The World I Saved Has Fallen
The inside of my body felt like it was burning alive.
It went beyond simple thirst. The excessive use of holy power had twisted my muscles until they felt like they were being torn apart in searing agony.
“{In the end… you have driven me to death. Truly impressive, Hero.}”
“Hoo…”
But still.
Swing—
“{However, remember this one thing.}”
Suppressing the burning pain, I listened to the Demon King’s ominous murmur directed at the empty air. Without hesitation, I raised my sword.
-We’ll take care of things here. You just go kill that damn bastard. That’s enough.
“.....”
“{Even if I fall here, this world will absolutely not escape its fated end.}”
Ever since I had been reincarnated into this other world, I had endured far worse pain hundreds of times over while sweeping through countless demon races to reach the Demon King before me.
“{Hah… No matter how hard you struggle, you cannot stop the end—}”
“Stop wasting time with nonsense. Goodbye.”
Slash—
That was why I simply thrust the Holy Sword I gripped toward the Demon King, who was smiling mockingly even in the face of death.
Boom… boom—
The cheers of celebration echoed everywhere, built upon the news that the world’s evil, the Demon King, had been slain. The final fireworks of the festival filled the sky with brilliant light.
Vrrrrrr—
-Three minutes remain until the return magic circle is ready!!
“....”
‘I’m finally going back…’
Inside the church, far removed from the festivities, I straightened my clothes. Staring blankly at the sparkling fireworks outside the window, I chewed on a bitter feeling in my heart.
“.....”
My parents back in my real life, the house I had earned with blood and sweat, and the billions of won sitting in my bank account.
‘Honestly, at first I only thought about going back…’
-Hic… Hero-nim, you’ve worked so hard all this time!
-I must be crazy… Just get lost!!
-Ah…?
-O-Oppa… I want to go with you. Luna wants to go too… Please…!
Don’t abandon us…!!
“....”
Whether I liked it or not, the precious bonds I had built after being reincarnated into this other world came to mind one by one. I could feel them grabbing at my ankles as I tried to leave.
“The return preparation is complete!!”
“Hoo… Let’s go.”
“Yes!! Thank you for all your hard work, Hero-nim!!”
The return spell consumed an enormous amount of resources from start to finish. There was no way I could cancel it now.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
“.....”
‘It’s a bit blinding…’
I frowned at the brilliant white flash that leaked through even my closed eyelids.
Thud!!
“Ugh… What, what the hell?!”
I clearly remembered the white light enveloping my body. But when I opened my eyes again at the sudden roar that shook everything,
“Ah…”
Finally.
It wasn’t the old, worn wooden ceiling. Instead, my eyes met the clean white wallpaper of the modern civilization I had longed for.
“I’m finally back…”
Yes. This was reality—no unpleasant traces of mana, no smell of blood. I groped around, embracing the nostalgic feeling I had forgotten for so long. On the soft mattress, I clenched and unclenched my fist. As I naturally touched my face to confirm it was real,
“Huh…?”
‘There are no scars?’
The small wounds that had begun appearing after I set out on my journey, the scruffy beard—none of it was there.
Click—
“What… what the…?!”
‘Have I completely… returned?’
In the full-length mirror of the bathroom, lit with a sensation both familiar and strangely foreign, I stared blankly at my past self—the me from before I had been reincarnated into the other world.
-Once you complete the task you were sent to perform, I will return you to the exact time you left from.
“Aha…”
The words of the Pope I had met in the Roden Holy Kingdom—the place where it had all begun and ended—suddenly came back to me.
At the same time.
“Wait a second…”
‘Then what time is it? What day? What year…??’
I had returned to normal, but I had no idea how many days had passed or whether I was truly back in my original timeline. A sudden wave of fear hit me.
Vrrrr—
I kicked open the bathroom door and turned on the smartphone that was still sitting on the bedside table exactly as I remembered.
[June 23, 2026 — 11:23 PM]
“Phew…”
‘I came back to the exact day I was reincarnated…’
I felt relieved that nothing had changed. But the fact that no trace remained of everything I had experienced in the other world brought on an inexplicable emptiness.
“Ugh, whatever…”
I had saved the world and come back. If returning completely intact was my reward, then it was a pretty good one.
“Hah…”
Having organized my thoughts and decided it was something to be grateful for, I put down the phone.
-What are you doing there, Erin?
-Ah, um, Hero-nim, this is…?!
‘Erin… Luna… We really had a lot of good memories…’
Staring blankly at the ceiling, I slowly revisited the memories of the other world I had built over ten years.
“Haaam…”
‘I feel like I was just sleeping, so why am I so sleepy again…?’
Maybe it was because I had spent so long in the other world saving the world and had only just returned. My eyes kept closing. A heavy wave of fatigue slowly pulled me under.
‘Yeah, let’s just sleep for now…’
In this peaceful reality where I didn’t need to stay on guard against demon invasions, I buried my head in the soft pillow.
Thud. Thud. Thud—
“Ugh…”
I surrendered my body to the exhaustion. I had no idea how much time had passed since I fell asleep.
‘Why is it so loud…’
It sounded like construction work. Loud rumbling noises came from outside, along with a thick, familiar metallic scent of blood…
‘…Wait. The smell of blood?’
“Ugh…??”
‘What the hell is…’
This was something that couldn’t possibly happen in peaceful reality. It was the kind of situation that only existed in the other world. The moment I lifted my heavy, sinking eyelids in confusion—
BOOM—!!
“Whoa—shit?!”
Something massive and blazing hot came crashing down right in front of my eyes before I could even process the situation. I stumbled backward in shock at the roaring flames.
“Hey!! Are you even awake?! Wake up!”
“What… what the hell is going on right now…?”
The bearded, scruffy middle-aged man was spitting as he shouted at me. Only then did my eyes begin to take in the surroundings.
The half-destroyed buildings with their distinctive medieval architecture, black smoke leaking from the ruins…
“Ugh…?”
Half-collapsed medieval-style buildings. Acrid black smoke pouring out of them.
“...”
The smell of blood clinging to everything around me, and the familiar, repulsive aura of demonic energy… There was no mistaking it.
“Rodelia…?”
This had to be the Rodelia continent—the other world I had already been reincarnated into once and saved.
“Snap out of it! What are you doing just standing here?!”
“No, wait, mister… What the hell is happening right now…?”
Yet this was the world I had already saved once. So what on earth was this disaster?
As I clutched my head in confusion and asked, the man yelled back.
“If you’ve got time to ask stupid questions, then run, you idiot—!!”
“Y-yes?!”
With a string of curses, he grabbed my hand and started dragging me. I staggered to my feet and followed the bearded man.
At that exact moment—
-KRUUUUAAAHHH!!
“What the—?!”
A terrifying roar exploded right behind my back. I didn’t have time to think about anything else. I just ran desperately after the bearded man.
“Hah… This place should be safe for now.”
“Huk… huuuk—!”
‘How far did we even run… I’m going to die…!!’
I still had no idea what was going on, but I had followed the man who woke me up and ended up inside some shabby tent. As I tried to catch my breath—
Hiss—
“Tsk. Consider yourself lucky. If it had been anyone else, they would’ve just ignored you and kept walking.”
“Huu… Y-yes?”
It seemed this had originally been his lodging. The bearded man lit a cigarette and exhaled acrid smoke. When I asked him while still panting, he replied.
“So who the hell are you, sleeping so peacefully in a heavily contaminated zone?”
“That’s…”
I almost said Hero out of habit, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Grip—
“.....”
‘Wait, why am I in the exact same physical state as when I was first reincarnated…??’
No matter how much time had passed since I returned to reality, the strength and stamina I had built over ten years of fighting and rolling around with demons in this world were completely gone.
‘Can I even summon the Holy Sword…?’
“.....”
The situation had been too urgent to try, and with a body like this, I wasn’t sure if I could even wield it. I had no idea what was even happening right now.
“My memories… are a bit hazy.”
Deciding it was better not to reveal my identity yet, I played dumb. The man nodded.
“Memory’s fuzzy, huh… Well, this is a heavily eroded zone, so that makes sense. Still, you’d better be more careful from now on.”
“Yes… And thank you for earlier.”
“Tsk, it was nothing.”
“....”
‘But seriously, how much time has passed since I left? How did it turn into this mess…??’
The atmosphere seemed to be moving on, so I let out a mental sigh. The state of the world was far worse than it had been before I saved it.
“Haa… I’m so damn tired…”
“Um, excuse me… If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what year it is in the Rodelia calendar right now?”
Crush—
“Hm? You want to know the current year?”
“Yes, please…”
‘Just how far into the future have I come…?’
I wondered if I had somehow arrived in the distant past before I was even reincarnated. When I asked the man as he stubbed out his cigarette with his foot, he answered.
“Right now… it should be year 358 of the Rodelia calendar.”
“Y-yes…? Year 358??”
“Yeah. 358.”
“What the…?”
Even if the time I spent in reality after leaving this world was only about a day at most…
‘Ten years have already passed here…??’
In that short span of time, a full decade had gone by in the other world of Rodelia.