Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

"Hyeongnim…"

Kim ShiHoon looked at KangWoo, who was tearing up, with a complex expression.

KangWoo was looking at the lifeless body of Reinald while grabbing his heart. His head was lowered, and his eyes looked serious.

"Don't be sad, Mr. KangWoo."

Gaia took a step forward. She placed her hand on top of KangWoo's shoulders.

"The light isn't dead yet."

She raised her head along with KangWoo.

The sky had suddenly turned dark.

No, it wasn't just the sky. After the Gaia System became messed up, she'd lost her sight. Because of that, to her, the world was always dark.

But…

"Look. Mr. KangWoo."

She extended her hand toward the sky. She couldn't see, but she knew it…

That there were lots of stars in the night sky.

"It isn't over yet, Mr. KangWoo. As long as members of the heroes who are trying to save Earth, the Guardians, survive, the light isn't dead."

"Ms. Gaia…"

'Woah. What a dialogue.'

To be honest, it was a bit cringey.

…But he couldn't look uncomfortable at that moment.

KangWoo stood up while nodding.

"Yes. Ms. Gaia, you're right."

He looked at the countless stars in the sky.

It was a solemn look and atmosphere.

'Here.'

Ehem. He cleared up his voice.

He needed to look as if he were really sad about Reinald's death.

"The light… Isn't dead yet. I won't let it die," he said with a wet voice.

'Ahh! This is it!'

It was the look of a hero standing up after overcoming pain.

KangWoo, who stood up in the middle of the starlight, looked as much like a hero as Reinald.

"Yes. I believe in you. Mr. KangWoo."

"Hyeongnim…"

Gaia smiled, and Kim ShiHoon was tearing up.

It seemed like the other members of the Guardians were moved as well.

'Yes. This makes it worth all the effort.'

Although it was cringey, it was worth the cringe.

He could feel absolute trust from Gaia. No. It seemed like it was admiration, just like Kim ShiHoon.

A smile appeared on his face.

The process wasn't simple, but the result was positive.

He was able to overcome a crisis from which his identity could have been revealed, and trust in him had increased.

'This is all thanks to the good deeds I've done in my daily life!'

He didn't hesitate to get his hands dirty if it were for the love of his little brother.

Maybe it was obvious that such good actions would increase the trust others had in him.

KangWoo knelt on one leg and placed his hand on Reinald's corpse.

Although he had died, his eyes were wide open.

"I hope you can rest."

KangWoo gently shut Reinald's eyelids. He wished for him to rest in peace.

"I won't forget you, Reinald."

'Let's not see each other ever again, bastard.'

He was already having a headache dealing with the Demon Cult and Satan, who were doing evil deeds on Earth.

If the Ernor Continent got added on top of that, the situation would become too troublesome.

"Let's re—"

PAAFF-!!

He was about to say they should return when golden light began pouring out from Del Lain, Reinald's sword.

"What's going on?"

It was obvious that KangWoo's expression would distort.

He thought the situation had been resolved with Reinald's death, but things started to get messed up once more.

[Hero God Tyrion is angry!]

- Who dares kill my child?!!

"Ugh!"

"KYAA!"

A storm-like voice resounded in their heads.

Their eyes shook at the huge energy.

- I asked who killed my child!!

It was a voice filled with anger. A huge amount of golden energy flowed around Del Lain.

'Hero God Tyrion…'

KangWoo's expression hardened. He could understand why he had the title of 'god.'

Although he was pouring out his strength while using a sword as a medium, his strength was overwhelming.

"Mr. Tyrion, please calm down."

- You're a daughter of Gaia? Do you happen to know who killed my child?

Whir. Golden light flickered from Del Lain.

KangWoo's eyes narrowed while listening to Tyrion's words.

'Wait…'

He was desperately asking who killed Reinald.

'Don't tell me… Does he not know the details of what happened?'

There was a high chance that was the case.

If he'd seen everything that happened with Reinald, he should’ve known that he was stabbed by KangWoo's spear.

'Good. It seems like I was able to dodge the worst situation.'

The worst situation was, of course, Mr. Tyrion pointing him out as the culprit.

If that happened, even KangWoo would be in trouble.

'If he doesn't know what happened here…'

He couldn't stay still.

"The one who killed Reinald was Demon King Balzac."

- No, it wasn’t him. If it were Balzac, I'm sure I would've been able to feel it.

Tyrion denied his words.

'It seems like Balzac isn't an option.'

After all, there was a real demon on Earth that was using Balzac as an underling…

The Demon of Prophecy, Satan.

* * *

"Then I'm sure it was Satan."

KangWoo didn't need to say that.

Gaia said it instead of him.

- Satan.

Whir. Del Lain began vibrating.

- I see. So it was Satan. As expected, that evil demon took away my child's life!

"Ugh!"

There was an explosion of golden light, and the members of the Guardians were overwhelmed by the strength of it.

[Tyrion's anger is directed toward 'Satan'!]

'Nice!'

He clenched his fists in celebration.

'As expected. Thanks, Satan!'

At that point, you could say Satan was an all-around cheat.

Satan, the Demon of Prophecy, had even made a god from another world angry.

- Subordinates of Gaia, are you also fighting against that evil demon?

"Of course. Getting rid of the Demon of Prophecy, Satan, is our goal," KangWoo replied.

You could see the determination in his eyes. There was no hesitation in his voice.

The sword sympathized with how just he looked.

- I'm going to lend you my strength! Even if my body disappears because of it!

[Warning. An excessive involvement of the Hero God Tyrion has been detected. No further intervention is possible.]

A message window appeared in front of them.

- UGH!

They could feel the pain in Tyrion's voice.

KangWoo's eyes shone sharply.

The System…

It had created the players, and thanks to something called stats, it could create power out of nothing.

'Now that I think about it, Gaia said that, although it was restrictive, she used to be able to interfere with the system a little bit.'

If those that received a god's strength could interfere with the system, it wasn't weird that the god who gave them the strength in the first place could do that.

'It seems not even gods can intervene in the system without consequences.'

He could more or less tell that by hearing Tyrion's pain-filled voice.

He wasn't sure what the system was or how it worked…

He wasn't even sure if the Gaia System that had created the players was the same one as the one that had been damaged because of Satan, the Demon of Prophecy.

…But it wasn't hard to understand the current situation.

Tyrion wanted to give part of his strength to the members of the Guardians—even if he ended up burning away his life because of that.

"Mr. Tyrion! A hero god like you mustn't disappear!" KangWoo shouted hurriedly.

Of course, his inner thoughts were different.

'Just vomit your strength and disappear.'

Who cares if Tyrion disappeared?

No, he was the one who threw Reinald to him, so it would be better if he disappeared as soon as possible.

"How could you sacrifice for mere mortals like us? You mustn't do that."

- No! My will is firm!

"Mr. Tyrion!"

'Yes. I knew you were more likely to do it if I said you couldn’t.'

Was that a characteristic of heroes? The more you tried to stop them, the more passionate they became about doing it.

The tips of his mouth went up.

KangWoo stood up while wiping his tears.

"If that's the will of a god, we're going to follow it," he said with a firm voice and intense eyes.

"I swear it in the name of Gaia. We're going to make sure Reinald's sacrifice wasn't for nothing. We're going to get rid of Satan, the Demon of Prophecy, his underling, Balzac, and save the world!"

Tyrion reacted to his intense voice.

- What's your name?

The golden light that flowed out from Del Lain surrounded KangWoo's body.

KangWoo knelt on one knee as if he were a knight swearing loyalty to a king.

"My name is Oh KangWoo."

- Hmm. I can feel from you a strength I can't explain.

KangWoo's body flinched.

'Don't tell me he feets the Ten Thousand Demon Core.'

If he had, he would have to change plans.

"Although KangWoo wasn't chosen as a Guardian, he has become stronger than anyone based on his own efforts. I'm sure that what you're feeling is Hyeongnim's strong will."

Gaia agreed with Kim ShiHoon's words.

"That's true. Mr. KangWoo is more just and heroic than anyone I've seen until now. He was the first one that moved after Mr. Reinald disappeared and the one who was the saddest about his death."

A Guardian and Gaia's apostle talked in his favor.

'I love you guys!'

It was the support of the couple he'd helped unite by working as cupid.

KangWoo clenched both fists.

- I see. So you were the first one to move and the one who was saddened the most by my child’s death.

They were able to convince Tyrion, who was prepared to die to avenge the death of his child, Reinald.

Gaia's word, since she was also an apostle of a god just like Reinald, was decisive.

When Tyrion heard her words, Del Lain's golden light fluttered intensely.

Just as Gaia trusted Reinald because they were both the apostles of a god, it seemed like Tyrion also trusted Gaia quite a lot.

- Good. I'll choose you to take over the role of ‘hero’.

'Yolo!'

The tips of KangWoo's mouth went up.

Golden light poured out of Del Lain.

- Please, use my strength for justice.

Tyrion, who was prepared to die, spoke in a serious voice.

"I will devote myself to the light!" KangWoo shouted in a firm voice.

An intense light poured into KangWoo.

- Ting.

[You've received the blessing of the 'Hero God.']

[Because of over-interference with the system, the Hero God Tyrion's divinity will disappear.]

There was an intense light that made it hard to keep their eyes open.

The moment an explosive amount of energy entered KangWoo's body, he became 'connected' with Tyrion.

- W-wait…

Before disappearing, Tyrion shouted in astonishment.

Since he was connected with KangWoo, other people couldn't hear his voice.

- Th-this is! The D-Demonic Energy Sea! Don't tell me you're the owner of the Demonic Energy Sea!!

A voice rang in his head.

It seemed like he'd finally realized KangWoo's identity.

'It's already too late.'

He could feel Tyrion's voice getting weaker.

That meant he was about to disappear.

- You motherfucker!! Y-you!! It was you who killed my child!! Aah, how?! How could something like this…?!

KangWoo smiled.

'Don't be too sad. Just like you've said, I'll kill Satan with my own hands.'

- Nonsense! If you aren't Satan, then who is?!

'It's too long to explain. Anyway, you don't have to worry about anything. Just disappear. I'll protect the world.'

- YOOUU!!

Tyrion's scream spread through his head.

'Who said you should pick me?'

KangWoo couldn't hold back the laughter anymore.

'You're dumb for having been deceived.'

KangWoo laughed.

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