I Screwed Up
"...Hah."
Corpses so thoroughly butchered that their original shapes were impossible to make out. Things that had once been human now lay scattered across the ground like clay torn apart at random.
It was quiet.
Only minutes ago the battlefield had been a chaos of war cries and screams. Now nothing moved but the lonely sound of breathing.
A silence this complete carried weight — sacrifice, finality, and a dozen other meanings packed into the stillness.
"...They're better than me."
Powerless, maybe. But never irresponsible. Looking at them, a thought drifted up unbidden. Maybe the title of Hero suited them far more than it ever suited me.
"You..."
A voice cut through the quiet. I turned my head.
And looked straight at him.
"Underestimating you as a mere human — that was my undoing."
A man. And yet the presence radiating from him had nothing to do with any living creature. You'd be closer to the truth calling it a force of nature.
That man was the one.
The self-proclaimed Demon King. Humanity's greatest enemy. The architect of this catastrophe.
"Your kind confounds me still. At times so frail, at times so fierce — truly contradictory beings."
"Don't get full of yourself. You're the bastard about to die to those same humans."
The Demon King let out a short, dry chuckle at my snarl. When the laugh faded, he continued as if nothing had happened.
"And among them, you are the most incomprehensible of all. Hero Maier. From what did you draw your strength, and for what did you steel yourself to die?"
"What? What the hell kind of nonsense is that."
Sacrifice? I couldn't dress it up that grandly.
Peace for humanity? The survival of my comrades? Some oath to a goddess?
Other people might care. I didn't give a single damn about any of it.
There was only one reason I stood on this battlefield.
"Because that goddamn goddess bitch said she'd send me back to Earth if I killed you."
"I do not understand what you mean."
"You don't need to. You're about to die anyway."
The Demon King, who had been closing his eyes with a blank expression, suddenly showed a thin, unpleasant smile. Something about that smirk set my nerves on fire.
"You and I are alike. That strange sensation I have felt all this time — it was that."
Deathbed and he's spouting complete garbage.
I forced my shaking legs under me and walked toward him, closing the distance until I stood right in front of his face.
"Hah. Let's just end this."
"To die so helplessly... and to a human, no less. I never foresaw such an end, and yet I find it surprisingly acceptable."
Thud!
Even with a blade driven clean through his chest, the Demon King remained composed — so composed you could almost forget the sword was there at all.
"But mark my words. My death ends here and nowhere else. It does not mean humanity's victory, and it certainly does not guarantee your kind's survival. A brief extension of time, perhaps — nothing more."
"Were you always this chatty, or does dying just loosen your tongue?"
"Our corruption is not finished. Until the demonic is utterly extinguished, you will never be free of fear."
Sure. Not my problem, though.
I was about to kill the Demon King and go home to Earth. Become an ordinary citizen of South Korea again and live an ordinary life. That was the one wish I'd held onto in this world.
"If I have a regret, it is this — watching your kind die and hearing you howl was rather—"
Slash!
A merciless stroke of the blade took the Demon King through the neck. He died before he could finish the sentence.
"Hoo. So this is really it."
The Demon King had been humanity's greatest headache. Past tense, now.
Even with his head off, he wasn't the type to keep being a nuisance. Not that diligent.
Calculating quest rewards... 3%... 5%......
The status window confirmed the Demon King's death with perfect clarity. Saved me the trouble of making sure.
I spent a long moment reading every character on the screen. Only after I'd taken in the last of them did I finally let out a breath.
"Hoo! Thank god. It's finally over...!"
Fifteen years ago, I was kidnapped into the world of a novel I'd been reading.
The reason was absurd. A few spelling corrections, and she abducted me for it.
Unbelievable. What do people think "spelling" is for? It's called spelling because you're supposed to spell things right.
Anyway — the one who kidnapped me was the author of that novel. In other words, the goddess who created this world.
Unfair as hell, but what choice did I have? If I wanted to get back to Earth, I had to play along.
"It felt hopeless at first, but somehow I actually pulled it off."
Having a competent host body was the one silver lining, if you could call it that.
The body I'd possessed belonged to the Hero Maier — and the body lived up to the title. Versatile, powerful, the real deal. The Demon King's head lying on the ground was all the proof anyone needed.
Not that it had been a smooth ride.
Looking back, there were stretches where dying outright would have been the easier option. Every kind of misery you could name.
Early on I slaughtered lesser demons, then higher ones, anything that moved. I ripped out the demon-worshipping humans who served them by the roots. But the rot wasn't limited to cultists. I executed the imperial high officials colluding with the demonkin, and I took my sweet time filleting those eyesore church lackeys while I was at it.
Step by step, climbing higher, until the final stage: the Demon King's subjugation.
And I'd finished that too.
Fifteen full years. A long, miserable, shitty stretch of time.
I let out a hollow sigh and lifted my head. The moment I looked up at the sky, the status window reappeared and blocked my vision.
All conditions required for return have been met.
Hero Maier — do you truly wish to return to the real world?
So I could go home now. I let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Fuck, what kind of question is that. Of course you send me back. What, you think I'm settling down and starting a household in this place?"
You are the savior who delivered this world. Though cultures and values may differ, your sacrifice is worthy of praise.
What? Sacrifice? This crazy bitch was spouting the exact same crap the Demon King just did.
"Oh, she's actually lost it. I always knew she was insane, but she's even more insane than I gave her credit for."
Kill the Demon King if you want to go home — nothing but psychopath demands from the start.
"Fucking hell! What sacrifice? What goddamn sacrifice are you talking about! You half-forced me into this with threats, you hear me?!"
...In this world, Maier, you are an object of faith. Everyone praises you. Everyone needs you. So reconsider — choose to remain in this world...
"Cut the bullshit and send me already."
I adjusted my grip on the sword.
"I've held back a lot, you know that? Part of me wanted to trash this whole place on my way out, but we've got history. I was planning on a clean goodbye."
I raised the blade toward the sky.
"But if you keep talking like that, you know what happens. This time I'll cut the Emperor's throat and start a rebellion. If you want to watch all your precious children die, go ahead and try me."
It wasn't an empty threat. There was precedent — more than once — and my words carried real weight because of it.
Whether she understood that or not, the goddess folded without a fight.
Understood. I shall send you to your homeland, Hero.
Should've done that from the start instead of testing me. Only then did I let the tension drain from my body.
...I will not forget your devotion, Hero. May fortune favor you.
Fifteen years of longing.
The reason I'd clawed and fought like a man possessed was the hope of returning to my original world. Without even that thin thread of hope, I would have driven a dagger into my own heart long ago.
In an instant, everything in front of me went white.
A colossal radiance, vast enough to swallow every direction, filled my vision. The omen. The herald of return.
Hah. What a genuinely shitty stretch of time that was.
My heartbeat hammered against my eardrums — more nerve-wracking than any moment a greatsword or arrowhead had been pointed at my sides. I forced the trembling down and focused on the swelling light.
I don't know how long it lasted. The light began to fade.
And just as my spinning vision started to settle — that was when it happened.
A status window flickered faintly into view, and what it said made me doubt my own eyes.
Oh crap. I screwed up.
Screw... what?
I started to ask like an idiot, then locked my eyes on the screen.
"...?"
A strangely familiar ceiling greeted me.
I'd been through this pattern before, hadn't I? Why did this feel exactly like the moment I'd first possessed a body in this world?
I forced my head to turn and took in the surroundings.
"Where is this."
At first I thought it was my room on Earth. But from every angle, this was a medieval inn.
"...No way."
Just in case, I walked toward the mirror on the wall. With every step I muttered denials under my breath like a man losing his mind.
"Come on, no. This can't be it. Yeah. No way."
And of course. The face in the mirror was not mine.
I stood there with my mouth hanging open.
"...."
For a long time, nothing came out of that open mouth but the sound of a soul leaving a body. When I finally snapped back to myself, the shout tore out of me on its own.
"You fucking bitch!!!!"
Fifteen years of possession — reset.
Everything I'd accomplished, gone. Starting over in a different body.
I genuinely wanted to die.