Chapter 0 Prologue
Prologue
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Return
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Enoch Războinic. He saved the world.
Seventeen deaths, seventeen regressions, eighteen lives. At the end of it all, he subjugated the Demon King.
Born with mediocre talent to slash-and-burn farmers.
His life began as a wretched street urchin starving to death.
But it ended in glory.
However.
His opponent was the Demon King, on the verge of the Demigod Realm. Even with a blade buried in her heart right up to her final moments, she remained a being beyond Enoch's every expectation.
He had braced himself for mutual destruction, desperate curses—the full measure of malice unleashed by the Demon King in her dying instant. Enoch never underestimated it for a second.
And yet...
'...Dimensional exile? That was something I never even dreamed of.'
The Demon King sacrificed her own life to hurl Enoch into another dimension. It was a move he—a man who had spent centuries solely on the battlefield—could never have foreseen.
His original body was shredded by the shock of the dimensional transfer, but his soul made it through intact. And so, Enoch was reborn on Earth.
'Well... it wasn't so bad.'
Twenty-first-century Earth was the ideal, peaceful world he had once dreamed of in his original realm.
He forcibly let the bonds with his cherished companions erode away. It was the survival technique against stress he had learned across seventeen regressions. Clinging to ties from past lives only led to madness eventually.
After centuries of brutal warfare, he treated it as his hard-earned vacation and lived at ease.
He did wonder why the Demon King had thrown her life away just to expel him... but he didn't dwell on it.
Everything was over now. She must have been pretty pissed.
Yet the Demon King toyed with his expectations right to the bitter end.
'...So this was your scheme.'
Who could have guessed she had laid plans for the future?
One day, without warning, Enoch found himself teleported into an unfamiliar room. No, not teleported. This sensation—he knew it.
Twenty-five years ago, when the Demon King had forcibly shunted him away. It was dimensional transfer.
And then a translucent message window materialized in midair, just like the interface screens from the games he'd enjoyed on Earth.
The entity calling itself the System spoke.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [One hundred years ago, the Great Hero Enoch defeated the Demon King. But the Demon King's Daughter has since ascended as the new Demon King, threatening the continent's peace once more.]
"What?"
A new Demon King? The Demon King's Daughter?
Enoch reeled in shock and fury that the world he had saved now faced peril again.
The "one hundred years ago" part didn't faze him much. He'd heard theories in his past life that time flowed differently across dimensions.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [But now, there is no Hero. The Hero perished in mutual destruction with the Demon King, giving his life for the continent to the very end.]
Hold on.
'Mutual destruction?'
Who decided that?
'It was... my victory!'
Not a draw. I drove the sword into the Demon King's heart.
But upon returning home, history remembered it differently. Enoch's heart sank.
'My comrades... they think I died?'
In that final moment, though no one could stand with him amid the hellish melee, a god had been present.
He trusted that god had watched the duel from the heavens and would relay the truth to all. Even if his comrades were stunned by news of his dimensional exile, they would think, "Enoch's tough—he'll thrive out there," and pray for his well-being. That was the warm ending he had hoped for.
But even that god hadn't pierced the Demon King's masterstroke of dimensional banishment.
'...'
Do-yoon stood frozen, lost in shock.
His guildmates, like family forged across countless cycles. And the countless others who had believed in him.
They must have wept rivers.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [This System was created to train a new Hero to succeed the first Hero, Enoch. It is the god's blessing, optimized for nurturing Apostles. Apostle Han Do-yoon, please grow strong with the System's power, defeat the Demon King, and protect the continent.]
The System's voice continued.
Do-yoon snapped out of it and looked up into empty space.
"...God. Are you listening? I am Enoch Războinic."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Transferring you to the Trial Chamber for adaptation. Survive for five days or defeat the boss monster.]
No reply. Just an artificial voice, like a pre-recording, droning in his ears.
'...I'll meet you face-to-face and explain.'
He'd tell them in person. That he was Enoch Războinic. That he hadn't died—he had come back alive. He'd make up for their century of grief.
Of course, barring long-lived races like elves, few would still be among the living after a hundred years.
But even so, Do-yoon's resolve didn't waver.
Do-yoon would subjugate the Demon King again. He'd make his name known across the continent and declare himself the reincarnation of Enoch Războinic. The continent would quake at the Hero's return.
Then, the souls who had mourned his death even from the afterlife—their spirits could find solace at last.
After saving the world once more and enjoying peaceful days anew, when he finally ascended to the heavens, he'd reunite with the fallen and share old tales.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Good luck, seed of the Hero.]
Do-yoon steeled his heart and embraced the light enveloping him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Four days passed.
"Do-yoon! Don't just stand there—run! That's a monster!!"
Trial Chamber, day four. Three hours until shutdown.
His teammates, met in the Trial Chamber, fled in blind panic.
It was understandable. To these freshly summoned souls in this world, that thing looked like an insurmountable nightmare.
Do-yoon ignored their flight and casually tilted his head.
'Isn't this supposed to be a test for greenhorns? Even if it's the boss monster, they brought in something way too savage.'
A massive mantis, seven meters tall. That must be the boss monster the System mentioned.
But Do-yoon, facing it head-on, showed not a flicker of tension.
'Really back home now.'
He even felt a twinge of nostalgia at encountering a large monster—something absent from peaceful Earth.
'About time I got a feel for the blade again.'
Dragging a rusty longsword along the ground, he advanced on the boss. His pale-faced teammates rushed past him.
Compared to his past life, this body was pathetically weak. His dantian was utterly devoid of even a speck of mana.
Meanwhile, that monster's scythe could bisect Do-yoon at the waist, and its mandible could pulverize his skull.
But no matter. A sword was in his hand—what was there to fear?
'In my past life, Sword Emperor Buske carved through enemy lines with nothing but a twig. So damn cool.'
His steps carried zero tension.
'Well... a rusty sword's got its own vibe.'
No matter how gimped his specs now, a mere overgrown bug posed zero threat to Do-yoon.
Enoch Războinic, Great Hero who felled the Demon King—that was the man he was.
The fleeing teammates halted and turned back to him.
"Wh-what... is he insane?"
"Do-yoon, no!"
"Sis, let him go! At least we need to survive!"
Even if he had led the team with uncanny prowess through the tutorial so far.
That monster was pure despair. So they thought.
"It's been a while..."
A murmur laced with nostalgia and leisure flowed down the dull blade.
Do-yoon raised the longsword at a slant.
"My homeland after twenty-six years."
The rust-eaten, lusterless blade—on the verge of snapping—gleamed razor-sharp in the Hero's grip.
At that impossible sight, the seven-meter behemoth flinched instinctively. Do-yoon's teammates, entranced by the shine, froze in place. Then gasped in horror.
The keen blade rent the air.
It was the homecoming of the retired Hero, Enoch Războinic.