To Hell With Being a Hero!

Sha! At Chi-Hyun’s call, the space was distorted. With some small sparks, the space shook a couple of times and revealed a face. Though she was semi-transparent and covered in static sparks, it was clearly Laguel. She seemed to have seen Chi-Hyun sprawling weakly on the ground, and her expression turned grim.

“WI5H.” Uncaring of her response, Chi-Hyun gave an order in a low voice. “To the 37th turn.”

Laguel closed her eyes as soon as she heard these words. WI5H 37th turn was the Legend’s Second Coming. When saving the planet at that location and regressing 36 times, Chi-Hyun awakened this ability with all the skills he had accumulated on the 37th attempt. Usually, she would’ve protested, preferring to die rather than fulfilling what he asked. But seeing Chi-Hyun’s condition, Laguel thought there was no other choice. Perhaps she had already known that this was what would happen in the end.

—Understood. To 37th turn.

A mechanical voice rang.

—Receiving user Choi Chi-Hyun’s request and calling WI5H 37th turn user information.

Soon afterward, light began to shine from Laguel’s entire body.

—Attempting to connect with WI5H... Approved.

—Retrieving information from the 37th WI5H... Approved.

—Overlapping NS2L with information... Approved.

Like a changing street sign, red lights quickly changed to green.

—All connections are green.

—All processes complete. Passageways connected.

It was the result he had achieved after wandering the universe and countless worlds.

—Activating ‘Second Coming’.

Finally, the legend was revived at the spot. Shaaaaaa! A cluster of light whirled fiercely from below and surrounded Chi-Hyun, followed by an enormous explosion. The light that burst out was so blindingly bright and dazzling that it covered the whole area. Seeing Chi-Hyun wrapped in this light, Bael shuddered slightly. And it wasn’t only her, as the Sernitas were many and one. In other words, she was the Sernitas in the skin of Bael, and they all shuddered at the sight of this Chi-Hyun. It was because they were feeling the future that would soon come to them.

The biggest reason the Sernitas had decided to use Chi-Hyun as a vessel to contain Chi-Woo was the scene they had found in Bael’s memories. It wasn’t anything about his nature or potential, but Chi-Hyun’s use of the Second Coming. When the Sernitas saw Chi-Hyun using the ability while fighting Chi-Woo, what they felt was more than surprise and they went into pure awe.

They thought if they used information from this great state as the core of the vessel, they would be able to make a nest that could even consume Chi-Woo. In other words, Chi-Hyun’s state on Liber had been lacking, but not anymore. The Sernitas had recreated Chi-Hyun’s past to induce him to use the Second Coming, thus fulfilling the conditions for them to progress to the next step. They were overjoyed as they had already finished their preparations to deal with Chi-Hyun in this state. All they needed to do was to take one more step.

—Soon…you’ll also be one with us. Like me…

Bael said with a look of excitement and trailed off. It appeared she firmly believed these words. Bam! …At least until Chi-Hyun blew up all the tentacles blanketing him at once. Seeing Chi-Hyun get up between the falling tentacle remains, Bael blinked hard.

—Something is off.

Simultaneously, one of the consciousnesses inside Sernitas voiced their concern, but it was too late then.

“It’s because of this.” Stomp. Following a few footsteps came Chi-Hyun’s low voice. After getting up, Chi-Hyun was massaging his left shoulder with his right hand and stretching his neck from side to side while he walked toward Bael. He appeared perfectly fine.

“I didn’t believe in you at that time because I thought you would do something like this,” Chi-Hyun turned half a circle and continued calmly. For a moment, Bael was confused about what Chi-Hyun meant. Chi-Hyun, of course, moved his arm lightly without a care for his opponent.

A sharp intangible energy rose from the ground and pierced Bael from below, slicing her in half.

—It’s useless…?

Bael couldn’t finish her statement, and her eyes opened so wide that they seemed like they would pop out. Chi-Hyun’s moves should’ve surely been useless. She should’ve been able to regenerate immediately, but she couldn’t.

—Error. Error. Error. Error.

The urgent alarm bells that sounded from inside her made Bael’s split face distort in shock.

—Ah…ah…?

She collapsed to the ground and spazzed uncontrollably. Then footsteps approached her side. One foot rose to the air and swooped down to Bael’s cleanly sliced face. Bael’s one remaining eye glanced at Chi-Hyun before it was stomped, and in that moment, Bael realized what the source of her anxiety was. The Second Coming she remembered wasn’t like this. Chi-Hyun was supposed to stand in front of a castle that poured out powerful energy and acted as the final weapon.

Yet that was not the case right now. There was no castle anywhere in sight, while energy incomparably higher than that time radiated from Chi-Hyun. He was simply standing there, but Bael felt as if he could handle the whole universe as his enemy.

“It’s the 37th turn.” Bael’s head was flattened. “Not the 39th turn.”

[To 37th WI5H—]

[Sorry, what? But the 37th is…!]

[No, let’s go with 39th.]

[But the 39th is also…]

[There’s no other way. Although 37th is a bit too much, I need at least 39th. I can’t beat him as of right now.]

Perhaps there was an error in her memory. Some say that humans were blessed with the fortune to forget. And for mortals—outside of very few exceptions—memories eventually faded the older they got. In the process of remembering them, memories often changed. This time, Bael had remembered wrong from the beginning. It was a situation when Chi-Woo and even those Chi-Hyun trusted, Boboris and the Last Dragon, had turned their backs on Chi-Hyun. And because of how urgent the situation was, Bael didn’t commit everything to memory properly and didn’t think there was a problem in her memory in the first place. She thought it was the absolute truth, and because of that, the Sernitas also accepted it as the truth in their process of absorbing her memories.

One could say that it was an error that occurred because of how urgent the Sernitas’ situation had been. Usually, they would’ve gone through a more thorough and detailed verification process, but it hadn’t been long since they were thinking about giving up after the Abyss’ fall. Thus, after finding this one possibility, they focused too much on it and committed a small mistake. It was a small mistake starting from Bael, but it created a huge error in the plan that put their survival on the line. It was a mistake they should have never made, and as a result, they reached a situation they couldn’t overturn.

They needed to consume Chi-Hyun to fully process Chi-Woo. It would’ve been possible if Chi-Hyun displayed the same power from the 39th turn’s Second Coming. Yet the energy they felt from the 37th turn’s Second Coming was something that far surpassed their predictions; it was so great that they had no chance of accepting it.

“Don’t even think about regressing once or twice,” Chi-Hyun said in a low voice after trampling on Bael’s head and bursting it. “Do you know what happens to a person who has regressed hundredth…thousands…and even ten thousand times?” Then, he turned toward the remaining half of Bael’s body, tapping it with his foot.

“It changes a person’s way of thinking. In simple terms, it makes you treat life lightly.” Then, Chi-Hyun stomped on the other half of Bael in the same way to make it burst. “You think…should I just let them die? Should I kill them? Ah, let’s just do it. It can’t be helped. And even if I kill them, I can just turn back time again.”

Unable to utter a single word, Bael scattered away like smoke. Her existence had been erased from its roots with just a single stomp of Chi-Hyun’s feet.

“And in the end, you treat not just other people but even yourself the same way.” Chi-Hyun tapped on his own chest with an indifferent expression. “You start to think. ‘Damn, it’s screwed. Well, I can start from the beginning. Ah, let me just die then. Dying solves everything.’” Then, Chi-Hyun looked precisely at the coffin-shaped nest in front of him and said, “But that also comes with its share of stress.”

Chi-Hyun said with a long sigh, “After enduring and enduring, there’s a time when you just explode.” He smirked. “Then, at times, a thought comes to your mind. If I’m going to die anyway, and if I have no other choice—why don’t I let everything down and do something crazy? You know, to let out some stress?”

It was then the Sernitas were finally able to understand what Chi-Hyun had done. What Chi-Hyun offered as sacrifices wasn’t just his life or life force. Chi-Hyun was someone born with overwhelming potential and talents. Originally, he should’ve become a hero greater than anyone in the universe. And such a being had sacrificed not just his past and present, but also his future. In other words, he offered all the fates that the person Choi Chi-Hyun would walk—and among the future Chi-Hyuns, he had drawn out the power of the best Chi-Hyun at his peak. This was the greatest output he could amass if Chi-Hyun had walked his original fate. Thus, it was only understandable that even if there were only a difference of two turns between them, the 37th turn’s Second Coming would be completely different from the 39th turn’s.

And in that turn, Chi-Hyun hadn’t simply risked death. He had risked everything he could possibly risk in a moment of insanity. Chi-Hyun took another step forward. Boom. Cruuuuuuunch!

A tremor fractured the whole area. With just a single step, the Sernitas’ main body was inflicted with severe damage. The cracks eventually widened until it poured out a fearsome heat and vomited lava like a volcano was erupting. Babababam!

The area vibrated fiercely as if there was a great earthquake, and even the sky cried in panic. In this huge chaos, Chi-Hyun alone stepped out as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the Sernitas were in a frenzy. Chi-Hyun was heading toward their nest. Because Chi-Hyun had stepped over two world points and followed the world line, the nest’s existence was now solidified. And if this nest was destroyed, the Sernitas’ future would be destroyed as well.

Of course, the Sernitas didn’t stay still. Everything that made up the Sernitas lunged at Chi-Hyun and employed every means of resistance at their disposal: lasers, atomic bombs, absolute magic, legendary swords, King of spirits, fatal curses, god’s requiem, and many more. The greatest abilities and skills belonging to all sorts of consciousnesses aimed for Chi-Hyun alone. Seeing the masses of attacks coming from the Sernitas’ side, Chi-Hyun raised his hand. That was the end.

The tsunami of Sernitas’ attacks seemed like it would sweep Chi-Hyun away, but it stopped at once as if time had come to a halt. Soon, they all crumbled and scattered like metal being corroded away or a wave of strong currents crashing back down after running into a cliff. Chi-Hyun lowered his hand and cleared his throat.

The time allotted to him was a mere 37.2 seconds when he took the 39th turn’s road. The 37th turn would of course give him even a shorter period. He didn’t have much time left now—probably a couple of seconds at most. But that was more than enough for Chi-Hyun. Chi-Hyun moved. Though the nest’s existence had solidified, the fact that it belonged to the future didn’t change. The Chi-Hyun who existed in the present couldn’t reach it no matter what, but his current form was what he had achieved by offering not only his past and present, but also his future. Using all that, Chi-Hyun was able to reach his goal. He called upon the past to build up on the present and reach the future he wanted.

–1 second…!

Laguel’s voice rang in his ears when Chi-Hyun reached the coffin-shaped nest. There was no time to dwell on the moment. As soon as he heard her voice, Chi-Hyun reflexively reached out with his arm. Sernitas’ various forms cried out and pleaded with all they had for Chi-Hyun to stop, but Chi-Hyun compressed all his power into his fist and made a swing. At that moment, who could’ve been certain of their future? The only definite thing was that each side had only one step to take. Yet in the end, only one side took a step forward while the other couldn’t. It was the Sernitas who didn’t take one more step.

Psh. Chi-Hyun’s fist pierced into the center of the nest.