Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Return
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“G-Great hero! What in the world is this?”
“...”
The grand banquet hall in Wuhuan, Hubei Province.
Suddenly, a light began to emanate from the body of the martial world's hero, the Martial God Dang Won-jun.
“Could it be Ascension to Immortality?”
“The Martial God is ascending?”
“Brother Dang!”
The distinguished guests from the Central Plains, gathered in the most splendid venue of the Martial Alliance, were all thrown into confusion.
No matter that he was the Supreme Under Heaven—no, the Supreme of Past and Present—who had single-handedly subjugated the Demonic Cult Leader and the Eight Demonic Palaces, they never dreamed they'd witness the legendary Ascension to Immortality.
“It seems the time has come.”
Dang Won-jun himself spoke calmly.
The surname Dang was one he'd taken upon becoming a son-in-law of the Dang family to obtain their secret manual.
His name before entering this martial world was Park Won-jun.
“Looks like it's time to say goodbye.”
The Martial God rose with dignity and declared.
“What are you all doing?!”
Martial Alliance Leader Namgung Cheon bellowed.
And at once, the influential figures of the Central Plains bowed their heads.
“Great hero! We thank you!”
The hero of the martial world was now departing.
All they could do was bid him farewell.
“...”
The Martial God nearly voiced the words rising in his heart but held them back.
It was quite simple.
'Fuck this.'
Why had Park Won-jun, who came from 21st-century South Korea, become the Supreme of Past and Present?
There were many reasons.
The blessed Heavenly Martial Body.
The resolve of a chosen hero to save the martial world, come what may.
But to reach the pinnacle, one needed overwhelmingly powerful martial arts.
Among all the techniques he'd mastered, the one he ultimately chose was the Turtle Shell Technique.
A martial art that enabled immense inner energy and movements beyond even a master's comprehension.
In the end, it was the Turtle Shell Technique that allowed Park Won-jun to surpass the Demonic Cult Leader.
But fatally, mastering the Turtle Shell Technique required removing one's own manhood.
To become a hero, he'd sacrificed the pleasures a man could enjoy and the chance to reproduce.
Grip.
Amid the intense light, Park Won-jun felt even more wronged.
Thirty years of grueling struggle in the martial world.
He'd cut off his dick to become a hero, but nothing remained.
Personal satisfaction? Honor? Duty?
He needed none of it.
It wasn't that everyone abstained from sex for my sake—it was just me who couldn't have it.
Sichuan's Three Great Beauties, Shaanxi's Number One Beauty... he'd never held women like that even once.
Hell, he'd been a virgin even before coming to the martial world.
'What a failure. A total failure.'
Regret came only after everything ended.
And with it, a desperate wish.
'This'll take me back to my original world, right? Please restore it.'
He'd give anything—just let what should be there be there.
He didn't need martial arts anymore. Just that!
“...Huh?”
A feeling both familiar and unfamiliar washed over him.
“I'm back.”
The 23-year-old Park Won-jun stared at his hands.
He remembered.
Everything. This world and that one.
“Then...!”
What Park Won-jun checked first was, of course...
“Whoaaaaa!”
The thing inside his pants.
“It's intact.”
Perfectly there.
The manhood he'd lost to the Turtle Shell Technique.
His dick was perfectly fine.
Only after losing it did he realize its true value.
And now it was right there, good as new.
“Whew.”
Won-jun nearly shed tears.
Truth be told, he'd been terrified.
What if he returned in a castrated body?
But his fears were unfounded.
He'd returned to 21st-century South Korea, freed from sexual disability.
'Yeah, that's right.'
Though there were other things to worry about now that he was back, the most important was secured.
Plenty of joy awaited ahead.
“But seriously, no matter how I think about it...”
Having confirmed it was there, Won-jun calmly assessed the situation.
Before entering the martial world, he was 23, freshly discharged from the military, preparing to return to school.
“Hmm...”
This was his studio apartment.
Cold.
A sensation of chill he'd forgotten after reaching such heights.
And this clear mind.
Won-jun checked his phone right away.
“I see.”
January 2025.
Right before he'd gone to the martial world.
He could grasp his messages and chats at a glance.
He was working part-time at a bar in Hongdae to fund his return to school.
'But there's something more important.'
Won-jun began thinking about things unimaginable before crossing worlds.
“Black Tower.”
The tower that appeared worldwide decades ago.
South Korea had two: Seoul and Busan.
China had seven, the US nine.
Only Awakeners could enter.
Even if you didn't live in Seoul or Busan, Awakeners could enter once per day.
“...”
Won-jun gestured in the air.
'Status Window.'
He'd heard you just had to call it mentally.
“Hm...”
Nothing appeared.
Won-jun wasn't an Awakener.
Awakeners made up less than 1% of the population in any country.
And active Hunters climbing the towers were a tiny fraction of that 1%.
'Unbelievable.'
Hunters who entered the Black Tower to hunt monsters held the world's most vital jobs.
Not just because Mana Crystals, the basic reward, were Earth's finest resource.
It was the price for the abundance the Black Tower bestowed upon humanity.
Tower collapse.
Humanity still didn't know the Black Towers' maximum floors.
But conquering one floor meant tackling all above it.
With a one-year limit.
Seoul was cleared to floor 56, Busan to 53—Seoul had about eight months left.
Fail to clear it in time, and the tower collapsed.
The collapse in some African nation had power like an atomic bomb, claiming countless lives.
Since then, the world formed treaties, nurtured national Hunters, exchanged support—all to conquer the towers.
Thus, top-tier Hunters basked in fame, while mid-to-high-rankers raked in Mana Crystals and cash.
Climbing new floors was heroic; repeating cleared ones for crystals was solid business.
“Hmph, honestly speaking...”
Won-jun's interest lay in the latter.
He'd been a martial world hero and learned its emptiness didn't suit him.
“Anyway.”
The issue: unlike the martial world where power solved everything, here he was just an ordinary college student.
If he could reign supreme here like he had there, what a blissful life.
No need to sling drinks at a Hongdae bar for tuition.
“...”
Won-jun prodded his navel, his dantian.
'No inner energy.'
Since his body was back to normal, was that expected?
'But...'
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Won-jun swung punches at the air.
The fist techniques he'd wielded in the martial world.
No inner energy, yet his punches flew lightly and swift.
Thanks to muscle memory, probably... but...
“Shall I try?”
Won-jun decided to circulate his energy.
He sat cross-legged, focusing on his dantian.
“...”
'Weird.'
In the martial world, with his supreme heart method—called divine art—he'd amassed inner energy surpassing even the Heavenly Demon.
But what was this? Inner energy gathered in his dantian then vanished.
It was there, faintly...?
'Maybe?'
A hypothesis struck Won-jun.
Hunters could fight modern weapons-immune monsters.
Yet Hunters never conquered nations by force.
Outside the tower, they were ordinary folk.
Inner energy could be rebuilt—he had his self-created peerless heart method.
If only he could manifest it somehow.
“...”
Won-jun grinned.
Got one hooked already.
“Good.”
Won-jun, not an Awakener before, had awakened.
Likely from trying to gather inner energy.
Just a guess, but mana—the Awakener essential—must be the inner energy from the martial world.
“Let's see.”
Won-jun mentally called the Status Window. That's how it worked, supposedly.
“So this is the Status Window.”
The must-have for Hunter-active Awakeners.
Won-jun skimmed it and looked below.
'Tower Entry.'
Tower entry possible.
'The problem is...'
Not knowing how far he'd get on floor 1.
To gauge roughly, he'd need the Hunter Management Bureau.
Not all Awakeners become Hunters.
Some choose not to; others simply can't.
Zero chance he was the latter? Not quite.
“...”
Swish.
Won-jun stood.
“Whatever.”
Entering the tower would unlock mana—inner energy. He didn't know the metrics, or how his cross-dimensional feats translated.
'Tower Entry.'
But Won-jun skipped the bureau and entered directly.
He'd endured 30 brutal years in the martial world.
The daily thrill of growth. Martial arts' depths. Divine arts' terror.
Living so intensely made ordinary life impossible now.
Orphaned childhood, unknown parents.
This cramped gosichon.
In four hours, he'd serve at the crowded Hongdae bar.
A diligent life, but after those tumultuous 30 years, such simplicity repulsed him.
“As if.”
Won-jun had no intention of hitting forfeit.
And...
He checked his dantian.
“...Hahahahahahaha!”
He burst into mad laughter.
“Yes, this feeling.”
Power overflowed; inner energy surged from his dantian.
He could deploy martial arts.
Not the Turtle Shell Technique, which required castration—he wouldn't touch it.
Looking around, Horned Rabbits approached.
This floor required downing basic mobs and the boss.
“Too much hassle for these.”
Won-jun prepared a martial art.
“Blazing Palm.”
Roarrrrr!
Flames flickered from his extended palms.
Blazing Flame Divine Art, an extreme yang fire technique.
Its foundational move—the one Won-jun used to incinerate hordes of Demonic Cultists in the Great War of Righteousness and Evil.
Checking the Status Window, Won-jun headed to the boss room.
The Horned Rabbits had burned to ash in seconds.
“The others were kinda cute.”
Entering the boss room, a larger, fiercer Chief Horned Rabbit appeared.
It charged, horn first.
Boom!
Won-jun leaped skyward; the rock behind where he'd stood shattered from the rabbit's horn.
“Good. I always liked this.”
Won-jun assumed a fist stance.
This time, not natural energy arts—fists.
The Chief charged again.
Won-jun readied his punch.
Thud!
“Eh?”
The nameless fist art honed in endless spars with the Fist King, one of the righteous faction's top masters.
One straight punch felled the Chief Horned Rabbit.
Dead on impact.
“S-Rank doubles rewards? Didn't know.”
Won-jun nodded as something dropped before him.
Mana Crystals—two of them.
'Store in Inventory.'
They went into his inventory.
“...”
Won-jun kept grinning.
'Mana Crystal market price: 100,000 won each.'
Two meant 200,000 won earned.
S-Rank clears daily? 2 million monthly, over 70 million yearly pre-tax.
No more scraping by before the martial world.
'No, wait.'
Satisfied with this?
Never.
Higher floors meant bigger rewards.
And someday, fame and glory beyond money.
He knew heroism's hollowness.
But now was different.
He wasn't a eunuch anymore. He could chase other joys— the greatest one.
'Sex.'
What he'd craved since becoming a eunuch for heroism.
From now on, his goal: sex with as many beautiful women as possible.