Chapter 2: I want to live comfortably

[All missions have been completed. Would you like to return to your original world? Y / N]

“Of course.”

And so, I returned to the world I used to live in.

This was my original world, the one I returned to after killing the Demon King.

I laid down my responsibilities as the Hero I had borne for ten years in the other world.

Now, I would live an ordinary life.

I returned with that thought.

But reality shattered my expectations.

“A D-class small gate has appeared near XX Station subway. Awakened individuals have been dispatched immediately, so citizens should exercise caution for their safety…”

During the ten years I was in the other world, the world I lived in had changed dramatically.

Monsters poured out of gates.

At the same time, a few humans awakened to mana and became Awakened individuals.

The Awakened gathered among themselves and established guilds.

They took on the task of dealing with monsters that threatened society.

“Sigh, my commute today is going to be packed again.”

It had been three months since I returned to this world.

For the past ten years, I had been missing, so I didn’t have any particular skills to earn money.

Going out for day labor about three times a week was the extent of my daily life.

“Hey, Kang Si-ho, you’re on time for work again today, huh?”

“I came out early because they said a gate burst on the way here.”

“That’s Si-ho for you. I’ll give you credit for your diligence.”

“That’s all I have to live on.”

‘Kang Si-ho.’

That was my name in this world.

As the Hero Terda who plunged a sword into the Demon King’s neck in the other world, I was now living an ordinary life in this world under my original name, Kang Si-ho.

“Si-ho, put that over there.”

“Yes…!”

I hoisted a bag of cement onto my back and climbed the stairs.

With my physical specs from my Hero days, I wouldn’t have even broken a sweat doing something like this.

But now, I had the body of an ordinary twenty-something man.

And a rather frail one at that.

This kind of manual labor was far from easy.

At least my knack for efficiently using my body was still alive.

It was thanks to the experience of rolling around, fighting the Demon King’s army in the other world.

“Haha. I always feel this way, but Si-ho, you’re good at your job for your build.”

“Haa… Thanks for the compliment.”

On my way home after a hard day’s work at the construction site.

I stopped by a convenience store and bought a can of beer.

The refreshing pleasure of alcoholic carbonation, something I could never taste in the other world.

It was my routine to shake off the day’s fatigue.

“Beep! That’ll be 10,000 won.”

After paying, I left the convenience store.

I planned to drink one can on the way and the rest at home, and just as I opened the can.

*Hiss-! Clink!*

I heard a young girl’s voice from behind me.

“Mister! You dropped this!”

“Huh?”

Behind me, when I turned, stood a girl who looked to be around elementary school age.

She held a photo I had dropped in her hand and extended it towards me.

“This is yours, right, Mister?”

“Ah, it is.”

It seemed a photo that had been tucked into my wallet had fallen out.

The faded photo showed a younger girl who was close to me.

Cha Seo-rin, a peer from the orphanage.

Among my peers who grew up without parents in the orphanage, she was one who particularly followed me.

‘I wonder if she’s doing well.’

Since I had been missing for the past ten years.

It felt awkward to suddenly contact her now.

She’s probably doing fine on her own.

I carefully put the photo back into my wallet, then pulled out a 10,000 won bill and handed it to the child.

“Here, this is from me, as thanks.”

“Eh!”

The little girl looked tempted by the 10,000 won I offered, but then quickly waved her hand.

“Oh… it’s okay!”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. My mom told me that you shouldn’t do good deeds expecting a reward. Hehe!”

She was an interesting child.

After repeating her mother’s words, she returned to the group where her friends were.

‘Not expecting a reward…’

The words, that good deeds shouldn’t be done expecting a reward.

They resonated particularly deeply with me.

For the past ten years, I had suffered immensely and struggled in the other world.

Simply because I was chosen as the Hero.

Simply because I wielded immense power.

The Demon King and his army, who threatened peace.

I fought bloody battles against them one after another.

My shoulders were heavy with the burden.

I was sick and tired of smelling blood.

But in the end, I killed the Demon King and brought peace to the other world.

I endured all sorts of hardships, but I was satisfied with that.

I didn’t even wish to live a grand life in this world as a reward.

I simply wished to live as an ordinary citizen now.

And now, I was living with the small happiness I had longed for in my hands.

“I should order chicken when I get home too.”

Chicken and beer.

Isn’t this a happy enough life?

****

The next morning.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm.

“Ugh… my head.”

It seemed I had drunk too much beer.

It was because the words of the child I met yesterday had served as a better accompaniment to my drink than the chicken itself.

“I guess I’ll take the day off today.”

This frail body in the current world couldn’t handle even a moderate amount of alcohol like beer.

I idly rolled around in bed for a while before coming to my senses.

“Yawn… Shall I go for a walk?”

On days off from work, I take a leisurely stroll near my house.

It was my personal routine to enjoy this world, which I had longed for so much over the past ten years.

Wandering aimlessly from place to place, observing how everything had changed over the past ten years, was surprisingly enjoyable.

“Wow, a building like this popped up here.”

Buildings I didn’t remember had sprung up like mushrooms.

They say even mountains and rivers change in ten years; a city center was, of course, no exception.

“Everyone’s living so busy.”

Office workers coming out for lunch.

Cars busily driving on the road.

The peaceful atmosphere filling the streets.

I fully savored this tranquility that I couldn’t experience in the other world.

“Did you see the news yesterday?”

“They said another super-large gate appeared in South America? So scary, so scary.”

The conversation between two men walking beside me caught my ear.

On the other side of the world, people’s lives still seemed to be under threat.

Hundreds, no, thousands of lives might have been on the line.

However, I no longer wanted to think about their peace.

Because I was now ‘Kang Si-ho,’ not ‘Terda.’

Fighting monsters was something the Awakened would handle on their own.

Anyway, I wasn’t even an Awakened individual.

Thinking that, I continued to stroll down the street without a care.

Then, suddenly.

A chilling scream pierced my eardrums.

“G-gate! A gate just burst!”

****

Three months had passed since my return to this world.

I had never actually seen a gate with my own eyes.

I had only seen images of gates and monsters through YouTube.

Every time I saw monsters in the media, a thought would suddenly occur to me.

‘These monsters… they’re too similar to the demons from the other world.’

The thought that perhaps they were creatures that had crossed over from the world I was in.

But since there was no way to confirm it, I had only kept the thought to myself.

Now, an opportunity to confirm it had arisen.

My original plan would have been to turn and walk in the opposite direction from where the gate appeared.

‘…Should I just check it out once?’

With that thought, I headed towards the gate.

The gate, seen up close, was larger than I expected.

And the monsters that appeared from within it.

“It’s goblins! It’s a D-class gate with only goblins. Don’t be afraid, fight!”

It was a horde of goblins, the kind I had fought to exhaustion in the early days of being a Hero.

‘Just as I thought, they’re identical to the demons I knew.’

A strange sense of déjà vu I felt towards those creatures, called monsters in this world.

It was similar to the sensation I felt from the demons I had fought so much.

“Citizens, please evacuate quickly!”

“Swordsmen, draw your swords and fight immediately! Mages, provide rear support!”

Awakened individuals had already arrived at the scene.

However, they didn’t seem to be particularly skilled individuals.

It was clear at a glance that they were either rookies lacking practical experience or low-ranked Awakened individuals of E or D-class.

“Krrrk-!!”

“Kuuruk–!”

The goblins moved in unison, engaging in close combat with the Awakened.

Among the goblins, some simply charged, swinging their fists, but others were equipped with daggers and shields.

*Clang-!*

*Clang-!*

*Clang-!*

*Thud-!*

“K-kuh, th-this! My leg…!”

“Krrrk-!”

A rookie Awakened individual whose leg was attacked.

He couldn’t maintain his posture and fell.

“Keruruk–!!”

Just as the goblin lunged, aiming for the rookie’s neck.

A man who appeared to be a veteran intervened in their fight.

The veteran brought his axe down on the goblin’s head.

*CRUNCH-!!*

“Hey, rookie. You said you awakened last month, right? Don’t overdo it.”

“K-kheuk… Yes… I’m sorry…”

The goblins had sustained quite a bit of damage, but one Awakened individual was already out of commission.

There were five Awakened individuals remaining, and about twenty goblins.

‘Hmm… Is this how everyone usually fights?’

Watching the fight between the Awakened and the goblins, something felt…

Something was lacking.

Perhaps my standards had become too high due to ten years of Hero experience.

But that kind of fight was usually entertaining.

Having gotten a taste for spectating, I hid myself in a corner and continued to observe the fight.

“Ke… ruruk…!!”

The goblin, whose head the veteran had struck with an axe, groaned and got back up.

With the axe still lodged in its head and blood gushing out, it created quite a gruesome scene.

“Th-this bastard! Even after getting hit in the head…!”

The veteran tried to pull out the axe stuck in its head, but it wouldn’t come out.

And in that state, to avoid the goblin’s dagger attacks, the veteran had no choice but to abandon his axe and create distance.

The veteran Awakened individual had lost his weapon.

The goblin, with an axe embedded in its head, approached, scattering red blood.

No matter how you looked at it, the tide was turning against them.

‘Tsk, aiming for the head against a goblin.’

Goblins are approximately 1 meter tall and have a physique similar to humans.

Therefore, when an average adult man confronts them, he sees the tops of their heads first.

A beginner would naturally tend to aim for a goblin’s head.

But that’s a misjudgment.

It’s because they possess skulls of incomparable hardness to humans.

‘Instead of striking its head, he should have cut its neck. Do Awakened individuals not even have that much knowledge?’

Knowledge I learned through countless battles against goblins in the early days of being a Hero.

When fighting goblins, don’t aim for the head; aim directly for the neck.

It was like common sense, but those Awakened individuals seemed not to know it.

“Keruruk, Keruk!!”

“You bastards!! Die!”

Fortunately, the goblin couldn’t exert its full strength because its skull was fractured.

The veteran Awakened individual pulled out a spare weapon from his pocket and continued the fight.

The prolonged standoff continued.

That fight no longer held my interest.

‘Alright. I’ve seen enough, time to quietly slip away…’

Just as I was about to quietly withdraw from the scene, I heard a familiar girl’s scream.

“Kyaaak!!”

I reflexively turned my head.

Where my gaze landed, a woman and a girl were surrounded by goblins.

It was the same girl I had seen at the convenience store yesterday.

“There were still civilians who hadn’t evacuated?”

“K-kheuk…! Captain! We’re short on personnel, we don’t have the capacity to help them…”

There were five Awakened individuals and twenty goblins.

Additional support hadn’t arrived yet.

Blood rushed to my head.

At the same time, I was filled with conflict.

Should I step forward to help that child?

Even though the conflict in my mind hadn’t reached a conclusion.

My body was already pushing forward, running.

It was because the inertia of my life as a Hero was deeply ingrained in my mind.

*Fwa-ba-bak–!*

‘…I really wasn’t going to get involved this time.’

I was the one who had resolved to live an ordinary life.

That’s why even if countless people on the other side of the world lost their lives to monsters.

I wouldn’t have thought much of it.

Even if the Awakened individuals fighting before my eyes were all in danger of dying.

I intended to look away.

However.

That one girl, who had shown me kindness without expecting anything in return.

I couldn’t let her die.

“I’ll borrow this for a moment.”

“Uh… huh?”

The rookie who had fallen back due to a leg injury.

I picked up that Awakened individual’s sword and ran quickly.

And I plunged into the middle of the enemy formation, towards the girl.

*Shwing–!!*

I instantly severed the neck of the goblin that dared to raise its blade above the girl’s head.

“H-heo-eong… uh… uh…?”

“Are you okay?”

“Ah… Mister? Mister, were you an Awakened individual…?”

“No. I’m not that.”

“Then…?”

I answered, avoiding the child’s gaze for no particular reason.

“…A Hero. A former Hero.”

My ten years as a Hero had turned me into a person who couldn’t abandon this kind of unnecessary meddling.

****

*Chwa-ja-jak–!*

“KIEEEK–!!”

*Seogeogeok–!*

“Kkureureok–!!”

In an instant, the necks of the surrounding goblins were severed.

The screams scattered into the air, breaking the morale of the other goblins.

‘It’s more fightable than I thought?’

Compared to my Hero days, my physical specs were meager, but they weren’t so bad that I couldn’t handle goblins.

When it came to swordsmanship, I was more confident than anyone.

I moved, drawing countless sword paths according to the numerous experiences etched in my mind.

Goblins caught in the path of my sword lost their wits and had their necks severed.

“Wh-who’s that guy? Where did he come from?”

“I don’t know. What kind of… movement is that…?”

Even the Awakened individuals, who were fighting for their lives against the goblins, had their gazes drawn to me.

Since I had suddenly appeared and was doing the work of ten people alone, they couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

“That guy… he’s not an Awakened individual?”

“I don’t feel any mana?”

“What? Is that even possible? Is that how an unawakened person fights?”

The five pairs of Awakened individuals’ eyes expressed astonishment at my appearance.

One of them had already pulled out his smartphone and was recording my fighting.

“Crazy, I have to upload this to YouTube…”

“You idiot. The fight isn’t over yet! Put your phone away!”

Despite the veteran’s nagging, he didn’t lower his hand that was recording.

“Captain, this is huge! The goblins aren’t important right now!”

“He’s fighting better than us, how is this possible? We need to record this…”

Actually, if you think about it, it’s not impossible.

Because goblins aren’t that strong of a demon in the first place.

‘You guys are just weak.’

Even while swinging my sword dazzlingly, I surveyed the battlefield.

Goblins charging towards me with weapons.

And behind them, a Black Goblin holding a horn and shouting.

‘So that’s the one.’

I threw the dagger I had taken from a dead goblin.

*Swoosh-!*

*Thwack!*

It accurately struck the Black Goblin’s neck.

It dropped the horn it was holding and died.

“Keruruk…!”

Demons generally possess intelligence on the level of beasts.

Goblins, at best, are on the level of monkeys.

Nevertheless, the reason they could fight in such a unified manner was because of the ‘horn’ held by that Black Goblin.

Black Goblins are among the more intelligent types of goblins.

Therefore, they use that horn to strategically control goblins and lead battles efficiently.

‘If I deal with that one first, it’ll be much easier to fight.’

The goblins, having lost their commander, visibly showed signs of panic.

“Keruruk…?”

“Kuuruk…”

Their morale visibly plummeted.

The remaining ones were now nothing more than prey.

However, I too was quite drained of stamina.

‘Phew… My movements are as I wish… but my stamina… that’s the problem…’

Since the tide had turned, I could leave the rest to the Awakened individuals.

“Haa… haa… Everyone, fight! Let’s finish this with this momentum!”

I raised my voice with all my might.

“Th-that’s right! After that black one died, their momentum broke!”

“Fight! Push them back!!”

“Uwaaaaah!!”

Following my command, a non-Awakened individual, the Awakened charged towards the monsters.

It was a ridiculous scene, but.

Thanks to the other Awakened individuals, the remaining goblins could be dealt with safely.

Now, only the boss remained.

Just as most of the goblins were dying off.

A ‘Giant Goblin,’ appearing to be their leader, revealed itself.

“KKUREUEOKK–!!”

First of all, its size was on a different dimension from regular goblins.

A massive demon, nearly 5 meters tall.

“It’s the boss! Everyone, snap out of it!”

“If we just deal with that one, the gate will be cleared!”

A tense atmosphere enveloped the Awakened individuals.

An unspoken pressure that the truly dangerous fight was about to begin.

“Krrruk!”

As soon as it assessed the situation, it seemed to deem me the primary threat, and immediately brought the club it was holding down on my head.

*KWA-AAANG-!!*

I was struck by its attack and sent flying far away, landing with a crash.

*CRASH-!! THUD!*

“That bastard! He deliberately targeted that guy first…!”

“Damn it, taking an attack like that with a civilian body means instant death!”

For a moment, a sense of crisis flashed across the Awakened individuals’ faces.

But nothing like my instant death occurred.

“Ugh… my head. I really almost died.”

Thanks to my proper response before the club hit me, I was able to minimize the damage.

“What? That guy’s fine.”

“He got hit by that attack and still got up? How…?”

How, you ask?

Why would I just take such an obvious attack?

When its club came down on my head, I instantly employed several countermeasures.

First, I threw the goblin’s dagger I had at the wrist of the one swinging the club.

The dagger accurately pierced the tendon inside its wrist.

Though not a fatal wound, it was enough to weaken the grip strength of the one bringing the club down.

And then I quickly ran in the same direction as the club it was swinging.

This allowed me to reduce the impact force when taking the attack.

Finally, the moment the club’s impact point met the sword, I gracefully deflected the attack over my head.

‘If even one of these three had failed, either the sword or my arm would have broken.’

But I succeeded.

Thanks to that, I could get up perfectly fine.

“I just kinda did that.”

“That’s… possible? For a civilian?”

“If I couldn’t even do that much, I wouldn’t have stepped forward.”

The Awakened individuals wore dumbfounded expressions after hearing my explanation.

I didn’t exactly calculate my actions either.

My mind simply recalled three countermeasures based on the experiences stored within it.

And my body simply moved naturally according to my mind’s commands.

“I’ll handle that big one, so Awakened individuals, please take care of the remaining goblins.”

“Uh… r-right!”

A one-on-one fight with the Giant Goblin was manageable.

Because its moves were completely transparent to me.

However, if other goblins interfered in the fight, variables would arise.

Leaving the remaining goblins to the Awakened individuals, I approached the Giant Goblin.

“KKURUREOK! KKURUK!!”

The Giant Goblin, seeing me rise unharmed after its attack, expressed its rage and once again raised its club above its head to attack.

At the same time, I approached its feet.

“Kkuruk!”

*Chwa-chwa-chwat-!*

And then, I directly severed its Achilles tendon.

“KKURURAAAAGH!!”

The Giant Goblin screamed a piercing cry and fell to its knees.

From the start, the Giant Goblin was a variant of a goblin.

Only its size and strength had increased; its physical durability remained the same as that of a regular goblin.

Meaning its weaknesses were the same as those of a regular goblin.

Since I had already grasped all of this, I swung my sword naturally.

*Seogeok-!!*

After the Achilles tendon, I targeted the joint behind its knee.

*Pwoook-!!*

Next, I plunged the sword into the inside of its armpit.

“KKUREUEEEKK–!!”

With a final shriek, the Giant Goblin collapsed.

My stamina had also reached its limit, so it was time to finish it.

I climbed onto the back of the fallen creature and severed its neck.

“Die!”

*Seogeoeok–!!*

And so, I extinguished its breath.

“Haa… haa… That was ridiculously tough…”

I gasped for breath.

I had won somehow, but to be so exhausted from fighting just a goblin horde.

It wasn’t very satisfying.

However, to the Awakened individuals who had been watching me fight, it seemed to have appeared differently.

“Crazy, he took down a Giant Goblin with just one sword?”

“Normally, the standard strategy for that one would be for a tank to withstand its attacks while ranged mages pour out spells.”

“Did you record that too? You did, right?”

“Of course, I recorded everything.”

Among the chattering Awakened individuals.

The veteran, who seemed to be their leader, approached me and spoke.

“Thanks to you, we were able to clear the gate without any casualties. Thank you!”

“Hoo-ha… Yes, well, that’s a relief.”

“By any chance… you don’t seem to be an Awakened individual… may I ask what you do…?”

The veteran cautiously asked for my information.

It would be embarrassing to tell a middle-aged man, let alone a little girl, “I’m a former Hero,” so I vaguely brushed him off.

“Just a retired swordsman, I guess.”

After saying that, I dragged my exhausted body home.

Due to being utterly exhausted, I was in no condition to care about the aftermath of the gate clear.

‘Quickly… I want to go home and rest…’

Perhaps because it was my first fight in a long time, fatigue washed over me.

My home, which I finally reached.

I collapsed onto the bed as if falling, and instantly fell asleep.

The next day, I woke up late in the afternoon from my bed.

“Ugh… my whole body aches.”

My body was screaming because I had used every muscle, even those I didn’t use during manual labor.

I habitually picked up my smartphone.

My eyes, staring at the screen without any particular purpose, couldn’t help but widen.

“What is this?”

[Breaking News] “Civilian defeats Giant Goblin alone with a single sword, achieving what even Awakened individuals couldn’t”

[Controversy] “Is he truly unawakened? Questions raised about superhuman movements in video”

[Video] “Surpasses 10 million views overnight, ‘Goblin Killer”s astonishing swordsmanship”

The internet was filled with nothing but stories about my actions from yesterday.

“I’m screwed.”

It seemed I was destined not to live a quiet life in this world either.