This! Is! Sparta!
The light that had filled his vision vanished in an instant.
Sunghyun opened his eyes.
His sight had yet to return, so he couldn't make out his surroundings properly.
"Where am I?"
From the sounds and the feel of the ground alone, he knew this was no longer the alley.
Chirp-chirp—
Ssshhh—
Rustle-rustle—
The chirping of insects, birdsong, something crawling through the undergrowth. Sounds you would never hear in the middle of a Tokyo day.
The moment he focused on those sounds—
Run.
Something slammed into his brain like a physical blow. He had felt this before, especially during investments. Whenever that signal hit, danger always followed.
So there was no time to think.
Duck!
Whoosh—
Guided by pure instinct, Sunghyun dropped low. Something razor-sharp sliced through the air just above his head.
Slash—
"Ghk!"
He carefully lifted his gaze.
"What…?"
A tree stood split cleanly in half. Sunghyun turned around with extreme caution. The instant he confirmed what was behind him, he bolted as if his life depended on it.
Hard, cold marble.
Everyone except Sunghyun opened their eyes in the same space.
"Where…?"
—So you've opened your eyes, Heroes.
A man's voice rang inside their heads. One by one, they looked up.
The detective analyzed the situation out of pure habit. The conclusion:
"Kidnapping? But how did they grab this many people from that place?"
As if answering him, the voice returned.
—Hmm. Looks like an explanation is in order.
Everyone glanced around in confusion. Only Hayato stared fixedly in one direction. To him, the owner of the voice was visible.
—Oh? You can see me? Not bad.
The voice sounded intrigued.
—Simply put, what happened to you is an otherworld summoning. We selected a Hero, summoned him, and the rest of you got caught up in it.
The voice pointed toward Hayato. After a brief pause, it continued.
—Well, technically it is a kidnapping. Ah, right—you can't see me. Hang on, I'll make myself visible.
A bright cluster of light flared, and a blond man appeared.
"What the—!"
Faced with one incomprehensible phenomenon after another, the detective simply gave up thinking.
Ah, screw it. Whatever happens, happens.
The man had wavy blond hair and wore an ordinary Hawaiian shirt—exactly the kind of Western tourist you'd see at a resort. Even so, something about the look felt off.
"Alright, how about this form? Can you see me clearly?"
The voice that had been echoing in their heads now reached their ears. Everyone stared at him in dead silence. The man smiled.
"Even if getting dragged into other people's messes is trendy these days, this is a bit much. It's just wasting my power. Anyway, introductions: Hermes. One of the Twelve Olympians."
The words plunged everyone into confusion.
Hermes? The god we know? Why is he here? And who introduces themselves like that?
Hermes answered as if he had read their minds.
"Why am I here? This is all business, pure business. Call it hospitality, if you want."
He looked far too flippant to be a god. One word in particular snagged their attention.
Hospitality? What did that mean?
The group was about to stir when the oldest-looking man, the one wearing glasses, called out.
"Was everyone in that alley summoned?"
Hermes nodded.
"That's right."
"Then why isn't CEO Kim Sunghyun, who was with us, here?"
Hermes froze. Kim Sunghyun. A name he knew. He didn't dwell on it deeply, though.
Nah, no way. Wait… is it actually him? This is making me nervous…
He decided the man was probably just an ordinary Korean tourist. Still, a Korean getting mixed into the summoning was inconvenient.
"If he's Korean… he probably dropped onto a random set of coordinates on my planet. Not the ocean—somewhere near a random living creature."
The blond figured that since most life forms were human, the guy had probably landed near people.
"Random…? Is there any way to bring him here?"
"He's already arrived in another dimension, so that's impossible. You lot were specially called right before the summoning."
"Ah… then is there no way for me to go to where he is?"
At those words, the other people in suits nodded. That piqued Hermes's curiosity.
"Just who is this guy to you that you're going this far? Isn't he just a tourist?"
"Would we be acting like this if he were? He is the CEO of our SH Group. I am the head of his personal legal team."
The moment Hermes heard that, a single person flashed through his mind. Name: Kim Sunghyun. Korean. Called the CEO of SH Group.
Ah, shit. It really is him.
Hermes briefly looked up at the sky.
"We're in trouble."
Everyone thought the same thing.
What the hell is going on…?
What could make the previously lighthearted Hermes suddenly look so heavy?
"This won't do. I need to wrap this up fast. Sorry, but hang in there a little longer. I'll finish quickly and send you on your way."
The team leader opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Alright! Let's get this over with."
"The name of the dimension you're going to is… honestly, you don't need to know. Pass. Right now there's a Demon King on my planet, and I summoned you to stop him. Okay?"
When everyone made blank faces, Hermes waved a hand as if annoyed.
"Fine, fine. The dimension's name is Hermopolis. Happy?"
He pointed a finger at Hayato.
"Hayato is the Hero, so figure the rest out yourselves."
Hermes spoke even faster.
"Everyone summoned from Earth receives a status window matching their nationality and talents. In short, you all have one, but while the basic framework is the same, the fine details differ for each person."
"Later, try saying 'status window' out loud or thinking it. You'll see what abilities you got."
Hermes spread his arms wide toward the group.
"Defeat the Demon King and I'll grant a wish matching the achievements you've earned. Sending you home is free, of course."
"For reference, you're headed to a place called the Rom Kingdom—nice mountains, nice water. The king will fill you in on the rest, so listen there."
The god swept his hand sideways across the crowd.
"Whew. Off you go."
Black wormholes opened beneath their feet and swallowed everyone whole.
Hermes pulled out the staff that symbolized him and stared blankly at the sky. He had called it a Demon King for convenience, but the being was actually one of his clients.
"Ah, they really can't find out about this. They absolutely can't."
Sunghyun must not learn about this planet, and the client must not learn of Sunghyun's existence.
"First I find him. Find him, then think."
Time was life.
He ran for his life.
Branches and sharp leaves scraped across his face, yet he never stopped. Stopping meant the end.
"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Even without looking, the sounds told him the thing was still chasing him.
Whoosh—
The instant he heard the air being cut, Sunghyun rolled across the ground.
Slash—
He barely dodged the monster's attack, but he still couldn't stop moving.
Why the hell am I doing this here? Why?
"Fuck! What the hell is going on?!"
He rolled properly and checked his pursuer. A tiger the size of a house. No exaggeration—literally the size of an ordinary home.
Wow, bet it'd be warm if I crawled inside.
In the split second his mind wandered, the tiger's jaws filled his vision. He rolled sideways again and sprinted like a madman.
What do I do? How do I get away from this thing?
Sunghyun's eyes darted, frantically gathering information.
There!
While running, he snatched up a sharp stone. He would aim for the eye. Whether it hit or the tiger dodged, he gained either way. If it dodged, he would vanish from its line of sight—he was already in the perfect position for that.
Now!
Sunghyun hurled the stone at the tiger. He planned to change direction the moment it dodged, but against his expectations the tiger simply tanked the rock head-on, determined never to lose him.
"You son of a bitch, why the hell are you doing this to me?!"
Time to revise the plan. Sunghyun altered his trajectory. The beast did not see him as prey. It saw him as an enemy that had to die—or the cub of a natural predator.
Why? Compared to that tiger I'm nothing but weak.
No one could answer that.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
His head felt ready to explode. He had long since passed the limits of his stamina. He could no longer tell whether he was running or the ground itself was shoving him forward. And that was not the only thing making his skull feel like it would burst.
The same instinct that had always warned him of danger back on Earth was hammering his brain harder than ever before. Thanks to it, he felt as if he could see the tiger's next move in advance.
Right!
Using his right foot as a pivot, Sunghyun twisted his body.
Whoosh—
The tiger's forepaw grazed past him.
Dodged it.
But Sunghyun could not smile. Drop by drop, his body's reactions lagged half a beat, and blood began pouring from his nose like a faucet.
Is this the limit?
His vision swam. He clenched his teeth hard enough to crack them.
I still have to hold on.
Sunghyun refused to give up. The raw desire to live pushed him past the limits of his body. He fled, and fled again.
Thud-thud-thud—
As if the world itself wanted to free him, it forced a cruel choice upon him.
"Ah!!!"
A choice that made curses rise on their own. Ahead lay a cliff with no end in sight.
If I jump like in those old martial arts novels, will I live?
The thought filled his head so completely that he knew how cornered he truly was.
Huff, huff.
Panting, Sunghyun glared at the tiger. He could dodge its attacks one more time at most. He stared at the beast's still-bleeding eye. In the remaining eye, only Sunghyun was reflected.
Ah. This bastard doesn't know there's a cliff behind me.
In that instant a fierce intuition struck him. He could live.
Sunghyun's lips curled upward. Adrenaline and dopamine flooded his brain in a frenzy. In that moment he felt truly alive.
"Fuck it, let's do this."
The exhilaration, the tension, the pressure he had never felt in the modern world—investing had once given him those things.
Whether the tiger understood his thoughts or not, it launched itself with the force of a panther. In that same instant Sunghyun wrung out the last of his strength and rolled forward. The tiger's claws skimmed the hem of his clothes by a hair's breadth.
Seeing its prey slip past, the tiger planted itself to prepare the next strike. But beneath its feet there was no ground left to plant on—only empty air waiting for it.
Desperate to live, the tiger twisted its body in midair and somehow managed to dig its claws into the cliff face. A shadow fell across its face.
"Ahahahaha! You bastard! Finally I get to look down on that mug of yours!"
From above, Sunghyun stomped downward with all his weight.
"This! Is! Sparta!"