Chapter 1 - The Villain Who Returned from Hell
The Villain Who Returned from Hell
It was revenge.
Revenge against the villain who killed his parents.
But that was merely the starting point.
[You have awakened the Heavenly Slaughter Star.]
A villain—
by killing people, the instinct buried deep within his soul had awakened.
At first, it didn’t feel like much.
‘This is the Heavenly Slaughter Star?’
But as time passed, Lee Jeon-seok felt his inner self gradually changing.
A craving for blood.
Conflict toward murder.
An uncontrollable impulse that constantly surged within him.
It was unbearable.
He couldn’t endure it.
The number of times he lost consciousness each day kept increasing, and whenever he came to his senses late, his hands were always stained with vivid red blood.
Thus, years passed.
No—perhaps more than a decade.
Lee Jeon-seok became a mad slaughterer obsessed with blood and carnage.
He took the lives of every living being he could see.
Reason and rationality had long since vanished.
Kill and kill again—he lived solely to kill.
All hunters and civilians feared him, and whenever night fell, they trembled in anxiety.
But in the end, after the mutual destruction of thousands of hunters, Lee Jeon-seok finally lost his life…
—
Sinner Lee Jeon-seok. Accept your punishment.
And so, he fell into hell.
Avīci.
A world where one burns in flames for all eternity.
Ironically, it was only then that Lee Jeon-seok regained his sanity.
It couldn’t be helped.
The flames clinging to his entire body showed no sign of extinguishing, and the pain continued every second of every minute.
It hurt.
It was agonizing.
Even a single tear that flowed out was scorched by the flames and turned to ash.
His soul neither fainted nor died—
he was forced to remain conscious no matter what.
An immeasurable amount of time passed like that.
And when even the pain of burning had become familiar—
“…!”
A voice was heard.
※ ※ ※
“…Son!”
The darkness vanished, and the pain disappeared.
An abrupt change.
Lee Jeon-seok blinked.
‘…What is this?’
His mind couldn’t keep up.
What in the world was happening?
Soon, light cut through the darkness.
“Are you listening to me, son?”
A familiar voice followed.
An unmistakably familiar tone.
Though it had been so long, the image remained vividly engraved in his mind.
“Mother…?”
Lee Jeon-seok looked at the woman before him.
Yes. It was his mother.
Her name—Han Yuri.
Forty-five years old.
The woman who gave birth to and raised Lee Jeon-seok, one of only two parents in the world.
Someone who couldn’t possibly exist—someone who must not exist—was sitting at the dining table in front of him.
Lee Jeon-seok hurriedly looked around.
A home.
A living room of about 20 pyeong.
A TV, a dining table, a sofa—familiar furniture entered his view.
Sunlight poured through the balcony window, illuminating the living room.
There was not a trace of flames.
A scene that had nothing to do with the word “hell.”
“What’s wrong, son?”
Perhaps because he remained silent, Han Yuri asked again.
The tone of a parent filled with concern.
A voice he had wanted to hear even once more—
Yet Lee Jeon-seok frowned and ground his teeth.
“Damn it. Now you’re showing me hallucinations too?”
Hallucinations.
Lee Jeon-seok believed what he was seeing was fake.
An illusion created by grim reapers to torment him.
The reason was simple.
Not all grim reapers were benevolent.
Some of them deliberately tortured sinners just to relieve stress.
Over an immeasurably long time—
How many times had he been toyed with by their tricks?
That was why Lee Jeon-seok believed everything he saw and felt was a false landscape created by grim reapers.
‘Bastards.’
He cursed inwardly.
Of all times, why this memory?
That was cruel beyond measure.
No matter how much of a sinner he was, did that give them the right to abuse their authority like this?
Unable to contain his rage, he suddenly stood up.
He wanted to escape the illusion immediately.
The space they had created resembled the ideal he had longed for so dearly—
But he would rather be scorched by hellfire than grin foolishly inside a hollow fantasy.
Then—
Thud—!
“…?”
Sudden pain struck the back of his head.
This was different from being burned.
It felt like he had been hit by something—
“What nonsense are you spouting so early in the morning?”
A voice followed.
Step. Step.
Heavy footsteps.
“Stop talking nonsense and eat your food.”
A large man sat down at the table.
That face was also deeply missed.
The blurry memories gradually sharpened.
“Father…?”
Lee Han-seok.
A man who had always worked tirelessly to support his family.
“Son, you’re not actually sick, are you?”
Han Yuri stared at Lee Jeon-seok.
Her concerned eyes and words made his chest feel as if it were tearing apart.
Then—
“He’s never even caught a cold. No way he’s sick. He probably smacked his head on the floor while sleeping.”
Another voice joined in.
A relatively young girl’s voice.
Not his father.
Not his mother.
The girl sitting across from him was his one and only younger sister.
Lee Ji-hye.
A rude way of speaking and a sharp attitude.
She was exactly as he remembered.
Too vivid to be a hallucination.
Even the pain at the back of his head was painfully clear.
A sensation he could never feel in a mere illusion.
Not just that.
Only now did he realize—
The table, the spoon, the living room floor, the warmth rising from the food—everything was being felt in real time.
‘What is this?’
He was certain it was a hallucination.
Because he felt none of the pain of hellfire.
‘But this situation…’
Everything felt too real.
As if he had returned to the past.
‘No way.’
Impossible.
Unacceptable.
Regression…?
He couldn’t believe it.
But there was no other explanation.
“Are you not eating?”
Lee Han-seok asked.
Lee Jeon-seok sat back down.
His thoughts were still in chaos.
He understood nothing.
He quietly ate the meal laid out on the table.
White rice, spicy kimchi, salty seaweed…
‘…It’s good.’
It tasted good.
Too good to dismiss as an illusion.
Lee Jeon-seok felt like he might cry—
But the tear ducts that had long since dried up could no longer release any emotion.
※ ※ ※
Three more days passed.
The scenery did not change.
The sensations remained vivid.
Lee Jeon-seok had no choice but to accept it.
‘I’ve returned to the past.’
How?
Why?
For what reason?
He didn’t know.
There was nothing he could know.
One thing was clear—
Everything he was seeing and feeling was not false.
And his parents were alive.
‘The Heavenly Slaughter Star…’
Lee Jeon-seok closed his eyes and focused.
His mind was unbelievably calm and clear.
No urge to kill.
No craving for blood.
Was it because his parents hadn’t died yet, and he hadn’t killed the villain out of revenge?
No—probably not.
The status window.
A privilege exclusive to Awakened ones.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star still existed there plainly.
—
Lv. 1
[Strength – 10] [Agility – 10]
[Vitality – 10] [Mana – 10]
Stat Points – 0
Owned Traits
└ Heavenly Slaughter Star (EX), Mark of Eternity
—
His level and stats from his previous life were completely reset.
But the fact that he had awakened remained, even after returning to the past.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star was no exception.
—
Heavenly Slaughter Star
Grade: EX
Effect: Randomly steals the traits of those you kill. However, as a price, you experience intense murderous impulses whenever you see blood. The more people you kill, the stronger the impulse becomes, eventually causing you to lose all reason and pursue only blood and slaughter.
—
The main culprit that dragged Lee Jeon-seok to the depths of hell.
The effect of stealing traits was undeniably powerful—
But the price turned him into a psychopath obsessed with bloodshed.
However—
‘Right now, I’m fine.’
No bloodlust.
No conflict over murder.
Nothing at all.
Lee Jeon-seok picked up a box cutter from his desk and cut his finger.
A single drop of blood flowed out.
In the past, even such a tiny amount would have driven him into madness—
But now, he remained perfectly conscious and rational.
‘…It must be because of this.’
He shifted his gaze to another trait.
—
Mark of Eternity
Grade: Unknown
Effect: A mark granted only to sinners imprisoned in Avīci. A soul bearing this mark can never be destroyed or worn away.
—
The Mark of Eternity.
A type of shackle.
A device that forced sinners of Avīci to remain conscious forever and suffer nothing but pain.
But perhaps because it prevented loss of consciousness—
Lee Jeon-seok had learned to suppress the Heavenly Slaughter Star and maintain sanity amid endless torment.
And that effect still remained.
Returning to the past.
Why had this happened to him?
Was it someone’s scheme?
A mere coincidence?
He didn’t know.
But Lee Jeon-seok thought—
‘…I can undo it.’
At this point in time, everyone he had killed should still be alive.
What if he didn’t kill them?
Then the evil karma that dragged him to the depths of hell would disappear.
‘And I’ll accumulate good karma instead.’
Then maybe, after death, he could go to heaven instead of hell.
Naive?
Mock him if you want.
‘This time, I’ll live my life—not the Heavenly Slaughter Star’s.’
Heaven was merely an indicator of the result.
Proof that he had lived his own life.
‘Then the first thing I need to do is…’
Lee Jeon-seok sat on the bed, thinking repeatedly.
Returning to the past was certain.
Then what needed to be done was obvious.
Knock knock.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
Before Lee Jeon-seok could answer—
“Son.”
The door opened along with a warm voice.
Han Yuri entered.
“You’re really not sick, right?”
Perhaps because he’d stayed in his room for three days—
Her eyes were filled with concern.
Lee Jeon-seok smiled faintly and shook his head.
“No. I just have some things to think about.”
“That’s a relief, but if anything’s wrong, tell Mom. You know your dad—he may look like that, but he’s a doctor.”
Right.
That was true.
‘Father… he was a doctor.’
It was a small neighborhood clinic, but he was a well-respected internist.
“Oh, right.”
As if she had just remembered something, Han Yuri continued.
“Your dad and I are going on a date today, so have chicken with Ji-hye for dinner.”
Then she closed the door and left.
Why was it—
‘…What did she just say?’
For a moment, Lee Jeon-seok froze.
His mind blanked out.
Then a single word flashed through his head.
Date.
‘No way!’
Memories rushed back belatedly.
Lee Jeon-seok hurriedly stood up and checked the calendar beside his bed.
A date circled in red.
July 15th.
That day was the anniversary.
The day his parents died in a villain’s terror attack.
The origin of all tragedy.
The moment that memory surfaced—
‘I have to stop it.’
Lee Jeon-seok threw open the door and rushed out.
He knew.
He knew what would happen.
And because he knew, he couldn’t remain still.
This wasn’t the Heavenly Slaughter Star’s life.
This time, it was his life.
But if his parents died, it would no longer be his life.
Everything would repeat again.
Clenching his teeth, Lee Jeon-seok approached Han Yuri.