The Second Round Begins in Discomfort
The very first thing he felt, once again, was a profound sense of wrongness.
The blinding light stabbing at his eyelids. The murmuring voices hammering against his ears.
It was too bright to be hell and too painfully real to be heaven.
Is this some kind of life-flashing-before-my-eyes moment? A faint flicker of doubt crossed his mind as he slowly lifted his closed eyelids.
“Ooh…”
“It’s a success! We’ve succeeded!”
“Now our kingdom has…!”
The murmuring grew louder. At the same time, the overwhelmingly bright light made him unconsciously scrunch up his face.
The surroundings were a space that resembled a basement.
Transparent marble spread across the floor. A vast chamber. Soldiers and a handful of nobles encircling him.
When he lowered his gaze, he saw a complexly intertwined magic circle. The overly intricate design—far too detailed for a mere dying vision—made his own head spin with confusion.
“…Hah.”
A hollow laugh slipped out first, born from the sheer incomprehensibility of the situation.
He was supposed to be dead. Just a few seconds ago, a dagger had pierced straight through his heart, ending his life instantly.
In his faintly trembling vision, he saw two clean hands without a single wound. When his gaze finally landed on the school uniform that had been torn apart years ago, his mind went completely blank.
A body free of pain. Skin that looked youthfully soft even to his own eyes. …And the strangely familiar scene unfolding all around him.
“Hero! Raise your head!”
At the following shout, Hwian naturally lifted his gaze. A familiar face came into view.
…Captain of the Royal Guard.
Why was a man who should have died more than three years ago standing before him? And why was he speaking with such arrogant authority?
“State your name!”
Before his questions could even settle, the incompetent-looking captain continued.
“…Hwian. Suh Hwian.”
“Hero Hwian! First, we offer our deepest blessings for your summoning to our Adonia Kingdom. From this moment forward, as the sword of our kingdom, under the names of His Majesty the King and the Royal Guard, you shall devote yourself to the utmost—”
“What the hell is this bullshit?”
Step. The moment he took a firm step forward, the soldiers positioned around him visibly stirred.
They’re scared.
The soldiers were drenched in tension. Their reactions were unnaturally stiff, as if they were seeing a human from another world for the first time.
It was strange.
Something was terribly, deeply wrong.
“Answer me, you son of a bitch. What the hell is this circus?”
“H-how do you know my name…?”
The moment he called the man’s name, bewilderment flooded the captain’s face. The sight of that same incompetent, slow-witted expression from his memories made Hwian’s teeth grind together with a sharp crack.
He should have been dead. It should all have been over.
It was supposed to be finished. The world. The suffering. Everything.
So why were these old memories flickering before his eyes? Why were they tormenting him again?
“Answer me. What the hell is this right n—”
“Do not come any closer!”
Step. As Hwian took another step, the captain raised his voice. Looking at the dozens of soldiers who immediately leveled their spears at him, Hwian felt his patience finally snap.
“So then….”
The veins on his tightly clenched fist bulged. Anxiety and rage mixed together, sending a sharp sting through his skull.
He saw the flustered soldiers. He saw the murmuring nobles.
…Should I just smash everything first and think later?
As those increasingly dark thoughts rose in Hwian’s mind, a clear, pure voice suddenly reached his ears.
“Please wait a moment!”
A small girl came running—tap tap tap—from the far side of the basement, following the long magic circle etched across the floor.
Pushing past the murmuring nobles, breaking through the thick wall of soldiers, she reached him with surprising ease. Hwian’s eyes widened in shock.
“Haa, haa… I’m so sorry. You must be confused by this sudden situation, yet we only spoke without offering any explanation…”
The girl bowed deeply before him, breathing hard.
Her white hair fluttered with the motion. The hem of her thin dress swayed and settled.
“If you could please calm down and listen to us, I would be truly grateful…”
Beside her, the captain frowned in clear displeasure. Ignoring him completely, Hwian stared at the girl before him with eyes full of disbelief.
It was a voice from his memories. Hair he had seen before.
Not recent memories, but old ones. Echoes from a past already six years gone.
“First, allow me to greet you properly.”
The girl lifted her head. In the center of her exhausted face, golden eyes sparkled with joy. The moment their gazes met, Hwian’s heart slammed to a stop.
“Um, well… N-nice to meet you, Hero! I am the Fourth Princess of the Adonia Kingdom—”
Royalty. The damn royals who had summoned him to this world and used him however they pleased.
“—…My name is Serena. Please take good care of me!”
Among them all, the one woman he could never forget.
Serena Silvana.
The person who had dragged him into hell. The woman who had summoned Hwian.
“Princess, please step back a little.”
“What? No, but…”
“You must be exhausted from activating the magic circle. It will be difficult to protect you if you stand too close, and this man’s condition seems… unstable.”
Hwian listened blankly to the conversation unfolding in front of him and took a step.
The first emotion was confusion. The second was denial. The next was a pure white void.
“Please leave this to us for a moment and step ba—…Huk?!”
“Eek…!?”
“How dare you…!!”
And the final emotion was a rage so fierce it felt like it would burn his entire body to ash.
Driven by that blazing fury, he charged forward. His fist collided with the shield the captain had hastily raised, and the sound of metal crumpling rang out savagely.
“How dare you! You—! With what face do you—!!”
He saw the princess gasp and stumble backward. He saw the nobles scattering in panic, and the soldiers hurriedly thrusting their spears.
With his eyes wide open, he glared at the spear tips aimed at him. He swatted away all ten or so blades with both hands, and gasps of horror erupted from every side.
He was a man who had survived for years in a world like hell itself. Dodging the clumsy spearplay of this rabble was something he could do with his eyes closed.
“Y-you’ve finally shown your true colors, otherworlder! As the King’s sword, I shall pass judgment upon you in his stead—Guh?!”
He drove his fist straight into the face of the captain, who had been barking noisily.
“Was the so-called benefit to your country really that important…!”
He hurled aside the royal guards who rushed in to stop him and glared at the princess.
He knew. He knew exactly how enormous the tied to a Hero’s summoning were. He knew how much influence the symbol of “a hero from another world” could have on a nation’s prestige.
To Hwian, who had been treated like a dog for years amid that spiderweb of profit and power, nobles and royals were little more than mortal enemies. There was no need to even speak of the woman who had personally summoned him.
“You people who never gave a damn about the Demon King in the first place…”
That was why he ground his teeth. Without even registering what expression the woman before him was making, he clenched his jaw so hard it felt like his teeth might shatter.
“You bastards who never spared a glance at anyone else’s happiness…!”
“I-I—”
“You must be thrilled. A tiny little country suddenly gains the symbol of a Hero!!”
Six years ago, he had followed the orders of the royal family and nobles without knowing anything. Relying only on their promise to send him home, he had traveled from south to north, east to west, across the entire world.
And the result had been a death filled with nothing but regret. How could he not feel rage?
“Get away from the Princess!”
He saw a royal guard charging in with a terrible stance. The man was supposedly talented enough to serve in the palace, yet the sight of such excessive incompetence made Hwian’s blood boil. He snatched the incoming spear shaft in a crushing grip.
“You people really haven’t changed at all. Of course you haven’t.”
“L-let go—!”
“Is playing knight that fun for you, young master?”
He brought the butt of the stolen spear down hard on the charging soldier’s head.
A refuge for the useless third and fourth sons of low-ranking noble families. Remembering the true nature of the Royal Guard that people once looked up to, he ground his teeth once more.
This one was incompetent. That one was weak.
Aristocrats in their third or fourth position who wore armor without any real skill or effort. Seeing them comfortably nested inside the palace filled Hwian’s mind with both rage and bleak despair.
But at the same time, one question still remained unanswered.
Why was he, who should have been dead, standing here?
“It’s him! Everyone, attack!!”
At the captain’s shout, Hwian snapped out of his thoughts.
The captain was sprawled on the floor, blood streaming from his nose, still yelling something. In response to that voice, a fresh wave of soldiers poured in. Watching them, Hwian let out a hollow laugh.
They were rabble too. And no matter how many poorly trained rabble came at him, they could never stop him.
The sound of metal crumpling rang out again and again. Ugly screams and battle cries burst out in chaotic disorder.
How many minutes had passed like that?
“Ugh… kuh…”
“—Hoo.”
In the center of the basement where most of the royal guards now lay collapsed, Hwian exhaled.
His thoroughly swung fists were soaked in blood. It wasn’t the blood of others—it was his own. His body was softer than he remembered, and striking their armor had torn his skin.
“…Hey. Princess.”
Even so, he spoke in a voice that showed not the slightest hint of pain.
In one corner of the basement, now empty of all the fleeing nobles, the princess stood alone. Looking at the white-haired girl who kept her head bowed, her body trembling faintly, Hwian asked in a low voice.
“What year is it?”
“…Pardon?”
“Huh?”
“I-it is the year 792 of the Continental Calendar…”
Hwian nodded at her answer. At least part of the last remaining question had been resolved.
Continental Year 792. Exactly six years before the day he had died—and the year he had first been summoned.
“Regression…”
At the quietly murmured word, the princess’s shoulders flinched. After a brief silence, she took a few steps, murmuring in a voice so soft it was barely audible.
“……I’m sorry.”
The voice sounded like she was on the verge of breaking into tears. An uncomfortable feeling settled in Hwian’s chest. Tap tap tap. As he watched the princess leave the basement, he squeezed his eyes shut.
It was not a particularly pleasant second life.