrator went on, "Then let's proceed to the second thing..."

Su-hyeun, still stunned by the Broken Sandglass's effect, quickly paid attention. What he was about to hear could very well be as important as this hourglass.

Whatever the case might be, Fafnir was an enormous enemy, literally and figuratively, that Su-hyeun must overcome.

"That creature you saw earlier? As I said, it's basically a variant."

"In what way?" Su-hyeun was genuinely curious to know.

"That guy became a full-fledged predator by devouring the half-complete predator," the administrator explained. "The difference lies in consciousness. Normally, those who have just become a predator do not possess any ego. But that guy, he retained his consciousness when he was still human."

Now this was a rather detailed explanation. Even if it only pertained to Fafnir, this information was still useful especially for future reference.

"Just what is exactly a 'predator'?" Su-hyeun asked curiously.

"Well, simply put, it's like a monster that failed to become a god."

"A monster that failed to become a god?" Su-hyeun pressed on.

If it was a 'god', then that should be the final stop in the long and winding path called the Sage Arts, the goal that Sun Wukong, the Bull Demon King, and even Bradley longed badly to achieve.

However, it was concerning to think that a 'predator' like Fafnir or other similar monsters would be created when they failed to reach godhood.

"That's basically what I am allowed to reveal to you." It must have been a confidential topic to discuss as the administrator hurriedly changed the subject. "The predator you will encounter in the future would be a lot different from the one you saw today."

"Really? Different? How so?"

"Well, it would be larger and more terrifying." The administrator's face turned serious as he informed Su-hyeun about the future predator. "A predator is a monster that grows by devouring a world. Considering how much time has passed by since he ate that half-predator, I can't even imagine how much bigger it has gotten by now."

That was a shocking revelation. Su-hyeun could not help but despair.

Just to barely defeat a half-predator, not only Su-hyeun and Bradley had to work together, they would need the assistance of hundreds of thousands of knights as well.

What's worse was Bradley consumed that half-predator and evolved into an absolute one. This monster alone would be too difficult for Su-hyeun to deal with.

Just about now, Su-hyeun was informed that time had passed by since then and no one could tell how much stronger that thing had become.

"I can't do anything to change that," Su-hyeun replied in a rather calm manner, though he meant what he said.

The administrator was not expecting this kind of response from Su-hyeun. "You're not shocked… I thought you would be."

"No. It's certainly a shocking revelation, but," Su-hyeun recalled what the Bull Demon King had told him in the past, "I was told to take my time and be patient."

"Is that so?" The administrator's face lit up, then he stood up. "In any case, I will cheer for you. You are destined to go far. The powers you possess, they are one of a kind, far greater than your wildest imagination."

The white background gradually darkened. Su-hyeun watched the temporary world created by the administrator broke down. Afterwards, he got up.

"Since things have come to this, aim for the top…" The administrator left Su-hyeun some parting words as he disappeared with the white world. "...the godhood."

The godhood…

Su-hyeun had been hearing that term pretty often lately.

[You have acquired 10,000,000 achievement points.]

[You have perfectly cleared the 100th floor's trial.]

[You have acquired the 'Broken Sandglass'.]

[Transferring to the 101st floor…]

Shortly after, system messages popped up.

The 101st floor…

He managed to pass the 100th floor, known as the mother of all hurdles and the hardest floor. Its level of difficulty was 10.

The scenery before Su-hyeun's eyes transformed once more.

The world, which was once dark, had some color and morphed into a small city. Heavy, gloomy clouds hung above as if it would rain any moment.

"Wait, did the 101st floor originally look like this?"

Su-hyeun began walking along this somewhat strange scenery.

The buildings were only three to four floors high, and they looked as if they would collapse at any second. The city had this European vibe to it, but it was ruined and deserted. In fact, it gave off a ghost town atmosphere.

Su-hyeun wandered around this city for a while and eventually discovered a familiar avenue, one that was visible after leaving the main plaza.

'Yeah, it's definitely the 101st floor,' he thought.

But it also felt different.

From the winding streets to the buildings' architecture, and even the tall tower visible from a distance…

He stayed here only for a couple of days in the past, but he clearly remembered this place. This should be the world of the 101st floor: Harprium.

"Was this place also got destroyed or something?" Su-hyeun muttered to himself as he walked through the deserted streets. What he found had clearly dumfounded him.

He had never heard of a world inside the tower being destroyed before. Indeed, if the 101st floor's world was laid waste like this, then Abyss Online would be in complete pandemonium by now.

'Besides, there's no one else here.'

Su-hyeun was currently scanning his surroundings after raising his perception to its most alert state.

Even if no one lived in the city, it would be normal to sense at least some living presence. Wouldn't it be common for rats or, even at the very least, insects to exist somewhere?

However, he had not encountered any of those.

He continued to scan his surroundings and then closed his eyes. When he opened them, he quickly turned his head to look at a particular direction.

"Excuse me," he called out.

He sensed someone had flinched.

Was this creature trying to sneak from behind and then attack Su-hyeun? Su-hyeun then directly addressed the said being. Doing so would intimidate the lurker. It was currently hiding its presence by utilizing a stealth technique. "I would like to speak to you if you don't mind."

Su-hyeun felt a bit apologetic, but he was not thinking of pretending not to notice anything right now.