The Returning Hero Just Wants to Live Peacefully
The system message appeared without warning.
All missions complete. Would you like to return to your original world? Y/N
"Obviously."
Just like that, I came back to the world where I lived.
The original Earth after I killed the Demon King and returned.
After ten years of bearing the weight of being the hero in another world, I had finally set down that burden.
Now I wanted to live a plain, ordinary life.
I thought that as I returned, but reality shattered my expectations to pieces.
"A small D-class gate has appeared near Exit XX subway station. Awakened personnel have already been dispatched, so please be careful with your safety..."
During the ten years I spent in the other world, my home Earth had changed greatly.
Monsters poured out from the gates, and at the same time a small number of humans became Awakened by awakening their mana.
The Awakened formed guilds among themselves and took on the responsibility of dealing with monsters that threatened society.
"Sigh. My commute today is going to be hell."
Three months since returning to the real world.
During those ten years I had been listed as missing, so I didn't have any skills that could earn money properly.
My entire daily life consisted of going out for day labor work about three times a week.
"Hey, Mr. Kang Si-ho. You made it to work on time again today, didn't you?"
"I left early because a gate opened on the way."
"As expected, Si-ho. I admit your diligence at least."
"That's all I have to eat and survive."
'Kang Si-ho'
That was my name in the real world.
During the time I was a hero in the other world, I took a sword to the Demon King's neck as 'Terda'.
In the real world, I was now living a plain life under my original name of Kang Si-ho.
"Mr. Si-ho, please set that down there."
"Y-yes...!"
I lifted a sack of cement and climbed the stairs.
If I had my physical specs from the time as a hero, this kind of work wouldn't have caused even a drop of sweat.
But now I was just a weak, ordinary twenty-something man.
Even that weak body made day labor hell.
Still, my experience using my body skillfully had survived.
It came from years of rolling around in the mud while fighting the Demon King's forces in the other world.
"Heh. Always feels like it, Mr. Si-ho. You're amazing for your build."
"Huaak... Thank you for the praise."
After finishing a tough day at the construction site, I made my way home.
I stopped by a convenience store and bought a can of beer.
The cool, alcoholic, carbonated pleasure I could never taste in the other world.
It was my routine for wiping away the fatigue of the day.
"Beep! Total ten thousand won."
After paying, I left the convenience store.
I planned to drink one can on the way and take the rest home.
But as I opened the can, chik!
Thud!
A girl's voice came from behind.
"Uncle! You dropped this!"
"Huh?"
When I turned around, there was a young girl who looked about elementary school age standing there.
She was holding the photo I had dropped and offering it to me.
"Is this your photo, Uncle?"
"Ah, yes."
The photo had fallen out of my wallet.
In the faded photo was my childhood friend, the little sister I had known.
Cha Seo-rin, a friend from the orphanage.
Among the other orphans who grew up without parents, she was the one who always followed me around.
'Is this kid doing well?'
Since I had been listed as missing for ten years, I couldn't suddenly reach out to her.
She was probably doing fine on her own.
I put the photo back in my wallet and handed the little girl a ten-thousand-won bill.
"Here, this is my thank you for being kind."
"Eek!"
The little girl looked surprised at the bill I gave her, then immediately waved her hands.
"No... it's okay!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! My mom says kind acts aren't done for rewards. Hehe!"
A cute kid.
She repeated her mom's words and then went back to her friends.
'Not asking for rewards...'
Kind acts don't come with rewards.
That phrase especially hit me hard.
For the ten years I rolled around in the other world, suffering my fill.
Because I had been chosen as the hero.
Because I had gained great power.
Because I faced the Demon King and his army that threatened peace.
My shoulders felt heavy with the burden.
Even the smell of blood had grown tiresome.
But in the end I killed the Demon King and brought peace to the other world.
After all that hardship, I was satisfied.
I didn't want that as my reward.
I just wanted to live a plain, ordinary life in the real world now.
And right now I was holding that small happiness I had longed for.
"I should order chicken and beer when I get home."
Chicken and beer.
With this, I had more than enough for a happy life, didn't I?
***
The next morning.
I woke up to the alarm.
"Aigo... my head."
I must have drunk too much beer.
That was the only thing that came to mind as a hangover cure.
"I guess I need to take today off."
This pathetic body of mine couldn't even handle the alcohol from last night.
I rolled around a bit on the bed to clear my head.
"Huaaam... should I go for a walk?"
On days off, I took a short walk near home.
It was my personal routine for enjoying the world I had missed so much for ten years.
Just wandering around and taking in how everything had changed during those ten years was surprisingly fun.
"Whoa, new buildings everywhere."
Buildings I didn't remember had sprung up like mushrooms.
Ten years was enough time for the landscape to change, but the city center was the last place I'd expect.
"Everyone looks so busy."
Office workers coming out for lunch.
Cars zooming down the streets.
The peaceful atmosphere filling the road.
I enjoyed that unfamiliar quietness I never saw in the other world to my heart's content.
"Did you see the news yesterday?"
"Did you hear about the giant gate that opened in South America? It's scary."
The conversation between two men walking beside me caught my ear.
On the opposite side of the globe, people's lives were still being threatened.
Perhaps hundreds, maybe thousands of souls hung in the balance.
But I no longer wanted to think about their peace.
I was no longer 'Terda'.
Now I was just Kang Si-ho.
The Awakened could handle fighting monsters.
I wasn't even an Awakened in the first place.
So I walked the streets without a second thought.
Then, suddenly.
A chilling scream pierced my eardrum.
"A gate! A gate has opened!"
***
Three months since returning to the real world.
I had never actually seen a gate in front of me before.
I had only seen videos of gates and monsters on YouTube.
Every time I saw monsters on TV, a strange thought crossed my mind.
'These monsters... they look just like the monsters from the other world.'
Could they have come from my world?
I had kept that thought to myself because I couldn't confirm it.
Now I had a chance.
Normally I would have turned in the opposite direction, but...
'Just once, let's check.'
I headed toward the gate with that thought.
The gate up close was bigger than I expected.
And the monsters that appeared from it.
"Goblins! It's just a D-class gate with only goblins. Don't be scared, fight!"
They were the same bunch of goblins I had fought endlessly at the beginning of my hero days.
'As I thought, they're exactly the same monsters I knew.'
There was a strange familiarity in these monsters called 'monsters' here.
It felt the same as the monsters I had fought so hard in the other world.
"Citizens, evacuate quickly!"
"Warriors, draw your swords and fight! Mages, provide backup from the rear!"
Awakened were already at the scene.
But they didn't seem like exceptional fighters.
They looked like rookies with little real experience or low-rank Awakened of E or D class.
"Krruk!"
"Kkuk!"
The goblins moved in perfect sync and clashed with the Awakened.
Some goblins just swung their fists wildly, while others carried spears and shields.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Thud!
"C-crap! My leg...!"
"Krruk!"
The rookie Awakened who took the hit to his leg couldn't hold his stance and fell.
"Krrurk--!"
At the exact moment a goblin was about to aim for the rookie's neck.
A veteran man jumped into the fight.
He swung his axe down and chopped the goblin's head.
Crack!
"Hey, rookie. You became an Awakened last month, right? Don't push yourself too hard."
"C-cough... Yes... sorry..."
The goblins had taken quite a few casualties, but one Awakened had already retired.
Five Awakened left, about twenty goblins.
'Hmm... do they really fight like this normally?'
Watching the fight between the Awakened and the goblins felt somehow... lacking.
Perhaps it was because my ten years as a hero had made me too picky.
But real fights were supposed to be fun.
I had grown tired of watching, so I hid in a corner and continued observing.
"K-krruk...!"
The goblin whose head I had chopped with the axe groaned and stood up.
The axe was still embedded in its skull, blood dripping down.
It was a pretty brutal scene.
"T-this kid... even after getting its head chopped...!"
The veteran tried to pull the axe out but it wouldn't budge.
He had to abandon the axe and back away to dodge the goblin's slash with its knife.
The veteran Awakened without a weapon.
A goblin with an axe stuck in its head, spraying red blood as it advanced.
It was clearly losing.
'Tsk. A goblin aiming for the head first?'
Goblins were about one meter tall with a human-like build.
So when an average adult man faced them, only their heads showed up.
Beginners would naturally target the head.
But that was a mistake.
They had skulls of strength far beyond human comparison.
'It wasn't supposed to be chopping the head, it was supposed to be slicing the neck. Don't these Awakened even know basic knowledge?'
At the beginning of my hero days, I had learned that lesson the hard way from fighting goblins.
When fighting goblins, don't aim for the head, aim straight for the neck.
Basic common sense, yet these Awakened clearly didn't know it.
"Krruk, krruk!"
"You bastards! Die!"
The goblins couldn't put real power into it because their skulls were cracked.
The veteran Awakened pulled out a spare weapon from his pouch and kept fighting.
The standoff dragged on.
I no longer found it interesting.
'Okay. I've seen enough, time to slip away and—'
I quietly tried to leave the scene when I heard a familiar girl's scream.
"Kyahaaa!"
I reflexively turned my head.
Where my eyes landed, a middle-aged woman and a girl were surrounded by goblins.
It was the little girl from the convenience store yesterday.
"Are there still regular people who haven't escaped yet?"
"C-cough! Leader! We don't have enough manpower, we can't help them..."
Five Awakened, twenty goblins.
No additional support had arrived yet.
My head was spinning.
At the same time, my heart was torn.
Should I help that little girl?
I hadn't even come to a conclusion in my mind, but my body was already stepping forward and running.
It was the inertia of my life as a hero that ran deep in my soul.
"Paba-pak--!"
'I really didn't want to get involved anymore.'
I was the one who had sworn to live a plain life.
Because of that, I didn't care if thousands of people died to monsters on the opposite side of the world.
I wouldn't have cared even if all the Awakened fighting in front of me were on the verge of death.
But.
That one little girl who had shown me kindness without asking for anything in return.
I couldn't just leave her to die.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Eh...?"
The rookie who had been behind due to his leg injury grabbed the sword and ran.
He charged straight into the middle of the enemy lines toward the girl.
"Seock!"
In one swift motion, I severed the goblin's neck that was about to raise its blade above the girl's head.
"Huaeong... uh... uh...?"
"Are you okay?"
"Ah... Uncle? Uncle, are you an Awakened...?"
"No. I'm not."
"Then...?"
I answered while carefully avoiding the little girl's eyes.
"...I'm a former hero."
The ten years of being a hero had turned me into an overly meddlesome human.
***
"Chwa-zok--!"
"Kiek--!"
"Seock-seock--!"
"Kkrruruk--!"
In an instant, the heads of the surrounding goblins flew off.
The screams scattered through the air and shattered the goblins' morale.
'Not bad for a fight, huh?'
My body specs were pitiful compared to when I was a hero, but I wasn't weak against goblins.
As for swordsmanship, I was confident in myself more than anyone.
I moved in countless sword paths drawn from countless experiences etched into my head.
The goblins on the paths of that sword couldn't react and their heads fell.
"Who... who is that guy? Where did he come from?"
"Hmm. What kind of... movement is that...?"
The Awakened who had been fighting for their lives with the goblins turned their gazes toward me.
Appearing suddenly and single-handedly handling ten of them left them stunned.
"That guy... isn't an Awakened?"
"I don't feel any mana."
"What? That makes no sense. Is that really someone without the mana to fight?"
Five pairs of Awakened eyes glared at me.
One of them had already pulled out his smartphone and was filming my fight.
"Insane, this needs to go on YouTube..."
"You idiot! The fight isn't over yet! Put the phone away!"
Even with the veteran's scolding, the filming hand didn't stop.
"Leader, this is huge! The goblins aren't important right now!"
"He fights better than us, does that even make sense? This needs to be recorded..."
Actually, it wasn't completely unreasonable.
After all, goblins weren't that strong of monsters.
'You guys are just weak.'
Even while swinging my sword dazzlingly, I scanned the battlefield.
Goblins charging toward me with weapons.
And behind them, a black goblin holding a horn and shouting orders.
'There he is.'
I threw my knife at the goblin I had killed.
Shuuk!
Thud!
Exactly hitting the black goblin's neck.
He dropped the horn he held and died.
"Krruk...!"
Monsters usually had the intelligence of beasts.
Goblins were at best monkey-level.
Yet they fought in perfect sync.
The reason was the 'horn' the black goblin held.
Black goblins had higher intelligence among their kind.
They used the horn to strategically control the goblins and lead efficient fights.
'If I take this guy out first, the fight will be much easier.'
The remaining goblins looked visibly startled without their commander.
"Krruk...?"
"Kkuk..."
It was clear their morale had dropped.
The rest were now just prey.
But I was also quite exhausted.
'Huu... movement is fine, but... stamina... problem...
Since the tide had turned, I could leave the rest to the Awakened.
"Huaak... huaak... Everyone, fight! Let's finish this with this momentum!"
I raised my voice with all my strength.
"That's right! After that guy with the sword died, their momentum broke!"
"Fight! Push them!"
"Uwaaaaa!"
Following my orders as a non-Awakened, the Awakened charged at the monsters.
It was an absurd scene, but thanks to the other Awakened, the remaining goblins could be dealt with safely.
Now all that was left was the boss.
When the goblins were almost all dead, a 'giant goblin' appeared.
"Kkurueeuk--!"
Clearly on a different scale from the goblins.
A massive monster almost five meters tall.
"Boss! Everyone, stay alert!"
"Once this guy is taken out, the gate is clear!"
Tension filled the air between the Awakened.
A silent pressure that this was the real dangerous fight.
"Kkruk!"
As soon as he checked the situation, he immediately decided I was the main threat and slammed his club down on my head.
Kwaaang--!
I took the hit and flew far, landing with a thud.
Kung!! Thud!
"That bastard! He deliberately went for that guy first..."
"Damn, if you get hit by that attack with a normal person's body, it's instant death!"
Instantly, crisis appeared on the Awakened's faces.
But I didn't die instantly.
"Aigo... my head. I almost died."
Because I had properly reacted before the club hit me, the damage was minimized.
"What? That guy is fine."
"He stood up even after taking that attack? How...?"
Really how?
Why did I just take such a standard attack?
When the goblin's club was about to fall on my head, I used several countermeasures at once.
First, I threw the goblin's knife toward the wrist of the one swinging the club.
The knife precisely pierced the inner tendons of the wrist.
It wasn't a fatal wound, but it was enough to weaken the grip holding the club.
Then I quickly stepped in the same direction as the club swinging.
This reduced the shock when the attack landed.
Finally, the exact moment the club's point of impact hit my sword, I gracefully deflected the attack over my head.
'If even one of these three failed, my sword or arm would have broken.'
But it succeeded.
Thanks to that, I was able to stand up properly.
"I did that roughly."
"That... is possible? For a regular person?"
"If I couldn't do that much, I wouldn't have stepped in."
The Awakened gave me incredulous looks as I explained.
I hadn't calculated anything.
I simply recalled the three techniques from the experiences in my memory.
And my body moved naturally according to my head's command.
"I'll take care of this giant goblin. You Awakened guys, please handle the remaining goblins."
"Uh... th-that's right!"
It would be worth trying a one-on-one with the giant goblin.
Its numbers were clear.
But adding it to the fight with the other goblins would create variables.
I left the cleanup of the remaining goblins to the Awakened and approached the giant one.
"Kkururk! Kkruk!"
The giant goblin saw me standing up after taking its attack and showed anger.
It raised its club above its head again.
At the same time, I approached its feet.
"Kkruk!"
"Chwa-chwa-chuk!"
And I cut its Achilles tendon.
"Kkururaaaak!"
The giant goblin let out a scream that pierced the ears and knelt.
Originally, giant goblins were variants of goblins.
Only their size and strength had increased; their body durability was the same as normal goblins.
In other words, their weakness was the same as normal goblins.
Since I already knew that, it was natural to swing my sword.
"Seock!"
Next, the back of the knee joint.
"Puuuk!"
Next, I stabbed the sword into the inner side of its armpit.
"Kkurueeek--!"
The giant goblin collapsed with one last scream.
My stamina had also reached its limit, so it was time to finish up.
I climbed onto the back of the fallen goblin and cut its throat.
"Die!"
"Seog-eob--!"
Just like that, I cut off its breath.
"Huaak... huaak... This is too damn hard..."
I breathed heavily.
I had won somehow, but after fighting a goblin horde, I was this exhausted.
It wasn't very satisfying, but to the Awakened watching my fight, it looked completely different.
"Insane, he caught a giant goblin with one sword?"
"Normally that guy would be a tank that tanks attacks and then shoots long-range magic."
"You hit it too? You hit it?"
"Of course we hit it."
While the Awakened were noisily arguing.
The veteran, who seemed to be the leader, approached me and asked.
"Thanks to you, we were able to clear the gate without any casualties. Thank you!"
"Haha... yeah, good thing."
"By the way... you don't seem to be an Awakened... but could I ask what you do?"
The veteran cautiously asked my information.
It was embarrassing to tell a middle-aged man 'I'm a former hero' in front of a little girl, so I gave a vague answer.
"I'm a retired swordsman."
I said that and headed home with my tired body.
Due to exhaustion, I couldn't handle the aftermath of the gate clearance.
'Quickly... I want to go home and rest...'
It had been a long time since the fight, so fatigue hit hard.
I finally reached home.
I collapsed onto the bed and immediately fell asleep.
The next day, I woke up from bed at lunchtime.
"Aigo... my whole body hurts."
Because I had used muscles I hadn't used in a long time while doing day labor, my body was screaming.
Like always, I picked up my smartphone.
My eyes widened when I looked at the screen without any purpose.
"What? This."
[Breaking News] "Normal person defeats giant goblin alone with one sword, achievement that even Awakened couldn't do"
[Controversy] "Is he really not an Awakened? Questions arise about superhuman movements in the video"
[Video] "100 million views in just one night, 'Goblin Killer's amazing swordsmanship'"
The internet was full of nothing but stories about what I had done yesterday.
"I screwed up."
In the end, even in the real world, it seemed I couldn't live quietly.